Lack of teacher technology integration is a documented concern within education. Effective staff development practices, the need for on-going support, and the presence of elements of diffusion are all recognized as factors that lead to higher rates of technology integration. These elements are not currently studied as a whole in research on technology education. This study sought to examine all three of these factors within a southern metropolitan school district’s technology teacher development initiative. The following questions guided the research: 1. How do teachers experience the five elements of diffusion (complexity, triability, observability, relative advantage, and compatibility) in the area of technology integration in elementary schools? 2. How do teachers experience instructional technology support and the impact of support on their technology integration instruction? 3. How do teachers experience technology staff development and the impact of staff development on their classroom technology integration? Data were collected from 81 online survey participants, 16 oral interview and web log analysis participants, and an interview with the project director at the completion of the first year of a two-year initiative. Participants received updated technology tools within their classroom and were required to take technology related courses, keep web logs, and complete technology projects. Research was conducted within a mixed methods triangulation design using a pragmatic paradigm with descriptive statistics and correlations as forms of quantitative analysis and a phenomenological approach applied in qualitative analysis. Findings showed the presence of elements of diffusion and support across all data sources. Teachers’ experiences with the program were positive and led to frequent and varied technology integration. Correlations indicated high levels of interrelatedness among the variables of support, elements of diffusion, and impact on instruction. Teachers reported enhanced engagement in learning among themselves and their students. The fact that teachers chose to be in the staff development program and had choices within the program to fulfill the requirements appeared to engage and motivate them. Even though teachers self-reported they were early adopters of technology, the program support structure was highly valued. The program could be used as a model for effective technology staff development.

The purpose of this study was to explain and describe the differences in a principals and four teachers perceptions and understandings of instructional leadership and supervision. In the literature review of Blasé and Blasé, Glanz, McEwan, Andrews and Soders, Quinn, and Hallinger and Heck, to name a few, I examined two focal areas: instructional leadership and supervision. The first area I examined was reasons for the lack of principal instructional leadership. I described the historical context, purpose, function, and personal qualities required for instructional leadership. Then, I discussed the negative and positive impacts that the implementation of instructional leadership may have on teachers. The second area I explored was the concept of supervision and, based on instructional supervision literature, I examined two core concepts that emerged: staff development and reflection. My conceptual framework for instructional leadership was based primarily on the works of Blasé and Blasé and Glanz and was centred on supervision, staff development, and reflection.<p> For the case study I used questionnaires and interviews conducted with the principal from Colourful School, along with two teachers from the primary grades and two teachers from the elementary grades. I collected data from the questionnaires and interviews of the principal and the four teachers I analyzed, and aggregated to examine the respondents differences in perceptions on instructional leadership and supervision.<p> Regarding the theme of instructional leadership, the findings revealed a few differences between the principals and teachers perceptions. Concerning the theme of supervision, differences emerged about the purpose of supervision. There was no consensus on the portion of time a principal should spend on instructional leadership; none of the teachers chose the same portion of time as the principal did. Another difference was with the definition of instructional leadership. Teachers focused on personal characteristics to define an instructional leader, whereas the principal emphasized enhancing instruction. A third difference on instructional leadership centred on the impact of the instructional leader on a school; the principal focused on establishing school culture, whereas the teachers emphasized the support teachers must provide the principal. With respect to the theme of supervision, the difference concerned the purpose of supervision. The teachers perceived supervision as being primarily evaluative, while the principals perception was that purpose of supervision was for teacher growth and recognition.<p> The implications of these findings emphasized the need for school educators to engage in clear communication and on-going dialogue about the responsibilities of the principal. Also, clarification is needed on the purpose and process of supervision. Finally, the policies and procedures needed to be put in place to provide the necessary professional development to enhance both principals and teachers skills and abilities to do their jobs more effectively.

