In 2003, California's Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) program had 145 programs throughout the state, organized into five clusters. The purpose of this study was to investigate how selected BTSA programs addressed BTSA Standard #3 (collaboration) for teacher induction. Five research questions were addressed. Twenty-six representative programs comprised the study sample. A questionnaire was developed by the researcher based on review of prior research in collaboration. Nineteen factors related to successful collaboration were identified. They were sorted in to six components of similar factors. A minimum of three questions were designed and field-tested for each component for a questionnaire. The questionnaire was returned by thirty respondents: twenty-one district-based BTSA directors and fifteen representatives of higher education institutions. Findings were conclusive. All programs were described by both sub-samples as successful. All six components and nineteen factors identified through the research literature were present in all programs. No additional components were identified in any program. While a prior successful working history with the collaborating partners and ongoing regular communication emerged as the most frequently named reason for success, all six components were identified as important for success. The most frequently identified problem was with the turnover of representatives of the higher education institutions and with the related difficulty of maintaining effective communications through the life of the program. Reward structures within higher education that do not support collaborative work with schools was named as the primary perceived reason for the pervasive pattern. The inability of higher education institutions to respond quickly to conditions of rapid change was also named as a related issue. Federal and state programs that fund targeted projects but allow flexibility in implementation were found to be successful. Future research should be done on the interrelationships of the components of collaboration, on modification of the reward systems of institutions of higher education; and on the development of federal and state policies that continue to support funding of local, flexible solutions to issues of school change.

The fragmentation of teachers' work, through isolation and the absence of structures for collegial interaction, make teaching a very solitary and private kind of work that has far reaching implications. Although teacher isolation is recognized as an ongoing problem and a detriment to the teaching profession, empirical evidence of what principals are doing to reduce teacher isolation and to promote collegiality is limited. The purpose of this research study was to identify how elementary school principals are reducing teacher isolation, promoting collegiality, and facilitating beginning teacher induction. The researcher examined the perceptions of 331 public elementary principals throughout California regarding these issues. Data were gathered through a 72 item questionnaire designed for this research study based on the literature, and descriptive statistics were used to organize and analyze the data. In general, most principals indicated that they were implementing many practices discussed in the literature that contribute to reduced teacher isolation and greater collegiality. For example, most principals indicated that they have a collaborative leadership style, implemented collaborative professional development, engaged teachers in shared decision making, and considered collaborative time for teachers to be very important. Most principals also claimed that their teachers preferred to work with colleagues to develop lesson plans and teaching strategies, were involved in change initiatives, and collaboratively worked to meet school goals. Practices that should be more fully implemented include aspects of teacher and mentor release time, teacher observations and feedback, teacher leadership, professional dialogue, and principals' involvement in the induction process. For example, principals and teachers must have ample opportunity to observe teachers and provide constructive feedback, principals should share with teachers the responsibility of planning and leading faculty and collaborative meetings, and principals should not rely solely on an induction program like BTSA for supporting beginning teachers but rather exercise their leadership role by being actively involved in the induction process. Recommendations for further study included conducting a teacher survey and personal interviews with principals and teachers, because principals may have responded to the survey in an idealistic fashion that was contrary to their actual practices or philosophy.

This study was designed to examine the responses of four veteran teachers with 15 or more years of teaching experience as they moved through a beginning technology staff development program. The purpose of the study was to examine what factors have caused some teachers to wait until mid-career to take a beginning course in computer technology, determine what veteran teachers feel are successful computer technology professional development strategies, and to examine the resulting changes that a veteran teacher makes in classroom computer use. The study followed teachers from pre-instruction to instruction to one month after the staff development using interviews, journals and e-mail questionnaires. Taking as a starting point change theory literature, a grounded theory of the Five Universes that influence veteran teachers was defined. The study concluded with eight recommendations for future technology staff development programs for veteran teachers.

The purpose of this research is to understand the California Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program through the eyes of school principals. This study described how principals perceive: (a) the use of Standards of Quality and Effectiveness for Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Programs , (b) the barriers to supporting the program, and (c) the effects of the induction program on students, experienced teachers, and school culture. A survey was developed from elements in Standards of Quality and Effectiveness for Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Programs . Survey data were collected and organized to accurately reflect principals' experiences. Narrative comments to four open-ended questions were analyzed, and common themes were identified. The findings of this study indicate that principals hold the Beginning Teachers Support and Assessment Program in high regard. This study provides details about how principals perceive the communication and confidentiality within the program, the role of the principal, and the role of the support and assessment activities for new teachers. Principals also reported that the program has a positive impact on students, school culture, and experienced teachers. This study provides insights into the operation of a Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program. These insights provide a beginning for informed discussions that will lead to a greater understanding of the role of principals in the induction programs for new teachers.

Over two million new K–12 teachers will be employed in the United States over this decade. Current conservative estimates state that close to thirty percent of new teachers hired to fill these positions will leave the teaching profession within the first three years. This study was designed to obtain current information about accredited teacher credentialing institutions with regards to how they affect teacher longevity in the teaching profession. Utilizing current research as a guide for determining what is needed to bolster the new teacher's ability to cope with the demands of the classroom, this research polled credentialing institutions in the state of California to determine if the elements existed within their programs. This study then presented the findings from the researcher created survey, the review of course catalogues, and follow-up interviews conducted for clarification. This research found that while ninety percent of the responses from the returned surveys agreed that teacher preparation programs do have a responsibility to affect teacher retention there are elements within all current programs surveyed that are missing.

