Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University

Prior to World War II, the question as to whether or not public school counselors needed public school teaching experience would never have entered the minds of counselor educators, employers, or any other persons concerned with this matter. In the teaching field, a premium was placed on experience and often times an apprenticeship for a position had to be served. With today's shortage of teachers and counselors, a number of persons have been employed as public school counselors without teaching experience. The effects of the employment of public school counselors without school teaching experience has caused many questions to be raised concerning their effectiveness and how they compare in effectiveness with counselors who were employed only after having had successful teaching experience. It has now become important to understand what effect public school teaching experience has on the school counselor and why public school teaching experience has been and still is a prerequisite for counselor certification. Some authorities in counselor education and supervision question this prerequisite and consider the effects of teaching to be more detrimental than helpful to the education and function of the public school counselor. Others see public school teaching experience as not only contributing to the preparation of the counselor but as an essential prerequisite for the effective functioning of the counselor in a public school setting.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) introduced Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs) into United States law in 1990, and the reauthorization of IDEIA occurred in 2004. Even though BIPs have been codified into law, school personnel struggle to meet BIP mandates due to poor implementation fidelity. Barriers for BIP implementation are varied, but there is little research regarding whether practitioner competence and confidence through teaching experience is a factor. School psychologists (N = 122) from eight states completed a self-evaluation survey using the tailored design method. Results from the survey compared responses from school psychologists with and without teaching experience on BIP writing, implementation, and staff support. There were no differences in responses noted between the two groups for competence or confidence. However, school psychologists received substantially more training in writing BIPs than implementation or methods to support staff, and experience directly implementing BIPs provided the strongest correlation to confidence. This suggests that additional research surrounding the concept of training to practice for BIP implementation may be beneficial in identifying methods for improving BIP implementation fidelity as well as school psychologists' competence and confidence in BIP creation and implementation support.

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the effects of the student teaching experience on secondary agricultural education teachers. Eight of the thirteen participants in this study served as a cooperating teacher during the 2012 spring semester for pre-service teachers in agricultural education from a land-grant institution. Three of the participants had served as a cooperating teacher during either the 2010 or 2011 spring semester but had reported a negative student teaching experience with their last student teacher. Two of the participants had served as pilot interviews for the study, but they were added as participants during the analysis of the study. The participants provided interviews, opportunities for professional observations, and teaching documents for analysis. Four major themes emerged in the study 1) The professional identities of secondary agricultural education teachers are affected by their membership in the pre-service teacher community. 2) Secondary agricultural education teachers volunteer as cooperating teachers to help others and themselves professionally. 3) Secondary agricultural education teachers empower themselves and other members of their communities through their leadership due to their strong sense of political efficacy. 4) The professional practices of agriculture teachers are influenced by their service as a cooperating teacher. / Ph. D.

Counselor education programs are charged with the responsibility to train students to be effective counselors. Despite relative consistency in academic and clinical experiences, some students are less effective than others. It was the intent of this research to investigate possible relationships which may exist between students' background and experiences and their levels of demonstrated counselor effectiveness as measured by the Counselor Rating Form - Short Version (CRF-S) and the Supervisor Rated-Counselor Interaction Analysis (SR-CIA). It was hypothesized that counselor effectiveness would be negatively correlated with prior teaching experience and level of religious participation. Data was collected using a demographic survey from masters level counseling students participating in their practicum semester. Counseling tapes from each of the participants were collected towards the end of the semester. These tapes were then rated by doctoral students using the CRF-S and the SR-CIA. The total sample size was 28. Regression analysis was used to investigate the hypotheses. Three models were constructed. The dependent variables used were scores from the CRF-S, the SR-CIA and a third comprised of a normalized composite of CRF-S and SR-CIA termed COMPOSITE. Each model used, as the independent variables, years of teaching experience, and hours of religious participation. Results from regression analysis suggested that a negative correlation existed between counseling effectiveness and years of teaching experience and a positive correlation between counselor effectiveness and hours of religious participation. Statistically significant results were not achieved for any of the models tested. Further investigation was conducted using effect size analysis. Small to medium effect sizes were achieved, however, suggesting that the models were detecting a negative correlation between counselor effectiveness and years of teaching experience, and a positive correlation between hours of religious participation and counselor effectiveness.

