This two-year action research project discusses the transitions that English Language Learners (ELLs) experience in moving from remedial second language learning to content-area courses. Two cohorts of twenty-seven ELL students from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East—fifteen students in 2015-16 and twelve in 2016-17— participated in a U.S. History course while attending the pseudonymous West Ackerly High School. Absent a pedagogical bridge connecting ELL instruction with social studies practice, I created a curriculum that emphasized the democratic principles embedded in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution—concepts that general education students have known almost from birth—as an entry point for ELL students who lacked any knowledge about these documents. I followed this introduction with thematic choices about immigration, imperialism, Westward Expansion, the Civil War, Reconstruction, civil rights, and current events. We examined the social construct of race, and how it weaves through American society. My combined roles of practitioner and researcher created a unique awareness of the principles of second language instruction, especially best practices and co-teaching strategies that merged language learning and content instruction. I then evaluated students’ critical thinking and teachers’ methods of working with ELL students, experienced the value associated with co-teaching, and developed practical techniques to bring content knowledge into the ELL curriculum as a way to aid students in their transitions. In two journal articles (Chapters Three and Four), I combine “scholarship and story,” reminiscent of Ladson-Billings’ The Dreamkeepers (2009), in a personal scholarly narrative about co-teaching U.S. History. Both Ladson-Billings’ narrative and the stories about the West Ackerly immigrant students describe the struggle that children of color experience. My reflections about co-teaching revealed innovative ideas that emerged from our practice, helped us better understand the backgrounds of our students, explored best practices for ELL instruction, and showed how an adapted mainstream U.S. History curriculum could work for second language learners. The second article describes Socratic Seminar techniques that contribute to students’ learning and discourse development, with scaffolded instruction that incorporates the application of Common Core principles based on the work of Zwiers, O’Hara, and Pritchard (2014). I describe a thematic approach to U.S. History instruction that avoids “covering” all the material while highlighting what students need to know in order to function in American society. Hopefully, this work will bring greater awareness of the struggles experienced by ELL students in their academic and cultural transitions. In the end, I hope secondary teachers and administrators will understand that ELL students require extensive skill development around reading, writing, and research in order to transition into—and then successfully navigate—content-area classes.

Title Î? schools are supported to improve student reading achievement and to bridge the achievement gap between low-income students and other students. The researched-based practices of professional learning communities, coteaching classrooms, and the RtI 3-tiered model were added to a Title Î? school to improve students' reading achievement; however, the effects of these research-based practices on students' reading achievement were unclear. The purpose of this quantitative causal comparative study was to examine the impact of these research-based practices on reading scores of students. Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT 2.0) reading achievement scores were compared between students (n = 98) in a Title Î? school receiving researched-based practices for 3 consecutive years against Title Î? students (n = 127) not receiving researched-based practices for 3 consecutive years. Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences and Webb's depth of knowledge formed the theoretical framework of the study. The independent variable was the type of reading instructional practices. The dependent variables were the FCAT 2.0 reading scores of Title Î? 5th, 4th, and 3rd grade students. The covariates were the FCAT 2.0 scores or the Florida Assessment for Instruction in Reading test scores taken at the end of previous year for each grade level. Analysis of covariance indicated that students receiving the enhanced instructional practices had significantly higher reading scores than did the comparison group following the intervention. The implications for positive social change include providing data to the study school administration that support the use of these researched-based practices in Title Î? schools to improve students' reading achievement and close the reading achievement gap.

