<p> Universities and colleges are charged with the broad task of providing their students with the skills that will allow them to be successful in their chosen fields. The perception that teacher preparation programs hold the key to the knowledge and skills necessary to have a successful career is being unclear from the consumer&rsquo;s perspective. While investing in education will always be beneficial, it does not come with any guarantees of success in the workplace. </p><p> The research provides the first year teachers&rsquo; perceptions of success. The content knowledge, pedagogical development and field experiences are traditionally aligned for all pre-service teachers. Their success in the classroom is not always a given in spite of all pre-service teachers having been exposed to the edTPA process, state teacher licenses assessments, and in-service evaluation that is aligned to the Danielson framework. Neither the edTPA nor the Danielson framework evaluate disposition directly. An educator needs to be reflective in his/her practice in order to develop his/her disposition along with content knowledge and instructional strategies. This study provides insight to pre-service training, first year in-service experiences, the evaluation processes (edTPA and Danielson framework), and their dispositional perspective. </p><p> Major themes pertaining to classroom management, time commitment, reflective practices, emotional connection to students, and being self-driven were explored through a dispositional lens. Dispositional characteristics are present throughout the pre-service training and become increasing prevalent in first year teachers. This phenomenological study follows a contextual framework of disconnect between teacher preparation programs and in-service realities resulting in a deeper understanding of first year teachers&rsquo; perceptions of success.</p><p>

<p> Since the early 20^th century, higher education has been promoted as an effective strategy for enhancing law enforcement practice (Mayo, 2006a). While many have identified challenges that contemporary criminal justice practitioners face (Christopher, 2016; McFall, 2006; Stone &amp; Travis, 2011), experts have promoted specific instructional strategies to combat these challenges (Robinson, 2000). Current research reveals a concerted effort to align programmatic objectives with the needs of today&rsquo;s criminal justice students (Moriarty, 2006); yet, minimal research relates these objectives with faculty perceptions of instructional processes. </p><p> The purpose of this interpretive qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of undergraduate criminal justice faculty regarding in-class pedagogical processes, guided by the following research questions: 1. In what ways do criminal justice faculty integrate curricular learning objectives with the pedagogical strategies they employ? a. How do criminal justice faculty describe their curriculum design and in-class delivery processes for instruction? b. How do criminal justice faculty perceive the value of active and experiential learning in-class instructional strategies? </p><p> Undergraduate criminal justice faculty (<i>N</i> = 12) from 4-year higher education institutions in the southeastern New England region participated in face-to-face depth interviews. Data were analyzed using Rubin and Rubin&rsquo;s (2012) seven steps for qualitative data analysis. Additionally, data originating from documents provided by faculty, along with an elite interview of a recognized pedagogical expert, triangulated the primary data source. </p><p> Five themes emerged from an analysis of the data, revealing that many criminal justice faculty lack formal teaching training; however, their instructional evolution develops over time, reflecting their academic credentialing, past practical field exposure, visceral student feedback, and their own personality characteristics. Additionally, most faculty indicate that they employ active and experiential learning strategies in their classrooms even though they do not consciously acknowledge these approaches as intentional strategies. Finally, faculty shared a strong sense of commitment to teaching and to improving practice for criminal justice professionals. </p><p> These findings may provide criminal justice programmatic leaders with a richer understanding as to how and why their faculty deliver curriculum in the manner they do, along with internal perspectives for areas of instructional improvement.</p><p>

