ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Do It Yourself in Education: Leadership for Learning across Physical and Virtual Borders
Author: Domingo-Coscollola, María
Date: 2016-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Influence of Technology,Technology Uses in Education,Social Networks,Media Literacy,Action Research,Focus Groups,Best Practices,Lesson Plans,Curriculum Evaluation,Faculty Development,Program Development,Program Implementation,Active Learning,Leadership,Leadership Styles,Elementary Secondary Education

Today more than ever, educational institutions need educational leaders who are able to promote profound, substantive and sustainable change. This paper is based on the efforts and results of the first stage of a European project implemented in universities and primary and secondary schools in Spain, Finland and the Czech Republic. The project seeks to explore the changes (and its educational effects) that have occurred in the last decade regarding digital competencies, especially in relation to the emergence of a culture of collaboration that connects youth learning, technology and a Do-it-Yourself (DIY) ethos. To achieve the project's objective, we followed a methodology based on the principles of collaborative action research (CAR). We have analysed the curricula and study plans of the participating institutions in order to explore how and where the project could be applied. We conducted a series of focus groups with teachers, students and parents to discuss notions of DIY learning among the educational communities. Based on these discussions, we began to analyse how each context envisions DIY learning and how it relates to the notion of virtual space. We finished the first stage with the professional development of the teachers, which was aimed at shaping the DIYLabs implementation plan.
On-the-Fly Customization of Automated Essay Scoring. Research Report. ETS RR-07-42
Author: Attali, Yigal
Date: 2007-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Computer Assisted Testing,Automation,Essay Tests,Scoring,Writing Evaluation,Benchmarking,Teacher Developed Materials,Weighted Scores,Scoring Formulas,Scaling,Multiple Regression Analysis,Elementary Secondary Education,Error of Measurement

Because there is no commonly accepted view of what makes for good writing, automated essay scoring (AES) ideally should be able to accommodate different theoretical positions, certainly at the level of state standards but also perhaps among teachers at the classroom level. This paper presents a practical approach and an interactive computer program for judgment-based customization. This approach is based on the AES system, &quot;e-rater&quot;®. Through this new approach, a user can gain easy accessibility to system components, flexibility in adjusting scoring parameters, and procedures for making scoring adjustments that can be based on only a few benchmark essays. The interactive prototype program that implements this approach allows the user to customize &quot;e-rater&quot; and watch the effect on benchmark essay scores as well as on score distributions for a reference testing program of the user's choice. The paper presents results for the use of this approach in customizing &quot;e-rater&quot; to the standards of different assessments.
Reflecting on the Practicum: An Invitation to Continue the Conversation
Author: Abeywickrama, Priya
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Practicums,Questionnaires,Teacher Education Programs,Educational Experience,English (Second Language),Second Language Programs,Student Teachers,Teacher Attitudes,Teacher Surveys,Learning Activities,Educational Practices,Educational Change,Integrated Activities,Barriers

This special theme section was an invaluable opportunity for the guest editors of this &quot;CATESOL Journal&quot; 2015 special theme issue to promote reflection and dialogue on the practicum experience as a professional activity. As part of this exploration, the editors also wanted to find out more about practicum experiences in other TESOL teacher-education programs. They sent out a short questionnaire to practicum course instructors and/or TESOL program coordinators throughout California to tap into faculty perspectives on their student teachers' practicum experiences, their advice and practical insights on how to organize practicum courses, and wisdom gained through the years having taught such courses. Comments from the questionnaires and questions for reflection are presented in this article.
Conditioning Factors and Opportunities for Teamwork. A Case Study from a Catalan University
Author: Galtés, Ruth
Date: 2015-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Teamwork,Case Studies,Performance Factors,Educational Opportunities,Teacher Collaboration,Semi Structured Interviews,Qualitative Research,Statistical Analysis,Organizational Culture,Organizational Climate,Resource Allocation,Task Analysis,Group Dynamics,College Faculty,Questionnaires,Content Analysis,Likert Scales,Administrative Organization,Administrator Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes

The aim of this article is to analyse the conditioning factors and opportunities that influence teamwork among teachers at a Catalan university. The creation of new academic identities based on a culture of mutual and continuing learning are essential if teacher teams are to be encouraged. A descriptive methodology was used, based on a case study approach. Conditioning factors and opportunities were examined from a structural, organisational and functional perspective. The data were obtained through analysis of the literature, semi-structured interviews and a survey with five levels of response. Application of these data collection techniques permitted both a qualitative and quantitative (SPSS) use of data for evaluation purposes. The results derived from individual perceptions of the internal functioning of teacher teams within the faculty show that insufficient importance is attached to these teams as functional management units. This has a direct impact on the tasks and quality of the processes they implement, and consequently on team and faculty objectives.
School Leadership: From Practice to Policy
Author: Pont, Beatriz
Date: 2014-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Policy,Educational Practices,Administrative Principles,Leadership Role,Educational Trends,Leadership Responsibility,Context Effect,Skill Development,Professional Identity,Program Implementation,International Education,Educational Improvement,Foreign Countries,Achievement Tests,International Assessment,Secondary School Students

