For students with learning disabilities, positive academic achievement outcomes are a chief area of concern for educators across the country. This achievement emphasis has become particularly important over the last several years because of the No Child Left Behind legislation. The content area of mathematics, especially in the higher order thinking arena of algebra, has been of particular concern for student progress. While most educational research in algebra has been targeted towards remedial efforts at the high school level, early intervention in the foundational skills of algebraic thinking at the elementary level needs consideration for students who would benefit from early exposure to algebraic ideas. A key aspect of students' instruction with algebraic concepts at any level is the degree and type of preparation their teachers have received with this content. Using a mixed methods design, the current researcher investigated the usage of the Developing Algebraic Literacy (DAL) framework with preservice special education teacher candidates in an integrated practicum and coursework experience. Multiple survey measures were given at pre-, mid-, and post- junctures to assess teacher candidates' attitudes about mathematics, feelings of efficacy when teaching mathematics, and content knowledge surrounding mathematics. An instructional knowledge exam and fidelity checks were completed to evaluate teacher candidates' acquisition and application of algebraic instructional skills. Focus groups, case studies, and final project analyses were used to discern descriptive information about teacher candidates' experience while engaging in work with the DAL framework. Results indicated an increase in preservice teachers' attitudes towards mathematics instruction, feelings of efficacy in teaching mathematics, and in the content knowledge surrounding mathematics instruction. Instructional knowledge also increased across preservice teacher candidates, but abilities to apply this knowledge varied across teacher candidates', based on their number of sessions working with students within their practicum site. Further findings indicate the desire of preservice teachers to increase the length and number of student sessions within the DAL experience, as well as the need for increased levels of instructional support to enhance their own experience. This study provides preliminary support for utilizing the DAL instructional framework within preservice teacher preparation experiences for future special educators.

Functional behavior assessment is a process that should involve all individuals that work closely with a student who is engaging in problematic behavior that impacts their own or others’ learning. General educators are typically involved in this process through indirect or descriptive assessments, such as collecting antecedent-behavior-consequence data (ABC). However, there are many factors that can impact a general educator’s ability to collect accurate ABC data. Inaccurate data can misinform appropriate responses and interventions for challenging behaviors made by a student’s decision-making team, such as an Individual Education Program (IEP) team. Therefore, it is critical that researchers empirically evaluate training interventions that can be used to provide instruction on this skill. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of behavioral skills training (BST), with video vignettes used for modeling and rehearsal, to train pre-service general educators how to collect accurate antecedent-behavior-consequence (ABC) data using a structured recording format via a single-case research design. This study also sought to program and assess generalization of the skill to a narrative format. This format is typically used in schools but often yields less reliable and more subjective data. Lastly, four administrations of a pre- and posttest were used to assess incidental learning of non-target information provided via instructive feedback. Results indicate BST was effective for training pre-service general educators to collect ABC data using a structured recording format. Participants were able to generalize the skill to a narrative recording format. Performance on non-target information posttests were variable across participants. These findings extend the literature on BST and highlight a way for researchers to facilitate generalization within the context of an experimental design.

This dissertation presents findings from a qualitative discourse analysis study of three pre-service teachers enrolled in the Urban Teacher Residency Partnership Program (UTRPP); a clinical teacher preparation setting at a major southeastern university. UTRPP is a full-time teacher preparation program that focuses on university student achievement through embedded coursework and provides preservice teachers (PSTs) with the opportunity to work with a content coach. Through coaching cycles, these PSTs work one-on-one with a literacy content coaches to enrich their teaching experiences and connect theory to practice through content coaching cycles. A content coaching cycle consists of a pre-conference, video-recorded observation of a teaching event, individualized video coding sessions of that teaching video, and post-conference reflections (Gelfuso & Dennis, 2014). In this study, I focus specifically on the PSTs’ literacy content coaching experiences. The purposeful support and unique structure of UTRPP provide a rich opportunity to study literacy teacher identity construction since PSTs are contracted as full-time teacher residents in urban schools and work one on one with a literacy professional to develop their literacy practices through coaching cycles. This research was guided by the following research question: In what ways do three PSTs develop literacy teacher identity? Data was only collected during literacy coaching cycles where literacy was explicitly taught, and not during any other content area coaching cycle or subsequent lesson reflection that was not literacy based. The findings showed evidence of: (a) the plurality of identity, in that each participant drew on multiple identity characteristics when reflecting on their literacy practice, (b) connections between participants core sense-of-self and literacy teacher characteristics, (c) participants deployment of front and backstage dramaturgy to conceal their beliefs and feelings from the literacy coach and children, and (d) connections to student-centered teaching practices. These findings offer insights into how PSTs construct their literacy teacher identities in both a clinical preparation program and through literacy content coaching.

