The study examined and evaluated perceptions of first year teachers on the effectiveness of induction activities, assistance, and support following participation in their induction program. This was a quantitative study of novice teachers in an urban school district. Teachers from all teaching disciplines, both at the elementary and secondary level, participated in the study. The researcher used the Novice Teacher Perceptions Assessment to survey 171 teachers. Of the 171 surveys distributed, 144 were returned and analyzed for this study. From the survey data, descriptive statistics and frequency counts were obtained for demographic information items and specific induction activities, assistance, and support. All data were analyzed for the effectiveness of teacher induction program components. The results of this study revealed that novice teachers were provided with six factors that were important to them. The factors were: information concerning the school and its culture; support for emotional stress; assistance in instructional strategies; the allocation of resources; and overall support of the induction program in relation to mentors and reflection. Perceptions were consistent among the demographics; namely, the subject taught, grade level taught, gender, age, ethnicity and environment. Novice teachers ranked ten activities they valued while in the induction program. The activities most valued were the support they received in assistance with discipline problems; feedback from observations, and the opportunity to observe other teachers. On the contrary, novice teachers least valued the support given to them relating to the physical aspect of their classrooms. This included classroom arrangement, designing bulletin boards and learning centers.

Teacher attrition is costly for districts, both financially and in terms of student achievement. Districts often address teacher attrition by focusing on recruitment practices or by offering induction support for novice teachers. However, new teachers continue to leave the profession at alarming rates. This qualitative case study provides insight into how new teachers cope with the frustrations and challenges of entry-level teaching. The study examines the entry-level experiences of twelve novice teachers from urban secondary schools, including the perceptions of teaching they developed prior to entry, the aspects of teaching they found most frustrating, how they made sense of what was happening to them, and how they adapted their own behaviors in response to what they experienced. Viewed within a theoretical framework for examining the "newcomer experience" developed by Meryl Reis Louis in 1980, the data suggest that traditional group approaches to supporting novices fail to address the highly individual way in which newcomers "make sense" of teaching as they progress through a series of stages from anticipation through adaptation. From the data, implications may be drawn in terms of "what matters" in the design of support systems for new teachers.

This qualitative study used naturalistic inquiry methodology to study the impact that teacher leadership has on school effectiveness. Two suburban high schools were chosen for this study. Both of these schools had been rated as exemplary in 2002 by the Texas Education Agency. Interviews, observations, and surveys were used to obtain data. Through these, seven categories emerged that were used to create a written description of teacher leadership on the campuses. Teacher leadership in the past, teacher leadership roles, teacher leadership enablers, teacher leadership restraints, products of teacher leadership, teacher leadership in the present, and the role of the principal emerged when the data were analyzed. The findings indicated that when teacher leadership played a role on these campuses there was an expectation by school administrators that teachers would be leaders. Principals on both campuses had a vision of student success. Communication between school administrators and teacher leaders was strong. Overall, the role of the principal had a powerful impact on teacher leadership and consequently school effectiveness. Teacher leadership being fostered and supported was in large part due to the efforts of the principal. Recommendations for practice suggest that a) district level personnel need to work from a definition of school leadership that includes teachers when they hire campus principals, b) principals must take intentional steps to actively encourage teacher leadership, c) principals must clearly understand the amount of effort collaborative leadership demands of them, d) principals should seek out evidence that teacher leadership is impacting the school, and e) principals should consider what resources need to be allocated to foster and sustain teacher leadership on campus.

Historical studies of the feminization of teaching have provided important additions to feminist understandings of teaching and education in general. However, most historical accounts of the feminization of teaching have absorbed the body. Teachers are presented as body-less entities. El cuerpo is ignored, passed over, and perhaps denied to the point of invisibility. The absence of the body in educational research is problematic. The purpose of this dissertation is to reveal the images of the body of the teacher in the history of the feminization of teaching (HFT) texts and to illuminate the discursive impacts on the body of the teacher in HFT texts. Multiple epistemologies of the body provide a theoretical framework and analytical tool to highlight the often-ignored and marginalized body of the teacher. I draw on multiple research methods of deconstruction, genealogical analysis, and carnal metodologías to allow for images of the body to emerge and for discursive impacts on the body to surface. Four images of the body are discussed as possibilities: teacher as container, spatial organization of the teacher’s body, teacher’s body as performative, and resisting bodies. The implications of the study suggest a rethinking of the teacher’s body as a vessel of multiple possibilities and counter discourses, beginning in a revolutionary teacher education. Western and androcentric conceptions of educational spaces must be redefined in order to allow for new possibilities for teaching and learning. Unleashing the “unruly” passionate body of the teacher is a subversive act of contingency and critical transformative pedagogies. The study concludes with recommendations for further research intended to broaden the research scope of current educational inquiry. Suggestions for deeper examinations include a genealogical analysis of teaching and the teacher in order to problematize current educational discourses (i.e., accountability, best practices, child centered, cooperative learning). Hybrid methodologies and examinations that center the body in current contexts could generate more discussion about the (im)possibility to carry out liberatory/radical projects in the classroom. Examinations of how research impacts and is impacted by the body could illuminate the inter- intrarelationship that research has with the body.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

<p> Culturally responsive teaching is seen as a promising practice that will enhance teachers&rsquo; ability to meet the needs of today&rsquo;s diverse student population. The purpose of this study was to understand how White supervisors talk about race and culture in the classroom, and in regard to their role of preparing pre-service teachers. Because supervisors&rsquo; work is grounded in student teachers&rsquo; classrooms, they are uniquely positioned to respond to specific incidents in the student teacher&rsquo;s experience and thereby have a primary role in shaping teachers&rsquo; instructional practices. </p><p> This dissertation research examined 12 White university supervisors. Prior to this study, supervisors participated in professional development offered by the college aimed at raising awareness of culturally responsive teaching. The professional development was part of Griffin, Watson, and Liggett&rsquo;s (2014) initial study, and offered opportunities for supervisors to discuss topics of race, culture, ethnicity, class, and gender, and to engage in reading Gay&rsquo;s (2010) text: <i>Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice.</i> Griffin et al. collected data, including a pre- and post-survey, a November interview, and artifacts from the professional development. Their study established the starting point for this research. </p><p> All 12 supervisors were interviewed following participation in the professional development. Findings indicated supervisors defined and described culturally responsive teaching by relying on elements congruent with the literature. Even when supervisors used language similar to Gay (2010), they held misconceptions and formed incomplete definitions about culturally responsive teaching. Other findings indicated supervisors lacked a clear vision in their role in supporting culturally responsive teaching. Lastly, supervisors used hegemonic understandings when talking about race and culture. The results of this study suggest supervisors need more opportunities to talk about race and culture, and their role in preparing culturally responsive teachers.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--George Mason University, 2008. / Vita: p. 104. Thesis director: Gary R. Galluzzo. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Jan. 8, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-103). Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Ann Lieberman. Dissertation Committee: A. Harry Passow. Bibliography: leaves 233-251.

"A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education." Title from PDF of title page (Georgia Southern University, viewed on June 26, 2010). Brenda Marina, major professor; Lucinda Chance, James Green, Georj Lewis, committee members. Electronic version approved: December 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p.175-208).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1984. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 393-404).