The purpose of this study was to explain and describe the differences in a principals and four teachers perceptions and understandings of instructional leadership and supervision. In the literature review of Blasé and Blasé, Glanz, McEwan, Andrews and Soders, Quinn, and Hallinger and Heck, to name a few, I examined two focal areas: instructional leadership and supervision. The first area I examined was reasons for the lack of principal instructional leadership. I described the historical context, purpose, function, and personal qualities required for instructional leadership. Then, I discussed the negative and positive impacts that the implementation of instructional leadership may have on teachers. The second area I explored was the concept of supervision and, based on instructional supervision literature, I examined two core concepts that emerged: staff development and reflection. My conceptual framework for instructional leadership was based primarily on the works of Blasé and Blasé and Glanz and was centred on supervision, staff development, and reflection.<p> For the case study I used questionnaires and interviews conducted with the principal from Colourful School, along with two teachers from the primary grades and two teachers from the elementary grades. I collected data from the questionnaires and interviews of the principal and the four teachers I analyzed, and aggregated to examine the respondents differences in perceptions on instructional leadership and supervision.<p> Regarding the theme of instructional leadership, the findings revealed a few differences between the principals and teachers perceptions. Concerning the theme of supervision, differences emerged about the purpose of supervision. There was no consensus on the portion of time a principal should spend on instructional leadership; none of the teachers chose the same portion of time as the principal did. Another difference was with the definition of instructional leadership. Teachers focused on personal characteristics to define an instructional leader, whereas the principal emphasized enhancing instruction. A third difference on instructional leadership centred on the impact of the instructional leader on a school; the principal focused on establishing school culture, whereas the teachers emphasized the support teachers must provide the principal. With respect to the theme of supervision, the difference concerned the purpose of supervision. The teachers perceived supervision as being primarily evaluative, while the principals perception was that purpose of supervision was for teacher growth and recognition.<p> The implications of these findings emphasized the need for school educators to engage in clear communication and on-going dialogue about the responsibilities of the principal. Also, clarification is needed on the purpose and process of supervision. Finally, the policies and procedures needed to be put in place to provide the necessary professional development to enhance both principals and teachers skills and abilities to do their jobs more effectively.

Efficacy is created early in a career and not easily influenced over time yet states and school districts loose tremendous amounts of money annually educating and training teachers who elect to leave the profession as a result of low self-efficacy. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived levels of self-efficacy of middle school Language Arts and reading teachers at various stages in their teaching careers in an attempt to inform the practices of teacher preparation. The Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale along with a Teacher Demographic Survey was used to identify how preparation method, content area, and years of experience might relate to self-reported teacher self-efficacy scores. Findings suggest preparation method does play a significant role in self-efficacy of teachers specifically regarding classroom management. Content area of instruction did not reveal a significant difference among participants scores while years of experience did. Participants‘ self-efficacy increased as the total number of overall years teaching experience increased. Nevertheless, when focusing on the number of years at one location, this finding did not hold true. Teacher self-efficacy scores increased only until the 10 year and beyond mark then decreased. Demographic factors such as participant age, sex, ethnicity, and school location were not identified as predictive variables of a teachers‘ self-efficacy. Findings suggest school factors at the 6-8 grade levels may impact teacher efficacy scores. Implications and recommendations to schools districts and teacher preparation programs are offered.

It was a goal of this study to identify leadership strategies and other select variables such as instructional strategies, professional staff development, teacher-student relationship, parental support, and student academic motivation and their relationship with student achievement. Pearson correlations, ANOVA, Alpha Cronbach, construct validity, and regression tests were used to analyze the data that had the greatest significance on student achievement scores. The researcher concluded that instructional strategies, parental support, student academic motivation, and teacher expectation have the greatest significance on student achievement scores. Recommendations were suggested for classroom teachers, educational leaders, teacher preparation programs, and future researchers.

