Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Scaffolding Learning In Science Class With Literacy Strategies, Katelyn Collins, Sue Lasky Dr.

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

The purpose of this study is to explore the efficacy of integrating literacy-based pedagogic strategies into science inquiry skills in a 6th-grade science classroom in Berea, Kentucky. This school district's student test scores are low in science, presumably tied to low informational literacy skills. This mixed-method study triangulated data from four weeks of lesson plans, two classroom observations, and four weeks of teacher analytic reflective notes. School i-Ready reading diagnostic data was also examined for pre-intervention and post-intervention conditions. Key findings of this research indicate increased student engagement and enthusiasm when practicing literacy pedagogical strategies in science class and a …

Role-Ing While Bipoc: Understanding The Experiences Of Table Top Role Playing Game Players Of Color, Jordan K. Posey

Dissertations

In 2015, controversy surrounded the interactive computer game Mission US: Flight to Freedom. The game was unveiled as an accessible way to teach about American chattel slavery by mixing elements normally associated with roleplaying games (RPGs), Tabletop Roleplaying Games (TTRPGs), and social studies curriculum. The conversations surrounding the game exemplify the complicated history of RPGS/TTRPGs and the limitations of gamification in educational settings. This qualitative study aimed to analyze aspects of gaming culture through a critical race lens by documenting the experiences of Tabletop Roleplaying Game (TTRPG) players identifying as Black, Indigenous, and a Person of Color (BIPOC). Using a …

Teaching And Normalizing Digital Accessibility For Students In The Chemical Sciences, Stefano C G Biagini

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Digital accessibility is the inclusive practice of ensuring that all people can equally access digital information. However, this good practice has yet to be fully embraced by practitioners and educators in the chemical sciences. This article will describe and explain the key requirements of digital accessibility and how they apply to educators in the chemical sciences, with the emphasis on supporting visually impaired students; it will illustrate a case study of training students in adopting digital accessibility good practices in order to enable a culture change of greater inclusivity for the next generation; and finally illustrate low cost laboratory adaptations …

“Science Belongs Everywhere”: Outlooks On Post-Secondary Stem Education For Correctional Centers In Virginia, Shelita R. Augustus

Division of Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success Publications

Virginia has an incarceration rate of 679 per 100,000 residents, the highest among independent democratic nations. This scoping review examines perspectives on post-secondary STEM education to promote STEM education within Virginia's correctional facilities, assesses programs to improve rehabilitation, reduce recidivism, and address systemic inequalities by developing the scientific potential of incarcerated individuals. The review finds that while STEM education in correctional facilities faces limitations, its potential benefits are being realized nationwide. Virginia has made strides through initiatives like House Bill 2158, which aims to expand higher education access for incarcerated individuals. Examples such as the programs at J. Sargeant Reynolds …

An Exploration Of Teacher Exodus In Predominantly African American Secondary Public Schools Amid Covid-19, Keith Demond Ford

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

For some time, K-12 teachers across America have been resigning from classrooms in large numbers. Like many of the nation’s communities, schools in American neighborhoods of color have seen an overwhelming amount of teacher resignations amid the COVID-19 pandemic. According to existing literature, education’s traditional systemic norms and health protocols which were initiated during COVID-19 motivated classroom teachers to leave their jobs. This qualitative study uses a phenomenological methodology as it discovers that an interrelatedness of factors influences six participants to resign from their classroom teaching roles at predominantly African American middle and high schools during and immediately following …

Afghan Students Are More Than Just English Learners, Farilla Saboor

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This thesis examines the strengths that Afghan students and their families bring to U.S. schools and how these strengths are often overlooked. Drawing on my experience as an Afghan immigrant, math teacher, and bilingual instructional aide, I explore how Afghan students, parents, and teachers describe these cultural, linguistic, and relational assets that shape students’ learning and sense of belonging. I use the Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) and Funds of Knowledge (FoK) as guiding frameworks to understand the aspirational, linguistic, familial, social, navigational, and resistant capital present in participants’ experiences (Moll et al., 1992; Yosso, 2005).

I conducted qualitative interviews with …

Expanding Education Skills: Case Study And Content Creation For Theatre Educators At Um, Ren E. Shepherd

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

A love of theatre does not spring into the hearts of people from thin air. It is not something given by the universe, but something cultivated through years of going to performances, researching late at night, and the guidance of theatre educators. Despite the influence of Theatre Educators, they are largely overlooked when considering theatre professionals and their training. This lack of oversight is a nation-wide issue, but by focusing on just the University of Montana, there is a chance for greater understanding and change at a local community level. By employing academic research, surveys of UM faculty and students, …

Theatre Education At The University Of Montana: Providing Innovative Solutions To A Complex Problem, Natalie Renk

