The purpose of the study was to examine students' and teachers' perceptions of instructional alignment in two different units of instruction. Participants were 24 4th grade students and two physical education teachers who turn taught the 4th grade class. Data were collected through field note observations and formal interviews using a semi-structured interview guide with the physical education teachers and 13 students who had participated in both units. Document data were also collected in the form of district curriculum, assessment examples, and task cards. Interview data were analyzed qualitatively. Observational data were analyzed inductively using Cohen's (1987) model of instructional alignment and Doyle's (1977) ecological model. Results indicated that a misalignment existed between the teachers' goals and what the students perceived they were to learn. The misalignment may have occurred as a result of the lack of congruence among the teachers' goals and the fact that students' achievement of the teachers' goals was not tied to a grade.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of teacher collaboration and co-teaching on the response to literacy intervention of elementary-aged students with learning disabilities. The study utilized a multiple-baseline approach. The participants in this study included three second-grade students identified with learning disabilities, their special education teachers, and their classroom teachers from a north metro school district in Colorado. During the baseline phase, students received traditional pull-out literacy interventions and classroom instruction. During the intervention phase, the general education teacher and special education teacher collaboratively planned and co-taught the student's small group reading lesson. Students' literacy skills were monitored weekly using a variety of progress monitoring assessments. Students' oral reading fluency was monitored using the DIBELS Test of Oral Reading Fluency (Good & Kaminski, 2002). Sight word fluency was monitored using the Easy CBM word reading assessment (Alonzo & Tindal, 2007). Decoding fluency was measured using the DIBELS Test of Nonsense Word Fluency (Good & Kaminski, 2002). Overall reading levels were assessed using the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS; Invernizzi et al., 2003). Results were analyzed based on a visual analysis and the percentage exceeding the median (PEM). Results varied among participants. Overall results for oral reading fluency indicated that two students had a moderate response while the third student had a questionable response. The EasyCBM Word Reading assessment results resulted in two of the three students falling in the questionable range while the third student demonstrated a high effect size. A higher level of response was illustrated on the DIBELS Nonsense Word Fluency assessment with two out of three students falling in the high range and one student falling in the moderate range. Overall changes in reading level varied for each student. Student One regressed, Student Two increased his reading level, and Student Three remained the same. Teachers filled out a post-study Intervention Rating Profile (IRP) and participated in a teacher interview to measure the social validity of the intervention. The teacher interview and IRP indicated that teachers perceived the use of the co-planning and co-teaching intervention as beneficial for students with academic difficulties. Benefits of the co-planning and co-teaching intervention included the opportunity to learn from each other and the ability to create a bridge from the classroom to intervention setting. Teachers identified scheduling co-teaching opportunities and finding time to co-plan as barriers to the co-planning and co-teaching intervention.^

This case study investigated the planning, implementation, and assessment of a staff development project designed to reduce stress and provide a support base for improved learning by introducing Movement/Relaxation skills to an urban elementary school. Focus of the research was directed towards meeting the needs of differently-abled children in the low income African American community. It examined possible body/mind strategies for making the curriculum more accessible to the active learning style of African American children. The program also took into consideration concerns of the adult learners among the professionals. It acknowledged school improvement as an ongoing process that must appeal to the efficacy of teachers who may commit to change when they feel what they are doing will make a difference. During workshops and coaching sessions, an action team of volunteer educators explored aspects of nonverbal communication in space, ways of bringing Movement/Relaxation into the curriculum and techniques for developing body depth, or inner space, and relaxation. The action team generated a group dynamic that enabled the participants to: (1) share experiences; (2) clarify understandings; (3) encourage each other in the classroom practice of body/mind activities; (4) gain an awareness of nonverbal communication and how to improve teacher/student relationships; (5) realize the value of relaxation as basic to concentration, attention and learning; (6) excite the interest of other faculty members; and (7) foster a more nurturing school climate. Endorsement of the study by central administration strengthened the commitment of school personnel who contributed towards its implementation. Cooperation by the principal, math and reading coordinators, as well as the responsibility demonstrated by school aides were essential to the progress of this research. The time spent working together served to bond the participants and those who lent supportive assistance to their efforts.

