This mixed methods study investigates the relationship between fifth-grade teachers' social studies knowledge and beliefs and their relationship to classroom practices. Quantitative data were collected through a beliefs and classroom practices survey and 60-item knowledge test covering the areas of American History, America and the World, Political Philosophy and American Government, and The Market Economy, in order to provide a comprehensive picture of fifth-grade teachers' knowledge, beliefs, and self-reported classroom practices relating to social studies. Additionally, qualitative data were collected through individual and focus group interviews. These data were used to provide an in-depth look that expanded on fifth-grade teachers' knowledge, beliefs, and self-reported classroom practices relating to social studies. The findings of this study indicate that there is a relationship between teachers' beliefs and their self-reported classroom practices in the areas of resources, best practice, time, the Sunshine State Standards, and personal interest. While there were no significant relationships between teachers' knowledge of social studies as a whole and their self-reported classroom practices, there were several significant correlations found in the areas of American History and Political Philosophy and American Government. Further findings indicate that teaching experience and demographic variables, such as age, gender, and education level moderate some of these relationships. Implications and suggestions for further research are offered for elementary education, teacher education, and the field of social studies. / by Michele Harcarik. / Thesis (Ed.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

No description available.

At-risk youth come to school with a variety of challenges that sometimes lead to voluntary or involuntary disengagement from traditional high schools. Alternative education programs are an alternate placement for students who have disengaged from traditional high schools. Although researchers have shown that teacher and staff approaches to the overall educational experience of a student contribute to student success in alternative education programs, they have also highlighted that the lack of teacher-student relationships contributes to student disengagement. These findings may indicate that not all teachers are willing or able to connect with at-risk students. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore what educators identified as the personal factors that support their motivation, interest, and eagerness to be an effective teacher in an alternative education setting in a Northeastern U.S. city. Self-determination theory was the theoretical foundation to study the relationship between the motivation of an educator and their effectiveness. Data included semistructured interviews and guided writing assignments with 4 educators from an effective alternative education program. Seven significant themes emerged that educators identified as personal factors that support motivation, interest, and eagerness to be an effective teacher in an alternative education setting: (a) understanding, (b) defining moment, (c) perspective and outlook, (d) personal and/or psychological goal attainment, (e) intrinsic motivation, (f) teacher beyond academics, and (g) internal fortitude. Implications for social change include information to help in recruitment of effective teachers for engaging at-risk students, thereby promoting their chances for academic and nonacademic success.

This interpretive study investigated South Australian participants' perceptions of their experiences of professional development and partnership through the Innovative Links Between Universities and Schools for Teacher Professional Development Project (Innovative Links Project). The researcher was one of the academic participants. Data were collected in the final eighteen months of the project using participant observation, the researcher's journal, interviews, document review and a written questionnaire. The data analysis revealed findings about three phases of the project: the initiation phase; the implementation phase; and the reviewing outcomes phase. The findings for the initiation phase were: 1. Many teachers in the selected schools, and teacher educators at the university, did not have the opportunity to participate in the project. 2. Most participants were motivated by personal reasons and a commitment to organisational and/or partnership goals. 3. Participants varied in the extent to which they knew about and had the opportunity to interpret project expectations at the local level. The findings for the implementation phase were: 1. There was wide variation in the extent to which participants valued professional discourse, critical reflection, action research and professional reading and writing as processes for school reform. 2. Some participants found it difficult to learn project processes quickly. 3. Most participants were not able to manage the demands of the project without extending their hours of work and workloads. 4. Some relationships developed within the project were undemocratic and inequitable in some respects. 5. Only some aspects of the contexts in which participants worked supported achievement of the project expectations, while others proved to be a hindrance. The findings about the reviewing outcomes phase were: 1. Participants learnt about improved teaching, learning and educational reform from working together, but some opportunities for reciprocal learning were missed. 2. Participants' ability to translate learning into educational improvement was impeded by contextual constraints. 3. Many participants found it difficult to determine whether improvement had occurred. 4. Most participants found that working in the partnerships enhanced their relationships and professional standing with other participants, but not with non participants. The findings illuminated four areas of complexity in the research and development partnerships that were studied. Firstly, the extent to which the implicit assumptions underpinning project expectations were congruent with the reality of the conditions impacting on participants influenced their achievement of the expectations. Secondly, the interaction of a complex array of personal, structural and cultural conditions supported or hindered participants' ability to achieve the project expectations. Thirdly, participants' experiences, and the conditions that influenced them, changed as they moved through the different phases of initiation, implementation and reviewing outcomes. Finally, the key challenges that were evident in the research and development partnerships were: developing equitable ownership within each organisation and the partnerships; managing the affective dimensions of research, development and partnership; reconceptualising and restructuring educators' work; reconciling disparate constructions of learning, teaching, research and reform; and facilitating reciprocal learning for teachers and academics. The areas of complexity illuminated by the study suggested a series of recommendations for ways that future school/university research and development partnerships might be improved. / thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2002.

