Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Preparing Teachers To Use Technology: The Webquest In The Secondary English Language Arts Methods Classroom, Melinda C. Dobson

Dissertations

This study focuses on why and how English language arts methods instructors can integrate WebQuest development into their courses. Behavioral, cognitive, and constructive learning theory are established as a theoretical basis for introducing the WebQuest into the English language arts methods curriculum. Practicing teachers are surveyed about their WebQuest-use to identify positive and negative outcomes of the activity. National and international standards the WebQuest fulfills are identified. This study focuses on how to integrate technology in general into the methods course and then documents the development of the researcher's WebQuest and that of three different secondary English language arts methods …

Reliability Of The Educational Technology Profiler Survey As A Method Of Gathering Information In Teacher Preparation Programs, Carmen A. Cornieles

Dissertations

Education is an important factor in the introduction of technology as tools to be used in the teaching process. Teacher preparation programs for general education and special education are working to ensure that technology is a common denominator method of instruction following standards from teaching accrediting agencies. Institutions in charge of teacher preparation programs are aware of the need to prepare their students effectively and efficiently in the use of technology to support teaching and learning. Students in teacher preparation programs should become knowledgeable on using educational technology in their everyday instruction when placed in a school. For this reason, …

Early Education Experiences & School-To-Work Program Participation, Richard K. Caputo

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study assesses the effects of Head Start participation and demonstrated academic ability during elementary school on School-to-Work (STW) program participation. The study sample comes from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 Cohort and comprises 4,370 adolescents who reported grades they received while in the 8th grade and whether or not they ever repeated a grade in grammar school. Findings indicate that STW programs attract disproportionate numbers of students with histories of marginal demonstrated academic ability. This is so because STW programs are also more likely to attract Head Starters. Demonstrated academic ability varies by race/ethnicity and sex, with …

After Turning Points: Evidence Of The Adoption Of Middle School Reforms In The United States 1987-2000., Nancy Barnes Mansberger

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the adoption by U.S. middle schools of key practices recommended by the 1989 Turning Points report. Three questions were examined: (1) To what extent have the organizational practices identified by research to impact the development of "small learning communities" been adopted by U.S. middle schools? (2) To what extent do the instructional practices of U.S. middle school teachers reflect developmentally responsive or traditional/bureaucratic methods?, and (3) Do the instructional practices of U.S. middle school teachers differ between those who teach in schools with developmentally responsive organizational practices and those who teach in …

Avoiding Pitfalls In Administrative Internships, M. Scott Korpak

Masters Theses

Educational leaders and researchers are concerned about the number of qualified candidates for school leadership positions (Tracy, G. & Weaver, C. 2000). In response to this need, many school districts are promoting administrative internships. Through this project, the author sought to learn more about the following challenges: What does the current research literature say about administrative internships, and what are some of the common pitfalls that administrative interns face, especially in the area of journal preparation and the corresponding guidelines of the Human Subject Institutional Review Board.

Through this project, recommendations were formulated for future interns and their advisors. Common …

The Relationship Between Self-Esteem And Impostor Phenomenon Of Female Teachers For Kindergarten Through Grade 12, Sheila F. Matthews

Dissertations

Some researchers have recognized the importance of understanding women’s experiences. Some psychosocial characteristics, such as low levels of self-esteem and self-efficacy, and low success expectations have been identified as barriers for women’s career development (Betz, 1994). Because many women have continued to select careers that are considered as female-dominated (e.g., teaching) and because psychosocial characteristics and experiences of teachers such as self-esteem and the impostor phenomenon can have an influence on their students’ self-esteem, this researcher believed that this is an important topic for continued research. Although these two concepts, self-esteem and impostor phenomenon, have been documented as two unrelated …

New Teachers’ Perceptions Of Discipline-Related School Problems And Teacher Satisfaction, Amy L. Kavanaugh

Dissertations

Satisfaction The public is concerned with school safety because of recent school shootings resulting in multiple deaths. Educators are concerned that perceptions of school safety may affect new teacher attrition.

Three questions were examined in this study: (1) What is the trend of new teachers’ perceptions of discipline-related school problems? (2) Do new teachers’ perceptions of school problems vary by teacher gender, school level, size, location, and percentage of minority students?, and (3) Are new teachers’ perceptions of school problems related to their professional satisfaction?

