A three-year action research study was conducted in one public school district to design a professional development approach that helped inservice teachers integrate computer technology into their instruction. The central question guiding this research was, “What are the elements associated with a professional development approach intended to help teachers integrate computer technology into their teaching?” A framework was developed for conducting the investigation which included two components: (a) Examination of changes in teacher skill development guided by the question, “What changes occur in teachers' technical and computer skills when they participate in the designed professional development approach?”; (b) Examination of changes in teaching practices with technology guided by the question, “What changes occur in the ways teachers use computers for instruction when they participate in the designed professional development approach?” Fifty-five teachers completed self-evaluations of technical skills in 1997, prior to involvement in professional development, then again in 1999 after two years of technology professional development. Interviews were conducted with twenty-one teachers in 1999 to define changes in teaching practices with technology. Research results produced a revised professional development approach that included six elements that school districts should provide to help teachers construct and continually refine their understanding of how technology is best used in teaching and learning. These elements included skills training, experiences teaching with technology in the context of school classrooms and computer labs, mentoring support, support for planning curriculum, supervision of instruction, and collaboration with others using technology at similar grade levels or in similar subject areas. Over 90% of teachers interviewed reported that technical workshops and good access to just-in-time mentoring support had improved their skills. Over 95% found hands-on experience with technology contributed to a sense of empowerment with the computer. Over 90% felt that collaboration with colleagues improved their skills. Assistance with planning curriculum supported technology integration for 80% of interviewees by assisting with formulation of new technology-based learning experiences tailored to the needs of specific student populations. Supervision of instruction was found to reduce disparities among teachers for using technology and helped assure that teachers worked toward achieving district goals for technology integration.

A qualitative multiple case study was conducted to reveal the sense-making processes third-grade students who struggle in mathematics used to build an understanding of fraction concepts. Purposive sampling identified three participants who were struggling in a local school's third grade mathematics classes. This research describes how these participants made sense of fraction concepts through their strengths and struggles while engaged in 15 small-group intervention sessions. Vygotsky's (1934/1986/2012) theory that children's optimal learning is supported by teacher-student interactions was used as an interpretive framework. Tasks were developed over the course of the intervention sessions with consideration of a model developed by Lesh, Post, and Behr (1987) for connecting mathematical representations and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010). Data, including transcripts, tapes, and artifacts, were analyzed using two frameworks. These were Geary's (2003) classification of three subtypes of learning disabilities in mathematics and Anghileri's (2006) descriptions of social-constructivist scaffolding techniques. The first analysis resulted in a description of each participant's strengths and struggles, including alignment with Geary's subtypes, and how these strengths and struggles interacted with participant's construction of knowledge about fractions. The second analysis described episodes of learning that were supported by social-constructivist scaffolding techniques and revealed how participants made sense of fractions through their interactions with each other, the researcher, and intervention tasks. The researcher found that each participant's learning process, including struggles, was unique, with each interacting in different ways with tasks, manipulatives, pictorial representations, and questioning. For each participant, however, scaffolding techniques oriented around prompting and probing questions, participant verbalizations, and interactions with connected fraction representations were critical in their learning process.

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This study investigated the impact of School Improvement Councils on the attitudes of principals and teachers in ten selected Leadership and ten selected Non-Leadership site elementary schools. The sample (N = 233) was drawn from selected schools in southeastern Massachusetts, and included all 20 principals of the schools surveyed, and a random selection of teachers from each school totalling 213. A 68 item questionnaire was distributed, which asked the respondents to indicate how they felt School Improvement Councils met their objectives. The findings in this study reveal that principals and teachers strongly support the work of School Improvement Councils in their schools. There was overall agreement that Councils had increased enrichment opportunities, provided appropriate learning experiences for children, and had made for a better school.

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine, explore, and describe the phenomenon of teaching with a focus on self-esteem, or teaching with a focus on the affective or psychological domain of development. This phenomenon is called humanistic education which is rooted in humanistic psychology, an American school of psychology that evolved in the middle of this century. Humanistic education is on the rise in educational institutions across the country because of a positive relationship between self-esteem and constructive learning and because of the growing self-esteem needs of our nation's children. This study sought to gain a grounded understanding of the experience and significance assigned to the experience of teaching with a focus on self-esteem by learning from fifteen teachers who actually do teach with such a focus. The qualitative method of in-depth phenomenological interviewing was employed. The data is presented in the form of narrated profiles of selected participants and in the form of key themes that comprise the phenomenon.

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