Thesis (M. Ed.(Assessment and quality assurance))-University of Pretoria, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Teacher effectiveness has been a rallying cry for education reform over the last decade. The push for policies that aim to increase teacher effectiveness, fire ineffective teachers and recruit or retain effective teachers unite educational stakeholders; yet, specific, operational definitions of effectiveness remain elusive and divisive. It is easy to say that teacher effectiveness is the single most important factor in student achievement, but difficult to say what it means to be effective. In this study I take up a Critical Discursive Psychology (Wetherell, 1998) approach to the text of the current Framework for Teacher Evaluation and Professional Growth in Tennessee and the talk of the Teacher Evaluation Advisory Committee (TEAC)– a 15-member committee appointed to craft a new evaluation policy with Race To The Top funds under the First To the Top Act. My findings suggest that there are polarized interpretative repertoires available for talking and making sense of effectiveness in teaching. These ways of talking about teaching create conflicts and dilemmas within conversations that are managed in patterned ways. Within the talk of the TEAC, patterns in the way dilemmas are managed within conversations include evading and dividing decisions points in ways that support a self-extending system of education reform. My findings suggest that teacher effectiveness is constantly being constructed within conversations, rather than being a single idea that can be singularly and authoritatively defined and handed down. As such I argue that teacher effectiveness policies must purposefully engage individuals at all levels of policy and practice in ongoing conversations about effectiveness in teaching and the evaluation of teaching in order to mediate the unintended consequences of tools for evaluation, and to develop a shared vision of excellence for collaborative progress.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--North Carolina State University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-127).

Der Aufsatz befasst sich mit der Frage, was man aus der internationalen Forschung darüber weiß, welcher Unterricht und welches Lehrerverhalten Auswirkungen auf die Lernergebnisse der Schüler/innen hat und welche Möglichkeiten es gibt, solches Verhalten zu verstärken. Berücksichtigt werden nur Forschungsergebnisse, die hohen methodischen Anforderungen genügen, kausale Schlussfolgerungen erlauben und generalisierbar sind. Konsequenzen für die Lehrerbildung werden diskutiert. / Since a long time teacher behavior and teacher effectiveness have been in the focus of research. The paper summarizes the main findings and discusses them taking into account the additional question of research on reinforcement of effective teaching strategies. Only studies with high methodological standards are taken into consideration. Possible consequences concerning teacher training are presented.

Der Aufsatz befasst sich mit der Frage, was man aus der internationalen Forschung darüber weiß, welcher Unterricht und welches Lehrerverhalten Auswirkungen auf die Lernergebnisse der Schüler/innen hat und welche Möglichkeiten es gibt, solches Verhalten zu verstärken. Berücksichtigt werden nur Forschungsergebnisse, die hohen methodischen Anforderungen genügen, kausale Schlussfolgerungen erlauben und generalisierbar sind. Konsequenzen für die Lehrerbildung werden diskutiert. / Since a long time teacher behavior and teacher effectiveness have been in the focus of research. The paper summarizes the main findings and discusses them taking into account the additional question of research on reinforcement of effective teaching strategies. Only studies with high methodological standards are taken into consideration. Possible consequences concerning teacher training are presented.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Instructional Systems, Leadership, and Workforce Development. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.