Students with disabilities who participate in a fully inclusive educational program have failed to meet district or state goals for adequate yearly progress. This student population is explicitly recognized in state and federal accountability systems. The purpose for this study was to determine how certain factors affected the implementation of inclusive services at one school. This study investigated how teachers' attitudes and perceptions toward inclusion, level of education, exposure to people/students with disabilities, level of support, and knowledge of laws governing the education of students with disabilities affected inclusive classrooms. Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences was used as the theoretical framework to present information about multiple intelligences and differentiated strategies that assisted in the implementation of inclusive services. The sample included 40 teachers who were working in inclusive settings. Teacher Attitudes Toward Inclusion Scale, 1-on-1 interviews, and end-of course scores were used in this sequential explanatory mixed methods study. The quantitative data were analyzed with t tests and ANOVAs, and the qualitative data were analyzed through hand transcription and locating emerging themes. Data showed that teachers had a slightly negative attitude toward inclusion, and student test scores were affected as a result. There were 2 statistically significant differences in attitudes of special education compared to regular education teachers and an average level of knowledge compared to those having very good knowledge of special education laws. The project created based on these results was a series of workshops for school staff. These workshops on inclusive practices could close the achievement gap for this student population and increase teacher effectiveness.

Accommodating students with disabilities in a general education class often requires instructional modification and extra student support. Research has shown that making required changes can evoke different responses from teachers and can influence their willingness to accommodate the needs of students with disabilities. However, research has not examined the relationships between middle school teachers' preparation for and experiences with inclusion instruction and their attitudes toward inclusion. The purpose of this correlational study was to explore possible relationships between middle school teachers' attitudes about including students with mild to moderate disabilities in the general education setting and the teachers' education level, length of time teaching, and role as general or special education teachers. Social learning theory informed the study. Teachers from 3 middle schools in a large, primarily suburban school district in the southern United States were identified and sent the link for an online survey that included both demographic questions and the Attitude Toward Teaching All Students validated research instrument (N = 220). Despite several efforts to acquire enough responses to determine statistical significance, the sample obtained (n = 55) was too small for those calculations. However, Spearman correlations calculated with the smaller sample acquired indicated possible relationships between variables and indicated conducting the study in another location with a larger sample would provide valuable insights into teachers' behaviors and beliefs. This study contributes to positive social change by demonstrating a need to examine teachers' background and experiences and their attitudes toward and, as a result, behaviors in inclusion settings.

Since the Grade 1-9 Curriculum Reform took place in 2001, performing arts curriculum at compulsory education schools of Kaohsiung had faced several difficulties in practice. At the same time, marketing of the performing arts organizations also dropped down due to economic recession. In order to solve the dilemmas of both sides, the researcher thought that a partnership between compulsory schools and performing arts groups is a worthy strategy to try. Two concepts, art education partnership and co-teaching, were used to build up a theoretical framework. It is shown that a successful partnership between a school and a performing arts organization is influenced by many factors. These factors were taken to analyze the cooperative condition happened between the compulsory education schools and the arts organizations at Kaohsiung. Meanwhile, two schools, Kaohsiung Municipal Jiachang Primary School and Kaohsiung Municipal Youchang Junior High School, were chosen as the target cases of this study after a consulting conversation with the Compulsory Education Advisory Group of the Kaohsiung Municipal Department of Education(CEAGK). Members including the school administrative personnel, school teachers, parents and students of both schools were interviewed by selective ways. Taiwan Bangzi Company and the Bean Theatre also contribute their experiences to this study. In addition, observation and document analysis were also used as methods to collect data. Major conclusions are as the following: 1. Full time teachers and appropriate teaching materials are desperately demanded for compulsory education schools at Kaohsiung , unfortunately, even hired teachers has faced job crises at this time. 2. Performing arts groups are aware of the importance to cooperate with schools. 3. Knowing the difficult condition of the performing arts curriculum at school education, the CEAGK adapted strategies to assist teachers improve their skills and employ resources outside schools. 4. ¡§Personal contact¡¨ is a common way to find a partner. No contract was made, but agendas were the only documents for the cooperation. The interview results also reveal that schools need to improve their ways in deliberating the information upon performing arts education partnership. Although to work with schools in educational project is usually the goal for arts organizations, most activities were designed under the ideology of audience development or marketing the coming performance. 5. Both the schools and the performing arts groups respond that ¡§funding¡¨ and ¡§human resource¡¨ are key issues to conquer in dealing with ¡§performing arts education partnership (PAEP).¡¨ 6. PAEP at Kaohsiung is still on the ¡§Exposure Stage¡¨, co-teaching model by an artist and a teacher is still rarely seen. No one has ever attended workshops for the PAEP. 7. Evaluation on the effectiveness of PAEP is still lacked. 8. The PAEP at Kaohsiung was influenced by many factors including policy, funding, key persons, time and the project quality. PAEP should be followed by certain ¡§educational goal.¡¨ At the time of this study, the CEAGK and the performing arts organizations have asynchronous opinions towards the PAEP.