This qualitative case study investigated elementary teachers' concepts of art, their anxieties associated with art practices, and a principal's decision making concerning art in the curriculum. Two in-depth interviews were conducted with 12 participants to determine their knowledge base, family and educational backgrounds, conceptions of art, and the relationship with the art teacher. Observations of classroom art activities were carried out over a period of six months and recorded in a field log. Visual images in the school building were analyzed for content. Data were analyzed through open and pattern coding. Through axial coding, clusters of data were organized by commonalities and patterns arranged around the axis category of teachers' conception of art. Through the metaphor of "The Medium of Water" representing teachers' understanding of art, six themes were developed explaining the results of this study: (1) Skimming the Surface of the Water---describes classroom teachers' inadequate backgrounds. A lack of exposure, education, and familiarity connected to art knowledge was linked to how art was superficially conceptualized and valued. (2) Wading in the Shallows---describes classroom teachers' shallow conceptions of art. (3) A Choice Not to Dive---describes manifestations of classroom teachers' conceptions of art and implementation of art. Images displayed within classrooms and corridors were found to be predominately commercially adult-generated and/or student-generated from the art curriculum. (4) Fear of the Water---describes anxieties associated with the teaching and making of art. Anxious participants did not consider themselves artistic and used less art in their classrooms. (5) Unable to Take the Plunge---describes a knowledgeable principal's indecision. While being knowledgeable and sympathetic to art, she was unable to make a case for an art-inclusive program, and (6) Drowning in Responsibilities---describes an overwhelmed art teacher. Her isolation contributed to an inability to collaborate with other teachers and responsibility to integrate fell mostly to her. Her teaching objectives and values did not match with classroom teachers'. All participants' concerns were coping with curricular pressures, high-stakes testing, and lack of time in the schedule. Because of these issues, art was not a priority in this school's curriculum.

Three elementary teachers made changes in their mathematics teaching by learning more mathematics content knowledge designed for mathematics teachers, and by adopting professional development teaching roles. Recent professional development programs have demonstrated that elementary teachers need content knowledge for teaching. By learning more mathematics with clear definitions, concept interconnections, and multiple models and themes for teaching mathematical concepts, the teachers improved their understanding of mathematics and changed their teaching behaviors in the classroom. This seven month study examined the three teachers during their professional development experience in the Massachusetts Mathematics Institute. Data collection included pre/post tests, an assignment designed for teachers to test out new content knowledge in their classrooms, written evaluations, interviews, and classroom observations. The pattern analysis is presented as case studies of three elementary mathematics teachers. Results indicated that specially designed content knowledge for teachers changed mathematics teaching and learning in the classroom.

Against a backdrop of pressure for change in teacher education (Carnegie Forum, 1986; Holmes Group Report, 1986; United Kingdom White Paper, 1983) Feiman-Nemser and Floden (1986) produced a comprehensive review of research in the area of teacher education. Amongst other issues, they identified three broad areas of teacher development--"A model of changes in teacher concerns, a model based on cognitive-developmental theories, and a style of inservice education emphasizing teachers' own perceptions of their needs." (Feiman-Nemser and Floden, 1986, p.522). Since the first two approaches seemed to possess some common characteristics in that Fuller's (1969) stages of teacher concern were similar to cognitive-developmental stages, it was decided to try to establish whether there was any relationship between cognitive-developmental stage level, and the levels of concern expressed by teachers. As this study was regarded as an initial exploration of the topic, and as empirical studies in the area had produced confusing results, it was seen as an appropriate project for a qualitative approach to research. Accordingly, two groups of volunteers (12 experienced teachers from a Massachusetts elementary school, and 10 education seniors from the School of Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst) were administered David Hunt's (1978) Paragraph Completion Method (PCM) and George's (1978) Teacher Concerns Questionnaire (TCQ). On the basis of Conceptual Level scores, four students and four teachers were chosen for follow-up interviews, and the interview data collated and analyzed. The results of this analysis showed that cognitive-developmental level does affect the profiles of concerns of teachers, and it can be inferred from the study that it also affects the patterns of change of teachers' concerns. The results also cast some doubt on the validity of the TCQ instrument.

This study reported on a teacher training project designed by the District of Columbia Public Schools (D.C.P.S.) to develop a cadre of exemplary teachers from an indigenous population of D.C.P.S. graduates and outstanding educational aides. The context of the study reported on university collaboration with the public school system to improve its teacher training program and described the Systematic Teacher Preparation Program (STPP) based on the perceptions of the teacher trainee toward the program. Data for the study were collected through two basic tools of qualitative research: interviews and document analysis. The case study subjects were students who were elementary and secondary majors in the teacher education program at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) and were participants in the STPP. Case study subjects were randomly selected from first, second, third and fourth year elementary and secondary STPP participants. The sample group consisted of fifteen STPP students. The design for the study was a single case study action research format. A one hour interview was conducted with each subject based on a general interview guide with an open-ended format. The researcher concentrated on the subject's reason for selecting education as a major, the supports that sustained the subject in the program, and the subject's work experience in education. The subject was asked to reflect on what teacher training experiences meant to him or her. The impact of the practicum experience over a four year period compared to a twelve week traditional student teaching period was explored. The findings and conclusions of this study revealed that teacher trainees: (1) selected education as a major because of a desire to work with young people, (2) were influenced by a family member to major in education, (3) sustained an interest in education through the STPP staff, the clinical experience, and local school faculty, (4) needed increased involvement of program monitors, (5) were satisfied with STPP, (6) performed excessive non-instructional activities, and (7) were taught a traditional teacher education program at UDC.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 138-146).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-146). Also available in print.

Thesis--Wisconsin. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 159-164).