Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Reading By Ear: Music Teachers' Roles In And Attitudes About Identifying Students With Dyslexia In Kentucky's Public School System, Alison Ward Brown

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Identifying students with literacy disabilities, such as dyslexia, efficiently in public schools is crucial for early intervention. Literacy and musical skills share common neurological pathways, so music educators possess a skill set that could be advantageous in screening students. This study utilized a descriptive research design to identify music educators’ roles in the identification of students with dyslexia/reading disabilities in Kentucky’s public schools, and their attitudes about those roles. Data was collected through a survey completed by Kentucky public school music teachers. Results indicated that 92% of respondents had not participated in the screening process for children with literacy disorders/dyslexia …

Dancing Across Difference: Arts And Community-Based Interventions As Intercultural Education, Theresa Catalano, Amanda R. Morales

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

There is an ever-present need to foster and maintain intercultural competence in today’s teaching force. Although much research details how to do this, few studies document how to utilize arts and community-based (ACB) approaches to align with the goals of intercultural education. This qualitative study examines reflections from 61 teacher learners who participated in an ACB intervention with community partners while enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate course focused on serving students with immigrant/refugee backgrounds. The aim of this study was to find out what the characteristics of good intercultural education are, as well as how ACB approaches can provide …

“At School, It’S A Completely Different World”: African Immigrant Youth Agency And Negotiation Of Their Adaptation Processes In Us Urban Schools, Lydiah Kananu Kiramba, Hanihani Moundiba Traore, Guy Trainin

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

African immigrant youth adaptation processes in US schools remain underresearched. Using qualitative case study, this article examines West African immigrant middle- and high-school youth adaptation experiences in US urban schools. Findings show that racialized experiences, English proficiency levels, and multilingualism affected social relationships (both supportive and conflicted) with families, communities, peers, and school contexts. These experiences crucially influenced African immigrant youths’ adaptation processes. Participants drew from community resources and developed resilience skills to negotiate acculturative stressors when seeking friendship, belonging, and an integrated sense of identity in their new home. Recommendations for further supporting positive adaptive strategies are discussed.

Preparing Teachers For Culturally Responsive/Relevant Pedagogy (Crp): A Critical Review Of Research, Wen-Chia Chang, Kara Viesca

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

Context: Proposed more than two decades ago, culturally relevant/responsive teaching or pedagogy (CRP) is one promising approach to transform education experiences of historically marginalized groups. The development of CRP has since inspired changes in teacher education programs and resulted in considerable research on preparing teachers for CRP. However, critics have argued that much work on CRP has not fulfilled its transformative potential of addressing racism and the white-supremacist foundations underlying teacher education research and practice, and have urged CRP research to grow from the existing knowledge base and to innovate.

Purpose of Study: This study critically examines the research practices …

Representing Transition Experiences: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis Of Young Immigrants In Children’S Literature, Xiaoyan Gu, Theresa Catalano

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

Because literature can serve as a mirror for children’s self-reflection and a window into humanizing insights on immigrants and immigration, it can be a powerful educational tool to promote understanding of immigrant learner’s experiences and needs. However, this has not always been the case. As such, informed by our theoretical framework of critical discourse studies (CDS) and raciolinguistics, this study explores the representations of immigrant children’s experiences in children’s literature. Employing multimodal critical discourse analysis, the authors analyze the visual and verbal representations of immigrant children (and the ideologies behind them) in 18 picture books with immigration themes. Findings reveal …

Spiritual And Religious Meaning Making In Language And Literacy Studies: Global Perspectives On Teaching, Learning, Curriculum And Policy, Mary M. Juzwik, Robert Jean Leblanc, Denise Dávila, Eric D. Rackley, Loukia K. Sarroub