School leaders' tasks have become increasingly complex, as a result of globalization, a shift towards knowledge based economies, greater student diversity and an increased government focus on education policy reforms targeting and affecting schools. The role of school principals has moved from administrative leadership towards focusing on student outcomes, with more autonomy and accountability, and increased responsibilities for implementing policy reforms in schools and classrooms. This article focuses on how policies can ensure that school leaders contribute to school improvement. It builds on an international OECD study on school leadership which analyzed practices across 22 education systems in 2008 and explores developments since to propose policy options that can contribute to support the professionalization of school leadership. Among the key strategies suggested that many countries have been taken up are: clarifying the role of school leaders based on the tasks that make most difference on school outcomes; ensuring there is specialized training and development: that working conditions are attractive to ensure that there are quality professionals in exercise and that it is a sustainable profession that is well supported.
The War on Poverty Must Be Won: Transformative Leaders Can Make a Difference
Author: Shields, Carolyn M.
Date: 2014-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Poverty,Transformational Leadership,Educational Quality,Equal Education,Social Justice,Leadership Responsibility,Social Bias,Role of Education,Social Influences,Social Change,Expectation,Inclusion,Advocacy

According to reports, almost one billion children worldwide live in poverty, many of whom find it difficult to attend school on a regular basis. Moreover, when they are able to attend, they too often find themselves unable to succeed, falling farther and farther behind their more affluent peers. By attending to a number of relevant research findings, educators can reverse this situation. First, it is important to understand and address both generational and situational poverty by challenging and eliminating deficit thinking. We must understand the difference between a child's prior opportunity to learn and his or her ability to learn; hold high expectations of every child and provide them with a rich and engaging learning environment. To accomplish this, transformative leadership offers a way forward. It is also important to ensure our curricula, our pedagogies, and our policies are inclusive, that they acknowledge the lived realities of every child, and that they openly address the social and societal inequities that marginalize some and privilege others. Educators must become advocates, when necessary, for those who desperately need the advice and encouragement of a caring adult. Only then can we change despair into hope.
The Appointment of School Leaders in Mexican Primary Schools: An Exploratory Study of the System of Promotion
Author: Delgado, Manuel Lopez
Date: 2015-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Elementary Schools,Educational Administration,Personnel Selection,Promotion (Occupational),Interviews,Thematic Approach,Educational Practices,Faculty Promotion,Trust (Psychology),Employment Opportunities,Management Development,Professional Continuing Education,Selection Criteria,Credentials,Prior Learning,Accountability,Ethics,Teacher Evaluation,Search Committees (Personnel),Case Studies,Qualitative Research

This study explored the Mexican system to appoint school leaders from a perspective that could consider its positive aspects and as well as its shortcomings. This research was framed as an exploratory case study. Three types of participants were interviewed: five aspiring heads, twelve incumbent heads, and four administrators of the promotion system. Thematic analysis was the procedure adopted in the analysis of transcripts. The research was carried out to the highest ethical standards in educational research as anonymity, confidentiality, and respect for the participants were observed all the time. The study revealed that there are some positive aspects in the Mexican system that could enable its consolidation. The study found also a need to upgrade the current system of promotion since school leaders in Mexico are appointed by a system in which its regulations and procedures were promulgated more than 40 years ago. The current system of promotion does not enable the appointment of prepared school leaders. The findings revealed a need for leadership preparation as a prerequisite for participants in competitions for deputy headships, headships and for those who are already holding a leadership position.
The Role of Leadership: The Challenge of Knowledge Management and Learning in Knowledge-Intensive Organizations
Author: Mas-Machuca, Marta
Date: 2014-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Leadership Role,Knowledge Management,Success,Correlation,Models,Structural Equation Models,Information Dissemination,Organizational Culture,Foreign Countries,Institutional Mission,Organizational Communication,Consultants,Likert Scales,Questionnaires,Statistical Analysis

