This exploratory study was designed to develop a baseline model of expertise in dental education utilizing the Dreyfus and Dreyfus continuum of skill acquisition. The goal was the development of a baseline model of expertise, which will contribute to the body of knowledge about dental faculty skill acquisition and may enable dental schools to provide more relevant faculty development opportunities, and maximize scholarship potential. Employing a qualitative approach, individual interviews were conducted with two dental school academic deans and seven experienced educators who were nominated by their academic deans for their expertise in dental education. Open coding of interview responses was performed to determine categories of phenomena that recurred repetitively. The categories of novice through experienced traits were examined using the Dreyfus model. Finally, the codes developed to describe recurring themes of faculty development were interpreted relative to influence of faculty qualities on development of student qualities. Results of this study indicate that the growth of skills necessary to good teaching, expressed by these experienced educators, reflects a learning curve similar to those noted by Dreyfus and Dreyfus and other previous investigators. While dental faculty approaching the Proficient and Expert end of the Dreyfus continuum, display many of the skills descriptive of these stages, they also speak about the process of active reflection. Some unique challenges present themselves in the process of educating dental students. In addition to supporting technique development, faculty teach a wide range of non-cognitive competencies such as professionalism, communication, and an ethic of care and service. The importance of these non-cognitive qualities to patient care and collaboration with peers are essential to successful practice. Articulation of practical knowledge may not be recognized by the teacher; however, data from this study indicates that qualities to which expert faculty are most sensitive influence dental student development profoundly. These findings increase understanding of expert performance in dental education and provide support for dental faculty who desire to become excellent educators. Study outcomes also have implications for exploration of hidden curricular elements embedded in dental faculty practice and their influence on novice dental students.

This study examined the effects of one particular piece of legislation on California's nonclassroom-based charter schools. In 2001, the California State Legislature passed SB 740, a bill designed in part to limit funding of nonclassroom-based charter schools to instances when the State Board of Education has made a determination of funding. The determination of funding is based on prescribed spending levels as outlined in regulations governing the implementation of SB 740. The literature on charter schools contains very few studies on charter school expenditure levels. This study provided an important addition to the literature on charter school spending. This study's literature review included such topics as charter school autonomy and charter school accountability, home schooling, school choice, charter school legislation, policy implementation, and charter school spending patterns. 10 administrators, who were in nonclassroom-based leadership positions before, during, and after the implementation of SB 740, were interviewed. The researcher compiled and analyzed the results to find themes that emerged from the administrators' insights. Results and conclusions included: (a) the respondents perceived that SB 740 successfully purged the non-classroom based charter school movement of many schools that were engaged in abusive fiduciary practices, (b) the respondents thought the regulations were overly constricting, especially in the areas of facilities costs and reserve funds, (c) the respondents voiced concern that small schools attempting innovative practices and programs may have been forced to close due to their inability to meet the SB 740 funding determination guidelines, and (d) unexpected consequences of SB 740 included division between the ranks of classroom-based and nonclassroom-based charter schools, the formation of a nonclassroom-based advocacy group, and increased teacher salaries.

This study focuses on the impact of the 2003 changes in the California Preliminary Administrative Services credential on programs of educational administration in institutions of higher education. Through five case studies of educational administration programs in institutions of higher education, several themes emerged: department chair K–12 background may predict early adoption; faculty are confused about the credential requirements; full- rather than part-time professors design programs; new competitors have already challenged enrollments; ambiguous policy creates compliance uncertainty; integration of technology in educational administration programs is limited; communication among stakeholders is weak; the culture of educational administration programs is different from other parts of the academy; the early adopter is more knowledgeable about the requirements, has purposeful collaboration, requisitions sufficient resources for change, uses many forms of communication, enthusiastically embraces new ideas, and reduces bureaucratic barriers to change. Early, middle and later models of program adoption emerged from the data. The final chapter of the research explores ways to minimize ambiguity and maximize program compliance. A new model of implementation of 2003 standards is presented, which uses early adopters as an example and existing professional organizations as disseminators of promising practices.

The purpose of this study was to develop an evaluation instrument to be used by elementary school administrators in the promotion of constructivist teaching of elementary science for English Learners using a qualitative and quantitative design that identified effective instructional strategies to be included on the evaluation instrument. This study was conducted in fifth grade classrooms of predominately English Learners whose teachers are CLAD-certified, tenured teachers with at least three years of teaching experience. The classroom observations took place within a multicultural school district with predominantly Hispanic and Filipino students in the Southern San Joaquin Valley of California. The evaluation instrument was used to observe these teachers teach elementary science lessons to classrooms of predominately English Learners. The frequency of the use of the ELD/SDAIE instructional strategies were noted on the evaluation instrument with a check mark, indicating the fact that an instructional technique was employed by the teacher. These observation visits revealed what type of instructional strategies were being utilized in the teaching of science to fifth grade English Learners, whether these CLAD-certified teachers were using ELD strategies, and whether the incidence of ELD/SDAIE constructivist instructional techniques increased with the repeated use of the evaluation instrument. As a result of this study, an evaluation instrument to be utilized by school administrators in the evaluation of elementary science instruction to English Learners was developed. The repeated use of this evaluation instrument coupled with preobservation and postobservation conferences may result in the increase in frequency of ELD/SDAIE methodology and constructivist strategies listed on the evaluation instrument in the elementary science classroom.

Over two million new K–12 teachers will be employed in the United States over this decade. Current conservative estimates state that close to thirty percent of new teachers hired to fill these positions will leave the teaching profession within the first three years. This study was designed to obtain current information about accredited teacher credentialing institutions with regards to how they affect teacher longevity in the teaching profession. Utilizing current research as a guide for determining what is needed to bolster the new teacher's ability to cope with the demands of the classroom, this research polled credentialing institutions in the state of California to determine if the elements existed within their programs. This study then presented the findings from the researcher created survey, the review of course catalogues, and follow-up interviews conducted for clarification. This research found that while ninety percent of the responses from the returned surveys agreed that teacher preparation programs do have a responsibility to affect teacher retention there are elements within all current programs surveyed that are missing.

The purpose of this study was to determine the barriers to advancement as perceived by women administrators in the California State University, and to identify those barriers perceived as the greatest obstacles. A twenty-one item questionnaire was developed through a comprehensive review of the literature and sent to 400 full-time women administrators holding a management position within the California State Universities. Seventy-one percent of the questionnaires were returned. Questionnaire results indicate that eleven items were categorized as “moderately important to important” barriers to advancement. Ten items were categorized as “slight to moderately important” barriers to advancement. No item on the questionnaire was considered “not a barrier” to advancement by the participants. The most serious barriers women must overcome if they wish to advance in administration have to do with lack of geographical mobility, role conflict between career and family, absence of mentoring or other support system unfamiliarity in negotiating politics within the male dominated “ole boys” system, and exclusion from the informal communication network. Perceptions of barriers were examined from the perspective of women who held different positions in the administrative hierarchy. No statistically significant differences in perceptions were found among the different steps of the hierarchical ladder. Perceptions of internal barriers were correlated to age, marital status, number of years in administration, size of institution, career path for advancement, and ultimate position desired. The ultimate position desired was the only significant predictor. Perceptions of external barriers were not correlated to age, marital status, number of years in administration, size of institution, career path for advancement, ultimate position desired; participants perceived external barriers to advancement similarly. The study provides recommendations for practice and future research.

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