Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Implementing The Change Process For Staff And Student Success: An Instructional Module, Catherine Meyer-Looze, Suzanne Richards, Sharalyn Brandell, Lisabeth Margulus

Peer Reviewed Articles

Successful schools have a clearly defined vision for student success, usually measured by college and career readiness standards. They are able to articulate success indicators for student performance as well as success indicators for the staff performance needed to meet those student indicators. Successful schools are able to describe a theory of change, or change model, which drives their school improvement process to close the gaps between their current reality and their desired future state or vision. This article discusses change theory, describes the tenets of a change model, and illustrates those tenets describing a grant-funded change initiative in one …

Scaling Professional Development For Mathematics Teacher Educators, Michele B. Carney, Jonathan L. Brendefur, Gwyneth Hughes, Keith Thiede, Angela R. Crawford, Dan Jesse, Brandie Ward Smith

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

There have been multiple calls (Adler, Ball, Krainer, Lin, & Novotna, 2005; Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences, 2012; Kilpatrick, Swafford, & Findell, 2001) and extensive evidence (Hiebert, 2003; Lemke et al., 2004; National Math Panel, 2008; OECD, 2010) regarding the need to change K-12 mathematics education from procedural and memorization-driven to more conceptual and application-based. Professional development is viewed as an important mechanism to influence these changes in instructional practices (Fennema et al., 1996; Franke, Carpenter, Levi, & Fennema, 2001; Swafford, Jones, & Thornton, 1997) and student outcomes (Jacobs, Franke, Carpenter, Levi, & Battey, 2007). However, professional development is …

Teacher Development Multi-Year Study Series: Timor-Leste: Interim Report 1, Elizabeth Cassity, Jennie Chainey, Sheldon Rothman

Initial Teacher education

The purpose of this Interim Report is to present the findings from the first year of a multi-year study of Timor-Leste’s Professional Learning and Mentoring Program (PLMP). 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 PLMP leads to improvements in learning outcomes for students. This study of the PLMP is framed within the context Timor-Leste’s introduction of a new National Basic Education Curriculum.

Exploring The Capacity Development Of Novice School Administrators: It's Not Only Where Capacity Sources Are Accessed But Also How, Aaron Ross Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Although many school districts provide inservice professional development to build the capacities of novice principals, some of these supports are proving inadequate in recruiting or retaining qualified leaders. Research on capacity development for novice principals is scarce, yields mixed results, and employs methodology which has invited participant response bias. Reflecting the school level, gender, and Title I experience of novice principals within a large school district in the mid-Western United States, a sample of 24 novice principals respond to semi-structured interview questions. Iterations of transcription coding, member-checking, and analysis yield findings that help school districts better understand the capacity development …

District-University Collaborations To Support Reform-Based Mathematics Curriculum Implementation, Kelly Gomez Johnson, Amy L. Nebesniak, Theodore J. Rupnow

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Curriculum change is inevitable in schooling. For content areas such as mathematics that are already under the national spotlight, transitioning to new curriculum materials while concurrently enacting instructional reform creates both a challenge and an opportunity. This paper discusses how partnerships between two state universities and respective neighboring school districts resulted in the creation and implementation of graduate courses for teachers targeted at curricular and instructional reform specific to each district. Common course components between both university-district partnerships were identified in the areas of mathematics research, practice, and leadership advocacy and found to be instrumental in supporting instructional reform and …

Implementing A Teaching And Learning Enhancement Workshop At Aga Khan University: Reflections Onthe Implementation And Outcomes Of An Instructional Skills Workshop In The Context Of Pakistan, Sherwin Rodrigues, Sadia Muzaffar Bhutta, Zeenar Salim, Sahreen Chauhan, Naghma Rizvi

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The Teaching and Learning Enhancement Workshop (TLEW) is an indigenous name for the Canadian-based Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW). TLEW is a teaching development workshop aimed at enhancing faculty members’ stances towards student-centred teaching and reflective practice at the higher education level. This short paper discusses the initiation, implementation and institutionalisation of the TLEW at Aga Khan University (AKU) across entities in Asia and Africa. In total, 77 faculty members drawn from different entities of AKU participated in the workshop in 2016-2017. Empirical evidence collected from TLEW graduates through a survey and interviews suggests that the intense episode of planning, teaching …

Professional Development Among Brigham Young University Faculty, Elizabeth Ann Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a qualitative research study examining views of faculty at Brigham Young University regarding professional development at the university level. Subjects who participated in the study were selected based on being full-time, part-time, adjunct, tenured, and non-tenured professors at Brigham Young University. Instructors who work solely with online students were not included. The contacts also did not include student teachers, support staff, non-teaching faculty or graduate students.The key findings from the qualitative research study report that faculty differentiate between two categories of professional development, one concerned with teaching and other aspects of working at a university, and the …

