<p> As education evolves in the 21st century and students learn to develop knowledge from the ground up, educators step into the role of facilitator. Critical to this paradigm shift is a connection with places that develops knowledge from local experiences into broad global understanding. This thesis explores the literature on how people develop a connection with place, the importance of learning about the world through appropriate developmental stages, and the relevance of place-based education as part of learning in the 21st century. Through qualitative research methods&mdash;including surveys, interviews, and focus groups&mdash;this thesis demonstrates the ways in which educators in an elementary school in Albuquerque, New Mexico develop a personal sense of place. It also asks how an educator&rsquo;s understanding of place is integrated into her or his teaching practices and addresses where there is room for place-based education principles in a wide range of classrooms. The findings of this study suggest that through relationships to place and people, young learners can develop a sense of belonging that drives a love of and responsibility for places on both local and global scales.</p>

<p> Teacher preparation programs are making concerted efforts to prepare practitioners to transform urban education. Current studies rely heavily on self-reported data with little to no inclusion of the voices of teachers or perceptions of principals. This qualitative case study aimed to fill that gap by exploring how alumni of one social justice&ndash;themed University Teacher Preparation Program (UTPP) defined and implemented socially just teaching practices in urban elementary classrooms. Participants included six teacher alumni in their first, second, or third year of teaching, two supervising principals, and one UTPP staff member. Methods included semistructured interviews, full-day classroom observations, and a review of program documents. The study was guided by 12 characteristics of socially just teaching outlined in a new practice-based conceptual framework. Major findings combatted current critiques of social justice education and highlighted the importance of relationships, collaboration, craft, and selection in teacher preparation. Minor findings revealed the impact of school culture, critical reflection, and teaching experience on social justice pedagogy. Recommendations include a need for UTPP to pay greater attention to the craft of teaching for social justice, develop assessment literacy in preservice candidates, and model activism inside and outside the classroom.</p>

<p> A great deal depends on preparing high quality teachers, and reformers of teacher preparation have recently drawn attention to the need for clearer delineations of effective practice, what it takes to be a teacher, and standards of preparation. Taken together, these reform proposals arguably frame a professional ideal for teaching. How this ideal and other ideals are established as desirable for beginning teachers during preparation remains relatively unexplored. In this study I thus tease out the desired ideals of teaching in two alternative residency-based teacher preparation programs, City Teacher Prep (CTP) and a Montessori teacher training program (MONT). Drawing from literature in the humanities and the learning sciences, I develop a conceptual framework of desire as socially constructed and conveyed to beginning teachers through <i> orienting narratives</i> that serve to direct them toward desired objects of teaching. I also postulate that beginners develop desires by making <i> heartfelt investments</i> in those objects. I use a constructivist grounded theory approach to collect and analyze observation and interview data. My findings reveal differences in the desired objects at each program suggestive of a tension between a professional ideal and vocational ideal of teaching. I also find evidence of <i>standing</i> desires for leadership among beginners at both programs that could result in their eventually leaving teaching. Through this investigation, I illuminate the conceptual features of desire and show how it can inform our understanding of teacher preparation.</p>

<p> This research utilized performance autoethnography and case study methodologies to explore the ways in which White female pre-service teachers&rsquo; perceptions of race and gender are informed by their reading of four counternarratives about Black females written by Black female authors and their participation in a book club. Specifically, this study looked to uncover how engaging with a practical classroom tool like children&rsquo;s literature books in a book club format creates a transformative space for White female pre-service teachers to critically interrogate notions of race and gender. Performance autoethnography allowed for an exploration of how I contributed to and was affected by the book club setting as a Black female and teacher educator. Case study methodology was used to explore the research questions more directly to capture the essence of the bounded system of the book club. </p><p> A review of literature revealed teacher education needs more structured spaces to support pre-service teachers&rsquo; ability to have conversations about race, gender, and other categories of diversity. This study focused particularly on White female pre-service teachers as they make up the majority of the teaching force in the United States. Additionally, focus was given to White female pre-service teachers as the literature shows that White women tend to use &ldquo;white talk&rdquo;&mdash;or ways of talking about race which allows them to protect themselves from having a conversation about race. </p><p> The results of the study are presented in the order of the books read by the pre-service teachers and myself. The findings show that the pre-service teachers did not experience the counternarratives as counternarratives, they reappropriated the texts to fit their dominate narrative. Further, the pre-service teachers were more comfortable having discussions of gender rather than race. The discussion provides description of how each book resonated with the pre-service teachers by focusing on how they conceptualized the messages presented in each counternarrative. Implications of this study for teacher education as well as further research are also provided.</p>

