Response to intervention has become a widely implemented early intervention and pre-referral program in many schools due to the reauthorization of the 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Limited studies exist that validate how teacher preparation programs are preparing the next generation of teachers to assess students, apply early academic interventions, monitor progress, and make educational decisions for students with learning difficulties as part of an RTI program. The purpose of this study was to examine elementary pre-service teachers’ perceptions and experiences in a mathematics intervention project (MIP), as part of a university mathematics methods course as related to RTI practices. Data were collected from multiple sources, including: Seidman’s three-step interview series with pre-service participants and course instructors, document analysis of the Mathematics Interactions Project (MIP) students’ responses, mathematics methods course syllabi, and observations of the mathematics methods course instruction. Haskell’s transfer theory was used as the framework from which to analyze the data. It was assumed that if a majority of the 11 principles of meaningful transfer were addressed, higher levels of transfer from university instruction to intervention instruction would be observed during the MIP. Findings indicate differences in RTI understanding according to elementary education degree plan. Candidates in the English as a Second Language (ESL) program did not demonstrate a strong foundational understanding of RTI, evidenced by a lower level of transfer about RTI. Alternately, pre-service teachers in the special education degree plan had a stronger foundational knowledge of RTI, discussed how RTI learning was supported, and had more experiences to implement RTI (principles 1, 7, and 9). Pre-service teachers in the Special Education (SPED) certification degree plan demonstrated a higher level of transfer since more of the principles were met; this was foundational in Haskell’s transfer theory. Implications are that elementary education programs, and particularly projects such as the MIP, should focus explicitly on RTI practices, as these are increasingly necessary in the field of elementary education practice.

Esta pesquisa refere-se a um estudo que avaliou a concepção de currículo de Química para o Ensino Médio de dois grupos de alunos da Licenciatura em Química da Universidade de São Paulo. Estes grupos de licenciandos foram observados durante um semestre, na disciplina Instrumentação para o Ensino de Química, uma \"disciplina de intersecção\", que relaciona conhecimentos químicos e conhecimentos pedagógicos. Este trabalho focou a compreensão da construção do ideal de currículo desses licenciandos, os fatores que influenciam tal construção e a contribuição da disciplina investigada nos conceitos de currículo ideal para estes estudantes. Entrevistas, atividades e planejamentos desenvolvidos pelos licenciandos durante a disciplina foram estudados. As entrevistas foram analisadas por meio da interpretação de unidades de significado com a intenção de encontrar elementos que participam da construção dos conceitos curriculares destes estudantes. Atividades foram produzidas no início e no final da disciplina e foram analisadas para a observação do processo de construção do ideal de currículo. Os planejamentos de Química foram agrupados segundo duas categorias: Educação Geral e Currículo de Química. A primeira categoria é composta por seis ênfases: Carreira, Disciplina, Produto, Pedagogia, Democracia e Processo. A segunda categoria é composta por três ênfases: Química Fundamental, Química, Tecnologia e Sociedade e Desenvolvimento do Conhecimento em Química. Os resultados obtidos com aproximadamente cinqüenta alunos indicaram que a legislação educacional brasileira exerce uma influência significativa em suas concepções de currículo de Química, como pôde ser observado pela unanimidade da categoria Pedagogia para os dois grupos. Entretanto, os grupos diferem quanto à concepção de um ideal de currículo na abordagem específica da Química. O primeiro grupo valoriza tanto os conceitos de Química Fundamental como os de Química, Tecnologia e Sociedade. O segundo grupo vê como prioridade o ensino de Química relacionado à Tecnologia e à Sociedade. Para este grupo, a ênfase no Desenvolvimento do Conhecimento em Química é comparável à ênfase em Química Fundamental. Quando analisamos as respostas dos estudantes que enfatizaram tanto a Química Fundamental quanto a Química, Tecnologia e Sociedade, verificamos que eles mantêm o foco do ideal de currículo de Química em ambas as orientações: focada no conteúdo e centrada na aprendizagem. Todas as atividades produzidas pelos alunos e que foram analisadas indicaram que a disciplina Instrumentação para o Ensino de Química influencia a concepção de currículo de Química dos licenciandos. No início da disciplina observase para ambos os grupos idéias de planejamento que enfatizam a organização de conteúdos. Ao final da disciplina os dois grupos mudaram a idéia de planejamento relacionada estritamente à organização e acrescentaram características como flexibilidade e reflexão. Os futuros professores têm uma história que influencia suas concepções curriculares, mas nem todas são condizentes com as mudanças que necessitam serem feitas na educação. Apesar disso, nosso estudo mostrou que, através de atividades planejadas com intencionalidade nas disciplinas integradoras é possível minimizar as diferentes interpretações dos textos legais realizando na prática um trabalho significativo com os alunos da licenciatura. / This research reports on a study that evaluated the conception of chemistry curriculum for secondary level for two groups of undergraduate students in a Chemistry Teacher Education Program in the University of São Paulo. These groups of pre-service teachers were observed during a one-semester Chemistry Teaching Method discipline, an \"intersection discipline\" which joins chemical and pedagogical knowledge. This work focuses on the understanding of the construction of pre-service teachers\' ideal curriculum, on the main factors that influence the curriculum construction and on the contribution of the investigated discipline to the students\' concepts of ideal curriculum. Interviews, activities and plannings developed by the student teachers were studied. The interviews were analyzed by the interpretation of significative units in order to search for the elements that build the curriculum conceptions of these students. Activities were carried out in the beginning and in the end of the discipline and were analyzed to follow the ideal curriculum construction process. The chemistry plannings were grouped in terms of two different categories: General Education and Chemical Curriculum. Six emphasis constitute the first category: Career, Discipline, Product, Pedagogy, Democracy and Process. Three emphasis constitute the second one: Fundamental Chemistry, Chemistry, Technology and Society and Knowledge Development in Chemistry. The results obtained with ca. fifty students indicated that the Brazilian Educational Legislation has meaningful influence in their conceptions of chemical curriculum as could be observed by the unanimity of the Pedagogy category for both groups. However, the groups are different regarding the conception of an ideal chemistry curriculum. The first group values the concepts of both Fundamental Chemistry and Chemistry, Technology and Society. The second group sees as a priority the Chemistry teaching related to Technology and Society. For this group the emphasis in Knowledge Development in Chemistry is comparable to the emphasis in Fundamental Chemistry. When we analyze the answers of the students that emphasized both Fundamental Chemistry and Chemistry, Technology and Society, the results show that they support an ideal chemistry curriculum focused on both orientations: subject matter and learner-centered educational orientation. All analyzed activities produced by the two groups indicated that the discipline Chemistry Teaching Method influenced their chemistry curriculum conceptions. In the beginning of the discipline, an emphasis in organization was observed for both groups. After the discipline, the idea of organization is complemented by other characteristics such as flexibility and reflection. At the end of the discipline both groups have changed the idea of planning as strictly related to content organization. Future teachers have a history of influences that shape their curriculum conceptions; not all of them are in accordance to the changes that need to be made in Education. Nevertheless, our study reveals that the intersection disciplines offer an important opportunity to overcome the consequences of the different interpretations of the official texts and positively impact future teacher students.

