This qualitative interpretive study explored how five pre-service teachers constructed meaning of reflection, and how these meanings informed their practice. The purpose of this research was to better understand reflective practice in teacher preparation. The theories on reflective practice by Dewey (1933), Schon (1983, 1987), and van Manen (1977) guided this study. This research incorporated the historical and institutional contexts of the study, and applied a symbolic interaction theoretical and analytical framework (Denzin, 1978, Prus, 1996). The interpretations of the pre-service teachers' conceptions and understandings of reflective practice were captured through the transcriptions and analysis of interviews, and through the examination of the pre-service teachers' reflection journals. Participant-observations were recorded in field notes and serve to inform the social context of the study, as well as to provide portraits of the pre-service teachers, and to verify their responses. Themes were derived from the data and categorized within the symbolic interaction social processes of acquiring perspectives, achieving individuality, experiencing relationships, situating the act, and the act of reflection (Prus, 1996). The research questions were answered as I interpreted the meanings that these pre-service teachers attached to reflection, as well as the process, context and content of their reflective practice (Calderhead, 1989). I derived thirteen themes from the data that highlighted how the pre-service teachers interpreted and practiced reflection in this teacher preparation program. The themes were: (1) defining reflection; (2) questioning as reflection; (3) gaining opportunities for reflection; (4) Defining reflection from self and significant others; (5) looking back on action; (6) reflection is based on personal beliefs, and educational theory; (7) encountering professors; (8) encountering mentors; (9) encountering cooperating teachers; (10) self-reflections; (11) verbal reflections; (12) written reflections; and (13) content of reflection. The study resulted in an interpretation of the pre-service teachers' views of reflective practice as they experienced it in the teacher preparation program that they felt gave them many opportunities for reflection. The findings indicated that the pre-service teachers had a general understanding of reflection. They practiced technical and interpretive levels of reflection in different contexts. The findings of the study implied that pre-service teachers understood and learned to reflect through courses and field activities. The findings also raised questions about the necessity of extensive writing requirements in reflection. This study has implications for the ways in which pre-service teachers learn about reflection, and may be useful for teacher educators who prepare reflective practitioners. / Ph. D.

Multicultural teacher education promotes "culturally responsive practice" as a means of meeting the needs of diverse children. This qualitative study investigates four student teachers' field experiences so as to better understand future teachers' translation of "culturally responsive practice" during field work. Data sources include individual and group interview-conversations across a semester and the researcher's own stories from her experiences as a participant-observer in the school. Results are reported as four case studies with cross-case analysis. The researcher makes recommendations for teacher education based on findings from the four cases and group similarities. Results suggest that teacher education should place an emphasis on the complexity of culture, gaining knowledge about specific cultural factors, knowledge of history and present-day conditions, individual talk, and "culturally responsive relationships." / Ph. D.

Today's students are incessantly "plugged in" to media such as film, television, and the Internet. Despite media's starring role, youth in the U.S. are not necessarily experts in critically viewing media nor is media literacy a standard part of the curriculum. Some advocates propose extending the definition of "literacy" beyond simply reading and writing (see Eisner, 1991; Friere & Macedo, 1987; Hobbs, 1997; Messaris, 1997; Reinking, 1998). However, the current lack of U.S. recognition of "media literacy" in education opens the possibility that pre-service teachers graduate from teacher preparation programs without the competencies or disposition to integrate media into the classroom. The purpose of this study was to describe and to understand more fully the rationale that a secondary pre-service teacher uses to plan and implement "media" during his/her student teaching experience. To better understand this, I studied how pre-service teachers define and conceptualize media, as well as the reasons that influence their teaching decisions regarding inclusion or exclusion of media in support of their teaching. Two pre-service teachers at the same high school, in different content areas (one in English; one in social studies), from the same university teacher preparation program, were the participants. This case study drew from and contributes to the literature in three areas: (a) "media education," (b) "pre-service teachers" and (c) "secondary teacher education" literature. Data collection consisted of 6 structured interviews, 13 observations, and extensive document review. Data were then processed through constant comparative analysis. Findings describe more fully this particular case, investigating the pre-service teachers' past experiences with media and present media utilization in the classroom. Two threads of discussion were provided. First, the participants' definitions of media and selection of media were largely based on media preferences and usage in their personal lives. Second, media, itself, was primarily described as a means to entertain and to engage students, not necessarily as a way to effectively reach the content learning objectives or for purposes of media literacy. Media was perceived as a useful tool by the pre-service teachers as they continued to develop pedagogical content knowledge as beginning teachers. Finally, personal and professional recommendations were drawn from the findings. / Ph. D.

