Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Factors Associated With Novice General Education Teachers’ Preparedness To Work With Multilingual Learners: A Multilevel Study, Qizhen Deng Ph.D., Lydiah Kananu Kiramba, Kara Mitchell Viesca

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This study examined factors linked to novice general education teachers’ perception of their preparedness to work with multilingual learners in the classroom. Using a multilevel modeling approach, we examined factors at the teacher and school levels using two AY 2015 to 2016 datasets: The National Teacher and Principal Survey from the National Center for Education Statistics and the Civil Rights Data Collection from the Office of Civil Rights. The results show that teacher perception of preparedness was positively associated with teacher education courses on working with multilingual learners, supports received during the first-year teaching, and the number of multilingual learners …

Identifying Self-Determined Learning Practices Within Social Media For Teacher Professional Development, Leah Mcjilton

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The collective increase of learner-centered teaching and substantial technology use in the classroom has given instructors potential opportunities to support students in developing lifelong learning skills. The ability to manage one’s own learning is an essential skill for lifelong learners in today’s workforce. Heutagogy, or self-determined learning, suggests that individuals have agency with respect to how, what, and when they learn. Heutagogy provides a framework for making the most of these developments, drawing on established learner-centered education theories. The key principles of heutagogy provide a foundation for designing and developing learning environments using social media. In order for teachers to …

Covid-19: The Need For Teacher Development In Critical Thinking Pedagogy, Maya Menon

Teacher India

The pandemic has intensified the learning crisis and highlighted several educational challenges. Maya Menon describes why it is important to invest in teacher development so that teachers are empowered to deliver the skills required by NEP 2020.

Teacher Development Multi-Year Studies. Emerging Themes: Challenges And Enablers, Debbie Wong, Elizabeth Cassity

Education Analytics Service

The global learning crisis has highlighted the urgent need to improve the quality of education. COVID-19 disruptions have placed even greater focus on the learning improvement agenda, and the need to ensure disadvantaged children are not further left behind. Teacher development, and improving teaching quality, therefore is at the heart of many education systems’ policies and programs. This paper presents some of the key considerations for improving teaching across three countries which are being investigated as part of a multi-year teacher development study series. This study series, commissioned by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), involves …

Transitioning A Mathematics Specialist Preparation Program Into An Interactive Online Program: Insights From The Developer And Candidate Perspectives, Aimee J. Ellington, Allison Yoder

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

This paper will describe how the Virginia Commonwealth University mathematics specialist preparation program transitioned from a face-to-face format to a fully online format. We will describe the technology and instructional methods that are used for course meetings, activities, and assignments. We will describe the development and implementation of a mathematics activity from instructors designing the activity, participants completing the activity, and instructors providing feedback on the activity. One mathematics activity will be shared that demonstrates the process of the program model that includes independent work, small group work, and in-class discussions. We will describe one participant’s experience as she developed …

Early Childhood General Education Inclusion Teachers’ Perceptions Of Professional Development, Susanne Metscher

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the use of professional development (PD), early childhood inclusive teachers lack the knowledge and skills needed to support students with disabilities. It was unclear what types of PD teachers have received and what supports they still need. If teachers lack PD and the skills needed to teach students with disabilities effectively, then student progress may be negatively affected. The purpose of this basic qualitative research study and the research questions were to understand early childhood inclusive general education teachers’ perceptions of past PD experiences of working with students with disabilities and what supports they need to implement evidence-based practices. …

Intermediate Schoolteachers’ Perceptions Of The Impact Of Professional Development On Their Classroom Instruction, Gwendolyn Adams Lockett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite increased district-provided professional development (PD) opportunities for teachers to improve classroom instruction, there has been a steady decline of academic achievement at an intermediate school in a large urban school district in the southwestern United States. One of the factors campus administrators attributed the lack of student success to was that the district does not provide PD that is effective in changing in intermediate schoolteachers’ instructional practices. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore intermediate schoolteachers’ perceptions of the impact PD provided by the district has on their classroom instruction, as well as the impact these trainings …

Exploring The Strategies English As A Second Language Teachers Use To Teach Students, Unika Lasha Felton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractIn the local school district under study located in southern United States, English as second language (ESL) students are experiencing lower than expected standardized testing scores according to expectations set forth by the state Department of Education. The purpose of this project study was to explore the strategies ESL teachers use to teach ESL students. The conceptual framework was Gagne’s conditions of learning theory, which is used to assess students’ lack of preparation for future academic and career success. The research question asked what strategies ESL teachers use to teach ESL students. A qualitative exploratory case study with purposive sampling …

The Constructivist Approach Towards Identifying The Challenges Of Esp Teachers: The Case Of Aviation English, Gökhan Demirdöken Mr.