This study explores the reading difficulty level of the Constitution for pre-service elementary teachers in a large, public university in the southeastern United States. For our purposes, the difficulty level of the Constitution for the target readers was determined through administration of a cloze measure based on Article 2, Section 1.

Book Summary: As technology continues to develop and prove its importance in modern society, certain professions are acclimating. Aspects such as computer science and computational thinking are becoming essential areas of study. Implementing these subject areas into teaching practices is necessary for younger generations to adapt to the developing world. There is a critical need to examine the pedagogical implications of these technological skills and implement them into the global curriculum. The Handbook of Research on Integrating Computer Science and Computational Thinking in K-12 Education is a collection of innovative research on the methods and applications of computer science curriculum development within primary and secondary education. While highlighting topics including pedagogical implications, comprehensive techniques, and teacher preparation models, this book is ideally designed for teachers, IT consultants, curriculum developers, instructional designers, educational software developers, higher education faculty, administrators, policymakers, researchers, and graduate students.

The primary purposes of present study were 1) investigation of epistemological beliefs held by preservice teachers, 2)investigation of relationship between pre-service teachers&rsquo / environmental literacy and their epistemologicalbeliefs,3)investigation of predictors of pre-service teachers&rsquo / intentions to act environmental behavior. Secondary purpose of the study was to investigate effect of gender, academic major, and grade level on environmental literacy of pre-service teachers. This study was carried out during the spring semester of2008. Sample of this study constituted 560 pre-service teachers from a public university in Ankara. In this study data was obtained from the administration of Turkish versions of Schommers&rsquo / Epistemological Belief Questionnaire and Environmental Literacy Questionnaire. The data were analyzed by using factor analysis, correlational analysis, multiple regression analysis, and multivariate analysis of variances (MANOVA). We found five epistemological belief factors which indicated that pre-service teachers held multidimensional epistemological beliefs.Epistemological belief components, innate ability and quick learning, were significantly related with behavior component of environmental literacy. Innate ability, quick learning dimensions of epistemological beliefs and environmental attitude, concern were investigated to be the predictors of behavior. mean scores of pre-service teachers&rsquo / .Moreover,results of this study revealed that gender / academic major and grade level have effect on environmental literacy of pre-serviceteachers.

