Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Kristy Archuleta / This study explored the factors that affect the capacity of teachers to teach personal finances in the public and private school systems in Puerto Rico. Three hundred sixteen teachers from grades six to 12 completed the on-line survey that included an assessment of demographic variables, socioeconomic variables, teaching variables and personal finance administration variables. To guide this study, the Personal Finance Education Efficacy Model was created using Social Cognitive Theory. Within this model, three research questions were addressed including what are the determinants of: (a) objective financial knowledge, (b) subjective financial knowledge, and (c) high personal finance teaching efficacy. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to test the determinants of both objective and subjective financial knowledge. Results indicated that both models were significant (ρ < .001), in which the model accounted for 10% of the variance of objective financial knowledge and 44% of the variance of subjective financial knowledge. A hierarchical binary logistic regression analysis was used to test the determinants of high level of personal finance teaching efficacy beliefs. Results showed the model was accurate approximately 83% of the time. Additionally, results from Principal Component Analyses indicated the Spanish translated versions of the Teacher Efficacy Scale (TES), the Financial Self-Efficacy Scale (FSES), and the Personal Finance Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument (PFTEBI) demonstrated similar levels of reliability as previously published in the literature. These findings infer that scales may be used in other cultures and be translated into other languages like Spanish. The PFTEBI was created for this study based on the Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument (MTEBI) to measure the level of teaching efficacy beliefs of the respondents. PFTEBI was found to be composed of three sub-scales and showed good reliability.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Michael Perl / The National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) standards adopted in 2000 mandated the assessment of teacher dispositions. However, the lack of specificity of the construct has led to an environment where many institutions struggle to develop high-quality disposition assessments. The result is a hodgepodge of constructs and systems; some that work, some that do not. This quantitative study used a modified version of the Teacher Disposition Index (TDI) to identify the extent to which first-year teachers’ self-reported exhibiting the dispositions and whether they perceived they were taught the dispositions by the teacher education programs from which they graduated. Responses to the TDI were compared based on type of college or university from which they graduated, gender and age. The TDI, a 45 item, Likert-type survey, is aligned with the INTASC standards. Data were analyzed using frequency distributions, analysis of variance, and chi square tests. An aggregate review of all 45 dispositions shows 93.6% of responses were positive for “agree” or “strongly agree” that they exhibit the identified dispositions and 88.51% of responses were positive for perceiving they were taught the dispositions. Overall, there was no significant difference identified between any groups (by school type, gender, or age) except for in exhibited dispositions compared by gender (p< .05). When drilling down to specific dispositions, an occasional significant difference was identified. In general, the respondents in this state report they exhibit the identified dispositions at a high rate and they report the teacher education programs are teaching these dispositions. The following recommendations are made based on the results of this study. First, colleges and universities can teach more interpersonal communications skills as part of the required curriculum. More overt instruction of dispositions, especially at smaller institutions, is needed. Teacher education programs could place more emphasis on the development of dispositions of male teacher education candidates. Novice teachers could benefit from more instruction of informal assessment skills and flexibility in instruction.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Curriculum and Instruction / Jeong Hee Kim / Sexual orientation is only one facet of diversity (Banks et al., 2005), but teacher preparation may not adequately address sexual prejudice (Lamb, 2013). Sexual prejudice arises when heterosexuality is assumed to be the default for all students. School environments reinforce heteronormativity (Dean, 2010; Foucault, 1990; Himmelstein & Bruckner, 2011) such that when hate speech or physical violence occur against the non-hetersexual or the transgender student, teachers may not be prepared to respond appropriately. Prejudice toward gender or sexually variant students may not be adequately addressed in teacher preparation to challenge the reproduction of heteronormativity in school environments. A mixed method approach was followed to address the beliefs and attitudes of pre-service (undergraduate) and in-service (graduate) teachers toward sexual minorities through an online survey and face-to-face interviews. Group means of the PREJUDICE scale for each independent variable were analyzed for statistical significance. The total variance of the PREJUDICE scale was accounted for by personal characteristics only (political, 38%; religious, 9%; non-heterosexual friends, 18%; and family members, 5%; participant sexual orientation, 8%; and finishing the survey, 6%). Neither demographic nor educational characteristics accounted for statistically significant differences in group means of the PREJUDICE scale. College-level coursework completed in multicultural education did not significantly account for any of the total variance in PREJUDICE scores. Significantly lower levels of sexual prejudice were associated with having non-heterosexual friends and family members or being non-heterosexual, and there were no significant effects from educational interventions. However, one-on-one interviews provided stories of direct experience with sexual minority youth in K-12 classrooms. A majority of qualitative participants had questioned their conservative backgrounds and the familial/societal messages they had received regarding gender and sexual variance. Their questioning was strengthened by having non-heterosexual friends and family members. In addition, several participants had worked directly with sexual minority youth in their own school buildings and classrooms. Had this study been limited to a survey, the lived experiences of these pre-service and in-service teachers would have been lost. Having friends and family members who are non-heterosexual transcended their socialization and facilitated their development as social justice allies.

