abstract: Desert Elementary is a suburban Phoenix K-5 school. The school has undergone a significant change in its approach to reading instruction due to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) instructional shift of building knowledge through content rich nonfiction. Teachers implemented this shift in their classrooms through a 16-month professional development program called Students Talking for a Change (STFAC). This qualitative action research study explored how teacher perception of reading instruction was affected by this change in instructional practice. Data collection comprised of classroom observations, teacher interviews, planning artifacts, professional development session artifacts and student work in order to determine teacher understandings about reading comprehension and perception of classroom practice. Prior to the professional development, teachers understood reading comprehension to be answering questions correctly and acquiring skills dictated by a basal reader. The texts teachers once used to teach reading lacked topical coherence. As teachers learned how to integrate content into language arts through long-term planning and sustained exposure to a topic of study, teachers changed their understanding about reading instruction. The perception was that content, discussion and multiple interpretations were central components to comprehension. Further, planning documents evolved from student packets to unit plans based on social studies, science and literature. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2017

Accountability in education has been expanding for the past twenty years. As standards for curricular areas continued to develop, educational shareholders desired a way to measure student achievement contextualized by the established standards. Since 1964, policies expanded federal involvement with education, and with the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, high-stakes testing became a significant part of public education. In Texas, testing transitioned in 2003 to the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skill (TAKS) test, an assessment that determines grade advancement for students, ratings for school districts, and additional compensation for some teachers. Along with the increasing expectations for student achievement, the need for effective instruction also increases. This dissertation studies how English language arts (ELA) teachers in four North Texas suburban high schools perceive instructional change following the implementation of TAKS. One hundred twenty-one teachers (n=121) were surveyed using an instrument broken into seven categories: student-centered instruction, student interest, instructional communication, time, classroom environment, teacher knowledge, and assessment. Participants were separated into two groups, teachers with one to six years of experience with a district or seven or more years with a district. Using a rating scale for each statement on the survey instrument, participants indicated the direction and magnitude of change or indicated no change occurred. When comparing an overall average frequency percentage for each possible rating for each category, the two highest percentages for both surveyed groups indicated no instructional change since the implementation of TAKS. However, when considering specific statements about professional growth and instructor knowledge, both groups were likely to rate a change as positive. Whereas, if the statement suggested instructional areas constricted by time, participants for both groups were likely to rate a change as negative. Additionally, an ANOVA indicated no significant difference between either of the participating groups.

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To determine the impact of an administrator's decision on student placement in kindergarten classrooms, teachers were asked to share their perceptions on how that decision impacted their ability to deliver instruction and follow the district scope and sequence, as well as how that decision impacts student academic achievement and social and emotional development. This qualitative study was designed to gather data from kindergarten teachers using focus group interviews and individual interviews of campus principals from two campuses within the same district. The following two ways in which kindergarten classrooms were created were explored: (a) by random assignment or (b) knowledge of students' academic and behavioral performance based on information relevant to their Pre-K experience. Campus principal participants reported that they each chose their method to provide equity in the classrooms and fairness amongst their teachers. Teacher participants reported that overall, they preferred to have as much information about incoming students as possible and to be a part of the process of placing students into classrooms for the following year. By examining these teachers' perspectives, the findings from this study may positively influence policy and practice for campus administrators as they decide how they will place students in kindergarten classrooms. Continued qualitative examination of student achievement could help determine if one method of placement positively impacts student achievement. Data collected from a larger sample within the district or expanded to compare between districts could help campus administrators make positive classroom placements for kindergarten students. Also, a quantitative study using a survey might provide a more expansive view of the impact of administrators' process of assigning kindergarten students to classrooms.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T16:33:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tania Marsiglia.pdf: 346513 bytes, checksum: e01fe78dc8c05f563b637a5a843c8cf4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-09-09 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / This study aims to identify the criteria used by teachers in the public school system to characterize behavioral problems of students because along with the problems being constantly mentioned by many teachers, a number of stereotypes have been created to explain behavior that falls outside the expectations of public schools. These stereotypes are designated: hyperactivity, attention disorders and disruptive conduct. Thus, research was done with elementary school teachers in Sao Paulo to discover what teachers consider problematic behavior, and find out how they classify the root of the problem and the criteria they use to arrive at their conclusions. This survey adopts the basic principles from critical theory, specifically the writings of Adorno and Horkheimer to discover how industrial society affects the way teachers make judgement. The process used in the study was a questionnaire that uses a semantic differential scale whose focus is to identify teacher perception of inadequate behavior demonstrated by students. The questionnaire was given to teachers working in different grades, namely grades 5 and 8 in a public school in a district of Sao Paulo whose students are from various socioeconomic classes. The effects gives evidences that, facts as influence of the media and informations changed among teachers group itself, influence the concept that teachers built about youthful's behavior / Este estudo visa a identificar os critérios usados pelos professores da rede pública para caracterizar os problemas de comportamento dos alunos, uma vez que, além desses problemas serem apontados reiteradamente por muitos professores, têm sido disseminados, pelas redes de ensino, uma série de estereótipos para designar alunos que parecem não se adequar às normas escolares. Tais estereótipos são apontados como casos de hiperatividade, distúrbios de atenção e desvios de conduta. Assim, foi efetuada uma pesquisa com professores do segundo ciclo do Ensino Fundamental da rede pública de ensino de São Paulo, com o objetivo de se levantar as manifestações dos alunos consideradas como problemáticas pelos professores, bem como as possíveis caracterizações e classificações feitas por estes professores e os critérios que eles utilizam para isso. A pesquisa adota como conceitos básicos os extraídos da teoria crítica, especificamente os escritos de Adorno e Horkheimer, a fim de dimensionar o julgamento docente em uma sociedade industrial. O procedimento básico de pesquisa incide sobre a utilização de um questionário com escala de diferencial semântico, tendo como foco a percepção dos professores a respeito dos comportamentos dos alunos considerados como sendo comportamentos inadequados. A aplicação do questionário se direcionou a professores que atuam em séries distintas, sendo uma 5ª e outra 8ª série do Ensino Fundamental, em uma escola pública regular de um subdistrito de São Paulo que recebe alunos de classes sociais diferentes. Os resultados demonstraram que, fatores como a influência da mídia e a troca de informações entre o próprio corpo docente interferem na concepção que o professor constrói sobre os problemas de comportamento apresentados pelos alunos adolescentes