The purposes of this study were (1) to identify the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), Technology Integration Self Efficacy (TISE) and Instructional Technology Outcome Expectations (ITOE) of pre-service physical education teachers, (2) to examine the relationships among &ldquo / TPACK&rdquo / , &ldquo / TISE&rdquo / and &ldquo / ITOE&rdquo / , and (3) to examine the differences between pre-service physical education teachers who perceived and who did not perceive technology integration by their university instructors on &ldquo / TPACK&rdquo / , &ldquo / TISE&rdquo / , and &ldquo / ITOE&rdquo / scores. Seven hundred sixty pre-service physical education teachers from 14 randomly selected universities representing seven geographical regions in Turkey participated in the study. Data were collected by validated versions of &ldquo / TPACK&rdquo / , &ldquo / TISE&rdquo / , and &ldquo / ITOE&rdquo / surveys. Descriptive Analysis, Canonical Correlation Analysis, MANOVA, Independent t Test, and Qualitative Content Analysis were used for data analysis. Findings indicated that TPACK, TISE and ITOE perceptions of pre-service physical education teachers were at good level. University instructors were not good role models in technology integration for the pre-service teachers in general. According to the pre-service teachers&rsquo / report, integration of physical education and sport related emerging technologies were almost did not exist in the teaching practices of university setting.TPACK, TISE, and ITOE were moderately related with each other (p&lt / 0.05). Preservice teachers&rsquo / self perceptions on TPACK, TISE, and ITOE were positively influenced by their perception of university instructors&rsquo / technology integration into teaching in university courses (p&lt / 0.05). Based on the findings, it is recommended to provide professional development programs for the teacher education program instructors in technology integration, in teaching and in emerging physical education and sport related technologies. In addition, using technology integrated teaching models by both university instructors and pre-service teachers should be encouraged.

Ive Got the Power!: Investigating Pre-service Special Educators Perceptions and Abilities to Teach Reading to Students with Disabilities Tandria Milagno Callins M.S., CCC-SLP ABSTRACT This study, through a multiple case study approach, was designed to investigate how pre-service special educators were empowered to teach reading to students with disabilities during their final internship. A developmental-constructivism theoretical framework guided this study in order to examine how a teacher preparation program prepared a six-member cohort of pre-service special educators in the areas of efficacy, competency, and preparedness. Based on the principles of developmental-constructivism, the researcher investigated whether or not these pre-service special educators became more empowered in the areas of efficacy, competency, and preparedness through active-learning and hands-on opportunities. The researcher employed a concurrent mixed-method design for data collection and analysis. To complement the quantitative data from the surveys, the qualitative data from the interviews were collected in order to provide support, to explain, and to account for discrepancies in the data. The levels of empowerment were measured by the differences between self-reported data on pretest and posttest measures on the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES), Special Education Competency Scale (SECS), and Preparedness to Teach Reading Survey (PTRS). Videotaped observations of each pre-service special educator teaching a reading lesson were collected and analyzed to determine the percentage of observable reading practices. Results included both increases and decreases in perceptions of empowerment on the TSES, SECS, and PTRS. The pre-service special educators were able to demonstrate approximately 50-65% of the reading competencies on the reading observation rubric. The results also revealed gaps between self-perceptions and actual practices among the participants. Institutional barriers such as student behaviors and the mentor/mentee relationship accounted for most of the gaps observed between beliefs and practices.