Doctor of Education / Educational Leadership / Trudy A. Salsberry / Today’s teachers must not only be content experts, they must be reflective practitioners competent in both theory and complex learning processes. They must prove capable of constructing classrooms to meet the diverse needs of each child within a culture of global competition and high stakes testing. Beginning teachers are more effective when they enter classrooms with a strong identity and sense of self as teacher. Unfortunately, there is limited understanding of teacher candidate identity development and limited research on effective preparation strategies to strengthen the complex process. A two-staged instrumental-intrinsic case study was developed to collect and analyze candidate possible self-strategies. The investigation gave voice to an often-neglected source of insight, teacher candidates. The theory of possible selves, as proposed by Marcus and Nurius (1986), served as a framework for interviews conducted with thirteen candidates from a private institution in the Midwest. The researcher utilized results from previous applications of the theory to teacher education and extended findings by employing the strategy development process (Ibarra, 1999), an aspect previously unapplied to teacher preparation. Research findings provided insight into participants’ past memories and present motivations. While passive observation appeared to play a minor role in participant strategies, there was a heavy reliance upon future collegial support. Participants also valued intentional effective clinical mentors and suggested structured opportunities to promote dialogue and feedback. Results aligned with previous research that identified modeling of effective instructional strategies as essential to teacher educator quality. However, an additional attribute emerged, affective modeling. Participants attributed affective traits and actions of teacher educators to personal perceptions of collegiality and student-centered instruction. Findings support the utilitarian, investigative, and evaluative qualities of the theory of possible selves. The applied theoretical framework allowed for the assessment of participants’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions, aided in the identification of perceived preparation needs, and served as an appraisal of preparation program effectiveness. The collection and analysis of candidates’ hopes, fears, and process strategies served to inform teacher educator practice and increased understanding in regards to external and internal influences that shape professional identity development.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Lotta C. Larson / The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore and identify the word consciousness and individual application of academic vocabulary through the use of vocabulary reader response journals, authentic discussions, and multigenre response projects from a thematic social studies unit using historical fiction and nonfiction literature that was integrated in the fifth-grade curriculum. This qualitative research study took place in a third-fifth grade school in a Midwest setting with 23 fifth-grade students over the course of 14 weeks. Data were analyzed from eight of the 23 students. Multiple data sources for each literature selection were analyzed to reveal how fifth-grade students’ written, oral, and visual response to historical fiction and nonfiction literature demonstrate word consciousness and individual application of academic vocabulary. Conclusions indicate that student participants prefer the opportunity to create a visual image or write a statement to confirm the meaning of an academic vocabulary word in their vocabulary reader response journals. While orally discussing the academic words, the participants chose the evaluation approach. This authentic discussion response option allowed the students the opportunity to share their personal understanding, opinion, or inference for each word. Written and visual response was also afforded through the multigenre response projects. These projects revealed the individual application through conventional and nonconventional usage of the academic terms from each literature selection.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Margaret G. Shroyer / This qualitative case study focused on 11 non-traditional, ELL, Latinas within a community-based, teacher education program. The purpose of the study was: (a) to explore the various internal characteristics and external factors that foster Latina, English language learner (ELL), non-traditional students’ resiliency in reaching and remaining in college and (b) to determine what ways these internal characteristics and external factors influenced participants’ desire to pursue and ability to persist in teacher education. The researcher utilized two primary sources of data, (1) an autobiographical, qualitative survey, and (2) individual in-depth, semi-structured interviews. As a secondary source, the researcher used academic documents to provide context for student success in the program. The internal characteristic of sense of purpose and a future (demonstrated in participants’ determination, identity, and responsibility) proved to be most protective for participants’ resiliency. Caring relationships (with the features of: consejos (advice or homilies), quality not quantity, and high expectations in the context of care) proved to be the most significant external factor for fostering participant resiliency. The study also identified the overarching emergent theme of advocacy inspired by hardship found among participant discourse. Within this theme, findings indicated that, as a result of their cultural and experiential understandings, participants were able to enact culturally responsive teaching with their Latino/a students. Furthermore, participants demonstrated a strong sense of agency to improve the education outcomes of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students and a desire to advocate specifically on behalf of ELL Latino/as students.