The NCTM Standards have established new directions for math teaching and learning. The problem of implementation, particularly in urban school systems remains. This study focuses on an urban school system in Western Massachusetts. Of particular interest to the researcher is the lack of success of students in Algebra I. This particular course has traditionally been the pivotal course that determines if a student gets into and remains in the "College Preparatory" sequence. The fact that too many minority and women students are left out of these choices due to lack of mathematics preparation can be traced back to being left out of algebra in high school. What happened to these students? Why were they left out? Why is the failure rate nearly 45 percent in Algebra I in this public school system? Teachers working in the traditional classroom structure of the current school setting are isolated without opportunities to work in cooperation with other teachers. Without a process for sharing ideas and a method to support new teaching strategies, it will not be possible for the vision of the Standards to become a reality. The challenge for a supervisor is to bring the message of the Standards to the secondary mathematics teachers in an urban school system. This study develops and tests a supervision model, based on peer supervision, for the implementation of teaching strategies recommended in the Standards. The findings of this study show that peer supervision can help school systems bring new teaching strategies, like cooperative learning and hands-on activities, into its Algebra I classrooms.

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This study will attempt to clarify behavior modification practices as related to the timeout procedure generally and specifically in a program for emotionally and behaviorally troubled children grades 3-5 and to propose a new concept which may improve the efficiency and effectiveness of behavior management. This study took place in a self-contained classroom in a public school that is located in a semi-rural community. It is understood that teachers need to be in control of their classrooms in order to maintain an effective learning environment. The way they achieve that control may be dependent upon imposed control in contrast to students managing themselves. This study will attempt to provide an understanding of children's ability to control their own behaviors and the role of the teacher as a facilitator of tools for modifying behavior.

My research was an eighteen-month study of how mature, college-educated adults (age range 24-56, professional experience diverse) transformed themselves from the men and women who entered a small, independent, field-based teacher preparation program in August into effective, state-certified teachers by the following June. The study continued into the next school year, tracing further development of each of the originally selected nine intern teachers, seven in their own classrooms, two, finally, in other chosen roles. The research was an interpretive study, combining the use of questionnaires, classroom observation, selections from journals, and in-depth interview/discussions with each of the nine participants at four times during the eighteen months. The interns' own assessments of the time in different classroom settings with children/young adults and experienced mentor teachers, were that the extensive daily experiences were pivotal in moving them toward a perception of self as teacher. This perception represents an aspect of human development described by Piaget as decalage, by Kegan as the whole becoming a part of a new whole, by Perry as commitment in relativism. Learning of this depth and human development are synonymous. Analysis of reflective comments of participants revealed how each mature intern teacher wove knowledge, attitudes, materials, educational theory, support from his/her mentor teacher, and personality into the unique teacher she/he was becoming. The intensity of the intern experience led the majority of the interns, by the middle of the second semester, to know the kind of teacher each would be, to be articulate in discussing her/his approach to teaching in both theoretical and practical terminology, and to display effective leadership in the classroom. The route to this knowing I call an epistemology of learning. This is a study of individuals who know what they have learned in such a deep, meaningful sense that they are confident in their useable knowledge. The route to this knowing is interactive and collaborative, experiential and theoretical; the resultant learning is deeply meaningful in that it incorporates intellect and emotion as the whole person develops dynamically (Kegan), works through the imbalance of transition to a more inclusive view of the world (Perry), and senses the ego-integrity of a generative self (Erikson).

This case study reported on the process of designing, implementing, and evaluating a low-cost, school-based staff development program for teachers at the Ulysses Byas elementary school in Roosevelt, New York serving a predominantly African American population. The study was designed to provide teachers with useful resources for building multicultural curriculum into their regular school program. Action research methodology was used in this case study as a vehicle for the staff development program. The success of this project was contingent upon voluntary participation by staff members who perceived the information and activities of use in their classroom. Prior to this study, the researcher gathered information about teachers' needs and then reviewed numerous studies pertaining to multicultural education and possible answers. A series of four workshops were held. The workshops focused on providing opportunities for teachers: (a) to understand the concept of multicultural education; (b) to acquire some basic cultural knowledge about ethnic diversity; (c) to learn to analyze their own and students' ethnic attitudes and values; and (d) to develop different methodological skills for implementing multicultural education in their classroom activities. Staff development workshops relating to multicultural education among elementary teachers were successful because of the support gained from the school district, administrators, the building principal, the auxiliary staff and the participants. Effective Staff development procedures facilitated a number of essential processes and practices: (1) Opening dialogue among colleagues and administrators. (2) Allowing individual teachers to attend workshops during their work day. (3) Increasing peer interaction and sharing of ideas and knowledge among colleagues. (4) Introducing activities that address the basic concerns and needs of staff and students. (5) Elevating teacher morale by enhancing teacher professionalism. (6) Allowing staff to work collaboratively and supportively to implement school change. (7) Increasing teacher cultural literacy and comfort with cultural diversity in the classroom. Although this project took place within a particular setting, the planning processes, staff development activities may be adapted to other settings.