In an attempt to promote the transfer of technology integration knowledge and skills in preservice teachers, studies have attempted to identify effective instructional technology integration practices on the part of the teacher education program, as well as exemplary programs themselves (Hofer, 2005; Mergendoller et al., 1994; Strudler & Wetzler, 1999). A significant number of studies focus on examining various components of technology integration plans within teacher education programs, but few have extended this examination to determine if transfer is evidenced in the practices of graduates. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to identify instructional technology integration strategies and practices in preservice teacher education that contribute to the transfer of technology integration knowledge and skills to the instructional practices of early career teachers. This study employed a two-phase, sequential explanatory strategy, where quantitative data were collected via an online survey during the first phase and then interview data were collected during the second phase. The targeted sample population for this research study consisted of male and female early career teachers who had completed a graduate level teacher education program through the School of Education (SOE) at a large, research university located in the Southeast. Overall, these early career teachers assessed themselves as being proficient users of instructional technologies and feeling comfortable with their level of technology integration in the classroom. Out of nine qualities demonstrated in literature to promote learning transfer of technology integration knowledge and skills, the early career teachers reported the top three factors found in the study institution to be: the modeling of effective uses of technology integration by faculty in content-specific areas; opportunities to reflect upon technology integration practices in the classroom; and opportunities to practice and experiment with instructional technologies. The early career teachers reported the three top barriers inhibiting technology integration in their classrooms as being: too much content to cover; lack of time to design and implement technology-enhanced lessons; and a lack of software resources. Although a majority of the early career teachers reported that the teacher education program overall prepared them to integrate technology into the classroom, they also reported that opportunities to practice technology integration and having access to expert guidance during their field experiences were lacking. Several suggestions were made by study respondents and these included: providing more opportunities to experiment and play with instructional technologies like SmartBoards; faculty support with regards to implementing and practicing with technology integration in field experiences; and technology courses that focus on up-to-date instructional technology tools within each of the content areas. Findings from this study might be useful to teacher educators and researchers because it provides naturalistic recommendations (Stake, 1995) on how to improve their programs that are corroborated by the literature, and it offers an adapted survey that can be utilized to investigate technology integration transfer from the teacher education period to the early classroom practice period of new teachers. / Ph. D.

In order to address the problem of newly hired teachers' failure to transfer technology integration knowledge and skills, this study used a developmental research approach in which, factors of knowledge transfer were operationalized through using The First Principles of Instructions (Merrill, 2002) to form a set of instructional considerations to promote the transfer of technology integration knowledge and skills from the learning setting to the application setting. A panel of expert reviewers from Kuwait and United states validated these considerations and led the revisions process. This study describes the development process of the instructional considerations, the expert review, and the revision of the final product. / Doctor of Philosophy / Newly hired teachers in the Kuwaiti context often fail to transfer knowledge and skills of technology integration from instructional technology courses to in classroom teaching. Research in knowledge transfer has identified factors that can promote the transfer of skills and knowledge from the learning context to the application context. These factors showed their effectiveness in technology integration literature. This study used a developmental research approach in which factors of knowledge transfer were operationalized through using The First Principles of Instructions (Merrill, 2002) to form a set of instructional considerations to promote the transfer of technology integration knowledge and skills from the learning setting to the application setting. A panel of expert reviewers from Kuwait and United states validated these considerations and led the revisions process. This study describes the development process of the instructional considerations, the expert review, and the revision of the final product.

Abstract Gardner's ( I983) Theory of Multiple Intelligences supports developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) espoused by NAEYC for early chiJdhood classrooms. This research examines teachers' use of multiple intelligences-based (MI-based) strategies while teaching for mastery of the required Florida's Sunshine State Standards (SSS). Second grade teachers in a rural community in Central Florida were surveyed with follow-up interviews regarding their teaching practices and philosophies. Data collected show that teachers believe children can master SSS using MI-based strategies but report barriers of large class sizes. Teachers who received training on Ml reported greater success with MI strategies. Teachers reported more use of MI-based strategies for teaching than in their assessment practices. Discussion includes the impact of the state standardized assessments.

Family literacy encompasses the way family members use literacy at home and in their community. This study reports early literacy activities these families do that are connected to the activities they carry out in their every day events. Reading aloud, print awareness, and how reading environmental print relates to young children between the ages of birth to preschool are some of the activities discussed in this study. Other topics such as the time of day parents read to their children and what kind of educational toys or materials their children prefer to use in relation to literacy are also incorporated. A survey instrument was given to parents and is included in Appendix A. The findings reported include the percentages of factors the surveyed parents chose as important to them in regards to early literacy activities and future success in school. Promoting literacy activities at home and in the community is an important role for parents who have children in day care. The purpose of this study was to determine what parents with children in day care do with their preschool children to support literacy development. The research question was How do parents of preschool children attending day care promote literacy activities at home? Seventy-five families that have their children in four different day care centers, participated in this study. The survey instrument used in this study revealed which activities that support literacy are most important to parents that have their children in local day care centers. Of the seventy-five families surveyed, twenty nine families have children that attend day care centers run by the United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) organization. These child development centers serve all children, especially children that have a variety of disabilities. Another forty-six families have children that attend different day care centers in the Apopka area.

