This study investigated the relationship between the attitudes of principals and teachers toward mainstreaming and the level of comfort participants felt toward special education and mainstreaming. Sixty-five large and small middle schools from the state of Virginia were randomly selected to participate in this study. Participants completed demographic/information sheets, the Attitude Towards Mainstreaming Scale (ATMS), and the Comfortability Scale for Special Education (CSSE). Data were analyzed using statistical methods.;The following research questions were explored (1) do the current attitudes of school personnel differ from previous findings, (2) does a middle level principal's attitude relate to a middle level teacher's attitude, (3) does the level of comfort of a middle level principal relate to a middle level teacher's level of comfort, (4) do the indirect factors such as number of years of experience, teacher level of education, number of special education courses and preservice training influence a teacher's or principal's attitude, and (5) does attitude and comfort relate to school division size and school personnel?;It was concluded the attitudes of middle school personnel are similar to the attitudes of personnel who work in other grade levels. Furthermore, principals had more favorable attitudes towards mainstreaming than teachers. Principals can influence the attitudes of teachers toward mainstreaming, however, principals' level of comfort do not influence teachers' level of comfort. Specific factors were found to be indirectly related to attitude. The significant factors included prior experience working with persons with disabilities, educational background, and coursework in special education were significant. The size of a school division was related to the level of comfort of school personnel when working in team situations.;Further study is needed to evaluate the relationship between level of comfort and attitude. A disparity in an individual's attitude and level of comfort exists between large and small school divisions. Additional studies should examine the relationship between principal attitudes and teacher attitudes at all grade levels. Also, a principal's role in implementing special education programs should be studied.

Since its conception in 1987, much money and effort have been expended establishing the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Although 16,038 educators in 45 states and the District of Columbia have obtained National Board Certification, there are over 1,200 teachers in the East Tennessee counties of Cocke and Sevier who are eligible for National Board Certification, but have not obtained this certification. This study sought to identify the barriers that discouraged this population from attempting to gain National Board Certification. The research design was inferential and utilized data from a survey instrument constructed by the researcher. A pilot test of the instrument was conducted, reliability coefficients calculated, and survey items retained, modified, or deleted based on the results. The final survey contained 38 statements (grouped into five subscales) and a demographic section. A total of 700 surveys were sent to eligible educators in the public schools of Cocke and Sevier counties; of those, 459 were returned and 448 responses were usable. Other variables studied were age, gender, teaching assignment, years of teaching experience, education level attained, future plans to attempt, not attempt, or unsure about attempting National Board Certification, informational sources, and overall opinions of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. In addition, a space was provided for comments. Findings included: The most problematic barriers from greatest to least were personal obstacles, teaching professionalism, teacher morale, evaluation process, and financial considerations. Significant differences regarding the barriers existed in all demographic areas included in the study except for educational levels, and the majority of respondents had a negative overall opinion of National Board Certification. However, the opinion varied with the source of information about the process. Educators who received their information from local administrators and published materials had a more positive opinion than those that received their information from peers. This study indicates that the barriers identified are factors in keeping eligible East Tennessee educators from attempting National Board Certification.

This study included 9 new teachers all of whom were assigned master teachers as mentors. The study also included 11 mentor teachers who participated in this study. There were 20 participants in this case study. The study was conducted in the Johnson City School System. This qualitative case study was conducted by interviewing 20 participants in the mentoring program. Eleven mentor teachers and 9 new teachers were chosen through purposeful sampling. A list of possible participants was obtained from the Johnson City Schools Central Office and an email was sent to possible participants explaining the nature of the study. Participants signed an Informed Consent Form (Appendix D) and an interview guide was used (Appendix A). Probes, an interview technique that allows the interviewer to delve deeper following an interviewee's response was used to gain a richer understanding of the respondents' views (Merriam, 1998). During data analysis, 8 themes were identified as having positive or negative results of the mentoring process. These themes were: (a) relationships, (b) common planning time, (c) similar personality styles, (d) teaching practices, (e) program structure, (f) support system, (g) classroom organization and management, and (h) equal learning opportunities. Based on the research the following conclusions were presented. Mentoring programs are an important part of teacher induction. Positive relationships are critical to fostering successful mentoring teams. Common planning is essential to maximize the mentoring process. Strong support systems assist mentors and new teachers. Mentoring is an important component of successful transitions into a new school. Recommendations for enhancing the mentoring program included the following: To have a long-term study that tracks the progress of new teachers over a 3-year period.To include administration as a part of the initial training program study.To compare and contrast the difference between first career new teachers and those who have had previous careers and examine how the mentoring process affects the different populations.

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This action research study examined my attempts during a six-lesson unit of instruction to implement five practices developed by Stein, Engle, Smith, and Hughes (2008) to assist novice teachers in orchestrating meaningful mathematical discussions, a component of inquiry-based teaching and learning. These practices are anticipating student responses to a mathematical task, monitoring student responses while they engage with the task, planning which of those responses will be shared, planning the sequence of that sharing, and helping students make connections among student responses. Although my initial anticipations of student responses were broad and resulted in unclear expectations during lesson planning, I observed an improvement in my ability to anticipate student responses during the unit. Additionally, I observed a high-level of interaction between my students and me while monitoring their responses but these interactions were generally characterized by low-levels of mathematical thinking. The actual sharing of student responses that I orchestrated during discussions, and the sequencing of that sharing, generally matched my plans although unanticipated responses were also shared. There was a significant amount of student interaction during the discussions characterized by high-levels of thinking, including making connections among student responses. I hypothesize that task quality was a key factor in my ability to implement the five practices and therefore recommend implementing the five practices be accompanied by training in task selection and creation.

Although professional development is accepted as important for making educational improvements, some have been unsuccessful due to how the teachers choose to participate, and the lack of motivation in teachers to attend or implement the suggested changes. A case study of secondary mathematics teachers in a required professional development is used to look at teachers' motivation and participation during the professional development. This study compared mathematics teachers' motivation to attend with ways of participating in order to determine how these influence a teacher's intent to change. It was found that certain aspects of motivation and participation does influence a teacher's intent to change.