Current Issues in Education (E-Journal, Arizona State University)
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Large-Scale Implementation of the edTPA: Reflections upon Institutional Change in Action
Get PDFThis reflective case study highlights the challenges a teacher preparation unit faces as it develops in a conceptual model of institutional change the key roles, activities, and barriers to overcome in order to transform teacher preparation. For institutions preparing to engage with the edTPA implementation, guidance is offered, including: developing organizational structures to address technology, content, and communications needs; building a foundation for program and faculty readiness; and building assessment models around the edTPA to support program improvement, curriculum alignment, and faculty research. In the current educational climate, teacher preparation programs are challenged to evolve their practice and bring more valid and reliable assessments to teacher education. The national movement behind the edTPA is one example. Yet, the institutional change an edTPA implementation brings to each teacher preparation program is multifaceted and complex
Trend Analysis Techniques to Assist School Leaders in Making Critical Curriculum and Instruction Decisions
Get PDFAs educational needs of students change in response to changing demographics, economic factors, workforce needs, and school accountability requirements, school leaders must continually monitor and adjust curricula and associated methods of instructional delivery to increase student learning. The analysis of student performance data is a critical component of curriculum decision-making processes, and the purpose of this study is to demonstrate an application of trend analysis techniques in making curriculum and instruction decisions using historical student performance data. The techniques are demonstrated in relation to a real school problem and are transferrable to similar problems facing other schools. This study underscores the importance school leaders should place on analyzing data when making decisions related to curriculum and instruction. 
Conflicting Discourses: A First Grade Teacher's Perceptions of Teaching with a Scripted ELA Curriculum
Get PDFIn this article, a case study is presented of an urban first grade teachers perceptions of teaching English language arts (ELA) within a district-mandated scripted curriculum. The teacher was observed during fifteen sessions of whole-class, 90-minute reading over two months and was interviewed four times. All curricular materials were analyzed, including the commercial ELA curriculum and the school district-supplied Common Core State Standards materials. Qualitative analyses revealed that the teacher possessed three discourses, or distinctive ways of acting, interacting, valuing, feeling...thinking, and believing (Gee, 2011, p. 177) which she accessed in order to talk about her experiences. The teachers three discourses were: (1) an academic discourse derived from her Masters program; (2) a professional discourse that developed during her career; and (3) a personal discourse that came to be throughout her life. The teachers discourses remained compartmentalized and possible reasons are explored, with implications for administrators, policy makers, and teachers in similar situations
How do I get in? Criteria shaping the high school course recommendation process
Get PDFAcademic tracking is a common practice in American high schools. While its impact on the lives of teachers and students is well documented, few studies pay close attention to the criteria used to determine high school students’ academic trajectories or how teachers select and apply these criteria. This review, which examines the types of criteria guiding high school teachers’ course recommendation decisions, is organized into four parts. First, the literature search process is described and the terms tracking and ability grouping are defined. Second, the significance of course placement is addressed through an examination of the relationship between tracking and the opportunity gap. Third, research drawing attention to the meritocratic and non-meritocratic criteria guiding secondary teachers’ course recommendation decisions is examined. The review concludes by offering recommendations for making school-based course placement policies and the criteria driving teachers’ decisions more consistent and transparent
The Benefits of Standards-Based Grading: A Critical Evaluation of Modern Grading Practices
Get PDFThis paper explores the methodology and application of an assessment philosophy known as standards-based grading, via a critical comparison of standards-based grading to other assessment philosophies commonly employed at the elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels of education. Evidenced by examples of increased student engagement and more thorough comprehension of course materials, standards-based grading is illustrated as an effective replacement for conventional points-based grading. The analysis also identifies and responds to common issues and concerns inherent in the application of standards-based grading, and includes a review of relevant literature and research in support of standards-based grading as a progressive and successful alternative to more conventional assessment philosophies
Online Student Satisfaction: An Examination of Preference, Asynchronous Course Elements and Collaboration Among Online Students
