<p>Tidigare forskning har bland annat visat att barn som vistas i klassrum med bra kvalitet är mer engagerade och att ett bra emotionellt stöd från läraren bidrar positivt till barnets sociala anpassning och lärande. Klassrumskvalitet delas enligt CLASS upp i emotionellt stöd, klassrummets organisering, pedagogiskt stöd och barnens genomsnittliga engagemang. Syftet i denna uppsats är att ta reda på vilket av områdena; emotionellt stöd, klassrummets organisering och pedagogiskt stöd som starkast predicerar barnens genomsnittliga engagemang i. Observation valdes som metod och gjordes på 16 olika förskoleavdelningar fördelat på 4 olika förskolor. Resultatet visade att det emotionella stödet starkast predicerar barns genomsnittliga engagemang. Genom att studera klassrumskvaliteten och lära oss mer om den kan vi kanske också förbättra den.</p><p> </p>

Tidigare forskning har bland annat visat att barn som vistas i klassrum med bra kvalitet är mer engagerade och att ett bra emotionellt stöd från läraren bidrar positivt till barnets sociala anpassning och lärande. Klassrumskvalitet delas enligt CLASS upp i emotionellt stöd, klassrummets organisering, pedagogiskt stöd och barnens genomsnittliga engagemang. Syftet i denna uppsats är att ta reda på vilket av områdena; emotionellt stöd, klassrummets organisering och pedagogiskt stöd som starkast predicerar barnens genomsnittliga engagemang i. Observation valdes som metod och gjordes på 16 olika förskoleavdelningar fördelat på 4 olika förskolor. Resultatet visade att det emotionella stödet starkast predicerar barns genomsnittliga engagemang. Genom att studera klassrumskvaliteten och lära oss mer om den kan vi kanske också förbättra den.

This dissertation was designed to gain insight in the area of central office instructional leadership support from the perception of the high school principal. With increasing standards and high student performance expectations coupled with strict federal and state accountability measures, it is impossible for the high school principal to bear the sole responsibility of meeting the needs of their students, staff, and community without further support. Central office is a critical factor in school improvement. The primary aim of this study was to provide insight and a deep understanding how successful high school principals feel supported as the instructional leader specifically in the area of planning, coordinating, and evaluating teaching and the curriculum. The research was guided by a single overarching question: What are high school principal perceptions of support given to them by district central office administrators in the areas of planning, coordinating, and evaluating teaching and the curriculum? Qualitative research was selected for this study to allow for deep and thorough investigation of a small group of high school principals' beliefs regarding the central office administrator instructional leadership support. Interviews were conducted with six successful high school principals from three large school districts. The findings that emerged from the interviews were categorized into eight themes including: the school district focus; instructional leader toolbox; effective use of data; deployment of curriculum and instruction; quality professional development; collaboration; connections; and communication. A synthesis of participants' responses and prior research lead to three overall conclusions: setting high learning expectations; focusing on curriculum and instruction; and establishing district-campus partnerships. Campus principals need assistance in meeting the high standards and challenges they face today. District central office administrators can assist principals become the instructional leader all schools need. This study begins to fill the gap in the literature on how high school principals can be supported by district central office administrators in the areas of planning, coordinating, and evaluating of teaching and the curriculum.

The purpose of this mixed-methods study is to identify the primary factors that directly affect teacher efficacy within the classroom in the area of reading for teachers in grades kindergarten through 5. This study examined the role of the administrative team in shaping the teacher’s pedagogy and skill level, as well as identified the implications for leaders. Data gathered to inform the research were derived from teacher surveys, focus groups, and teacher observations. The research examined the relationship between the classroom teacher’s self-efficacy, professional development, instructional delivery, and instructional feedback within the school environment. The benefits of the research are to better understand the importance of instructional support, strategic professional development, and meaningful feedback in elementary education. Lastly, the benefit is to determine a correlation between the professional developer’s resources within the school/district professional training and its effect on the teacher’s instructional strategies. This study took place in an urban school system in Georgia. The surveys, observations, interviews, and focus group were administered at two public elementary school located in Georgia. These schools were located in an urban community and were both Title 1 schools, in which 99% of the student population qualified for free or reduced lunch. The researcher studied the impact that teacher’s efficacy has on the delivery of the Reading Common Core Standards. During the research, the researcher conducted a focus group and further explored the teacher’s perceptions towards their instructional support, professional development, and meaningful feedback. According to Bandura’s (1994) Self-Efficacy Theory, a teacher’s attitude, ability, and cognitive skills comprise what is known as the self-system. The independent variables affect the results are instructional support from administration, teacher feedback, resources, professional development, age, experience and the dependent factor is teacher efficacy in the delivery of Reading Common Core Georgia Performance Standards. In Bandura’s (1994) study, the self-system refers to the behaviors, reactions, and actions concerning the instructional practices and pedagogy of the teacher.