Georgia has invested millions of dollars for technology and teacher technology training in order to prepare students for a technological society (Brackett, Henry, & Weathersby, 1999; Hinton, 2003). While technology affects all teachers, language arts teachers are also challenged to teach multiple literacies (Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, & Cammack, 2004). This study investigated the extent that professional development programs impact the language arts teachers’ classroom practice (Bebell, Russell, & O’Dwyer, 2004; Young & Bush, 2004). This case study research explored three high school language arts teachers’ experiences with integrating technology after having participated in a state-mandated professional development course on technology. Rogers’ (1995) Adoption and Diffusion Model was used as a framework in order to understand the factors that influence adoption of innovations and to explore factors that act as barriers or enhance the adoption process. An emergent qualitative research design was used to investigate the following research questions: (1) In what ways do high school language arts teachers integrate technology into their curriculum after completion of said course? (2) To what extent are these practices representative of the experiences addressed in the professional development course? (3) What are teachers’ perceptions of technology integration in the language arts classroom? Data sources included formal interviews, video-taped lessons, observational field notes, teacher portfolios, and other written communications to supplement face to face interviews. A constant comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Lincoln & Guba, 1985) was used throughout the study by assigning each piece of data a code and category, which was revised and modified as new data were incorporated (Bogdan & Biklen, 1992). Rigor was established through member checks and triangulation of the data. Four themes emerged from the data: (a) technology was adopted as a tool, (b) TAFT resulted in engagement and enthusiasm for using technology, (c) restrictions on time impacted technology integration, and (d) available technology sat idle. Although technology was not used to its fullest potential, the discussion emphasizes that technology training led to technology implementation and impacted classroom practice. The teachers’ perceived attributes of the technologies, and their stance and perceptions of literacy and technology affected their technology integration and determined their adoption and adaptation of technologies.

This naturalistic investigation examined how the implementation of a teacher study group assisted African-American teachers in instituting culturally relevant pedagogy. Ladson-Billings (1994) coined the term culturally relevant pedagogy to address the need for developing and implementing authentic methods for teaching African-American students. However, teachers also need opportunities to be engaged in learning experiences that will facilitate their growth in this area. Although teacher study groups are a popular form of professional development (Birchak et al., 1998), research on teacher study groups designed exclusively for African-American teachers is absent from the literature. Informed by tenets of sociocultural theory (Lave & Wenger, 1991), critical race theory (Solórzano & Bernal, 2001), and feminist theory (Belenky et al., 1997; Collins, 2000), this study involved participants in what I have termed culturally relevant professional development. Research questions included (1) What are the characteristics of an African-American teacher study group? (2) What are the topics and themes discussed in an African-American teacher study group that is focused on “culturally relevant pedagogy”? (3) How does participation in a teacher study group inform the participants’ views about (a) literacy and the literacy curriculum and (b) their teaching practices? (4) According to the study group participants, how does the African-American teacher study group compare to other professional development experiences in facilitating their growth as learners? (5) How might the participation of a school administrator in a teacher study group assist teachers in their professional growth? Data sources included audiotaped and videotaped study group sessions, field notes from study group sessions, in-depth interviews, field notes from classroom observations, participant journals, and a researcher’s journal. Constant comparison and grounded theory methods (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) guided data analysis. Methodological rigor was established using criteria for trustworthiness (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Participants reported that culturally relevant professional development is essential to address the specific needs of African-American students. The teacher study group inquiry centered on ways to support African-American male students, ways to address curriculum mandates, the need for administrative support and parental involvement, the importance of spirituality, the need for collegiality and building relationships, and ways to challenge the status quo.

Final theses of Master Degree studies 68 pages, 23 illustrations, 10 tables, 43 literature sources, 13 affixes, Lithuanian language. The object of study – advisers of Lithuanian Lithuanian Agricultural advisory service. The area of study – Needs of professional development. The aim of study – Having analysed advisers needs of in-service training to work out a model of agricultural advisers in-service training. The objectives: 1. Analyse in-service training theoretical and practical aspects in Lithuania and abroad. 2. Conducting surveys to analyse in-service training theoretical and practical aspects in Lithuania and abroad. 3. Identify advisors‘ needs and requests for the programmes of in-service training. 4. Produce standards and requirements for advisors to qualify. Methods of study: analysis and summary of literature, systematization and analysis of primary and secondary data, generalisation, comparison of practical experience, calculation and patterning. After studying scientific literature and examining aspects of advisers in-service training in Lithuania and abroad and carrying out the analysis of survey conducted the standards and requirements for advisors to qualify were produced and the model for in-service training was carried out.