Get PDFOnline courses provide students the opportunity and flexibility to attend college courses on their own schedule and within the comforts of their own home. While most enjoy the flexibility offered by this type of course delivery method and the quality between distance (online) and face-to-face courses being relatively equal, the question has been raised about the student satisfaction in online or hybrid courses (online courses containing synchronous elements). This paper seeks to explore student satisfaction toward online courses through the lens of preference to delivery method, the impact of asynchronous instruction on satisfaction and the role of rapport/ collaboration between students in an online environment. To fully understand the impact that these aspects have on student satisfaction, a survey was constructed and distributed to the entire student population of the Learning Technologies department at a public institution of higher learning in Texas. As an added dimension to the results obtained by the survey, interviews were held with a subsection of the survey participants to further explore the elements that impact their satisfaction towards online courses
The influence of an intensive and integrated place-based professional development program on teachers' views of the nature of science
Get PDFAppropriate views of the nature of science are vital to scientific literacy yet rarely taught in US schools primarily due to naïve NOS views held by teachers. Thus, most school teachers need further educational NOS experiences and instruction. Science education literature suggests teachers can learn NOS through both implicit (learning through doing) and explicit (precise utilization) professional development opportunities. Through an integrated field studies teacher professional development program (A River Runs Through It [ARRT]) we implemented both implicit and explicit NOS instruction to see if the combination of methods would improve NOS beliefs following the program. Results obtained from pre and post VNOS-C (see Appendix A) surveys show a modest post-test increase in teachers informed NOS views in all NOS aspects (except Inferential which remained the same), supporting the notion of using both implicit and explicit instruction in teaching the nature of science. In the context of a place-based, field oriented and naturally integrated watershed, our work offers insight into the value of using both implicit experiences and explicit instruction in the teaching of the nature of science for changing participant views of NOS. However, due to the large number of naïve post-test NOS views in Empirical, Theory vs. Law, Inferential, Scientific Method, and Tentative aspects we realize extended NOS experiences and instruction are necessary if science teacher educators expect to elicit dramatic and sustained change in teacher NOS beliefs. Our study demonstrates that the combination of implicit and explicit NOS instructional methods in teacher professional development programs could be a meaningful method of impacting teachers NOS beliefs as we saw an increase in all NOS aspects from pre to post with the exception of one area which remained the same
Secondary Pre-service Teachers' Perceptions of an Ideal Classroom Environment
Get PDFThe classroom environment can impact students’ motivation and engagement, and can influence students’ academic learning. In some cases, pre-service teachers’ influence on the classroom environment may not always be conducive for student learning. This exploratory study investigated pre-service teachers’ perceptions of an ideal classroom environment. Specifically, this study focused on the effect of a 16 week initial field experience, and the school level (High School or Middle School) of the field experience on secondary pre-service teachers’ perceptual changes of an ideal classroom environment. As a means of collecting data to address the focus of this study, the participants completed the Classroom Environment Scale (Form I) on three different occasions during the initial field experience. Results of the data analysis revealed that the participants’ perceptions of an ideal classroom environment remained consistent but were focused on attributes that contribute to a classroom environment conducive to academic success
Feasibility of Adopting English-Medium Instruction at Iranian Universities
Get PDFThis study was an attempt to explore the potential possibilities of implementing English as the medium of instruction (EMI) at Iranian universities. The sequential exploratory mixed methods design was used to collect the perspectives of both students and content-area lecturers at the state University of Bojnord through e-mail interviews and survey questionnaires developed by the researcher. The reliability of the survey questionnaire was 0.76 using Cronbach’s alpha. Six undergraduate students and six lecturers were purposively selected for the interviews. As for the survey questionnaire, stratified random sampling was used to proportionately select 344 students (320 undergraduate students and 24 postgraduate students) and 36 lecturers from the accessible population. The qualitative data from the interviews were content-analyzed based on the suggestions and guidelines by Creswell (2005), Krueger (2002), and Morgan and Krueger (1998). The quantitative data from the survey questionnaires were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results revealed that most of the students and lecturers approved and supported the potential implementation of EMI at Iranian universities. The findings of this study will assist higher education authorities in policy making
Teaching Cooking Skills to Young Women with Mild Intellectual Disability: The Effectiveness of Internet Websites
Get PDFThe purpose of this preliminary study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using streaming video websites to improve, maintain, and generalize the cooking (meal-making) skills of four young women (18-22 years old) diagnosed with intellectual disabilities. A pre-experimental design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a web-based multimedia program. Instruction consisted of supported viewing and imitation of cooking videos available online, with students searching for a video of the desired recipe, viewing it, and then imitating the video’s sequence of steps to complete the cooking task. Results were assessed by means of a questionnaire administered to each participant’s primary caregivers, and indicated that the structured use of the websites was effective in improving students’ meal-making skills. Implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed