ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Professional Development Urban Schools: What Do Teachers Say?
Author: Green, Tanya R.
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Faculty Development,Urban Schools,Elementary School Teachers,Middle School Teachers,Measures (Individuals),High Achievement,Low Achievement,Alignment (Education),National Standards,Communities of Practice,Educational Legislation,Federal Legislation,Comparative Analysis,Causal Models,Teacher Attitudes,Surveys,Likert Scales,Statistical Analysis

This quantitative causal-comparative study compared perceptions of professional development opportunities between high-achieving and low-achieving elementary-middle school teachers in an urban school district using the Standards Assessment Inventory (SAI). A total of 271 teachers participated including 134 (n = 134) teachers from high-achieving schools, and 137 (n = 137) teachers from low-achieving schools. Teachers in high-achieving schools reported receiving professional development more aligned to the 12 National Standards Development Council (NSDC) standards for quality professional development than teachers in low-achieving schools. In addition, teachers in high-achieving schools indicated receiving professional development modeled as Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Findings suggest that high quality professional development designed with elements of professional learning communities contribute to higher student achievement.
FIVES: An Integrated Strategy for Comprehension and Vocabulary Learning
Author: Shea, Mary
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Integrated Activities,Comprehension,Educational Strategies,Literacy,Common Core State Standards,Metacognition,Writing Strategies,Writing Skills,Teaching Methods,Vocabulary Development,Educational Practices

This article describes a strategy that emphasizes the integration of all language and literacy skills for learning across content areas as well as the importance CCSS place on learners' ability to ask questions about information, phenomena, or ideas encountered (Ciardiello, 2012/2013). FIVES is a strategy that meaningfully integrates research-based methodologies associated with reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and visually representing for differentiated disciplinary literacy instruction related to authentic texts and issues. The strategy described can be universally applied across disciplines to develop high levels of competence with literacy processes and content.
Middle School Teachers' Perceptions Regarding the Motivation and Effectiveness of Homework
Author: Snead, Donald
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Middle School Teachers,Homework,Teacher Attitudes,Teacher Motivation,Assignments,Role,Teacher Surveys,Teaching Methods,Learning Processes,Qualitative Research,Statistical Analysis

The purpose of this study was to understand middle school teachers' perspectives on the role of homework. Approximately 118 middle school teachers volunteered to complete open-ended surveys describing their perceptions regarding the effectiveness of homework. Qualitative analysis revealed teachers identified several instructional and non-instructional reasons for having to complete homework including: practice, reinforcement, review, responsible, and multiples of the aforementioned categories. Additional findings describe differences related with time spent on homework, assessing process and using homework for instructional and review. Implications describe both the ambiguous and inconsistent homework practices diminishing effective instruction. Further, findings identify the indecisiveness regarding homework assignments, and teacher motivation.
Trouble with the edTPA: Lessons Learned from a Narrative Self-Study
Author: Cronenberg, Stephanie
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Performance Based Assessment,Portfolio Assessment,Preservice Teachers,Preservice Teacher Education,Test Preparation,Personal Narratives,Self Evaluation (Individuals),Teacher Educators,Graduate Students,School Personnel

This paper is written by faculty, staff, and graduate students responsible for preparing a group of 100 elementary/middle school licensure students for the edTPA portfolio assessment. It is a narrative self-study analysis of our experiences doing so during the pilot year. The edTPA is a performance assessment that requires future teachers to plan, teach, assess, and reflect--all of which are at the heart of any teacher education program. We considered this performance assessment to have significant advantages over a multiple choice test and we debated for a year how best to implement it. Our plan was to integrate what students needed to know into our courses rather than to prepare them directly for the test. We approached this with a positive attitude but emerged with a skeptical one. The pressures we, and our students, experienced were unexpected as we unwillingly slid into a test preparation mode that appeared unavoidable. Instead of preparing students to be teachers, i.e., to plan, teach, assess and reflect we felt trapped by the practical realities of the test, i.e., doing things &quot;the right way&quot; in order to score well on the rubrics. This report uses narrative self-study methods to analyze the move from preparation for teaching to preparation for taking the test.
Into the Field: Learning about English Language Learners in Newcomer Programs
Author: Silva, Cecila
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English Language Learners,Field Experience Programs,Program Effectiveness,Preservice Teachers,Middle School Students,High School Students,Qualitative Research,Reflection,Code Switching (Language),Self Esteem,Empathy,Advocacy,Learning Activities,Academic Discourse

