The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of sensitivity of preservice elementary teachers to the language differences of Mexican American children in an oral reading task. The review of related research dealing with language attitudes toward nonstandard speech revealed that te

The Quebec Ministry of Education has implemented curriculum reforms that emphasize the integration of information technology into classroom teaching practices. Despite these efforts, however, many teachers appear to resist using computers in their classrooms. Some of these resistors are technologically literate! The purpose of this qualitative study is to better understand the reluctance of the technologically-literate teachers (with two to three years of experience) to integrate technology into their teaching practices. / The six teachers participating in this study completed questionnaires and were individually interviewed using an open-ended approach. The data were then analyzed using the Constant Comparative Method. The results showed that although the participants were using computers in their classrooms, they were not actually integrating technology as stipulated by the curriculum reforms. This was attributed to a number of factors, including personal limitations, job stability, lack of resources and funds, time, training, and curriculum issues.

The purpose of this thesis is to determine how to make archaeology more accessible to teachers and students as well as how best to relay realistic information about archaeology to students in a fun and engaging way while de-emphasizing the digging aspect of the discipline. There has been much discussion within the archaeological community as to whether simulated or school-yard digs are appropriate for students as they often walk away with the impression that archaeology equals digging. While many within the archaeological community agree that archaeology should be covered within the school curricula, most want the archaeological process involving method and theory emphasized. However, teachers are unfamiliar with the archaeological process and often focus on the digging aspect as it provides a hands-on learning experience for their students. / Department of Anthropology

The percentage of language and cultural minority students is increasing (Okagaki, 2006; U.S. Department of Education, 2010). This reality emphasizes the need for elementary school general education teachers to become knowledgeable about students’ backgrounds so that they can mold instruction to meet all students’ needs (Bennett, 2007; Spring, 2007; Whitcomb, 2003). There is, however, little research about elementary school general education teachers’ views and accommodations about heritage language maintenance (a.k.a. multicultural and multilingual inclusion) (Goldstein, 2003). The purpose of this study was to examine how teachers view heritage language learning and how teachers accommodate to students who have a heritage language background. A mixed methods study (n = 30) consisting of thirty surveys and ninety observations from general education teachers who taught in the 2010-2011 school year was used to examine elementary school general education teachers’ beliefs and accommodations about heritage language maintenance (HLM). Overall, the majority of teachers reported positive beliefs about HLM while exercising few accommodations in the classroom. Only teachers’ subject area of specialization, school corporation, teachers’ indication of HL strategies, and six accommodations were associated significantly with the positive beliefs and negative beliefs about HLM. The results from this study provide support for teachers’ input about accommodations and institutional support. The significant associations between area of specialization, six accommodations, and beliefs about HLM suggest mixed evidence and require further exploration for other intervening variables. Further investigation of findings indicates teachers’ actual practices and multicultural experiences cannot be predicted based on teachers’ expressed beliefs. Design issues like the instruments used, the sample size obtained, and the observation schedule implemented may affect the results. Longitudinal research is needed to explore other contextual factors that could impact the multi-conceptual relationship between beliefs and actual practice for further research. / Department of Educational Psychology

No description available.

This qualitative case study explored elementary teachers' perceptions of the role of the school librarian and the implementation of flexible scheduling and collaborative planning. Data collected consisted of field notes, audiotaping of formal interviews and planning sessions, weekly plan books, monthly calendars, questionnaires and the collection of student work. During formal data analysis, new questions began to emerge. These three questions then guided the process of data analysis. These questions were: (1) What are teachers' perceptions of the role of the school librarian as indicated through responses and actions? (2) What changes occurred in teachers' perceptions during the school year? and (3) What are teachers' issues and concerns about the implementation of flexible scheduling and collaborative planning? Four roles of the school librarian emerged from data analysis. These were: the resource role of the school librarian; the cooperative role of the school librarian; the transition from a cooperative to a collaborative role; and the collaborative role of the school librarian. In addition, seven categories were developed through the analysis of interviews and questionnaires. One category developed as several teachers expressed their concern in not having a regularly scheduled library time for students to check-out books. A few teachers also indicated the need for students to learn library skills. Within each of the seven categories, several issues also emerged. The findings of the study indicate there were numerous changes during the school year in teachers' perceptions related to the role of the school librarian. There were also ten implications which resulted from the study. One of these implications focused on professional development within schools and school districts. Professional development assists in the role of ownership and as Fullan (1991) states, ownership of something new is tantamount to real change. Through professional development, teachers and librarians can learn about the process of cooperative and collaborative planning together.

