This study is a qualitative meta-evaluation of the early field experience (EFE) program at a small, private, undergraduate teacher preparation program in Virginia focusing on the perceptions of preservice teachers, cooperating teachers and course instructors about the EFE evaluation objectives, evaluation experience, and resulting data usage. The EFE evaluation protocol at the study site is explored using a participatory-oriented evaluation model that solicited the perceptions of stakeholders. Analysis of EFE evaluation documents and semi-structured interviews with the stakeholders were conducted to explore the extent to which (1) official EFE objectives are congruent with the EFE evaluation, (2) the intended evaluation experience is congruent with stakeholders’ perceptions of the evaluation experience, and (3) intended data usage is congruent with reported data usage. The findings indicate that the EFE evaluation process is logistically sound, but does not assess and facilitate preservice teacher learning. Recommendations to improve the merit and worth of the evaluation process are presented.

The purpose of this mixed-method study was to investigate digital native preservice teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs regarding their technology experiences and skills at the beginning and at the end of their field placement semester. Digital natives, as defined by Prensky (2001), are students born after 1980 who have been raised with digital media and spend a great deal of time engaging with digital devices. Factors that could impact changes in these participants’ technology integration self-efficacy beliefs were also analyzed. This study used pre- and post-surveys, face-to-face interviews with a portion of the respondents, and a document review of course materials and lesson plans. Twenty-one preservice students, enrolled in the second to last semester of a teacher preparation program, at a small mid Atlantic university during the fall, 2011 semester participated. The quantitative portion involved the online administration of the Technology Integration Survey at the beginning and at the conclusion of the field placement experience. For the qualitative portion, nine participants were purposefully selected for interviews in an effort to more fully understand participants’ experiences and how these experiences impacted their self-efficacy beliefs about technology integration during the semester. In order to triangulate the data, results of the quantitative phase of the study were then compared with the results from the qualitative phase of the study. The findings of this mixed-method study suggested that digital native preservice teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs to integrate technology into their teaching improved slightly over the course of the semester. In addition, a strong relationship was found between participants’ Post-Test Technology Skills scores and Post-Test Self-Efficacy scores, indicating that an increase in technology skills corresponded with an increase in self-efficacy (r = .684, p = 0.001). Qualitative results pointed to mentor support, time, and access to technology during their field placement experiences as factors for integrating technology into their instruction. Additionally, results indicated that participants had access to and spent a considerable amount of time on computers every day. They were proficient with basic technologies but reported lower proficiency with more difficult technologies. Yet, results also suggested that, while this group of digital native preservice teachers has grown up in the digital age, their practice and, more importantly, their fundamental understanding of integrating technology into their instructional practices was limited.