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

Purpose—In an editorial introduction essay for the special issue on Religion, Literacies, and English Education in Global Dialogue, the editors frame papers in the special issue in dialogue with previous scholarly literature around three central lines of inquiry: How do children, youth and families navigate relationships among religion, spirituality, language and literacy? What challenges are faced by language and literacy teachers and teacher educators around the globe who seek to respond to diverse religious and spiritual perspectives in their work? And what opportunities do teachers seize or create toward this end? How are developments of language and literacy theory, …

Changing Faces And Persistent Patterns For Education In The New Latinx Diaspora, Edmund T. Hamann, Linda Harklau

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

The study of education in the New Latino/a/x¹ Diaspora (NLD) was initiated in the 1990s with an understanding that education research from regions where the Latino/a/x presence is long-standing might not always fit well for places where Latino/a/x populations were newer and where histories of discrimination, political organizing, and resistance were much more limited. This chapter is the fourth in a series of "bigger picture" examinations of the status of education in the NLD over the past two decades (following Hamann, Wortham, and Murillo [2002] and Hamann and Harklau [2010, 2015]). Like previous iterations, this chapter points to gaps …

Seeking Clarity In Murky Waters: Nuances Of Equity And Social Justice From A Teacher Perspective, Elaine J. Chan

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

In this study, I examined interactions between an English teacher and her students to illustrate ways in which issues of equity and social justice may play out in nuanced ways in the implementation of school curriculum in a diverse, Midwestern high school. These stories of classroom teacher and student experiences reveal complexities of how equity and social justice might unfold for students, and be understood by a teacher as she works with her students, to build a body of “teacher knowledge” (Clandinin and Connelly, 1996) that grows as the teacher gains experience. Examining complexities of “teacher knowledge” as a classroom …

Quality Content Teaching For Multilingual Students: An International Examination Of Excellence In Instructional Practices In Four Countries, Kara Viesca, Annela Teemant, Jenni Alisaari, Johanna Ennser-Kananen, Naomi Flynn, Svenja Hammer, Sara Routarinne

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

Observations of Pedagogical Excellence of Teaching Across Nations (OPETAN) is a mixed methods observation study of 31 content teachers, most nominated for their excellence in teaching multilingual students in Germany, Finland, the US, and England. The study relied on an observation rubric that operationalizes seven Enduring Principles of Learning grounded in critical sociocultural theory and pedagogy. Findings revealed excellent teachers emphasize complex thinking, language use, and modeling. Teacher use of small groups, contextualization, and equity-focused practices were areas of potential growth. International research holds promise for understanding and improving K-12 content teaching and teacher education for teachers of multilingual learners.

A Meta-Analysis Examining Technology-Assisted L2 Vocabulary Learning, Aiqing Yu, Guy Trainin

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

This meta-analysis examines the effectiveness of technology-assisted second language (L2) vocabulary learning as well as identifies factors that may play a role in their effectiveness. We found 34 studies with 2,511 participants yielding 49 separate effect sizes. Following the procedure developed by Hunter and Schmidt (2004), we corrected for sample size bias and measurement error. The overall effect size for using technology to learn L2 vocabulary was d = 0.64, which is a moderate effect size. The Q statistic indicated a significant variability in effect size, so we followed up with a theory-driven moderator analysis. The results of the moderator …

Developing Intercultural Competence In Multilingual Science Classrooms: A Narrative Study, Uma Ganesan, Amanda Morales

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

Increased globalization of the world economy, growth in human migration, and rapid developments in science and technology have required people to develop intercultural communication skills. Teachers play a crucial role in developing intercultural competence among students in our globalized, multilingual classrooms. The need for fostering discourse and building intercultural competence among students is a common blind spot in teacher praxis. This can inhibit efforts to cultivate safe and supportive learning environments for all students and can ultimately threaten multilingual student success. As part of a larger study, this narrative inquiry explores the phenomenon of intercultural competence development through the lived …

Diez Cosas Que Maestros Mexicanos Deben Saber De Las Escuelas Estadounidenses, Edmund T. Hamann