<p> Learning social skills through play is an important aspect of a preschool child&rsquo;s development. Young students who are not developing normally, such as those diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders, tend to exhibit more difficulty in their social skills development. As a result of this serious deficit, these skills must be taught by the teacher once the child begins their journey through education. Thus, it is necessary for the special education teacher to embed different teaching strategies into the curriculum so as to teach children with ASD the proper social skills effectively and efficiently. </p><p> The goal of the present study was to determine if the reading of a social story and the discussion of that social story on a daily basis can positively affect the behavior and social skills of a preschool student diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The student under study was a 4-year old male who presented with limited social skills. The teacher/researcher applied a social story intervention that included the reading of a social story on a daily basis, a comprehension check that was followed by a modeled play scenario between the student and the teacher/researcher. The study was conducted for a period of 5 weeks. The teacher/researcher used comprehension checks, field notes and partial interval record forms in order to measure growth in student behaviors and social interactions. The results of this study indicated that applying a social story intervention on a daily basis can effectively improve a preschool ASD student&rsquo;s social skills and provide that student an opportunity to be socially successful during structured and unstructured dramatic play time.</p>

<p> Throughout the history of teacher education, the final fieldwork experience has often been called the single most influential experience in teacher preparation programs (Burns, Jacobs, &amp; Yendol-Hoppey, 2016; Feiman-Nemser &amp; Buchmann, 1986; Parker-Katz &amp; Bay, 2008). Though this experience has been expanded to include fieldwork experiences throughout many teacher education programs (Guyton &amp; McIntyre, 1990), the final fieldwork experience remains the closing activity and the lasting image of teacher preparation (Feiman-Nemser &amp; Buchmann, 1986; Rosaen &amp; Florio-Ruane, 2008). Given its importance, though, researchers know relatively little about it. &ldquo;The knowledge thus produced is akin to the quantum theory of physics; we know what goes in . . . and what comes out . . . but not what occurs in the interim&rdquo; (Guyton &amp; McIntyre, 1990, p. 524). Given the current reforms in mathematics education and mathematics teacher education (National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, 2010; National Governors Association Center for Best Practices &amp; Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010), Guyton and McIntyre&rsquo;s observation is still relevant today.</p><p> During the final fieldwork experience, university-based and school-based mathematics educators must work together on behalf of the novice to marry university-promoted theory (especially reform-oriented theory) with the practical classroom expectations of day-to-day teaching life. Though there is much research on how this kind of work should be done and the dilemmas that have arisen during fieldwork (e.g., Knight, 2009; Loughran, 2006; Nolan &amp; Hoover, 2004; Sergiovanni &amp; Starratt, 2006; Sullivan &amp; Glanz, 2013), we have little information about the experiences of the mathematics educators who collaborate during final fieldwork. Furthermore, we have very little information on how these educators navigate mathematics reforms to prepare teachers of mathematics. </p><p> This multi-case study was designed to investigate three novices, their school-based mentors, and their university-based mentor (me) who collaborated during a year-long final fieldwork experience at the close of a middle school mathematics teacher preparation program. To write single case reports that illuminated our collaborative experiences, I wrote the &ldquo;stories&rdquo; of each triad. To collect these stories, I used individual and group interviews, paired conversations, asynchronous text interviews, conference observations, collaborative fieldwork artifacts, my own practitioner-researcher journal, and three cycles of participant member checks. After verifying the veracity of the stories of each triad, I engaged in cross-case analysis to make assertions about the commonalities and unique circumstances that defined these fieldwork cases. This study adds to teacher preparation fieldwork literature by evoking a response from educators working in the field and providing them with examples of open dialogue that created more empathetic collaborative experiences. The study also provides evidence that the empathy generated by sharing stories can create more productive and effective learning experiences for the novices involved. In particular, open dialogue provided the collaborators in these cases with a platform for acknowledging pedagogical differences, negotiating fieldwork expectations, and setting and meeting novices&rsquo; professional goals. For future investigations of teacher preparation fieldwork collaboration, this study provides evidence that a practitioner approach to research affords the researcher exceptional access to the stories of novices and mentors and establishes empathetic bonds that can make the telling of those stories both illuminating and respectful of the voices they represent.</p>