In recent decades, guitar education has emerged as a discipline in PreK-12 institutions alongside “traditional” music education such as band, orchestra, and chorus. Despite the substantial body of literature containing practical advice on teaching guitar, research-supported scholarship is lacking. Additionally, this body of literature suggests a lack of congruency between curriculum, pedagogy, and teacher preparation among guitar educators. The purpose of this study was to provide an evidentiary-based understanding of the professional profiles and pedagogic practices of guitar educators. A multi-phase investigation was conducted. In Phase One, a large sample (n = 1,269) of guitar educators participated in the Guitar Educator Questionnaire (GEQ). Findings from the GEQ suggest a low (7.9) percent of music educators who teach guitar class consider themselves to be “guitar specialists.” A substantial number of respondents (68.5 percent) indicated that they rarely or never participated in guitar related professional development, and 76.1 percent of respondents reported that their pre-service training provided little or no preparation for a career in guitar education. A purposeful sample of six “exemplary” guitar educators contributed pedagogy-focused interviews and video teaching samples in Phases Two and Three. Data from the three phases were analyzed according to principles of thematic analysis in order to identify potential pathways toward the continued growth and maturation of guitar education.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T16:32:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sirleine Brandao de Souza.pdf: 1322627 bytes, checksum: 554ae3f5b21e2eb38aaf7d41871f752a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-12-11 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / The objective of this investigation, concluded in 2013, was to analyze the curriculums of teacher education programs as being differentiated expressions of the theoretical-political perspectives that orient the schooling of special needs students. Based on the directives and actions that orient the implementation of such policies in teacher licensing courses, this study seeks to verify whether the universities contribute to the preparation of these teachers with a vision of inclusion. The analysis of courses of study for the year 2012 at four universities in the state of São Paulo, chosen based on the scores from the Índice Geral de Cursos (IGC), published by MEC in 2012, as well as scores from Times Higher Education (THE), sought to examine whether the teacher preparation programs dealt with the question of inclusion by looking at the specificities of the deficiencies, starting with terminology and classification in a vision of teacher preparation concerned with passing on specific techniques, or if there were social, political and pedagogical concerns related to the schooling of these students, a perspective which favors reflection on pedagogical practice. To this end, a qualitative-quantitative approach was adopted, making use of content analysis. Sources for data collection included program curricula and syllabi of courses that in some form approached the topic of the schooling of special needs students from each of the universities, with Cury (1998; 2002; 2011), Bueno (1999; 2002; 2008; 2011), Skrtic (1996), Imbernón (2005), Tardif (2011) and Nóvoa (1997) providing the theoretical framework. Principle findings include a diversity of themes related to Special Education or Inclusion in teacher preparation courses, with pedagogy being a priority; and a diversity in the emphases given to Special Education and/or Inclusion, seemingly reflecting the ambiguity inherent in the field, between a merely pragmatic perspective and one that is barely consistent with the viewpoint of social sciences, consequently not permitting for theoretical advances beyond the traditional foundations of biology and psychology, which end up restricting the deficiency to its individual manifestations / Esta investigação, levada a efeito em 2013, teve como objetivo analisar os currículos dos cursos de formação de professores como expressões diferenciadas de perspectivas teórico-políticas que norteiam a escolarização de alunos com deficiência. Tendo como base as diretrizes e ações que norteiam a implantação das políticas nos currículos das Licenciaturas, procurou verificar se os cursos nas Universidades contribuem para a formação docente numa perspectiva inclusiva. A análise dos Planos nas Licenciaturas de quatro Universidades do Estado de São Paulo, referentes ao ano de 2012, tendo como critério de seleção as Instituições de Ensino Superior que obtiveram as maiores notas no Índice Geral de Cursos (IGC), divulgadas pelo MEC, em 2012, e pelo portal Times Higher Education (THE), para os quais, buscou-se examinar se os cursos de formação docente tratam a questão da inclusão com olhar voltado para a especificidade da deficiência, a partir de denominações terminológicas e classificações numa concepção de formação direcionada para a transmissão de técnicas ou se há preocupação com aspectos sociais, políticos e pedagógicos referentes à escolarização desses alunos, cuja perspectiva favoreça a reflexão sobre seu fazer pedagógico. Para tanto se adotou como método de pesquisa, a abordagem quantitativo-qualitativa com técnica de análise de conteúdo. Para coleta foram utilizados como fonte: a grade curricular e os Planos de Disciplinas dos cursos que, de alguma forma, incorporam temas sobre a escolarização de alunos com deficiências oferecidos nas Universidades, sob referência de autores como: Cury (1998; 2002; 2011); Bueno (1999; 2002; 2008; 2011); Skrtic (1996); Imbernón (2005); Tardif (2011) e Nóvoa (1997). Os principais achados foram: a diversidade da temática sobre Educação Especial e/ou Inclusiva prioritariamente nos cursos de Pedagogia; a diversificação do enfoque dado a Educação Especial e/ou Inclusiva, parecendo expressar a ambiguidade inerente ao campo, entre uma perspectiva meramente pragmática e uma incorporação pouco consistente das ciências sociais, e por consequência não permite o avanço teórico para além das bases tradicionais da psicologia e biologia, que termina por restringir a deficiência às manifestações individuais

