This study is concerned with the attitudes and perceptions of the current elementary school library media centers in Taiwan, Republic of China. Elementary school students, principals, library staff, and prospective elementary school teachers in teacher colleges were interviewed and surveyed. Dissatisfaction about the physical layout, the collections, the user/circulation service, and the personnel of elementary school libraries was reported by the four targeted groups. Responses to this investigator's field studies and surveys were compared with the recommendations suggested in the Chinese standards of practice: Elementary School Facilities Standards (Ministry of Education, Taiwan, 1981), and the most updated American standards: Information Power: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs (AASL, 1988). Literature that studied cases in Taiwan, Canada, Great Britain, and the United States was reviewed to provide reference and support for this study. The results of the study indicate that, in most cases, elementary classroom teachers in Taiwan are assigned the responsibility for library operation, in addition to their major teaching responsibility, despite the fact that few had any library training prior to this assignment. The finding suggests that Taiwan has not yet concluded that the library and librarians are an important adjunct of the learning process. That prospective teachers should receive adequate library training in their preparation program, as other surveys had suggested, was also affirmed by this study. Library training for prospective teachers can help them not only to possess the necessary background to help their future students but also to help themselves, as prospective teachers, become better (and more capable) library users. The study recommends the revision, updating, and reinforcement of the Chinese elementary school library standards. Programs should be established to train and certify people who are interested in working at elementary school libraries. A technical service center should be established so that direct contacts with users by library staff can be their primary concern.

Elementary preservice teachers often struggle with their relationships with their students. Research suggests that they have internalized robust teaching scripts that limit their learning of progressive pedagogical methods. As a result of these scripts and relational patterns learned in their family of origin they become progressively more authoritarian and controlling under the situational pressures of traditional classrooms. From the perspective of narrative psychology our sense of self is constructed from meanings that we attach to critical early childhood events, the stories we tell about ourselves, and the way we habitually position ourselves towards others. This critical phenomenological study explored with preservice teachers the ways in which the meanings they attached to early childhood events influence who they become as teachers and how they relate to students. Fourteen preservice elementary school teachers selected from a teacher education program shared their life stories during an interview prior to a two-day orientation circle meeting at the beginning of their prepracticum semester. Participants met in two support circles meeting four times during the semester. The interviews and circle meetings were tape-recorded. The data were analyzed to identify their stories and the way they navigated the discourses of power in their narratives and any emerging cultural themes. The data from five of the participants were analyzed in detail using Stanton Wortham's tools to determine how they were positioning themselves within their narratives and in the storytelling event. All the participants identified critical early childhood events that influence how they construct themselves as students and teachers. They employed the same discipline practices that they experienced in early childhood. Binary opposites of culturally valued concepts were used in self-construction. Their narratives revealed multiple, interwoven, mutually supportive, conflicted and contradictory stories and clashing societal discourses as they struggled to become teachers in relation to students. Implications for teacher education included using circles along with written collaborative autobiographies and case studies of young students to identify and critically analyze the discourses that interpellate themselves and their students. Further research is required to follow students through two years of teaching. More diverse groups should be studied.

The purpose of this qualitative case study describes and analyzes the perspectives of five elementary classroom teachers using the application of movement in their classrooms and the learning through movement perspective of two children from each classroom. The study looked at the relationship between teachers' abilities to construct movement-based active learning experiences for their students, and how students responded to this method of learning. The research design involved in-depth interviews with five teachers and ten children beginning September 28, 2007 and ending in November 2007. The interviews were structured and unstructured, audio-recorded, transcribed and then coded. Three observations of each classroom were also audio-recorded, transcribed and additional reflections were notated in field notes. Each teacher and their selected students were treated as a case study in and of itself. Once each study was analyzed as a case, a cross-case analysis was used to develop a more sophisticated description. To increase trustworthiness and to minimize common threats to validity, triangulation, member checking, and peer debriefing were used by the researcher. The researcher discussed the findings as they related to the three research questions that guided the study's purpose: (1) To what extent do the selected teachers use movement to engage students in the active learning process? (2) To what extent can the selected teachers assess when the children derive meaning of classroom concepts using a movement-based active learning process? (3) To what extent do selected teachers change their teaching based on movement-based active learning? The data revealed that students were motivated to learn and were engaged when teachers provided movement-based active learning in a safe environment that embraced problem solving and allowed students to make choices. The data also revealed that the teachers were more aware of student's success or need for remediation when watching their movement, listening to their interactions, and asking facilitating questions. Finally, the teachers changed the way they taught when they have the desire, comfort, and understanding of the new teaching process. Each teacher in this study wanted to continue the use of movement-based active learning and find additional ways to use it in other curriculum areas.

