<p> In the United States, high school students have performed lower in mathematics than all the industrialized countries since the First International Study was administered in 1964. Studies revealed that a large number of high school graduates are not proficient in mathematics and are not ready for college mathematics or the workforce. This qualitative research intended to answer the question of why the U.S. high school students underperform in mathematics through teacher perceptions on the current curriculum and methods of instruction used in high school mathematics classes. The question was answered by exploring the perceptions of 12 high school mathematics teachers in northwest Florida through a survey of 16 open-ended questions and a focus group discussion that guided the research. Furthermore, the survey and focus group data were triangulated with teacher artifacts that included lesson plans. This resulted in an aggregate of 15 themes that included time, professional development, gap in the students&rsquo; knowledge, student encouragement, application to real world, resources, rigor, student encouragement, teacher collaboration, student ownership, standardized testing, traditional teaching, too many topics, two-tracks courses, practice and mental math, and student collaboration.</p><p> The findings of this research support the need to provide teachers with more time to teach, plan, and collaborate. Teachers also need more support from the educational leaders to provide professional development that will help teachers apply real-world, collaborative learning, and move away from the current traditional teaching that most of the participating teachers in this study prefer.</p>

<p> This mixed-methods study examined quantitative and qualitative data related to the homogeneous and heterogeneous educational settings for secondary refugee students in the content areas of mathematics and science. This study was specific to only four refugee student populations: (a) Burma (also known as Myanmar); (b) Nepal; (c) Iraq; and (d) the African countries of Liberia, Tanzania, Togo, and Zambia. The study was conducted in the United States of America. The quantitative portion of the study examined two years of standardized scores of refugee students in homogeneous and heterogeneous groupings in the academic areas of mathematics and science. The qualitative data consisted of perceptions from teachers who have taught refugee students in a homogeneous setting or a heterogeneous setting in the content areas of mathematics and science. By focusing on both the quantitative and qualitative data of this research, analysis of data sources validated which instructional setting yielded higher standardized test scores in two academic content areas and two instructional settings. The quantitative findings indicated that the mathematics homogeneous setting resulted in greater gains and a statistically significant variance compared to the heterogeneous setting, while the setting for science also indicated greater gains, but did not indicate a significant variance. The teachers&rsquo; perceptions provided qualitative information about the ideal instructional setting for refugee students; the benefits and limitations of the two instructional settings for refugee students; the teachers&rsquo; perceptions regarding state assessments; and the teachers&rsquo; perceptions about instructional practices for teaching refugee students. The issues and concerns regarding one educational setting over the other will persist in education and continue to be a factor for consideration when considering educational equity for all student populations. </p>

<p> This study examined the effects of bullying on the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students age 18 to 25 who attended high schools in Shelby County, Tennessee. A qualitative research method was utilized to examine and determine the perception of fifty-three lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered youth homophobic experiences while attending high school. The study obtained the perceptions of LGBT youth based on the following questions: (1) What do LGBT youth believe are the reasons for homophobic bullying?, (2) How do acts of homophobic bullying affect, mentally and emotionally, the lives of those involved?, (3) And what types of homophobic bullying are evident in public high schools in Shelby County, Tennessee? </p><p> Although there has been a plethora of research conducted to document the effects of homophobic bullying on the lives of LGBT youth, no research could be found that investigated the effects of homophobic bullying on the lives of LGBT youth attending high school in Shelby County, Tennessee. Furthermore, most anti-bullying policies in schools in Shelby County, Tennessee do not include bullying against LGBT youth. </p><p> The study found that LGBT believed they experienced homophobic bullying because they were gay or presumed to be gay. Some LGBT youth felt the homophobic bullying they experienced caused poor grades, depression, and low self- esteem. </p><p> The study provides the information that will assist high school administrators and staff in combating homophobic bullying and discrimination against LGBT youth. Protecting LGBT students mean making changes to some anti-bullying policies that may exist in some schools. Schools must establish clear comprehensive policies which specifically address homophobic bullying. All schools should implement safe school policies that encompass the welfare of all students. </p>

In 2006 Spain undertook a programme of building social capital as a means of bolstering social cohesion, trust, democratic values and mutual tolerance in the country. The thesis analyses the attempt by the Spanish government, starting in 2006, to build social capital and the role assigned to Spanish secondary schools. The thesis looks at the formulation of the policy and its subsequent transposing into regional legislation and implementation at the grassroots level. The empirical analysis assesses the policy’s implementation in four secondary schools in two regions-- Aragon and Castile Leon --immediately after the relevant legislation was put into place. Focus of the investigation is on the role that the regions and schools have played in the operationalisation of the national strategy. The thesis hypothesises that in the Spanish case: if the government can provide a well formulated and structured social capital building strategy, then secondary schools will be in a position to operate as effective social capital builders. The “dependent” variable in the thesis is defined as the secondary schools’ capacity to implement the national strategy that is based on six policy pillars. Thus, the basic unit of analysis in the thesis is the individual school and its capacity to carry out the functions stipulated in the national and regional legislation. The “independent” variables represent the components of the institutional and operational context. The study has found differences in the approach adopted by the two regions in the transfer of the national policy to the regional level indicating that it takes time for lower level institutions to fully put into place national policies. Accordingly, changes need to be made in the operationalisation of the six policy pillars as well as in encouraging the schools to become more pro-active in their implementation.

CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) is an umbrella term for the integration of content and second/foreign language learning through different models. As in a continuum, these models range from content-driven to language-driven explorations. Such a broad learning approach may be European in origin and driving aims but its influence has reached other diverse contexts outside Europe. As a teacher-researcher working in collaboration with three colleagues, I investigated the beliefs, motivations, and overall experiences of a group of teachers and learners who adopted an indigenous language-driven CLIL version in a secondary school in southern Argentina. In the year 2009, we started to include curricular content in our EFL lessons. Although these were isolated episodes, I noted the potential of content and language integration and decided to research and improve our own practices through a collaborative action research project from March to November 2011. The action research comprised three cycles over the 2011 school year. Each cycle included three stages: action (teachers developed their materials), intervention (teachers taught with those materials; lessons were audio-recorded) and evaluation (student surveys and group interview with teachers and students). Data analysis focused on a thematic approach using inductive coding as categories emerged from the data themselves. The experience revealed (1) higher levels of motivation and participation among learners and teachers, (2) teachers’ professional development through collaborative materials development and research instruments such as group interviews, (3) a rise in teachers’ autonomy, (4) reconfiguration of teachers’ identity, (5) an interest in combining a grammar-based coursebook with teacher’s materials, (6) the belief that CLIL is an approach to be adopted after students have been exposed to a more traditional language learning approach for a number of years, (7) syllabus negotiation, and (8) the development of teacher-derived principles which may constitute the backbone of CLIL didactic transposition. This action research project indicates that language-driven CLIL experiences need to create spaces for equal participation and autonomy in syllabus planning which includes lessons and materials. Furthermore, CLIL in EFL contexts may offer significant outcomes if contents are truly context-responsive.

This study is an attempt to investigate the impact of educational change in Malaysian Smart Schools on Islamic Education teachers and students. This study is trying to understand all aspects of the change process in Smart Schools and to understand the problems of students and teachers as they endeavour to improve learning and teaching in Smart Schools. Following the implementation of the Smart School pilot projects in the Malaysian secondary schools. this study is aimed at suggesting an approach that can be used to incorporate the use of computers and ICT in Islamic Education by taking into consideration the views. experiences, expectations and needs of the teachers and the students themselves. In examining the new initiative of Smart Schools, a mixed methods design was adopted to gather the data needed from Islamic Education teachers and students. A grounded theory approach was used in the early phase of the study as this approach is suitable for this relatively new field where little research has been done. This research began with an exploratory phase which involved the use of focus groups as a means to gain knowledge of respondents' views, perceptions and attitudes about Smart Schools. The results from the focus group were used as initial data to develop a structured questionnaire for a large survey study in the Smart Schools. The last phase of research involved an in-depth interviewing process to clarify and validate the previous two phases of research. This study found that the use of computers was the core feature of the change phenomenon in Smart Schools. Islamic Education teachers and students were hardly coping with the task of incorporating the use of new technology in their teaching and learning. Many barriers and obstacles in using new technology were reported by Islamic Education teachers and students. The most important barriers identified in this study are the lack of computers and available resources, lack of training, shortage of time and the pressure of a heavy syllabus and examination centred learning. This study also notes the influence of subject culture in determining the use of computer in Islamic Education. This study also suggests some recommendations for the future implementation of Smart Schools throughout Malaysia by year 2010.

