In this study I explored the variety of educational opportunities available in museums. Next, I examined the museum education programs in the Portland, Oregon area and described what types of opportunities are available to teachers. Finally, I made suggestions for teachers on how to best access museum programs and for museum educators on how to best reach teachers. Interactions between schools and museums exist on a variety of levels. From limited interactions to collaborative programming, schools and museums have found ways to work together to accomplish their joint goal of education. Museums offer self-guided or guided tours, curriculum packets, teacher education programs, access to collections or informational programs related to special exhibits. Some museums and schools have developed deeper relationships in which each give and receive help carrying out their missions. I interviewed museum educators at nine museums in Portland and the surrounding areas. I asked questions regarding the types of programs available, especially focusing on programs suitable for school groups or those that might be helpful to teachers. The programs available in the Portland area vary by institution. Each museum, historic home or zoo offers unique programs on a variety of topics. While history predominates, science, math, social studies and art are readily available. Teachers should be able to supplement nearly any classroom topic. Teachers should take the time to get to know the educators in the institutions. Overall, the key for an individual teacher seeking museum education for students is to ask what is available. The programming at most institutions is flexible, especially when there are traveling or temporary exhibitions. Teachers should get onto mailing lists so they will be notified when special or new programs are available. Also, teachers need to keep in contact with the museum educators. Developing a personal relationship will prove invaluable for a teacher who is trying to fill a gap in a unit or supplement his or her curriculum. Museum educators will benefit from time spent analyzing where their current programs meet state guidelines or focusing planning on meeting specific state common curriculum goals (CCGs) when designing new programs. Schools are reorganizing their curriculum to meet state standards and museum personnel would be wise to do the same. / Graduation date: 2000

The purpose of this study was to understand the individual experiences of four adult literacy practitioners, Anne, Bill, Candy, and Emily, in the first cohort of the Oregon Field-Based Cohort Master's Program. This program, which Oregon established in 1993 as one venue of professional development for adult literacy and English as a Second Language practitioners, was developed jointly by the Office of Community College Services of the state Department of Education and Oregon State University. The inquiry proceeded from three assumptions. First, effective professional development must be grounded in understandings about how practitioners learn. Second, an understanding of practitioners' learning is attainable only through intensive examination of individual experiences. And third, practitioners' accounts of their learning experiences are legitimate sources of knowledge; they are, in fact, the only accessible avenues for investigating individuals' learning. Transcripts of in-depth interviews and participants' cumulative portfolios were coded and analyzed in the first phase of data analysis to produce stories which integrated Anne, Bill, Candy, and Emily's own words with metaphors they created to frame their experiences. Each story reconstructs a practitioner's construction of the emotional, intellectual, and material experience of learning in a cohort. Together, they represent the uniqueness and complexity of adults' learning. In the second phase of analysis, the stories were compared to reveal relationships of similarity and difference among them. The cross-case analysis generated five themes around the self as learner, the contribution of dissonance to reconstruction of meaning, personal transformations in an academic setting, increased confidence as an outcome of graduate study, and stance as a contributor to the variability and complexity of adults' experiences of learning in a formal setting. The final chapter drew directly on the themes to make suggestions for planning and practice and pose questions which might be used to focus conversations or frame future research about adult learning, graduate programs, or staff development for adult educators. Specific topics included authentic learning situations, reflection, graduate cohorts, collaborative learning, adult learners' stances toward learning situations, distance delivery and professional networks for adult literacy practitioners, and evaluation of professional development programs. / Graduation date: 1998