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This paper is part of a larger project that aims to provide solutions to assimilate the University of Montana’s theatre education program with those across the United States by providing budget conscious innovations. The focus of this paper will be the creation of two methods courses: THTR 438: Content for Secondary Theatre Education and THTR 439: Skills for Theatre Education, this paper discussing the former. The latter was designed by my research partner, Ren Shepherd. This course would offer comprehensive coverage of theatre practitioners, both historical and modern theatrical texts, hands on design and budgeting experience, as well as teaching …

Digital Storytelling Across Disciplinary Horizons: A Bibliometric Exploration Through Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, And Social Sciences, Desmin Davis, Manoj Praveen G, Ashna K

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

This study aims to know the key publication trends and patterns in digital storytelling research and to find the most influential papers, authors, journals, funding sponsors, sources, and countries that contributed to digital storytelling research from 2013 to 2023. This was examined through a systematic bibliometric analysis conducted on 508 documents collected from the Scopus database based on particular inclusion and exclusion criteria. Bibliometric patterns were obtained using the VOS viewer software. The findings indicated that the digital storytelling research field is emerging and shows growing interest in this particular field. The increasing citation trend shows its importance across various …

Supporting Students In Transition To And From High School, David Naff, Jamelle Simmons, Meleah Ellison, Shelby Garofalo, Laura Thoene, Kim Dupre, Sooyeon Moon, Karli Johanson, Paul Harris, Martin Darby, William L. Parker, Tracy Booker, Janel Miley, Mysia Perry, Xun Liu, Maggie Szydlowski, Ahmed Abbas

MERC Publications

This report is part of a two-part series focused on supporting students in transition across PK-12 education. Specifically, it explores transitions into and out of high school school. The report includes a synthesis of recent peer-reviewed literature, analysis of publicly available data (with a specific focus on Virginia and the metropolitan Richmond region), and summary of relevant federal, state, and school division-level policies. It answers the following questions:

1. What are key considerations for supporting students in transition to and from high school in the MERC region?

2. How do federal, state, and division policies guide support for student transitions …

Supporting Students In Transition To And From Elementary School, Meleah Ellison, Jamelle Simmons, David B. Naff, Taryn G. Traylor, Meredith Dean, Sooyeon Moon, Jia Jia Liu, Latonja Y. Wright, Cameron Parkins, Jennifer Locasale-Crouch, Dana V. Yarbrough, Audrina Farrar, Obed Amoakoh Boateng

MERC Publications

This report is part of a two-part series focused on supporting students in transition across PK-12 education. Specifically, it explores transitions into and out of elementary school. The report includes a synthesis of recent peer-reviewed literature, analysis of publicly available data (with a specific focus on Virginia and the metropolitan Richmond region), and summary of relevant federal, state, and school division-level policies. It answers the following questions:

1. What are key considerations for supporting students in transition to and from elementary school in the MERC region?

2. How do federal, state, and division policies guide support for student transitions to …

Pick Up A Frog, Or Pet A Dog; Animals Are Our First Teachers, Allison Ratner

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation’s goal was an attempt to answer the question: What are the emotional, cognitive, and/or spiritual effects of children’s relationships/interactions with animals that potentially impact their development? By utilizing autoethnography, I analyzed instances from my own life where interacting with animals changed me permanently; my thinking, my knowing, my feeling, my judgement, my empathy, my attitude, and my ethics. With a standpoint rooted in the research of experts from the fields of psychology and education, I combined my personal knowledge gained over a lifetime, to grant merit to the profundity of children’s relationships with animals. With the analyzed data, …

The Impact Of Single Parent Households On Middle School Students, Erik Puga

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This research explores the influence of single-parent households on the academic achievement of middle school students in Salinas, CA, with a particular focus on East Salinas, an area marked by economic challenges. Grounded in my personal experience growing up in a single-parent household in Salinas and shaped by my journey through the Alisal district pipeline, this study seeks to uncover the specific barriers and strengths that middle school students from single-parent families encounter. By examining socioeconomic pressures, parental involvement, and emotional well-being, I aim to identify how family structure affects students’ educational trajectories within the community. This research strives to …

Benefits Of Teaching Pre-Literacy In Waldorf Education In Early Childhood, April Guerrero

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This senior capstone research project examines the benefits of teaching pre-literacy in Waldorf education in early childhood. In Waldorf Education, literacy development incorporates differentiated instructions that fosters cognitive and social emotional learning of their students. Through the use of literature review and several teachers in various grades of Waldorf schools, the result findings revealed that pedagogical practices around literacy instructions promote critical thinking skills, nurtures children’s creative expression, and imagination. Literacy curriculum in Waldorf schools allows students to create tangible evidence of self-expressions and communication skills. Given its emphasis on holistic curriculum, it allows teachers to engage with their diverse …

