<p> For centuries, education policymakers have sought to identify the most effective way to assess a potential teacher&rsquo;s readiness to enter the classroom. These assessments evolved from multiple choice examinations to performance-based assessments focused on teacher actions. The latest iteration of these performance-baed assessments is edTPA. </p><p> edTPA&rsquo;s structure mirrors that of the assessment for National Board Certification (NBC) designed for veteran teachers. The NBC assessment has shown to be educative for teachers who complete it, leading to positive changes in their post-assessment practice (Athanases, 1994; Hattie &amp; Clinton, 2010; Sato, Darling-Hammond and Wei, 2008; Steeley, 2003). This study examines whether edTPA has similar educative impacts on early career teachers. </p><p> Since edTPA is relatively new, little research has been completed on its impact on teacher practice. Most of the current literature on edTPA focuses on its implementation or on pre-service candidate perceptions of completing the assessment. This interview study also examines candidate perceptions but focuses on whether they felt completing edTPA was educative and impacted their current practice. </p><p> This study includes twenty teachers who participated in two hour-long interviews given roughly six months apart. All of the participants were recent secondary mathematics education graduates from one university. This study is among the first studies of edTPA to include teachers who both completed edTPA and have been teaching for at least two years. Another unique strength of this study is that, prior to the second interview, candidates reviewed their actual edTPA portfolio to help recall components of the assessment and to potentially make clearer connections between edTPA and their current practices. </p><p> The study results support the notion that edTPA can be educative and influence a teacher&rsquo;s current practices around planning, instruction, and assessment. The level of influence that completing edTPA has on a teacher&rsquo;s practices may be impacted by school or district policies that either hinder or support high-scoring edTPA practices. The results demonstrate how edTPA can not only be seen as a summative tool at the end of pre-service teaching, but also a formative tool that impacts the teaching practices of early career teachers.</p><p>

<p>The topic for this study was online professional development for college composition teachers that may help support dyslexic learners. Two populations samples, both impacted by the problem, were chosen for this qualitative multiple case study. The populations were college composition faculty and college dyslexic learners or graduates. The samples were collected from composition instructors at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma, and people with dyslexia living in the U.S. The dyslexic participants needed a formal diagnosis of dyslexia and either were in college, or had some college, or graduated from college. Besides two populations, two theories were addressed: the Experiential Learning Theory and the Technology Acceptance Model. The purpose of this study was to explore how online professional development for college composition faculty can build dyslexia awareness and identify writing strategies for college dyslexic students. Four research questions based the study. Three instruments were used: online surveys, modules and a discussion focus group. The participants? responses to the questions resulted in extracting seven themes, after the data was collected, coded and analyzed. Findings showed no faculty participants had training on dyslexia; the five dyslexic participants and about half of the seven faculty participants associated dyslexia with not only reading but also writing problems; and both groups had found some self-regulated writing strategies, showing potential for helping college dyslexic students in an inclusive classroom. Conclusions were online PD programs on college students with dyslexia and writing strategies should be available for college composition faculty. A gap exists in this area. Thus, the researcher recommends study replication, for future research. For practice, the researcher encourages college composition instructors try the writing strategies in this study to hopefully help future college dyslexic learners to learn academic writing.

<p> Through interviews with the principal, teachers, and parents, the researcher describes how teacher training and implementation of culturally responsive education (CRE) has influenced the climate in a Title I school. Educators teaching in schools that serve racially diverse students from low socio-economic communities face challenges that lead to low teacher morale, high discipline, and low student achievement. The problem is that these indicators often result in a negative school climate. CRE training provides teachers with knowledge and skills to help teachers better connect with and teach racially diverse students. In addition to the interviews, another point of data collection included the review of seven years of suspension rates and discipline referrals for Black and Latino children at the selected Title I school to determine if there was a decline following the training and implementation of CRE practices. Principals are key to leading change in their schools. Schools that fall in the Title I category present unique and significant challenges for improvement. Research shows that schools with a positive climate reflect low rates of discipline, higher student learning, strong relationships among staff and students, and higher teacher morale. The narrative data tables presented in this study indicate improvements in the overall school climate with emerging themes in relationship, culturally responsive education, school climate, and decreased discipline. There was more than a 30% decline in suspensions and more than a 25% decline in office referrals for Black and Latino students at the selected Title I school.</p><p>