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Continuous growth of aviation industry necessitates developing a better understanding of English for Specific Purposes teaching settings to improve the quality teaching and in turn, to serve best for the needs of ESP students. Therefore, role of ESP teachers and their experiences in these teaching settings need to be closely monitored for improved professional development opportunities. Taking this into account the present study focused on ESP teachers working and giving Aviation English courses in a tertiary level institution in Turkey. The constructivist approach was adopted to uncover the challenges encountered by ESP teachers in the target setting. Five ESP teachers …

Looking For Hope: The Experience Of Early Career Teachers Engaged In A Collaborative Community Of Reflective Practice As A Model Of Induction And Professional Development, Donia E. Spott

Theses and Dissertations

Teaching has always been an isolated profession and many professional development programs are seen as disconnected from the realities and daily needs of teaching. With the pressures of standards, paperwork, classroom management, and learning to teach, early career teachers can be especially vulnerable to becoming discouraged, disillusioned, and demoralized. This study used a qualitative, narrative inquiry approach to tell the stories of seven early career teachers’ experiences with induction and the development of a reflective community to support early career teachers in their professional practice. As part of the action research approach taken in designing the program, the discussions and …

Leveraging Social Media And Scholarly Discussion For Educator Empowerment, Steven Kolber, Sandy Nicoll, Kelli Mcgraw, Nicolas Gaube, Keith R. Heggart

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper shares insights from an international community of educators who have been using social media as a virtual space for a scholarly reading group: #edureading. The collection of educator narratives presented in this paper show how social networks on Twitter and Flipgrid were used as inclusive environments for teacher-led professional development. This paper is both a report of research involving five practitioners inquiring into their collective experience, and an exercise in building the scholarly capacity of the #edureading group. The accessibility of the social media platforms, as well as the collaborative, inquiry-based approach to scholarly reading, emerge as key …

Coaching Paraeducators To Accurately Record Student Response Data During Direct Instruction, Paige J. Carter Phd

Theses and Dissertations

Paraeducators serving students with disabilities outnumber special education teachers in the United States (Stewart, 2019; U. S. Department of Education et al., 2018). Paraeducators regularly provide instruction without the benefit of regular and effective training. One of the duties associated with instruction is the collection of instructional data. The purpose of this study was to examine a combination of training and coaching on the accuracy of recording student responses. In addition, a teacher-as-coach model was examined for feasibility with existing time and resources. A multiple baseline across participants design was planned. Special education teachers and paraeducators at a public separate …

The Policy-Driven Dimensions Of Teacher Beliefs About Assessment, Dennis Alonzo, Velma Labad, Jean Bejano, Florence Guerra

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Despite the advancement of the conceptualisations of teacher assessment literacy, teachers’ assessment practices remain relatively low due to misalignment between teachers’ beliefs on assessment and principles of effective assessment practices. The current assessment reform in the Philippines has not gained significant traction despite the ongoing professional development programs focused on enhancing teacher assessment literacy. We argue that to change teachers’ exam-dominated assessment practices towards a more student-centred approach, there is a need to explore teachers’ beliefs in assessment. Hence, we developed a context-driven tool using both theoretical and empirical approaches that could measure this construct, and which the results could …

When Knowing Is Not Enough: A Narrative Exploration Of How K-12 Teachers Make Decisions About The Transfer Of Critical Competencies From Professional Learning To Daily Practice, Nell E. Ballard-Jones

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

School districts spend millions of dollars each year to provide training and learning to staff working in direct and indirect service to students (National Council on Teacher Quality, 2021). This financial commitment says nothing about what is even more important: the need for school employees and the systems in which we work to serve students more effectively. Despite vast allocations of time and money and presumably best intentions for better social and academic outcomes for students, very little data exist that reflect regular transfer and application of training/learning into professional practice (Nittler et al., 2015). By and large, schools and …

Survey Of Teachers In Pre-Primary Education (Stepp): Lessons From The Implementation Of The Pilot Study And Field Trial Of International Survey Instruments, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Maurice Walker, Yoshie Kaga

Early Childhood Education

The present publication documents the achievements and lessons learned from the first phase of the Survey of Teachers in Pre-primary Education (STEPP) project, implemented by UNESCO from 2016 to 2019, with the participation of seven countries, namely, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Indonesia, Namibia, the Philippines, Togo, and Viet Nam. It is the first international survey for low-and-middle-income countries designed to collect information that is known to affect the quality of pre-primary education from pre-primary teachers and centre heads. The collected information concerns training and professional development, pedagogical and professional practices, working conditions and job satisfaction, and characteristics of pre-primary personnel …