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

La escuela es un universo institucional que la niñez y la adolescencia migrante tienen que negociar en sus contextos de llegada. A menudo, las niñas, niños y adolescentes (NNyA) migrantes han tenido una experiencia escolar anterior, en un país en el que el sistema educativo opera sobre la base de una serie de normas diferentes. Por eso es importante que las personas que guían la escolarización en el nuevo escenario educativo –en este caso los maestros mexicanos– sepan cómo funciona el sistema educativo estadounidense en el que estaban escolarizados anteriormente sus estudiantes. Con este conocimiento pueden ayudar a sus alumnos …

How Do Parents Of Typically Developing Children Perceive And Interact With Children With Exceptionalities?, Zurisaday N. Decker

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

The purpose of this study was to examine how parents with children displaying typical development, perceive and interact with children who have exceptionalities or disabilities and explore parents’ openness to having discussions about exceptional children in inclusive classrooms. Given that parents function as foundational sources of knowledge to children in their early childhood years, understanding parents’ perceptions of and interactions with children with disabilities may help to understand how these parents’ children will, in-turn, perceive and interact with classroom peers with disabilities. This line of inquiry is supported by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, which views microsystems such as the family, …

The 6e Instructional Model In The Mathematics Classroom, Danielle K. Deutsch

Honors Projects

The focus of this action research study is to compare the 6E instructional model to a traditional instructional model in the mathematics classroom. Literature shows that the 5E model has a significant positive impact on subject mastery, knowledge permanence, and students’ attitude and interest toward the content. Further, the 6E model is shown to allow for easy implementation of tiered differentiation strategies so that all students’ needs are met. Two classes of seventh grade students received instruction on the same content, with one class receiving 6E instruction and the other receiving traditional, lecture-demonstration style instruction. Results showed that the 6E …

Instructors Reflect On How Their Preservice Preparation And Ongoing Professional Development Prepared Them To Address Oppressive Dynamics In Adult Esol Programs In The United States, David A. Housel

Publications and Research

For decades, researchers have asserted that the preservice preparation for instructors of adult emergent bi/multilingual learners (EBLs) in the United States can be inconsistent, and access to ongoing professional development (PD) can be insufficient to address the demands of the 21st century classroom. A previous study conducted by the author revealed that instructors of adult EBLs felt adequately prepared to teach English, but they often felt ill-equipped to address the learning challenges and oppressive dynamics that might manifest in their adult English to Speakers of Other Language (ESOL) classrooms. This convergentmixed methods studywas a preliminary attempt to address these issues. …

Processing Equity Consciousness Through Cre Action Research Pd During Times Of Unrest, Uncertainty, And The Amplification Of Crt Disinformation, Robyn Lyn

Graduate Research Posters

Equity initiatives, such as culturally responsive education (CRE), are under attack through local school board demonstrations and state legislatures across the U.S. These public attacks are becoming a barrier to equitable education. This study began before the public outcry against critical race theory and documents a timeline of events during a CRE 2-year action research professional development (PD). Though studies have examined the benefits of CRE, few investigate equity consciousness (EC), an awareness of systemic (in)equity. My study examines EC during a longitudinal CRE action research PD observing how equity consciousness presents in dialogue with veteran in-service teachers as they …

Changing Needs Of Special Education Preservice Teachers In The Practicum, Stella Gidalevich, Maayan Shalev

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Self-determination theory (SDT) suggests that people strive to fulfill three basic needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. In teacher education research, fulfilling those needs is connected to positive skill development and increased wellbeing of preservice teachers and their students. Teacher education programs for special education preservice teachers (SEPT) include a professional experience in various school settings with neurodiverse students. This professional experience gives rise to specific needs for these SEPT. In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 SEPT, studying at various stages of two teacher education programs. The findings were analyzed qualitatively. Results revealed developing and changing needs throughout the educational …

Professional Learning Communities: Perception Of Impact On Learning, Esther Denise Hayden

Online Theses and Dissertations

This research focused on Professional Learning Communities (PLC): Perception of Impact on Learning. The overarching question for the research is: How do principals and teachers in Title I schools perceive the learning benefits in a Professional Learning Community?