<p> Preservice special education teachers need to develop essential teaching skills to competently address student academics and behavior in the classroom. TeachLivE&trade; is a sophisticated virtual simulation that has recently emerged in teacher preparation programs to supplement traditional didactic instruction and field experiences. Teacher educators can engineer scenarios in TeachLivE&trade; to cumulatively build in complexity, allowing preservice teachers to incrementally interleave target skills in increasingly difficult situations.</p><p> The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of TeachLivE&trade; on preservice special education teachers&rsquo; delivery of error correction, specific praise, and praise around in the virtual environment and in authentic classroom settings. Four preservice special educators who were teaching on provisional licenses in upper elementary language arts classrooms participated in this multiple baseline study across target skills. Participants attended weekly TeachLivE&trade; sessions as a group, where they engaged in three short teaching turns followed by structured feedback. Participants&rsquo; proficiency with the target skills was analyzed on three weekly assessments. First, participants&rsquo; mastery of current and previous target skills was measured during their third teaching turn of the intervention session (i.e., TeachLivE&trade; training assessment). Next, participants&rsquo; proficiency with all skills, including those that had not been targeted yet in intervention, were measured immediately following intervention sessions (i.e., TeachLivE&trade; comprehensive assessment). Finally, teachers submitted a weekly video recording of a lesson in their real classroom (i.e. classroom generalization assessment).</p><p> Repeated practice and feedback in TeachLivE&trade; promoted participants&rsquo; mastery of essential target skills. Specifically, all participants demonstrated proficiency with error correction, specific praise, and praise around on both the TeachLivE&trade; training assessment and the more complex TeachLivE&trade; comprehensive assessment, with a strong pattern of generalized performance to authentic classroom settings. Participants maintained proficiency with the majority of the target skills in both environments when assessed approximately one month after intervention was discontinued. Implications of the study are discussed, including the power of interleaved practice in TeachLivE&trade; and how generalization and maintenance may be impacted by the degree of alignment between virtual and real teaching scenarios.</p>

<p> School Capital has been shown to affect school setting, effectiveness and student achievement. Schools are a system within society that utilizes the social resources of social networks to develop an engaged school setting. This study applied a conceptual framework based on Bourdieu&rsquo;s concepts of social capital. This study examined the school capital, the mobilization of social networks, and social resources available for student engagement at an intermediate school. This qualitative study used an interview protocol and narrative inquiry approach. Using NVivo software, eleven participant interviews were coded and analyzed for emergent themes in the areas of school capital. Four dominant themes emerged, these included: Obligations to the learning process; social networks that highlighted relationships between school members; a sense of trust between student and teacher; and positive relationships within the school community. The findings from this study suggest that feelings of connection to teachers, students, and their peers helped to engage students in the classroom. Students from the study indicated that high expectations, high interest projects, and socially engaged activities provided opportunities for student engagement. Implications and recommendations for practice and future research are also discussed as part of this study.</p>

