There is very little research on educator preparation programs’ impact on teacher effectiveness and student learning (Darling-Hammond et al., 2005; Hagans & Powers, 2015; Korthagen, 2010; Okhremtchouk et al., 2009). This mixed methods study used a sequential explanatory approach (Creswell, 2009) to explore three research questions regarding the relationship between existing clinical supervision evaluations in a teacher preparation program and a newly adopted high-stakes standardized summative assessment for licensure. In phase one of this study, the question of the relationships between the scores on the clinical lesson plan and presentation evaluations and edTPA is explored using Pearson r correlation. In phase two of this study, the patterns and trends discovered in phase one were used to develop focus group questions to answer the questions regarding the areas the clinical lesson plan and presentation evaluations and edTPA best align and the extent to which the student teaching candidates, clinical supervisors, and cooperating teachers felt the feedback from the clinical lesson plan and presentation evaluations impacted performance on edTPA. Three focus groups were conducted; student teaching candidates, clinical supervisors, and cooperating teachers. In phase three, the data were analyzed together to develop a broad understanding of the problem (Creswell, 2009; Creswell, 2015) using a systematic coding process (Flick, 2013). Diane Laurillard’s ‘conversational framework’ as illustrated in Yorke (2003) was considered during the final analysis. The overall analysis revealed that, while all correlations were positive, little alignment existed among the rubrics. The stronger, more significant alignments included lesson planning and student engagement tasks. Areas with no significant results included the assessment tasks and those involving reflection and analysis. Where significant results existed, there were high expectations from the clinical supervisors and cooperating teachers for candidates to perform in these tasks, as well as reports of explicit feedback with opportunities to refine skills. The type, quality, and frequency of feedback, as well as perceptions that other factors impacted edTPA performance more than the candidates’ teaching practices; such as, writing skills, time management skills, and length of placement.

Teachers have long struggled to be recognized as professionals and to achieve autonomy. Key obstacles that influenced their perception of powerlessness, such as professional isolation of teaching staff, low teacher participation in decision making, and systems of supervision irrelevant to instructional improvement, were even scrutinized in national reports. The criteria suggested for the selection of a teacher supervision training model was based on a sound theory of education supported by research. It provided teachers the latitude for decision making that was congruous with the professional treatment of inservice teachers and that was acceptable to teachers receiving supervision. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of peer clinical supervision on teacher empowerment. The participants were 21 urban elementary school teachers located in southeast Washington, D.C. They along with their principal volunteered to be trained in clinical supervision using an adaptation of Cogan and Goldhammer's Five-Step Clinical Supervision Model. Pre- and post program questionnaires, a perceptual inventory, interviews and field notes were used to report the study's findings. The study concluded that training in peer clinical supervision had a positive impact on teacher empowerment when the results were associated with the six Empowerment Indicators: (1) increased receptivity toward supervision, (2) increased receptivity toward change, (3) decreased feelings of isolation, (4) increased evidence of collegiality, (5) increased participation in the decision-making process at the building level, and (6) increased peer classroom observations. Appendices present an outline of the training model used for this study with sample instruments.

Children with disabilities experience barriers to meaningful engagement in science, technology, mathematics, and engineering (STEM) learning activities and course options. While inclusion is widely professed, general education teachers report being uncomfortable in adapting coursework or including children with disabilities. However, informal professional development opportunities could potentially impact general education teachers' attitudes and dispositions towards including children with disabilities. The UCF Go Baby Go Kids Building for Kids workshops offers a one-time informal professional development experience that incorporates STEM content along with concepts of disability awareness and social justice. Little to no research exists on the impact of this type of informal program on the attitudes and disposition of general education teachers on children with disabilities. The researcher employed a mixed methods design to examine the attitudes and dispositions of eight general education middle school teachers before and after a UCF Go Baby Go Kids Building for Kids Workshop. Quantitative instruments included the Educator Attitudes Towards Disability Scale (EADS) and the Teacher Attitudes Toward Inclusion Scale (TATIS), and qualitative methods included semi-structured interviews and the researcher's informal observations of the procedures, process, and outcomes. Results of this study did not produce statistically significant differences in pre and post workshop scores on the EADS and TATIS. However, the qualitative data and informal observations offered additional insights into teachers' perspectives on this informal and novel professional development opportunity. Triangulation of the data from this study shows positive trends on the attitudes and dispositions of teachers towards students with disabilities and inclusion.