This study weighs the importance of assessment in the K-8 classroom against the preparation of teachers to create and administer assessments that are effective and meaningful. Despite the enormous pressure teachers are put under to assess and evaluate, Teacher Education Programs (TEP) are remiss in providing students with the necessary skills for this task. Teachers feel that their training has been deficient and rely on pot-job placement Professional Development (PD) to acquire a degree of proficiency. Survey questions and assessment samples were analyzed in order to gain a frame of reference on teacher attitudes toward assessment and the quality of assessment products. Higher order thinking (HOT) was an important factor in examining the samples. Analyzation was also done by experts in the field and these supported the work of the researcher. The results of the study show that there is insufficient training in assessment during TEP. Data from assessment sample analysis prove that, to a large degree, teachers are not able to identify or construct HOT. Assessment has taken a major place in our schools. If it is to remain such an important piece in the mosaic of both effective teaching and successful learning, TEPs must adapt their curriculum to ensure assessment mastery in their students.

<p> The subjects of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) have grown in importance because they are fundamental to the future quality of life and the ability to compete in today&rsquo;s global society. The demand for STEM careers is increasing; however, the United States is having difficulty meeting this demand. Society needs students who can research and think critically, so they can be proficient in STEM education and become the next generation of mathematicians, scientists, technologists, and engineers. Mathematical proficiency is of particular concern because while it is required for STEM education success, individuals find it challenging. </p><p> Both adults and children have apprehension about mathematics, and their negative attitudes toward math develop a barrier to STEM education and careers. This negative math phobia, or math anxiety, causes a decrease in math achievement. This study explored the perceptions of elementary teachers in establishing a classroom environment free of math anxiety. Specifically, this study focused on best practices that teachers incorporate in order to reduce math anxiety. </p><p> The purpose of the study was to (a) determine the strategies and practices teachers employ to reduce math anxiety, (b) determine the challenges teachers face in reducing math anxiety, (c) determine how teachers measure the success of their practices in reducing math anxiety, and (d) determine the recommendations teachers would make for future implementation of strategies in reducing math anxiety.</p><p>

<p> <b>Purpose.</b> The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand how middle school teachers describe their use of the four elements of emotional intelligence (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management) to reduce student behavioral referrals. In addition, it was the purpose of this study to discover the barriers and benefits to teacher use of the elements of emotional intelligence (EI). </p><p> <b>Methodology.</b> This study utilized a qualitative approach to understand how middle school teachers describe their use of the four elements of EI to reduce student behavioral referrals. In addition, a qualitative approach was utilized to discover the barriers and benefits to teacher use of the elements of EI. A sample of middle school teachers from San Bernardino and Los Angeles Counties participated through in-depth interviews. The data were coded to describe similarities and differences in perceptions of how participant teachers described their use of the four elements of EI to reduce the number of written office referrals. </p><p> <b>Findings:</b> Analysis of interview data resulted in 13 themes. Nine key findings were identified based on the frequency of references by study participants. Building relationships with students was considered important, building trust between teacher and student is important as well as establishing structure in the classroom and clear oral and written communication. Reported benefits of EI included better relationships with students, higher levels of student engagement, and more trusting relationships. Reported barriers included student home lives and limited training for EI. </p><p> <b>Conclusions:</b> The 9 key findings were summarized as 5 conclusions. Teachers in this study stressed the importance of building relationships, using the four skills of EI to build better relationships, engaging students through EI, and establishing trust with students. Teachers also need additional training to hone their EI skills. </p><p> <b>Recommendations:</b> Further research of outlier teachers at all grade levels across the U.S. should be conducted.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this quantitative correlational research study was to examine the extent that teaching experience affected the knowledge, implementation, and perceived skill level in implementing the 27 evidence-based practices (EBPs) established by the National Professional Development Center for Autism Spectrum Disorder. The study was conducted in the state of Iowa, with special education teachers from fourteen different school districts. Survey responses were gathered from 228 special education teachers. Of the 228, there were 48 novice teachers and 180 veteran teachers. Novice teachers were classified as having less than three years of teaching experience and veteran teachers with more than three years. Based on the data, results showed that as experience tended to increase from less than three years of experience to more than three years, the scores on EBPs knowledge, implementation, and perceived skills also tended to increase. The results of the study found a positive correlation (<i>r</i> = .26, <i>p</i> = .001) between years of teaching experience and knowledge of EBPs, a positive correlation (<i>r</i> = .22, <i>p</i> = .001) between years of experience and EBP implementation, and a positive correlation (<i>r</i> = .26, <i>p</i> = .002) between years of experience and perceived skill level in implementation. This small effect size indicates that as experience increased, there was a positively correlated increase of teacher knowledge and implementation of the EBPs to use when working with students with autism. </p><p>