<p> When we view the needs of our students through the lens of access and opportunity for students of African American backgrounds then we can begin to move forward towards a more comprehensive and collaborative approach (Jacobs, 2013; Klingner, et al., 2005). Dr. Asa Hilliard (1991) states, &ldquo;it is a question of whether collectively, as educators and a society, we have the will and vision to educate all children&rdquo; (cited in Boutte, 2012, p. 517). While the current body of research provides a plethora of information on supporting CLD children and families from the perspective of educators, administrators, and institutions of higher education (Banks, Obiakor, &amp; Algozzine, 2013; Cannon &amp; Luckner, 2016; Chu, 2013; Guardino &amp; Cannon, 2016; Hansuvadah, 2009; Harry, 2008; Olivos, Gallagher, &amp; Aguilar, 2010) there is a significant gap in the research literature as it pertains to the parents of children who are Black and have a disability, and their perspective of disparities in access to resources and opportunity. For the purposes of this study, CLD/E refers to children who are Black or African American and have a disability as defined by IDEIA. There are two purposes for this study. This study will explore the parent voice in discussing the issues of access and experiences for children and families who are CLD/E. The second purpose of this study is to examine the manner in which systems are navigated from the CLD parent point of view, specifically those of the African diaspora. Through examining parents&rsquo; experiences, this study will inform the body of research to support the needs of CLD students with disabilities transition throughout their academic careers. This study is guided by the following questions: &bull; How do CLD parents of CLD/E children perceive their child&rsquo;s disability? &bull; How do CLD parents perceive the supports and services available to assist them in supporting the needs of their CLD/E? &bull; What do CLD parents perceive as the facilitators of and the barriers to access and opportunity for services and resources? </p><p> When the information is examined more closely, one can see the trend of students with disabilities not accessing high-level opportunities in the realms of employment, education, independent living, and overall quality of life, and how this trend is compounded when the numbers are examined through the lens of culture and language (Bal, Sullivan, &amp; Harper, 2014; Leake, Burgstahler, &amp; Izzo, 2011; National Research Council, 2002; Povenmire-Kirk, Bethune, Alverson, &amp; Kahn, 2015). Further, by focusing on the population of students the research available is limited in scope as it does not address ways in which all stakeholders can work together to improve outcomes, specifically with the voice of parents. CLD students with exceptionality are therefore limited in their ability to access the same or similar opportunities as their same aged peers who are without disability and oftentimes White.</p><p>

<p> Music education is often one of the first programs that are removed from school districts. With the new language in the &ldquo;Every Student Succeeds Act,&rdquo; it is important that school performance is measured through student engagement, parental involvement, and school culture, for a well-rounded education including music (NAfME, n.d.). The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards redeveloped the music standards in 2014 to include technology (NAfME, n.d.). The purpose of the study is to determine the impact of parental involvement and how access to technology contribute to the success of creating independent musicians in middle school, instrumental music programs. </p><p> A mixed-methods research analysis was completed to explore parental involvement and technology impacts. Interviews were conducted between public and private school music teachers, as well as parent participants. Surveys were sent to parents of both school sites to investigate what factor of parental involvement of Epstein&rsquo;s (1986) framework was most present in a middle school music program. Interviews were coded for common themes. An intervention was also implemented into the study to determine if there was a significant difference in musical growth gained between technology and the traditional teaching method, but also to determine if technology facilitates Zimmerman&rsquo;s (1986) framework of self-regulated learning. Paired samples T-tests were computed on Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software to calculate the comparisons between the methods and their growth scores. There was a significant difference in the pre-test and post-test for both the traditional teaching method and the intervention method. However, there was not a significant difference between the growth rates of both methods. This indicated that either method was an effective way for students to learn a piece of music. In addition, practice logs for the traditional method were coded for evidence of self-regulated learning. Positive communication between parents, teachers and technology in music education that facilitates self-regulated learning impacted the success of students becoming independent musicians in middle school instrumental-music programs. Interviews of two music teachers determined differences between the programs pertaining to support, enrollment, funding and technology. Positive communication between parents and teachers promoted a better understanding of a child&rsquo;s musical development, and that parents want to know that their teacher cares for their child. Computer-based technology in the music classroom demonstrated an effective practice session for students. Students were motivated to do well by utilizing evaluation features of the software. </p><p> Keyword: music education, middle school, parental involvement, communication, student success, self-regulated learning, technology, motivation, independent musicians.</p><p>