Spanish For Lunch: Engaging Young Interpreters In Teacher Professional Development, Kevin Landon Johnstun

Theses and Dissertations

Across the United States, schools are largely segregated by race and ethnicity, resulting in schools that are densely Latino and teaching staff who are overwhelming monolingual English speakers, as most teachers are white women. This has created difficulty in home communication in these schools. Given the positive impacts of personal and frequent home communication, a greater capacity of teachers to communicate with parents may be an important asset in school improvement efforts. This study looks at ongoing design-based research efforts to engage bilingual students in helping their teachers become more capable of communicating in Spanish. Through online-delivered challenges, teachers and …

Administrator Perceptions Of The Teacher Evaluation Process And Professional Development Programming In New Jersey Independent Schools, Marissa C. Muoio

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study examines administrator perceptions of the teacher evaluation process and professional development programming in New Jersey independent schools. Despite the contentious topic of teacher evaluation within the national landscape today, there is currently little research available concerning administrator perceptions of teacher evaluation and professional development within independent schools. In this study, I ask a) What teacher evaluation processes or tools are being used in the independent schools in the state of New Jersey? b) What types of professional development programs are provided for teachers in these schools? and c) How do independent school administrators perceive the relationship between the …

Early Career Teacher Development Program: Review Of Existing Data, Katherine L. Dix

Professional learning for teachers and school leaders

This report, the first of three, presents insights from the evaluation of the South Australian Department for Education’s Early Career Teacher Development (ECTD) program, independently conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). The focus of Report 1 is a review of existing data. This research project, funded by the department in 2019, aimed to conduct a multi-pronged investigation of the Early Career Teacher Development (ECTD) program to inform how the program is tracking, where improvements can be made, and how it is having impact. The two-year program commenced at the start of 2017.

Early Career Teacher Development Program: Two-Years-On Survey Development, Katherine L. Dix, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed

Professional learning for teachers and school leaders

This report, the second of three, presents insights into the development of the Two-Years-On survey to inform the South Australian Department for Education’s Early Career Teacher Development (ECTD) program evaluation, conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). The focus of Report 2 is a review of existing similar surveys and the development of this new survey for the evaluation in 2019 and possible ongoing use for program monitoring. The program was launched in January 2017 and is designed to support the induction and professional development of early career teachers (ECTs) in their first two years. The program involves …

Personalized Professional Development Plans, Nancy B. Ruppert

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

Nancy Ruppert is the past-president of AMLE and past-president of NAPOMLE. She is the chair of the education department at UNC Asheville. Her current areas of interest are in advocating for middle school alumni and creating resources to advocate for middle level education. Here she invites readers to contribute to ideas for ongoing professional development.

Technology Integration Experiences And Perceptions Of Southeastern Secondary Teachers, Candace M. Pattman

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

This research examined secondary southeastern teachers’ experiences and perceptions of technology integration in the classroom. Two research questions guided this study: What are the experiences of South Carolina secondary high school teachers in technology-equipped classrooms? How do secondary high school teachers in southeastern schools perceive the process of integrating technology in their daily lessons? The study was conducted using the conceptual framework of Bruner (1961), Dewey (1910), Piaget (1970), and Vygotsky (1978). Constructivism suggests that individuals construct their knowledge and meaning through their experiences. Eight purposefully selected secondary teachers who used technology integration in their classrooms more than once participated …

Standardizing Facilitator Development For Exploring Computer Science Professional Development, Steven Mcgee, John Wachen, Lucia Dettori, Don Yanek, Faythe Brannon, Andrew M. Rasmussen, Dale F. Reed, Ronald I. Greenberg

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

A key strategy for broadening CS participation

in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has been the enactment

of a high school CS graduation requirement. The Exploring

Computer Science (ECS) curriculum and professional development

(PD) program serve as a core foundation for supporting

enactment of this policy. The CAFE´CS researcher-practitioner

partnership provides support for ECS implementation in CPS.

An important part of the sustainability of the ECS PD model in

CPS is the development of local workshop facilitators. Potential

facilitators have generally been selected based on the CAFE´CS

team’s personal familiarity with active ECS teachers. Once

selected, teachers engage in a …

Teacher Learning And Continuous Professional Development., Fiona Faulkner, John Kenny, Coral Campbell, Cosette Crisan

Books/Book Chapters

This chapter discusses teacher learning and professional development of out-of-field teachers from the point of view of the literature. It examines what makes this kind of learning and development effective and explores the ideas surrounding the varying rationale for the introduction of such teacher learning and professional development opportunities. Classical approaches to professional development are discussed in addition to several emerging international models of professional development that are currently being employed in the Republic of Ireland, England and Australia for in-service out-of-field teachers of mathematics predominantly but also a range of other subject disciplines (in the case of South Korea). …