This study was undertaken to selectively investigate pre-service primary teacher education in one of the Pacific island countries, and in particular to explore whether it provides an adequate and enriching professional preparation to beginning teachers with a view to satisfying the demands of work in the field. In doing so, the issue was examined in detail in a teacher education institution located in Fiji, namely, Lautoka Teachers College (LTC). An integration of qualitative and quantitative approaches was employed to explore if beginning teachers from the College are provided with appropriate professional preparation as future teachers. Using LTC as a case study, basic data gathering methods utilized questionnaire surveys, interviews and documentary analyses. Survey-based data were gathered from the beginning teachers to find out their perceptions of the pre-service program that they had completed. Data were also gathered from their Head Teachers to ascertain views on the beginning teachers' professional preparation for the demands of work in their schools. In addition, an interview-based approach explored the perceptions of not only the College staff but also the Ministry of Education officials with regard to the preparation of teachers in meeting the demands of work and responsibilities in the field. Documentary-based research was also used to explore matters associated with teacher preparation at LTC and to integrate the findings with the data obtained in the surveys and interviews. The study indicated that the beginning teachers were not adequately prepared for the demands of work and responsibilities expected of them as perceived by the profession and other stakeholders. A number of factors were found to be contributing to the perceived inadequacy of the professional preparation of beginning teachers. Lack of physical facilities and quality of educational resources together with an outdated curriculum contributed to this situation. At the same time, lack of support from the principal stakeholder in terms of staff professional development and funding was also cited as impacting upon the quality of pre-service teacher education provided to the beginning teachers. An important emergent issue emanating from the study relates to colonial influence on Fiji's education in general, and teacher education at LTC in particular. Some of the problems LTC grappled with were attributable to certain features of the formalised educational system introduced during the colonial era. These aspects, such as the inheritance of the system of educational administration and centralised control, constrained the College in attempting to fulfil its professional role in an appropriate and responsive manner. The administrative system and related context, delivery and assessment elements established in education during the colonial period have been retained and not attuned to contemporary Fiji needs despite the changing times. In overview terms, the presence of these aspects appeared to have impacted negatively on College's effective conduct of its professional role and responsibilities. Further, this study provides specific insights into the pre-service primary teacher education in Fiji, in particular the importance of having relevant policies and programs to ensure the provision of an adequate and enriching professional preparation for teachers to meet the range of work commitments in the field. The study concluded that a number of factors influence the professional preparation of future teachers and these need to be considered with a view to ensuring that teachers are able to meet the demands of their profession. Based on these findings, the study recommends ways and means to improve the pre-service primary teacher education at LTC, which in turn could be expected to enhance the professional preparation of teachers and their competence within the context of teaching in Fiji primary schools. Additionally, some possible areas for future research have been suggested.

Although practice teaching is a central component of teacher education, there are still a number of organizational and practical problems encountered which have attracted considerable research. For instance, the nature of the relationship among pre-service and cooperating teachers / how this relationship plays a role in shaping pre-service teachers&rsquo / learning to teach during practice teaching are issues we still know little about (Borg, 2011). In order to understand the interwoven relationship between experiences, intentions, beliefs and actions of pre-service language teachers, opportunities created for them to become conscious of the ways they perceive and act upon needs to be investigated in detail. The present research study is designed as a mixed method case study to examine the extent to which English as a Foreign Language (EFL) pre-service teachers&rsquo / (PTs&rsquo / ) sense of efficacy beliefs regarding classroom management, instructional strategies, and student engagement evolve throughout the practice teaching course in addition to the role of mentoring practices and the organization of the practice teaching course in shaping EFL pre-service teachers&rsquo / sense of efficacy beliefs. The main participant group of the study was composed of senior PTs (N=22) studying in the Department of Foreign Language Education, Middle East Technical University. The study involved a variety of data collection tools in order to gather data, Teachers&rsquo / Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) (Tschannen-Moran &amp / Woolfolk-Hoy, 2001) and Mentoring for Foreign Language Teaching (MEFLT) scale (Hudson, Nguyen &amp / Hudson, 2009), weekly reflective journals of the PTs, semi-structured face-to-face interviews and an open-ended survey. The results of the data analysis revealed that none of the dimensions of sense of efficacy beliefs of the PTs appeared to develop significantly after practice teaching / on the other hand, sense of efficacy beliefs regarding classroom management beliefs of the participant group significantly decreased at the end of the practice teaching. In addition, sense of efficacy beliefs regarding classroom management beliefs had a significant relationship with the Personal/Professional Attributes of the cooperating teachers (CTs). According to the content analysis of the data, the role of mentoring practices and the organization of the practice teaching course have an important role in sense of efficacy beliefs of the PTs. The data analysis framework acknowledges that there are other factors that also have an influence on the development of efficacy beliefs including the teaching situation, context and the role of other participants involved in practice teaching.

