Current Issues in Education (E-Journal, Arizona State University)
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Students' Commitment, Engagement and Locus of Control as Predictor of Academic Achievement at Higher Education Level
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to analyze Students Commitment, Engagement and Locus of Control as predictors of Academic Achievement at Higher Education Level. We used analytical model and conclusive research approach to conduct study and survey method for data collection. We selected 369 students using multistage sampling technique from three public sector general universities of the Punjab (Pakistan). We found 315 responses fit for data analysis. The researchers used three instruments namely Students Commitment Scale, Students Engagement Scale and Academic Locus of Control Scale for data collection through personal visits of the sampled universities. The researchers found significant impact of students commitment, students engagement and locus of control on academic achievement.
Change Is the Only Constant: Beginning Teacher Perceptions of Implementing the Common Core State Standards
No full textThis study explored the relationship between implementing the CCSS and beginning teacher attrition. This study is important for three related reasons: a) mandated reform has been linked to professional vulnerability (Day et al., 2005), b) vulnerability has been linked to diminished self-efficacy (Lasky, 2005), and c) diminished self-efficacy has been linked to teacher attrition (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2007). Semi-structured interviews with 3 elementary beginning teachers were analyzed to uncover key themes. Our participants said the change experienced was overwhelming. Findings may help policy-makers and teacher-leaders understand beginning teachers' experiences implementing reform in order to diminish rampant beginning teacher attrition
Blended Instruction: The Roaring Twenties Meets Coursesites
Get PDFThe action research study described in this report follows the design and implementation of a blended learning unit in a traditional English classroom. Twenty technical high school students in an 11th grade Honors English class engaged in a variety of internet-based activities in conjunction with traditional activities while studying The Great Gatsby. The instructor chose to use Coursesites.com for the learning management system, where students entered a virtual classroom to take surveys and quizzes; engaged in collaborative discussions in discussion forums, wikis, and blogs; and worked in collaborative online groups to create a final wiki or website. Use of internet resources, discussion forums, and other 21st century learning tools sparked new excitement for learning, and made an old favorite accessible to modern young minds
Transformational School Principal Leadership Behavior and Its Impact on School Climate
Get PDFDuring the last two decades, researchers and theorists have offered a variety of conceptual designs and empirical findings regarding school leadership conduct, as it relates to organizational climate concerns. As a supplement to the literature, this paper will examine the intentions, decisions, behaviors, and school outcomes associated with one senior high school principal who endeavored to recreate his school organization. The purpose of this paper is to further the understanding of how transformational leadership manifests in the school organization, and to determine how it impacts school climate. The studys findings may be beneficial for school leaders and scholars who wish to better understand the school transformation process
Assessment of a Reading Comprehension Instrument as It Relates to Cognitive Abilities as Defined by Bloom's Revised Taxonomy
Get PDFMore often than not, the assessment of literacy has focused upon how well readers attain various levels of reading comprehension or demonstrate proficiency with specific reading skills rather than reveal a readers cognitive abilities as reflected in conceptual frameworks such as Blooms Revised Taxonomy (Anderson, et al., 2001). Where tests of reading comprehension have classified test items by type for the purposes of item analysis, it usually is only by reading skill. The focus of this study is to change from this functional approach to one that examines how well, if at all, a test created in Malay, and translated into English, that was developed for primary and intermediate grade readers, may also be able to determine cognitive levels of understanding as described by Blooms Revised Taxonomy The Cognitive Dimension (Hashim et al., 2006). To accomplish this task, the raters evaluated the questions from both Malay tests using Blooms Revised Taxonomy of Cognitive Abilities. By using the Blooms Revised Taxonomy as a system of classification, the researchers were able to more accurately pinpoint the specific cognitive abilities being assessed by each test item. These findings suggested that classification by cognitive level allows one to measure specific cognitive abilities as defined by Blooms Revised Taxonomy. This is significant because Blooms Revised Taxonomy gives us objectives for classifying the learning, teaching and assessing of the cognitive dimension of thought that is central to instruction in most subject areas, and in relationship to our work in reading comprehension as an aspect of assessment of literacy in a way that differs from most current measures of reading comprehensio
