<p> With the recent adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards in Oregon, there is a great need for teachers to be trained to effectively implement the three dimensions of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in their teaching. Time and location are the largest constraining factors that affect teacher participation in professional development trainings. To address this constraint, Tryon Creek State Park offered a NGSS professional development training opportunity for teachers that was integrated within a field trip that they took their students on. Before the field trip, teachers were introduced to the NGSS through a set of NGSS pre-field trip materials which informed them about the NGSS and how aspects of it would be integrated into their students&rsquo; field trip. Teachers accompanied their students on a two-hour long field trip at Tryon Creek State Park where teachers observed nature guides model NGSS-aligned activities for the students. My research aimed to answer the following question: How will an informal science education program at Tryon Creek State Park affect K-2 teachers&rsquo; awareness of the Next Generation Science Standards? Outcomes were measured through a pre/post retrospective survey and follow-up interviews. On the survey teachers reported little awareness of the three dimensions of the NGSS and very few of the teachers increased their understanding after the treatment. On the other hand, most had a high level of awareness and confidence in teaching factual information supporting the NGSS prior to treatment, resulting in a ceiling effect. Interviews suggested that few teachers read the materials sent in advance of the field trip, but teachers who did read the materials indicated increases in understanding of the NGSS. During the field trip several of the nature guides were effective in modeling science and engineering practices. These findings suggest that this method of professional development is promising, but needs further refinement.</p>

<p> This autoethnography of my lived experiences as a middle-school service-learning course teacher has helped me solve a personal mystery and present an important perspective for the K-12 service-learning field. With an eye on revealing a unique service-learning classroom concept to educational leaders, enhancing middle level teacher education, and hopes of providing greater opportunities for advancing research on service learning in K-12 education, this study has also aided me in understanding my professional self and my subjective educational theory through a personal interpretive framework (Kelchtermans, 1993, 1999, 2009). Using autoethnography (Ellis, 2004; Ellis &amp; Bochner, 2006) as a method to explore my own experiences as a middle school service-learning teacher and the perceptions of critical friends&mdash;colleagues, family members, and friends&mdash;who have been significant in my experiences, I am able to present an evocative personal narrative on what it means to be a service-learning teacher. Overarching findings from this study reveal that a middle grades service-learning teacher is a self-authored individual (Baxter Magolda, 1999, 2009; Kegan, 1994) who is committed to community-engaged education (Dewey, 1900, 1933), possesses a strong &ldquo;I must&rdquo; (Noddings, 2002b, p. 20) perspective on relational care, and are for development in servant leadership (Greenleaf, 1977; Sergiovanni, 1992; Bowman, 2005)</p>

<p> The current recommendation by The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) is that communication in the target language should comprise at least 90% of instructional time in the second language classroom (ACTFL, 2012). This constructivist mixedmethod study contributes to the literature on the oral skills of practicing high school teachers and the oral skills training they receive in teacher preparation programs. Data for the study were collected in two phases, from nine face-to-face interviews, and from electronic survey respondents. Surveys were sent out to two hundred four teachers and responses were received from sixty-eight. </p><p> Identified themes that emerged from interview participants&rsquo; experiences were: 1) use of target language vs. English in class, 2) challenges target language teaching presented for teachers, and 3) teachers&rsquo; responses to these challenges. A twenty-one question electronic survey was created based upon these themes and sent out state-wide to high school Spanish teachers. </p><p> In a significant finding, while participants indicated an overall feeling of being sufficiently proficient in their own oral skills and supporting use of the target language as much as possible in classroom activities, slightly more than one-half of teachers surveyed reported they were not adequately prepared to teach in a Standards-based curriculum which emphasizes the use of target language. Findings also indicated that consideration should be given to providing additional professional development opportunities regarding knowledge of and implementation of the Standards, as well as creation of further opportunities for target language maintenance for currently practicing teachers and additional opportunities for pre-service teachers in their university programs to improve their oral proficiency. In addition, this study revealed that, in this state, the taking and passing of the Oral Proficiency Interview or not needing to do so did not significantly impact the amount of target language used in class by teachers or student. Regarding length of teaching career and use of Spanish in class, this study showed a higher use of the target language by both teachers newer to the profession and those more senior teachers with less Spanish use in class reported by teachers who had been teaching between six and ten years. </p><p> Suggestions for future research were offered such as expanding studies to include middle school and elementary school levels, conducting similar studies with teachers of other languages than Spanish, and investigating other state&rsquo;s teachers&rsquo; perspectives. Further data could provide more in-depth insights if the amounts of target language spoken for the various purposes were broken out into percentages by each level of language taught by instructors.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this quantitative study was to compare the perception of teacher self-efficacy of traditionally and alternatively certified teachers in a suburban school district with a graduation rate of 99%. A school district with a graduation rate of 99% is worthy of further study to see if there is a statistical difference in the self-efficacy of its professional staff who are traditionally and alternatively certified. Through a study on licensure and worker quality comparing alternative routes to traditional teacher routes, alternatively certified teachers have stronger pre-service qualifications than do traditionally prepared teachers with the least restrictive alternative pathway attracting the most qualified teachers (Sass, 2014). Teacher quality and effectiveness have been studied to determine their relationship to and impact on student achievement. The researcher surveyed 82 teachers who were certified through traditional teacher preparation programs and through alternative preparation programs. The results of the this study did not show a significant difference in the teacher self-efficacy of traditionally and alternatively certified teachers nor did it show a statistical difference in the Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale (TSES) score of those with three or more years of experience and who had previous work experience with children and adolescents. The researcher used two surveys to gather data&mdash;a demographic survey created by Thompson (2003) and the TSES, a Likert-type scale, created by Schwarzer, Schmidtz, and Daytner in 1999. The TSES identifies jobs skills and groups in four major areas: (a) job accomplishment, (b) skill development on the job, (c) social interaction with students, parents, and colleagues, and (d) coping with job stress (Schwarzer, 1998; Schwarzer et al., 1999).</p><p> Keywords: self-efficacy, traditionally certified, alternatively certified. </p>