The recent focus on transition from school to working life has created a growing concern in Oregon about teachers with elementary certification as their initial certification who earn a special education certificate and teach students with disabilities in secondary settings. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among initial certifications (elementary, secondary, and K-12), where Oregon high school special education teachers received the major part of their transition skills training, and their self-perceived needs for further transition skills training. The population for the study consisted of 213 secondary special education teachers of students with mild disabilities from throughout Oregon. The instrument was a survey-type questionnaire that included 14 transition skill competencies for teachers. Subjects were first asked where they received the major part of their training in each of the transition competency skills. Next, they were asked to rate their self-perceived needs for further training in each of the transition skills. The instrument design was validated through a Delphi procedure. Data were collected during the spring of 1987 and the fall of 1988. No significant statistical relationships were found between initial certification and where teachers received the major part of their transition skills training, or their self-perceived needs for further training. However, three major implications became apparent from the data. First, decisions regarding coursework could be examined at the preservice level. Next, opportunities for preservice teachers to participate in team decision-making activities should be examined. Lastly, personnel inservice preparation programs at the district level should be examined to ensure that transition skill competencies for teachers are included. Recommendations included follow-up studies to find out if the size of school, type and level of endorsement, major and minor fields of study and years of teaching may have an effect on transition skills training of secondary teachers. / Graduation date: 1992

This study was designed to determine the differences and similarities among first-year accounting curricula in high schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges in Oregon. The areas studied were teaching methods, testing methods, communication skills, evaluation methods used in the communication skills, inclusion of necessary computer application skills, and the testing methods used for computer application skills. Survey instruments were developed and were administered to a random sample of 432 business education teachers in the secondary schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges in Oregon; 200 (46.3%) responded. The results of the survey were statistically analyzed by ANOVA and Chi-square, and percentages were used to analyze the data. From this study, the following observations were made: The teaching methods used in the secondary schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges were similar; however, they differed on programmed instruction, computer assisted instruction, computer augmented instruction, games, practice sets, workbooks, and seminars. The testing methods used in the secondary schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges were different in the following areas: multiple choice, true and false, and matching; other testing methods were similar. The communication skills used in the secondary schools, community colleges, and fouryear colleges were similar. In evaluating students' communication skills, readability was considered to be the most important criterion in grading students' writing skills, and listening was considered to be the most important criterion in grading students' speaking skills. The following criteria used to select first-year accounting textbooks were different among the secondary schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges: readability level of the textbooks, reading level of the students, supplementary materials given, content validity and content arrangements. Although the secondary schools and community college participants considered readability levels of the textbooks and the students' reading levels to be important, the estimated reading level of the first-year accounting textbooks were greater than the estimated reading level of the first-year accounting students. There were differences in the types of computer applications included in the first-year of accounting among the secondary schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges: computer assisted instruction and computer augmented instruction. The following evaluation methods used for computer assignments in first-year accounting were different among the secondary schools, community colleges, and four-year colleges: observation of students and demonstration of use by students. One of the reasons indicated by participants for not including computer applications in the first-year of accounting was lack of knowledge. There were differences in the ratings on "lack of Knowledge" given by the three groups. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that communication skills be integrated in first-year accounting curriculum and in accounting methods courses, and more computer application skills (not tutorial computer applications) be implemented in first-year accounting curriculum and in accounting methods courses in Oregon. / Graduation date: 1992

Online learning is taking our nation by storm and changing the face of education forever. By 2014 we are projected to have 10 million students taking at least one online class (Nagel, 2009). The online revolution is one of the greatest changes the field of education has seen in the last 25 years (Greenway & Vanourek, 2006). This major shift in education also represents a major shift in how our teachers are prepared and what great teaching looks like in online settings. The online classroom is distinctly different than the brick-and-mortar classroom, and success in the classroom does not necessarily translate into the online environment (Watson, Murin, Vashaw, Gemin, & Rapp, 2011). Our students deserve the best online teachers to ensure the potential of online learning is fulfilled (Cavanaugh, Gillan, Kromrey, Hess, & Blomeyer, 2004). Top quality online teachers are those who have mastered or can demonstrate the ability to quickly learn the specific skills of technology, online instructional design and delivery, communication, and online learning professional development. This study will explore and analyze the impact of the website K-12 Online Staffing Solutions on the recruitment, hiring, and induction practices for K-12 online administrators. Using the research and development research model, developed by Borg and Gall (1989), the website will undergo a series of qualitative feedback and product revision cycles with participants. The results of the study showed that the website tool was easy to use and impacted the practice of virtual school administrators in Oregon. The results have implications beyond virtual charter schools in Oregon. Online learning is growing and administrators need practical, accessible, and research based tools to successfully meet the need for online K-12 options.

