No description available.

<p>This project is intended to be of assistance to all teachers of science. Teaching strategies that were developed for this project and used at the Ontario School for the Blind can prove valuable in other areas of teaching. For example, students with low motivation can benefit from a very concrete curriculum. Even teachers at the OAC level will find that tactile diagrams and models are useful in presenting abstract theories. Whether students are blind or sighted, the use of specialized operational tactile definitions can enrich their understanding of concepts and theories and encourage a multisensory approach to gathering information.</p> <p>The process of teaching science to a visually handicapped student is presented and teaching strategies and adaptations are provided to enhance concept development for high school biology, chemistry and physics. Laboratory procedures and safety considerations are also examined and an outline of the use of microcomputers for educating the visually handicapped is included.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

This quantitative study investigated self-perception of elementary school principals' leadership practices and the impact of these practices on developing and fostering a professional learning community within their schools. Fifty-nine elementary school principals, from school districts located in south central Pennsylvania, participated in this study. Five schools were selected to obtain additional responses from professional staff members working within the schools. Independent variables of principal's gender, highest level of education, and years of administrative experience were requested. Additional information regarding the size/population of the school staff and the size/population of the student body were collected to add to the analysis. The exemplary leadership practices were assessed by using The Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) by Kouzes & Posner (2003) and consisted of five leadership practices: Challenging the Process, Inspiring a Shared Vision, Enabling Others to Act, Modeling the Way, and Encouraging the Heart. Principals and professional staff members, from the five selected schools, provided perceptions of their schools as learning communities by completing the School Professional Staff as Learning Community (SPSLC) questionnaire, developed by Shirley Hord (1996). The learning community dimensions assessed by the SLSPC are: Principal's Facilitative Leadership, Shared Visions for Improvement, Collective Creativity and Learning, Classroom Observations and Feedback, and School Conditions and Capacities. Descriptive statistics, One-way Analysis of Variance, and Correlation coefficients were tests used to respond to the research questions. The results of my study indicated that the principals perceived they were engaging in transformational leadership practices and that their schools were developing as professional learning communities. The data analysis also showed that a relationship does exist between the transformational leadership practices, of the principals, and the schools developing as professional learning communities. / Educational Administration

No description available.

The Occupational Stress Inventory Revised Edition (OSI-R) and an Individual Data Form (IDF) were used to examine the current levels of occupational stress, psychological strain, and coping resources for a random sample of 360 licensed professional counselors (LPCs) in Virginia. Using the OSI-R (Osipow, 1998), a comparison of the results of this study to the Occupational Stress Inventory (OSI), (Osipow & Spokane, 1987) Ryan (1996) used was made. Replicating Ryan's study was needed to determine if significant differences at the level of occupational stress, psychological strain, and coping resources exist over time which would emphasize the importance of occupational stress research for this population. The OSI-R is a concise measure of three dimensions of occupational adjustment: occupational stress, psychological strain, and coping resources. Demographic variables, such as age, gender, ethnicity, marital and parental status, primary work-setting, years of experience, stress related treatment, and years licensed were examined within the three dimensions of stress, strain, and coping. Data were collected via first mailing of 360 surveys with a final response rate of 63.52%. Th e number of responses used for analysis was 183. The majority of the participants were white (93.4%), female (65%), parents (69.9%) of two children (33.9%), and adults averaging 49 years old. There were 120 females (65.6%) and 63 males (34.4%). Private practice either individual (21.9%) or group affiliation (18.6%) was identified as the primary work setting. The majority (86.3%) of the LPCs worked with clients and averaged 19.79 hours per four day week, counseling clients. The average number of daily client sessions was 4.76 and the maximum number of daily client sessions was 6.52. Most (49.2%) of the clients' source of referral were legally mandated. Overall, the T-scores on the OSI-R fell in the average range for stress, strain, and coping. Variables that had no significant differences in level of stress, strain, or coping were marital and parental status, number of children, years experience, average daily client sessions, and stress related treatment. Demographic variables that contributed to differences in levels of stress only included ethnicity and weekly work hours. Demographic variables that contributed to differences in scores of strain only included age and years licensed. Demographic variables that contributed to differences in scores of coping were weekly work hours, number of days per week clients seen. Variables that had significant differences on the levels of stress, strain, and coping were gender, primary work setting, number of work settings, maximum daily client sessions, and referral source of clients. Thus, future research in the counseling profession for occupational stress, psychological strain, and coping resources are warranted. Implications for the profession and recommendations for future research were made. / Ph. D.

