Elementary preservice teachers often struggle with their relationships with their students. Research suggests that they have internalized robust teaching scripts that limit their learning of progressive pedagogical methods. As a result of these scripts and relational patterns learned in their family of origin they become progressively more authoritarian and controlling under the situational pressures of traditional classrooms. From the perspective of narrative psychology our sense of self is constructed from meanings that we attach to critical early childhood events, the stories we tell about ourselves, and the way we habitually position ourselves towards others. This critical phenomenological study explored with preservice teachers the ways in which the meanings they attached to early childhood events influence who they become as teachers and how they relate to students. Fourteen preservice elementary school teachers selected from a teacher education program shared their life stories during an interview prior to a two-day orientation circle meeting at the beginning of their prepracticum semester. Participants met in two support circles meeting four times during the semester. The interviews and circle meetings were tape-recorded. The data were analyzed to identify their stories and the way they navigated the discourses of power in their narratives and any emerging cultural themes. The data from five of the participants were analyzed in detail using Stanton Wortham's tools to determine how they were positioning themselves within their narratives and in the storytelling event. All the participants identified critical early childhood events that influence how they construct themselves as students and teachers. They employed the same discipline practices that they experienced in early childhood. Binary opposites of culturally valued concepts were used in self-construction. Their narratives revealed multiple, interwoven, mutually supportive, conflicted and contradictory stories and clashing societal discourses as they struggled to become teachers in relation to students. Implications for teacher education included using circles along with written collaborative autobiographies and case studies of young students to identify and critically analyze the discourses that interpellate themselves and their students. Further research is required to follow students through two years of teaching. More diverse groups should be studied.

Although media production is considered to be a time consuming, difficult, and expensive process, educators need to integrate media production into their curriculum in order to prepare new generations for a media-rich culture. Rather than just being technical or peripheral, media production must be simple and central to the learning process. This research promotes media literacy skills/goals through analog and digital production techniques. This study describes and analyzes the varied reactions and educational experiences of analog and digital video production groups. This dissertation was based on research conducted in Hingham and Sharon, Massachusetts and Verona, Wisconsin from the spring of 2001 through the summer of 2001. The study investigated the educational experiences of three groups of forty-eight students who were completing their technology in education master programs. The study examined how participants were affected by different media production activities. This qualitative research focused on the importance of learning new media literacy skills through simple production techniques on a video camera versus digital editing on computer. The participants in three different groups were asked to produce the same technique, transition, or special effect. Their responses to the media survey, questionnaires, media productions, interviews, as well as their midterm and final projects were compared and evaluated. The study described in this dissertation explored three key topics in order to understand the educational experiences of participants: the wide range of meanings participants associate with media education; the impact of video production activities on participants' understanding of media; and the ways in which they integrated media production in their midterm and final projects.* *This dissertation is multimedia (contains text and other applications not available in printed format). The CD requires the following applications: Windows 95 or higher; Microsoft Office; QuickTime; MediaPlayer or RealPlayer.

As the demographics of the United States change, barriers persistently thwart efforts to ensure that all students, regardless of ethnicity, academic ability, or family circumstance, have equal opportunities to learn. Diminished retention rates of effective educators in Title 1 schools, elevated rates at which students from low-income families are taught by inexperienced or unqualified teachers and insufficient preparation of preservice teachers (PSTs) to teach in Title 1 schools are three such barriers. Policy reform organizations interested in improving the effectiveness of teacher education programs nationwide suggest forging strong clinical partnerships between universities and schools by relocating coursework to school-based settings that more closely resemble the reality of today's classrooms. PSTs, 27 in total, participated in a school-based teacher education intervention situated in a Title 1 school in central Florida to examine the influences of this intervention on PSTs efficacy for culturally responsive teaching and their sense of efficacy for teaching writing to students of diversity in a Title 1 school. Preliminary results indicated that while some PSTs tended to overestimate their efficacy for teaching students of diversity in Title 1 schools prior to the intervention, the school-based course disrupted that reality. Through weekly teaching experiences, PSTs' misconceptions about Title 1 schools, and their own pedagogical practices were challenged. Results yielded a purportedly more efficacious group of PSTs as measured by quantitative survey research and post qualitative responses in this mixed method study.

The focus of this research project was to extend existing research literature by providing insight to how prospective teachers with differing levels of mathematical knowledge developed their conceptual understanding of whole number concepts and operations. Prospective teachers of interest were enrolled in an Elementary School Mathematics Course for Teachers (in the College of Education) with a whole number concepts and operations unit set entirely in base 8. In this mixed-mode study, participants were given the MKT, a measure designed to measure teacher mathematical knowledge for teaching, before and after taking the base 8 unit. The researcher focused on two specific constructs: Common Content Knowledge (CCK) and Specialized Content Knowledge (SCK). The qualitative portion of the study involved carefully constructed student interviews which allowed the researcher to deeply explore how prospective teacher conceptual understanding changed as a result of taking the unit in base 8. Four participants with varying levels of knowledge were selected to be interviewed based upon initial scores on the MKT: 1) low CCK and low SCK, 2) low CCK and high SCK, 3) high CCK and low SCK, 4) high CCK and high SCK. Results of the interviews were used to help explain results from the MKT. Quantitative and qualitative results showed that participants did not significantly increase their CCK, but did experience an increase in their conceptual understanding (SCK) as a result of taking the unit in base 8. Most prospective teachers entering the Elementary School Mathematics Course already had high procedural knowledge of the algorithms associated with elementary mathematics, which could account for the non-significant increase in CCK. Prospective teachers all showed deeper conceptual understanding of whole number concepts and operations at varying levels by the end of the base 8 unit. Prospective teachers showed their increased understanding by way of explanations, justifications, and alternate solution strategies.