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:25:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2012-03-13Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:33:02Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 ciriaco_kt_me_prud.pdf: 1835478 bytes, checksum: dedc3e23016489f430db0385ab707dd8 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Este estudo relata os resultados de uma dissertação de mestrado vinculada à linha de pesquisa “Práticas e Processos Formativos em Educação” do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação da FCT/UNESP e tem como objetivo central investigar, no processo de trabalho pedagógico de professores que ensinam Matemática na Educação Infantil (pré-escola) e nos Anos Iniciais do Ensino Fundamental (1º ano), os condicionantes e as racionalidades que emergem de suas práticas pedagógicas pós-ampliação do Ensino Fundamental, bem como a formação docente frente a essas questões. A relevância do problema se fundamenta na Lei 11.274/2006 que determina a matrícula obrigatória da criança de seis anos no Ensino Fundamental, gerando sem dúvida, conseqüências e desafios ao trabalho pedagógico dos professores. Para tal, selecionamos duas Escolas de Educação Infantil e Ensino Fundamental (EMEIFs) pertencentes à Rede Municipal de Educação de Presidente Prudente (SP). Para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa optamos por uma abordagem qualitativa e pela análise de conteúdo para as categorias de análises dos dados. Inicialmente analisamos as orientações mencionadas tanto pelo Ministério da Educação (MEC), em pareceres e documentos oficiais, quanto nos Subsídios para o trabalho pedagógico com crianças em idade de 5 e 6 anos do município de Presidente Prudente (SP), que esclarecem aspectos sobre a ampliação do Ensino Fundamental no tratamento dado aos aspectos pedagógicos a serem adotados para a disciplina de Matemática. Pelo planejamento dos professores foi possível identificar os conteúdos matemáticos que são predominantes nas turmas observadas e conjecturas sobre as formas de abordagem dos mesmos. Da análise dos dados conclui-se que: (1) a formação inicial dos professores tem se mostrado... / This study reports the results of a Master's thesis research linked to the line Formative Processes and Practices in Education Program Graduate Education in the FCT / UNESP and has as main objective to investigate, in the process of educational work of teachers teach Mathematics in Early Childhood Education (preschool) and in the early years of elementary school (1st year), the conditions and the rationales that emerge from their teaching post-expansion of primary education and teacher training in the face of these issues. The relevance of this problem is based on the Law 11.274/2006 that determines the mandatory registration of children of six years in elementary school, creating undoubtedly consequences and challenges for the educational work of teachers. To this end, we selected two preschools and elementary school (EMEIFs) belonging to the Municipal Education Presidente Prudente (SP). For the development of research we chose a qualitative approach and content analysis for categories of data analysis. We first analyze the guidelines mentioned by both the Ministry of Education (MEC), on reports and official documents, as in grants to educational work with children aged 5 and 6 years in the city of Presidente Prudente (SP), which shed light on the aspects expansion of primary education in the pedagogical aspects of treatment to be adopted for Mathematics. By planning the teachers were able to identify the mathematical contents are predominant in the observed classes and ways to approach them. Data analysis concludes that: (1) the initial training of teachers has proved insufficient as... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:31:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-03-10Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:22:20Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 galindo_cj_dr_arafcl.pdf: 4851160 bytes, checksum: 2aa2c3dd351d082e1c6be2462cc50748 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A presente pesquisa tem como objeto de estudo as necessidades de formação de professores a partir da análise do campo da formação continuada. Foram objetivos da pesquisa: compreender como se manifestam e se revelam as necessidades formativas no contexto de atuação profissional das professoras; identificar representações de necessidades das/pelas docentes em situação de trabalho; compreender os elementos circundantes e interferentes na manifestação de necessidades docentes e de necessidades de formação continuada; compreender o modo como as professoras atuantes no 1º ciclo do Ensino Fundamental lidam com suas necessidades na escola; sugerir a estruturação de propostas de formação continuada para professores baseada na análise de necessidades. O estudo está teoricamente alicerçado em três eixos da pesquisa educacional: formação de professores (Day, Gatti, Estrela, Mizukami, Monteiro e Giovanni, Garcia), análise de necessidades (GALINDO, Rodrigues, Wilson e Easen, Rodrigues e Esteves) e trabalho docente (Tardif e Lessard). Os autores utilizados ajudaram a tecer uma forma diferenciada de organizar e proceder à análise de necessidades de formação para a formação continuada, a partir da identificação de campos de diálogos imbricados teoricamente às necessidades de formação (Korthagen, Lopes, Hargreaves, Schön, Huberman, entre outros). A parte empírica foi realizada por meio de metodologias com características etnográficas. Os dados foram obtidos em uma escola da periferia da cidade de Araraquara-SP, Brasil, sendo a parte principal deles composta de registros de observação participante em duas salas de aula de duas docentes atuantes no 1º ano do 1º ciclo do Ensino Fundamental, com suporte na entrevista estruturada com as doze professoras atuantes no primeiro ciclo do Ensino Fundamental da escola pesquisada no ano de 2009. A coleta dos dados centrou-se... / The object of the present research is the teacher education needs carried out from the analysis of in-service education field. Its objectives were: to understand how teacher education needs are expressed and developed in a professional context; to identify the representations of teachers needs in the work place; to understand the surrounding and interfering elements about teachers needs and in-service education needs; to understand the way the first cycle primary teachers deal with their needs; to suggest structures to in-service education based on needs analysis. This study is theoretically based on three 3 axes of the educational research: the teacher education (Day, Gatti, Estrela, Mizukami, Monteiro & Giovanni, Garcia); the needs analysis (Galindo, Rodrigues, Wilson & Easen, Rodrigues & Esteves); and the teaching as such (Tardif & Lessard). The authors cited above helped to organise and to carry out different ways to analyse education needs and in-service education from the identification of dialogue fields theoretically overlapped with education needs (Korthagen, Lopes, Hargreaves, Schön, Huberman, among others). The empirical part of this study was carried out based on methodologies with ethnographical characteristics. Data were collected in a school located in the suburb of Araraquara city, Brazil, mainly composed by participant observation records in two first cycle primary teachers’ classes. Data were supported by a structured interview conducted with 12 first cycle teachers in the same school in 2009. Data collection means were mainly the information about the school and its neighbourhood. It was possible through data collection to get some information about teachers, concerning their school and professional education, their social relationships, their leisure, their difficulties and motivations, their professional... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

