The purpose of this research was to determine if there was a difference in the scores of students on the “What Helped Me to Become Successful in the Ninth Grade?” survey between the retained and promoted students who had been taught by teachers who had Capturing Kids’ Hearts (CKH) training during 2007-08 school year. The students in one Mid-Atlantic Virginia, urban school were the study population. Students who had completed the ninth grade on time with teachers who had CKH training were compared with students who had been retained with teachers who had the CKH training were asked to complete a student perception survey. A mean score on a 25-item Student Perception Survey for each item was computed for the two groups of students who were in this high school during the 2007-08 school year and remained during the 2008-09 school year. Particular attention was given to nine questions that focused on relationship issues. A t-test was utilized to determine if there was a significant difference between comparative data on the mean for the two groups of students. In all nine of the relationship questions, there was no statistical significant difference in the mean of the responses for the repeat ninth grade students and the on time tenth grade students. The responses to the relationship questions indicated that the training the teachers received had a similar effect on students whether they were on time tenth grade students or repeat ninth grade students. The percentage of repeat ninth grade students had a higher percentage than the tenth grade students of agree responses on five of the nine relationship questions. Additionally, the median for the repeat ninth grade participants was higher on six of the nine relationship questions; therefore, the repeat ninth grade students had a stronger response to the relationship questions than the on time tenth grade students. The CKH training was a three-day off site learning experience for ninth grade teachers that provided tools to build positive, productive, and trusting relationships among themselves and their students. The EXCEL Model utilized five distinctive training areas: (a) engaging, (b) exploring, (c) communicating, (d) empowering, and (e) launching. The focus for students included developing skills that could affect their school success. / Ph. D.

No

In Initial Teacher Training (ITT), one of the technologies rapidly being adopted to support the development of trainee teachers is the e-portfolio. Research into successful use of e-portfolios beyond their function as a repository has been scanty to date. The purpose of the current study was to extend the boundaries of understanding of e-portfolios beyond this function. This was undertaken through two in-depth case studies where e-portfolios were used as a pedagogical tool intended to support the development of reflective practice on a one year postgraduate ITT course, during two years of investigation in one university A mixed-methods approach was adopted to capture the richness of participants’ self reports of their experiences, statistical data regarding interactions on the e-portfolios and analysis of reflective writing. Data were collected and analysed from questionnaires, student and tutor interviews and interactions with the e-portfolio together with analysis of the content of reflective e-journals, with a special emphasis on the place and depth of reflection. What emerged was a rich contextual understanding of e-portfolio use by trainee teachers and tutors and the problematic nature of conceptualising and assessing reflective thinking, together with the extent to which the development and depth of their reflective thinking had been supported by e-portfolio use. The results confirm previous concerns related to the training requirements of users and also the time needed for students and tutors to engage in interactions. Further they imply that the prerequisites of successful use of e-portfolios, as a pedagogical tool, to support the development of reflective thinking include common agreement about what constitutes reflection and reflective thinking embedded within a strong, rigorous and well theorised conceptualisation of course structure and content. Implied also is the need for a well understood and transparent framework to assess the depth of reflective thinking that should complement the competencies that underpin Standards, and support the professional development of teachers.

Young children develop language and early literacy interactions that are the building blocks for future skilled reading. This study was designed to evaluate the early childhood classroom to determine teachers‟ knowledge of early literacy. Based on the Literacy Environment Checklist (LEC) of the Early Literacy and Language Classroom Observation (ELLCO) tool, the classrooms scored 100% proficiency in the Book Area and Book Selection categories. The results indicate the prekindergarten teachers knew how to design their classrooms to enhance early literacy. The classrooms scored 86% proficiency in the Writing Materials category, 73% proficiency in the Writing around the Room category, and 58% proficiency in the Book Use category. These results indicate that the teachers did not utilize early literacy materials or did not have necessary early literacy materials in the classrooms. Many of the teachers had minimal early literacy training. Without specific early literacy training, teachers did not design their classrooms in ways that would enhance early literacy.

This thesis defines and presents discipline-based art education curricula as defined by Greer 1983 for Nigerian Art Education Students. Current requirements in art education programs both in Nigeria and the United States are compared in order to more fully understand and develop this course of study. Attention is paid to the national goals and the inherent culture of Nigeria. An analysis of the curriculum of five colleges with discipline-based and education programs has been studied in order to determine a suitable outline of curricula for college teachers in Nigeria. It is concluded that Nigerian teachers, through this proposed program, will be exposed to the contemporary discipline-based approach to art education, and that Nigerian children taught by means of this approach will be able to gain a better understanding and appreciation of their artistically rich culture.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1937 S51

No description available.

Working with five preservice teachers who were beginning their education coursework, I used Retrospective Miscue Analysis (RMA) as a research tool to investigate instructional strategies I used to assist the preservice teachers in reconstructing their perceptions of the reading process. I documented the changes in their belief using data collected from interviews, miscue analysis, Retrospective Miscue Analysis sessions, written reflections, and Literacy Belief Profiles. By analyzing the data of all five participants as a group case study, I documented changes in perception of the reading process as influenced by RMA over time. Then, using a case study format, I examined in depth the data from two participants to determine their use of language cue systems and the specific changes they articulated over time. The research participants described rich language experiences in early childhood, classified themselves as "good readers," and none remembered any difficulty "learning to read." All the participants relied on their earliest memories of schooling when they characterized reading as a text reproduction process. Each preservice teacher listened to audiorecordings of miscues they themselves produced in their oral readings. Through discussions in the RMA sessions they began to realize that as they transacted with text they omitted words, inserted words, and changed wording in a text as they constructed meaning. Prior to these sessions the preservice teachers had never scrutinized their reading practices to such an extent and all were surprised at the miscues they produced. Over the course of the research the participants examined their assumptions about reading, became acutely aware of and revalued their reading strategies, and came to the realization that efficient effective reading does not result when readers focus on every word in a text. The most proficient readers use only the necessary information from a text to construct meaning.

Recent research literature on learning to teach has several important strands: the role of subject matter; the extent to which pedagogical knowledge and procedural routines are significant; concepts of learning and teaching; and the role of reflection in learning to teach. The present study adds both to the debate on the links between subject knowledge and pedagogy, and to the case law on learning to teach. A two-year longitudinal comparative case study was carried out on four postgraduate student-teachers. Data sets included: biographical data; details of course content and structure; diaries kept by the students on courses and teaching experiences; tests at entry to the course and exit on subject knowledge in maths, science, music and English; tests on iesson planning (pedagogical content knowledge); questionnaires on beliefs about teaching; lesson observation transcripts and notes on the two teaching practices; prelesson planning questionnaires; post-lesson interviews and general interviews with students and staff; and similar lesson observation and interview data for the first year of teaching. The student-teachers were selected on the basis of a number of criteria, including specialism within the course of maths, music or science; performance in subject knowledge tests; participation in the follow-up study during the first year of teaching; the quantity and quality of diary evidence foreach student; and the initial assessment of lesson quality made by the trained observers. A major part of the research involved the analysis of discourse in lessons for evidence of subject matter knowledge and teaching competences. This part of the analysis was underpinned by theoretical models of teacher knowledge and teaching competence. From these detailed analyses a fine-grained evaluation was made of a sample of each student-teacher's lessons. The case studies were written so as to present data chronologically and from a number of different viewpoints.The analysis of the various data sets and comparison of the sample students has revealed patterns about the relationship of subject knowledge and teaching performance. These have implications for teacher education, especially for the relationship between university-based training and schoolbased work.

No description available.