Thesis advisor: Lisa Patel Stevens / In this dissertation, I share findings generated from a year-long ethnographic and sociolinguistic study of the discursive practices of Black and Latina female preservice teachers, all nonstandard language and dialect speakers, across three settings: the university classroom, the practicum teaching classroom, and a social setting. The aim of the study was to examine how teacher education as a discursive space shapes the linguistic decisions of ethnolinguistic minority preservice teachers—individuals who speak varieties of languages and dialects that are deemed “less than” and “inferior to” dominant language varieties (e.g., African American Language (see Baugh, 1999; Smitherman, 1999); Spanish language varieties (e.g., Anzaldúa, 1987/1999; Zentella, 2004)), and accordingly, are granted lower status in American society (Lippi-Green, 2004). Guiding this inquiry was the understanding that through the study of language, it is possible to reveal the tacit theories and ideologies that persist within dominant spaces and the ways in which such ideologies affect the language choices that ethnolinguistic minority preservice teachers must make in order to acculturate a dominant teacher identity. I captured and examined transcripts of discursive practices evidenced through videotaped and audiotaped speech events, observations, interviews, and archival data (e.g., journal reflections, classroom assignments) using ethnographic research methods and critical discourse analysis (see Chouliaraki and Fairclough, 1999; Rogers, 2004c). My analysis of the data prompted implications for the field of teacher education and for the role of qualitative research methodologies in the study of language, discourse, and identity. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2008. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Curriculum and Instruction.

Approximately 25% of beginning teachers leave the profession after the first year, and 50% have left by the end of their fifth years. The purpose of this study was to provide an opportunity for beginning teachers to identify and prioritize their problems and to state their solutions to those problems. Three research questions guided this study, which extended the research on perceived problems begun by Veenman and Ganser: (a) What are the perceived problems of beginning elementary education teachers?, (b) How do Veenman?s (1984) ranked list and Ganser?s (1999b) ranked list of 24 perceived problems compare with the problems identified in question one?, and (c) What are the beginning elementary education teachers?proposed solutions for success?. The stratified random sampling technique was used to choose participants, who were beginning teachers who graduated from Mississippi State University (MSU) and Mississippi State University?Meridian Campus (MSU-M) during the years of 1996-2000. All but one of the 103 participants were female; 95 were Caucasians; six were African-Americans; one was a Native American; and one participant was classified as ?other? Seventy participants were graduates of MSU, and 33 were from MSU-M. This descriptive study included qualitative and quantitative research methods using questionnaires and interviews. A pilot study was conducted; however, the results were not used as part of the data for the main study. The top perceived problem was a sense of being overwhelmed. The second major problem was time, which included: (a) burden of clerical work, (b) heavy teaching load resulting in insufficient preparation time, and (c) taking up money and other morning activities. The third major problem was students?needs. Participants felt accountable for dealing with slow learners and for dealing with problems of individual students. Participants offered solutions primarily for improving teaching conditions and for making changes in teacher education programs. Recommendations included: (a) providing support systems for beginning teachers, such as mentors, (b) conducting studies of graduates each year to find strengths and weaknesses of the program, and (c) replicating this study in other Mississippi universities and in other states.

The purpose of this study was to survey Mississippi foreign language teachers in regards to demographic information pertaining to their educational and professional experiences and how often they employ certain activities taken from the Mississippi Foreign Language Curriculum Framework (2000). The data were then examined to see if a relationship existed between specific teacher demographic data and how they implemented the state-mandated curriculum. A researcher-designed survey instrument was developed. In order to establish the validity and reliability of the instrument two samples were taken: Mississippi foreign language teachers and teachers subscribing to the on-line listserv FLTEACH. A total sample of n= 323 was obtained for reliability and confirmatory factor analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to empirically justify the reduction of the survey items into 4 of the strands found in the curriculum framework. The Mississippi teachers' surveys were separated from the total, retaining a sample of n = 116 for further study. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, and cross-tabulations, were used to analyze the data. Demographic data indicated that the majority of the foreign language teachers surveyed have obtained more than the minimum requirements in language study and pedagogy for certification in Mississippi. The survey also indicated that the majority of teachers surveyed employed a variety of instructional activities for their students, but that they relied most on vocabulary and grammar activities. A MANOVA was used to test the null hypothesis that increased teacher education in subject area and/or pedagogy did not increase the frequency of specific instructional choices of foreign language teachers. Results indicated that the frequency of certain instructional choices did increase as the number of hours in content hours of study increased, but it was not found to be statistically significant at an alpha of á = .05.

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