Even with extensive literacy research, routines, and policy modifications, many elementary students are not provided with the needed tools to develop independent literacy skills. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine what independent literacy behaviors are developing in first through fourth grade students to determine whether the Daily 5 framework is developing the desired independent literacy skills in those students. Based on Vygotsky's social development theory, the Daily 5 literacy routine teaches students five essential habits to develop independent literacy abilities across various grade levels. This qualitative study's research questions were developed to examine what independent literacy behaviors have been observed by teachers and how student learning is reflected based on Vygotsky's zone of proximal development. The study included nine participants comprised of teachers and parents of students at the study site. The data collected through open-ended interviews, email questionnaires, lesson plans from teachers, and documentation were then coded using Atlas.ti. Emergent themes were identified through data analysis, and the findings were validated through member checking, triangulation, and researcher reflexivity. The findings revealed that while some independent literacy behaviors are reported, additional support is still needed. The findings led to the development of a professional development project centered on literacy professional development activities that build collaboration. This study and project facilitates positive social change by defining how the Daily 5 routine is promoting independent literacy skills at the research site, which builds communities of readers and positive reading experiences that circulate within the school and home.

Standardized test data from a southern suburban elementary school showed lagging student scores behind those of students from similar settings. These scores suggested a disconnection between teachers' understanding of and practice in formative assessment. Bloom's revised taxonomy, backward design planning theory, and differentiated learning theory guided this study, which focused on how elementary teachers use formative strategies in the classroom to inform instruction. Data collected through face-to-face interviews from 10 teachers were transcribed and organized in codes and themes. Member checks were then used to ensure credibility of interpretations. The key results showed that these 10 teachers used many formative assessment strategies with their students, yet they were unfamiliar with backward design theory and did not use peer feedback or self-assessment as strategies. The proposed project focused on providing professional development in 3 modules addressing professional learning community norms, backward design theory unit planning, and strategies for peer feedback and student goal setting. This project may lead to positive social change by empowering teachers to design curriculum and assessment with authentic learning experiences and providing students with goal-setting strategies to become responsible for learning. The project's positive social change may lead to this school and district closing the identified achievement gap. It is recommended that further research on teacher perception of formative assessment should include more elementary and middle schools.

La investigación trata sobre determinados factores contextuales que influyen en la motivación, percepciones y expectativas de futuros docentes que están siendo formados en una Institución de Formación de Maestros (Recinto Juan Vicente Mosco), situada en la provincia de S. Pedro de Macorís (República Dominicana). Tras analizar y describir determinadas condiciones contextuales e históricas, y realizar una revisión de literatura especializada, la investigación, con un estudio de campo en el que se han aplicado cuestionarios y entrevistas, ha recabado las perspectivas de los sujetos informantes sobre las variables objeto de estudio y sus relaciones. El tratamiento, análisis e interpretación de los datos ha permitido extraer conclusiones relevantes para la formación docente y la política social y educativa del país dominicano, proponiendo para ello una serie de recomendaciones empírica y teóricamente fundadas. / The research has focused some of the historical and contextual conditions influencing prospective teachers motivation, perceptions and expectations related to the teaching profession in a institution for Teachers Education (Recinto Juan Vicente Mosco), placed at the province of the S. Pedro de Macorís (República Dominicana). After analyzing and describing some of the relevant historical and contextual conditions and undertaking a revision of the specialized literature, the inquiry, through a field study where questionnaires and interviews have been applied, has focused the prospective teacher perspectives about relevant variables and their relationship. Data analysis and interpretation allowed to get relevant conclusions for teacher education so as for the social and education policy in the country, proposing empirical and theoretical founded recommendations.

Thesis (Ed. S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Educational Psychology, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 41-45).