Teacher Perceptions Of Blended Learning To Support 21st Century Learners, Nikki Hensley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand teacher perceptions of blended learning as an instructional methodology for addressing the needs of diverse learners. The researcher explored the perceptions of teachers who were participating in an ongoing professional development program within their school district. This program focused on improving teaching and learning through the implementation of a blended learning approach. The researcher examined the experiences of teachers as they learned to adapt pedagogical practices to address the learning needs of 21st century students through blended learning. The researcher sought to gain a better understanding of how teachers perceived that …

Raising The Bar With Professional Development In The Use Of Distance Learning Tools, Victoria Brown, Jillian Powers, Ann Musgrove Dr., Daria Olden

FDLA Journal

Abstract: Strategic plans to increase online student enrollment and distance learning (DL) enrollment are driving professional development centers to change their approach to faculty preparation for designing, developing, and facilitating online courses. As it takes approximately three to five years to achieve change in teaching attitudes toward technology (Hall & Hord, 2014), understanding factors that influence faculty adoption of technology, their self-efficacy, and attitudes toward technology becomes indispensable. This paper describes a study that explored how different professional development (PD) options affect faculty self-efficacy and attitudes toward adopting distance learning tools for online instruction. The authors welcome a discussion on …

A Sociological View On Designing A Sustainable Online Community For K–12 Teachers: A Systematic Review, Dabae Lee, Jiyoon Jung, Suhkyung Shin, Anne Otternbreit-Leftwich, Krista Glazewski

Faculty Articles

As a way to support teachers’ professional development activities and build communities of practice for teachers, education researchers and practitioners have put considerable effort into building an online learning community for K–12 teachers to create a venue to facilitate teachers’ joint knowledge construction. However, a substantial number of such online communities have failed due to lack of participation of members. Therefore, it is critical to understand how to design a sustainable community that fulfills members’ needs and elicits active participation of members. In this literature review, we adopted a sociological framework to investigate how to create a sustainable online community. …

Teacher Learning And The Difficulties Of Moving Civic Education Forward. A Response To “Beyond The Invisible Barriers Of The Classroom: Iengage And Civic Praxis”, Avner Segall

Democracy & Education

In “Beyond the Invisible Barriers of the Classroom: iEngage and Civic Praxis,” the authors reported on the experiences teachers encountered during a weeklong Youth Engage Civic Institute Camp and the degree to which what teachers learned in the camp was able to move their thinking and practice toward a more critical, justice-oriented approach to civic education. The authors’ analysis thus “considers the ideological shifts the counselors [teachers] made and the likelihood that they will teach beyond the formal classroom as they return to more traditional environments” (Magill et al., 2020, p. 2). In that, the authors were interested not only …

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 4, Issue 2

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full Fall 2020 issue (Volume 4, Issue 2) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence.

Teacher Development In Promising School Turnaround Efforts, Andrew Swanson

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The study was developed to examine the teacher development efforts utilized by leaders of lowperforming schools that had shown promising gains in student achievement. A researchercreated quantitative survey sent to school leaders in one state was utilized to analyze the perceived use and effectiveness of various teacher development efforts in supporting student achievement gains at their schools. Overall, the results showed school leaders focused heavily on teacher development to support their school turnaround efforts and that teacher development was effective in improving student achievement. Classroom walk-throughs were found to be an integral strategy in school turnaround and the results also …

The Relationship Between The Next Generation Content Area Reading Professional Development Program On The Effectiveness Of Teaching Literacy Strategies In High School Biology Classes, Tia Pridgen Brown

Dissertations

The need for effective content area reading teachers have continued to increase since the introduction of one public school districts’ Content Area Reading Professional Development (CAR-PD) in 2006. In 2011, modifications were made to improve the program, and it became known as the Next Generation Content Area Reading Professional Development (NGCAR-PD). The purpose of this program evaluation is to investigate the relationship between NGCAR-PD certified Biology teachers and their ability to implement reading strategies with science content effectively. The context of this inquiry is a mid-sized public school district that has implemented the program since 2006 at the middle and …

A Perturbed System: How Tenured Faculty Responded To The Covid-19 Shift To Remote Instruction, Rachel L. Rupnow, Nicole D. Ladue, Nicole M. James, Heather E. Bergan-Roller