Technological modernization has impacted various fields such as the field of education, teaching, and learning. The traditional classroom and teaching methodologies no longer meet the needs of the new tech-savvy generation. Thus, recently there have been changes in teacher preparation programs in order to prepare teacher candidates to have the skills to respond to such high technological demands. Additionally, the demographics of students attending schools in countries with exceptionally high numbers of immigrants such as the United States is another reason to seek novel ways to prepare teachers who have had adequate practice and developed teaching skills needed to reach the English learners (ELs) in their classrooms. Using Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) has been one solution in order to bridge this gap. EL TLE TeachLivE, which was the focus of this study, is a computer simulated environment that combines real-life participants and digital personas or avatars. The participants of this study were teacher candidates who experienced using EL TLE TeachLivE to practice the teaching strategies and skills they had been learning about during their teacher preparation program (n=20). This research investigated the perceptions of these teacher candidates about using this mixed-reality classroom environment through observations, questionnaires, focus groups, and individual interviews. A qualitative transcendental phenomenological approach was taken to have a more in-depth understanding of the participants' perceptions about the phenomenon of EL TLE TeachLivE as a mixed-reality classroom environment in teacher preparation and the meaning they made of their experiences. Through the data analysis three main categories emerged: TCs' general perceptions about the avatars and EL TLE TeachLivE as a mixed-reality classroom environment, TCs' perceptions of the current use of the EL TLE TeachLivE in their teacher preparation program, and TCs' perceptions about the future use of EL TLE TeachLivE. The Teacher Candidates' General Perceptions of EL TLE TeachLivE consisted of the following sub-themes: (a) Video game dissimilarities, (b) Avatar believability and real-life features, (c) Personification of the EL cases, (d) Fear of the unknown, (e) Avatar movement restrictions, and (f) Suspension of disbelief. The Teacher Candidates' Perceptions about the Current Use of EL TLE TeachLivE included: (a) Importance of prerequisites, (b) Advantages over role-playing, (c) Teaching in front of peers, (d) Group teaching and random selection, (e) Importance of feedback, and (f) Teaching strategies and aha moments. Finally, the Teacher Candidates' Perceptions about the Future Use of EL TLE TeachLivE incorporated: (a) Changes in the implementation, (b) Elementary vs secondary classrooms, and (c) Gradual practice.

Since the release of the first iPad in 2010, over 200 million have been sold worldwide. In the short time since the iPad's release, the devices have become popular in classrooms. The purpose of this study was twofold: 1) to document the fine motor iPad gestures of 2 , 3-, and 4-year-old children who used iPads by themselves and in dyads and 2) to conduct international comparisons regarding such observed fine motor iPad gestures. In this study, I examined seven iPad gestures: (a) tap, (b) drag/slide, (c) free rotate, (d) drag and drop, (e) pinch, (f) spread, and (g) flick. This study had five components. The first component involved observations of the iPad gestures of a sample of Orlando, Florida, children operating iPads by themselves. The first component was a partial replication of the 2013 and 2014 studies conducted by Aziz et al. The second component of this study involved observations of the iPad gestures of the Orlando children operating iPads in dyads. In the third component of this study, I compared the iPad gestures of the Orlando children with the gestures of a sample of 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old children from London. In the fourth component of this study, I compared the iPad gestures of the Orlando children with the gestures of a sample of 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old children from Malaysia. In the fifth component, I compared the iPad gestures of the Orlando sample when the children were paired with classmates and asked to play with the iPads in dyads, rather than operating iPads by themselves. Biographical information was collected, including (a) child's age, (b) household income, (c) child's gender, (d) child's ethnic origin, (e) types of mobile devices in the household, (f) daily usage of mobile devices, (g) people with whom the child used mobile devices, (h) earliest age of device usage, and (i) the primary language spoken at home.

