Although the benefits of school leader emotional intelligence are well-known, leadership preparation programs lack training in emotional intelligence, thus calling for reform (Darling-Hammond, LaPointe, Meyerson, Orr, & Cohen, 2007; Johnson, Aiken, & Steggerada, 2005; Guerra & Pazet, 2016; Mills, 2009; Wallace, 2010). Emotional intelligence competencies, such as empathy, self-awareness and motivation, are closely aligned with components of transformational leadership theory, including idealized influence, individualized consideration, and inspirational motivation (Kumar, 2014). Highlighting these connections can provide guidance in identifying significant components of emotional intelligence. This study examined teachers’ perceptions of school leaders’ emotional intelligence in order to identify critical components of emotional intelligence. This research utilized a qualitative phenomenological approach to address the research problem, and questions. A purposeful sampling technique was used to recruit teachers employed in public school districts in Louisiana. Consistent with phenomenological designs, semi-structured individual interviews were the primary method of data collection, along with document analysis. Transformational leadership theory and emotional intelligence provided a framework to guide the construction of methodological approaches, including: participants, data collection, data analysis and limitations. Four major themes emerged as a result of this study: 1) school leader social skills, 2) leadership styles, 3) authentic leader-teacher relationships, and 4) perceived benefits of school leader emotional skills.

Current educational leaders call for students to build his or her own mathematical understanding from experiences, coupled with feedback from peers, teachers, and themselves and gain a conceptual understanding of mathematics. Researchers agree that inquiry in the elementary mathematics classroom can help increase conceptual understanding. This case study focused on how elementary teachers define inquiry-based mathematics and implement it in their classrooms. Interviews, observations and lesson analysis were used to investigate what identities, relationships and activities look like in an elementary classroom that uses inquiry. All of the participants felt "problem solving" and "working collaboratively" were essential for inquiry but each teacher defined them differently. Questioning was also an important feature of inquiry according to the teachers. Professional development seemed to have a strong impact on why these teachers use inquiry in their classrooms. As far as the relationships necessary to teach using inquiry, teachers did not indicate that administrators’ nor peers’ support were necessary to continue using this type of pedagogy in their classrooms. The participants believed that including inquiry in mathematics was a best practice and continued to incorporate inquiry because they felt it allowed their students to gain a deeper understanding of mathematics. The local field of each teacher influenced the planning they did before the lesson and the activities they included in their inquiry instruction. The written plans of each participant differed greatly. The requirements of the district had an effect on how much detail the participants included in their planning documents. Also, whether they were planning for their entire grade level or just themselves influenced how much detail was included. Another aspect of the mathematics classroom that was influenced by the local field was including a software program, which is expected to be a part of students’ daily mathematics instruction. The various ways inquiry is carried out and how the local field influences this is important for educators at all levels to understand. This study has implications for teachers, administrators and teacher educators. Inquiry means a variety of things to elementary teachers within this study. If mathematics educator leaders, teachers and administrators want to infuse more inquiry into the classroom, the many ways it is carried out needs to be understood.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of cooperative learning on preservice elementary teachers’ interest in, and the application of music into, core academic subject lesson plans. Participants (N = 59) were preservice elementary teachers enrolled in four class sections of a music method course designed for elementary education majors at a large southern university. All members participating in the study were placed by section for eight weeks in one of two groups-an individualistic learning group or cooperative learning group. During the first 6 weeks of the study, participants worked on the Music Integration Project. The purpose of the project was to develop academic lesson plans with the integration of music. Each Music Integration Project consisted of a: (a) title page, (b) table of contents, (c) a rationale citing 2 primary sources, and (d) 10 lesson plans integrating music into core subject lesson plans. At the conclusion of the 6 weeks, participants turned in their projects, which were scored by the primary investigator using the Music Integration Project Rubrics developed by the researcher. The Integrated Music Project Rubrics consisted of three sub-rubrics: (a) Organization Rubric, (b) Rationale Rubric, and (c) Lesson Plan Rubric. During the last two weeks of the study, all of the participants were videotaped teaching an integrated music lesson. Tapes were analyzed post-hoc and the participants’ scores were recorded by using the Integration of Music Observation Map. This Map assessed each of the participant’s microteaching on ten different criteria: (a) teacher, (b) pupils, (c) process, (d) element, (e) atmosphere, (f) purpose, (g) authenticity, (h) expression, (i) degree, and (j) range. Participants also completed a pre and post-Integrated Music Project Interest Survey. The independent variable used in this study was learning environment, cooperative learning and individualistic learning. The dependent variables were the participants’ scores on the Integrated Music Project Rubrics (organization, rationale, and lesson plan), scores from the Integration Music Observation Map, and scores from the pre/post interest survey. Interjudge reliability consisted of 20% of the scores from each learning groups’ Integrated Music Project and microteaching. Interjudge reliability was calculated as a Pearson product-moment correlation and found to be high with a range of r= .82 to .96. An alpha level of .05 was set for all tests of significance. Results from the Music Integration Project showed cooperative learning participants scoring statistically significantly higher on the organization rubric, lesson plan rubric, and total scores than participants in the individualistic learning group. For the microteaching component, participants in the cooperative learning environment scored statistically significantly higher on the Integration Music Observation Map in the areas of: (a) pupils, (b) atmosphere, (c) purpose, (d) authenticity, and (e) degree. On the pre and post Integrated Music Project Interest Survey, participants in the cooperative learning group rated all areas (attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction) statistically significantly higher than participants in the individualistic learning environment.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1997. / Title from title page screen, viewed June 30, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Paul J. Baker (chair), Dianne E. Ashby, R. Kay Moss, William C. Rau, Rodney P. Riegle. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-135) and abstract. Also available in print.

