A survey of graduates who participated in Project TEAM (School Psychology, Social Work, and Speech/Language Pathology) and Project PREP (Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education) is presented. Graduates completed coursework, seminars and practica that emphasized knowledge and skills related to working with children in the birth through 5 age group and their families. The survey determined in which competencies graduates indicated they were best and least prepared by the program and which competencies were most and least applicable to their present careers. The survey also determined what teaming models the graduates are currently using and would prefer to use in their careers. Results indicated a general trend towards the interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary teaming models as those that graduates would prefer to use. The survey also looked at the process of the programs (i.e., participating in seminars with various disciplines, participating in the practica as a team, taking courses with other disciplines, etc.) to determine whether or not participants benefited from the program's overall organization. Results indicated that graduates agreed with the program process.

A survey was conducted to examine current training practices of NASP accredited specialist programs. Information was gathered through a mailed survey to NASP accredited school psychology Ed.S. training programs across the United States. Of the 97 training programs to whom surveys were sent, 56 surveys were returned and 51 were considered usable (53% return rate). The survey respondents were divided into groups according to self-reported program emphasis. Thirty-one programs reported emphasizing traditional assessment (Traditional Programs), while 20 programs reported other areas of emphasis (Other Programs). An independent t-test indicated that Traditional Programs offer significantly higher amounts of training in traditional assessment than Other Programs. A Chi-square analysis revealed that approximately half of the Traditional Programs have not changed training in assessment; however, the remaining Traditional Programs showed shifts by an equal number of them increasing and decreasing the amount of training in assessment as compared to 5 years ago. Several differences in level of preparation of program graduates were indicated by a descriptive discriminant analysis. These differences are consistent with program emphasis.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is being increasingly identified in children, yet there are only a minimal number of studies examining the use of research-based intervention strategies in a classroom educational setting. This present study examined the use of Discrete Trial Training, Picture Exchange Communication System, Social Stories, Structured Teaching, and Video Self-Modeling by special education teachers with students with ASD. A questionnaire was completed by 91 special education teachers from the Green River Region Educational Cooperative, which encompasses 17 different school districts in the area of western and south central Kentucky. They answered questions about their level of training, knowledge and current use of the five strategies. A correlational analysis was performed to assess whether the years of teaching experience was related to the level of the teacher's training, knowledge and current use of the ASD instructional methods, and whether special teachers who taught a greater number of students with ASD had greater levels of training, knowledge, and current use of the five methods. The study revealed correlations between the numbers of students taught with ASD and some of the levels of training, knowledge, and current use of the interventions.

The Federal Government is dedicated to improving student achievement through technology. This dedication is most apparent in the area of federal spending. One explanation for the lack of results in student achievement is that teachers need appropriate training to effectively teach with technology. This study integrates the interactive whiteboard and professional development in order to develop middle school mathematics teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content knowledge (TPACK) in an urban school. Teacher TPACK is measured on a modified version of Survey of Teacher Knowledge to Teach with Technology. Student achievement is measured on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), a standardized mathematics assessment. Teachers in this study receive three weeks of professional development during their team planning periods to help them integrate the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) into their mathematics instruction. Mean difference effect sizes are used to measure teacher gain in TPACK. Student achievement scores before and after the professional development are analyzed by Multi-way ANOVA after propensity scores are used to match participant students to a separate group of control students for comparison. The results indicate that the professional development increased teacher TPACK and that student achievement is differentiated across ethnicities. Implications for the technology professional development design and IWB integration in urban settings are provided.

