<p> What are the most effective coaching practices in the context of school-wide professional development? Teacher coaching is onsite professional development aimed at working with teachers with what they need most. Although coaching holds much promise, there is little agreement surrounding the role of the coach and what the coach should be doing in the context of school-wide professional development to make the greatest impact on teacher practices. The purpose of this study is to explore practices that contribute to a change in teacher instructional practices relating to four major components: (1) Leadership Team; (2) Whole School Coaching; (3) Group Coaching; (4) Teacher Coaching; to determine the relationship between these four components; to offer a comprehensive teacher coaching model. Due to the complex nature of change, this research is seated in the context of change variables such as environment, management, coaching styles, and change theory.</p>

<p> An online study was conducted to ascertain the potential of two independent variables, teaching self-efficacy and critical thinking skill (via a self-efficacy survey and a critical thinking appraisal) to predict four aspects of professional engagement (via a teaching career aspirations survey) among 95 self-selected early-career K-12 teachers. A regression model was attempted across the four aspects of professional engagement surveyed: planned persistence (PP), professional development (PD), professional leadership (PL), and planned effort (PE). However the data violated regression assumptions, necessitating non-parametric analysis. Analyses using Kendall&rsquo;s tau showed a significant correlation between teaching self-efficacy and all four dependent variables (&tau;_PD = .34, <i>p</i> &lt; .01; &tau;_PL = .29, <i>p</i> &lt; .01; &tau;_PP = -.09, <i>p</i> &lt; .01; &tau;_PE = .41, <i>p</i> &lt; .01). Critical thinking did not show a significant relationship with professional engagement. Two post hoc studies investigated these results. Non-parametric analysis showed a significant relationship between critical thinking scores and the critical thinking appraisal completion time (&tau; = .15. <i>p</i> &lt; .05). <i>T</i> tests showed no significant differences between a sample (<i>n</i> = 27) of the main group (<i>N</i> = 95) and a retained group of participants who completed the surveys but did not complete the critical thinking appraisal (survey only group, <i>n</i> = 27). The significant relationship between teaching self-efficacy and career engagement in this study warrants further attention.</p>

<p> This study investigated the role of the school administrator in helping teachers to use instructional practices that led to improved student learning outcomes. The data indicated that teachers were comfortable learning from other teacher-leaders in the school. Teachers responded favorably to opportunities to participate in collegial observation and being provided specific feedback to stimulate growth. The study also confirmed that teachers looked to the school administrator to provide necessary resources and funding for professional development opportunities. Teachers need to be provided ongoing opportunities to learn and grow together through meaningful grade-level team meeting. </p><p> This study took place during the 2010&ndash;2011 school year, and investigated individually and collectively four initiatives: reorganizing grade-level team meetings to facilitate better coordination, collaboration, and peer consultation; gearing professional development opportunities toward proven learning strategies; engaging the teachers in reflective practices for self-improvement; and engaging the teachers in keeping professional growth logs. Teachers were asked to respond to a questionnaire created by the principal, to complete feedback forms as a follow up to each professional development workshop, and to evaluate the effectiveness of grade-level teams using a scoring guide. An analysis of MAP and Tungsten data, teacher created goals/outcomes, and walk-through data was used to evaluate student growth, as well. </p><p> A narrow focus on analyzing and using data to make instructional decisions had an impact on standardized test result. The instructional leaders were responsible for helping staff to understand and interpret data, create short-term and long-term goals, monitor the progress and celebrate success. </p><p> An underlying theme evolved during the study, encompassing the importance of the school leader to build positive relationships and lines of communication with the staff to guide them toward the improvement of instructional practices. </p>