<p> The purpose of this research was to determine the effectiveness of a teacher training program in distance education (EAD) offered in a private institution of a higher education system located south of Puerto Rico. In order to achieve the objectives, the research was carried out with the application of Stufflebeam CIPP Model for program evaluation, specially focused on process and product phases.</p><p> The sample was composed of professors who participated in the Training Program. These participants were given a questionnaire designed for this research and related to the two stages: process, product and effectiveness of the program, as well as their satisfaction on aspects related to the training received. A Likert scale was used to identify the responses.</p><p> The research was framed in a quantitative and non-experimental methodology that was based around three research questions. The data obtained with the administration of the questionnaire were analyzed through the program SPSS 21. These data were analyzed and calculated through the descriptive statistics with the calculation of the frequency measurements.</p><p> After analyzing the data obtained and based on the results obtained and reported the highest percentages in the scale of "Totally agree" and "Agreed" it was shown that in the opinion of the participants, the training program for the teacher training in DE is effective with respect to the purpose of their design and participants are satisfied with the training received. The data collected in this study may support educational institutions to design training programs for professional development.</p>

<p> This qualitative descriptive study explored the experiences of three Kuwaiti pre-service teachers with guided reflection and the extent to which video technology facilitates reflection. The data sources were semi-structured and video-elicited interviews, field notes, and researcher reflective journals. The study was guided by two research questions: In what ways does video elicitation facilitate Kuwaiti pre-service teachers&rsquo; reflections? What do Kuwaiti pre-service teachers reflect about? I used Rogoff&rsquo;s Sociocultural Theory (2003; 1995) as my conceptual lens for this study which stresses the importance of cultural contexts in all areas of education. I developed a concept I call &ldquo;third-eye&rdquo; thinking to define a multifaceted approach to education and reflection. I also developed a concept I call &ldquo;cultural spheres of influence&rdquo; to describe the multitude of cultural influences that shape individuals and groups in unique ways. This study also depended on guided reflection to complement the process of video elicitation. The findings of my study indicated that video elicitation provided concrete material as a basis for reflection. My findings showed that Kuwaiti early childhood pre-service teachers reflected on various topics including: teaching tools and materials, strategies and techniques, everyday problems and challenges, classroom dynamics and management, and evaluators and the evaluation process. This research contributes to the existing body of literature by giving reflection a new culturally-rooted definition based on its application by Kuwaiti pre-service teachers and through a careful consideration of the cultural spheres of influences that shaped who the participants were and what they brought to the reflective process. </p>

As teachers of writing, we inherit terms, all of which have complicated and ongoing histories. The field of rhetoric and composition has an impressive collection from which to choose: "dialogism," "writing as a way of thinking," "critical thinking," and "writing to learn," to name a few. These terms creep into our vocabulary. We take them into the classroom. / We form and reform our theories of writing as we internalize and make sense of the language we inherit. The challenge is, then, to constantly consider whether our practice reflects our emerging theories and whether our theories are in sync with our practices. Our theoretical understandings most visibly surface when we explain what we value in student writing--the nexus of theory and practice. / In the dissertation, I examine the ways in which our evaluation of student writing can reveal the gaps between our theory and our practices. From these gaps, my own self-examination reveals our stories as teachers, writers, and readers emerge. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-07, Section: A, page: 2503. / Major Professor: Richard Straub. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