The past decade brought dramatic increases in numbers of microcomputers available for use in schools with high expectations for their potential to improve education. Much of the current literature shows little change in spite of the potential. Successful implementation of technological innovations does not just happen. This is a study of the implementation of microcomputer activities for instruction in selected elementary schools in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection, essentially a case study approach with some tabulation, it attempts to describe and analyze how implementation is taking place. A survey of 41 computer using educators and 6 in-depth interviews provided the data. Analysis was based on implementation models defined by Anderson (1989), and Hall's (1989) Concerns Based Adoption Model (C-BAM) concepts to identify evidence of the models, examples of strategies and levels of success of various approaches used to provide sufficient hardware, software, training, technical assistance and time needed to get educators using the technology. The findings describe the roles of the people involved, conditions in their schools, perceptions of support, problems or concerns, suggestions for successful implementation strategies, and criteria for software selection. The data also show that many different staff members shared the responsibilities for computer related tasks. These educators had microcomputer hardware available to use in classrooms and computer labs. The most prevalent model identified is that of the Single Person. The interviews indicate that most schools had more than one model functioning at various times during the growth of the innovation. An analysis of problems or concerns revealed that most people were functioning at the Task Level, concerned with managing the innovation and its consequences for their students. More research needs to be done to understand and utilize the contribution of the Single Person Model and how to make it more effective for schools. Educators need to develop better methods to determine strategies which will move teachers to higher levels of use as well as to spread the innovation to more groups of teachers.

Numerous national reform reports have been written about the quality of teacher education. Improving the skills of beginning teachers has been a major area of concern to educators and legislators. In order to address the issues of improving teacher training, teacher performance and teacher retention, mentor teacher programs have been developed. Since beginning teachers have much to learn about the teaching/learning process, becoming a fully competent teacher can be facilitated during the early stages of professional development by a mentor teacher. Principals have played a critical part in this process. However, there is an absence of literature on their role in the induction of beginning teachers. The purposes of this study were to determine the impact the principal makes in sharing, advancing, and encouraging teacher leadership; as well as, to determine what mentor teachers felt were effective leadership strategies employed by their principals as teachers assumed a leadership role in their schools. The mentor teachers and principals of the sixteen schools who participated in a pilot mentor teacher program in a large urban district in Massachusetts were the subjects of this study. Fourteen principals and twenty-one mentor teachers completed questionnaires. In order to gain additional data and insights beyond the questionnaire responses, interviews were conducted with three of the fourteen principals. The researcher concluded: the pilot mentor teacher program functioned in isolation within many of the participating schools; principals were supportive of the concept that shared leadership can successfully contribute to enhanced training and preparation for new teachers; and mentor teachers did not positively view the contributions of their principals to the program. The support and involvement of the principal and a school climate conducive to schoolwide sharing and learning are important to the success of a mentor teacher program. Continued documentation of the effect of mentor teacher programs and the role of the principal will be essential as experienced teachers help new teachers improve the practice of teaching.

<p> Working in school settings can present school social workers, teachers, and counselors with multiple risk factors that increase their likelihood of experiencing burnout. Providing direct services to students on a regular basis can have a negative impact on their overall sense of well-being along with other factors associated with being employed as a social service provider. Promoting Resilient School Personnel project (PRSP) consists of a series of on-site mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) workshops aimed at providing school social workers, teachers, and counselors at a public school in Los Angeles County with the resources to understand and help prevent burnout, the opportunity to learn and practice different mindfulness-based techniques, and strategies to establish long term self-care habits that promote a high sense of well-being. A potential funder was identified, although actual funding and submission of this grant proposal were not requirements for the successful completion of this project.</p>

<p> Reading proficiently opens doors to college and career pathways. The success of children depends on this fundamental skill, yet students are failing to learn to read. This research investigated the relationship between teacher knowledge of phonemic awareness and the development of early literacy skills in kindergarten students. The study was conducted in a suburban school district of more than 20,000 students. This study sought to identify a kindergarten teacher profile linked to positive student achievement growth in phonemic awareness. Kindergarten student data was collected from 1,258 kindergarten students in 57 classrooms from 21 different elementary schools. Participants ranged between 5 and 7 years old who attended full-time kindergarten classes. The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS Next Edition, 2011) assessment was used to collect kindergarten student data on the First Sound Fluency measure. Kindergarten classroom teachers were assessed on their knowledge of phonemic awareness. The results of this study demonstrated a general lack of knowledge about phonemic awareness by kindergarten teachers, however, no clear kindergarten teacher profile correlated to student performance on the phonemic awareness measure. Findings may be useful when identifying effective instructional materials for teaching phonemic awareness to kindergarten students. A possible explanation for increased levels of student achievement may be the degree to which the kindergarten teacher utilized the provided phonemic awareness instructional materials. Recommendations for future studies include investigation into the relationship between the use of phonemic awareness instructional materials with fidelity and kindergarten student achievement. </p>