An increase in English Language Learners (ELLs) in public schools across the nation is forcing stakeholders to reexamine how teachers are being prepared to effectively teach culturally and linguistically diverse students. It is unclear to what extent inservice teachers feel prepared to work with ELLs and what factors impact their feelings of preparedness. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching ELLs, general teaching self-efficacy, and multicultural attitudes. The study also explored whether teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching ELLs could be explained by variables that include years of teaching experience, highest degree earned, perception of preparedness for teaching ELLs, and actual preparation for teaching ELLs. Two hundred twenty-three elementary teachers working in the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada, participated in this study. Data was collected using an online survey, which included two validated surveys, the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES; Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) and the Teacher Multicultural Attitude Survey (TMAS; Ponterotto, Baluch, Greig, & Rivera, 1998). A modified version of the TSES was included to measure teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching ELLs. Factor analysis was performed on the modified instrument. Three factors emerged from the factor analysis: self-efficacy in ELL classroom management, self-efficacy in ELL student motivation, and self-efficacy in ELL methods and strategies. Factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and path analysis were used in data analysis. Teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching ELLs and general teaching self-efficacy were found to be strongly correlated. However, multicultural attitude was not found to moderate this correlation. Of the four demographic and background variables, only perception of preparedness for teaching ELLs was found to be a statistically significant predictor. This study highlights important factors that need to be considered when preparing teachers to teach ELLs. The results of this study may help administrators understand how to prepare and support both preservice and inservice teachers to improve the learning outcomes for ELLs and, in turn, close the achievement gap between ELLs and their non-ELL counterparts.

This paper examines the curricular intersection of social studies teacher education with Pinar’s (2012) seminal currere process. Woven together in an undergraduate elementary methods course, currere inquiry served as a beginning, yet cogent lens to explore the nature of students’ social studies lived experiences, to interrogate normative and conventional views of teaching elementary social studies, and to begin to understand and challenge hegemonic narratives in the social studies curriculum and alternatively promote classroom experiences that are culturally responsive (Gay, 2002; Banks, 2007).

