<p> A shortage of teachers is a serious threat to today&rsquo;s schools as between 30% and 50% of teachers leave the profession within the first five years. A need exists to develop teacher induction programs that begin with learning to teach through situated engagement, rather than mere knowledge acquisition, so that novices stay in the profession. </p><p> Due to the social nature of this study, and the reliance on participants&rsquo; perceptions, social constructionism was selected as the epistemology with situated learning and legitimate peripheral participation as the theoretical perspectives to conduct a multiple descriptive case study methodology that involved document analysis and interview research to explore the efforts of one private, faith-based university in the Eastern United States to prepare high school math and science teachers to fill the current teacher shortage. </p><p> The over-arching finding was the notion that the Fellows learned through every day formal and informal interactions with their Mentor Teachers during their shared practices. Significant learning occurred through increasing social practices, which were part of a community of practice. The situated engagement allowed the Fellows to develop an identity within the community, undergo a process of change, and become a full member by acquiring the language and knowledge of the group. </p><p> Preparation programs that provide strong mentoring and induction may experience lower rates of turnover among graduates. The impact of the intense and lengthy mentoring that candidates receive is highly dependent upon appropriate personality matches between mentors and mentees, the time devoted by all parties involved, and the chance to have an extended experience that allows for a true understanding of what the teaching profession entails. </p><p> Future research should include investigations of other teacher preparation programs, longitudinal studies that follow novice teachers during the induction phase of their career, and studies that look more closely at the effect that these novices have on student learning.</p><p>

Research has suggested PD as a way of enhancing teacher instruction. Although research has shown that many factors improve its effectiveness, the role of teacher motivation has not been thoroughly assessed. If PD is to have its intended impact, then school leaders need to address it when planning. Using Herzberg’s (1959) two-factor theory, this study set out to determine which factors, intrinsic and extrinsic, increased teacher engagement and disengagement, respectively, and how well school leaders address them. The findings showed the following for the role of intrinsic factors: (a) professional growth and the PD work itself including relevance to the classroom, presentation quality/presenter credibility, collaboration with colleagues, and choice are highly significant and school leaders are mostly planning for them; (b) autonomy over their own PD work is highly significant although school leaders are not planning explicitly for it; (c) recognition is significant although school leaders are not planning explicitly for it; and (d) although important, PD achievement is not the greatest motivator nor are school leaders effectively planning for it. The findings showed the following for the role of the extrinsic factors in teachers’ disengagement during PD: (a) lack of organization and management including work already known/repetitive work and work that is irrelevant to the classroom—an intrinsic factor—are dominant; however, school leaders are mostly attending to these; (b) poor working conditions including poor timing/too long, other work demands, and tired are significant; however, the findings were inconclusive for how school leaders were attending to them; (c) disruption to personal life, inadequate physical space, negative relationships with supervisors, negative relationships with colleagues, and lack of compensation are not as significant; however, although some improvements need to be made, school leaders are attending to them; and (d) although school leaders are attending to it, lack of security was ruled out as significant.

<p> The current study explored the dimensions and roles of trust in effective instructional leadership through a triangulation of data gathered from 78 survey responders and 35 interview participants along with a review of pertinent literature. The interviews and written free-responses related effective instructional leadership to three clear dimensions of trust identified within an effective teacher&rsquo;s classroom: personal, intellectual, and behavioral. The grounded theory that arose from the current study, regarding the role of trust in effective instructional leadership, was that trust is a catalytic medium, i.e. an activator and enabler, through which: relationships are created respectfully, planning is conducted purposefully, interventions are developed intentionally, and by which student cooperation and engagement are increased significantly, thereby giving evidence of effective instructional leadership. Furthermore, how effective teachers utilized the dimensions and representations of trust appeared to be generally related to: (1) accepting the greater responsibility in demonstrating trust, (2) giving trust to students in order to receive it back from them, and (3) intentionally building trust with students in order to earn their trust. Though trust is a somewhat nebulous term that is difficult to define and measure, the current study revealed its representations, i.e. roles, can in fact be identified with the potential for teaching its replication to educators in an effort to improve effective instructional leadership related to student cooperation and engagement.</p>