Thesis advisor: Joseph J. Pedulla / There is considerable evidence that new teachers are ill prepared for classroom practice, including self-reported evidence collected from teachers (e.g., Levine, 2006), and statistical evidence for differences in the achievement of students with new versus more experienced teachers (Rivkin, Hanushek, and Kain, 2005). In light of the challenges encountered by new teachers (e.g., Levine, 2006), this study examined the value of different forms of teacher knowledge for teachers with different levels of experience. In particular, this study investigated the interactive relationship between teaching experience and teacher content knowledge, and student achievement in mathematics and science. In New York City, Boyd et al. (2009) linked practice-focused teacher preparation to student mathematics achievement in the first year of teaching and teacher content preparation to achievement in the second. However, other studies demonstrated interactions between teaching experience and content knowledge with different interpretations (e.g., Kukla-Acevedo, 2009; Monk, 1994). At the same time, this study examined the interactive relationship between teaching experience and teachers' pedagogical content knowledge, and student achievement. Extant models of teacher career development (Huberman, 1989; National Research Council, 2010) and how teacher education affects student achievement (e.g., Desimone, 2009) offered theoretical grounding for the study. With nationally representative samples of fourth and eighth grade U.S. students--participants in the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study--this study employed hierarchical linear modeling to address its research questions among an array of student achievement outcomes in the domains of mathematics and science. This study attempted to account for salient student, teacher, and contextual factors, and the probabilities of teachers' receipt of various teacher education "treatments" (i.e., propensity score analysis) to reduce the plausibility of selection threats to internal validity. The study found no evidence for relationships between teacher content knowledge or pedagogical content knowledge and student mathematics and science achievement in fourth and eighth grade. Furthermore, the results indicated no interactive relationships between forms of teacher knowledge and teaching experience, and student achievement in these grades/subjects. The limitations of cross-sectional, observational studies using large-scale data and directions for further research are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation.

Quem eram os mestres de primeiras letras no Brasil oitocentista? Que caminhos percorreram para se tornarem professores? Como exerceram o magistério? Partindo destas questões, este estudo apresenta interpretações possíveis sobre a experiência docente numa região circunscrita do Império brasileiro: a vilas (cidades após 1842) de Paranaguá e Curitiba na 5ª Comarca da Província de São Paulo a Província do Paraná após 1853. Em uma perspectiva micro-histórica, trajetórias individuais de professores são analisadas em narrativas que buscam captar aspectos não visíveis e formas inventadas pelos sujeitos em suas experiências, na trama das relações. Para acessar a heterogeneidade das práticas educativas do Brasil oitocentista recorri a fontes de diferentes naturezas: mapas de frequência de alunos e ofícios da Instrução Pública, legislação educacional, genealogia e dicionário biográfico, livros de memórias históricas das localidades, ofícios diversos, registro de batismo e de casamento, inventário e imprensa. Os capítulos são narrativas construídas a partir da trajetória de um ou dois sujeitos. Comecei tomando as séries de mapas de frequência de dois professores de primeiras letras de Paranaguá como fonte e objeto de pesquisa para análise da prática escriturística escolar. No cumprimento da tarefa de feitura e remissão dos mapas, os professores eram instados a elaborar a própria prática, nomeá-la, discernir suas diferentes dimensões: pedagógica, administrativa, disciplinar. E, neste fazer, constituíam os contornos do exercício docente. No segundo capítulo, fragmentos sobre a escolarização de um padre-mestre de Paranaguá permitiram uma interpretação de como os espaços escolares e os modelos de docência foram constitutivos de um caminho de formação possível. A presença de uma associação religiosa leiga foi aventada como um dos possíveis espaços de formação naquele contexto. Por fim, o terceiro capítulo traz a trajetória de um professor de primeiras letras com ampla circulação em espaços político-administrativos, cujo repertório diversificado permitiu acompanhar as táticas e estratégias de ação desse sujeito. O trabalho ajudou a dar coloratura à figura do mestre de primeiras letras no interior das práticas educativas heterogêneas que marcam o Oitocentos. / Who were literacy educators in the nineteenth century in Brazil? How did they become teachers? How did they practice the mastership? From these questions, this study presents possible interpretations about teaching experience at a circumscribed region in the Brazilian imperial government era: the villages (which became towns later in 1842) of Paranaguá and Curitiba in the 5th district of São Paulo Province (renamed Paraná Province in 1853). At a micro-historical perspective, teachers individual paths are analyzed through narratives that seek unseen aspects, in the tapestry of relationships invented by the subjects as a result of their experiences. In order to have access to the heterogeneity of educational practices in the nineteenth-century Brazil, I resort to several kinds of sources: pupils frequency maps, Public Instruction official letters, education legislation, lineage and biography dictionary, towns historical memory books, other official letters and reports, registration of marriage and baptism, inventory and press documents. Narratives constructed from the trajectory of one or two subjects constitute the chapters. I started by taking the series of pupils frequency maps of two literacy educators in Paranaguá as source and object of research for the school writing production analysis. When obeying the task of making and reporting maps, teachers were urged to formulate their own practice, name it, and discern its different dimensions: pedagogical, administrative, and disciplinary. By doing so, they constituted the outlines of the teaching exercise. In the second chapter, fragments of a priest-educator schooling in Paranaguá allowed a better understanding about how school spaces and teaching patterns constituted a way of possible shaping. The presence of a laic religious association was suggested as a possible teachers shaping space in that context. Finally, the third chapter brings the path of a literacy educator with wide circulation in political and administrative areas, whose diverse repertoire allowed monitoring his subject tactics and action strategies. This study helped to delineate the figure of the literacy educator within the heterogeneous educational practices that mark the nineteenth century.

