Current Issues in Education (E-Journal, Arizona State University)
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General Education Students' Changing Perceptions of Students with Special Needs
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Schools are becoming more inclusive and more students with special needs are accessing general education classrooms than ever. This action research study investigated general education students changing perceptions of students with special needs through the use of various interventions (e.g., classroom discussions, organized games, buddy reads, peer tutoring, etc.) over a four week period of time. This study was conducted in a second grade classroom setting. Two questionnaires were designed and administered to collect data about the participants’ perceptions of students with special needs during the four weeks of the study. The questionnaire responses were analyzed to determine if a shift toward more positive perceptions of students with special needs occurred. Results of the data analysis indicate that the general education students’ perceptions of students with special needs did improve, or evolve, as a result of the inventions employed in this study.  
Negotiating First Graders' Reading Stance: The Relationship Between Their Efferent and Aesthetic Connections and Their Reading Comprehension
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Due to changing demographics, our students are coming into schools with diverse life experiences, which do not always reflect the cultural reality of their schools. Given the research on the importance of using literature that is relevant to the students’ background, this study sought to explore how first grade urban students connect to literature that mirrored their personal experiences, but is not always considered appropriate material for classroom read-alouds. It was also of interest to determine how their reading stance, as measured by the type of connections students made, affected their comprehension of the story read. Results indicated that students who assumed an aesthetic stance while listening to the story, and made connections based on direct or vicarious personal experiences, scored higher on the comprehension measures.
 
Developing and Presenting a Teaching Persona: The Tensions of Secondary Preservice Teachers
Get PDFThis qualitative, multiple case study investigated the ways that three preservice secondary teachers developed, presented, and considered their teaching personae. Data for each participant consisted of three interviews, field observations of both teaching and non-teaching, data collection of lessons and class documents, and four journal reflections. Findings show that the participants experienced various tensions as they formed their teaching personae; as they navigated these tensions, they drew on discourses and ideas about good teaching and their various experiences, including the practicum experience. The nature of the interactions between the Cooperating Teacher and preservice teacher pairs contributed to the preservice teachers’ confidence in and understanding of their enacted personae. Implications of the research for teacher training programs include an increased need for reflection on persona and careful matching of CIs and student teachers. Suggestions for further research include investigating the effect of high-quality teacher education programs on persona development and the effects of personae on pupils.  
Multicultural School Climate Inventory
Get PDFThis paper presents the 22-item Multicultural School Climate Inventory (MSCI), a scale developed to measure students’ perceptions of the multicultural climate of their school. Survey questions were generated from a critical understanding of multicultural education, with attention to culturally and linguistically diverse school children. Through examination of school climate and multicultural literature, a definition of multicultural school climate was generated. 1511 students at a secondary school (grades 8-9) took the survey over a three year period. Grounded in literature, these questions were designed to address the needs of real students attending a specific secondary school. The MSCI proved to be such a helpful tool for examining and ultimately improving multicultural school climate from the perspective of diverse students that the authors share the instrument here, making it available to school faculty and scholars wishing to examine and thereafter improve multicultural school climate. Reliability coefficients and validity measures are reported for the scale, as well as for four subscales that emerged (Liking School, Educator-Student Relationships, Cultural Relevancy, and School Success). Findings suggests that the scale and subscales have high internal consistency and known-group construct validity. 
Misuse of High-Stakes Test Scores for Evaluative Purposes: Neglecting the Reality of Schools and Students
Get PDFThe article examines high-stakes test scores in Washington, DC that are used to evaluate school quality for AYP purposes. On the basis of analyses of school scores in terms of subpopulations and neighborhood income, it is found that there are, district-wide, significant correlations between test results and students’ economic status, special education status, and English language proficiency. Furthermore, there is evidence that schools with a majority of students considered to be economically disadvantaged experience more pervasive testing failure. These findings contradict the premise of NCLB that we ought to ignore differences in student factors when evaluating instructional quality. The article suggests that while test scores may provide useful information regarding a given school, they are not valid for accountability purposes.  
Learning from Myself: Avatars and Educational Video Games
Get PDFThis research explores which conditions for video game play are more effective in producing outcomes such as knowledge retained, involvement, behavioral intention, enjoyment, and self-efficacy. Additionally, given that identification with a model increases positive learning results and given the history of avatar use showing that people tend to idealize themselves in avatar form, expectations are that an ideal-self avatar would yield the greatest learning outcomes, followed by real-self avatar (both conditions that offer extreme identification), and lastly the third-party avatar. Self-efficacy was higher in the enactive condition. The ideal self condition resulted in the highest levels of involvement and enjoyment of game, learning, and avatar, indicating that the ideal-self avatar may have the stronger relationship with these variables
Understanding the Educational Lives of Community College Students: A Photovoice Project, a Bourdieusian Interpretation, and Habitus Dissonance Spark Theory
Get PDFToo little research exists that provides windows into the day-to-day lives of community college students. The purpose of this paper is to explicate one finding and concomitant grounded theory derived from a photovoice project aimed at understanding the educational lives of community college students. Participants saw the community college as a means to obtain a freer life, in the broadest sense. An integration of Bourdieusian thought and scholarship on role theory led to the creation of a constructivist grounded theory termed habitus dissonance spark theory, which suggests that community college enrollment is prompted by habitus dissonance, or discomfort with perceived levels of social agency, or freedom, in life. This paper outlines the finding and resultant grounded theory and its implications
The Role of Teacher Education in Introducing Action Research into the Education System: A Case Study of an Education College
Get PDFThe study presents a case of a teacher education college which took upon itself the role of providing teachers with an opportunity to study their work as part of their professional development studies in three different frameworks. The objective of the study was to examine the role of the college as promoting research carried out by practicing teachers regarding their own work, from the teachers’ point of view. In all three frameworks the teachers had to conduct a study of their own work, following which they were asked to write a reflective text regarding the research process. These texts were analyzed using the grounded theory approach, resulting in three major categories. In-depth examination of the categories led to insights related to the responsibility academia can and should take upon itself in assisting teachers in developing their abilities to combine practice and theory and evolve from knowledge consumers to knowledge creators
Using Question Answer Relationships in Science Instruction to Increase the Reading Achievement of Struggling Readers and Students with Reading Disabilities
Get PDFThe Question Answer Relationship (QAR) literacy strategy was integrated into science instruction in a fourth grade classroom. Ten students who struggled with reading, including some who were diagnosed with a reading disability, participated in this study. Significant gains were made in reading by the 10 student participants in comprehending science expository text after a 4- week implementation period. The general education teacher showed an increase in her ability to assist these struggling students after receiving training and constant support over the 4-week instructional period. 
Fostering the Success of New Teachers: Developing Lead Teachers in a Statewide Teacher Mentoring Program
Get PDFThough there may be many reasons for teacher attrition and mobility, results from a recent survey conducted by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) suggest that an exceedingly high percentage of teachers who abandoned their careers as teachers may have entered the teaching profession under-prepared, overwhelmed, and under-supported — resulting in frustrated teachers who became burned out after only a few years of teaching (Marvel, Lyter, Peltola, Stitzek, & Morton, 2006). Global research documents that mentoring must be emphasized if teachers are going to experience success during the induction phase of their career and become more likely to remain in the profession. Developing teacher leaders that have the dispositions to mentor, such as those in the Alabama Teacher Mentor Program, can help meet these challenges as teachers lead teachers through mentoring. The manuscript presents an overview and impact of a statewide mentoring initiative that embraces one role of teacher leaders.