The purpose of this study was to ascertain pre-service teachers' perceptions of the defining aspects of a mathematics methods course that aided in the development of a conceptual understanding of mathematics. These perceptions emerge from the narratives of four pre-service teachers in a mid-size metropolitan university in the southeastern part of the United States. Grounded in the theory of constructivism this study focuses on the educational experiences of pre-service teachers, as reported by pre-service teachers, creating a portrait of their journey. These pre-service teachers' learning experiences were based on national standards with a constructivist instructional approach and included field experience in a school environment. Analysis of the data revealed that pre-service teachers attributed their increase in conceptual understanding of mathematics to 'touching/doing activities' that required them to 'explain why'. Use of models and manipulatives aided in helping the pre-service teachers verify and justify their solutions to others, providing concrete items to use in explaining abstract concepts. Ultimately, requiring pre-service to explain their own thought processes, with and without manipulatives, aided them in developing a conceptual understanding of mathematics.

<p> Our nation faces a daunting challenge in assuring that we have a sufficient supply of well-educated, well-prepared teachers for our children. There presently exist several quality teacher preservice programs, nationally and internationally. Unfortunately, each institution varies greatly in its content and emphasis. </p><p> This research project examines a related, but often neglected, aspect of teacher success in the classroom: Are new teachers being given the content and experience that they need and desire? The results of qualitative anecdotal research find the answer to be an emphatic &ldquo;no.&rdquo; This project examines this question through a holistic approach that looks at teacher preparation through a variety of related topics. A few of these include credentialing and licensing practices, retention of teachers, teacher training programs, importance of teachers, and current challenges, to name a few.</p><p> The fact is that the success of our students is ultimately affected by the quality of the teachers that enter the classroom. It&rsquo;s the purpose of this study to raise the question of what our new teachers feel they need to be successful and whether or not those needs are being fulfilled.</p>

<p> The debate over the effective preparation of pre-service teachers is not new. Often this debate concerns what might be considered successful methods for all pre-service teachers. However, preparation for career and technical education (CTE) teachers could look quite different than that of academic teachers, whether they are prepared through traditional or alternative routes to education. In this qualitative study, the researcher examined two iterations of the alternative-route program designed to prepare new CTE teachers in Mississippi and considered the level of self-efficacy of the teacher participants, the perceived effectiveness of the specific elements of each program, and the perceived significance of teacher/administrator and teacher/mentor relationships. The results of this study indicate that participants in the most recent iteration of the alternative-route program have a higher level of self-efficacy in teaching. The study also found that the specific elements of the newer version of the program are perceived as more relevant than those of the older version of the program and that teacher/administrator and teacher/mentor relationships play a key role in self-efficacy and job satisfaction among new CTE teachers. The results of this study also revealed that new CTE teachers desire opportunities to grow their pedagogical content knowledge by interacting and learning from veteran teachers in their respective content areas. Additionally, some of the more effective teachers who participated in this study rated themselves lower than their less effective colleagues on a self-efficacy survey and vice versa, indicating the presence of the Dunning-Kruger effect, which posits that, when an individual is unskilled in a certain task, they not only make poor choices in that area but also lack the metacognitive ability to realize it.</p>

<p> Each year, a growing number of K&ndash;12 students participate in some form of online instruction (Watson et. al, 2015). This transition to online learning environments raises questions about the design and distribution of curricula in K-12 educational systems. This dissertation explored the perceptions of K-12 online educators regarding the significance and challenges associated with teaching social and emotional learning (SEL) and character education skills in online learning environments. The SEL related efforts of current online instructors are compared to the best practices in character education and SEL known to be effective in traditional classroom settings. A mixed-methods approach of using a questionnaire to gather data and then conducting interviews was employed. Seventy-one K-12 online educators responded to the questionnaire with a smaller group of six participating in follow-up interviews. The ethics of care (Noddings, 2005) and social responsibility (May, 1996; Dewey, 2009) provided the theoretical lens for this study. Additionally, the Social Development Model (Hawkins &amp; Weis, 1985; Catalano &amp; Hawkins, 1996) was used as an analysis tool to gauge whether the online educators&rsquo; purported integration of social and emotional learning and character education met what the Social Development Model proposes is necessary to develop prosocial behaviors. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.)</p>