<p> Data from recent national studies indicate teacher job satisfaction is decreasing. Currently, accountability-propelled media coverage is overwhelmingly critical of the educational system, in which teachers feel less appreciated, less motivated, and less satisfied. Principals can positively influence teachers&rsquo; job satisfaction when they promote growth and autonomy through increased empowerment in educational settings. As principals work with teachers in their schools, they must understand how their own leadership style impacts their teachers&rsquo; job satisfaction. This study examined the extent to which teachers&rsquo; perceptions of their principals&rsquo; servant leadership behaviors correlate with teacher job satisfaction. The population included all high school teachers in the state&rsquo;s 144 public and 18 private high schools. The final sample size consisted of 76 teachers. </p><p> The study utilized two separate survey instruments to collect perceptions of principal servant leadership characteristics and of job satisfaction data. Servant leadership characteristics included accountability, authenticity, courage, empowerment, forgiveness, humility, standing back, and stewardship. Questions investigating teacher job satisfaction were broken into two categories: intrinsic and extrinsic. </p><p> Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were used to analyze the relationship between principal servant leadership behaviors and job satisfaction of teachers. Data from the surveys were evaluated for statistical significance at the .01 level. Results indicated a statistically significant relationship between South Dakota principals&rsquo; perceived overall servant leadership behavior and overall teacher job satisfaction. Data also show statistically significant relationships between each of the eight servant leadership characteristics and overall teacher job satisfaction. Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) items that focused on extrinsic job satisfaction indicated statistically significant relationships with overall servant leadership and each of the eight servant leadership characteristics. MSQ items that focused on intrinsic job satisfaction also indicated statistically significant relationships with overall servant leadership. </p><p> However, only seven of the eight dimensions of servant leadership indicated statistically significant relationships with MSQ items that focused on intrinsic job satisfaction. Finally, none of the demographic factors of teacher gender, years in education, years working with same principal, highest degree held, or school size suggested statistically significant relationships with teacher job satisfaction.</p><p>

<p> This multiple case study examined the methods by which school leaders determined and planned teacher professional development, as well as what teachers perceived as their professional development needs and how they believe school leaders take those needs into account. The study took place at two suburban elementary schools (1 traditional public, 1 public charter) in the Charlotte Metro area. The analysis of qualitative data provided by school leader interviews revealed the process by which school leaders determined professional development for teachers in their respective schools. Descriptive quantitative data was gathered through teacher questionnaires about their professional development needs/desires and their perceptions on how school leaders took those into account when planning professional development. In both schools, leaders indicated they try to balance school and district needs with the needs of individual teachers when planning teacher professional development, and teacher perceptions of how leaders determine professional development were generally aligned with leader reports. While the majority of teachers at both schools communicated an overall satisfaction with professional development, teacher respondents at the traditional public school expressed higher levels of agreement to being satisfied with professional development and that their needs were being met. Implications of the study&rsquo;s findings include a focus on teacher collaboration as an integral part of professional development, as well as the need for teacher input in the professional development planning process.</p><p>

<p> This qualitative interpretive study explored how former newcomer English Language Learners (ELLs) in Boston Public Schools (BPS) made sense of their transmigration experiences through a digital storytelling project. The study fills a gap on transmigration experiences in the context of English-only learning environments, with a particular orientation toward the value of students&rsquo; home languages, and in turn, cultures within an urban school setting. The immigrant student population in BPS continues to increase and teachers must be able to understand and plan for newcomers&rsquo; specific needs. To this end, my conceptual framework drew on four areas: general educators and their urban students, with sections on teachers&rsquo; habitus and the hidden curriculum; cultural relevance in urban education; identity, including social identity theory and transnational identity; and school adjustment, with sections on student voice and social integration. Set in a community center in Boston and drawing on ethnographic methods, the study explored participants&rsquo; unique educational experiences in moving from Haiti to different academic programs in BPS. </p><p> The overarching research question was: How do former newcomer ELLs make sense of their transmigration experiences through a digital storytelling project? I used a combination of methods&mdash;interviews, participant observations, photography, and digital storytelling&mdash;to gather and analyze artifacts. Data analysis highlighted issues related to the process of conducting the digital storytelling project, as well as issues emerging from the participants&rsquo; narratives of transmigration. Analysis of the research process revealed a distinction between how teacher preparation and teacher preparedness might be understood for educators working with newcomer ELLs. Analysis of participant narratives suggests that language holds central importance to the transmigration and social integration experiences of newcomers. Furthermore, digital storytelling, as a pedagogical process, may serve as an effective tool for working with newcomer ELLs, both as a means to facilitate meaning making and to give significance to their transmigration experiences. It may also serve as an effective means to support language development. Adding to the body of immigration literature on how newcomers fare, the study&rsquo;s implications include the role of language in social integration, ways of understanding teacher preparation and preparedness, and the utility of digital storytelling.</p>