國內過去有關幼稚園教師合班關係之研究，多以個案的方式進行，缺乏大量樣本的研究。因此，本研究以量化的方式，首先調查幼稚園教師合班關係之實際與理想情形；繼而探討不同背景變項幼稚園教師與合班滿意度、教學效能感、工作滿足之關係；最後探討幼稚園教師合班滿意度與教學效能感、工作滿足之關係。 　　本研究發現：（一）公私立幼稚園的教師合班類型並不相同，公幼以輪流教學為主，私幼以主助教搭配合作為主；但多數公私立幼稚園教師認為，團隊式教學才是理想的合作教學類型。（二）整體幼稚園教師的合班滿意度在六點量表中，為4.74，接近「滿意」程度。（三）公私立幼稚園教師的合班滿意度無顯著差異，但有區域性差異，台北縣市的教師合班滿意度，優於台中縣市與高雄縣市。（四）教師的教學效能感與園所規模、教學年資都有關；一班規模的教師教學效能感顯著較低，年資3年以下的教師教學效能感也較低。（五）合班滿意度與教學效能感呈顯著中度正相關（相關係數 .415, p<.01）。（六）合班滿意度與工作滿足也呈現顯中度著正相關（相關係數 .410. p <.01）。 　　本研究並根據研究結果提出建議，以提供幼稚園教師、幼稚園經營管理者、政府機關以及未來研究者之參考。 / In the past, the studies for two kindergarten teachers cooperation in one classroom in Taiwan were used to conduct in case study and still insufficient for large and quantitative sample study.Therefore, using quantitative way, this study firstly investigated the practical and ideal situations for two kindergarten teachers cooperation in one classroom.Then, after discussing the relation among kindergarten teachers‘s different background, cooperative satisfaction, teaching efficacy, and job satisfaction, this study discussesd the relation among kindergarten teachers cooperative satisfaction , teaching efficacy, and job satisfaction. 　　It finds out that： (1) The cooperative type of teachers is various between public and private kindergartens. The major teaching is a week in rotation in public kindergartens while the other teacher as assistance in private kindergartens. In addition, most teachers in both public and private kindergartens believed that the ideal type of cooperative teaching is team work. (2) In six-point scale for satisfaction of the teacher cooperation, the total point is 4.74, closed to the degree of “satisfied”. (3) Teachers‘cooperative satisfaction shows no significant difference between public and private kindergarten, but in region. It’s greater in Taiper city than in Taichung and Kaohsiung city. (4) The teaching efficacy is related to the size of the kindergarten and the teaching experiences. This study shows that the teaching efficacy is lower in schools which have only one class and teachers within three year teaching experience. (5) The cooperative satisfaction and teaching efficacy reveals mid positive correlation (r = .415, p < .01). (6) The cooperative satisfaction and job satisfaction also indicate mid positive correlation (r = .410, p < .01). 　　According to the findings, this study proposes some suggestions for kindergarten teachers, kindergarten managers , administration, and researchers in the future.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:46:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 5941.pdf: 3792869 bytes, checksum: 9cb3e9d8cf15ad17fb50e1b17764885f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-25 / The collaborative teaching or co-teaching is a specific service delivery option in which a general educator and a specialized one share the responsibility for planning, instruction and evaluation of teaching for a heterogeneous group of students. This support service arose as an alternative to the Multifunctional Resources Room (SRM), special classes or special schools work, has been adopted in many countries and has been pointed out as one of the most promising support services to facilitate the education of students with disabilities in regular classrooms of General Education settings. In Brazil, this type of service is still little known, mainly because it has not been recommended by the Special Education Policy, which has prioritized the support of a regular extra-class specialized teacher, through what has been called specialized educational (AEE) services, offered in resources room. This study, conducted in a town upstate São Paulo which has implemented a support service based on the co-teaching model since 2011, aimed at defining the role of Special Educators within coteaching approach according to the perspective of multiple agents