This study examines and describes the nature of questioning moves used by two exemplary fourth-grade teachers during reading instruction. Questioning moves are defined in this study as the ways in which teachers use scaffolding questions to engage students in talk about text. Another point of interest in this study was to determine how teachers perceive the influence of instructional materials on the language they use to engage students in talk about text. This study was situated within a constructivist paradigm of inquiry and drew from the case study tradition for its design. Naturalistic methods of data collection were employed including transcripts of teacher and student talk, field notes, videotapes, and interviews with the teachers. Data analysis was conducted in two stages. First data were analyzed separately within each case to locate emerging patterns to build each teacher's profile. Then data were juxtaposed for the purpose of comparison to illuminate similarities and differences in patterns that cut across cases. In general, results show that while questioning moves used by exemplary fourth-grade teachers are different, they are simple and subtle. The questioning moves used provided scaffolding for the purpose of increasing the students' responsibility for constructing meaning from text and signaled teachers' high expectations in their students' ability to read and interact with text. Teachers' use of questioning moves was determined by the instructional focus and hinged on the nature, intensity, and support of their professional development opportunities and experiences. Additional findings, indirectly related to teachers' use of questioning moves, and the influences on their use, were themed around the nature of attention that teachers gave to their classroom environment and instructional design. Implications of the results of this study for reading teachers and educators are themed around issues of professional development and time.

The present study examined the relationship between the occurrence of reported supervision and the professional practices of school psychologists. Information provided by more than 1,700 school psychologists in response to the National Association of School Psychologists: Demographic and Professional Practices Survey 1999-2000 School Year - NASP-DPPS 2000 survey were used to create the 1999-2000 national database (Curtis, et al., 2000) and served as the basis for secondary analyses in the current study. The NASPDPPS 2000 collected information regarding the demographic characteristics, employment conditions and professional practices of school psychologists the United States. Correlational and multiple regression analyses were completed to examine the relationship between professional practices and the reported receipt of supervision, background of the supervisor, and ratio of school psychologists to supervisor. Professional practices did not appear to be significantly related to vary as a function of the occurrence of reported supervision. School psychologists reporting receiving supervision completed significantly more initial psychoeducational assessment and reevaluations than school psychologists who reported not receiving supervision. Initial pyshcoeducational assessment and reevaluations are professional practices that can be categorized as special education and direct service delivery model. The subsample of school psychologists who reported the occurrence of supervision was examined for the remaining analyses. In addition, supervised school psychologists' professional practices did not vary as a function the supervisor's type of educational background (i.e., school psychology or non-school psychology), and level of educational preparation (i.e., doctoral or nondoctoral). Finally, the school psychologists-to-supervisor ratio and nature of the school psychologists' professional practices was examined. The remaining correlations were considered non-significant. It was noted that the questions included in the NASP-DPPS 2000 survey did not allow for specific information about the type, topography, or quality of supervision. This limitation precluded drawing specific conclusions regarding the research questions addressed.

Much of how Florida and other states across the country justify the practice of mainstreaming English language learners into regular content classrooms rests on the premise that with the guidance of state officials, local school districts adequately train content teachers to work with English language learners. Yet little to no research exists that can help identify and analyze the overall efficacy of these programs. Consequently, this study has attempted to determine whether district training sessions in Florida are sufficiently covering the state-mandated content areas that teachers are required to learn and to what extent in-service teachers agree or disagree that they received the appropriate amount of instruction that would prepare them to instruct English language learners. Training sessions in three large Florida school districts with high proportions of English language learners were studied using a mixed-methods approach that gathered quantitative and qualitative data from observations, surveys and in-depth interviews. Among other things, the findings revealed a pattern of districts overemphasizing cross-cultural awareness issues to the detriment of other critical areas teachers need to know such as methods and curriculum. In addition, there was a general consensus on the part of participants that the trainings lacked specificity and were both impractical and redundant. A number of specific recommendations are offered such as ways to modify the focus of the curriculum, provide incentives to teachers, and create more accountability and oversight of the training sessions themselves. Policymakers are strongly urged to prioritize these types of programs by providing training sessions with more resources and attaching to them a larger sense of importance.

The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine the observations of elementary school music teachers regarding the level of preparation of their most recent student teachers at the beginning of their student teaching experience. Twenty-seven elementary music teachers participated in a survey rating the preparedness of their student teacher in the areas of personal, teaching, and musical skills, and provided free-response feedback concerning the skills and abilities they observed as strong and weak. These responses were compared to the 1997 research completed by David Teachout, where preservice teachers and experienced teachers were asked to list what they felt were the forty most important skills necessary for success in regard to new music teachers. The results of the survey found a shift in emphasis in personal skills toward skills related to relationship quality with the students. Teaching skills surrounding Classroom Management were considered important but were the weaker of the demonstrated abilities. Musical skills showed the closest alignment between what was considered essential and demonstrated strength. Additional skills, both strong and weak were noted, and implications for the music teacher curriculum was discussed.