This qualitative study described the development and implementation of a professional support program for beginning teachers in a school division for the 1997-98 school year. The community members including mentor teachers, principals, and central office staff, supported specific needs in a structured program to assist beginning teachers to learn how to teach. The study involved 25 beginning teachers with no years of experience who were paired with mentor teachers from their elementary schools. The study focused on the experiences and perceptions of the beginning teachers and mentors in the program building process. Phase one description includes components of program planning and development including design, collaboration, and resources. Identified beginning teacher needs, professional support community needed to provide support for the beginning teachers, program contents, and a timeline of activities, complete the description. The description of phase two of program delivery includes specific activities for beginning teacher meetings, recommendations for school-based activities between beginning teachers and mentor teachers, mentor teacher meetings, and connections to school principals. Methodology included a combination of questionnaires, participant observation and field notes from program planning meetings, beginning teachers meetings, and mentor teacher meetings, research journal, and collection of documents. Text was created from these methods looking at larger themes and issues that emerged to allow for an understanding of beginning teachers and what is involved in their necessary support. This study suggests that there are several key program essentials for providing support for the beginning teachers. Program essentials include: (1) building program awareness;(2) establishing goals; (3) determining beginning teachers' needs; (4) having a broad-based program participation; (5) preparing participants for their support roles; (6) identifying benefits to program participants; and (7) providing a program structure. A program structure includes: (1) a kick-off of the program and orientation for beginning teachers; (2) a recommended school-based activity schedule of times and topics for a collaborative relationship between beginning teachers and mentor teachers; (3) beginning teacher meetings held three times during the year for beginning teachers to meet together; (4) and mentor teacher meetings for mentor teachers to meet together. Time is an important issue for beginning teacher support with time needed to plan and develop the program and to build trust among program participants. While mentor teachers find the process of supporting beginners satisfying, they also appreciate receiving tangible benefits such as stipends, release time to work with beginning teachers, and program training. These rewards provide verification of the school division's valuing of the enterprise. An ongoing program evaluation system contributed to program planning decision making and assessment of program effectiveness. With a support program designed to meet individualized needs, beginning teachers feel supported and appreciated in their first year of teaching. In addition, a school division gains an understanding of what is needed to build support and community building for the beginning teachers and how to assist the mentor teachers as they support the beginning teachers. / Ed. D.

This case study examined the principles of a professional learning community (PLC) in an elementary school setting and their impact on instructional practices and effect on the reading achievement of English Language Learner (ELL) students. The cohort of students in this study was followed from grades three through five. The data sources included a principal interview, a focus group discussion with teachers, classroom observations and the Standards of Learning reading scores for ELL students. The data from transcripts were analyzed using triangulation and coding techniques. The results of this study are a narrative description of a professional learning community used to impact instructional practices and reading achievement, the perceptions of a principal and teachers, and classroom observations. The data from interviews and the focus group suggest that teacher and principal perceptions of the professional learning community and its principles support their instructional practice. There appeared to be no consistent pattern of performance of individual scores during the study period. The PLC principles of collaboration, collective inquiry and continuous improvement were identified most often to be perceived as effective in the delivery of instruction. Staff development and providing adequate planning time for teachers are recommended as essential practices to a professional learning community. / Ph. D.

Improving teacher quality is an effective strategy for improving student outcomes. For professional development to be effective at changing student practice and improving student outcomes the professional development topic needs to be relevant to the work of the teacher. This study surveys Virginia CTE teachers to identify their self-identified, most needed professional development topics. Virginia CTE teachers were asked to rate 136 separate teaching competencies based on each competency's importance to the teacher's practice and the teacher's ability to implement the competency. A quantitative research design was used to conduct this study. The Borich Needs Assessment Model was utilized to calculate a Mean Weighted Discrepancy Score (MWDS) for each competency. Competencies were with the largest MWDS were identified as those most needed for teacher professional development. Respondent data was disaggregated by gender, ethnicity, intention to remain in the teaching profession, CTE content area, years of experience, school division, and pre-service training in order to identify differences in professional development topic rankings for on each demographic area. Mann-Whitney U testing and Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance test by ranks were used. The results of this study can be used by school divisions, schools, and professional development providers to benefit the work of CTE teachers and CTE programs. / Doctor of Philosophy / Improving teacher quality is an effective strategy for improving student outcomes. For professional development to be effective at changing student practice and improving student outcomes the professional development topic needs to be relevant to the work of the teacher. This study surveys Virginia CTE teachers to identify their self-identified, most needed professional development topics. Virginia CTE teachers were asked to rate 136 separate teaching competencies based on each competency's importance to the teacher's practice and the teacher's ability to implement the competency. A quantitative research design was used to conduct this study. The Borich Needs Assessment Model was utilized to identify the competencies most needed as professional development topics for Virginia CTE teachers. Respondent data was disaggregated by gender, ethnicity, intention to remain in the teaching profession, CTE content area, years of experience, school division, and pre-service training in order to identify differences in professional development topics for each demographic group. The results of this study can be used by school divisions, schools, and professional development providers to benefit the work of CTE teachers and CTE programs.