The aim of this research was to determine the role of the school principal in fostering the creativity and innovativeness of educators. This aim was explored by: determining the nature of creativity and innovativeness; determining the role of the principal in fostering the creativity and innovativeness of educators at schools; and investigating how the creativity and innovativeness of educators is currently fostered at schools. The literature survey on the nature of creativity and innovativeness revealed creativity as the generation of novel and useful ideas and the ability to combine them in a unique way, while innovativeness is the ability to be innovative, i.e. to implement creative outcomes to benefit an organisation or the practical application of ideas towards the organisation's objectives. Creativity and innovativeness can thus be fostered by creating a stimulating work environment that advocates enriched jobs and supporting management practices, an organisational culture that supports innovativeness and an environment that provides adequate resources. Therefore, creativity and innovativeness are a function of an organisational climate that promotes nine dimensions, namely, challenge and involvement, freedom, trust and openness, idea time, idea support, debate, risk-taking, conflict management and humour and playfulness. The empirical survey found that school-organisational climates generally foster educators' creativity and innovativeness in terms of the dimension thereof.-How it was found that some dimensions enjoy more prevalence at schools than others. It was also found that some aspects of these dimensions were inconsistent with the general finding that schools portray climates conducive to educators' creativity and innovativeness. For instance, the involvement of educators in vision review as a way of setting standards or as a pace-setter for performance, and educators having to seek permission before implementing their creative ideas were seen as not fostering creativity and innovativeness at schools. Although there were statistical differences in responses between principals and educators on all creativity and innovativeness dimensions, it was found that these were of no practical significance and thus could be attributed to chance or coincidence. This study therefore recommends that principals should adopt a holistic approach to school organisational creativity and innovativeness. In this way, all the dimensions will be fostered, thus creating school organizational climates that engender the creativity and innovativeness of all educators and focusing on all aspects of their work. Principals should also receive capacity building exercises, initiated both at school and at departmental levels. These exercises should focus on staff development that relates creativity and innovativeness to the achievement of teaching and learning outcomes. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

The professional practice of educational design normally involves collaborating with a subject matter expert on a one-to-one basis and is only occasionally undertaken in teams. This thesis argues that a team-based approach to educational design is powerful and particularly so when transdisciplinary collaborations are facilitated. Transdisciplinary educational design is the process of standing outside one’s discipline to collaborate with colleagues from the technical sphere, the library and other disciplines. The common ground shared by the transdisciplinary teams in this research was student assessment.The core data collection for this research was completed between July 2002 and June 2005. Using an overarching action research methodology, three cycles of data collection were completed by action learning sets. Suitable members of the sets were identified through a series of online staff development workshops that were designed and facilitated by the researcher. Two supplementary data collection activities were also undertaken. The first of these was a Web survey that broadly mapped design practices for online assessment in four Australian regional universities. Three rounds of telephone interviews then followed up on survey responses. The second supplementary data collection was undertaken between the second and third action learning cycles to contextualise the online assessment design activities at Southern Cross University within the broader framework provided by the other three regional universities in the original sample. It included focus groups with educational designers and face-to-face interviews with three academics at each of these universities. The entire series of data collection activities was reflectively managed to heighten its effectiveness. This management included screening of suitable participants, negotiation of manageable session times and duration, and establishment of ground rules for attendance and interactions, as well as drawing out a commitment to observe silences as creative spaces in the design process.In keeping with the action research paradigm, an extensive examination of the literature not only provides a background for the research questions but also continues to be threaded throughout the thesis as data collection cycles directed further literature review. The thesis narrative is given an original form through the use of a gardening metaphor that serves to highlight the rewarding, delicate and transitional nature of this kind of educational design. Such transitional aspects of educational design allow for innovation and creativity not evident in the systems-based approaches to designing instruction. This research also supports current initiatives in Australian higher education concerning the first year experience, embedding graduate attributes in the curriculum, and blending on-campus and off-campus learners into one class. The transdisciplinary approach to educational design explored through this research responds effectively to the varied issues in designing online assessment and developing innovative approaches by academic staff