The main purposes of this study were to explore teacher participate school-based in-service teacher education and professional development in the Kaohsiung Elementary school. This study adopted the questionnaire-survey approach. 327 sample from forty-four Kaohsiungs¡¦ elementary schools. The instrument for the study: ¡§the Questionnaire of School-Based in-service Teacher Education and Professional Development¡¦¡¦ were developed by the researcher and included two scales, one was ¡§the Scale of School-Based in-service Teacher Education Present Situation¡¦¡¦ and the other was ¡§the Scale of Professional Development¡¦¡¦. The methods for data analysis were descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson-moment correlation. The following four were concluded: 1.The concept of school-based in-service teacher education is one kind from bottom to top, activity that relying mainly on school to in-service teacher education. 2.The teachers¡¦ of Kaohsiung will participate in school-based in-service education present situation of differed in terms respondents¡¦ background variables. 3.The teachers¡¦ of Kaohsiung professional development of differed in terms respondents background variables. 4.There was significant correlation between school-based in-service teacher education and professional development. Finally, some suggestions were raised to the teacher of elementary school, the administration of elementary school, and future research.

This investigation examined the impact on student achievement of teachers who participated in a professional development program using industry partnerships. One treatment and one non-treatment school in a large urban school district served as the sites for this inquiry with teacher participation in a professional development program and the achievement data of their science students being collected during the 2001-2002 school period. The impact of a teacher professional development program with industry partnerships such as Education for the Energy Industry (EEI) on student achievement in science was determined. National and state standardized tests were analyzed using extant data obtained from administering the fourth through the eighth grade Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) test and the eighth grade Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test. The differential influence of a professional development program for teachers on the achievement of students of diversity was determined by the TAAS scores and ITBS scores, which were partitioned by treatment condition and student ethnicity. Findings from this quantitative investigation suggest enhanced student achievement in science if teachers participated in a professional development program involving industry partnerships.

Thesis (EdD)--Open University. BLDSC no. DXN080745.

This report explores the concept of sheltered instruction in response to the shifting demographics of English language learners (ELLs) in educational institutions across the United States. Following a discussion of the goals of and threats to sheltered instruction, I recommend the integration of social studies pedagogy and English language development in the sheltered classroom. The blending of social studies instructional practices and language acquisition pedagogy promotes a safe, culturally-sensitive environment in which ELLs can develop linguistic, socio-cultural, and academic skills in secondary school. I also acknowledge that teachers’ attitude toward ELLs can potentially influence their academic achievement. Therefore, I recommend that all teachers participate in three areas of professional development: socio-cultural sensitivity, pedagogical practices, and policy awareness. Enhancing sheltered social studies instruction and participating in professional development have the potential to provide ELLs with quality grade-level education and the means to become successful secondary students. / text

Professional development is key to improved student and school success, however research in this field is relatively new and teacher learning is often lackluster. Additionally, alternative strategies are needed to address the unique professional development needs of experienced teachers. One possible strategy is classroom-embedded reciprocal coaching, such as that used in the National Science Foundation's GK-12 program, between experienced classroom teachers and graduate student scientists. Teachers were surveyed to determine if their participation in GK-12 provided a positive professional development experience. It was found that teachers benefited from this type of professional development with a perceived increase in their science content knowledge and an overall high level of satisfaction with the program. Interviews revealed common themes such as the teacher's viewpoint of whether this was professional development, the teachers' areas of learning, the reciprocal nature of the coaching relationship, and the prospect of sustainability. / text

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex and lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder that is widely variable in presentation and intensity of defining features. ASD affects 1 in 94 Canadians and is increasing in prevalence. The variety of professionals who work with children with ASD have an accumulation of experiences that can be instructive and inspiring for other practitioners. This study explored how their wealth of experiences might be encapsulated as short vignettes or stories that could be analyzed and used as resources for educating current and future professionals. Six stories were collected from diverse professionals, and themes were summarized in order to demonstrate the types of lessons that can be learned from a clinician’s story of a significant moment or event in working with a child with ASD. The stories highlighted challenges and breakthroughs in communication and managing the child’s challenging behaviours, as well as skills and techniques that professionals have found effective in practice. The study shows that clinicians’ stories hold valuable information that can be shared with professionals in an interesting and memorable manner. Future research could expand on this study to build larger collections of stories with additional viewpoints and specific professional insights and experiences with a variety of children in their practice. / Graduate / 0518 / 0727 / 0758