The study examines the use of the shadow study technique in determining student engagement in learning. The students and teachers who comprise the subjects for this study were randomly chosen from a large metropolitan midwestern school district. The students were randomly selected from a list of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students provided by the district. Teachers were also randomly selected from a list of tenured teachers provided by the district. The shadow study, a quasi ethnographic data collection technique, was used to gather data for this study. Observations were recorded every five to seven minutes over the course of a school day. Fifty-eight students and twenty-two teachers were shadowed. Fifty-eight volunteer observers shadowed the students, and twenty-two shadowed the teachers. Data were grouped by grade level, first impressions were recorded, and responses to lists of topics for student and teacher behavior were noted. These impressions and notes were then coded and tabulated. Teacher behavior included initial impressions, instructional techniques, teacher-teacher interactions, student engagement, and teacher student interactions. Student behavior included initial impressions, instructional techniques, teacher-student interactions, and student-student interactions. These data were compared to topics described in the literature as positively influencing student engagement in learning. Topics included: authentic instruction, small group instruction, the use of computers, project based learning, individualized instruction, hands-on learning, and small group and whole class discussions. The study found the predominant instructional techniques in these classrooms to be very traditional. Teacher lecturing and student note taking and the use of worksheets prevailed. Students in these schools were actively engaged in learning about thirty percent of the time. Conversely, students were passively engaged or disengaged about seventy percent of the time. The shadow study technique, while inefficient, is an effective method to examine student engagement in learning.

The following study addresses the present theories on reflection in teaching, and attempts to locate this reflection in practice. Through analysis of "bumpy moments" in teaching, the study describes teacher reflection as it actually occurs in the classroom context. The following research questions were designed to examine practicing and preservice teachers' perceptions and reflections on "bumpy moments" in teaching and determine the similarities and differences between the two: (1) What do teachers and preservice teachers consider to be "bumpy moments" in their teaching or observation of teaching? (2) What do teachers and preservice teachers think about when faced with a "bumpy moment" in teaching? (3) What kinds of knowledge or beliefs do teachers and preservice teachers bring to the "bumpy moments," and where did they come from? (4) How does the teacher resolve the difficult task of making decisions instantaneously within the classroom context; and what did the preservice teacher observe the teacher doing? and (5) What are the implications of each "bumpy moment" on a teacher's or preservice teacher's thinking about future decisions and teaching practice? These research questions were addressed through the identification of "bumpy moments" during a specific period of teaching, and a comparison of the moments identified by both the practicing teacher and the preservice teacher. Interviews were conducted to gain insight into the factors, thoughts, understandings, knowledge, actions, and possible impact of each "bumpy moment" identified. Through an analysis of the "bumpy moments" identified by both the practicing and preservice teachers, several important findings emerged about the similarities and differences in the types of "bumpy moments" shared by the two groups of participants. Further, differences in the practicing and preservice teachers' thoughts, knowledge and beliefs brought to each moment give further insight into how teachers at varying stages of their development might experience these classroom events. Increased understanding of how preservice teachers interpret these moments may provide Teacher Educators with insights for developing programs that encourage teacher reflection.

This microethnographic study describes what happened when a small group of 12- and 13-year olds were given the opportunity to compose with hypermedia in their language arts class. Drawing from semiotic, sociocultural, constructivist, transactional and holistic theories, the researcher interpreted the meanings the students and their language arts teacher ascribed to the creation of a student-run online magazine. The researcher investigated the kinds of things that the seventh graders in this study value, what the webzine project meant to the student editors, what processes are involved in the creation of a webzine, how hypermedia literacy functions as a language form, how the hypermedia design project impacted the language arts curriculum, and the roles that computers can play in the classroom. Hypermedia is a multi-symbolic semiotic language form that is still in the process of evolving. Hypermedia literacy requires transmediation, among print literacies, oral literacies, visual literacies, computer literacies and hypertext literacies. Becoming fluent in hypermedia involves orchestrating the various elements (cueing systems) of hypermedia and flexibly applying this knowledge within a variety of hypermedia genres. The webzine project was a positive experience for the seventh graders in this study because it met their affective needs to be active, to learn new things, to have new experiences, to feel motivated and interested, to be social, to have freedom, to feel proud and to have a sense of audience. It also stimulated the cognitive processes of generating ideas, collaborating, problem solving, representing concepts and monitoring their own learning. It is suggested that hypermedia design projects cannot be fully integrated into the language arts curriculum unless the district and/or the classroom teacher has made a paradigmatic shift from a transmission model to a constructivist philosophy of education. Successful integration of hypermedia composition in the curriculum is also related to the students' and the teachers' perception of the potential roles of computers. Based on the results of this study and others, the author concludes that junior high language arts students should be given invitations to compose with hypermedia whenever feasible, but that educators should not dismiss the challenges associated with such an undertaking.