This research will examine participant perceptions about speaking and listening in modern foreign language classes in China and England, and focus on a number of case studies of teaching and learning speaking and listening in a foreign language. The question underpinning my research is: What are participant perceptions about speaking and listening in modern foreign language classes in China and England and their relationship to classroom practices? My chosen research approach is case study because this research seeks to illuminate the perceptions of teachers and learners in China and England about speaking and listening in modern foreign language and relationships between the issues within the topic of my research. For this study I have adopted a multiple case approach which included nine cases of a class, including the teacher, pupils and their perceptions about speaking and listening. In order to address the research questions in this research I used observation, questionnaire and interview to collect my data. This approach enables me to consider both my own observations and the views of the participants. When I was designing this research I did not anticipate that all nine cases would come to fruition. However all of them completed successfully. Therefore this study included 9 cases with a huge data set of 36 lesson observation charts and notes, 790 pupil questionnaires, 10 teacher questionnaires, 9 transcribed group interviews with pupils and 10 transcribed interviews with teachers. The findings of this research indicates that despite the different educational systems in China and England both the teachers and children in Chinese and English schools shared similar beliefs about the learning and teaching of a foreign language, especially speaking and listening. However there were differences between their practice and there was more variation in practice between the English teachers and children than between the Chinese teachers and pupils. Most of the Chinese teachers taught in ways which were substantially similar, but the English teachers taught in very different ways. I believe my results show that this is related to the cultural and educational differences between the two countries, in terms of time, practices of teaching and expectations about pupil activity. Although both Chinese and English teachers demonstrated similar beliefs about modern foreign language teaching and learning, especially speaking and listening, their practices were very different. My findings also suggest that the changing of teachers’ pedagogy played a very important role in changing pupils’ beliefs and their learning outcomes. The case study approach of this research has revealed very different relationships between the beliefs and practices of each teacher and their impact on the children. This research has contributed to the under-researched area of the teaching and learning of speaking and listening in a modern foreign language by providing a thorough and holistic investigation of the teaching and learning of speaking and listening in a modern foreign language in Chinese and English secondary schools and is, as far as I can tell, the only research so far in this area.

Reading is a powerful tool that could affect the students’ achievement personally and academically. Some researchers suggest that teachers are an important factor in developing students’ reading proficiency and teachers’ cognitions could be an influential factor in their teaching reading practices (Borg, 2006; Harrison, 2004; Anders et al., 2000). This study investigates English language teachers’ cognitions and practices about reading in L2 in the Malaysian context, including identifying the factors that influence their current cognitions and practices. The respondents were twelve English language secondary school teachers who have been teaching in secondary schools, and they ranged from trainees to experienced teachers. The data were obtained through stimulated recall interviews, semi-structured interviews, and related document analysis such as researcher’s field notes and teachers’ lesson plans. The research data showed that generally all of the teachers were positive towards reading. The factors affecting the teachers’ cognitions and practices of teaching L2 reading were identified as their home reading experiences, past learning experiences (in secondary schools and teacher education programmes) and current teaching contexts. However, there is a mismatch between their beliefs and practices. Despite their beliefs that reading is an active process, these teachers taught reading using traditional practices which were passive and mostly teacher-centred, and some teachers cited the teaching context as the most influential factor of their current practices. The findings also showed that whilst the novices and transition teachers’ practices were greatly affected by their teaching context, it also influenced the beliefs of the latter group of teachers. Finally, in order to be constructivist teachers who could facilitate and motivate students’ reading, they should take on the challenges of reconstructing their practices from teacher-centred and passive, to active.

<p> Online professional development (online PD), the acquisition of new skills and knowledge related to the teaching profession via the Internet, is an emerging field for teachers. This mixed- methods research explored the impact of an online PD program on high school teachers&rsquo; self-efficacy levels, classroom instruction, and the role that school culture played on teachers accepting or rejecting the online PD. Within a social cognitive theory lens, this study helped frame teacher attitudes and adult learning in the context of school culture. </p><p> Phase 1 of this study used quantitative data from two surveys called PRE and POST, which were taken before and after the online PD program, respectively. Qualitative data were collected in Phase 2, using the International Society for Technology in Education Classroom Observation Tool (ICOT), participants&rsquo; journal reflections, and interviews. Findings indicated statistically significant changes in self-efficacy levels for eight of the 21 survey items and minimal changes in technology use during instruction. Furthermore, various aspects of school culture independently affected teachers&rsquo; inclination to accept or reject the online PD. Findings supported the concept of designing personalized professional development programs tailored to the individual&rsquo;s specific learning styles, attitudes, and experiences of school culture.</p>

This thesis explores some ways in which language can be employed as a tool for crosscurricular learning in Key Stage 3 (KS3) education. An examination of how linguistic interaction is employed by pupils as a means of facilitating their attainment of curriculaspecific learning objectives provides a case study for exemplifying how language can be used effectively across disciplines in secondary education. Within the context of exploring pupils' interaction in the subject of Technology, this thesis explores some gender differences in interaction and the potential effects that such differences can have upon gender-differentiated attainment levels in KS3 Technology. The data obtained for the thesis comprises transcripts of small group pupil-pupil discussion taken from KS3 Technology lessons. The conversations of the groups were recorded, transcribed and then analysed using a revised version of Francis and Hunston's (1992) system of discourse analysis. Gender differences in the types of discourse strategies employed by the participants were identified and evaluated in terms of how effectively they function to facilitate the successful attainment of specific learning objectives. The conclusions drawn from the findings of the research are that the discourse collectively produced by the girls in the study tends to be more effective in facilitating the attainment of learning objectives than that which is produced by the boys. This may, in part, provide one possible explanation as to why the girls in the study achieve higher attainment levels in KS3 Technology than the boys.