Knowledge and learning are important driving forces for business success and competitiveness, especially in the knowledge-intensive organizations (KIO's) whose core business is to create and sell knowledge (e.g. education, R&amp;D units, and consultancy organizations, among others). Previous works suggested one of the Critical Success Factor (CSF) of Knowledge Management (KM) practices is leadership, but only few of them referred it in a quantitative way. This paper aims to explore and explain the link between leadership and KM success. Results show a positive relation between the strategic dimension of leadership and the success of KM practices. This model was tested using Structured Equation Model (SEM). With this study we contribute to recognize the importance of leadership in order to improve the creation and dissemination of knowledge in a KIO's. In this way, these findings will help managers and teachers to increase the effectiveness of learning.
Accreditation Routines in a Demoralized School: Repairing, Expanding, and Striving for Improvement
Author: Enomoto, Ernestine K.
Date: 2014-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Accreditation (Institutions),Educational Change,Principals,Educational Administration,Middle Schools,Educational Practices,Administrative Principles,Administrator Attitudes,Integrity,Interviews,Instructor Coordinators,Context Effect,Problem Solving,Educational Improvement,Case Studies

The purpose of this paper is to explore how accreditation processes aided a school principal in making reform happen. Using routinized action theory (Feldman, 2000), we examined how the routines in school accreditation were used to transform what had been a demoralized, low performing middle school. This theoretical lens is important as it demonstrates that routinized actions can offer more than stabilizing elements in a school organization but also help administrators seeking to make change. We begin by describing the setting of Ironwood Middle School, presenting the research inquiry methods, and examining how accreditation processes enabled the school to move forward in the face of uncertainty and instability.
Identify the Cracks; That's Where the Light Slips In: The Narratives of Latina/o Bilingual Middle-Class Youth
Author: Lapayese, Yvette V.
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Hispanic American Students,Bilingual Students,Qualitative Research,Middle Class,Racial Identification,Inquiry,Narration,Sociolinguistics,Power Structure,Identification (Psychology),Interviews,Focus Groups,English Language Learners,Immersion Programs,Elementary School Students

In this qualitative study, I examine the intersections of learner identity, power, and language through the experiences and insights of Latina/o 2nd-generation middle-class children who occupy a unique positionality between the discourses surrounding bilingual education. Through narrative inquiry, emerging bilingual middle-class students actualize nonbinary thinking, able to depict identity as an inherently multifaceted process of construction. Their &quot;ways of knowing&quot; and experiences as language learners ultimately shape an &quot;outsider-within&quot; space, rupturing traditional binaries within bilingual education, namely EO/EL (English only versus English learner) and class binaries. They also proffer queer and cyber identities as additional salient variables that plow into language identity. In the end, these learners frame the contradiction and nuance of language learner identity, not as one of struggle, but as one of differential agency, the ability to move in and out of contradictory identities as both strong and advantageous tactics.
Processing Academic Language through Four Corners Vocabulary Chart Applications
Author: Smith, Sarah
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Vocabulary Development,Vocabulary Skills,Grade 5,Class Activities,Visual Aids,English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,English Language Learners,Teaching Methods,Dictionaries,Charts

4 Corners Vocabulary Charts (FCVCs) are explored as a multipurpose vehicle for processing academic language in a 5th-grade classroom. FCVCs typically display a vocabulary word, an illustration of the word, synonyms associated with the word, a sentence using a given vocabulary word, and a definition of the term in students' words. The use of personal dictionary entries in the form of FCVCs created on 3-by-5-inch index cards allowed for the implementation of 4 key classroom activities--namely, a &quot;fill in the square&quot; review activity and 3 games: Heads Up, a modified version of Connect 4, and Bingo. FCVCs are identified as optimal tools for the instruction of English learners because of the high level of vocabulary processing required for their creation and their functionality as key elements of engaging vocabulary games.
The Micropolitics of School Principals' Decision Making in Nigeria: Principals' Perspective
Author: Olayiwola, Shina
Date: 2015-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Principals,Decision Making,Administrator Attitudes,Secondary Schools,Public Schools,Questionnaires,Political Issues,Educational Quality,Governance

This study depicted a micropolitical analysis of school principals' decision making as regards the influence of formal and informal groups on school administrative processes from the point of view of principals. It was based on descriptive survey study of all 24 public secondary schools within Ile-Ife community, Osun State, Nigeria, out of which a sample of 10 schools was purposively selected. The instrument for data collection was an open-ended questionnaire titled &quot;The micropolitics of school principals' decision making in Nigeria: Principals' perspective&quot;. The results showed that decisions' themes focused on improving quality of teachers and physical facilities in schools. The formal groups responsible for these decisions were principals, teachers, government officials, and parents. The informal groups were watchmen or night guards, non-governmental organizations, mass media agencies, students, and landlords. The study concluded that a complex micropolitical interaction existed in the decision-making processes of school principals due to formal and informal groups' participation, a consequent of School-Based Management Committee (SBMC) system.
Asian EFL University Students' Preference toward Teaching Approaches
Author: Mermelstein, Aaron David
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,College Students,Foreign Countries,Teaching Methods,Teaching Styles,Qualitative Research,Student Attitudes,Student Centered Learning,Conventional Instruction,Statistical Analysis,Cognitive Style,Likert Scales,Student Surveys,Correlation

