<p> Chinese students have historically come to study in the United States at the college and post- secondary levels. In the last ten years, this phenomenon has spread exponentially to the high school level, but scant research exists on this topic. This paper investigates why Chinese students come to study in U.S. high schools, who these students are, what their academic and social experiences are, and what can be done to support them. A qualitative study was conducted, with one on one interviews with 14 high school students from three different high schools, one all male school, one all-female, and one co-ed. Cultural capital theory (Bourdieu and Passeron, 1977) underscores and helps illuminate the data. While the findings mirror those of research completed at the college level, something deeper emerged. Chinese students possess the cultural capital to make this journey, and the habitus that gives them the courage and perseverance to navigate it, but that capital and habitus doesn't always transfer to the field of the U.S. high school environment. While Chinese students perceive students and teachers as helpful and kind, there is much more U.S. high schools can do to support them. In the end, Chinese students use the traits they've learned from their families and their culture to meet their goals, escape the Chinese style of education and the <i> Gaokao</i> exam, acclimate to the culture, and go on to attend U.S. colleges. </p>

<p> This research utilized performance autoethnography and case study methodologies to explore the ways in which White female pre-service teachers&rsquo; perceptions of race and gender are informed by their reading of four counternarratives about Black females written by Black female authors and their participation in a book club. Specifically, this study looked to uncover how engaging with a practical classroom tool like children&rsquo;s literature books in a book club format creates a transformative space for White female pre-service teachers to critically interrogate notions of race and gender. Performance autoethnography allowed for an exploration of how I contributed to and was affected by the book club setting as a Black female and teacher educator. Case study methodology was used to explore the research questions more directly to capture the essence of the bounded system of the book club. </p><p> A review of literature revealed teacher education needs more structured spaces to support pre-service teachers&rsquo; ability to have conversations about race, gender, and other categories of diversity. This study focused particularly on White female pre-service teachers as they make up the majority of the teaching force in the United States. Additionally, focus was given to White female pre-service teachers as the literature shows that White women tend to use &ldquo;white talk&rdquo;&mdash;or ways of talking about race which allows them to protect themselves from having a conversation about race. </p><p> The results of the study are presented in the order of the books read by the pre-service teachers and myself. The findings show that the pre-service teachers did not experience the counternarratives as counternarratives, they reappropriated the texts to fit their dominate narrative. Further, the pre-service teachers were more comfortable having discussions of gender rather than race. The discussion provides description of how each book resonated with the pre-service teachers by focusing on how they conceptualized the messages presented in each counternarrative. Implications of this study for teacher education as well as further research are also provided.</p>

<p> Learning social skills through play is an important aspect of a preschool child&rsquo;s development. Young students who are not developing normally, such as those diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders, tend to exhibit more difficulty in their social skills development. As a result of this serious deficit, these skills must be taught by the teacher once the child begins their journey through education. Thus, it is necessary for the special education teacher to embed different teaching strategies into the curriculum so as to teach children with ASD the proper social skills effectively and efficiently. </p><p> The goal of the present study was to determine if the reading of a social story and the discussion of that social story on a daily basis can positively affect the behavior and social skills of a preschool student diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The student under study was a 4-year old male who presented with limited social skills. The teacher/researcher applied a social story intervention that included the reading of a social story on a daily basis, a comprehension check that was followed by a modeled play scenario between the student and the teacher/researcher. The study was conducted for a period of 5 weeks. The teacher/researcher used comprehension checks, field notes and partial interval record forms in order to measure growth in student behaviors and social interactions. The results of this study indicated that applying a social story intervention on a daily basis can effectively improve a preschool ASD student&rsquo;s social skills and provide that student an opportunity to be socially successful during structured and unstructured dramatic play time.</p>