This research examines the impact of field experiences with English language learners on the conceptual and emotional development of preservice disciplinary students. For one semester, preservice university students worked with English language learners enrolled in middle and high school Newcomer Programs. During this time the university students wrote reflection papers and grand learnings/lingering questions essays linking the field experiences with course readings and in-class activities. A qualitative analysis of these reflections found four critical content-based learnings related to English Language Learners emerged from these field experiences: (1) the distinction between content, language, and activity challenges; (2) conversational versus academic language; (3) code switching with the use of the home language in the classroom; and (4) increased confidence, empathy, and advocacy of the preservice teachers for English language learners. Suggestions for those instructors wishing to provide similar experiences to their preservice students conclude the research.
The Attitudes of University Faculty toward Humor as a Pedagogical Tool: Can We Take a Joke?
Author: Huss, John
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Humor,College Faculty,Statistical Analysis,Feedback (Response),Mixed Methods Research,Teaching Methods,Questionnaires,Schools of Education,Online Courses,Teacher Attitudes,Faculty Development,Action Research

Faculty members in a College of Education responded to a mixed methods questionnaire regarding their attitudes toward the use of humor as a pedagogical tool. Quantitative data and coding of open response questions revealed that instructors overall considered humor to be an integral part of their teaching plan and that humor relaxes students, contributes to a more enjoyable classroom climate, and helps students make content connections, in both traditional and web-based classes. Despite general acceptance, the feedback suggested instructors could benefit from targeted training in how to effectively and consistently use humor as a teaching strategy, particularly in their online courses.
Levels of Participation of the School Stakeholders to the Different School-Initiated Activities and the Implementation of School-Based Management
Author: Cabardo, Jimmy Rey Opong
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: School Based Management,Stakeholders,Participation,School Activities,Correlation,Questionnaires,Statistical Analysis,Foreign Countries,Secondary Schools,Principals,Secondary School Teachers

This study aimed to evaluate the levels of participation of the school stakeholders to the different school-initiated activities and the implementation of school-based management (SBM) in selected schools in the Division of Davao del Sur for the school year 2014-2015 using a descriptive-correlational survey research design. A researcher-restructured questionnaire was answered by the 13 school heads, 56 teachers, and 50 stakeholders who formed part as respondents of this study. The data were statistically analyzed using mean, analysis of variance (F test), t-test for independent sample, Pearson r and t-test for the significance of r as statistical tools. In terms of the level of participation of the school stakeholders to the different school-initiated activities, a moderate descriptive rating was found. The level of SBM implementation was found to be at Exceeding the Minimum Standard. The level of participation of the school stakeholders to the different school-initiated activities can be significantly affected by the level of SBM implementation.
Overcoming State Support for School Consolidation: How Schools in the Empire State React
Author: Jakubowski, Casey
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Consolidated Schools,Rural Schools,School Districts,Centralization,State Policy,Program Effectiveness,Accountability,Politics of Education,Teacher Recruitment,School District Autonomy

Since 1958, the New York State Education Department has officially promoted the policy of consolidating small, rural schools. This policy is delineated in the Master Plan for School Reorganization, and while the centralization of most one-room rural schools has been successful, the state has been less successful in the consolidation of smaller, centralized rural school districts. This paper examines some of the efforts made by those smaller, centralized rural schools to overcome the outside pressures that have emerged within the process of state-backed consolidation. Based on findings in literature explored and data collected concerning consolidation, it is clear that New York State's policy of supporting consolidations has not proven effective. Schools that are allowed creative freedom are examples for rural schools across the nation.
Mathematics-Literacy Checklists: A Pedagogical Innovation to Support Teachers as They Implement the Common Core
Author: del Prado Hill, Pixita
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Mathematics Instruction,Check Lists,Common Core State Standards,Literacy,Special Education Teachers,Teacher Attitudes,Teaching Methods,Coaching (Performance),High School Students,Secondary School Teachers,Content Area Reading,Content Area Writing,Guidelines,Reading Comprehension,Middle School Teachers,Mathematics Teachers,Vocabulary,Language Skills,Problem Solving

