The purpose of educators is to aid their students as they develop as their own individuals. Only through education can individuals grow to become the best version of themselves, in and out of the classroom. It is crucial for educators to be aware of the many different learners in the world, so teachers are prepared for any exceptional student that enters their classroom. That is why it is so important to educate oneself on the many exceptionalities and circumstances students are facing. Encompassed within the 13 disabilities identified in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 1975), are sub categories of many additional exceptionalities. It is a lot of information, and it can be very overwhelming for anyone, not just teachers, to know each one. By bringing exposure to the many exceptionalities, teachers, parents, and students can potentially feel less overwhelmed. By creating a resource guide for at least one exceptionality, help is being given to those who need it. For this research, the exceptionality of focus is Expressive Aphasia, also known as Broca's aphasia. Expressive Aphasia is not an exceptionality commonly spoken of outside of those involved in this study and those afflicted with this unique form of aphasia. Which This highlights the purpose of this thesis, to examine research/studies and form a resource guide for teachers and parents to learn about Expressive Aphasia. The resource guide will provide information about the history of Expressive Aphasia, offer definitions, suggest strategies, and introduce resources that can help educators, parents, and students better understand this type of aphasia. Everyone needs help, and what better way to help teachers and parents than to give them tools to effectively aid students in their educational journey.

This research examined the possibility that personality traits play a part in career longevity and job satisfaction in the education field. The current study examined trends among the Big Five personality traits (Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism) and their relation to job satisfaction in the elementary classroom. This researcher hypothesized that some common personality traits that are shared by teachers who persist in the classroom for five or more years, who are satisfied with their jobs and do not intend to leave. This researcher hypothesized that more experienced teachers would be high in Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness. This researcher hypothesized that less experienced teachers would have Big Five personality scores that are more diverse than those of experienced teachers and that are more representative of the personalities of the general population. This researcher also hypothesized that teachers who score higher in the areas of Neuroticism and lower on Conscientiousness and Extraversion, would be dissatisfied with their jobs. The survey was completed by 202 participants. Experienced teachers (those working in the classroom for five or more years), and less experienced teachers (those working in the classroom for four years or less) completed the Big Five personality survey, along with additional survey questions that assess job satisfaction, and intent to leave. This research found no trend among personality traits in experienced teachers compared to inexperienced teachers. There was, however, a correlation between intention to leave and Neuroticism as well as a correlation between job satisfaction and Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness.

Science instruction in the early years of a student’s education career is essential to a student successfully continuing science in their secondary and postsecondary careers. However, the amount of high-quality science instruction students receive at the elementary level has been steadily declining for two decades, resulting in an inequitable imbalance in those who pursue STEM careers, a lack of critical science literacy in the U.S. populace, and a shortage of qualified employees entering the U.S. economy. Much of the lack of science instruction can be traced to decreased training of teachers to teach science during elementary credentialing programs or the complete absence of said training. This qualitative study sought to understand, through multiple-case study analysis, what makes one university “successful” at teaching science methods to their pre-service teachers and what makes another “unsuccessful.” Through interviews, observations, and an online document review, the author found that pre-service teachers entering the elementary school classroom need to feel they have the content knowledge necessary to teach science, feel they can overcome and work within barriers to high-quality science instruction in the K-12 system, and feel ready and prepared to teach science by their chosen Teacher Preparation Program.

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Education should provide the academic support to promote every child's potential. In my experience, schools often neglect the population of gifted students. One way to support any population is to provide books that include positive role models (Purves & Monson, 1984). Therefore, my study will attempt to answer the question: Are gifted students represented in children's literature? In particular, fictional Caldecott Medal books. The copyright dates range from 1938 to 2007. After creating a random sample of Caldccott Medal books, the selections were read and analyzed by the researcher for five specific traits of the gifted. As a means of analyzing these books, I created a schema to determine if the protagonists exemplified any of the gifted traits identified by prior research. My research revealed that out of 26 books, 14 characters were creative, 20 were intellectual, 6 were high achievers, 3 showed academic aptitude, and 4 were in the visual/performing arts. Next, the analysis revealed the protagonist characters were 17 males to 9 females; however, most surprising was the discovery that of all five characters identified as gifted, all were male and over the approximate age of eighteen. Certainly, the dominant educational implication from this study is the need for positive gifted role models that more equally represent both genders and that are school-age children.