In 2003, the Government of Canada embarked on an ambitious initiative to double the number of young Canadians proficient in both official languages, English and French, by 2013 (Genesee, 2007). The increase in the number of students enrolled in French immersion classrooms has materialized into a simultaneous increase in the variety of learning styles, range of academic achievements, and types of reading difficulties being experienced by students (Mannavaryaryan, 2002). Therefore, school systems and educators now need to explore new instructional strategies to address these additional challenges present in French immersion classrooms across Canada. However, educators are being bombarded with program publishers making claims that their type of learning method or style will increase student achievement (Genesee, 2007).<p> Students in the early literacy stages in French immersion programs, kindergarten up to and including Grade eight, must be able to read and comprehend increasingly complex content in French as they progress from year to year (Bournot-Trites, 2008; Deacon, Wade-Woolley, & Kelly, 2006). Teachers need to be able to identify students who may be at risk for reading difficulties as early as possible in order to provide these students with additional supports (Bournot-Trites, 2008; Genesee, 2007).<p> For a certain percentage of students, early literacy learning can be challenging enough in their first language let alone in a second one (Fisher & Stoner, 2004). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore: (1) the methods and strategies that Saskatchewan French immersion teachers are currently employing in their K-8 classrooms; and (2) the interventions they use to assist students having difficulty with the acquisition of reading in French immersion. One hundred and twelve elementary French immersion educators from ten out of the eighteen Saskatchewan school divisions, who have French immersion schools, participated in this study. The teachers completed the French Immersion Teacher Survey (FITS) on-line via the SurveyMonkey (2010) website. Out of the 112 respondents, 95 educators (85%) completed the survey. Seventeen surveys were started, but not completed.<p> Educators rated the amount of instructional time they devoted to seven different components or activities (independent/silent reading, shared reading, paired reading, guided reading, teaching reading with music, making words, and computer software programs) within their French reading and language arts programs on a scale of a lot to none (see Figure 3). Fifty-two (54.7%) teachers spend a moderate amount of time on shared reading as an instructional strategy to teach reading in French immersion and three (3.2%) spend a lot of time using computer software programs with their students.<p> Educators rated the effectiveness of the seven different components or activities (independent/silent reading, shared reading, paired reading, guided reading, teaching reading with music, making words, and computer software programs) as effective reading strategies to use with students who are have difficulties with the acquisition of reading in French on a scale from: very effective to not at all effective (see Figure 4). The majority of Saskatchewan French immersion educators (63 or 66.3%) rated guided reading as the most effective instructional strategy to teach reading to their students who are struggling with the acquisition of reading in French, and 38 (40.4%) rated independent or silent reading as a mildly effective strategy.<p> A teachers selected reading instructional strategies and methods are influenced by many factors: (1) the workshop, (2) the district curriculum policy, (3) teacher implementation of targeted reading strategies, (4) teachers perceptions of their own instructional efficacy, and (5) teachers perceptions of students academic needs and performance (Nichols et al., 2005). After reviewing the results of the FITS, perhaps educators will be better informed on what reading methods and strategies the majority of Saskatchewan teachers are currently using in their classrooms to assist their students with the acquisition of reading in French immersion.

In 2003, the Government of Canada embarked on an ambitious initiative to double the number of young Canadians proficient in both official languages, English and French, by 2013 (Genesee, 2007). The increase in the number of students enrolled in French immersion classrooms has materialized into a simultaneous increase in the variety of learning styles, range of academic achievements, and types of reading difficulties being experienced by students (Mannavaryaryan, 2002). Therefore, school systems and educators now need to explore new instructional strategies to address these additional challenges present in French immersion classrooms across Canada. However, educators are being bombarded with program publishers making claims that their type of learning method or style will increase student achievement (Genesee, 2007).<p> Students in the early literacy stages in French immersion programs, kindergarten up to and including Grade eight, must be able to read and comprehend increasingly complex content in French as they progress from year to year (Bournot-Trites, 2008; Deacon, Wade-Woolley, & Kelly, 2006). Teachers need to be able to identify students who may be at risk for reading difficulties as early as possible in order to provide these students with additional supports (Bournot-Trites, 2008; Genesee, 2007).<p> For a certain percentage of students, early literacy learning can be challenging enough in their first language let alone in a second one (Fisher & Stoner, 2004). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore: (1) the methods and strategies that Saskatchewan French immersion teachers are currently employing in their K-8 classrooms; and (2) the interventions they use to assist students having difficulty with the acquisition of reading in French immersion. One hundred and twelve elementary French immersion educators from ten out of the eighteen Saskatchewan school divisions, who have French immersion schools, participated in this study. The teachers completed the French Immersion Teacher Survey (FITS) on-line via the SurveyMonkey (2010) website. Out of the 112 respondents, 95 educators (85%) completed the survey. Seventeen surveys were started, but not completed.<p> Educators rated the amount of instructional time they devoted to seven different components or activities (independent/silent reading, shared reading, paired reading, guided reading, teaching reading with music, making words, and computer software programs) within their French reading and language arts programs on a scale of a lot to none (see Figure 3). Fifty-two (54.7%) teachers spend a moderate amount of time on shared reading as an instructional strategy to teach reading in French immersion and three (3.2%) spend a lot of time using computer software programs with their students.<p> Educators rated the effectiveness of the seven different components or activities (independent/silent reading, shared reading, paired reading, guided reading, teaching reading with music, making words, and computer software programs) as effective reading strategies to use with students who are have difficulties with the acquisition of reading in French on a scale from: very effective to not at all effective (see Figure 4). The majority of Saskatchewan French immersion educators (63 or 66.3%) rated guided reading as the most effective instructional strategy to teach reading to their students who are struggling with the acquisition of reading in French, and 38 (40.4%) rated independent or silent reading as a mildly effective strategy.<p> A teachers selected reading instructional strategies and methods are influenced by many factors: (1) the workshop, (2) the district curriculum policy, (3) teacher implementation of targeted reading strategies, (4) teachers perceptions of their own instructional efficacy, and (5) teachers perceptions of students academic needs and performance (Nichols et al., 2005). After reviewing the results of the FITS, perhaps educators will be better informed on what reading methods and strategies the majority of Saskatchewan teachers are currently using in their classrooms to assist their students with the acquisition of reading in French immersion.

