Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

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Thesis (Ed. D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / The focus of this study was to create a living portrait of the work life ofliteracy coaches, a new and evolving occupation for staff developers. Coaches with expertise in literacy curriculum, instruction, and assessment have been hired to work with teachers and administrators in urban elementary schools and help them to improve instruction for urban youth. Coaches, teachers, and principals in four northeastern cities participated in this study. Coaches were observed, interviews were conducted, and participants were asked to provide samples of student work, schedules, or other documents that were used to triangulate data obtained from observation and interviews. Of the five coaches in the study (three part-time, external coaches and two fulltime, internal coaches), reports indicate that two of the part-time coaches were most successful. Supervisory or administrative responsibilities, particularly identification and remediation of problematic teachers, created an obstacle for both of the full-time coaches. It created the perception among other members of the faculty that the coaches were forcing a top-down agenda for change. The effectiveness of the principal as an instructional leader, the coaches' ability to manage their daily work, the personality of individual coaches, and process by which they choose to engage teachers also had an effect on their ability to promote change. The successful coaches appealed to the intrinsic motivation of teachers to improve instruction by explicitly demonstrating how some practices are beneficial to students. Having gained the initial commitment of teachers, the successful coaches focused on helping teachers to internalize strategies that would allow them to become more reflective about their practice and better able to adapt instruction to the diverse needs of their students. The successful coaches were working in districts with organized reform initiatives, and were working in schools with principals who were knowledgeable about, and dedicated to literacy reform. Their principals had created time for teacher collaboration and professional development to be part of the teachers' workday. / 2999-01-01

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2999-01-01

Thesis (M.M.)--Boston University

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

This paper is the report of a study of school organization and of the elementary program of studies in general and of the application of specific principles evolved from such study to the Trapnell Elementary School, Hillsboroug County. Since some words in the English language have so many different meanings, the term "organization" should be clearly defined at the outset of this paper. If an elementary principal is asked about the organization used in his school, he will usually answer, "oh, we have a six-year elementary school: (or a seven-year or eight-year school, as the case may be), or "We have a departmentalized set-up." These answers may be very vague to a person unfamiliar with school organization in the elementary school. The term "organization", when applied to an elementary school, is a multiple or many-phased idea. / Typescript. / "August, 1955." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Advisor: Marian W. Black, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 58-59).

The problem of this study is a critical evaluation of some of the objectives and practices in the development of an evolving curriculum in the Dallas Elementary Schools. The criteria are based on the implications found in the study of the ideals of a democracy and the psychology of human growth and learning.

The purpose of this study was to make an evaluation of the elementary school program of Carlsbad, New Mexico, so that as clear and accurate a picture as possible might be obtained of present practices, to compare these practices with acceptable educational information and philosophy of the present time, and to make recommendations for improving the school program. The results of the study should be beneficial to administrators and teachers alike in the improvement of the schools.