<p> Earlier studies concluded that technology&rsquo;s strength is in supporting student learning rather than as an instrument for content delivery (Angeli &amp; Valanides, 2014). Current research espouses the merits of the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework as a guide for educators&rsquo; reflections about technology integration within the context of content and instructional practice. Grounded by two theoretical frameworks, TPACK (Mishra &amp; Koehler, 2006; 2008) and Rogers&rsquo; (1983, 1995) theory of diffusion of innovation, the purpose of this mixed-methods research was two-fold: to explore the perceived competencies of tertiary science faculty at higher education institutions with respect to their integration of technology within the constructs of pedagogical practice and content learning and to analyze whether these perceived competencies may serve as predictive factors for technology adoption level. The literature review included past research that served as models for the Sci-TPACK instrument. Twenty-nine professors of tertiary science courses participated in an online Likert survey, and four professors provided in-depth interviews on their TPACK practices. Quantitative analysis of data consisted of descriptive and reliability statistics, calculations of means for each of the seven scales or domains of TPACK, and regression analysis. Open-ended questions on the Likert survey and individual interviews provided recurrent themes of the qualitative data. Final results revealed that the participants integrate technology into pedagogy and content through a myriad of TPACK practices. Regression analysis supported perceived TPACK competencies as predictive factors for technology adoption level. </p>

<p> Examining teacher participation in collaborative microblogging activities may offer insight into creating alternative options for effective professional development. In this sequential explanatory mixed methods study, educators&rsquo; opinions of their use of a microblogging tool, Twitter, will be examined to determine what factors affect their participation in professional development activities using the microblogging tool, Twitter. The overall guiding question for this study will be, Why do educators participate in voluntary professional development opportunities, specifically in Twitter-supported professional learning networks? </p><p> This study will contribute to the existing body of research in the areas of professional development, professional learning networks, educator&rsquo;s motivation to learn, informal learning, online learning, and social media. Social media, specifically the microblogging tool Twitter, will be examined for its potential to act as an alternative mode of dissemination for educator professional development, as well as its potential for creating informal professional learning networks. Data sources for this study will include: surveys and interview questions. This information may be useful for future creation of more effective professional development opportunities. Findings from this study may be useful for researchers, educators, administrators, and developers of professional development opportunities.</p>

<p> This qualitative case study illustrated perceptions of seven fine arts teachers who were veteran participants in an ePortfolio evaluation method (with three or more years participation). The research questions centered on professional growth, reflection, and the impact ePortfolio had on the craft of teaching. A blended conceptual framework of Sch&ouml;n&rsquo;s (1983, 1987) theory of reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action, and Mezirow&rsquo;s (1991) transformative learning theory was applied to analyze the data. The researcher explored types of reflection fine arts teachers perceive through ePortfolio evaluation, and how the process of ePortfolio evaluation doubled as a professional development for some teachers. Through three phases of the study which included a written eInterview, a video interview, and a face-to-face portfolio review, teacher perceptions of benefits and challenges emerged. Benefits included evidence of reflective practice, retention of highly effective teachers, a focus on student growth and state standards, and among five participants, a reported shift in practice from product-focused to process-focused teaching in their fine arts&rsquo; classrooms. Emerging as challenges in ePortfolio practice included time, training, technology, and lack of adequate feedback in the perceptions of the seven participants in this study.</p><p>