<p> Current population trends have revealed a huge influx of non-native English speaking students in the mainstream classroom across the United States. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore what mainstream teachers are doing to meet the academic needs of English Learners (ELs) in their classrooms on a daily basis. The researcher used semi-structured open-ended interview questions in order to gather data to answer five research questions; 1) How do teachers use data to plan for differentiated instruction? 2) How do teachers describe their experiences with differentiated instruction methods in planning reading lessons? 3) What processes do teachers go through when differentiating process, content and product during differentiated instruction? 4) What training do teachers receive to help them become effective at teaching EL students? 5) What challenges do teachers have when using differentiated instruction? Participants of the study were purposefully selected from a title one school in the Southeastern, United States with a high population of ELs. In order to be eligible to participate within the study teachers were required to teach either the third, fourth or fifth grade and have had at least 80% of their EL students meet expectations on the state mandated test in reading. The data analysis revealed six themes; 1) Collaboration 2) A huge inventory of research bases instructional strategies 3) Data-driven instruction 4) Well trained 5) Rigor 6) Learning community (7) Courage and Resilience Findings also suggested that differentiation of choice as well as interest is essential for creating an environment to meet the academic needs of ELs. Further perceptions included; using differentiation in the mainstream classroom was time- consuming, difficult to plan for, and often was met with a lack of resources. Even though, participants identified these challenges they felt that differentiated instruction was the only way to meet the academic needs of ELs. Recommendations for further study included broadening the research study to include classroom observations as well as teachers who are new to teaching ELs in the mainstream classroom setting. Further recommendations for qualitative studies included EL student perceptions of their successes and failures when participating differentiated instruction in the mainstream classroom.</p>

<p> This case study on Crellin Elementary School in Oakland, Maryland, examined the pedagogical practices of 7 teachers/administrator from the school. It examined implementation of placed-based education (PBE) using researcher observations and teachers&rsquo;/administrators&rsquo; narratives, two learning partners, and the former superintendent about the efficacy of the PBE learning model. This study also examined the commitment level of adopting critical pedagogies of place to meet the learning needs of students, many who come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Community members provided narratives of their connections to placed-based educational activities with Crellin and their insights on the impact on the community and the participating organization. The research study indicated that PBE can be a contributing factor in narrowing the achievement gap by focusing on the lower socioeconomic subgroup, using data from students who receive free and reduced-price lunch. Measurement tools included the Maryland State Assessment and Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers assessments scores between the years 2003 through 2010 and 2017. Other contributing factors determining the efficacy of PBE included leadership and sustainability and the number of highly qualified teachers, specifically at Crellin Elementary School. Benefits of PBE were also discussed, including teacher empowerment, community empowerment, and an enriched curriculum due to partnerships with academic experts. Recommendations included replication of a study on middle and high schools implementing the PBE learning model and its effects on student achievement. A recommendation was to track alumni student achievement including a longitudinal study of Crellin students&rsquo; academic performance through middle school and high school (e.g., Advanced Placement, Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career, SATs, and ACTs). </p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study is to chronicle the experiences of an elementary music educator incorporating composition and improvisation activities into her elementary general music curriculum. I interviewed a primary music specialist with the purpose of discovering her background in teaching music. The questions focused on the teacher&rsquo;s experience with music composition. After this interview, I observed the teacher in a third-grade general music composition lesson. I documented how the teacher approached the lesson and any steps she took to adapt the lesson to the needs of their students and her teaching style. </p><p> After the observation, I interviewed the teacher again to record her reactions to teaching the lesson. After coding the transcripts of the interviews and observation, four themes developed from the data: Personal Initiative, Teacher Reassurance, Student Engagement, and Teacher Improvement. The participant involved in this study received training in improvisation and reported that it had a positive effect on not only how she taught composition and improvisation, but also how comfortable she felt while teaching. As the training this teacher received was not through her teacher training program, her case may be unusual among experienced music teachers. Although this teacher was successful in teaching composition, her positive reactions to professional development indicate a desire for more training among in-service music education specialists. This study supports the idea that there is a need for more pre-service and in-service teacher training in how to teach younger students to compose. </p><p>