The climate of a school can be defined as the set of internal characteristics that distinguishes one school from another and influences the behavior of its members (Hoy & Hannum, 1997). Schools with a positive climate have been shown to positively impact students (Hoy, 1972). A principal’s leadership style influences the climate that, in turn, impacts student performance. In this work, the researcher investigated Miami-Dade County Public Schools in order to determine if there was a relationship between instructional staff members’ perceptions of their school’s principals, a derivative of the district’s school climate studies, and their schools’ grades. Eight School Climate Survey items were inter-correlated. The smallest intercorrelation was .83, which is still a large intercorrelation, and the largest intercorrelation was .96. Pearson’s correlation analysis (Healey, 2004) was run to determine the relationship between schools’ earned points and averaged survey responses. Survey items 8, 9, 12 and 13 had weak (less than .30) positive correlations to schools’ earned points. Survey items 7, 10, 11 and 14 had moderate (above .30) positive correlations to schools’ earned points. The researcher created a composite variable (Pallant, 2007) from all the School Climate Survey responses. This composite variable, titled Principal Leadership Score, allowed the researcher to determine that approximately 9% of the variance in the points earned by schools in 2009 can be accounted for by how teachers in this study perceived the leadership of their principals. This study’s findings of a moderate positive correlation between teachers’ perceptions of principal leadership and school performance supports earlier research linking school climate and school performance. Due to the fact that the leadership of the principal affects, either positively or negatively, the learning and working environment of students and teachers, it is recommended that principals use the eight School Climate Survey items examined within this study as guides (Pepper & Thomas, 2002). Through focusing on these survey items, principals may be propelled to self-identify their leadership strengths as well as leadership weaknesses.

The diploma thesis deals with evaluation of subjective well-being of elementary school teachers with use of anchoring vignettes. General goal of the thesis is to research actual subjective well-being of teachers and find out what factors are affecting it. Theoretical part characterizes subjective well-being and its components, its interconnection with life satisfaction, quality of life and happiness. Theoretical part also consists of explanation of the anchoring vignettes method including description of its application in particular researches. Empirical part of the thesis uses an existing survey method called Diener's satisfaction with life scale supplemented by anchoring vignettes. The research refers to high level of subjective well-being among teachers. Some variables (eg. family status, work in city or village) which make differences between levels of satisfaction were found. Application of anchoring vignettes method confirmed results of self-assessing questions in most cases. Keywords: subjective well-being, life satisfaction, quality of life, anchoring vignette, teacher survey

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The purpose of this study was to determine teachers’ perceptions of the relationship of the Katy Management of Automated Curriculum (KMAC) system developed by Katy ISD in Katy, Texas, on planning for learning, delivery of instruction and evaluation of student learning in the classroom. KMAC is a customized, proprietary networked technology curriculum management system created for online access to curriculum and the creation and sharing of lesson plans. Data was collected from 635 teachers district-wide through an online survey. This data was used to determine whether there were differences between/among teachers and teacher leaders and between/among elementary, junior high and high school teachers in their perceived impact of the KMAC on planning for learning, delivery of instruction and evaluation of student learning. Regarding planning for learning, teachers were found to have a moderately positive perception of KMAC with teacher leaders being slightly more positive. In addition, statistically significant differences were found between grade levels with elementary teachers more positive than secondary teachers. Regarding delivery of instruction, teacher leaders again perceived a more positive relationship with KMAC than the teacher non-leaders. Statistically significant differences were also found between elementary and junior high, elementary and high school and between junior high and high school teachers, with elementary teachers being the most positive. Teachers were the least positive toward KMAC and the evaluation of student learning. While a statistically significant relationship was found in relationship to the grade level taught and evaluation, this area was admittedly weaker than the other two areas in district development and teachers’ perceptions. While the position of teacher leader seemed to impact the results in all categories, the grade level taught was found to have the greatest statistical impact on the teacher perceptions.