(a) What do teachers perceive as benefits of participating in a Professional Learning Community? (b) What do teachers perceive as an influence(s) on student learning in a PLC community? (c) What do teachers perceive to be the limitations of a PLC community? This qualitative research study analyzed data from current principals and teachers in proficient Title 1 schools as outlined by the …

Instructional Coaching And Student Achievement, Lee Ann Lewellen

Online Theses and Dissertations

School districts across the nation are employing coaching for teachers as a means to improve teacher quality and increase student achievement. Looking specifically at instructional coaching as an intervention for teacher support, this study considers the literacy growth data of coached teachers compared to the literacy growth data of uncoached teachers when controlling for years of teaching experience. Data from this study did not find a statistically significant difference between the students’ data from the two groups of teachers.

Investigating A State-Funded Disciplinary Literacy Program In Kentucky For Educators Of Adolescent Students, Kevin Presnell

Online Theses and Dissertations

This case study describes a professional learning opportunity for educators of adolescents, namely the Literacy for Adolescent Teachers (LAT), at a regional midsize university in Kentucky. The LAT is a year-long experience that enrollees undertake to grow professionally by gaining specific literacy skills. This study focuses specifically on participant experience with the disciplinary literacy content, strategies, and resources presented at the summer program. This investigation sought to understand if participation in the disciplinary literacy program impacted the participants’ perceptions of literacy and their dispositional attitudes toward integrating literacy into their professional practice. The data revealed that participants in the LAT …

Our Words Matter: The Impact Of Professional Development On Positive Teacher Language, Jennifer L. Hilderbrand

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Research shows that quality student-teacher relationships contribute to students’ academic, behavioral, and social-emotional outcomes. During phase 1 of this Improvement Science study, Buck Mountain Elementary School adults expressed concern with student-adult relationships. Specifically, adults indicated that connectedness with students has deteriorated since the onset of learning in a COVID 19 impacted context. Next, phase 2 investigated the impact of professional development on positive teacher language as an effective strategy to increase quality student-teacher relationships. Using a participatory-classroom action research method, participants engaged in a five-session intervention cycle of professional development focused on positive teacher language to support teachers in rebuilding …

Trauma-Informed Educational Practices In The Middle School Classroom During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Loralynne Yost

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

This collective case study used a mixed methods approach to examine how Trauma-Informed Educational Practices (TIEP) manifest in the middle school classroom. This study is important due to the trauma students experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Teacher participants had district training in trauma-informed practices prior to this study.

Teacher participants took an initial survey to capture their conceptualization and perceived usage of the TIEP in the classroom. Teachers then used TIEP in their classrooms for two weeks. Teachers kept a checklist of which of the TIEP they used each day and commented on the context for the use of the …

Research And Assessment Methods For Leadership Development In Practice, David M. Rosch, Lindsay J. Hastings

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

While the field of leadership education continues to grow in terms of number of programs, students, and associated professional educators, our rigorous understanding of the impact of these programs has continued to lag behind such growth. Many postsecondary leadership educators work on campuses and have graduated from masters-level preparatory programs that do not focus extensively on rigorous research/assessment methods and may, therefore, lack the background necessary for high-level work (Brachle et al., 2021; Rosch et al., 2017; Teig, 2018). As a result, researchers and program assessment staff often recognize the need to take their methodological development “into their own hands” …

When Science Journalism Is Awesome: Measuring Audiences’ Experiences Of Awe From Reading Science Stories, Asheley R. Landrum, Kristina Janét, Kelsi Opat, Heather Akin