School reform programs focus on making educational changes; however, research on interventions past the funded implementation phase to determine what was sustained is rarely done (Beery, Senter, Cheadle, Greenwald, Pearson, et al., 2005). This study adds to the research on sustainability by determining what instructional practices, if any, of the Teaching SMART[reg] professional development program that was implemented from 2005-2008 in elementary schools with teachers in grades third through eighth were continued, discontinued, or adapted five years post-implementation (in 2013). Specifically, this study sought to answer the following questions: What do teachers who participated in Teaching SMART[reg] and district administrators share about the sustainability of Teaching SMART[reg] practices in 2013? What teaching strategies do teachers who participated in the program (2005-2008) use in their science classrooms five years post-implementation (2013)? What perceptions about the roles of females in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) do teachers who participated in the program (2005-2008) have five years later (2013)? And, What classroom management techniques do the teachers who participated in the program (2005-2008) use five years post implementation (2013)? A mixed method approach was used to answer these questions. Quantitative teacher survey data from 23 teachers who participated in 2008 and 2013 were analyzed in SAS v. 9.3. Descriptive statistics were reported and paired t-tests were conducted to determine mean differences by survey factors identified from an exploratory factor analysis, principal axis factoring, and parallel analysis conducted with teacher survey baseline data (2005). Individual teacher change scores (2008 and 2013) for identified factors were computed using the Reliable Change Index statistic. Qualitative data consisted of interviews with two district administrators and three teachers who responded to the survey in both years (2008 and 2013). Additionally, a classroom observation was conducted with one of the interviewed teachers in 2013. Qualitative analyses were conducted following the constant comparative method and were facilitated by ATLAS.ti v. 6.2, a qualitative analysis software program. Qualitative findings identified themes at the district level that influenced teachers' use of Teaching SMART[reg] strategies. All the themes were classified as obstacles to sustainability: economic downturn, turnover of teachers and lack of hiring, new reform policies, such as Race to the Top, Student Success Act, Common Core State Standards, and mandated blocks of time for specific content. Results from the survey data showed no statistically significant difference through time in perceived instructional practices except for a perceived decrease in the use of hands-on instructional activities from 2008 to 2013. Analyses conducted at the individual teacher level found change scores were statistically significant for a few teachers, but overall, teachers reported similarly on the teacher survey at both time points. This sustainability study revealed the lack of facilitating factors to support the continuation of reform practices; however, teachers identified strategies to continue to implement some of the reform practices through time in spite of a number of system-wide obstacles. This sustainability study adds to the literature by documenting obstacles to sustainability in this specific context, which overlap with what is known in the literature. Additionally, the strategies teachers identified to overcome some of the obstacles to implement reform practices and the recommendations by district level administrators add to the literature on how stakeholders may support sustainability of reform through time.

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to describe and explain the characteristics of an effective professional development model in an early intervention training program. The focus of the study was on particular aspects of literacy instruction that were emphasized during training sessions and trainer and teacher perceptions of the Accelerated Literacy Learning (ALL) program. This study examined the elements of training that two teachers chose to transfer to their classrooms, as well as modifications they chose to make, in the year following training in an effort to gain further insight into successful teacher training practices. The following research questions guided this study: 1. How do teachers who have received early intervention training for two semesters apply this knowledge in their classrooms during the following school year? 2. What do teachers choose to use and not use from the training program and why? 3. What modifications of the program do teachers make, if any, and why? 4. What are the perceptions of trainers about an early intervention training program? To obtain answers to these research questions, I conducted individual and focus group interviews with teachers and trainers, made observations of training sessions, analyzed course documents, and observed two teachers in their classrooms in the year following training. These data were analyzed using qualitative analysis procedures. I followed a phenomenological theoretical approach and reported my findings through descriptive case studies. The study findings indicated that teachers chose to use many elements of training in their classrooms in the year following training. It was discovered that the elements that the teachers chose to use in training were the elements that the trainers emphasized in training sessions. The findings also indicated that teachers made modifications to the lesson format that they were taught in training. The segment of the lesson that the teachers chose to modify was one that was not as prescriptive in training as other lesson segments. The trainers did not spend as much time discussing the writing segment of the lesson format as they did the other segments and consequently the teachers made modifications.

