The problem of this study was to determine and analyze the opinions of a large number of children and their teachers, in both the third and sixth grades of a large suburban school system, regarding the seriousness of forty-seven selected behaviors commonly observed in children.

The purpose of this study is three-fold: 1. To determine the types, causes, and effects of maladjustments found in elementary children. 2. To suggest means of helping maladjusted children adjust themselves to a complex life. 3. To leave data on file for future reference and the use of future elementary teachers who will be confronted with the problems of maladjusted children.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction / Jacqueline D. Spears / There is a growing concern that the number of students graduating with a STEM major in the U.S. is insufficient to fill the growing demand in STEM careers.  In order to fulfill that demand, it is important to increase student retention in STEM majors and also to attract more students to pursue careers in those areas.  Previous research has indicated that children start losing interest in science at the elementary level because science is taught with a focus on learning vocabulary and ideas rather than learning through inquiry-based techniques.  A factor that affects the quality of science education at the elementary level is the preparation of elementary teachers. Many elementary teachers feel unprepared to teach science because they lack adequate content knowledge as well as the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching the subject.  Previous studies of teacher preparation in science identified some areas with which pre-service teachers need assistance.  One of these areas is understanding children’s ideas of science. To address that issue, this dissertation investigates whether the use of an instructional approach that teaches physics phenomena along with an understanding of how children think about the physical phenomena promotes changes in students’ knowledge of children’s ideas and use of those ideas in instructional and assessment strategies.  Results indicated that students who were explicitly exposed to knowledge of children’s ideas more often incorporated those ideas into their own microteaching and demonstrated higher levels of sophistication of knowledge of children’s ideas, instructional strategies, and assessment strategies that incorporated those ideas.  This research explores an instructional model for blending physics content and pedagogical content knowledge.

The purpose of this study was to examine archival data collected from the administration of the Cultural Awareness and Belief Inventory (CABI) (Webb-Johnson & Carter, 2005) in an urban district located in the southwestern United States. Specifically, the study examined whether differences exist between Pre-K through second grade urban teachers' perceptions and third through fourth grade urban teachers' perceptions of cultural awareness and beliefs as measured by the CABI in one urban district. Of the respondents, 399 Pre-K through second grade teachers' perceptions and 219 third through fourth grade teachers' perceptions of eight factors were measured by the CABI. These factors included: A) Teacher Beliefs, B) School Climate, C) Culturally Responsive Classroom Management, D) Home and Community Support, E) Cultural Awareness, F) Curriculum and Instruction, G) Cultural Sensitivity and H) Teacher Efficacy (Roberts-Walter, 2007). Further, by comparing the perceptions of the Pre-K through second grade teachers and those of the third through fourth grade teachers, this study investigated the differences between the perceptions of the teachers held responsible for their students? test scores and those teachers employed in grades in which students are not given state-mandated tests. The difference between the Pre-K through second grade teachers' perceptions and the third through fourth grade teachers' perceptions were indicated in only one factor of the eight measured by the CABI. A difference in both groups' perceptions was determined in the factor, Cultural Sensitivity. The results indicated that the Pre-K through second grade teachers' were more culturally sensitive than the third through fourth grade teachers.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between urban teachers’ perceptions and their implementation of culturally responsive materials into the classroom. Specifically, this study examined the influences of age, years of teaching experience, level of education, professional development, and prior knowledge with culturally diverse populations on perceptions of implementing culturally responsive materials into urban elementary classrooms. Based on the results of this research, the variables of age, teaching experience, and professional development were found to affect how teachers value culturally responsive materials. This suggests that variables can have important ramifications for educators and administrators in urban and culturally diverse schools.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: Diana C. Rice, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Childhood education, Reading and Disability Services. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 12, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains x, 154 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF JENNIFER JENSEN PRUSACZYK, for the Doctor of Philosophy degree CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION, presented on APRIL 7, 2011, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: EPISTEMOLOGICAL CONNECTIONS TO PRE K-8 TEACHERS' DESCRIPTIONS OF GOOD TEACHING, GOOD STUDENT BEHAVIOR, AND TEACHING FOR UNDERSTANDING: A MIXED METHODS STUDY MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. D. John McIntyre A mixed methods study design was used to investigate the relationship between elementary teachers' epistemology, as measured by the Learning Context Questionnaire (Griffith & Chapman, 1982) and teachers' descriptions of good teaching, good student behaviors, and teaching for understanding. Teachers' (N = 36) descriptions were collected after they had participated in a three-year professional development program designed to assist teachers in listening to and using students' thinking. The descriptions were open coded, following the recommendations of Corbin and Strauss (1990). Each set of descriptions was coded independently. Nine emergent themes support study request one: List three things a [Pre] K- 8 teacher should do to teach mathematics for understanding. Eight emergent themes support study request two: List three things a good mathematics teacher usually does. Six emergent themes support study request three: List three things a good mathematics student usually does. This study is not a study of practice, but rather a study of the language used to describe something of value and the relationship of that language with personal epistemology. Findings indicate that based on teachers' descriptions, 75% of the teachers exhibit an awareness of reform based teaching strategies, 61% of the teachers exhibit an intention to provide reform based learning opportunities while only 44% of the teachers exhibit reform based expectations of students. Based on this sample, little support for the connection between epistemology and teachers' descriptions emerged. Furthermore, this sample exhibited no connection between general epistemology and years of teaching experience. The observation that some teachers exhibit a higher Measure of Coherence is an unexpected finding of this study and provides a foundation for future research.