The Other in Self: Acknowledging Complicity in Multicultural Education
Get PDFIn this essay, employing Bourdieu’s sociological theory, in particular, his concepts of reflexivity, symbolic violence, and materialist models of the subjects and Dubois’s construct of double consciousness, I discuss and analyze the dilemmas that I experience as a racial minority teacher educator in my effort to practice self- reflexivity in my own multicultural teacher education classrooms. In doing so, I demonstrate empirically the forceful and involuntary presence of the dominant Other that underwrite my consciousness demonstrating the danger involved in automatically assuming an insider status solely by one’s heritage. I attempt to show the power of unexamined beliefs that constrain multicultural teaching practices against the status quo and the importance of critically examining beliefs in changing teaching practices. My ultimate hope for this self-inquiry is that the result of this work could extend beyond self-improvement to impact and advance the scholarship of multicultural teaching and learning
Urban Community Schools: Educator Perceptions of the Effects of Children's Health and Wellness on Learning
Get PDFFindings from a participatory action-research project that brought together 11 individuals from five of Hartfords seven community schools to engage in a focus group discussion about the effects of childrens health and wellness on learning are presented. The researchers and key personnel from Hartford Public Schools and Achieve Hartford! co-constructed the inquiry. Issues identified as interfering with student learning clustered into themes that include students and family members mental, behavioral, nutritional, and domestic/neighborhood health. The results are being used to create a call for translational research proposals for University researchers to address these questions and disseminate findings to Hartford Public Schools and related community partners
Developing a Professional Learning Community among Preservice Teachers
Get PDFThis action research study examined the development of a professional learning community (PLC) among 20 preservice secondary teachers as they met regularly during a semester-long, field-based education course to share artifacts of learning from their professional portfolios. The PLC model described by Hord and Tobia (2012) served as a framework for the implementation of this collaborative approach. The findings indicated that some aspects of the preservice teachers’ PLCs worked well while others did not. The participants enjoyed meeting with classmates, offering emotional support, and sharing their experiences from the university course and cooperating teachers’ classes. However, they struggled with focusing attention on their high school students’ learning, selecting a PLC leader, managing their time, and offering constructive feedback to other group members. The results suggest that the Hord and Tobia model of PLCs is useful and deserves further consideration from teacher educators working with preservice teachers.  
College-Readiness Is Not One-Size-Fits-All
Get PDFThe purpose of this article is to provide a critical analysis of the one-size-fits-all college-readiness agenda that now guides curriculum and expectations in our nation’s secondary schools. Although President Obama, in 2010, emphasized the need for college- and career-readiness for all high school graduates, the emphasis is clearly on college-readiness, at the exclusion of other educational alternatives. College- and career-readiness may be the mantra for the 21st century, but politicians and educational leaders tend to lean heavily on college-readiness when curricular requirements are increased and accountability measures become more stringent, which tends to anchor academic-preparedness. In this article, educational policy reports, legislative acts, and scholarly journal articles were examined and discussed to illuminate the one-size-fits-all college-readiness agenda and explore the extent to which students should be college-ready. In the review of recent college- and career-readiness literature, the indication is that, in all likelihood, the one-size-fits-all college-readiness agenda is a dichotomous variable rather than a continuum, which would allow students to make more informed decisions about college goals and career aspirations
Investigating the Student Experiences of Mexican-American PK-12 Educators to Cultivate Authentic Latino Recruitment Strategies
Get PDFThis collective case study utilized a dual conceptual framework of Critical Race/Latino Critical Theory and Social Capital theory to examine the perceptions of PK-12 Latino educators (specifically, educators of Mexican-American descent) regarding their personal experiences as students in the PK-12 milieu, and how those perceptions impacted their consideration of education as a career. From the data, the following themes emerged: 1) the Role of Relational Support, with the subthemes of: a) Educators, b) Family, and c) Community; and 2) the Role of Institutional Support, with the subthemes of: a) Increased Student Expectations, b) Building Capacity, and c) Cultural and Socioeconomic Awareness and Validation. The implications of this inquiry could affect both K-12 institutions and higher education institutions as they analyze and subsequently modify or eliminate existing practices to infuse the support necessary to address the inverse growth of PK-12 Latino educators relative to the American population as a whole