This study examined the metaphors for teaching of a preservice physical education teacher characterized as a "difficult student." The purpose was to gain an understanding of the perspectives from which this teacher operated and why he was labeled a "difficult student." Metaphors were characterized as frames that reveal how teachers view their profession. No studies of metaphors in physical education were found. The social constructivist and symbolic interactionist perspectives formed the framework for this study. The subject was a 27 year old, white, male, delayed entry student, with experience as an athlete and a coach. Data was gathered during and after the subject's student teaching semester via formal and informal interviews, participant observation, and document analysis. The constant comparative method of data analysis was used. The subject's metaphors for teaching were the teacher as facilitator (including the scholar, presenter, and entertainer metaphors), coach, and friend. The investigation revealed that some of the subject's philosophical views and beliefs about the acquisition of professional knowledge conflicted with those supported by his program. Characteristics of the subject were often consistent with those of delayed entry students. These characteristics and philosophical differences appeared to account for much of the difficulty encountered. The researcher concluded that gaining an understanding of the subject's perspectives earlier in his program could have helped the teacher preparation professors and instructors deal with his differences in a mutually beneficial way. This might have led to a more constructive view of the subject as being "different" rather than "difficult." / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-11, Section: A, page: 3446. / Major Professor: Charles H. Imwold. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

The purpose of this study was to investigate and analyze how college level Elementary Education majors made meaning, or came to know about elementary teaching and learning, while engaged in the use of the case study method. This research was an attempt to understand how prospective teachers make sense of the problematic situations described in the cases. The research questions included: How do prospective teachers make meaning, or come to know about elementary teaching and learning, while engaged in the case study approach? What meaning emerges from the prospective teachers' dialogue both with peers and the instructor? Is critical thinking exhibited in their reflections on the cases? / The methods employed in this interpretive study involved the collection of qualitative data through participant observation, interviewing, document analysis, and personal journals. A constructivist epistemology was embodied into collection and interpretation of data. / The immersion approach to teaching critical thinking was employed in that specific critical thinking processes were not made explicit but an in-depth understanding and analysis of the content of the cases was promoted. Kurfiss' model was used to assess the prospective teachers' thinking while engaged in the case study approach. / Assertions constituting grounded theory (Strauss, 1989) were generated from this study and subsumed in three emergent themes. (1) Constructing multiple perspectives: the prospective teachers constructed complex ways of viewing their own and others' schools and new ways of viewing problems that occur in teaching. (2) Considering contextual factors in decision-making: the prospective teachers identified and applied contextual information to frame problems and make decisions. (3) Acknowledging and examining beliefs about teaching and learning: the prospective teachers conveyed awareness and reflected on how their beliefs affected the way they taught. / The results of this study suggest that the case study approach used in an environment with small cooperative learning groups, large group discussions, contextually rich cases, and a skilled instructor facilitates prospective teachers' critical thinking and social construction of knowledge about teaching and learning. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-09, Section: A, page: 3176. / Major Professor: Kathryn Scott. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

The purpose of this study is to describe the student teaching internship in context, with a special focus on the cooperating teacher. Three sentizing concepts were used to help provide a framework and focus for the study: documenting the student teaching internship in practice, focusing on the roles and relationships of the participants within the student teaching triad with special consideration given to the cooperating teacher's roles and relationships, and also developing a research design that explored other understandings and provided opportunities to gather information from unexpected, unplanned occurrences. / Three types of qualitative data collection were used throughout the study: non-participant observations, formal and informal interviews, and document collection (Jacobs, 1987). Data collection and data analysis were concurrent, identifying preliminary categories through analytic induction and constant comparison techniques (Goetz & LeCompte, 1984). After the preliminary data collection, a domain analysis was conducted to insure systematic treatment of the data in manageable units for final analysis (Spradley, 1980). / During data analysis, three major categories emerged organizing the roles and relationships of the cooperating teacher during the internship period: the professional role, the supervisory role, and the social role. Across these organizing domains, two recurring cultural themes were identified which defined the actual curricular practices of the setting: the modification of the formal physical education program and the conflicts, interactions, and negotiations of the major participants. / The findings of this study suggest that current teacher education programs are inconsistent with the context and culture of the real teaching world. Several recommendations for teacher education programs, student teaching, and college supervision were provided along with suggestions for future research in teacher education-physical education. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-10, Section: A, page: 3472. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.