Thesis advisor: Maria Estela Brisk / This mixed methods research study examined the impact of an intervention designed to prepare mainstream secondary teacher candidates to identify and teach features of Academic English. The intervention was intended to develop Disciplinary Linguistic Knowledge (Turkan, deOliveira, Phelps, and Lee, 2014) through engagement in several tasks for preparing linguistically responsive teachers (Lucas and Villegas, 2013). Pre-tests, post-tests, and artifacts created by teacher candidates in their fieldwork placements, as well as observations of a small group of teacher candidates teaching in their placement classrooms and interviews with these participants, were collected in order to analyze the effect that the intervention had on the teacher candidates’ identification of features of AE and their planning and implementation of instruction in these features. While the teacher candidates accurately identified features of AE on the post-tests and in the artifacts, only a small number of participants planned or implemented instruction in features of AE in their lessons. The experiences of the participants in the small group illustrated that teacher candidates need, in addition to the ability to identify features of Academic English, knowledge about how to teach these features, a commitment to teaching language in their lessons, and the support of supervisors and cooperating teachers who possess the same knowledge and commitment. The findings suggest that teacher education programs should engage both teacher candidates and the individuals who guide the planning and teaching of lessons in their pre-practicum experiences in developing the essential knowledge of and commitment to teaching Academic English in mainstream content area classrooms. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

<p> The purpose for this study was to add to the current research on the perceptions of superintendent preparation programs within Pennsylvania by examining how participants felt their preparation program prepared them for their current role as a superintendent, assistant superintendent, or assistant to the superintendent. One of the school board&rsquo;s most important responsibilities is selecting a superintendent who is prepared for the position. A superintendent is the top administrative position within a school district with roles and responsibilities that have evolved and changed over time. </p><p> With these various responsibilities, changes in preparation programs must occur in order to prepare qualified candidates for this role. Studies have occurred around the topic of superintendent preparation programs; however, no studies have been conducted examining superintendents&rsquo; perceptions of the preparation programs within Pennsylvania. </p><p> This study used a mixed-method sequential design to answer the four research questions utilizing a survey and an interview. The survey was used to examine how the participants perceive how their superintendent training program prepared them to perform their daily responsibilities as a superintendent, assistant superintendent, or assistant to the superintendent. For the qualitative component of the study, participants were chosen purposefully from those who completed the survey to participate in an interview. Three individuals from each position participated in the interview process.</p><p>

<p> School districts have spent millions on technology tools and trainings. Yet, half of teachers still feel unprepared to utilize technology in the classroom. The primary barrier to technology has shifted to teacher belief&mdash;composed of teaching philosophy, technology skills, and experience with technology. Technology-based professional development must integrate a theoretical framework which directly addresses the role of technology in order to fully support teacher technology integration. Moreover, technology-based professional development requires new models to counteract the focus on skills acquisition. The researcher used the TPACK (Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge) framework&mdash; conceptualizing instruction as a blending of technology, pedagogy, and content- to support participants in evaluating their own practice. Additionally, the researcher investigated supplemental supports for professional development, modeling and mentoring, on technology integration. The researcher used the Technology Integration Assessment Rubric (TIAR), based on the TPACK framework, to measure changes in technology integration. Comparison of pretest and posttest TIAR scores found TPACK-based professional development raised TIAR scores by 0.37 (<i>SE</i> = 0.051, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001). Analysis of the mean posttest TIAR scores for the supplemental supports showed mentoring (<i>M</i> = 2.47), modeling (<i>M</i> = 2.29), and modeling and mentoring (<i>M</i> = 2.27) scored higher than the control group (<i>M</i> = 2.17), but were not statistically significant. Based on the results, the researcher asserts the need for theory-based support for technology integration and school districts to incorporate TPACK into the core principles guiding instructional technology departments. Further research is needed regarding the evolution of diverse models for professional development.</p><p>