This article presents two innovative tools--the Mathematics-Literacy Planning Framework and Mathematics-Literacy Implementation Checklist--which are designed to help instructional coaches and specialists support teachers to meet the challenges of the mathematics-literacy integration goals of the Common Core. Developed with teacher input, these instruments serve as cognitive &quot;safety nets&quot; to ensure effective integration of appropriate strategies before, during, and after instruction.
Action Research: Investigating Educators' Feelings about Rubrics
Author: Riggie, Allison
Date: 2015-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Action Research,Scoring Rubrics,Preservice Teachers,Practicums,Lesson Plans,Futures (of Society),Mentors,Faculty Development,English,Language Arts,Graduate Students,Cooperating Teachers,Common Core State Standards,Behavioral Objectives,Elementary School Students

Teacher candidates who worked with small groups of children during a semester long pre-student teaching practicum developed four point rubrics for each of the lesson plans they created on a weekly basis. The scope of this practicum is discussed along with an action research project pertaining to the rubric assessments they utilized. Findings suggest ways this assessment practice might be enhanced in the future.
Counter-Discourses and Alternative Knowledge: Rural Chinese Female Students Accommodating and Resisting the Discourse of Quality (&quot;Suzhi&quot;) at Higher Education Institutions in China
Author: Wang, Lifang
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Females,College Students,Disadvantaged,Rural Urban Differences,Rural Areas,Qualitative Research,Social Bias,Gender Bias,Educational Quality,Economic Development,Student Attitudes,Interviews,Cultural Capital,Foreign Countries

This article, based on a qualitative research study with 66 rural female students attending five public universities and one public college in China, examines how these students negotiated the dominant discourse of quality (suzhi), which represents them as lacking in capacity and knowledge. Since the 1980s when China started implementing its economic reforms, the Chinese state has constructed the discourse of quality to ascribe China's underdevelopment to the low quality of its population, said to hinder China's attempts to catch up with the more advanced Western economies. My research findings show how these students have been systematically marginalized and discriminated against by this discourse that is often intertwined with that of urban-rural inequalities and patriarchy. Recognizing this, they developed counter-discourses to make meaning of their plight, and created alternative forms of knowledge to resist the dominant discourse in multiple ways.
Enhancing Teacher Learning from Guided Video Analysis of Literacy Instruction: An Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Approach
Author: Hong, Carrie Eunyoung
Date: 2016-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Literacy Education,Video Technology,Special Education,Faculty Development,Teaching Methods,Preservice Teachers,Teacher Educators,Graduate Students,Learning Processes,Student Surveys,Student Attitudes,Interdisciplinary Approach,Performance Based Assessment,Teacher Education,Special Education Teachers,Reading Difficulties,Course Descriptions

The technological infrastructure for the use of instructional and professional videos is common in today's educational venues. However, there has been a dearth of awareness and training to help teachers critically analyze and effectively utilize video recordings of authentic classroom instruction for their professional development. This self-study examined the teaching and learning process, particularly knowledge and lessons that we, as teacher educators, learned from commentary regarding video analysis and pre- and post-surveys completed by the candidates in a graduate level special education course. The investigation explored the extent to which the guided video analysis process facilitated the candidates' learning of literacy instruction in order to teach high needs students by examining teacher-candidates' analysis of video-recorded lessons, followed by discussions with peers and further reflections on their own teaching.
ECRIF Framework System
Author: Tosuncuoglu, Irfan
Date: 2017-03-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Instruction,Second Language Learning,Learning Strategies,Teaching Methods,Language Acquisition,Language Skills,Language Fluency,Student Centered Curriculum

English is an international language-it is already known by everybody. There have been a lot of ideas and discussions about foreign language learning. And nowadays we have met the framework of ECRIF. It is shortly a framework to help students learn new language and skills so that they can use them fluently and, it has to do with adopting a more learning-centered model of learning the lessons that the teacher conducted. If we analyze; E means encounter, C means clarity, R means remember, I means internalize, F means fluency. Consequently, we can infer by means of ECRIF framework does not how the lesson to be conducted, unlike it gives an idea to the teacher how the learning process is going on, and they can have an idea that what do the students think during the lesson. In this article it is tried to be developed a viewpoint in English teaching within the context of ECRIF.
Increasing Student Engagement in Online Educational Leadership Courses
Author: Deschaine, Mark E.
Date: 2017-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Learner Engagement,Online Courses,Graduate Students,Case Studies,Attention,Interaction,Instructional Leadership,Leadership Training,Information Technology,Management Systems,Faculty Development,Student Needs,Guidelines,Teacher Student Relationship,Asynchronous Communication,Synchronous Communication

