The study in this paper examined how teachers engaged in their structured Professional Learning Community (PLC) time in a manner that focused their work on student mathematical thinking. The participants included two third-grade teachers and two fourth-grade teachers engaged in an alternative PLC process during their collaboration time. Interviews were conducted and focused on how the teachers thought about student thinking as the driving force of their collaboration. The teachers found their PLC time was more focused, student thinking led the discussions and lessons, they were more responsive to student needs, and their own mathematical understanding increased. The teachers also found they became facilitators of the mathematical discussions occurring in their classrooms and there was a stronger community present among the grade level team. This structure of PLC created an accelerated learning process for novice teachers, increased focus during PLC time, and supported teachers to feel valued in their meetings. Teachers also felt more excitement around student thinking and became more responsive to student needs, both in planning lessons and in assessing their students. Teachers also expressed how their PLC meetings supported accelerated learning of student ideas for novice teachers, while providing professional learning for all teachers that contributed to their generative growth. Further research could examine the alternative PLC process with a whole school and what this may look like with other content areas.

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While society has begun its evolution from the industrial age to the information age, most teacher unions continue to pattern their behavior after the industrial model of unionism focusing almost exclusively on salary, benefits and working conditions. In some school systems, though, teacher unions and management are questioning the legitimacy of their adversarial relationships. They are beginning to abandon the belief in the separation of traditional labor and management roles, and replacing it with a collective operational model that offers promise for significant educational reform and improved employer-employee relations. This expanded scope of union activity is attempting to include non-traditional issues, such as teacher professional development, teacher quality, instructional delivery, student achievement standards and educational reform, as well as mechanisms that are highly flexible and reactive to immediate need (Koppich, 2005; Urbanski, 1998). The purpose of this case study was to uncover the events that led to formation of collaborative structures at each of the study sites, gain insight in the collaborative activity that is occurring, better understand the impact of collaboration on the collective bargaining process, and attempt to understand the various challenges to collaboration at each study site. Data collection for this case study relied heavily on intensive personal interviews. Study participants were selected from school systems that have strong collaborative relations between the district administration and the teachers' union. Care was given in the selection of diverse school systems and in different regions of the country. Contractual language from the negotiated agreement also provided additional supporting data. The convergence of this data resulted in a greater understanding on the formation and maintenance of collaborative structures. The results of this study exposed that there are, in fact, strong models of collaboration between labor representative groups and management. The work that is occurring in these school districts is significantly transforming labor relations and impacting student educational experience. Leaders for both management and labor have largely abandoned their traditional roles and relinquished power in favor of working more cooperatively for the betterment of all within the organization. At each site, many collaborative byproducts have emerged to address a plethora of identified needs and goals. The collaborative relationship has also impacted the collective bargaining process, as the parties attempt to more creatively address all issues that either party raises as a concern. Greater respect for the role of unions and management has also emerged, as participants began to realize that they shared more in common than previously thought. The participants in school systems with strong collaborative relations have also demonstrated that they are anxious to share their knowledge and experience with others, as evidence by their participation in informal networks like Teacher Union Reform Network (TURN), as well as with researchers interested in collaboration between labor and management. / Educational Administration

At the start of the twenty-first century, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials can look back on nearly thirty years of meaningful accomplishments. Toxic releases are down, the air and water are cleaner, and waste disposal methods are greatly improved. Although this is a record of which EPA officials should be proud, is it sufficient to carry them into the next century? Conventional wisdom among scholars, environmental policy advocates, and even EPA officials indicates that it is not. The new century is bringing complex challenges and, in some cases, the changing conditions are threatening the progress EPA has struggled to achieve. Some of the tools and approaches this agency has relied upon historically, such as notice and comment rulemaking, single stakeholder consultations, and positional leadership, are no longer adequate to address existing environmental challenges and new emerging environmental problems. The Common Sense Initiative (CSI) was launched by EPA in mid-1994 as a fundamentally different approach to environmental protection. Its sector-based, multistakeholder, consensus decision-making process was counter to EPA's traditional command-and-control approach. CSI was created with the intent to heal the growing dysfunctional relationships that exist among government co-regulators (i.e., EPA and state and local agencies), the regulated industry, and non-governmental organizations (i.e., environmentalists and environmental justice organizations). Even though EPA officials realized the limitations of the existing regulatory approach, they had trouble "giving up control." Nonetheless, during the four-year history of the CSI process, EPA personnel had an opportunity to see themselves in a different light and to operate in a new organizational regime. Rather than being just regulators, they were able to become solvers of environmental problems. Rather than being position-oriented, they were able to become person-oriented. Instead of seeking ownership and control, they were able to obtain leverage through partnerships and collaboration. In short, EPA officials were building social capital and a new style of management"facilitative leadership. A facilitative leader leads without controlling, communicates without being condescending, and uses synergism to help groups achieve "win-win" results. This new paradigm has the potential to help EPA better adapt in the next generation system of environmental protection. / Ph. D.