<p> Throughout the history of teacher education, the final fieldwork experience has often been called the single most influential experience in teacher preparation programs (Burns, Jacobs, &amp; Yendol-Hoppey, 2016; Feiman-Nemser &amp; Buchmann, 1986; Parker-Katz &amp; Bay, 2008). Though this experience has been expanded to include fieldwork experiences throughout many teacher education programs (Guyton &amp; McIntyre, 1990), the final fieldwork experience remains the closing activity and the lasting image of teacher preparation (Feiman-Nemser &amp; Buchmann, 1986; Rosaen &amp; Florio-Ruane, 2008). Given its importance, though, researchers know relatively little about it. &ldquo;The knowledge thus produced is akin to the quantum theory of physics; we know what goes in . . . and what comes out . . . but not what occurs in the interim&rdquo; (Guyton &amp; McIntyre, 1990, p. 524). Given the current reforms in mathematics education and mathematics teacher education (National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, 2010; National Governors Association Center for Best Practices &amp; Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010), Guyton and McIntyre&rsquo;s observation is still relevant today.</p><p> During the final fieldwork experience, university-based and school-based mathematics educators must work together on behalf of the novice to marry university-promoted theory (especially reform-oriented theory) with the practical classroom expectations of day-to-day teaching life. Though there is much research on how this kind of work should be done and the dilemmas that have arisen during fieldwork (e.g., Knight, 2009; Loughran, 2006; Nolan &amp; Hoover, 2004; Sergiovanni &amp; Starratt, 2006; Sullivan &amp; Glanz, 2013), we have little information about the experiences of the mathematics educators who collaborate during final fieldwork. Furthermore, we have very little information on how these educators navigate mathematics reforms to prepare teachers of mathematics. </p><p> This multi-case study was designed to investigate three novices, their school-based mentors, and their university-based mentor (me) who collaborated during a year-long final fieldwork experience at the close of a middle school mathematics teacher preparation program. To write single case reports that illuminated our collaborative experiences, I wrote the &ldquo;stories&rdquo; of each triad. To collect these stories, I used individual and group interviews, paired conversations, asynchronous text interviews, conference observations, collaborative fieldwork artifacts, my own practitioner-researcher journal, and three cycles of participant member checks. After verifying the veracity of the stories of each triad, I engaged in cross-case analysis to make assertions about the commonalities and unique circumstances that defined these fieldwork cases. This study adds to teacher preparation fieldwork literature by evoking a response from educators working in the field and providing them with examples of open dialogue that created more empathetic collaborative experiences. The study also provides evidence that the empathy generated by sharing stories can create more productive and effective learning experiences for the novices involved. In particular, open dialogue provided the collaborators in these cases with a platform for acknowledging pedagogical differences, negotiating fieldwork expectations, and setting and meeting novices&rsquo; professional goals. For future investigations of teacher preparation fieldwork collaboration, this study provides evidence that a practitioner approach to research affords the researcher exceptional access to the stories of novices and mentors and establishes empathetic bonds that can make the telling of those stories both illuminating and respectful of the voices they represent.</p>

<p> Preservice special education teachers need to develop essential teaching skills to competently address student academics and behavior in the classroom. TeachLivE&trade; is a sophisticated virtual simulation that has recently emerged in teacher preparation programs to supplement traditional didactic instruction and field experiences. Teacher educators can engineer scenarios in TeachLivE&trade; to cumulatively build in complexity, allowing preservice teachers to incrementally interleave target skills in increasingly difficult situations.</p><p> The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of TeachLivE&trade; on preservice special education teachers&rsquo; delivery of error correction, specific praise, and praise around in the virtual environment and in authentic classroom settings. Four preservice special educators who were teaching on provisional licenses in upper elementary language arts classrooms participated in this multiple baseline study across target skills. Participants attended weekly TeachLivE&trade; sessions as a group, where they engaged in three short teaching turns followed by structured feedback. Participants&rsquo; proficiency with the target skills was analyzed on three weekly assessments. First, participants&rsquo; mastery of current and previous target skills was measured during their third teaching turn of the intervention session (i.e., TeachLivE&trade; training assessment). Next, participants&rsquo; proficiency with all skills, including those that had not been targeted yet in intervention, were measured immediately following intervention sessions (i.e., TeachLivE&trade; comprehensive assessment). Finally, teachers submitted a weekly video recording of a lesson in their real classroom (i.e. classroom generalization assessment).</p><p> Repeated practice and feedback in TeachLivE&trade; promoted participants&rsquo; mastery of essential target skills. Specifically, all participants demonstrated proficiency with error correction, specific praise, and praise around on both the TeachLivE&trade; training assessment and the more complex TeachLivE&trade; comprehensive assessment, with a strong pattern of generalized performance to authentic classroom settings. Participants maintained proficiency with the majority of the target skills in both environments when assessed approximately one month after intervention was discontinued. Implications of the study are discussed, including the power of interleaved practice in TeachLivE&trade; and how generalization and maintenance may be impacted by the degree of alignment between virtual and real teaching scenarios.</p>