Throughout the past several decades, research regarding counselor resilience has shifted from a pathology-based to a strengths-based approach. As a result, researchers have moved away from primarily identifying risk factors and now focus on protective factors. Researchers have found that social supports serve as a protective factor in counselor resilience. However, there is a lack of understanding of how counselors receive that social support, specifically after a professional adverse event. Professional adverse events are common given the nature of counseling work. For example, undesirable occurrences such as client suicide, attempted suicide, life threatening illnesses, accidents, overdose, or loss of a child are considered professional adverse events. This study explored how ten professional counselors experienced social support following professional adverse events. Three themes emerged from these counselors' stories: difficulty seeking support, misplaced support, and acts of kindness. Implications for counselors include honoring both confidentiality and their own humanness, the cultivating co-regulating relationships, and reinforcing acts of kindness. Counselor educators and supervisors can foster counselor resilience by using the implications to teach counselors how to invite effective social support. / Doctor of Philosophy / Being a counselor can be both challenging and rewarding. Given the heavy caseloads and complexity of cases, it is common for counselors to experience adverse professional events. Research shows that protective factors serve as a buffer against stress. Social support is a protective factor that assists counselors in maintaining wellness and building resiliency. This study explored how professional counselors received support from interpersonal relationships following a professional adverse event. Findings from this study indicate the importance of counselors honoring their own humanness while protecting the client’s confidentiality, the importance of having co-regulating relationships, and the healing power of acts of kindness.

The retention of special education (SPED) teachers is problematic throughout the United States. Many SPED teachers are leaving education due to burnout which can be caused by feeling isolated and having a lack of collegial support. Studies suggest that collegial support is a main contributor to the retention of SPED teachers. Induction programs, mentoring, and professional learning communities (PLC) have been widely used; however, there is not much research showing how professional learning communities impact the retention of special education teachers. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify novice elementary school SPED teachers' perceptions regarding PLCs. Specifically, this study examined how elementary school SPED teachers' perceptions of PLCs affect the retention of this group of teachers. Themes from this study may indicate what schools can do to make their PLCs more meaningful for the SPED teachers participating in them. The study was guided by the following research question: What are the perceptions of novice SPED teachers regarding professional learning communities and their impact on teacher retention? Twenty SPED teachers with between 0 – 5 years of experience participated in online focus groups. Data from the focus groups were analyzed and themes were developed. The results of this study indicated that SPED teachers stay at their current schools due to support provided by colleagues such as SPED teachers, general education teachers, and reading and mathematics specialists. In addition, SPED teachers are more likely to stay at their current schools if the PLCs they attend are relevant and are more likely to leave when they miss instructional time with their students due to attending mandatory PLCs. The results from this study may help school and division leaders implement PLC support for SPED teachers that will positively impact the retention of SPED teachers. / Doctor of Education / The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify novice elementary school special education (SPED) teachers' perceptions regarding PLCs. Specifically, this study examined how elementary school SPED teachers' perceptions of PLCs affect the retention of this group of teachers. Themes from this study may indicate what schools can do to make their PLCs more meaningful for the SPED teachers participating in them. The study was guided by the following research question: What are the perceptions of novice SPED teachers regarding professional learning communities and their impact on teacher retention? Twenty SPED teachers with between 0 – 5 years of experience participated in online focus groups. Data from the focus groups were analyzed and themes were developed. The results of this study indicated that SPED teachers stay at their current schools due to support provided by colleagues such as SPED teachers, general education teachers, and reading and mathematics specialists. In addition, SPED teachers are more likely to stay at their current schools if the PLCs they attend are relevant and are more likely to leave when they miss instructional time with their students due to attending mandatory PLCs. The results from this study may help school and division leaders implement PLC support for SPED teachers that will positively impact the retention of SPED teachers.