My dissertation is comprised of two manuscripts on preparing educators to address the needs of students with disabilities. The first manuscript is a systematic review of 23 empirical studies published over the last two decades, addressing how traditional teacher preparation programs prepared preservice educators to learn about teaching students with disabilities in inclusive settings. A conceptual model was developed to synthesize the findings. Better outcomes in dispositions, knowledge, and skills were associated with preservice educators placements in inclusive classrooms where supportive supervising teachers modeled effective collaboration and provided opportunities for developing specific teaching skills. Although student disability type and teacher education program type are not directly related to preparation, researchers suggest that they mediate preservice educators' dispositions. The second manuscript examines the demographic, preparation, and school poverty level of a nationally representative sample of 51,340 early career special educators and the extent to which more and less preparation predicted their perceived preparedness for eight instructional practices. Data analyses included descriptive statistics, cross tabulations, and multiple linear regression. Findings indicated that more preparation significantly predicted educators' feelings of preparedness as they began teaching. The majority of educators with more preparation entered teaching through traditional routes while those who were less prepared tended to enter through alternative routes. Additionally, the majority of all educators felt least prepared to use student data to inform instruction and most prepared to differentiate instruction. Implications for education policy, teacher preparation, and future research are considered in both manuscripts. / Ph. D. / What matters most in preparing educators to teach students with disabilities has often been debated but has yet to be clearly determined. This dissertation is comprised of two manuscripts that explore this topic. The first manuscript examines how traditional teacher preparation programs prepare classroom teachers to teach students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. A conceptual model is provided that reflects how key factors interact to shape preservice educators’ development of inclusion-related dispositions, knowledge, and skills. Findings indicate that experiences in inclusive classrooms with supportive supervising teachers who are skilled collaborators result in positive outcomes for preservice educators. The second manuscript explores the demographic characteristics, teacher preparation, and school poverty level of new special educators across the United States, and whether their preservice preparation had a significant affect on their feelings of readiness to teach during their first year. Findings indicate that more preparation helps new special educators feel better prepared. Most of these better-prepared educators entered the profession through traditional teacher education programs while those with less preparation tended to enter through alternative routes. Implications for improving how new educators are prepared to teach students with disabilities are considered in both manuscripts.

The intent of this study was to describe the complex phenomenon of mentoring student teachers in one elementary teacher education program. A case study research design was used. Interviews, observations, and an examination of documents were used to uncover two major themes, support and challenge, across the three central topics of curriculum, classroom management, and school culture. An operational definition of preservice mentoring was constructed, using the literature as well as data from the participants: Emergent teachers moving through the teacher education continuum of preservice, induction, and inservice, construct a mentoring system to help them manage their professional growth and development: a unique network of people who support and challenge them with curriculum, classroom management, and the school culture. A mentor/protege relationship is characterized by shared beliefs, negotiation, reciprocity, commitment, collegiality, nurturance, and respect for the autonomy of the protege along a developmental path of initiation, reciprocity, separation, and redefinition, always with a goal of increased self-reliance. (Templeton, 1994). The study focused on the cooperating teacher/student teacher relationship that occurs during the student teaching semester in order to arrive at a description of the vital elements that are central to mentoring in preservice teacher education. The study described the context underlying the collaborative mentoring support system that operates within this elementary teacher education program. The questions that guided this inquiry were (1) How does mentoring operate in the cooperating teacher/student teacher relationship in the student teaching component of one elementary preservice teacher education program? (2) What do cooperating teachers and student teachers identify as the key elements of mentoring relationships in the student teaching component of one elementary preservice teacher education program? The study revealed that mentoring occurs at many different levels during teacher development and is interpreted in many different ways, both in the mentoring literature and in practice. Phases of the mentoring relationship were experienced in the same order, but in varying intervals by each of the three student teachers. These phases were initiation, reciprocity, separation, and redefinition. The study may provide a basis for guiding others interested in incorporating mentoring into their teacher education programs. Teacher educators could benefit from this study because the data may exhibit elements which will contribute to a systemic model of mentoring at the preservice level. It is important for teacher educators to start thinking about the skills they need to provide, model, and encourage preservice mentoring processes because mentoring can be a critical element in providing a bridge between preservice education and induction into teaching.

Public education has been in a recession many years longer than our economy and unless we make some attempt to break from the past the outlook for public education in the state of Massachusetts looks bleak. This study discusses the status of experienced teachers working in public schools in ten communities in Massachusetts. Using the telephone interview survey the research shows a lack of technological skills among the participants and demonstrates a definite need for retooling the seasoned teacher. Public schools do many things well but very often we find our school systems short on finances and short on long-range planning. This is especially true in the areas of staff development. There are still many educators who are still professing that our traditional teaching methods are adequate to address the needs of today's student. The survey relates the responses of one hundred teachers regarding their knowledge and expertise in the use of computers and the use of computers in education. Retooling the experienced teacher is essential to the success of our public schools. Among the towns surveyed all ten of the communities reported that seventy-five to eighty percent of their teaching staffs are on the maximum salary step. The subjects of this study ranged from twenty years of experience to thirty-four years. The literature review indicated that very little research has been conducted around the topic of teacher training in technology. Most of the literature and research has been dedicated to the promotion of various brands of computers and various software programs and very little on the needs of the classroom teacher in the age of technology. All of the subjects surveyed recognized the prominence of computers in education and also showed a willingness to be trained to make use of the computers available to them. This study discussed the responses of the teachers and their suggestions for staff development.