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Margaret G. Shroyer / The purpose of this mixed methods case study was to examine the impact of lesson study professional development on teacher self-efficacy and outcome expectancy using Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory as a framework (1977). The focus of this lesson study was implementing Common Core State Standards for mathematics. Thirteen K-6 teachers participated in the lesson study professional development, completed a pre/post Mathematics Teaching Efficacy and Expectancy Beliefs Inventory (MTEEBI) and completed ongoing journaling prompts while the researcher conducted observations throughout the process. Qualitative and quantitative data gathered in this research indicated the lesson study professional development had a positive impact on both self-efficacy and outcome expectancy of the teacher participants. Though the teachers possessed a satisfactory level of self-efficacy and outcome expectancy at the onset of the study, a measurable gain was evident. Comparison of the pre and post MTEEBI surveys, through statistical analysis using a Paired-Samples t-test, indicated a significant positive change in both self-efficacy and outcome expectancy scores. Though growth for both constructs was significant at the .05 level of probability, self-efficacy growth was greater than outcome expectancy. This finding is supported in historical research of the challenge of yielding outcome expectancy growth. The qualitative analysis of observations and journal prompts corroborated the MTEEBI results, indicating a majority of the teachers’ self-efficacy and outcome expectancy beliefs were positively impacted by the lesson study professional development. Bandura’s four sources of efficacy (mastery experiences, modeling, verbal/social persuasion, physiological responses) positively impacted personal self-efficacy, while three of the four sources (mastery experiences, modeling, physiological responses) impacted outcome expectancy. Qualitative data indicated mastery experiences were most critical for both constructs. Lesson study professional development is a natural catalyst for addressing Bandura’s four sources of efficacy and thus building self-efficacy and outcome expectancy. Given the demands of rigorous educational reform, lesson study professional development is a promising approach to positively impact teacher self-efficacy and outcome expectancy, through engaging Bandura’s four sources of efficacy to develop and strengthen these beliefs. Therefore lesson study ought to be a more frequent component of teacher professional development and teacher preparation.

Master of Arts / Department of Modern Languages / Douglas Benson / The principal objective of this paper is to provide a thematic teaching unit that explores the Aztec, Incan and Mayan cultures of Latin America, designed for a level II Spanish course. It contains theoretical underpinnings for teaching language, culture and literature while incorporating concepts related to the development of communicative competence; processing instruction; the use of scaffolding in the zone of proximal development; target language instruction; and the inclusion of authentic materials and language in the classroom. The classroom management strategies explained and used throughout the unit include pre, during and post-reading activities; small group activities that help to develop communicative competence through negotiation of meaning and interactional feedback; focused tasks and collaborative output tasks; the use of structured input, structured output and information exchange; the PACE approach to grammar teaching; and the incorporation of authentic aural and written texts. Lesson plans for an eighteen day unit consisting of 40 minute classes are outlined; the lesson objective, necessary materials, time needed for each activity, and expected results of each lesson are included. Each lesson activity is made clear through a description of the activity and instructions for the teacher. The daily lesson plans contain authentic and teacher-created materials that can be found in the appendices section. At the end of the thematic unit, students complete cumulative activities that relate indigenous cultures to present-day life in Latin America through investigating the influence of Aztec words on the Spanish and English languages, analyzing a poem about Peru, and reading an article about discrimination against Mayan descendants in Central America, Mexico and the U.S.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Curriculum and Instruction / Paul Burden / Teachers’ ability to engage students is in influenced by teachers’ collective efficacy beliefs. Yet, empirical evidence on the relationship between the social persuasion variables of schools and teacher collective efficacy in student engagement is limited. This study was designed to answer the following research question: “To what extent do teachers’ perceptions of professional development opportunities (PPDO), school leadership (PSL), and school use of performance feedback (PPF) relate to teachers’ collective efficacy in student engagement (CESE)?” To explore the relationship between teacher collective efficacy in student engagement and the social persuasion variables of schools, extant data from 262 teachers in a large urban school district in the United States was supplied through the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project. Scaled scores of independent and dependent variables were used to examine the relationship between the independent variables (perception of professional development opportunities, school leadership, and the use of performance feedback), and the dependent variable (collective efficacy in student engagement). A multiple regression of social persuasion variables was conducted to examine the relationship between the variables and to determine which variable, if any, has the most influence on the dependent variable. The multiple regression analysis showed that a combination of the independent variables of PPDO and PSL could explain 37% of the variance in CESE. Analyses also showed that PPDO had the strongest relationship with CESE. The results reinforce information from the literature review regarding the research questions and hypotheses. The social persuasion variables of schools are correlated with collective efficacy in student engagement. Perceptions of the use performance feedback, professional development opportunities, and school leadership are all significantly correlated with collective efficacy in student engagement. Out of the three social persuasion variables analyzed, only perception of professional development opportunities and school leadership explain a significant amount of the variance in collective efficacy in student engagement.