Is That Controversial Or Is It Just Me?, Joseph D. Cochran

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The purposes of this study were to explore the decision-making process behind delineating issues as controversial or not, identify the risks considered by administrators when faced with potentially controversial issues, and provide recommendations for educators to consider in their own deliberations. I interviewed seven charter school principals and used thematic analysis to explore the influence of contained risk-taking on administrator decision-making concerning controversial issues. The findings of this study suggest that administrators generally consider the same risks their teacher counterparts do but often prioritize larger-scale solutions that ensure equity for the entire school. The products of this process emphasize a …

Pity The Poor Reader, Charles H. Haddad

School of Communication and Journalism Faculty Publications

I conceived my book “Pity the Poor Reader” as an un-textbook, an irreverent “Elements of style.” Like Elements, it’s designed to complement textbooks. Pity is concise, memorable and portable. Under 300 pages, Pity serves as an aspiring writer’s keepsake. Concision lies at the heart of Pity. The key concepts of writing well are distilled into irreverent, memorable lines and axioms. Many of them are organized as lists that are easily printed and taped to a wall or a computer. Indeed, in testing the book with my university students, I’ve found that many of them did print out its list of …

Enhancing Democracy Through P-20 School-University Partnerships In Teacher Education: Implications For Educational Leaders, Rebecca West Burns

Democracy & Education

The purpose of this paper is to share how schools and universities can partner intentionally through Professional Development Schools to enhance democracy by answering the questions: (1) What is it about Professional Development Schools, as robust school-university partnerships, that give voice to teachers to enhance democracy, particularly in a high-stakes accountability climate? and (2) How can schools and universities create robust partnerships to empower teachers’ voices in a high-stakes accountability climate? The paper argues that educational leaders in schools and universities must change their mindset and their practice to form partnerships in ways that rethink teacher preparation, induction, and professional …

Agreement And Disagreement In Teachers’ Talk: Facilitative Design Of Deliberation In Norwegian Initial Education, Andreas Reichelt Lind

Democracy & Education

This article investigates the roles of the terms agreement and disagreement in teachers’ talk in Norwegian Grades 1-4 classrooms. Through an exploration of what teachers said and did when they used these terms, five different themes were identified in the teachers’ talk. The teachers tended to use the terms in relation to the process of discussion, the outcome of these discussions, and nuancing the idea of the nature of this outcome; as a function in conversation; and how agreement and disagreement are valuable in different ways. The key finding across these themes and patterns was that the lessons tended to …

Democratic Practices As Part Of Mathematical Modeling In Schools, Lisa Steffensen, Inger Elin Lilland, Shengtian Zhou

Democracy & Education

We focus on how democratic practices occur during the modeling activity “The Candy Bag of Dreams.” With democratic practices, we refer to approaches supporting inclusivity and active participation aimed at empowering students. We investigated one group of preservice teachers implementing an optimizing modeling activity during practicum in two fifth-grade classes, where students modeled their dream candy bags. Students engaged in mathematical modeling where mathematics was embedded in their social context, and they negotiated meanings and developed perspectives. Through this, they experienced lived democracy by actively engaging in and through democratic practices.

We found democratic practices such as students inviting peers …

A Situated Lens To Designing Assessments Of Citizenship Competency, Paula J. Waatainen, Man-Wai Chu

Democracy & Education

As education systems increasingly emphasize teaching for the development of competency, teachers need support in how to design classroom assessments of competencies associated with their areas of learning. Teachers who engage students in learning democracy through deliberative dialogue and participation in real-world processes will find limited support in the literature on how to operationalize the development of associated competencies. In this first design cycle of an ongoing multi-stage design-based research study, a researcher and two classroom teachers in British Columbia collaborated to apply principles of authentic assessment (Koh, 2017) to the design of an assessment of the citizenship competencies Grades …

Dr. Carter G. Woodson And Pedagogy In Education, Dorrance Kennedy, Terri Moore-Brown, Abraham Watson

Journal of Research Initiatives

Dr. Carter G Woodson was an African American historian, author, publisher, and activist. He is known as the Father of Black History. He was the second African American to receive a doctorate from Harvard University. He was the founder of the Journal of Negro Education and the Associated Publishers. He wrote many influential books, including The History of the Negro Church and The Miseducation of the Negro. He died in Washington, DC in 1950.

Understanding Teacher Education Master Agreements (Contracts), Thomas Smette

AI Assignment Library

Students will be able to understand four parts of a teacher contract: Salary, Retirement, Health Insurance, and Leave. Student will be able to locate these parts by manually looking through a contract or by using AI to locate these parts.