National data gathered by the National Center for Education Statistics through the Schools and Staffing …

Public School Principals’ Perceptions In Accredited And Non-Accredited Elementary Schools Regarding Strategies To Improve Student Performance On The Michigan Education Assessment Program, Mattie P. Hampton

Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to investigate whether principals of summary accredited elementary schools and principals of non-accredited elementary schools significantly differ in their perceptions in regards to selected strategies used to prepare students for the Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP). More specifically, this study attempted to address three focused interrelated questions: (I) Will principals of summary accredited elementary schools and principals of nonaccredited elementary schools significantly differ in their perceptions in regards to selected curriculum strategies used to prepare students for the MEAP? (2) Will principals of summary accredited elementary schools and principals of non-accredited elementary schools …

Teachers’ Use Of Instructional Alignment In Michigan Fifth Grade Classrooms And The Relationship Of Use To Student Meap Scores In Writing, John Rasmussen

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which Michigan fifth grade teachers use components of instructional alignment in writing instruction, and then to compare the writing MEAP scores from a sample of fifth grade elementary buildings in Michigan to determine if there was a relationship between writing test scores and (a) teachers’ years of experience; (b) the degree to which fifth grade teachers use the Michigan Model Core Curriculum in writing, the Michigan Curriculum Framework, or local curriculum documents containing this curricula, to plan their lessons; (c) the degree to which teachers perceive they are implementing …

Issues Of Factorial Invariance Inherent In Conceptual Change: Teachers’ Evolving Perceptions Of Classroom Practice, Cynthia C. Phillips

Dissertations

This study explored the extent to which confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) can be used to address the measurement challenges faced by evaluators engaged in the assessment of change; in particular, the interpretation of self-report survey data collected under quasi-experimental conditions. The psychometric principles behind the instruments used to measure change are built on the assumptions that the constructs of interest remain stable and that error and score magnitude alone may vary. This study examined the complications that arise, with respect to the valid use of change scores, when the constructs of interest reflect conceptual change.

CFA techniques are available enabling …

Attitudes And Perceptions Of Michigan School Administrators Toward Female Administrators, Dorothy J. Vanderjagt

Dissertations

There is a shortage of females in educational administration. Women represent a majority of teachers, yet men occupy most administrative positions. The purpose of this study was to determine attitudes of selected Michigan school administrators toward women as managers. This study was intended to create an awareness of the perceptions administrators hold toward women as leaders and investigate attitudes that may be accountable for the disparity of women leaders in education.

Two research questions were studied: (1) Do the attitudes of male administrators toward women as school managers differ from the attitudes of female administrators toward women as school managers? …

The Utility Of Functional Assessment Rating Scales: An Analysis Of The Effects Of Training On Teacher Rated Functions And Intervention Suggestions, Kari N. Anderson

Masters Theses

Recent federal legislation mandates the use of functional assessment in schools when a more restrictive placement is being considered. This same legislation also recommends the use of fue nctional assessment as best practice for use in special education decision making. Currently, there is a continuum of options of tools and methods employed in the functional assessment process, and a number of differing opinions of who should be involved in the process. Traditionally school psychologists have been designated as the lead person in this process. Teachers have demonstrated that they too can provide valuable information regarding the function of a student's …

Intuitive Understanding Of Time And Space At The Age Of Four, Josephine Barry-Davis

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to test the central hypothesis that “children by the age of four years construct accurate and lasting conceptions o f time (past, present, future) and space (near and far away).” In order to test this hypothesis the researcher relied on qualitative research guidelines developed and published in recent years to address social science and educational research issues. The research design is especially applicable to young children where the researcher assumes the role of participant observer. In order to control for the context of the research, the children were observed for time and space cognitive …

A Study Of The Relationship Between Transformational Leadership And Teacher Attitudes, Scott Palczewski

Dissertations

One hundred Michigan public high schools were randomly selected to participate in a study of the relationship between transformational leadership and teacher attitudes. Forty-eight high schools with enrollments ranging from 237 students to 1,730 students responded, a response rate of 48%. The study required that each building principal complete the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. Designed by Bass and Avolio (1990), the instrument uses 45 questions to identify the relative level of transformational leadership exhibited by the building principal.

Five dependent variables including teacher motivation, teacher satisfaction with administration, follower identification with work, teacher willingness to disagree with administration and teacher attitudes …

Devolution Of Power Through Shared Decision Making, Jean Deboer Schmeichel

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the devolution of power as it is expressed by the extent of teacher involvement in shared decision making. Extent of both actual and desired involvement and the differences between them were investigated. Teachers were considered adequately empowered when there was no difference between the actual and desired results. The survey Teacher DecisionMaking Instrument {TDI), developed and validated by Dr. Donna L. Ferrara, was administered to K-12 teachers in a public school district in southeast Michigan.