In California, 55 teacher preparation programs have embedded a standardized four-task teaching performance assessment (CalTPA) as a requirement for initial teacher licensure. Guided by the frameworks of transactional experience and the theory of formative assessment, this phenomenological study addressed the meaning and role ascribed to the CalTPA by those who complete it. Research questions examined participants' perceptions of their CalTPA experience with respect to preparation, completion of the tasks, feedback, remediation, activities between tasks, and overall experience Data were collected through 3 semi-structured interviews of 8 participants who had successfully completed the CalTPA tasks, chosen by reputational case selection from 1 teacher preparation program. Data were coded for elements of process and overarching themes using inductive descriptive coding in 2 cycles, beginning with discrete codes and then grouping those into themes. Results indicated that the CalTPA played a significant role in the development of completers. Themes included common process elements, emotions, perceptions of tasks, key success factors, and overall influence of the experience. Implications for positive social change include informing stakeholders in teacher preparation programs on best policies and practices to support the development of pre-service teachers into effective in-service teachers, whose future students will benefit from improved educational quality.

Kindergarten - Grade 12 (K-12) students identified as gifted in mathematics in the United States are not being appropriately challenged. Teachers are the most important school-related factor that contributes to student success; however, researchers have not explored the experiences of teachers who work with gifted students in inclusive mathematics classrooms. The purpose of this qualitative, transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of K-12 teachers who provide instruction for gifted students in inclusive mathematics classrooms. Bandura's social cognitive theory framed the study. Interview data were collected from 12 teachers who provide mathematics instruction for gifted students in inclusive classrooms and analyzed using a modification of the Van Kaam method of analysis for phenomenological data. Several themes emerged from the interview data that may positively or negatively impact teacher self-efficacy. Based on those themes, recommendations were made that include utilizing a common gifted identification process, providing gifted-specific training opportunities for educators, promoting collaboration among educators of gifted students, providing opportunities for teachers to reflect on the impact of their instructional practices on gifted students, and creating libraries of math-specific gifted resources at each school site. This study has the potential to contribute to positive social change by advancing knowledge in the field of gifted instruction, improving teacher preparation programs, improving teacher job satisfaction, and improving the mathematics learning of gifted students in inclusive mathematics classrooms.

Reading skills assessments have demonstrated that middle-grade Mississippi school children are on average two full grade levels or more below grade reading levels. This qualitative case study in one urban county Mississippi school district with decreasing literacy scores examined teachers' perceptions of evidence-based literacy instruction methods, which may improve literacy problem in this district. The constructive learning theory provided the conceptual framework for this study. The research questions addressed teacher perceptions regarding recommended instructional strategies, limiting factors in student literacy, and suggestions about improving literacy teaching. Ten middle-grade teachers from 3 district schools participated in semi-structured interviews on research-based instructional strategies, methods, and curriculum materials. Data from interviews and observations of teacher meetings were coded and analyzed thematically. Key findings included a lack of teacher knowledge about some evidence-based literacy instruction methods and uncertainty about the evidence supporting instructional methods. Administrative issues also emerged that impeded literacy instruction. The outcome of this study was a presentation to district administrators and a 3-day professional development (PD) program for teachers, with content tailored to address the needs of teachers in the 3 schools. This study fills a gap in the literature regarding the classroom use of evidence-based practices in schools with struggling students. The study provides a blueprint to help teachers improve their literacy instruction competency and ultimately improve the literacy skills of the students in this district.

There was a problem regarding students' antisocial behavior in a small rural school district in Washington State. Public data within the district indicated increasing incidents of students' antisocial behaviors. However, perceptions of school leaders regarding this problem were not known. As a result, there was a need to gain an understanding about school leaders' perceptions of students' antisocial behaviors in order to suggest potential solutions to reduce students' antisocial behaviors, as these perceptions are closely associated with their intent to address the problem. Bandura's theory of self-regulation provided the conceptual framework for collecting and analyzing data. Using an instrumental case study, the research questions explored school leaders' experiences in working with students who failed to manage their behavior and who exhibited antisocial behavior. Semi structured interviews were conducted with 13 school leaders in the district, and an iterative, inductive process of data collection, open coding, and thematic analysis was used. The themes that emerged from analysis of the data indicated a gap in the school leaders' practice regarding participation in ongoing, job-embedded professional development and an absence of a systematic school-wide positive behavior support approach to prevention and intervention. The findings indicated the need for professional development training to address these issues related to school leaders' practice. The suggested training could create positive social change by reducing students' antisocial behaviors, thus leading to an improvement in academic achievement. The recommended job-embedded professional development training resulting from exploring school leaders' perceptions can increase the capacity of the school leaders to manage students' antisocial behaviors.