<p> This paper (1) draws on a review of the literature on instructional video to map onto one model of professional development the learning goals and reflective activities that are most likely to develop the potential of instructional video to change beliefs and develop critical consciousness, and (2) provides anecdotal evidence to explore the potential of instructional video in an asset-focused, transformative, and responsive model of professional development in culturally responsive teaching. The paper concludes that instructional video can be an effective tool for professional development in culturally responsive teaching because people often need to see transformations in teaching and learning before they can believe such transformations are possible. </p><p> PAPER TWO: &ldquo;LISTEN THEN, OR, RATHER, ANSWER&rdquo;: CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES TO SOCRATIC EDUCATION </p><p> The popularity of Jacques Ranci&egrave;re in recent work in educational philosophy has rejuvenated discussion of the merits and weaknesses of Socratic education, both in Plato&rsquo;s dialogues and in invocations of Socrates in contemporary educational practice. This paper explores the implications of this trend through comparing Ranci&egrave;re&rsquo;s educational thought to an analysis of Socratic education in Plato&rsquo;s Republic. The paper also draws on the educational literature on Socratic education to provide further context to explore the usefulness of both Ranci&egrave;re and Socrates for contemporary teaching. </p><p> PAPER THREE: PEOPLE MAKE REVOLUTIONS, NOT TECHNOLOGY: THE ROLE OF FACEBOOK, TWEETS, AND TEXTING IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUTH ACTIVISM </p><p> This paper explores one teen&rsquo;s experience using social media to organize a high school walkout. Jonathan Ortiz learned about education budget cuts from his teacher, and leveraged social media and texting as political organizing tools. The paper explores what it meant for Jonathan to develop as a youth activist during a time when social media and texting have made organizing faster and more efficient. The paper concludes (1) face-to-face relationships provided the most impactful developmental opportunities for Jonathan as he came of age as a youth activist, and (2) social media may be more likely to support the development of youth activism when adult mentors intervene with strategies of facilitation and teaching.</p>

<p> School Capital has been shown to affect school setting, effectiveness and student achievement. Schools are a system within society that utilizes the social resources of social networks to develop an engaged school setting. This study applied a conceptual framework based on Bourdieu&rsquo;s concepts of social capital. This study examined the school capital, the mobilization of social networks, and social resources available for student engagement at an intermediate school. This qualitative study used an interview protocol and narrative inquiry approach. Using NVivo software, eleven participant interviews were coded and analyzed for emergent themes in the areas of school capital. Four dominant themes emerged, these included: Obligations to the learning process; social networks that highlighted relationships between school members; a sense of trust between student and teacher; and positive relationships within the school community. The findings from this study suggest that feelings of connection to teachers, students, and their peers helped to engage students in the classroom. Students from the study indicated that high expectations, high interest projects, and socially engaged activities provided opportunities for student engagement. Implications and recommendations for practice and future research are also discussed as part of this study.</p>