The purpose of this study was to explore how children in a third grade classroom came to understand the processes that helped them revalue themselves as learners. In addition, they identified the types of support structures that helped them revalue themselves as learners in an inquiry based curriculum. Qualitative research was determined to be the most suitable methodology for this study, given the research questions and their relationship to the engagements and the learning experiences in this classroom. The curricular framework dictated that the research design needed to include data that reflected the ongoing nature of learning as a process of inquiry. Data analysis was based on open coding and a method of constant comparison. Multiple data sources included daily field notes with anecdotal notes on significant events; a teacher journal of reflections; collected student responses, Sketch to Stretches, picture reflections, portfolios, and journal entries. Children described, defined, and redefined themselves as learners through the continuous building of reciprocal relationships with their peers and teacher, encouraging them to find their voice through action and reflection. Children identified the roles of their class participants, the connection they made in and across the curriculum, their personal and social inquiries, and the expectation of change, as the multiple structures that supported them in their learning. My purpose was to contribute insights into how students and teachers might better address the issue of curriculum for the purpose of allowing learners to be more self-reflective learners. Findings suggest that reflective thinking is a tool for growth as a learner and needs to be a continuous part of the curriculum. Sign systems need to be tools for expanding learning potentials so classrooms can be critical thinking communities. Learning is enhanced when relationships are reciprocal. A curriculum that emphasizes a problem-posing approach motivates students and encourages both students and teachers to engage in curricular decisions making curriculum dynamic.

In this study, I use aspects of ethnography to explore the role of cultural narratives in the educational experiences and daily life of the Chamorro people. The major method of collecting the data used in this study included official documents, interviews, and written surveys. These different sets of data collection allowed me to cross-check the data to triangulate the evidence and to refine and validate the study. The Chamorro culture and language still exist. However, the majority of homes are practicing an Americanized lifestyle because of the influences from the United States since their invasion in the 1800s. There has been a shift from the teaching of the history, culture, language, values, and stories of the Chamorro people from the home to the school. Data show that informants agree that teachers across all disciplines should implement cultural narratives into their teaching. The University of Guam and the Guam Community College need to add courses specializing in the Chamorro culture and make this part of the requirements for earned degrees in Elementary, Secondary, and Special Education. Participants agree that cultural narratives support Chamorro values and should be visible in all public and private schools from kindergarten through higher education. The main conclusions include (1) Guam does not have a set written policy for Chamorro cultural narratives although it is an accepted and recognized part of the Chamorro curriculum, (2) the Chamorro cultural narratives should be emphasized more and expanded across the standard curriculum for all grade levels, K-12, (3) the community, the family and the school must work more collaboratively and find more innovative ways to maintain the language and culture of the Chamorro people, and (4) Chamorro narratives should be implemented in both public and private schools.

This study addresses the importance of committing to redesigning how world history is taught at the high school level. Presented is a model for curriculum reform that introduces an approach to teaching revolving around a thematic structure. The purpose of this redesigned thematic curriculum was to introduce an alternative approach to teaching that proceeded from a "critical perspective"--that is, one in which students did not so much learn discrete bits of knowledge but rather an orientation toward learning and thinking about history and its application to their lives. The means by which this was done was by teaching world history from an anthropological perspective. A perspective that made archaeological data more relevant in learning about the past. The study presents how such a model was created through its pilot application in a high school world history classroom. It is through the experimental application of the curriculum ideas in the high school classroom that I was able to determine the effectiveness of this curriculum by following how easily it could be used and how well students responded to it. Therefore, followed in the study was the evolution of the curriculum model's development as it was used in the pilot classroom. Thus, I was able to determine the extent of its success as a tool for teaching critically and for teaching from an anthropological perspective.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an intervention program, Reading Recovery, on the literacy achievement of black and white students. Through a battery of assessment, interviews, and analysis procedures, the researcher addressed the following questions: (1) Do black and white students, who were students in the intervention program, Reading Recovery, have similar levels of literacy achievement and share similar literacy characteristics? (2) Do black and white students who successfully complete the intervention program, Reading Recovery, maintain average scores for at least two years post intervention? (3) Do teachers of black and white students accurately evaluate their literacy ability two years post intervention? Twenty-seven third grade students were selected to participate in the study, based upon their successfully completing the Reading Recovery Program. Procedures included the students reading Three Narrative Passages written at different difficulty levels. One passage was written at a first grade level, the second passage was written at a third grade level, and the third passage was written at a fifth grade level. In addition to the Three Narrative Passages The San Diego Oral Reading Paragraph for grade three was administered. An interview with the students' teachers included the teachers completing a questionnaire, The Teacher Evaluation of Students' Literacy Ability. The students were given The Elementary Reading Attitude Survey to measure their attitude about reading. Finally a written sample of the students' writing was obtained. Results showed no significant differences between the black and the white students on any of the assessments. There was no significance difference found in the teachers' evaluation of the black and white students' literacy ability. Both black and white students maintained average literacy scores two years post intervention.