<p>Making mistakes is an inevitable part of mathematics learning and an essential aspect of teaching. The current study examined the patterns and key variations in teachers’ responses to children’s mistakes in kindergarten mathematics classrooms. I developed a coding scheme using both inductive and deductive approaches to document the discourse across a series of video-recorded mathematics lessons from a sample of 24 public school kindergarten teachers. Based on previous classroom observational studies, I first outlined four significant dimensions of teachers’ mistake-handling practices: (1) instructional support: the instructional strategies teachers use to elaborate on students’ mistakes and incorporate their mistakes into ongoing mathematics instructions, (2) emotional reactions: the valence of teachers’ affective reactions to students’ mistakes (i.e., positive, negative, or neutral), (3) locus of responsibility: the individual who is responsible for correcting the mistake, and (4) the nature of mistakes: teachers’ explicit communication about the causes, consequences, and value of making mistakes. Then, I followed an open-coding process to document emergent sub-categories related to each dimension. The study revealed distinct patterns of teachers’ mistake-related practices for the four major dimensions and the complexity of the teacher-child interaction surrounding mistakes. In addition, results indicated that teachers’ positive emotional reactions toward children’s mistakes were associated with their high-quality instructional support and adaptive statements regarding the nature of mistakes. The current study contributes to the understanding of adaptive strategies teachers could use to address children’s mistakes in mathematics classrooms.</p>

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TITLE: THE GENDER WAGE GAP OF CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES AT ILLINOIS PUBLIC FOUR-YEAR UNIVERSITIES

In the southwest region of Tennessee, a local Head Start program classroom assessment scoring system's (CLASS) scores fell in the lowest 10% among national Head Start programs in emotional and instructional support. Since 2012, the Office of Head Start has released reports showing that the average Head Start program has low performance CLASS emotional and instructional support scores. The purpose of this exploratory case study was to investigate the professional development of local Head Start teachers with low CLASS scores in emotional and instructional support. Knowles's adult learning theory of andragogy was the overall conceptual framework and the concentrated theory of this study was Mezirow's transformative learning theory. The key research question focused on how the professional development of Head Start teachers contributed to successful CLASS scores in emotional and instructional support as perceived by Head Start education specialists and teachers. Data collection methods included observations, previous CLASS scores, 2 focus group interviews of 5 teachers, and 1 focus group interview of 4 education specialists. NVivo 10 was used in detecting trends, ideas, and displaying connections from which the themes of coaching, mentoring, individual learning plans, and observations emerged. Findings showed that although viable professional development strategies were used, learning transfer activities were unsubstantiated. A professional development program was created to increase learning transfer into the classroom. An implication for positive social change could result in achieving maximum emotional and instructional CLASS scores in the Head Start community, providing the highest quality of services recognized by the Head Start Office.

The number of students with mental health challenges has increased significantly in public schools during the past 10 years. Despite school and community efforts many students remain underserved, specifically at-risk populations. At-risk youth are more likely to experience adverse life outcomes such as performing poorly in school, dropping out of school, acting violently, and facing higher instances of mental health challenges when compared to peers with fewer risk factors. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine specialized instructional support personnel’s attitudes and willingness to implement a change model, ISF, to support at-risk youth in the public school system. A secondary aim of this study was to answer the question of the attitudes of specialized instructional support personnel to provide insight for decision makers considering adopting this change model. The research question posed was: What are specialized instructional support personnel’s attitudes toward implementing a mental health change model, ISF, in their school district? This study also contributed to furthering the knowledge of a complex service delivery system intended to enhance student performance by identifying support structures that promote student wellness. The results of this study indicated the specialized instructional support personnel interviewed would be willing to support elements of the ISF.