The Impact Of Blended Professional Learning Focused On Total Physical Response Storytelling (Tprs®) On Teacher Perceptions And Practices, April Dawn Debord

Education Dissertations and Projects

Professional learning plays an integral role in every educator’s career. Studies show that traditional workshop professional learning in a one-round session without follow-up training is not effective (Ball & Cohen, 1999), yet this type of professional learning still comprises the bulk of professional development offerings. This study sought to discover the impact of providing blended professional learning with coaching on teacher perception, teacher knowledge, classroom practice, and student learning. Participating instructors from various Grades 9-12 backgrounds received asynchronous virtual training in the TPRS® method and Marzano’s (2004) vocabulary learning strategies. The training was delivered via the Canvas Learning Management System. …

Perceptions Of The Impact Of Quality Professional Development On The Sustainability Of A One-To-One Computing Initiative At The High School Level, Kerry Morrison

Education Dissertations and Projects

It has been said that education is the key to success, and today’s youth are tomorrow’s human resources. This is the 21st century; and students, who will be the human resources of tomorrow, are being prepared for jobs that may not even exist today. Legislators, policy makers, and researchers have encouraged methods to ensure teachers deliver high quality instruction, including requiring that teachers complete specific training, possess a minimum level of content knowledge, and use curriculum materials and professional development resources available from schools and districts (Hill, Blazar, & Lynch, 2015). As a result, teachers need to be exposing students …

Educating Our Educators: How Teachers Understand Themselves As Adult Learners And Perceive Their Professional Learning Experiences, Desirae` Khampanya

Education Dissertations and Projects

This study investigated how teachers understand themselves as adult learners and perceive their professional learning experiences within a rural school district in North Carolina. This study was a replication of Fitzgerald’s (2014) dissertation and sought to extend the generalizability of the original study. An explanatory mixed-methods design was used, and the two sources of data collected included an online survey and virtual interviews. The results from this study indicated that almost all participating teachers learned best when the core adult learning principles (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 2015) were applied to their professional learning experiences, but less than half of those …

Multicultural Education Professional Development: A Review Of The Literature, Hillary Parkhouse, Virginia R. Massaro, Chu Yi Lu Qiu

Teaching and Learning Publications

When their teachers are well equipped to foster inclusive and equitable classrooms, students from marginalized communities show higher rates of academic achievement, motivation, self-confidence, and self-efficacy. However, many teachers complete preparation programs feeling underprepared to work in culturally diverse classrooms, making high-quality professional development in this area crucial. We undertook a meta-ethnographic, systematic literature review of 40 studies of multicultural-education-focused professional development programs in order to better understand the forms and features of such programs that contribute to teachers’ self-efficacy and success in working with culturally diverse students. We found a small literature base with too much variation across types …

Reading For Teachers, Anannya Chakraborty

Teacher India

The author encourages teachers to read to further their knowledge and practice. Included in this article is a list of ten books every teacher should read.

Unity As The Primary Principle In A New Approach To Professional Development: Aligning Programming Through Milestone Events To Create Faculty Learning, Russell Carpenter, Charlie Sweet, Hal Blythe, Carolyn Grace

Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning

Authors offer a model for unifying professional development of faculty through aligning programming based on core-learning threads. This approach allows participants to embed new knowledge into a “larger context,” which Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel (2014) argued “helps learning” (p. 6). Our Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) unifies all events—Teaching & Learning Innovation (TLI) series sessions, Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), and faculty institutes—around these core-learning threads. This unified programming is supported by online experiences offered within the Developing Excellence in Eastern’s Professors (DEEP) system (Carpenter, 2017). Through this approach, authors use milestone events as opportunities to reinforce core-learning threads and …

Teacher's In-Service Professional Development Needs Assessment-The Pakistani Context, Aamna Pasha, Yuling Smith, Shehzad Jeeva

Examination Board

This paper explains the study of conducting a survey to assess the professional development needs of the teachers in schools affiliated with Aga Khan University – Examination Board (AKU-EB) with the aim of strategizing and designing teacher development programmes. An online survey was carried out with questions regarding the demographic information, teachers’ current practices and their professional training needs. There were 306 teachers who participated in this survey from affiliated schools from the provinces of Sindh, Punjab, Gilgit Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The results show that teachers expressed a preference in using lecturing as the main teaching method and familiarity …

Increasing Self-Efficacy In Providing Inclusive Practices To Students With Diverse Learning Needs, Teresa K. Nagy

All Capstone Projects

The purpose of this qualitative study was designed to determine if teachers in an elementary school in South Suburban School District in Chicago, Illinois increased their self-efficacy as it relates to serving students with disabilities in their least restrictive environment after receiving professional development. The study began with a historical review of students with disabilities and the current requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Reauthorization Act of 2004. Educational systems within the United States are required to provide services to students with diverse learning needs in the least restrictive environment. These supports are most commonly referred to as inclusive practices. …