The major purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teaching practice, student achievement, and the degree to which professional development in low-achieving elementary schools in one suburban Virginia district met the National Staff Development Council (NSDC) standards. Research methods included a self-assessment survey developed by NSDC, teacher interviews, and analyses of student achievement scores using the Virginia Standards of Learning assessments. According to survey results, participating teachers agreed that the NSDC standards were reflected in professional development activities. The standards of Equity and Quality Teaching were reported to be implemented to the greatest degree in professional development activities, while Resources was the standard implemented the least. On both the self-assessment surveys and the interviews, teachers in 100% of the schools reported changes in their teaching of English as a result of professional development. The percentage agreeing that their teaching of mathematics had changed as a result of professional development was much lower (83% according to survey results and 50% according to teacher interviews).;A significant correlation was not observed between the survey results and teacher interviews. Further, a correlation between the level of implementation of the NSDC standards and student achievement as measured by the Standards of Learning assessments was found to be not significant.

The purpose of this research was to investigate relationships that may exist between the supervisorial style and conceptual level of university supervisors and the student teachers supervised. The primary thrust of the investigation was an analysis of the match of style and conceptual level of supervisor and students. This analysis resulted in data concerning the influence of the match on supervisor effectiveness. The total population of the study included 187 student teachers and 37 supervisors at two university sites in California. Two instruments were administered to the participants at the beginning of the semester. One instrument was the Supervisorial Beliefs Style Inventory (Glickman). The second was the Paragraph Completion Method (Hunt et al.). At the close of the semester the University Supervisor Effectiveness Summary was administered to student teachers. The Summary was developed by the researcher to rate supervisors on five dimensions of supervisor behaviors. These scales included Structure-Directive, Independent-Nondirective, Collegial, Time Factors, and General Procedures. Demographic variables were also examined. Data were analyzed to provide descriptive statistics on the match of supervisor and student teacher. Means and standard deviations were computed. The results of the analyses indicated that supervisors who were highly rated by student teachers for effectiveness, also matched their student teachers in conceptual level and style. Sixty percent of the supervisors were of high conceptual level (i.e., abstract integrative thinking ability). All supervisors, however, practiced directive, nondirective, and collaborative styles of supervision. Other factors contributing to effectiveness were age, sex, years of supervisor experience, and time spent with supervisees. Somewhat higher effectiveness ratings were obtained by supervisors who (a) were in the age range of 46 to 55, (b) were female, (c) spent 35 to 90 minutes a week with supervisees, and (d) had 16 to 20 years as a supervisor. This study supports prior research by Hunt and others which states that higher conceptual level supervisors are more able to adapt styles and are more flexible and creative.

This study contributed to the body of knowledge on the implementation of professional learning communities (PLCs) and mathematics student achievement change in a school district in Florida. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the PLC self-reported stages of collaboration on the Seven Stages of Teacher Professional Learning Teams (SSPLT) Rubric and FSA Mathematics, FSA Algebra 1 End-of- Course (EOC) Assessment, and FSA Geometry EOC scores in Grades 3-8 in the school district of study. Quantitative methods were used to analyze relationships using archival data from the school district of study for two school years, 2017-2018 and 2018-2019, to determine changes over time. Three research questions were designed to find (a) differences in self-reported ratings on SSPLT between elementary Grades 3-5 and middle Grades 6-8, (b) differences on SSPLT among individual Grades 3-8, and (c) the relationship, if any, between changes in SSPLT self-reported ratings and FSA Mathematics, FSA Algebra 1 End-of- Course (EOC) Assessment, and FSA Geometry EOC scores in Grades 3-8 in the school district of study. Quantitative analysis found statistically significant correlations between changes in SSPLT self-ratings and changes in FSA Mathematics mean scale scores in Grades 3-8, Grades 3-5, and the Geometry EOC for Grade 8. There was growth over time from start of school year 2017-2018 to end of school year 2018-2019 in the stages of implementation of PLCs. These findings are aligned to literature on teacher collaboration, professional learning, change in education, and collective efficacy. This study expanded on the literature on teacher collaboration and effective professional learning through the implementation of PLCs. Findings from this study could be used to assist school districts with school district-wide and school-based practices on implementation of PLCs with guidelines and strategies to provide meaningful structures for higher stages of teacher collaboration.

The purpose of this study was to explore how a teacher educator (myself) and preservice teachers engaged in joint reflection-for-action, reflection-in-action, and reflection-on-action during an approximation of practice in a TeachLivETM setting using sentence frames to support English Language Learners' (ELLs') writing. Four elementary education preservice teachers participated in this study based on set inclusion criteria. This action research study included video-recorded approximations of practice, the sentence frames preservice teachers submitted in the skill seven module, reflective journaling, and analytic memoing. Instructional sequence analysis through transcription, holistic coding, message units, action units, interaction units, instructional sequences, and phase units were used to analyze the data and create instructional maps of the interactions. Findings showed improvements to my practice of using joint reflection with preservice teachers at each cycle. These improvements included decreasing the interruptions to the preservice teachers, supporting the preservice teachers in identifying the problem and multiple solutions, incorporating further reflection within reflection-on-action, holding the reflective conversation, and supporting judgment by identifying the pros and cons of each solution. Additionally, through the creation of instructional maps, I identified the reflective phase units, instructional sequences, and interactions made to engage in joint reflection with the preservice teachers. Looking more closely, using questioning as a reflective move facilitated reflection while informing provided the preservice teacher with content knowledge on using sentence frames with ELLs. These findings contribute to the field by demonstrating one way teacher educators can (a) incorporate reflection within their courses to develop preservice teachers' pedagogical skills and (b) the reflective moves that support joint reflection on pedagogical decisions between teacher educators and preservice teachers.