<p> The onset of the 21st century brought a new dynamic in the workforce fueled by societal changes and technological advancements. These forces helped to create the conditions that transformed the economy from the industrial age of routine labor to a knowledge age where creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking are now needed for success. In addition, the forecasts for this new global economy of the 21st century project that students will need not only new skillsets but also increased levels of education to succeed in the workplace. To prepare all students for postsecondary education and foster the growth of these new skillsets, education has to integrate reform efforts that address these changes. Yet, a challenge to transforming the education system of the industrial age to one that meets the needs of the 21st century is the two-track system that was created to align with an industrial age economy: one track for those who were to attend higher education and one for those who were to enter the workforce directly from high school. Linked Learning is an evidence-based reform effort that addresses these changes. It includes four elements: academic and technical coursework, student support systems, and work-based learning opportunities. Linked Learning prepares all students for postsecondary education options. Coaches&rsquo; training has been identified as a strategy to aid in the implementation of the elements of Linked Learning and change instructional practice.</p><p> This quantitative dissertation research study examined the impact of the coaches&rsquo; training on the implementation of Linked Learning approach. The study used a web-based survey to collect data from educators who had participated in the coaches&rsquo; training to assess if the training was of value in implementing the core elements and beliefs of Linked Learning with their districts after they had completed the sessions and supporting assignments. Twenty-one educators from northern, central and southern California who had participated in the training responded to 35 Likert items that were aligned to the seven intended coaches&rsquo; outcomes. Participants were given the opportunity to add comments to each section. The results allowed for an assessment of the impact.</p>

<p> Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a noted deficit in executive function which concurrently employs multiple systems in the brain to complete complex tasks. Executive function skills begin developing around the age of four years and continue developing throughout life, potentially impacting the entire life span of an individual. Service providers need cost effective and efficient strategies to address executive functioning disorders in preschoolers with ASD in typical educational settings by school personnel. Using a multiple baseline design across behaviors, this research compares the use of Power Cards, video modeling, and Social Stories&trade; to: 1) teach early executive function behaviors; 2) generalize behaviors to a Pre-Kindergarten setting; and 3) maintain the behaviors after one and two months following the withdrawal of intervention materials. Results indicate all three strategies were effective in increasing executive function behaviors, although the strength of the strategies varied among the five preschoolers who participated. Three of five students were able to generalize the behaviors when instructed utilizing Power Cards and video modeling, while two of five were able to generalize to the new setting after instruction using Social Stories&trade;. Maintenance results proved to stratify the efficacy of the strategies showing four of five students maintained above intervention levels after instruction using Social Stories&trade;, three of five maintained utilizing video modeling and zero of five students maintained following the Power Card strategy.</p>

<p> In recent years, there has been increased attention on teacher quality and on teacher candidate development (Cochran-Smith &amp; Zeichner, 2005; Schuster, 2012). Demands on teachers are growing (Darling-Hammond &amp; Bransford, 2005) with an expanding diversity and needs of students (Villegas &amp; Lucas, 2002; Walsh, 2012). Now, more than ever, it is important to understand how candidates are prepared for the teaching profession (Ladson-Billings, 2001). This study examined one vital aspect of teacher education: the role of teacher educators in preparing candidates to partner with families. In spite of substantial evidence of a positive correlation to students&rsquo; academic success with increased partnerships between the home and school (Dearing, Kreider, Simpkins, &amp; Weiss, 2006; Epstein &amp; Sheldon, 2002; Henderson &amp; Mapp, 2002; Hoover-Dempsey, Battiato, Walker, Reed, DeJong, &amp; Jones, 2001; Jeynes, 2007), teacher candidates still lack the necessary skills to work with families (Caspe, Lopez, Chu, &amp; Weiss, 2011). This study used critical pedagogy as a theoretical framework to investigate how teacher educators applied family-school partnership (FSP) modules into their courses. Through a qualitative phenomenological research design, interview and survey data were collected and analyzed on 11 teacher educators and 200 candidates over a two-year period of time. The constant comparative method (Merriam, 2009) was conducted to analyze multiple interviews of the teacher educators, which was triangulated (Stake, 2004) with surveys of teacher candidates. Findings indicated that (a) teacher educators&rsquo; FSP beliefs were positively influenced by piloting of FSP modules, (b) teacher educators&rsquo; locus of control affected their ability to apply FSP content into their courses, and (c) teacher candidates&rsquo; one-sided views of family-school relationships could be changed to one of &ldquo;partnerships.&rdquo; The implications of this research affirm the need to support teacher educators in preparing their candidates to work with families.</p>