The purpose of this study was to investigate plane geometry problem solving strategies of pre-service elementary mathematics teachers in technology and paper-and-pencil environments after receiving an instruction with GeoGebra. Qualitative research strategies were used to investigate teacher candidates&lsquo / solution strategies. The data was collected and analyzed by means of a multiple case study design. The study was carried out with 7 pre-service elementary mathematics teachers. The main data sources were classroom observations and interviews. After receiving a three-week instructional period, the participants experienced data collection sessions during a week. The data was analyzed by using records of the interviews, answers to the instrument, and transcribing and examining observation records. Results revealed that the participants developed three solution strategies: algebraic, geometric and harmonic. They used mostly algebraic solutions in paper-and-pencil environment and v geometric ones in technology environment. It means that different environments contribute separately pre-service teachers&lsquo / mathematical problem solving abilities. Different from traditional environments, technology contributed students&lsquo / mathematical understanding by means of dynamic features. In addition, pre-service teachers saved time, developed alternative strategies, constructed the figures precisely, visualized them easily, and measured accurately and quickly. The participants faced some technical difficulties in using the software at the beginning of the study but they overcome most of them at the end of instructional period. The results of this study has useful implications for mathematics teachers to use technology during their problem solving activities as educational community encourages to use technology in teaching and learning of mathematics.

The purpose of this survey is to analyse the issues related to education of pre-service physics teachers in Turkey. After reviewing the related literature, the problems were grouped in three categories / (1) Problems occurred before entering Physics Teacher Education Program, (2) Problems occurred during Physics Teacher Education Program, and (3) Problems occurred after graduation from Physics Teacher Education Program. Three questionnaires / Pre-service Physics Teacher Questionnaire-1 (PPTQ-1), Pre-service Physics Teacher Questionnaire-2 (PPTQ-2), and Lecturers Questionnaire (LQ) were developed to get information about opinions of the pre-service physics teachers and the lecturers on problems of physics teacher education. The research was conducted on 245 the pre-service physics teachers in 5 years, 297 the pre-service physics teachers in 4+1.5 years, and 85 lecturers in Physics Teacher Education Programs in 2005-2006 spring semesters. The data obtained from the administration of the measuring instruments were analysed by using Ms-Excel and SPSS programs. Results of the statistical analyses indicated that the pre-service physics teachers and the lecturers think that / the pre-service physics teachers do not come to 5 years Physics Teacher Education Program willingly and consciously / characteristics which are important and necessary to be a good physics teacher can not be measured with university entrance exam / Physics Teacher Education Programs can not cause the pre-service teachers to gain the efficiencies in physics subject matter knowledge, general pedagogical knowledge, and general knowledge which are determined by Ministry of National Education completely / increasing the period of Physics Teacher Education Program do not supplement better qualified physics teachers in Turkey / quantity and quality of the lecturers in Physics Teacher Education Program are not sufficient / and Public Personnel Selection Exam can not measure whether the pre-service physics teachers have characteristics of a good physics teacher or not.

This study analyzes the kinds of beliefs pre-service elementary mathematics teachers hold about mathematical problem solving, and investigates whether, or not, gender and university attended have any significant effect on their problem solving beliefs. The sample of the present study consisted of 244 senior undergraduate students studying in Elementary Mathematics Teacher Education programs at 5 different universities located in Ankara, Bolu, and Samsun. Data were collected in spring semester of 2005-2006 academic years. Participants completed a survey composed of three parts as demographic information sheet, questionnaire items, and non-routine mathematics problems. The results of the study showed that in general the pre-service elementary mathematics teachers indicated positive beliefs about mathematical problem solving. However, they still had several traditional beliefs related to the importance of computational skills in mathematics education, and following predetermined sequence of steps while solving problems. Moreover, a number of pre-service teachers appeared to highly value problems that are directly related to the mathematics curriculum, and do not require spending too much time. Also, it was found that although the pre-service teachers theoretically appreciated the importance and role of the technology while solving problems, this belief was not apparent in their comments about non-routine problems. In addition to these, the present study indicated that female and male pre-service teachers did not differ in terms of their beliefs about mathematical problem solving. However, the pre-service teachers&rsquo / beliefs showed significant difference when the universities attended was concerned.

This study aimed at investigating the attitudes of English language teachers in Turkey toward computer technology and the extent to which they use technology in language instruction. The data were collected from a sample of English teachers working at public schools all throughout Turkey. In order to ensure triangulation and complementarity, mixed methods research was used combining both quantitative and qualitative research methods. A questionnaire and semi-structured, face-to-face interview were used in order to collect the data. Both descriptive and inferential statistics as well as content analysis were conducted so as to analyze the data. The results of the data analysis yielded positive findings regarding English teachers

This study aimed to investigate adaptation challenges of novice teachers in induction period, to analyze the variables influencing their adaptation, and to assess pre-service and in-service training in terms of preparing them for induction into teaching. Through a questionnaire, the data were collected from 465 novice teachers teaching in randomly selected 8 provinces of Turkey. The general results revealed that novice teachers had job-related concerns a little more often than the social concerns. The four most frequent adaptation challenges appeared as (1) workload, (2) social status and identity, (3) supervisor, and (4) classroom management challenges. Novice Teachers&rsquo / adaptation challenges differed in relation to age, subject area, university, faculty, practice teaching, existence of a mentor teacher in pre-service years, school type, grade level, amount of in-service training, and love of teaching profession. More than half of the participants perceived their pre-service and in-service training insufficient.