The purpose of this single case study was to determine if a preservice elementary teacher's instruction would be influenced by feedback on mathematics lessons. The focus of the research was on the use of the Instructional Quality Assessment (IQA) (Boston 2012) toolkit as an integral part in the feedback process. The IQA toolkit provides number ratings as well as qualitative descriptive ratings of various aspects of the mathematics lesson, defined under two constructs, or groups, labeled Academic Rigor and Accountable Talk. The researcher evaluated a preservice teacher's instruction on three occasions and facilitated feedback sessions following those observation sessions, integrating the number ratings of the IQA toolkit with the qualitative descriptions of expectations. It was found that there was an increase in ratings for both constructs of Academic Rigor and Accountable Talk over the period of three feedback cycles. There was a difference in how the students were facilitated in instruction over the three observations. The teacher became more aware of some of her behaviors in the classroom that contributed to the type of instruction given to students. In reviewing the literature, there was limited evidence of the use of the IQA toolkit for the iterative process of teaching, feedback, and teaching informed by feedback. This research is therefore useful in expanding the use of the IQA toolkit for feedback purposes. Preservice teachers as well as in-service teachers can benefit from feedback focused on mathematics teaching that makes them more aware of their strengths and weaknesses so they are able to adjust instruction based on the feedback received.

This study seeks to influence choices made by Kindergarten students in a Title I school who receive free breakfast and lunch through a health literacy intervention with the intent of decreasing daily added sugar consumption. Fruit and milk choices, either with naturally occurring sugar (NOS) or added sugar (AS), were recorded for 70 Kindergarten students among six classes in a Title I school for ten days before a four-week health literacy intervention. Three of the classes were randomly selected to learn about 'sometimes' and 'anytime' choices through the Healthy Habits for Life curriculum delivered by representatives from Nemours Children's Hospital. Following the intervention, milk and fruit choices were recorded for ten more school days to determine differences among the control and intervention groups. Pearson Chi Square test results concluded that the health literacy intervention lead to statistically significant improvements in milk choices for the intervention group, but fruit choices were inconclusive due to inconsistencies in significance. Hierarchical loglinear analyses were run to determine if there was a difference in response to intervention between male and female students, and the results indicated that the effectiveness of the intervention was not moderated by gender. The success of this intervention for milk choices will help students who receive free school breakfast and lunch to decrease their daily consumption of added sugars, and additional research needs to be done to help students make choices that will further decrease their daily added sugar consumption.

The purpose of this study was to explore teacher preparation program content throughout American history in order to determine trends in programs of study, specifically including coursework in education foundations, teaching methods involving the behavioral sciences, and subject area content. These categories were selected because their content is responsible for teachers' working knowledge of their subject area, as well as student learning, behavior management and motivation. The study also examined documented teacher knowledge voids: student behavior management, time management, organization, dealing with parents, motivating students, and meeting individual students' needs to determine which aspects of teacher education could improve teachers' skills in these areas. Programs of study from traditional and alternative teacher preparation programs were gathered from Massachusetts, Indiana, Tennessee, California and Florida in an effort to research across the United States. Traditional programs were defined as four or five-year teacher education programs in colleges or universities which began as teacher normal schools and in those that did not. Program components from 1839 through 2007 were analyzed using Thinking Maps® for organizing and interpreting the information while focusing on education foundations, teaching methods, or subject area content gaps which would correlate to teacher knowledge voids. Patterns were traced within teacher education programs focusing on the art or science of teaching. Trends in course offerings were investigated and linked to concurrent events which may have influenced them. The following results were obtained from this research. American teacher preparation programs began in 1839 with elements of teaching methods, subject area content and education foundations, which remained the common elements in 2007. The ratio of each element in teacher preparation programs fluctuated throughout history. The dissent over teaching as an art or a science was evident in the early years of teacher normal schools, and the argument continued in 2007, largely affected by the absence of a clear definition of either approach. Early teacher normal schools admitted that teacher education programs were "imperfect preparation" for the classroom, and teacher knowledge voids remained an issue in 2007. From the inception of common schools in America, there was a shortage of teachers to fill them, and the teacher shortage continued in 2007, which may have contributed to the vast difference in teacher education program composition. An avenue taken to alleviate the teacher shortage issue was alternative teacher certification. Alternative certification programs were enacted in the 1800s, and alternative certification programs were widely used in 2007.

The purpose of the study was to gather information from practicing teachers about their knowledge and use of assessment in the classroom, referred to as assessment literacy; their confidence to effectively assess student progress and make valid educational decisions, referred to as assessment efficacy; and their beliefs about the consequences of these decisions. A two-part survey was administered to general and special education teachers in selected schools in western Massachusetts: an assessment literacy questionnaire to determine knowledge of assessment principles, and an assessment efficacy scale to determine confidence in using assessment results. The second part of the study was an interview of a sample of teachers about the consequences of educational decisions that are made using assessment data. The participants were mostly general education teachers at the secondary level, with graduate degrees, and prior training in assessment; and were almost equally divided by years of experience. They perceived themselves to be somewhat prepared to very prepared to teach and assess student performance; but less than two-thirds of the teachers responded correctly to 70% of the items on the adapted assessment literacy questionnaire. The participants generally perceived themselves to be confident in their skills to make appropriate educational decisions, thus possessing a high level of assessment efficacy. The responses from the interviews indicated that the teachers perceived that the decisions they make from classroom-based, school- and district-wide assessments had valid and meaningful outcomes when they were correct, and implemented appropriately. Their responses indicated concern about the unintended consequences of decisions that are made from the statewide assessment.