Previous literature leaves us unanswered questions about whether teaching behaviors mediate the relationship between teacher education level and experience with student science achievement. This study examined this question with 655 students from sixth to eighth grade and their 12 science teachers. Student science achievements were measured at the beginning and end of 2006-2007 school year. Given the cluster sampling of students nested in classrooms, which are nested in teachers, a two-level multilevel model was employed to disentangle the effects from teacher-level and student-level factors. Several findings were discovered in this study. Science teachers possessing of advanced degrees in science or education significantly and positively influenced student science achievement. However, years of teaching experience in science did not directly influence student science achievement. A significant interaction was detected between teachers possessing an advanced degree in science or education and years of teaching science, which was inversely associated to student science achievement. Better teaching behaviors were also positively related to student achievement in science directly, as well as mediated the relationship between student science achievement and both teacher education and experience. Additionally, when examined separately, each teaching behavior variable (teacher engagement, classroom management, and teaching strategies) served as a significant intermediary between both teacher education and experience and student science achievement. The findings of this study are intended to provide insights into the importance of hiring and developing qualified teachers who are better able to help students achieve in science, as well as to direct the emphases of ongoing teacher inservice training.

The focus of this study was to describe rural and urban education from the perspective of teachers. Participant teachers reflected upon their rural and urban teaching experiences and described, through narratives and personal examples, various aspects of rural and urban education. Through this process, participants answered the research question: What are the experiences and perspectives of teachers with respect to teaching in rural and urban environments? Data were collected via semi-structured interviews which were used to help understand the lived experiences of the participants. <p>Based on this qualitative study, numerous characteristics of rural and urban education were highlighted. The participants indicated that rural schools were often closely linked to their community. As a result, many of these teachers could more easily individualize their instruction because they were familiar with the personal lives of their students. Within the rural schools highlighted in this study, lower enrolments and a smaller staff posed challenges, and a limited range of academic programs were offered. Student participation in extracurricular activities was more prominent in this studys rural schools, and the expectations for teachers involvement in extracurricular activities and supervision were high. <p>As with rural education, when the participants described urban education, they emphasized the importance of building strong school-community relationships. Also, this research showed that the larger enrollments of the urban schools highlighted in this study meant these schools were responsible for a greater variety of student needs, both academically and socially. Classroom management was more of an issue for the urban teachers of this study, and the parents of their urban students were often less directly involved within the school. Participants indicated, as urban teachers, they had more opportunities to specialize in their subject area and enjoyed easier access to professional development opportunities. The participants of this study described the academic abilities of urban students to be similar to those of rural students; however, the participants noted urban students to be open to a greater variety of future career choices.<p>There are similar issues surrounding education, whether rural or urban. This study highlighted this point in a number of ways. First this research reflected that close ties between school and community enhanced the pertinence of curriculum content. This indicates that schools need to take advantage of the academic, personal, and cultural resources provided within the community. Another central issue of this study indicated that a teachers background and experience, as well as his or her knowledge of the students and communitys culture affected the way a teacher acts and handles various teaching situations. A final aspect of this study showed that the roles and responsibilities of teachers are diverse. A teacher assumes such roles as educator, counselor, social worker, consultant, coach, role model, and active community member.

The focus of this study was to describe rural and urban education from the perspective of teachers. Participant teachers reflected upon their rural and urban teaching experiences and described, through narratives and personal examples, various aspects of rural and urban education. Through this process, participants answered the research question: What are the experiences and perspectives of teachers with respect to teaching in rural and urban environments? Data were collected via semi-structured interviews which were used to help understand the lived experiences of the participants. <p>Based on this qualitative study, numerous characteristics of rural and urban education were highlighted. The participants indicated that rural schools were often closely linked to their community. As a result, many of these teachers could more easily individualize their instruction because they were familiar with the personal lives of their students. Within the rural schools highlighted in this study, lower enrolments and a smaller staff posed challenges, and a limited range of academic programs were offered. Student participation in extracurricular activities was more prominent in this studys rural schools, and the expectations for teachers involvement in extracurricular activities and supervision were high. <p>As with rural education, when the participants described urban education, they emphasized the importance of building strong school-community relationships. Also, this research showed that the larger enrollments of the urban schools highlighted in this study meant these schools were responsible for a greater variety of student needs, both academically and socially. Classroom management was more of an issue for the urban teachers of this study, and the parents of their urban students were often less directly involved within the school. Participants indicated, as urban teachers, they had more opportunities to specialize in their subject area and enjoyed easier access to professional development opportunities. The participants of this study described the academic abilities of urban students to be similar to those of rural students; however, the participants noted urban students to be open to a greater variety of future career choices.<p>There are similar issues surrounding education, whether rural or urban. This study highlighted this point in a number of ways. First this research reflected that close ties between school and community enhanced the pertinence of curriculum content. This indicates that schools need to take advantage of the academic, personal, and cultural resources provided within the community. Another central issue of this study indicated that a teachers background and experience, as well as his or her knowledge of the students and communitys culture affected the way a teacher acts and handles various teaching situations. A final aspect of this study showed that the roles and responsibilities of teachers are diverse. A teacher assumes such roles as educator, counselor, social worker, consultant, coach, role model, and active community member.