The problem of the present study was to determine the relationship between role-preferences of experienced elementary school teachers and their attitudes toward certain behavior problems of children.

The purpose of this study was to explore the variables of content knowledge, individual attitude, and span of time from initial training with regard to implementation of selected teaching practices in the elementary classroom. The sample consisted of thirty-two elementary classroom teachers who teach reading or mathematics in a large suburban school district in the Dallas Metropolitan Area. After completion of the second day's training in an inservice program on teaching strategies, the teachers were given a test to measure content knowledge of and attitude toward the teaching strategies. The test results were used in determining four groups for follow-up classroom observations four weeks and eight weeks after the in-service sessions. Using three-way analysis of variance, the data were analyzed. Results indicated that teachers with high content knowledge of the teaching strategies implemented these strategies to a greater degree than did teachers with low content knowledge. No significant relationship with regard to implementation was found for the variables of attitude or span of time. It can be concluded that teachers who know the content of inservice training are able to and do implement the training in their classrooms. Of equal significance is the conclusion that teachers who do not know the content do not demonstrate teaching skills which duplicate the training concepts. It can also be concluded that training of this type is beneficial to teachers regardless of their attitude, and that teachers who implement training will do so with knowledge of the content not affected by the factor of time. It is suggested that additional studies be conducted using these and other variables and combinations of variables which may have a relationship to the teachers' use of inservice training in the classroom.

Research has demonstrated that academic engagement is an important resource for students, promoting their learning and achievement. Less well documented is the possibility that students' classroom engagement may also be a valuable resource for their teachers, capable of influencing how teachers treat their students over time. The current study sought to examine the relationship between student motivation and teacher behavior to better understand how teachers perceive and respond to their students' classroom motivation and whether these motivational states contain diagnostic information about the types of supports students may need in order to be engaged, enthusiastic learners. The observable manifestations of motivation, engagement and disaffection, may contain valuable information about students' inner experiences that educators can use to optimize their teaching. Thus, the goal of the current study was to examine the reciprocal effects of student motivation on teachers' provision of support by using a longitudinal design, a more comprehensive assessment of behavioral and emotional engagement and disaffection, and a person-centered approach to investigate whether potential factors influencing the quality of students' classroom engagement can help inform more targeted intervention efforts. Data from 1018 3rd through 6th grade students and their teachers were used to create two sets of teacher-reported student motivation profiles, namely, a theory-driven and an empirically-derived set of profiles. Using both sets of profiles, the current study failed to provide evidence that student engagement and disaffection profiles influenced changes in the quality of support students' received from their teachers over the school year. The current study also examined whether knowledge of the motivation profile into which a student falls can tell us something meaningful about their unobservable, inner experiences or self-system processes (SSP's) such that we can use their profile to "diagnose" motivational issues stemming from these student inner experiences. Results indicated that, with one exception, students in different profiles did not report differential levels of the three SSP's; rather, if students in a given profile had low levels of one self-system process, they had low levels of all three. Finally, for two of the ten student motivation profiles, (At Risk and Checked-out) students in the high teacher support subgroup and the low teacher support subgroup experienced differential changes in their self-reported engagement from fall to spring such that the students who received the "treatment" (high levels of teacher support) started and ended higher than those who received low levels of teacher support, but also showed steeper declines over the year, because students with low teacher support started low and remained low (but did not lose any more ground) across the year. Discussion focuses on the utility and potential drawbacks of using person-centered approaches to examining student motivation and potential causes for the lack of supported hypotheses. Implications discuss the need for further research and how we can help teachers gain a more nuanced and differential view of their students' motivated actions and emotions in the classroom.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education