Doctoral Engineering Grant Writing Experience To Prepare Future Professionals And Faculty, Katherine Smith, Nathapon Siangchokyoo, Erika Gamarra, Ashish Tamhane, Anthony W. Dean

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

While there have been many efforts to broaden opportunities for all STEM students by engaging in interdisciplinary endeavors and education focusing on professional development, there are particular problems facing students pursuing doctoral degrees in engineering disciplines. Doctoral programs of the future need to become better equipped to prepare students for future careers as engineering professionals or faculty. It has been noted recently that many doctoral degree recipients are turning to jobs outside of academia but increases in undergraduate enrollment and the average age of the professoriate indicate an increase in demand for new faculty. Both future faculty and professionals can …

Professional Development Support For The Online Instructor: Perspectives Of U.S. And German Instructors, Florence Martin, Chuang Wang, Kiran Budhrani, Robert L. Moore, Annika Jokiaho

STEMPS Faculty Publications

With the increase in number of courses being offered online, there is an increase in the need for professional development support for instructors to teach online. The purpose of this study is to examine faculty perceptions on professional development needs for online teaching, specifically in the U.S. and in Germany. Based on a qualitative open-ended survey, four themes emerged on the professional development needs of instructors for administrative support, personnel support, pedagogical support and technology support. This study discusses specific areas of support in these themes and provides implications for administrators, faculty, and support staff.

K-2 Mathematicians & Writers: Professional Learning Communities For Developing Conceptual Understanding, Doris Santarone, Angel R. Abney, Sandra M. Webb

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has long supported the use of children’s literature, writing, and manipulatives to improve conceptual understanding of mathematics (2000). In a professional learning community for K-2 teachers, professional development was designed and implemented on ways to incorporate literacy and manipulatives into a mathematics lesson. The teachers were charged with collaboratively planning lessons that included multiple components: the standard(s), a mathematics activity, manipulatives, a writing task, and children’s literature. As the data were analyzed, it became apparent that while most of the lessons were well connected, this did not happen for all of the lessons. …

Exploring Perceptions Of The Transition From Health Science Practitioner To Academic, Maryanne J. Stewart

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Transitioning from a clinical practitioner to an educator in the health sciences is a difficult task for many professionals. Although, clinically, these individuals have achieved a level of expertise, they are not necessarily trained to teach in a classroom setting and may find it difficult to transition into their role as novice. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine faculty members' preparedness during their transition to academia and their perceptions of the need for more support during the first 5 years of teaching. Vygotsky's and Dewey's theories of social constructivism and Knowles's assumptions of adult learning provided …

Middle School Mathematics Teachers' Perceptions Of Opportunities And Challenges, Shelby Eversole

Masters Theses

This study investigates the perspectives of opportunities and challenges of middle school mathematics’ teachers. To gain these perspectives, an ethnographic study was conducted by interviewing four middle school mathematics teachers in central Illinois. The results of this study imply that teachers of different backgrounds and teaching environments have varying perspectives about challenges and opportunities in the classroom. Limitations of this study include but are not limited to, the researcher having one year to conduct the research, only four teachers from two schools being interviewed, interviewees teaching different grade levels, no rural setting involvement, one educator having little teaching experience, teachers’ …

Towards Implementation Of Evidence-Based Practices For Classroom Management In Australia: A Review Of Research, Lorna Hepburn, Wendi Beamish

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The components of effective classroom management are well established; yet concerns regarding student disengagement and the underuse of evidence-based behaviour support practices in Australian schools remain. This paper reports the findings from a systematic literature review conducted to identify what is currently known about teacher implementation of evidence-based classroom management practices. The analysis indicates that teachers underuse many evidence-based practices but may over-report frequency of use. Australian research on teacher implementation of evidence-based practices for classroom management is lacking, and the impact of Schoolwide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) implementation on teacher practice is unknown, despite the adoption of SWPBS in …

Short-Term International Experiences In Language Teacher Education: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis, Emrullah Yasin Çiftçi, A. Cendel Karaman

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Short-term international experiential learning opportunities can foster language teachers' multidimensional development. Even though such experiences are considered beneficial for language teachers’ development, educational reviews have scarcely concentrated on a comprehensive synthesis of the impact of such experiences on language teachers. This meta-synthesis of qualitative research analyzed the role of international experiential learning in the multidimensional development of pre- and in-service language teachers. Besides presenting a number of research patterns in the literature, this synthesis of 25 qualitative studies reported main outcomes of short-term international experiences for language teachers. These outcomes were synthesized under three main headings: (1) professional, (2) linguistic, …