The purpose of this study was to determine what knowledge and skills are currently being taught in beginning microbiology in junior/community colleges in Texas. This information was determined from a survey questionnaire sent to junior/community college teachers of beginning microbiology. Also surveyed were senior college teacher who teach courses which require beginning microbiology as a prerequisite. This additional survey was to determine what preparation is needed for students progressing from beginning microbiology to upper level microbiology courses. Information gathered from the two populations of teachers was then compared to determine if any differences exist in the depth of coverage assigned by these teachers.

No description available.

In the realm of architecture there is a space between the architect and the project. The thesis weaves together a collection of singular encounters with architecture, whether through reading, traveling, or designing, as if they were lines on a drawing, edges on a model, or tones on a photograph. It is in these lineaments one discovers the choreography of architecture. The project is a guesthouse for strangers located in the heart of an imagined Tokyo. The program consists of a place to arrive, guest rooms, courtyards, common areas, and a contemporary onsen. The various studies attempt to find the architecture of stillness for a stranger in an otherwise turbulent city. The drawings were rendered as representations, the models were made as explorations, and the photographs were taken as graphic confirmations. In these representations, explorations, and confirmations, there is a continuous search to establish tranquillity. It is the same tranquillity that may occupy the space between the architect and the project. / Master of Architecture

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Text in Afrikaans / Two opposing approaches to beginning reading are used, namely the phonological and global approach, under which the whole word, whole sentence and whole language methods are classed. The whole crux of the controversy is situated in beginning reading as an explicit, intensive and systematic method of teaching phonics, as opposed to implicit beginning reading through discrimination of global configurations, augmented by psycholinguistic guesses within reading context. Arguments about the advantages and disadvantages of the opposing methods have been hurdled to and fro for decades without any discernible gain. The question emerged whether research on brain physiology with respect to language and reading, a relatively new field of study, could shed light on the foundation of an accountable method for beginning reading. Renewed insights to the controversial differences were gained, and brain physiologically accountable parameters as a base for a beginning reading method were framed from these insights. / Twee opponerende aanvangsleesbenaderings word in die skole gebruik, naamlik die fonologiese benadering en die geheelbenadering, waaronder die geheelwoord-, geheelsinen die geheeltaalmetode ressorteer. Die kern van die verskil tussen die aanvangsleesbenaderings le in aanvangslees as eksplisiete, intensiewe en sistematiese foneemonderrig, teenoor implisiete aanvangslees wat die waarneming van globale konfigurasies, aangevul deur psigolinguistiese raaiskote binne die leeskonteks, aanmoedig. In die polemiek om die beste leesmetode word argumente oor die voor- en nadele ten opsigte van die begronding van hierdie opponerende metodes reeds dekades heen en weer geslinger. Navorsingsresultate word eindeloos, sonder duidelike winste, met mekaar vergelyk. Dit het die vraag laat onstaan of navorsing ten opsigte van die breinfisiologie met betrekking tot taal en lees, 'n relatief nuwe studieveld, moontlik lig sou kon werp op die begronding van 'n verantwoordbare aanvangsleesmetode. Die literatuurstudie ten opsigte van breinfisiologie het vernuwende insigte oor die polemiese begrondingsverskille na vore gebring, en breinfisiologies-verantwoordbare parameters as basis vir 'n aanvangsleesmetode is uit hierdie insigte opgestel. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Text in Afrikaans / Two opposing approaches to beginning reading are used, namely the phonological and global approach, under which the whole word, whole sentence and whole language methods are classed. The whole crux of the controversy is situated in beginning reading as an explicit, intensive and systematic method of teaching phonics, as opposed to implicit beginning reading through discrimination of global configurations, augmented by psycholinguistic guesses within reading context. Arguments about the advantages and disadvantages of the opposing methods have been hurdled to and fro for decades without any discernible gain. The question emerged whether research on brain physiology with respect to language and reading, a relatively new field of study, could shed light on the foundation of an accountable method for beginning reading. Renewed insights to the controversial differences were gained, and brain physiologically accountable parameters as a base for a beginning reading method were framed from these insights. / Twee opponerende aanvangsleesbenaderings word in die skole gebruik, naamlik die fonologiese benadering en die geheelbenadering, waaronder die geheelwoord-, geheelsinen die geheeltaalmetode ressorteer. Die kern van die verskil tussen die aanvangsleesbenaderings le in aanvangslees as eksplisiete, intensiewe en sistematiese foneemonderrig, teenoor implisiete aanvangslees wat die waarneming van globale konfigurasies, aangevul deur psigolinguistiese raaiskote binne die leeskonteks, aanmoedig. In die polemiek om die beste leesmetode word argumente oor die voor- en nadele ten opsigte van die begronding van hierdie opponerende metodes reeds dekades heen en weer geslinger. Navorsingsresultate word eindeloos, sonder duidelike winste, met mekaar vergelyk. Dit het die vraag laat onstaan of navorsing ten opsigte van die breinfisiologie met betrekking tot taal en lees, 'n relatief nuwe studieveld, moontlik lig sou kon werp op die begronding van 'n verantwoordbare aanvangsleesmetode. Die literatuurstudie ten opsigte van breinfisiologie het vernuwende insigte oor die polemiese begrondingsverskille na vore gebring, en breinfisiologies-verantwoordbare parameters as basis vir 'n aanvangsleesmetode is uit hierdie insigte opgestel. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)