The concept of middle level schooling has existed in the United States since the early 1900s. During the early 1960s, middle level schools were organized to meet the unique developmental needs of early adolescents. Yet, special training, preparation and/or certification for aspiring teachers who wish to work at this level are not available in the majority of states. Many state licensing agencies provide either elementary or secondary certification, which historically was believed to be adequate for middle level teaching. This study investigates the special preparation and training needs of middle level teachers as perceived by teachers and administrators in a suburban school district which was involved for several years in the implementation of innovative practices for middle schools. Middle level educators in this district had received in-service training and were engaged in considerable discussions on research related to effective middle schools. Thirty teachers and 10 administrators were surveyed about their own levels of preparation and their concepts of the elements of model preparation programs for middle school teachers. In a follow-up interview process, including a sample of the survey respondents, interviewees discussed in-depth their district's middle school programs; the impact of a state grant focusing on middle school organizational and instructional issues; and their perceptions about staff development needs of middle school personnel that were not being addressed. The data obtained through survey responses, interviews, and examination of district documents showed that the majority of the sample personnel received their training in middle school concept areas through formal in-service opportunities and/or on the job experience. Furthermore, a majority of the participants endorsed and expressed a need for the following: a special preparation program for middle school teachers containing field experience at the middle level; training in the unique developmental needs of the early adolescent; and, special training in a variety of instructional strategies. Results also indicated that the sample personnel were not aware of the school district's own studies on middle level schooling and were dissatisfied with the current programs, which they felt had suffered as a result of a lack of effective leadership at the district and building levels.

Since 2011, the state of Oregon has embarked on a comprehensive educational policy change to create a unified birth to twenty educational system. As part of the birth to age five early childhood and family investment strategy, mandated participation in Oregon professional development system is required for all early childhood educators working in Office of Child Care licensed programs. To date, research on early childhood educators' experience in professional development systems has focused primarily on experiences with regulatory systems. This hermeneutic phenomenological study explored how four early childhood educators made meaning of their experiences of professional engagement in Oregon's state professional development system. As a researcher-participant, I conducted a two-part interview with these early childhood educators. First, we revisited the experience of the professional development journey in collage, followed by narrative semi-structured interviews. The researcher employed Dahlberg's (2006) concept of "bridling the experience" (p. 16) as a way to develop an understanding of early childhood educators' professional practice and the intersection between practice and professional engagement in Oregon's professional development system for childhood care and education. The collage and narrative dialogues illuminated the essence of each individual's experience. Experiences such as the intersection of personal professional self, acts of professional engagement, and the emotional nature of participants' work all emerged from the collage and interview process. Three essential themes emerged from the data interpretation and discussion, namely, (a)Personal and Professional Self: Intertwining Personal Experience and Professional Identity, (b)Curves Ahead: Maneuvering Rivers, Roads, and Paths, and (c)The Journey and the System are Asynchronous: "You Guys Figure that Out, Good Luck." Through the emergence of essential themes, participants demonstrated that their experiences while unique also shared common characteristics of what it means to be an early childhood educator in Oregon living with policy in the classroom. It is now the turn of policy makers and program managers of Oregon's professional development system to recognize the strength and wisdom of the voices in the early childhood classroom.

This research explores the multifaceted benefits that accrue from learning within an international, experiential context. It uses a qualitative, case study approach employing pre and post surveys, in-situ observations, and semi-structured photo-elicitation interviews to analyze the Center for Geography Education in Oregon’s (C-GEO) 2013 Overseas Teacher Institute--a professional development program that took 11 teachers to Russia, Mongolia, and China for a total of 17 days (plus two additional travel days) to learn about the cultural and physical geography of each place. The focus of the research is two-fold and examines processes involved in gaining, synthesizing and applying 1) a sense of place (the emotional ties between people and place), and 2) geo-literacy. The results of this study provide evidence that intensive professional development programs can increase teachers personal and professional knowledge, change their instructional practices, and may lead to improved student learning outcomes.