This study argues for sociolinguistics to be foundational to an adequate theory of rhetoric, and the need for composition teachers to view academic written English as a second language. By viewing academic written English as a second language, it is easier to see (1) how native students' struggles to learn genre or rhetorical conventions are similar to second-language acquisition problems, and (2) why there is a need for the development of multidisciplinary curricula and research using both pedagogical and research strategies from the rhetoric/composition and second-language acquisition fields. The goal of this study is to examine under what conditions analytical skills can be developed in students that they can later transfer from one genre or discipline to another. Chapter 1 gives a background and overview of the study. Chapter 2 describes how and why sociolinguistics should be a basis for rhetoric and composition; introduces the connection between sociolinguistics and academic English as a form of discourse; and describes the benefits of a multidisciplinary base for composition research and pedagogy. Chapter 3 further examines how the theory that academic English should be seen as a second language offers great insights from the ESL field as to the cause of (and potential solutions to) student writing errors. Chapter 4 describes a multidisciplinary curriculum based on English for Specific Purposes (ESP) needs analysis methodology. The model for teaching composition that is offered teaches students how to deconstruct popular culture and academic genres using genre, rhetorical, and discourse analysis, and ethnographic techniques; extends the use of contrastive rhetoric from a means of looking at cultural differences to a method of exploring differences in disciplinary discourse, and teaches composition teachers how to use popular culture texts as analytical tools. The result is a new type of composition curriculum designed to develop analytical skills in students that will enable them to discover the rhetorical character and conventions of academic disciplines, master academic discourse, and expand their repertoire of options and strategies for communicating in writing. Chapter 5 describes how this curriculum was evaluated using an educational ethnographic approach. Chapters 6, 7, and 8 describe the four case studies. And Chapter 9 reviews the findings from evaluations of the case studies, and offers suggestions for future research utilizing this approach to teaching composition.

This study of teacher interactions with kindergarten writers is grounded in a holistic, socially-mediated constructivist framework. As a participant observer, I conducted a sociolinguistic microanalysis of ten transcripts from a kindergarten classroom to look at how teachers support kindergarten writers. These transcripts served as the primary data. Secondary data included copies of children's writing, dialogue journals between myself and the classroom teacher, videotapes and audiotapes. The three dimensions of context, focus and position were analyzed. Four of the five contexts were related to the classes' journal writing engagement: Mini-Lessons, Targeted Journal Conferences, Concurrent Journal Conferences and Journal Sharing. The fifth context was a writing and drawing option that children chose during Free Choice time. The teachers' five foci identified in the analysis were: Management, The Writing Act, Conventions, Materials and Meaning. The positions the teachers were in as they engaged with children and their writing were: Follower, Leader, Informer and Director. Two-way and three-way cross analyses revealed that the teachers were primarily in the Leader position focusing on Conventions. Students' primary foci were Materials and Management. Also, the specifics of the context as well as the adult present in that context influenced the foci and the positions of the teacher. The findings of this study and the professional literature about learning and teaching both indicate that teachers of young children feel pressures from a variety of sources to teach conventions. This pressure, often results in teachers leading children to produce conventional writing at the expense of children learning about the writing system at their own pace and in ways that make sense to them. Findings from this study also suggest that it would be useful to configure classroom contexts so children have access to the teacher as they are exploring the writing system and using it for authentic purposes.

Despite a 70-year long call for reform of the structure of medical education, the process by which one becomes a physician has remained remarkedly unchanged since the early 1900s. This case study was undertaken to identify the factors the facilitated and inhibited attempts at curricular reform in a state College of Medicine at a Research I institution in the southwest. The theoretical lenses of resource dependency, academic capitalism, professionalism/jurisdiction, power, and leadership were used to identify and understand the interrelatedness of the internal and external factors influencing change in medical education. Based on the theoretical constructs underlying the study, several propositions were outlined a priori. The findings indicated support for the propositions: the dean's support of reform initiatives was a key factor in the success of the initiatives; and conversely, those initiatives that were not actively and verbally supported by the dean did not tend to be approved; the dean influenced the agenda by taking key proposals for reform off the agenda; faculty were most resistant to those proposals that would have required them to relinquish their curricular jurisdiction to a central curriculum authority; faculty further maintained jurisdiction over their courses by simply choosing not to use materials made available to them through educational grants; the tenuous financial situation of the institution at the time affected the dean's and the faculty members' willingness to be involved in and support curricular reform efforts as they were under increasing pressure to increase their income-generating activities; and furthermore, the resource allocation patterns of the institution did not support reform initiatives. The findings highlighted two themes that were not accounted for in the propositions. The first indicated that the quality of the working relationship transcended jurisdictional boundaries that would have been expected from the professionalism/jurisdiction framework underlying the study. The second indicated that the efforts of a single individual could transcend all of the theoretical constructs underlying the study. Lastly, based on the findings of the study, several strategies were developed that may be useful to consider when attempting curricular reform.