Previous studies on nonnative English speaker teachers (NNESTs) (Reyes & Medgyes, 1994; Samimy & Brutt-Griffler, 1999; Llurda, 2008; Rajagopalan, 2005) and publications in World Englishes (WEs), English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) and English as an international language (EIL), have analyzed and documented how prevailing ideologies rooted in "the myth of the native speaker" (Pennycook, 1994; Canagarajah, 1999; Kramsch, 2000), "the native speaker fallacy" (Phillipson, 1992) and associated ideologies generate discrimination and affect students and teachers' sense of self-worth. By making use of telecollaboration to determine how L1 Spanish speaking Colombian EFL pre-service teachers' interactions with U.S. heritage Spanish speakers (HSSs) influence the Colombian future teachers' self-perceptions as (non) native speakers and future teachers, this study responds to scholars' concerns to diversify the scope of explorations on NNESTs (Samimy & Kurihara, 2008; Llurda, 2008). Examining the ideological side of the native vs. non-native speaker dichotomy in telecollaboration, this research seeks to reverse the tendency to study interactants' exchanges mainly as a language feedback process through which "native speakers" support those who are not native speakers. Under an overarching qualitative phenomenological case study research design, the first article's pre-assessment of participants' self-perceptions of (non) nativeness found that the myth of the native speaker, the native speaker fallacy and associated ideologies permeated participants' self-images as language speakers and prospective teachers. Nevertheless, their ongoing education and the perceived benefits of becoming skillful language users contrasted with the harmful effects of these ideologies. Based on findings in the first article, the second study determined that in adopting meaning making abilities as their center of interest in telecollaboration, most participants focused less on the achievement of idealized native speaker abilities. Their interaction with U.S. peers generated confidence in their use of English, self-criticism of their skills in Spanish and a tendency to embrace the idea that they could succeed as English teachers. The intercultural and sociocultural nature of telecollaboration as a potential resource to leverage Colombian prospective teachers' self-perceptions constitutes the core of the last manuscript. Cooperative relationships with U.S. peers provided participants affective and knowledge-based resources to build more favorable views of themselves, attitudes to confront the detrimental effects of nativespeakership ideologies, and informed judgments to dismantle them. The pedagogical implications section discusses the need to revise the current EFL perspective providing the framework for English language teaching and learning in Colombia, avenues for strengthening students' ideological literacy through telecollaborative tasks and the potential integration of telecollaboration in the language teacher education curriculum as a means to increase participants' linguistic, intercultural and pedagogical abilities, and to cultivate more favorable self-images.

The purpose of this study was to determine the fourteen pre-service mathematics teachers&rsquo / beliefs about mathematics and teaching and learning of mathematics, and their expectations and acquisitions of the Five Year Integrated Program in the Department of Secondary Science and Mathematics Education at Gazi University, Turkey, and the development in their beliefs during the last three semesters of the program. The data were collected through four longitudinal interviews from each participant. Data collection process began at the beginning of the spring semester of the 2002&ndash / 2003 academic year and ended at the end of spring semester of the 2003&ndash / 2004 academic year. The interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim to produce a complete record of the interviewees&rsquo / conversation. The findings that were gathered from analyses of individual interviews show that pre-service teachers came to teacher education programs with some beliefs about mathematics, and teaching and learning of it. The interviews have provided evidence that pre-service teachers seemed to develop some new beliefs about mathematics during the first 3.5 years of program, and that the courses of the last 1.5 years of the program improved and consolidated pre-service teachers&rsquo / attitudes towards and beliefs about mathematics, and beliefs about the teaching and learning of mathematics. The research findings lead to the conclusion that OFD406, OFD408, OFD509 and OFD501 courses were perceived as the most effective courses and OFD402, OFD410 and OFD507 courses were considered as the least effective courses of the program.

abstract: This qualitative study explores the learning experiences of two first-grade teachers in a progressive public elementary school in the southwestern U.S. Participants inquired into their literacy instruction practices within their reading-workshops. Weekly inquiry group conversations between teachers and researcher informed a perspective of learning as participation. During the semester-long study, two key questions guided design and implementation: 1) What is the nature of teachers' learning experiences related to their literacy instruction practices, contextualized within an inquiry group? 2) How do those learning experiences reflect and/or refract the community, interpersonal, and individual planes of analysis? An ethnographic perspective informed data collection and analysis; data were collected through weekly inquiry-group conversations, bi-weekly classroom observations, and in-depth interviews. A learning framework of community, interpersonal, and individual planes of analysis served as an analytic tool used in conjunction with a modified analytic induction. Teachers' case studies offer unique accounts of their learning, contextualized within their specific classrooms. Findings are discussed through narrative-based vignettes, which illustrate teachers' learning trajectories. On the community plane, apprenticeship relationships were evident in teachers' interactions with students' parents and with one another. Interpersonal interactions between teachers demonstrated patterns of participation wherein each tried to teach the other as they negotiated their professional identities. Analysis of the individual plane revealed that teachers' past experiences and personal identities contributed to ways of participation for both teachers that were highly personal and unique to each. Affective considerations in learning were a significant finding within this study, adding dimensionality to this particular sociocultural theory of learning. The ways teachers felt about themselves, their students, their community, and their work constituted a significant influence on what they said and did, as demonstrated on all three planes of analysis. Implications for practice include the significance of professional development efforts that begin at the site of teachers' questions, and attention to teachers' individual learning trajectories as a means to supporting educators to teach in more confident and connected ways. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2011