heard in the process of school inclusion, namely: General Educators, Special Educators, coordinators, principals, vice-principals, parents and students. For this descriptive study, were interviewed 21 people (six General Education teachers, four Special Education teachers, six parents of students with disabilities, three principals, one vice-principal and one educational coordinator) from five schools adopting this service model. The presented results describe, among other things, the challenges of teaching Special Education students in general classrooms, the perceptions of the school agents about co-teaching, the ways co-teaching is developed considering their reality and how these agents define the role of Special Educators and General Educators based on the co-teaching approach. Overall data corroborate the literature on co-teaching since participants evaluated positively this service provision model. It is expected that this research fosters openness for analysis and reflections on the different existing support services toward school inclusion in regular schools, as well as it contributes for a greater clarity in the roles and responsibilities of Special Educators for the improvement of the educational work within co-teaching perspective. / O ensino colaborativo ou coensino é um tipo de prestação de serviço de apoio no qual um professor do ensino comum e um professor especializado dividem a responsabilidade de planejar, instruir e avaliar o ensino dado a um grupo heterogêneo de estudantes. Este serviço de apoio surgiu como meio alternativo ao trabalho das salas de recurso multifuncionais (SRM), classes especiais ou escolas especiais, vem sendo adotado em vários países, e tem sido apontado como um dos mais promissores serviços de apoio para favorecer a escolarização de alunos público alvo da Educação Especial na classe comum das escolas regulares. No Brasil, esse tipo de serviço ainda é pouco conhecido, principalmente porque não tem sido recomendado pela política de Educação Especial, que tem priorizado o apoio do professor especializado extraclasse comum, através do chamado atendimento educacional especializado (AEE) ofertado em classe de recurso. O presente estudo realizado num município do interior de São Paulo, que implementou em 2011, um serviço de apoio baseado na proposta do coensino, teve como objetivo definir o papel do professor de Educação Especial baseada na proposta do coensino segundo a ótica dos vários atores ouvidos no processo da inclusão escolar, a saber: professores de ensino comum, professores de Educação Especial, coordenadores, diretores, vice-diretores, pais e alunos. Foram entrevistadas para esse estudo descritivo 21 pessoas (seis professores do ensino comum, quatro professoras de Educação Especial, seis pais de alunos público alvo da Educação Especial, três diretoras, uma vice-diretora e um coordenador pedagógico) de cinco escolas que adotavam esse modelo de serviço. Os resultados apresentados descrevem, entre outras coisas, os desafios da docência para alunos público alvo da Educação Especial em salas de aula comum, as percepções dos atores sobre o coensino, as formas como o coensino é desenvolvido naquela realidade e como esses atores definem o papel do professor de Educação Especial e do professor de ensino comum na proposta do coensino. Os dados em geral corroboram o que vem sendo apontado na literatura sobre coensino, pois os participantes avaliam positivamente esse modelo de prestação de serviços. Espera-se que a presente pesquisa propicie a abertura para análise e reflexões sobre as diferentes propostas de suporte existentes em prol da inclusão escolar presentes nas escolas de ensino comum, assim como, contribua para maior clareza dos papéis e responsabilidades do professor de Educação Especial para a melhoria do trabalho educativo dentro da perspectiva do coensino.

