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This multiple baseline single-case design study explored the influence that training in observation and interpretation had on teachers’ meaningful conversations with children. Three preschool teachers (1 from public school and 2 from Head Start) were trained using the Cycle of Inquiry System (Broderick & Hong, 2011) that informs of ways to observe and interpret children’s thinking to facilitate developmentally appropriate conversations. Teachers documented and interpreted observations of children engaged in small group play. Teachers were surveyed pre-training and post-training about observation, interpretation, curriculum, the teacher’s role, and the purpose of teacher interactions with children. Teachers were interviewed to clarify researcher questions and videotaped before the training to establish a baseline on their use of productive conversations with children. Videotaped observations after the training showed the effect of training on teachers’ conversations. Field notes from mentoring and videos were collected to provide insight into the influence of the training. A social validity questionnaire was used to determine if participants found value in the process learned. Data were evaluated for the 3 participants using graphs to show evidence for the rate of change. The Cycle of Inquiry Intervention increased teachers’ productive conversations with children. Pre-surveys and post-surveys indicated that teacher’s perceptions were positively affected. Teachers perceived productive conversation as important to documenting and interpreting children’s thinking. Their beliefs about children’s theory development and awareness about the role of conversation in the process changed after the intervention. They value observations and documentation to learn about children’s thinking as a way to engage in conversations. Social validity was used to determine if the goals of training were acceptable, if the training was valued, and if it would influence participants’ teaching. Participants indicated that the Documentation Record (DR) and recording observations was worthwhile and that they would use what was learned during training to increase productive conversations. Two of the 3 participants were concerned about consistency regarding the DR form, indicated it was worthwhile to complete the Interpretation of Children’s Knowledge and Thinking (ICKT) form, but were not sure of their consistency. Curriculum constraints and lack of support could influence their consistency concerns.

In order to help children gain a more robust understanding of place value, teachers must understand the connections and relationships among the related concepts as well as possess knowledge of how children learn early number concepts. Unfortunately, teachers’ familiarity with the base-ten number system and/or lack of an understanding of multidigit whole numbers leads to instruction that encourages a superficial understanding of the concepts of our base-ten system rather than instruction that pushes students to go beyond recitation of the value of the digit in the ten's place. This study highlights the attempts of three mathematics educators in reconceptualizing and impacting teachers’ understanding of place value concepts.

abstract: There is a national shortage of highly qualified early childhood educators. For many early childhood educators, this career path begins with the Child Development Associate credential. Community colleges are well-positioned to award this credential and address the shortage of highly qualified early childhood educators. However, many students arrive at community colleges academically unprepared, with excessive work and family responsibilities. The purpose of my participatory action research study is to explore the impact of internships on early childhood education student attitudes towards persistence in their course of study. This study has the potential to impact strategies used with child development majors in the community college setting. Successful community college students who persist through their plan of study to graduate will experience the benefits that college completion brings. In addition to the interests of college completion, these students will enter the workforce or university setting with valuable work experience and professional credentials achieved in a supportive community. Both outcomes have the potential to positively affect the growth of the early childhood workforce. The findings of this study reveal that student interns placed in high-quality, early learning centers found support in the relationships with their mentor teachers, valuable experiences with the children in the rooms, and a new sense of self-efficacy when offered opportunities to participate in professional development activities, leading to persistence in their course of study. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2019

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a statistically significant relationship between teacher self-efficacy beliefs and teacher recommendations for student retention. An online survey served as the data source for this study. The survey link was emailed to 236 kindergarten, first, and second grade teachers in an urban Virginia school district. Teachers were asked to report the number of students recommended for retention over a two year period as well as information regarding the characteristics of the children actually retained (e.g., race, gender, SES status, etc.) over that same two year period. In addition to providing the information regarding student retention, teachers were asked to complete Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy's (2001) Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale.;The results from the study indicated that among teachers at non-Title I schools the higher the number of recommendations for student retention, the higher the Student Engagement Subscale mean. When examining the characteristics of retained students in grades K-2 at Bayside, as reported by the classroom teacher, many of this study's findings contradicted previously published research in regards to race, family socioeconomic status, school attendance, and parental involvement.

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