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of early childhood preservice teachers in a southeastern university as they worked for mastery of phonemic awareness, phonics, and morphemic awareness. Mastery was set at 90% accuracy in a series of tests, which required them to perform different tasks related to the said concepts. One aim of the study was to investigate the preservice teachers’ description of their experiences as they worked for mastery of phonemic awareness, phonics, and morphemic awareness. Another aim was to examine how working for mastery of said concepts influenced their perceptions of preparedness to carry out literacy instruction. This research used a multiple case study method involving 8 preservice teachers who were taking their first literacy methods course. Data were gathered through an online survey, analysis of answered test papers, written responses, individual interviews, and a focus group interview. Qualitative analysis of data revealed the experience brought about awareness of insufficient knowledge, apprehension to teach, and perplexities related to phonemic awareness, phonics, and morphemic awareness among the participants. The most salient perplexities were found to be related to phonemic awareness tasks, application of phonics key terms to real words, and splitting words into morphemes. Findings also revealed that improved understanding of phonemic awareness, phonics, and morphemic awareness enhanced the participants’ perception of preparedness to teach these concepts. Engaging in reflective thinking while working for mastery of these concepts deepened their awareness of unpreparedness, reconnected them to their goal to be effective teachers, and caused them to deliberately act on their challenges in obtaining content knowledge required for quality literacy instruction. The results of this study will have relevance for teacher educators, policy makers, school administrators, and researchers as they address issues related to literacy instruction during teacher preparation, especially in terms of acquisition of strong content knowledge.

Residency models for education in the medical profession have existed for many years. Nationwide, policies are being implemented to bring this model to the field of teacher preparation. How this plays out within education programs is less researched, and there is a need to document the transition from traditional teacher education, that is, education that is based heavily in the college classroom, to a residency model, where preservice teachers spend a significant amount of time in an elementary school classroom. This paper describes how a year-long residency model is implemented and presents the changes in curriculum, scheduling and challenges encountered.

Until 2014, admission requirements for the educator preparation program at a university in the north central United States included a minimum competency level on the Praxis I basic skills writing test and completion of one general education writing course. However, evidence from the university's ETS reports showed that less than 60% of students as first-time test-takers met the required score. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the required writing course in assisting students to meet the Praxis I writing competencies. In 2014, the ETS Core Academic Skills for Educators test replaced the Praxis I. Because only 3 years of accumulated data on 88 examinees were available for the new test, the Praxis I writing test was used for this study. The learning theories of Albert Bandura, Jerome Bruner, John Dewey, and Lev Vygotsky guided the study. Utilization-focused program evaluation was used to investigate the problem. Data collected in this study were 5 faculty interviews, 2 student focus groups, and archival institutional data and national student engagement survey data. Data analysis was completed using curricular mapping and Atlas.ti 7 software. Findings indicated that the general education writing course did not provide students with the skills needed to meet minimum competency on Praxis I writing test. The study project, a curriculum plan for an education course, was developed to address test preparation and students' writing competency. The positive social change implications of this project are to increase the number of successful first-time test-takers on the writing test and to initiate collaborative discussions that would drive partnerships regarding the development of smooth transitions of writing expectations across K-16 institutions.

The goal of this study was to explore technology experiences from a preservice teacher preparation program that requires every preservice teachers and instructors to own a laptop. The participants were a) preservice teachers who were in the program and b) novice teachers who are the program graduates. The setting of this study was a preservice teacher preparation program that involves one-to-one computing throughout in a college of education in a large southwestern university. The research conducted a cross sectional case study. Two preservice teachers across the first, second, and third semesters of the program and two novice teachers in the first year of teaching participated in this research. Various data sources were collected with: a) technological skills and attitude survey, b) related documents such as lesson plans, assignments and school documents, c) observation, and d) interviews. Results of this study showed each participant’s learning environment, technology experiences and technology skills, attitudes and knowledge. All preservice teachers mutually had media cart, instructors’ laptops, students’ laptops, and wireless internet in university classes, and had innovation station, teachers’ computers, printer, telephone, students’ computers, headsets and wireless internet in PK-6 school classes. Throughout the program, university instructors mutually required Email, word processing and electronic submission of assignments to the preservice teachers. The instructors mutually modeled using PowerPoint and Learning Management System (LMS). Preservice teachers in the first semester mutually used video creation, preservice teachers in the second semester used Email and LMS, and preservice teachers in the third semester mutually used search engine, PowerPoint and innovation station. All participants’ technology attitudes were overall positive. Most of the preservice teachers’ technology knowledge was rated accepting level, except Neal, one of the preservice teachers in the third semester, who was rated adapting level. Novice teachers mutually had innovation station, web conferencing devices and students’ laptops in their school. Both of the novice teachers experienced barrier of technology integration due to the necessary devices were already checked out. The novice teachers mutually used innovation station, had overall positive technology attitudes and had technology knowledge at the accepting level. The results led six discussion issues, including a) alignment of technological infrastructure, b) accessibility of technologies, c) limited exposure to technological activities, d) preservice teachers’ technology skills, e) technology experiences from the program and preservice teachers’ technology attitudes, and f) programmatic impact on novice teachers. / text