This study investigates the extent to which teachers adopted a computer technology innovation and the role of collaboration in the adoption process. Semi-structured interviews with seven teachers and one Computer Resource Teacher, supplemented by observations and documentation regarding the innovation, provide data for an in-depth, ethnographic case study. Six months were spent in the setting recording the teachers' interactions and processes centered on adopting the innovation. Results show collaboration efforts among teams and the level of uncertainty regarding the innovation influenced the amount of time and the degree to which each team adopted the innovation. Two other factors influenced the adoption rate of the innovation: the interaction that the teachers had with a change agent, which helped to decrease the level of uncertainty about the innovation with two of the teams and thus, increased their adoption rate, and the innovativeness of individuals, which had a direct connection to the rate of adoption and which influenced other members of the grade level and their rate of adoption. Each participant's level of innovativeness, their compatibility and comfort with the innovation, and their efforts to collaborate were significantly related to successful implementation of the computer technology innovation. / Ph. D.

Spatial referencing denotes the act of referring to a location or an object in space. Since it is often essential in different collaborative activities, good support for spatial referencing could lead to exceptional collaborative experience and performance. Augmented Reality (AR) aims to enhance daily activities and tasks in the real world, including various collaborations and social interactions. Good support for accurate and rapid spatial referencing in collaborative AR often requires detailed environment 3D information, which can be critical for the system to acquire as constrained by current technology. This dissertation seeks to address the issues related to spatial referencing in collaborative AR through 3D user interface design and different experiments. Specifically, we start with investigating the impact of poor spatial referencing on close-range, co-located AR collaborations. Next, we propose and evaluate different pointing ray techniques for object reference at a distance without knowledge from the physical environment. We further introduce marking techniques aiming to accurately acquire the position of an arbitrary point in 3D space that can be used for spatial referencing. Last, we provide a systematic assessment of an AR collaborative application that supports efficient spatial referencing in remote learning to demonstrate its benefit. Overall, the dissertation provides empirical evidence of spatial referencing challenges and benefits to collaborative AR and solutions to support adequate spatial referencing when model information from the environment is missing. / Doctor of Philosophy / People often exchange spatial information about objects when they work together. Example phrases include: ``put that there'', or ``pick the third object from left''. On the other hand, Augmented Reality (AR) is the technology that displays 3D information into the real world to enhance or augment reality. Scientists and technology practitioners think that AR can help people collaborate in a better way. The AR system needs to have a good understanding of the physical environment to support exchanging spatial information in the first place. However, limited by current technology, acquiring spatial information from the real world is not always possible or reliable. In this dissertation, we first illustrate the severity of insufficient environmental knowledge when collaborators sit next to each other in AR. Then we present pointing ray techniques to help AR collaborators refer to distant objects without knowing where those objects are. We further explore different marking techniques that can help the AR system calculate the position of a point in space without scanning the area. Last, we provide an AR application that supports efficient spatial information communication in remote discussion around physical objects.

The notion of business involvement in helping to improve public schools is not new. Although business involvement faded somewhat in the 1960s and 1970s, a resurgence in business involvement began in the late seventies and early eighties. School-business partnerships have been steadily on the rise from around 40,000 in 1983 to over 200,000 by the mid-1990's. When schools and businesses become involved in partnerships certain conditions must be present for the partnerships to succeed. Those conditions include awareness, clear and measurable goals and objectives by both partners, the necessity of identifying potential resources and talent, reciprocal benefits for participants, and the ability to carry out formal evaluation of the program. The purpose of this study was to attempt to save a school-business partnership that had the potential to make a significant contribution to both a middle school and a large employer in Southside Virginia. By identifying the variables involved in both the erosion and revitalization of a school-business partnership, the information could prove valuable to others who may be struggling to maintain or renew partnerships in their schools or businesses. This study was conducted in two phases. The first phase involved the identification of the variables which contributed to the disintegration of a school-business partnership. The second phase involved using a 12-step partnership development process created by the National Association for Partners in Education to revitalize the partnership. A series of interviews, surveys, and questionnaires, as well as a search of current school data were used to determine the variables present in both phases. In phase I of the study, a serious lack of communication, perhaps even miscommunication, appeared to lead to the total shutdown of the partnering process. This breakdown in communication prevented other possibilities for success. The absence of goals or a formal agreement on the nature of the partnership also appeared to be one of its major downfalls. Phase II of the investigation involved partnership renewal. The major ingredients necessary for partnership development were communication; awareness; reciprocal benefits to participants; mutually acceptable, clear goals and objectives; the ability to carry out formal, on-going evaluation of the partnership; continuous recognition of good works by the stakeholders; and the use of the National Association for Partners in Education 12-step process as both a diagnostic and prescriptive resource for partnering. School-business partnerships, like all other human endeavors, require understanding, nurturing and support. By attempting to understand and embrace the needs of each partner, the true promise of this very human endeavor may be realized. Developing and revitalizing school-business partnerships is not only possible, but essential if we hope to create the type of learning communities necessary to the total education of children. / Ed. D.