Development Of A Sensory-Based Intervention Manual For Educators, Bralie Dent, Zeida Gutierrez

Summer 2024 OTD Capstone Symposium

This project focused on the development of an educational manual on sensory processing disorder (SPD) for educators. The manual was created as a resource to enhance teachers' understanding of SPD and confidence in implementing sensory-based interventions and accommodations in the classroom for students who have sensory processing difficulties.

Developing Alternative Grading Strategies, Brian M. Sackett

Masters Projects

Traditional grading strategies may not accurately reflect student knowledge. Educators are beginning to develop more accurate and efficient methods for grading students. These alternative methods include; standards based grading, content based grading, portfolio assessment, narrative feedback, and minimum grading. These grading strategies focus more heavily on content mastery, rather than non-academic variables such as student behavior. This project will provide a thorough training session to teachers to give them the confidence to implement the new alternative grading strategies. The goal of this project is to have a lasting impact on students’ academic success as well as their motivation and engagement. …

Leavers And Movers: Turnover Of Music Teachers In Nebraska, Christian G. Schuerman

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, Student Creative Work, and Performances

The purpose of this study was to determine if the rates of music teachers leaving the teaching profession and changing schools were significantly different than those of teachers of other content areas in the state of Nebraska. This study used data from the previous nine years of the Nebraska Department of Education’s Education Directory in order to find results for the entire population. Results indicated that music teachers leave the profession at similar rates as teachers of other content areas, but move schools at significantly higher rates.

Advisor: Robert H. Woody

The Embedded Scaffolded Writing Mini-Course (Teswmc): An Approach To Improve Teacher Candidates’ Writing Skills And Attitudes, Vicky Giouroukakis Ph.D., Laurie Bocca

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

High-quality academic writing is critical to student success in graduate-level education courses and professional advancement in our field. The Embedded Scaffolded Writing Mini-Course (TESWMC) was designed to both improve teacher candidates’ skills in writing critically and effectively and to positively influence teacher candidates’ attitudes towards writing. The 7-week mini-course was taught by the teacher educator/researcher as a “push-in” into a semester-long graduate Education course. The mini-course also served as a pilot study to determine its efficacy. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed. Data revealed that teacher candidates reported that their writing skills and attitudes towards writing improved. …

The Impacts Of Authentic Learning On Student Outcomes, Evan Sheppard, Cameron Conner

Dissertations

This dissertation explores the evolving American education system, emphasizing the role of authentic learning in bridging the gap between schooling and employment, especially in the context of the modern post-pandemic student. Authentic learning, characterized by hands-on activities and real-world applications, is posited as a solution to the skilled labor shortage impacting the economy. This study delves into the history and current practices of authentic learning, examining various programs and strategies implemented in educational settings. Utilizing a phenomenological approach, qualitative data was collected through interviews with recent high school graduates to assess the impact of authentic learning on their post-secondary trajectories. …

Enhancing Novice Teachers’ Social Justice Practices Through Critical Professional Learning: A Critical Participatory Action Research Study, Brianna C. Connors

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is a crucial need for social justice-oriented educators in today's classrooms given the growing population of America's multicultural student population. Social justice-oriented teacher preparation programs (TPPs) have contributed significantly to shaping the pedagogies of teacher candidates, better equipping them to serve all students. The transition period following teacher candidates' engagement in the TPPs, however, presents political, contextual, and personal challenges for novice teachers (NTs) dedicated to teaching for social justice. This research presents findings from a critical participatory action research (CPAR) study delving into the experiences of NTs engaged in critical professional learning (CPL). The purpose of this research …

Bridging The Gap Between Neuroscience And Education: What Are Teachers’ Perceptions Of Applying “Neuropedagogy” To High School Classrooms?, Hanan Rashwan

Theses and Dissertations

Teachers can use neurobiological explanations to evaluate students' behavior and performance and create more supportive learning settings in their school environment. There is a growing interest among educators regarding the potential benefits of incorporating neuroscience into teaching practices. However, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding of how to effectively integrate cognitive neuroscience into teacher education programs to maximize its impact on student learning and teacher development. This study focuses on understanding teachers' views on the integration of neuroscience principles in educational settings by utilizing a questionnaire and interviews to gather data from participating teachers. The findings reveal that the …

Digital Intelligence In Egypt’S K-12 Public Schools: Educators’ Perspectives, Mohammed Al Mousa

Theses and Dissertations

Technological integration has been a dominant feature of Egypt’s education recently, especially after the announcement of the Education 2.0 initiative, which aims to transform Egypt's education to digital-based and skill-based learning (UNICEF, n.d.), Ever since, public schools in Egypt started adopting technology into teaching practices through online classes, digital textbooks, e-learning platforms, and digital examinations. This educational transformation requires teachers and students to possess the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values to become effective and responsible users of the transforming digital education system and the digital world in general, which are collectively known as Digital Intelligence (DQ). Despite the substantial role …