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

In collaboration with professional science journalists, we conducted a national online survey (N = 2,088) to explore facets of awe as potential response states to science journalism and how audiences’ dispositional science curiosity may influence these response states. Our science journalist collaborators identified several “awe-inducing” articles as well as a “business-as-usual” article to use in the survey, and we measured participants’ experiences of awe using the Awe Experience Scale (AWE-S). We replicated the factor structure of the AWE-S and found that participants’ generally experienced greater awe from reading the “awe-inducing” science articles compared to the “business-asusual” one. Only partial support …

Formfollows Function: Research And Assessment Design For Leadership Learning, L.J. Mcelravy

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

This article discusses how the design of research should follow the questions the study seeks to address. The article provides practical and diverse examples of broad research questions applicable to researchers or program architects and summarizes how different methods should be employed to respond.

I have been teaching “Research Methods in Leadership Education” for the past five years. The goal of the course is to help orient graduate students to leadership research and assessment, and for many students, I’m introducing them to social science research and assessment broadly. The beauty and challenge of engaging in leadership research and assessment is …

Exploring The Relationship Between Reported Instructional Leadership Behaviors And High-Quality Professional Development Factors, Shelby Lea Daeschner

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

With the reauthorization of the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), a focus has been placed on the principal as an instructional leader to improve school culture and student achievement. Professional Development (PD) can improve teacher capacity and student outcomes through long-term, job-embedded, coherent, collaborative, and focused activities. This correlational study explored the relationship between principals’ reported behaviors and rankings of the importance of high-quality PD factors. Through a self-reported survey, elementary school principals across the United States were asked to report the frequency of instructional leader behaviors as measured via the Principal Instructional Management Scale (PIMRS) and rank the …

Understanding The Effects Of Collaborative Rti Practices On Student Outcomes, Sarah Baker

Education Theses

Response to intervention (RTI) has been a methodology used with special needs students since 2004; however, RTI can be used in all types of classrooms including speech-language pathology classrooms. RTI is considered a beneficial framework for speech therapy classrooms when implemented correctly. Based on the research found, RTI is most successful when implemented using collaborative practices among school staff, parents, and other teachers. Overall, the implications discuss the value of properly educating teachers on RTI and facilitating strategies for collaborative practices between school staff and families. These implications result in successful student outcomes for speech-language pathology students.

Equity Through Growth Mindset, Raven Robinson-Wilson

STEM Integration

This activity occurred during a live, class session that included a focus on equity by addressing, “What qualities and mindsets can we foster in STEM students?” First, we reviewed Growth Mindset Theory, but re-imaged with an explicit focus on equity, with connections to STEM. Then, the teachers were presented with several growth mindset scenarios. The teachers worked in groups by reading the scenarios, elaborated on the context where they might encounter the situation, then improvised how they might respond. They wrote out plans for what they would do.

Efficient Assessment Of Students’ Proportional Reasoning, Michele Carney, Katie Paulding, Joe Champion

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Teachers need ways to efficiently assess students’ cognitive understanding. One promising approach involves easily adapted and administered item types that yield quantitative scores that can be interpreted in terms of whether or not students likely possess key understandings. This study illustrates an approach to analyzing response process validity evidence from item types for assessing two important aspects of proportional reasoning. Data include results from an interview protocol used with 33 middle school students to compare their responses to prototypical item types to their conceptions of composed unit and multiplicative comparison. The findings provide validity evidence in support of the score …

Movement For A Purpose: The Middle School Classroom And Student Engagement, Emily F. Chestnut

South Carolina Association for Middle Level Education Journal

When students reach adolescence, they begin to lose their excitement for learning and student behavior declines. Many students lose interest in their schoolwork because too many educators are still relying on the traditional classroom model. Research evidence reminds middle school educators why movement is an essential physical and emotional component of adolescent learning and development. The aim of this article is to remove the negative or stressful stigma many educators have about movement in the classroom and provide practical strategies to allow students to move each day.