How do teachers respond to being told by the state what to teach? Whilst some suggest prescription can be instrumental in rapid system improvements, others believe that it has a deleterious effect on the profession. In this study, I firstly look at whether South Africa can be classified as a system increasing its levels of prescription and secondly consider how such an approach may affect teachers. Detailed investigation of policy documents finds that South African primary mathematics is an example of ‘unprescribed prescription’, typified by documents with hugely detailed teaching and learning practices but which are never made sufficiently mandatory. Studies of teachers’ responses to prescriptive educational reform are hindered by stereotypes, often based around teachers’ unwillingness to change. In-depth interviews allow the study to explore the positive and negative effects which teachers’ professional identities have upon decisions regarding policy reform. Equally, far from being passive in their reception of change, teachers displayed highly-ordered and well-reasoned viewpoints on how educational change should be successful. This allowed me to place teachers into four discrete categories according to their response to prescription and the implications of these categories for policy makers are put forward.

Learning how to plan for effective instruction is a critical part of the work performed daily by the elementary school teacher. While some new and struggling teachers in urban school districts have access to professional development on a variety of topics including instructional planning, teachers in rural school districts often struggle to find training opportunities. This study sought to gather information and insight from rural teachers who demonstrate expert instructional planning. The specific planning decisions they made and activities they engaged in while planning were studied. Not only were the planning practices identified, but the reasons said practices were employed were investigated. Five expert elementary school teachers employed in a remote Utah school district served as the cases for this qualitative research. Observations, lesson plan documentation, and interview data were collected and analyzed. It was found that the expert rural elementary school teachers spent the majority of their planning time thinking about curriculum goals, learning objectives, and selecting appropriate resources. Very little thought was invested in how teachers would interact with students, how students would interact with each other, or how students would interact with their environment. This was because of a repertoire of teaching skills that could be used on an improvisational basis depending on how students responded. From this study, instructional leaders may gain insight into the thought processes behind successful planning and thus have new tools for working with novice teachers to improve their lesson planning.

This study analyzed elementary teachers’ perceptions of their challenges working with children who live in conditions of poverty. This study found that teachers often work with children from very difficult situations, including exposure to alcohol, drugs, violence, and abandonment. This study found that no matter the challenges teachers encounter daily, they remain motivated, dedicated and determined to take the necessary steps to meet the needs of their students. One way they do this is by using Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, which attempts to include various aspects of their students’ daily lives and interests in the curriculum. The teachers in this study were concerned about the number and frequency of mandated tests, which can take away from instructional time. However, this study also found that teachers valued formative assessments to help them meet their students where they are academically. All the teachers reported that establishing partnerships with stakeholders was important to obtain community support for their schools. Although children from a background of poverty will always present challenges, the teachers in this study remained committed to working with their students with respect and appreciation and to meet their personal and academic needs in moving these children towards academic success.

This study investigated three pre-service elementary teachers' understanding of fractions and fraction multiplication and division. The motivation for this study was lack of conceptual understanding of fractions and fraction multiplication and division. Pre-service elementary teachers were chosen because teachers are the conduit of information for their students. The subjects were followed through the fractions unit in a mathematics methods course for pre-service elementary teachers at Brigham Young University. Each subject volunteered to participate and were interviewed and videotaped throughout the study, and they also provided copies of all work done in the fractions unit in the course. The data is presented as three case studies, each beginning with a discussion of the subject's math history and prior understanding of fractions. Then the case studies discuss the subject's change in understanding of fractions, fraction multiplication, and fraction division. Finally, at the end of each case study, a discussion of the subject's conceptual understanding is discussed. Each participant showed a deepened conceptual understanding of fractions, fraction multiplication, and fraction division. The subjects' prior knowledge of fractions and fraction multiplication and division did affect their growth of understanding. Each participant had unique levels of growth and inhibitors to growth of understanding. At the times of most growth of understanding, the subjects' inhibitors of growth were also the most evident.