abstract: This research investigated preservice teacher collaboration in the context of an undergraduate teacher preparation program. Small groups of preservice students were examined over five collaborative work sessions as they collaboratively designed and delivered instructional projects for their fellow classmates. This study contributes to understanding factors that influence the quality of preservice collaboration to help teacher educators better prepare preservice students for current collaborations with their peers and future collaboration in professional settings. A parallel mixed methods design, with an embedded two case study, was employed to analyze and interpret two research strands, quantitative, and qualitative. Quantitative results served as complementary to corroborate the qualitative findings. The quantitative results and qualitative findings indicate that past collaborative experiences and beliefs about future professional collaboration impacted students’ current collaborative efforts. Students with a flexible orientation toward collaboration and/or expanded beliefs about professional collaboration were more likely to heedfully interrelate than students with fixed orientations or simple beliefs about collaboration. Preservice students’ perceptions of the quality of their own heedful interrelating remained stable across the phases of the collaborative task. However, analysis of the HICES noted significant differences in groups’ perception of the quality of their collaborative interactions. Finally, analysis of the two-case study indicated that high quality heedful interrelating among group members created the more effective collaborative instructional project. A model of how preservice beliefs and orientations may influence their heedful interrelating during collaboration, and impact their efforts in designing and creating effective collaborative instruction was presented. The dissertation research contributed to a more thorough understanding of factors that influence preservice collaboration as they prepare for professional collaboration, when the outcomes of collaboration are critical not only for themselves, but also for their own students. Implications for educational practice and further research point towards the continued need to better understand the processes of preservice collaboration, and factors that impact their interaction as they learn to collaborate for improving instruction, and how teacher preparation programs can support and best address their needs as they prepare for their critical careers. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Psychology 2016