The larger context of this study is the reform initiative called site-based management (SBM). Seen as an …

The Relationship Between Principals' Leadership Characteristics And Characteristics Of Public Middle Schools, Linda S. Schneider-Rediske

Dissertations

Principals’ perceptions of the relationship between middle school leadership characteristics and the relevance and use of middle school characteristics were examined in this study. A systematic random sampling procedure was used to select principals from public middle schools in the State of Michigan. A survey instrument was developed to measure the variables. These variables were determined based on a review of the literature. The reliability of the instrument was obtained using the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. Spearman rank-ordered correlations were used to determine the strength and direction of the relationships of each hypothesis.

The findings from this study suggest that there …

The Relationship Of Reading Recovery Teachers' Efficacy To Length Of Service And School System Support, M. Louise Moon

Dissertations

Existing research results directly relate teachers’ efficacy to student outcomes and to continuing staff development and school context; however, little work has been done to investigate these relationships for Reading Recovery teachers. Reading Recovery (RR) is an early intervention program designed to assist first grade children who are having difficulty learning to read and write. This program requires ongoing staff development and an implementation plan designed to provide appropriate school context; therefore, survey data were collected from Reading Recovery teachers to study relationships between teacher efficacy and (a) their length of service in Reading Recovery and (b) support for RR …

The Impact Of Selected Barriers On Students Completing Community College In Michigan, Terri Lynn Burt

Dissertations

Research studies have been conducted to investigate barriers that inhibit the ability of adult students to obtain a postsecondary education (Powell, 1989; Shields, 1990). These studies suggest that there are three distinct categories that could be used to describe this phenomenon: (1) situational, (2) dispositional, and (3) institutional. The overall purpose of this study was to determine what barriers, if any, are experienced by nontraditional African-American students in selected Midwest community colleges in comparison to White adult students according to selected demographic variables (e.g., age, sex, marital status, number of children, employment, status, income, and race). More specifically, this study …

A Comparison Of Reported Teacher Selection Practices Of Elementary Principals In Michigan To Recommended Selection Methods, John E. Jarpe

Dissertations

Teacher selection is a complex, critical school personnel function. School leaders in Michigan’s districts will be hiring more teachers as projected enrollment increases and pending teacher retirements combine to open teaching positions. This study examined the effectiveness of teacher selection practices as they compared to selection methods described in administrative textbooks, journal articles, and research studies.

Thirty-six Michigan elementary principals reported their school building and district selection procedures. Qualitative analysis focused on their transcribed responses to interview questions about the aspects of teacher selection. The principals represented public schools that combined varying grade levels of kindergarten through sixth grade.

Thirteen …

Implications Of Changing To 4 By 4 Semester Block Scheduling For Secondary Students With Learning Disabilities, Sandra Kay Wayne

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of changing from a traditional schedule to a block schedule on selected school-related behaviors and measures of secondary students with learning disabilities and their regular education teachers. Areas of impact that were addressed included school performance measures of student success rates, attendance rates, and discipline referrals as well as affective measures of levels of students' active engagement in learning activities, the variety of teaching and learning modes used, and the amount of individualized teacher attention given to students.

The research population consisted of six high schools in south and central …

The Use Of Data In School-Based Decision Making, Walter J. Deboer

Dissertations

This study examined the extent to which various types of commonly available data were used by staff for school-based decision making at 24 elementary schools in the Grand Rapids Public School district. The level of data use w as correlated with measures of school effectiveness. Further correlational analyses examined: (a) whether principals' attitudes toward data influenced the level of data use, (b) whether staff at more effective schools made exemplary or effective use of data to a greater degree, and (c) whether staff at more effective schools were more likely to overcome traditional barriers to data use.

School effectiveness was …

The Relationship Between Cooperating Teachers' And Student Teachers' Concerns, Dan A. Gerbens

Dissertations

The notion that student teachers progress through identifiable stages of concern in their professional development originated in the 1960s. The late Frances Fuller (1969) identified three stages of student teachers' concerns: (1) self concern, (2) task concern, and (3) impact concern. Using the Fuller concerns model, the relationship between cooperating teachers' and student teachers' concerns was examined in 31 cooperating teacher/student teacher dyads during the fall of 1995. Cooperating teachers were categorized as either self-concerned or task concerned based on their responses to a concerns questionnaire derived from the Fuller (1974) Teachers Concerns Check List (TCCL). The student teachers of …

An Examination Of Factors Contributing To Exemplary Schools In An Urban Public School District In The Midwest, Gordon D. Griffin

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were characteristics that identify exemplary elementary schools. Selection of schools was based on standardized scores, principal tenure, parental involvement, Directors of Elementary School’s opinion, and accreditation status.

