The focus of the present study was to determine the most effective assessment method to demonstrate beginning teacher competency as perceived by school administrators, teacher education faculty, and practicing teachers in Indiana. Earlier studies examined the compelling reasons why traditional assessments (such as Praxis I and II) were developed and the arguments that supported or negated their continued use. Research relating to nontraditional or alternative assessment (Assessment Portfolio) uncovered a different perspective toward teacher evaluation. The literature produced examples of portfolios used at a variety of levels to instruct and assess. Finally, several studies focused on the competencies needed by beginning teachers. The present study sought to investigate the perceptions of three categories of education experts as demonstrated by their selection of the assessment method(s) for each INTASC disposition competency. In addition, each participants' years of experience were included to allow a comparison between the method selected and the level of experience.Participants from 25 colleges and universities plus 119 school corporations (N=372) responded to the Beginning Teacher Competency Assessment Survey. The survey consisted of thirty-seven disposition competencies from the newly adopted INTASC Standards and a choice of one of the following assessment methods: Praxis, Indiana Beginning Teacher Internship Program, Assessment Portfolio, or None. Respondents were asked to select the best assessment method to provide evidence of each competency.The assessment method selected most frequently was the Indiana Beginning Internship Program (66%). Next, the Assessment Portfolio was selected by an overall 27%. Praxis was selected least by the participants (7%). Results revealed teacher education faculty were more likely to select the portfolio than either school administrators or practicing teachers for specific disposition competencies. No empirical evidence indicated that the level of experience influenced the assessment selection. Finally, differences within each category in relation to assessment method selection could not be computed through an interactive nominal logistical regression due to the low number of Praxis responses. However, a simple cross tabulated analysis suggested several within group differences. The meaningful differences within each category were between the Indiana Beginning Teacher Internship Program and the Assessment Portfolio based on four or more years of experience. / Department of Special Education

A cross-case approach was employed to examine early childhood teachers’ perspectives on quality of early childhood programs and how they embed those perspectives in their daily classroom practices. Questions explored teachers’ education levels, years of experience, and the ways in which their individual perspectives are manifested in the classroom. Three early childhood teachers were interviewed and observed, each with a different level of education: Child Development Associate (CDA)certification, associate’s degree in early childhood education, and bachelor’s degree in early childhood education. Each teacher worked in a licensed, nationally accredited program that is rated at the highest level of the Indiana quality rating system, Paths to QUALITY (Level 4). Qualitative methods were used, including analysis of teacher surveys and interview transcriptions, as well as CLASS observations. Results indicated that the three teachers held similar perspectives on the importance of professional development, but they differed on the preferable way to obtain professional development: college education versus in-service training. There was a clear divergence among the teachers regarding the importance of a college degree in relation to manifestations of quality in the classroom. While the three teacher agreed that there is a lack of respect associated with their profession, they did not agree on the reasons behind this lack of respect. Likewise, all three voiced a need for increased support in their roles, but they had varying ideas of what that support should entail. The three teachers also varied in their understanding of the global concept of quality, specifically in regard to the National Association for the Education of Young Children accreditation and the quality rating system. While the teachers holding associate’s and bachelor’s degrees displayed similar quality implementations, the teacher with a CDA was not observed to apply the same level of quality practices. This study has implications for practice and for future research. In order to meet professional development needs that can ensure quality practices, teacher education programs and non-formal training agencies need to provide early childhood teachers with professional development opportunities that help them advance their knowledge and link theories to application in the classroom. Opportunities should focus on personal factors and meet the individuality of the early childhood teacher. Policy makers and state administrators need to value the role of the early childhood teacher by providing a classification system that links qualifications to salaries and positions. Compensation initiatives for early childhood teachers should be brought into discussion and linked to the quality rating system’s children and dollars received per program. There is a necessity for future research into the perspectives of early childhood teachers in a cross-case study with teachers who hold an early childhood education/child development bachelor’s degree. Such future investigation may indicate additional similarities or differences in beliefs on quality in early childhood education and could illuminate potential methods for ensuring that teachers are able to provide the level of quality that is called for. / Department of Elementary Education

Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 1997

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 (PhD)--University of South Australia, 1997

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Dept. of Education Policy and Management, 2004. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 275-298).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Texas, Dec., 2007. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wollongong, 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 259-305.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-102).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 186-192).