<p> Practitioner Inquiry provided the framework for teachers (participants) and the teacher as researcher to work collaboratively engaging in a continuous process of planning lessons, reflecting on practice, systematically collecting data, and problem solving as they integrated technology within literacy curriculum. Three teachers (Trio Group) met weekly to discover how teachers learn about literacy technology integration, how they apply this in their classroom instruction, and how they share their ideas about literacy/technology integration with other teachers. These teachers shared their learning with a larger group of teachers (Technology Team) who then hosted a professional development session for the entire faculty to teach them how to integrate technology within instructional practice. Data was gathered from faculty surveys, lesson plans, the Trio Group&rsquo;s blog posts, videotaped collaboration, audio recordings of all meetings, researcher&rsquo;s field journal, and the final reflections of faculty. Data was analyzed using &ldquo;in vivo coding&rdquo; (Saldana, 2009), looking at each data source independently, and then creating larger categories that led to a descriptive view of the data in themes. Key findings that positively impacted teachers&rsquo; ability to learn how to integrate technology were: acknowledging teachers&rsquo; perceptions, providing time for collaboration with colleagues, application of practice, scaffolding the learning, and job embedded reflection. Implications include considering a broader view of literacy, technology, and instructional knowledge to include digital literacy and the TPACK framework (Kohler &amp; Mishra, 2009). Implications also include re-envisioning the roles of educators as well as traditional professional development. Collaborative Inquiry Circles were suggested as an alternative to the traditional methods of professional development that could lead to meaningful and sustainable learning opportunities for teachers.</p>

<p> There is an enormous educational disparity among schools in the United States. One reason for this disparity is the teachers employed by well-performing schools and low-performing schools. This study reports the factors and financial tradeoffs that would influence well-qualified teachers to work in low-performing schools. Teacher employment is viewed as a set of discrete choices made over time and based on a finite group of factors. This study uses a multinomial discrete choice experiment to determine how the school-related factors (alternative-specific variables) and teacher-related factors (case-specific variables) influence the willingness of experienced teachers in well-performing schools to transfer to low-performing schools. A discrete choice experiment (DCE) using an optimal, fractional factorial, experimental design (D-efficiency = 96.5 and A-efficiency = 92.9) with an adequate sample (<i>n</i> =111) was employed. The data are analyzed using alternative-specific conditional logistic regression, nested logistic regression, and latent class conditional logistic regression. The latent class conditional logistic regression with 3-classes was deemed the best fit and its results were interpreted. The first class has high job satisfaction and generally stays in their current school. The second class is most likely female and does not value salary, but rather better student behavior and school climate. The third and largest class has similar values with Latent Class 2, but fiscal incentives could impact their decision. This study shows that teachers are willing to work in low-performing schools, but school- and teacher-related factors impact the overall attractiveness to well-qualified teachers.</p>

<p> Educators at a public high school in Southeastern United States depend on mentor teachers to minimize the attrition rate among beginning teachers, yet the strategies implemented by mentors lack definition and clarity. The purpose of this study was to explore mentor teachers&rsquo; perceptions of effective mentoring strategies and their needs when mentoring new teachers. Maslow&rsquo;s humanistic learning theory guided this bounded basic qualitative study. The research questions focused on the mentoring strategies mentor teachers perceived as effective and the needs of the mentors. Ten high school mentor teachers, who currently mentor new teachers, were purposefully selected to participate in individual and focus group interviews. Precoding, open and axial coding were used to inductively analyze the data. The results showed mentors promote school culture, are a source of information, build relationships, use data to drive discussion, provide opportunity for reflection, conduct observations, connect theory with practice, and model professional behavior as effective strategies. Mentor teachers indicated that effective communication is crucial when mentoring new teachers. Additionally, they need specific skills to help beginning teachers better understand the reality of teaching and address their unrealistic expectations of the profession. Based on the findings a 3-day professional development for mentor teachers was developed to address mentors&rsquo; needs. This endeavor may contribute to positive social change when district administration provides mentor teachers with professional development to enrich their mentoring strategies which in turn may address the challenges new teachers experience and reduce the attrition rate.</p><p>

<p> This study focused on the motivation of K-12 teachers to participate in district online professional development and to sustain the knowledge or skills learned. This study identified how teachers in a suburban school district, located in the Hudson Valley region of New York state, evaluated the online professional development they received and the extent to which their learning continued beyond the initial training. Through a phenomenological study, data indicated several factors motivated teachers to participate in online professional development; the primary motivator was the relevance of the topic. The online survey and interviews indicated teachers were interested and willing to participate in online professional development when they could choose the topic and the setting in which the learning takes place. An additional motivator was the benefit of collaboration and support provided by the facilitator, both during and after the training. Teachers shared their ability to make connections and to reflect on their own experiences increased when they had the opportunity to work collaboratively with the facilitator to develop and implement a lesson using the new knowledge or skill. Teachers who identified taking relevant district online professional development with collaborative facilitators also reported specific examples of how they implemented skills in their classrooms. Teachers described how the district online professional development helped to improve their students&rsquo; learning.</p><p>