Teacher recruitment and retention challenges facing urban school contexts provided the impetus for this study. High percentages of historically marginalized students, plagued by high poverty rates and low academic performance, as well as substandard facilities and inadequate material resources, serve as causative factors inhibiting recruitment and retention of credentialed teachers in urban schools (Education Commission of the States [ECS], 1999; Guarino et al., 2006; Horng, 2009; USDOE, 2003; 2004; Wirt et al, 2004). Schools and districts attempt to meet chronic teacher shortages in hard-to-staff urban schools by creating innovative teacher preparation schemes, such as the Urban Teaching Academy (UTA). This study focuses on teacher identity formation and prospective efficacy beliefs among a group of students enrolled in UTA. The research questions were examined using interpretive phenomenological inquiry (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009) through case study methodology (Yin, 2009). Findings show that the precollegiate student teachers in this study made meaning primarily from a student perspective, thus adhering to prototypical images of teaching characterized by identity markers. Salient components of definitions of teacher identity for precollegiate student teachers are Self and Care. Less relevant components for precollegiate student teachers were Emotion and Context. These components appear most influenced by the temporal distance between the precollegiate Urban Teaching Academy and actual teaching experiences during internship/practicum and subsequent teaching in a professional capacity, suggesting a need to determine whether it is possible for precollegiate student teachers to meet the emotional and contextual demands of teaching at such an early stage. Additionally, this study proposes to extend on the teacher efficacy construct by offering a model for prospective efficacy as it pertains to individuals in teacher preparation at the precollegiate and preservice levels. This model contends that beginning with the self as influenced by personal, social, cultural, historical and political knowledge sources, precollegiate student teachers begin to develop an epistemological stance towards teaching. Over time, precollegiate student teachers build identity capital grounded in the skills, knowledge and dispositions gained through access to varied knowledge sources, which develop as precollegiate student teachers learn theoretical principals of teaching, obtain and learn from performance information, and combine the theory and practice into an epistemological framework that provides impetus for ongoing synergy between theoretical and practical experiences. The broader the base of identity capital from which the precollegiate student teacher draws, the greater the likelihood that she will develop prospective efficacy, or the belief that she will be capable of fulfilling teaching roles and responsibilities in the future. This study informs the literature on precollegiate and preservice teacher identity and extends the literature on teacher efficacy.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that impact teachers’ preparedness for and implementation of single-gender instructional strategies and culturally relevant pedagogy with African-American girls in single-gender classrooms. Three Single-Gender Academies were included in the study. Twenty participants responded to a teacher survey, nine teachers and two administrators were interviewed, and lesson plans from six of the teachers interviewed were also collected. Descriptive statistics, regression tests and Pearson’s Correlations were used to analyze quantitative data and displayed a significant relationship between professional development and teacher preparedness for and implementation of single-gender instructional strategies and culturally relevant pedagogy. A significant relationship also existed between teacher preparation program and teacher preparedness for implementing single-gender instructional strategies. No significant relationship was found between teacher demographics and teacher preparedness for and implementation of single-gender instructional strategies and culturally relevant pedagogy. Analysis of qualitative data revealed that certain teacher demographics did impact teacher preparedness for and implementation of single-gender instructional strategies and culturally relevant pedagogy for the teachers in this research investigation. Qualitative analysis of data provided evidence to support the quantitative findings about professional development and single-gender instructional strategies and culturally relevant pedagogy with African-American girls in single-gender classrooms. Moreover, analysis of qualitative data revealed that specific behaviors of administrators influenced teacher preparedness for and implementation of single-gender instructional strategies and culturally relevant pedagogy. Results of this research investigation provide implications and recommendations for school districts that incorporate single-gender classroom environments, faculty at Educational Departments at local universities and alternative teacher preparation programs and administrators that lead these schools.