Research shows that interaction and conversation (gestures, words, expressions, and etc.) with children on a daily basis are crucial for their development. Teachers spend a lot of time with children daily, it is important that teachers plan their interactions intentionally to help children make connections and extend their learning. Observing children and interpreting their thinking processes is a significant factor in intentionally planning curriculum that emerges from children’s thinking. There is a lack of high quality training for preschool teachers in the area of observing and interpreting children’s thinking. The present study investigates the effects of a training (Cycle of Inquiry System) on observation and interpretation of children’s thinking, on teachers’ productive conversation in the Head Start Classroom. The research question guiding this study is: “Does the Cycle of Inquiry Intervention (training teachers to observe, document and interpret their observations of children at play time) increase teachers’ conversations with children?” We hypothesized that the teachers’ productive conversations with children will increase after the training. Using a multiple baseline experimental design two simultaneous studies were conducted. The participants were 6 preschool teachers which included 3 new teachers, and 3 experienced teachers. The permissions were obtained from teachers and the parents of children in their classroom, the children whose parents did not consent were not videotaped during the data collection process. The teachers were videotaped twice a week in their classrooms working with children during the free play time. Each video was 30 minutes. The videos were coded for productive and non-productive conversation, based on the checklist that was used previously in a similar study. All the videos were coded by a research assistant and 30% of videos for each teacher were coded by another research assistant. The interrater reliability was obtained before and during the study. When the first participant reached a baseline (the amount of his/her productive and non-productive conversation approximately remained the same), she went through the Cycle of Inquiry System Training (COI) by the Principle Investigator (PI). The intervention is a one-day training on observing children during the play and interpreting their thinking. The first participant was videotaped twice a week after training and her videos were coded for productive and non-productive conversation, in addition, as a part of the training the teacher received mentoring form the PI bi-weekly during the intervention phase. Meanwhile all the other teachers were being videotaped until they reach a stable baseline and the process of training was the same for every one of them. The research is still ongoing but it is expected that the data will show an increase in teachers’ productive conversation with children after the training. We are in the early phases of the intervention for two participants. Positive results from this intervention, impacting the amount of productive conversation between teachers and children, will indicate that this might be a helpful training for preschool teachers.

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This presentation will illustrate the ways that the teacher practices within the Cycle of Inquiry system (COI) align with the practices of scientists recommended by the National Research Council and guide emergent inquiry with children that aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The COI and NGSS are organized around constructivist principles for teaching, learning, and research.

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Attrition among new teachers with fewer than 5 years of experience was high in an urban high school in Texas. The high attrition rate is a problem for students, because high teacher turnover can result in teachers with low expertise. In this study, the conceptual framework used was Hord's professional learning community (PLC) model, which emphasizes trust and a utilization of a cycle of inquiry among colleagues to prepare lessons and assessments that affect student achievement. The purpose of this study was to determine new high school teachers' perceptions of assimilation techniques used by their mentors in the new teacher mentor program's PLCs. Also examined were new teachers' reports of what influenced them to remain at or leave the local setting. In this qualitative, single-bound explanatory case study, purposeful sampling was used to interview 10 new teachers in Grades 10 through 12 who had been through the mentorship program. Of the 10 interviewees, 5 were still employed in the local setting and 5 had resigned. Data were analyzed inductively using open coding of emerging themes that were color coded descriptively then organized into explanatory categories. Key findings were that new teacher mentees suggested ways to improve the mentorship program such as being able to choose their mentors and rotating through various mentors throughout the school year so that new teachers can have as many information sources as possible. This study contributes to positive social change by working to increase the retention rate among new teachers, improve classroom instruction, and make PLC more influential.

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