<p>RATHBONE, RITA J., Ed.D. Teacher Leadership, Power, and the Gendered Space of Teaching: Intersections and Discourses. (2015) Directed by Dr. Carl Lashley. 172 pp. Relying on critical feminist understandings of power, this study explores how the gendered expectations and intersectional identity of women teachers impacts their negotiation of power in the practice of teacher leadership and social justice advocacy. This study takes a critical stance towards the existing body of literature and challenges the current feminized and patriarchal understanding of teacher leadership. Using a collaborative autoethnographic approach, a group of practicing teacher leaders examined their lived experiences as teacher leaders. The participants reported experiencing gendered expectations in their teaching contexts of support/nurturing, passivity, collaboration, normative gender expression, and all-encompassing teacher identity. Practicing teacher leadership in this gendered environment was a balancing act that required the ability to be a ?chameleon.? The complexity of teaching and intricate nature of connections and networks allowed teachers to pick and choose a variety of strategies and resources with which to negotiate power. The study finds that much of the work of teacher leadership involved negotiating the interpersonal and cultural domains of power in order to develop coalitions of diverse stakeholders to resist the oppressive forces found in the structural and disciplinary domains. The teachers reported often having to ?play against? negative assumptions of their ability to be leaders based on race and gender. The study concludes that the scholarly understanding of the practice of teacher leadership must be redefined to include the social justice focus of much of its practice, the intricacy of teachers? networks, an understanding of power as multidirectional and multidimensional, the nuance of gendered norms found in teaching, and the unresolved paradoxes that teacher leaders face every day.

<p> The National Board Certification is a process for educators who desire to pursue a deeper level of professional development and enhance their teaching practice. This certification process coupled with cognitive coaching involved high levels of reflective practices and deepened self-efficacy evident in this study. This study determined that with the use of cognitive coaching an educator self-efficacy would increase depending on what stage they were on in the process. The researcher provided three groups of participants (National Board Certified Teachers, Candidates in the process of National Board Certification and Did Not Achieve) an opportunity to elaborate on their experience moving through the process using a cognitive coach. </p><p> An analysis of qualitative and quantitative data revealed that the three groups differed in self-efficacy in favor of the National Board Certified Teacher (NBC) group and that on several aspects of cognitive coaching, the NBC group scored higher than the other groups. As well, each group showed support for the coaching process through certification and revealed that with this coaching they were able to achieve a deeper reflective state of mind. </p><p>

<p> There is a large body of research that suggests the concept of a professional learning community (PLC) can promote improved student learning by increasing collective teacher capacity to meet the diverse learning needs of students (Reeves, 2016; Battersby &amp; Verdi, 2013; Marzano &amp; DuFour, 2011; Fullan 2010, Senge, 2006; Morrissey, 2000; Hord, 1997). Many schools have implemented PLCs around the world. Despite the well-documented benefits of PLCs, there is inconsistency to the extent with which PLCs are implemented within schools and districts. The purpose of this study was to (a) understand how the elementary division at Progressive Academy of Southeast Asia (PASA), an independent private school, has implemented PLCs; (b) learn about promising practices utilized by high performing PLCs to promote teacher collaboration and high productivity; and (c) understand barriers confronted by PLCs during the PLC process. A qualitative research design was used to understand the implementation process through focus group discussions. Focus group discussions were conducted with all grade levels, kindergarten to grade 5 in the elementary division. Ten themes emerged from the study (1) an alignment of belief in the mission and vision and purpose of PLCs by faculty and administration, (2) the elementary school has implemented systems and structures to support the PLC process, (3) there is a collaborative culture for the PLC process, (4) collective responsibility for student learning is still at its infancy stage, (5) PLCs are results oriented and have clearly established SMART goals that align with the elementary school&rsquo;s strategic plan, (6) instructional assistants are a strong system of support for learning for students, (7) trust is a key to high performing PLCs, (8) there is a low level of trust in some PLCs, (9) there is a transient faculty, and (10) there are an overwhelming number of initiatives that require the time of PLCs at the school.</p><p>