Unpredictability in expectations, resources and classroom demographics can be very demanding for teachers, particularly when they are trying to utilize effective instructional strategies. This study evaluates the association of the presence of teaching assistants (i.e., paraprofessionals) with teachers’ instructional decision-making process in the context of the demands placed on teachers by focusing on general education kindergarten and first grade teachers in a quantitative design. This study began to explore the predictive influences of the frequency of paid assistants in kindergarten and first grade classrooms on teachers’ instructional groupings and to explore the predictive influence of how prepared teachers feel to supervise assistants on their assistant’s instructional role. A sample 148 kindergarten and first grade teachers was obtained through a stratified random sample of small, medium, and large Florida school districts as well as a distribution of questionnaires through LISTSERVs (i.e., Facebook groups, professional organizations) across the United States. Data analyses for this study included descriptive statistics and correlations among all study variables as well as two multiple regressions. Findings from this study demonstrate that class size significantly predicts instructional grouping practices and frequency of a teaching assistant significantly predicts teaching assistant instructional task assignment. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester 2018. / January 26, 2018. / Includes bibliographical references. / Beth Phillips, Professor Directing Thesis; Sonia Cabell, Committee Member; Jeannine Turner, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_653418 |
| Contributors | Funari, Chelsea (author), Phillips, Beth M (professor directing thesis), Cabell, Sonia Q (committee member), Turner, Jeannine E (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Education (degree granting college), Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, master thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (131 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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