Utilization of online instruction continues to increase at universities, placing more emphasis on the exploration of issues related to adult graduate student engagement. This reflective case study reviews nontraditional student engagement in online courses. The goals of the study are to enhance student focus, attention, and interaction. Findings suggest that interactivity seems to be a key in keeping students involved and achieving, with specific activities routinely favored by students. It is recommended that time spent engaging students is worthwhile and results in greater course satisfaction and academic effort.
Facilitating Collaboration in Online Groups
Author: Stephens, Geralyn E.
Date: 2017-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Assignments,Computer Mediated Communication,Teaching Methods,Educational Planning,Academic Achievement,Peer Relationship,Course Content,Outcomes of Education,Distance Education,Online Courses,Communities of Practice,Electronic Publishing,Expectation,College Faculty,Management Systems,Cooperative Learning

Demonstrating the ability to collaborate effectively is essential for students moving into 21st century workplaces. Employers are expecting new hires to already possess group-work skills and will seek evidence of their ability to cooperate, collaborate, and complete projects with colleagues, including remotely or at a distance. Instructional activities and assignments that provide students with a variety of ways to engage each other have a direct and immediate effect on their academic performance. This paper shares the Facilitating Collaboration in Online Groups (FCOG) instructional planning strategy. The strategy is designed for faculty use and familiarizes students with the process and technology necessary to collaborate effectively in online classroom groups. The strategy utilizes proven teaching techniques to maximize student-student and student-content relationships. Each of the four (4) sequential phases in the FCOG instructional planning strategy are discussed: 1) Creating Groups, 2) Establishing Expectations, 3) Communication Tools, and 4) Assignments and Activities. The discussion also contains implementation suggestions as well as examples of instructional assignments and activities that provide students with a variety of ways to collaborate to reach the learning outcomes.
Common Challenges for Instructors in Large Online Courses: Strategies to Mitigate Student and Instructor Frustration
Author: Trammell, Beth A.
Date: 2017-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Large Group Instruction,Online Courses,Educational Strategies,Instructional Design,Instructional Effectiveness,Best Practices,Assignments,Cooperative Learning,Portfolios (Background Materials),Educational Planning,Scheduling,Course Organization,Undergraduate Study

Teaching in the online classroom is becoming commonplace for instructors as universities seek to grow enrollments and tap into unexplored markets. Many instructors, however, are often unprepared for the nuances of distance education and apprehensive about making the transition to online learning. This article aims to discuss common challenges for instructors of high-enrollment online courses (70+ students). Course design and instructional effectiveness are some of the most significant challenges facing instructors tasked with managing large online courses and those challenges align with the areas students commonly consider as necessary for successful online delivery. Using examples from large online classes and the existing research on best practices in online education, ways to minimize those challenges will be discussed. These suggestions include recommendations for assignment construction, including the use of group work, collaborative assignments, e-portfolios, as well as for planning course design, including consistent deadlines and course structure. These suggestions are aimed at mitigating student and instructor frustration with high enrollment online classes.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Metacognitive Programme for Disadvantaged Learners in the Foundation Phase
Author: Benjamin, Louis
Date: 2016-02-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Metacognition,Foreign Countries,Numeracy,Concept Teaching,Concept Formation,Literacy,Disadvantaged,Program Effectiveness,Grade 1,Grade 2,Grade 3,Cognitive Structures,Pretests Posttests,Program Implementation,Intervention

Learners in South Africa lag behind in literacy and numeracy skills relative to their peers in other countries. This is ascribed to a lack of quality education in the preschool and Foundation Phases of schooling, and conditions related to poverty. The Basic Concepts Mediated Learning Programme (BCMLP) aims to promote the conceptual development of young children through training teachers to be mediators in a metacognitive educational programme. The BCMLP was implemented in the Foundation Phase (Grade R to Grade 3) in two schools in impoverished areas of the Northern Cape over three years (2008-2010). Baseline testing found that children at both schools experienced significant delays in their conceptual and scholastic development. After being trained as mediators, teachers implemented this approach with groups, eventually integrating it into the curriculum. There was variable continuity of implementation at the two schools, with one school only implementing the programme for the first year. The conceptual development and scholastic functioning of learners were monitored pre-intervention to post-intervention. Results found that implementation of the programme was consistent with considerable improvements in conceptual and scholastic functioning. Further, improvements were more pronounced, where the programme was implemented continually for three years. The researcher concluded that the programme made a positive impact on participating learners' knowledge and understanding of basic conceptual systems and scholastic functioning.