The purpose of this study is to explore what teacher candidates (n=156) believe will be their primary assessment purposes, summative assessment practices, and assessment formats in their classrooms, their values and beliefs surrounding assessment, and what contextual factors influence teacher candidates’ assessment beliefs and practices. The results are placed in the context of previous research into the assessment practice of teachers and compared to the recommended assessment practices identified in research and what the Ministry of Education of Ontario expects its teachers to do through its assessment document, Growing Success (O.M.E., 2010). The survey instrument used in the study was composed of questions original to this research in combination with a revised version of the instrument used by McMillan (2001) and Duncan and Noonan (2007). Teacher candidates were divided into different groups based on their grade level, academic level, subject area, and B. Ed program (concurrent, or consecutive). Descriptive statistics were generated for each question by group and overall. A Principal Components Analysis was used to reduce the 35 items in the summative assessment practices section into 5 scales for ease of interpretation. Inferential statistics (paired samples t-tests, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to determine if there were statistically significant differences between groups. The results of my research indicate that the teacher candidates report having values and beliefs supportive of the orientation towards assessments reported in the research literature and Growing Success (O.M.E., 2010). Teacher candidates’ responses regarding purpose and format were also in alignment with practices supported in the research literature and Growing Success (O.M.E., 2010). In contrast, teacher candidates’ uses of non-academic criteria in making assessment decisions were not in line with recommendations found in the research literature and Growing Success (O.M.E., 2010). Only two statistically significant differences were noted between groups: Grades 7 and 8 teacher candidates reported using constructed response items more frequently than Grades 11 and 12 teacher candidates in their summative assessment practices; and concurrent education program teacher candidates reported their coursework as being less of an influence on their future practice than their consecutive education program peers. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2013-10-01 11:48:19.26

The aim of this study is to investigate and understand the types, prevalence, and potential impact of teacher candidates’ struggles, as well as factors and contexts that may relate to the occurrence of struggles. The mixed methods study was carried out in three stages – qualitative, quantitative, qualitative – with teacher candidates and teacher educators from a large Canadian teacher education program as participants. Based on participants’ descriptions and experiences of struggles, I developed a taxonomy of 19 struggles, 10 of which were identified by both teacher candidates and their educators. The struggles included a wide range of behaviours, emotions, skills, and conditions. Teacher candidates also discussed which support systems they use in times of struggles, while instructors explained how they help teacher candidates who struggle. The study positions struggles in a broader and multilayered context that involves teacher candidates, their educators, the preparation program, its structure and elements, policies, social dynamics, and professional norms and expectations. The causes, triggers, consequences, and remediation of struggles are considered in relation to a combination of individual, institutional, and structural factors. The study has implications for teacher education programs, policymakers, and the teaching profession.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF Sharon Angella Hayden, for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Education, presented on July, 25th, 2011, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: ENABLING CURRICULA: THE DEVELOPMENT OF A TEACHING OBSERVATION PROTOCOL TO ADDRESS STUDENTS' DIVERSE LEARNINNG NEEDS MAJOR PROFESSORS: Dr. Grant R. Miller and Dr. D. John McIntyre Diverse learning needs are students' learning needs in areas such as language, learning styles, background, disabilities, technology skills, motivation, engagement, and access. Teacher candidates must be aware of and plan to meet these needs. The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) provides guidelines that can increase the level of student engagement and variety in materials and activities incorporated in a lesson, and will improve the extent to which teacher candidates meet students' diverse learning needs. This research incorporated design research and systematic observation methodologies and was informed by data from lesson observations collected with the proposed observation protocol. It also relied on data from a focus group discussion with cooperating teachers, email feedback from university supervisors, and document analysis of lesson plans and materials. Analysis of this data showed that teacher candidates' perceptions about diverse learning needs were informed by the school's curriculum, the subject area they taught, their experiences, and theories such as multiple intelligences. Their perceptions were modified during the study which also resulted in changes in the way they planned and taught their lessons. Participants found the proposed observation protocol to be both clear and useful. It is proposed that teacher candidates, cooperating teachers, and university supervisors should be informed about the Universal Design for Learning. It is expected that the observation protocol will be incorporated into methodology courses, as well as in teacher candidate conferences with university supervisors. It is also expected that future research will incorporate university supervisors and cooperating teachers in the implementation of the observation protocol. Future research is also expected to explore the possibility of developing a subject-specific observation protocol for use at the secondary level.