This research explores pre-service teachers’ social studies learning, views of theme parks as pedagogy and other relevant experiences in relationship to the Disney curriculum.

This qualitative study inquired into the ways university-based teacher educators who taught in elementary grades had come to understand and describe their professional identity within the context of higher education. Additionally, the study explored their personal motives in becoming a teacher educator and the challenges and received support as they transitioned into higher education. Further, it investigated how their previous teaching experiences and identity were relevant to their new roles and identity as university-based teacher educators, and how they have come to understand their beliefs about teaching and learning within the context of higher education. This study followed a qualitative, narrative research design which explored the beginning experiences of four teacher educators who contributed data through standardized open-ended interviews and focused journal entries. As the respondents transitioned from their K-12 experiences into doctoral studies and teaching at the university, they were impacted by opportunities, challenges, support, and a shifting identity, the major themes of this study. The respondents used their teaching experiences, teaching philosophy, and aspects of their K-12 pedagogical practices to navigate their new roles and responsibilities as teacher educator. The results of the study’s analysis demonstrated the importance of providing more explicit training and mentoring for new university-based teacher educators in order to gain a deeper understanding of their roles and responsibilities in higher education. With that added layer of support, they would have more opportunity to acclimate and develop professionally within the university context.

Teaching is considered to be one of the most stressful occupations (Johnson et al., 2005). Not only is the profession highly stressful, it has the highest degree of career turnover of any profession (Ingersoll, 2001). Consistent stress can lead to burnout of the profession. McCarthy et al. (2009) noted that teacher burnout can be a result of inappropriate coping resources. The purpose of this study was to investigate the sources of stress, coping strategies, and learned coping strategies among expert elementary teachers. The sources of stress and coping strategies were examined using the Social Ecological Model which allowed for sources and coping strategies to be viewed from multiple levels: intrapersonal, interpersonal, institutional, community, and public policy. There were 7 expert elementary teachers who participated in this study. Data collection included interviews, observations, and documents. The data revealed 14 sources of stress. Similarities and differences existed across the teaching positions regarding their sources of stress at the 5 ecological levels. For example, 2 gifted teachers and 1 special education teacher reported a lack of knowledge/training as a source of stress classified at the intrapersonal level, and all 7 teachers reported negative student behaviors as a source of stress classified at the interpersonal level. The 3 most common coping strategies included creating a support network, adapting to the situation, and creating a home-like environment. The majority of the teachers learned their coping strategies from personal experiences and people and some learned strategies from professional development programs.