The demographic information suggested that both groups of schools were similar in composition. Developing schools demonstrated a significantly greater population of students receiving free lunch and a greater population of minority students. Each school principal and staff received two survey instruments: the Leadership Practices Inventory (Kouzes & Posner, 1992), and the School Assessment Survey (Wilson, 1985). The results were compared to determine which …

The Status Of Middle Level Schools In Berrien County, Michigan Following Michigan Public Act 25, Judith A. Burns

Dissertations

Michigan Public Act 25 of 1990 mandated public school reform. One of 4 components of Public Act 25 is the development of a 3 to 5 year School Improvement Plan (SIP). The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine middle level school improvement in Berrien County, Michigan, for evidence that developmentally appropriate middle level education is promoted.

This 2-part investigation involved analyzing SIPs submitted for 1992-93 school year using a content analysis format and interviews with each building principal or designee. The content analysis format was developed by Sweeney and Cooper in 1992 to analyze SIPs of Wayne County, …

The Relationship Between Principals' Length Of Administrative Experience And Organizational Leadership Behavior In Elementary Schools In Saudi Arabia, Hamad Adbulaziz Alkherb

Dissertations

The study examined educational leadership behaviors among elementary school principals in Qasim region of Saudi Arabia. Seven independent variables using a survey questionnaire among a randomly selected sample from the identified population. Self-reporting elicited, first, critical background information and, second, data concerning 60 specific leadership behavior items important to work issues, critical areas of educational administration, professional relationship situations, and leadership problems ordinarily confronted. Items were grouped according to five categories of twelve items each.

Ninety-six principals or 80% of the survey sample of 120 responded. Focus of the study derived importantly from an extensive and complex review of literature …

The Effects Of Specific Teacher Training Program Components On The Self-Assessment Skills Of Western Michigan University Physical Education Interns, Jerry G. Bergsma

Masters Theses

The effects of an undergraduate self-assessment training program on the accuracy of self-assessment during physical education intern teaching was the focus of this study. Fourteen subjects enrolled in Intern Teaching at Western Michigan University and a university in central Michigan were studied.

The groups were compared on accuracy of self-assessment in selected teacher behaviors, teacher feedback rates, and student behaviors. Subjects were video-taped during intern teaching sessions and asked to complete the Self-Assessment Form (Hawkins & Wiegand, 1989). Estimates of percent time spent engaged in selected behaviors and feedback rates were compared to actual times and rates collected from the …

Attitudes Of Black Secondary School Teachers Toward School Guidance In The Potchefstroom Area, South Africa, Elias H. Masibi

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Study Of The Relationship Between Transformational Leadership And School Climate, Christine L. Jensen

Dissertations

The study investigated the relationship between transformational leadership and school climate in elementary schools in w est Michigan with enrollments of 200-800 students. Eighteen school districts with 294 participating teachers completed two questionnaires.

The independent variable of transformational leadership was investigated by using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire to measure teachers' perceptions of leadership factors. The dependent variable of school climate was investigated by using the Organizational Climate Descriptor Questionnaire-Revised Elementary. The questionnaire was used to determine teachers' perceptions of principal openness, teacher openness, and overall school climate.

As a result of the data analysis, the investigation supported that there was …

A Study Of Teachers’ Perceptions Of Principal Effectiveness Among Secondary School Teachers In Malaysia, Ariff B. Kasim

Dissertations

The focus of this study is to find out the difference in perceptions of teachers on principal effectiveness among two groups of secondary school teachers in Malaysia, namely: (1) graduate and non-graduate teachers, and (2) junior and senior teachers, in seven dimensions of principal effectiveness: (1) leadership, (2) school rules and procedures, (3) school learning climate, (4) teacher/staff relations and development, (5) student relations and development, (6) school-community relations, and (7) instructional supervision and development.

The sample of this study consisted of all teachers who had been teaching more than one year and had a formal teacher training from 15 …

Classroom Personalities Of Effective Teachers Within A Technical College Setting, Fred Manley

Dissertations

This study used student ratings to examine relationships between instructor personality and teaching effectiveness for technical college faculty. Research was specifically conducted to address three questions: (1) what personality traits are associated with effective teaching, (2) do the personality profiles of effective teachers differ by academic area, and (3) are there personality dimensions that distinguish above average from below-average instructors.

Students enrolled in classes taught by instructors randomly selected from the accounting, computer information systems, marketing, and office occupations departments at five Wisconsin technical colleges rated their instructors on 29 personality traits and 18 teaching behaviors. Pearson product-moment correlations were …