Limited co-planning between special education and general education co-teaching partners has been documented in professional literature as a significant problem. Special education teachers do not adequately co-plan for the implementation of accommodations for students with disabilities educated in the general education classroom. The purpose of this study was to collect and analyze the perceptions of special education teachers in one suburban elementary school district in the United States regarding co-planning with regular education teachers. The theory of self-efficacy was utilized as the conceptual framework to understand how teachers' beliefs and experiences influenced planning and goal setting for special education students. Research questions were designed to capture the perceptions of elementary school special education teachers by documenting their roles, beliefs, and self-efficacy for co-planning. In this qualitative case study, 8 elementary school special education teachers currently holding co-teaching assignments in a public school district were interviewed. Interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis. School documents were also analyzed as a method of triangulation. Results were reflective of the theoretical framework in that special education teachers' believed that their co-planning experience influenced their general teaching efficacy, but not their personal teaching efficacy. They felt more prepared to teach general education students, but maintained their personal expertise in teaching special education students. The implications for social change include enhanced morale for teaching in inclusive classrooms for special education teachers, enhanced social interaction between co-teachers and students, and enhanced learning for all students including those with disabilities that might result in opportunities for educational and career advancement.

Name of diploma thesis: Involvement of experts from professional practise in grammar school Name: Jan Svoboda Subject of study: Andragogy a educacation management This diploma thesis focuses on an area that is practiced, developed and supported in vocational schools on a permanent and long-term basis, but in gymnasiums it can be perceived as problematic and even unreachable. It is about involving experts from practice in teaching. The theoratical part is based on an examination of the question of who an expert is and with it related issues of competencies. It is followed by an examination of forms of teaching in which it is possible to involve experts from practice. After this, I deal with the analysis of the curriculum of gymnasiums and the general educational program for gymnasiums. In this part of the thesis I will also touch on current related topics such as Strategy 2030+, legislation, non-profit organizations and multiculturalism. The empirical part is methodologically based on case study approaches and focuses on areas of RVP, which the management of gymnasiums sees as suitable for the involvement of experts in teaching and the use of teaching forms of co-teaching. Specifically, it deals with suitable topics for teaching, the benefits and limitations and conditions of the form for the...

Detta examensarbete grundades på en kvalitativ och empirisk studie. Målsättningen har varit att utröna vilka teorier och faktorer som kunde bidra till elevers motivation och lärande, och hur lärare verksamma i undervisningen av naturvetenskapliga ämnen ser på möjligheterna att kunna påverka denna. En annan viktig aspekt i studien kretsar kring frågeställningen om ”tvålärarskapet”; som kortfattat innebär att två lärare arbetar parallellt i klassrummet. Har lärare som arbetar enligt denna metod en möjlighet att underlätta och entusiasmera inlärningen och motivationen? Finns det eventuellt några nackdelar? Förutom kontakten med en svensk förgrundsgestalt bakom undervisningsformen; tvålärarskapet, används djupintervjuer med sammanlagt sex lärare, samt diskussioner och två mer omfattande intervjuer med elever som grund. Studien har funnit att bland de viktigaste teorierna för att främja motivationen och lärandet återfanns teorin om Tron på sin egen kapacitet, Sociala relationer, Förväntningar och värden, samt Inre motivation, yttre motivation. Tvåläraskapet kan ha ett samband med teorin om Sociala relationer vilket skulle kunna ha implikationer på dess inverkan på motivationen och lärandet. / This thesis was based on a qualitative and empirical study. The objective was to discover which theories and factors could contribute to students' motivation and learning, and how teachers active in the teaching of science subjects see the possibilities of being able to influence this. A very important aspect of the study revolves around the question of "co-teaching"; which in short means that two teachers work in parallel in the classroom. Do teachers working according to this method have an opportunity to facilitate and encourage the learning and motivation? Are there any downsides? In addition to the contact with one of the most outspoken Swedish professionals behind the educational method of co-teaching, in-depth interviews with a total of six teachers are used, as well as discussions and two more extensive interviews with common students as a basis. The study has found that among the most important theories to promote motivation and learning were the theories of Self-Efficacy, Social Relations, Expectations and Values, and Intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation. Co-teaching may be related to the Social Relationship theory, which could have implications for its impact on motivation and learning.