This study followed two teacher candidates from the Communities as Resources in Early Childhood Teacher Education (CREATE) project into their first year classrooms to determine whether they were able to translate the theoretical principles from their teacher preparation program into practice during their first year of teaching. It also examined the supporting and limiting contextual factors that affected translation both during their teacher preparation and in their first year of teaching. Multiple case study methodology was used to look closely at each case independently providing consistency through replication, while also allowing the ability to look across both cases to develop more powerful findings (Stake, 2006; Baxter & Jack, 2008; Yin, 2014). A conceptual frame was developed around translation, revisiting how it has been used in other fields of research in the past (Catford, 1974; Bassnett, 2013; Major & Cordey-Hayes, 2000; Holden & Von Kortzfleisch, 2004; Jacobson, Butterill & Goering, 2003; Davison, 2009; Straus, Tetroe, & Graham, 2009) and how it is currently being used as a metaphor in the field of education (Cook-Sather, 2001, 2006) to provide a lens into the intricacies and flexibility of the process of translation. Literature was reviewed to provide background into research that has looked closely at the impact teacher preparation programs have on the first year of teaching, and to provide background information into the conceptualization of the work undergirding the principles of CREATE. It is crucial for teacher preparation programs to follow their own graduates into their classrooms to gain a deeper understanding of what concepts, theories, and principles translated from university classrooms and field experiences to practice in first year teacher's classrooms, in order to make changes to their teacher education curriculum to prevent a breakdown of translation. This study offers insight into what supports and limits translation and offers suggestions for future research in the area of translation.

This book contains more than 30 stories about the positive impact of SIM on individual students, teachers, schools, districts, and states.

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This study examines the lived experience of teacher candidates through a professional inquiry process and the influence of that experience on their eventual teaching practice. Literature in this area typically follows teacher candidates and teachers through curriculum and instruction pedagogy coursework and then into the classroom to observe the incorporation of inquiry strategies and changes in disposition towards inquiry. This work fails to address a teacher candidate’s experience through their own personal open inquiry process and whether or not that experience transfers into their teaching practice. A nested case study approach - including both quantitative and qualitative data - were used to provide insight and build understanding towards the following questions: 1) What is the effect on a teacher candidate’s likelihood to employ an inquiry approach to science in their classroom following their own participation in an open-inquiry process during their teacher education? 2) How does participation in an inquiry process influence a developing teacher’s understanding of teaching and learning? Teacher candidates and teachers at varying stages of practice, completed a survey and three recently certified teachers were interviewed to explore the use of inquiry in their teaching. The evidence suggests a key component to affecting the incorporation of inquiry approaches into the classroom was that personal experience with inquiry served to unsettle held beliefs and led to a change in disposition towards inquiry. This study also explores the implications for the inclusion and importance of inquiry experiences early within teacher education programs. / Graduate

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The current study investigated teachers’ grading practices on achievement and non-achievement factors in the classroom of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (TCSOL). Specifically, this study investigated how teachers assigned grades in relation to students’ achievement and non-achievement factors, and further, whether this relationship between achievement and non-achievement factors and grades was different based on teachers’ past experiences. This study was a quantitative survey study. The participants were 214 TCSOL teacher candidates at Master’s level in two universities in Beijing, China. The study employed a questionnaire made up of two sections. Section One provided 32 grading scenarios that illustrated 32 students with different characteristics (achievement and non-achievement factors). Section Two included four items on teachers’ past experiences. These items were training in classroom assessment and grading, perceptions about grades previously received, teaching experience, and grading experience. Descriptive and multiple linear regression analyses were the two main statistical methods used. Results showed that teachers involved both achievement and non-achievement factors when assigning grades. Generally, sixteen students with low achievement received a mean grade higher than their achievement, and most students with high achievement received a lower grade than their achievement. Further, raw grades assigned by 214 teachers to every student demonstrated large standard deviations, indicating teachers’ decisions on grades were quite different from each other. Paired-sample t-tests found significant differences in grades among four students who presented extreme characteristics. Regression results further showed that while achievement was the main factor teachers considered when assigning grades, all of four non-achievement factors also contributed significantly to grades, with attendance being the most significant contributor, followed by effort, progress and ability. This relationship between the mean grades and all five factors did not change when teachers had different experiences in assessment training, perceptions in the grades they previously received, teaching and grading experiences. This study expands upon the limited research evidence regarding TCSOL teachers’ grading practices. It confirms the hodgepodge nature of grades in this context. It also provides teacher educators with insights and understanding in teachers’ grading practices, and has implications for preparing future teachers to assign grades appropriately. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2013-05-29 12:12:27.415