This research study uses a descriptive approach and systematic observations to examine the nature of nonverbal teacher-student interaction in a second grade inclusion classroom. Its purpose is to compare the nonverbal behaviors of children who are considered average in ability with those who are perceived as cognitively challenged, while they are engaged in regular classroom instruction in both large and small group settings. This study also examines the nonverbal behaviors of one teacher as she interacts with a select group of students within the context of a naturalistic classroom environment. The data collection involved classroom observations noting context, formal and informal discussions with the classroom teacher regarding lesson instruction, student profiles, and overall study validity and the videotaping of small and large group math lessons. For purposes of analysis, each videotape was viewed numerous times in an effort to capture the nonverbal interaction in the categories of Verbal Eye Contact, and Nonverbal Eye Focus (i.e., attending to teacher/student, attending to procedure, non-attending) in three situations: Student-teacher, Teacher-student, Student-student. Intra-observer agreement was established. The role of teacher/student proximity and teacher voice tone were addressed separately. The results indicate that the most common nonverbal behavior exhibited by both the special education students (SES) and regular education students (RES) was attending to procedure under the category of Eye Focus. The SES varied more among themselves in the verbal eye contact category, teacher eye focus and non-attending subcategories than did the (RES). Verbal eye contact and attending to student and attending to procedure in the Eye Focus category were the predominant nonverbal behaviors used by the classroom teacher. In most cases the majority of nonverbal interaction occurred between students who sat in close proximity regardless of their cognitive ability. The small group setting lent itself to greater frequencies in each of the nonverbal categories for both RES and SES. The data from this study also indicate a relationship between teacher voice tone and effective classroom management. Taking into consideration the possible nonverbal behaviors which engage all students may assist teachers as they attempt to meet the diversity in today's inclusion classroom.

This dissertation is based on a field study of an alternative schooling program, CHOLEN, in Bangladesh. The purpose was to seek a clearer understanding of an alternative education model known as 'accelerated learning', where the time required for learning is much shorter than in conventional models, and is used where learners are unable to attend normal schooling due to poverty, cultural barriers, or conflict. CHOLEN used innovative strategies to enhance learning for tribal/indigenous children who were marginalized and bypassed by mainstream education. Key among the strategies used by CHOLEN was 'activity-based learning' that allowed learning to be organized around activities, rather than relying solely on the textbook, expanding learning outside the classroom to the learner's life and environment, creating a friendly learning environment, and using varied materials and methods to deepen the learning experience. Teacher training helped to develop teachers as facilitators with creativity and openness to shift from conventional methods to learner-centered ones. The training used a 'reconstruction approach' which taught teachers how to create their own learning activities. The study also looked at the policy context of CHOLEN. As a non-governmental or NGO program, what were the possibilities and challenges it faced. It looked particularly at the kinds of training and support systems that were essential to effective implementation of this approach. The study employed qualitative methods, using interviews with teachers and trainers, classroom observations of learners, and discussions with parents and community members. The schools studied included both community and government schools so that comparisons could be made as to how the training was applied by teachers in these two systems. The major findings were that CHOLEN promoted 'accelerated learning' by creating a 'culture of learning'. This involved changing beliefs and assumptions of teachers, trainers, and supervisors about learning, learners, the role of teachers, and building a new vision. Changing beliefs went hand-in-hand with practicing new ways of teaching-learning where learners took active role in learning, group and peer-learning were the norm, and learning was often in the form of games and fun. Community members actively participated in supporting this changed environment of learning.

The purpose of this dissertation is to define and implement a theoretical construct of decolonizing theory as it pertains to the current issues of multicultural teacher education. A direct application of decolonizing methodologies and design will occur by focusing on the critical personal narratives of four preservice teachers and instructor involved in an introductory course on multicultural education. The rhetoric of multicultural teacher education and the challenging realities facing the field today will be addressed through qualitative research with a emphasis on critical ethnography and decolonization. The significance of this study is embedded in the voices of the students and instructor affected by the neocolonial conditions of U.S. schools, policies and practices. The goals of this research are to further the discourses on the sociopolitical constructs of decolonizing multicultural teacher education and to critically examine multicultural course construction and the potentially transformative praxis for future teachers.