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

This study investigates six university professors' reflections on the shift to remote instruction during the Spring 2020 semester in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. The rapid shift in instructional platform presents an opportunity to learn from unresolved challenges that persisted through the semester. Here we present a qualitative study of how experienced (i.e., associate or full) chemistry professors report their teaching practices in light of the COVID-19 disruptions. We observed four major themes: personal factors, contextual factors of the structure and culture, teacher thinking, and teachers' practice. These themes revealed that the professors in this study adapted quickly using …

English Language Learning Professional Development For K-12 Teachers, Kristen M. Fober

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

In response to the growing population of English language learners (ELLs) in a school district in rural Iowa, professional development (PD) has been developed as a school improvement plan to help teachers learn how to meet the needs of this population. This plan has been developed based on a robust review of current literature on strategies to support ELL students. The school improvement plan includes a pre-survey, six 1-hour sessions of PD plans, PD resources (such as handouts and slides), and a post-survey. The intended outcome of the PD is for teachers to feel more prepared to work with ELLs …

Effective Paraeducator Implementation Of Behavior Intervention Plans For Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Exploration Of Training And Support Needs, Kristen Nottle-Powell

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this convergent mixed methods study was to describe the training and support paraeducators who work with students with autism spectrum disorder received as they implemented behavior intervention plans based on the Browning-Wright, Mayer, and Saren model. Additionally, this study sought to describe the training and challenges experienced by paraeducators, as well as their training and support recommendations for paraeducators who work with students with autism spectrum disorder with a behavior intervention plan.

Methodology: A convergent mixed methods study was used to describe the training and support experiences, challenges, and recommendations, as described by paraeducators …

Teacher Perceptions Of The Efficacy Of Literacy Coaching As A Valuable Professional Development Practice, Erin J. Stinson-Dioguardi

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceived effectiveness of literacy coaching as a valuable professional development practice for teachers in New Jersey provided with literacy coaching support from a school-based literacy coach. This study also explored instructional coaching and the potential impact this support has on teacher practice. The study was designed to identify the successful professional development strategies that instructional coaches in New Jersey utilized to influence teacher practice. This study may be valuable to researchers, school districts, and educators currently or seeking to implement an instructional coaching program as part of high-quality professional development. The …

Teacher Perceptions And Implementation Of A Content-Area Literacy Professional Development Program, Osha Lynette Smith, Rebecca Robinson

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

The Common Core State Standards recommend that all educators equip students with the literacy skills needed for college and careers. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine middle-level content-area teachers’ perspectives on a district-led literacy professional development program and their implementation of the literacy strategies they learned. The conceptual framework included Bruner’s constructivist, Bandura’s self-efficacy, and Knowles’s andragogy theories. These theories informed the investigation of adult learners’ perspectives regarding the way they learn and gain confidence in providing literacy instruction. Eleven English, math, science, and social studies teachers participated in the study through individual interviews. Data were …

Teacher Development Multi-Year Study Series: Timor-Leste: Interim Report 2, Elizabeth Cassity, Jennie Chainey

Initial Teacher education

The interim reports present the findings from the first and second years of a multi-year study on Timor-Leste's Apoiu Lideransa liuhosi Mentoria no Aprendizajen (ALMA). The study focuses on understanding the extent to which education stakeholders, including school leaders and teachers, develop teaching knowledge and change teaching practice over time. It also explores the extent to which participation in the program leads to improvements in learning outcomes for students. This study is framed within the context of Timor-Leste's introduction of a new National Basic Education Curriculum.

Using Video To Reframe The Teacher Evaluation Process As A Professional Learning Experience : An Action Research Study, Andrew C. Matteo

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The purpose of this action research study was to work with a group of teachers to refine an organizational routine dealing with teacher evaluation with the dual goals of (a) increasing the teachers’ sense of professionalism and improving the technical core of their work—instruction— and (b) moving toward a routine that the district will be able to use in the future. The research question that guided this work was, “How do we experience the organizational routine that I developed using video for teacher evaluation for improving teacher practice as compared to the existing teacher evaluation system, and how does our …

Reflections Of An Early Literacy Professional Learning Community: An Interactional Ethnographic Case Study Of Transforming Pedagogy Through Reflective Practice, Carly Waters

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Teachers have historically been faced with extrinsic factors, such as federal, state, and local mandates, that leave them feeling disempowered (Slattery, 2006; Spring 2018). In response to low reading proficiency, many states have adopted Read by Grade Three laws, some of which require or make optional retention of students that are not reading proficiently by the end of third grade. Laws such as these, though well-intentioned, provide another external force that leave teachers feeling stressed and chained to practices they are told to implement. Effective professional development that targets both strong early literacy pedagogy and the empowerment of teachers may …