Designing and presenting lessons is the center of the teaching process. Every day teachers must make decisions about the instructional process. A teacher's approach can have an enormous impact on the effectiveness of his or her teaching. Understanding students' preferences toward teaching approaches and teaching styles can create opportunities for teachers to make adjustments that better serve their students. Many teachers continue using traditional teaching approaches, so the question exists of whether or not these teaching approaches are meeting the educational needs of the learners. This article addresses this question and discusses a qualitative study involving the preferences of 225 Taiwanese EFL university students toward 3 main teaching approaches (instructor centered, student centered, and content centered) and offers pedagogical suggestions. Through a statistical analysis, the research findings indicate that the participants can clearly recognize the differences among the teaching approaches, have a clear preference toward the student-centered approach, and hold more positive attitudes toward student-centered learning.
Building a Professional Learning Community: A Way of Teacher Participation in Mexican Public Elementary Schools
Author: Fahara, Manuel Flores
Date: 2015-07-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Communities of Practice,Teacher Participation,Teacher Collaboration,Beginning Teachers,Experienced Teachers,Teaching Experience,Educational Practices,Participant Observation,Semi Structured Interviews,Transcripts (Written Records),Program Development,Group Dynamics,Elementary School Teachers,Foreign Countries

The professional learning communities and communities of practice approaches in the arena of education appear to hold considerable promise for sustainable school improvement. These approaches flow from the assumption that teacher's collaboration is central to transform a school into a learning organization. They also provide opportunities for teachers' professional development. The literature shows that schools are frequently called upon to improve by developing high levels of teacher collaboration. In this study we describe how the process of building a professional learning community took place in two urban public elementary schools located in Monterrey, Mexico in which seven teachers participated, from which three were novices and four experts. Through this study, we found that teachers visualized as possible the ability to generate a space where they could reflect and solve problems while they shared experiences from their teaching practices. This space of reflection also allowed them to create projects and develop a sense of community when they had more time available since the schools were usually involved in many projects.
The Evolution of a Practicum: Movement toward a Capstone
Author: Avineri, Netta
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Practicums,Graduate Study,Masters Programs,English (Second Language),Educational History,Educational Development,Integrated Curriculum,Educational Change,Scoring Rubrics,Feedback (Response),Second Language Programs

In this reflective piece, we discuss changes made to the practicum at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS), a professional graduate school that offers MA degrees in TESOL and TFL. We begin by providing a historical perspective of the practicum as it has evolved in relation to other exit mechanisms. Th en, we provide a rationale for moving toward a Dual Capstone Model, in which the former practicum was elevated to capstone status. Finally, we reflect upon the new Practicum Capstone in relation to ongoing issues of washback, rubrics, and feedback, providing our particular disciplinary perspectives on these aspects. Throughout the piece, we highlight how teacher identity can be fostered through a balanced approach to both structure and agency. Th is discussion of practicum- and program-level changes highlights the importance of responsiveness to evolving student needs through thoughtful deliberation about curricular changes over time.
Leadership and the Design of Data-Driven Professional Networks in Schools
Author: Liou, Yi-Hwa
Date: 2014-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Professional Education,Social Networks,Case Studies,Comparative Analysis,Mixed Methods Research,Network Analysis,Accountability,Leadership Styles,Instructional Leadership,Instructional Improvement,Capacity Building,Program Design,Social Capital,Evidence Based Practice,Data,Anxiety,Organizational Culture,Elementary Secondary Education

Using data from a multi-method comparative case study of two matched schools, this paper adds to the growing body of applications of social network analysis to the study of distributed leadership and accountability. We contrast two approaches to instructional leadership, prescriptive and discretionary, to investigate how leaders design professional networks to increase the availability and access of individuals with the expertise needed to perform the analysis required to conduct data-driven instructional improvement. We found that the prescriptive approach to instructional leadership uses comprehensive school reform as a focal artifact to facilitate the widespread use of data for learning when compared to a leadership perspective that aimed at cultivating teacher discretion. We conclude with a discussion of how the concept of cognitive load helps illustrate the design principles leaders can use to create data-driven professional networks in schools.