ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
The Opinions of Teachers Working at Special Education Centers on Inclusive/Integration Education
Author: Dogan, Ahmet
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Attitudes,Special Education,Inclusion,Semi Structured Interviews,Foreign Countries,Special Education Teachers,Qualitative Research,Opinions,Disabilities,Special Needs Students,Regular and Special Education Relationship

This study was conducted with the purpose of finding out the opinions of teachers working at special education centers about inclusive education. The study was conducted with teachers working at a special education center in Famagusta, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, in the academic year of 2016-2017. Qualitative methodology was used in the research. Using semi-structured interview technique, face-to-face interviews were held with teachers of various ages, length of service, gender and of different undergraduate and graduate degrees who work at the special education center. Face-to-face interviews were recorded with voice recorders. The teachers were first informed on the reason of the interview and the reason for which the data would be used. Descriptive analysis technique was used in the analysis of data. According to research findings, teachers working at the special education center stated that there was no special education and inclusion law in Northern Cyprus, that the law should be passed at once, that inclusive education should be regulated with this law and arbitrary practices should be ended and that uncertainties should be eliminated. They emphasized that school managers and teachers were inadequate and ignorant about inclusive education, that especially teachers were unable to prepare and implement BEP programs, and that both teachers and managers should be subjected to compulsory on-the-job training on inclusive education. They argued that supporting education services were inadequate, special education teachers should be assigned to schools where inclusive education was offered and teachers should be given sufficient support and supportive education rooms should be designed and used properly. In conclusion, teachers working at special education centre suggested that the problems in inclusive education were entirely caused by legal gaps; that existing laws were inadequate for which reason a special education and inclusion law should be passed immediately and emphasis should be given to on-the-job training activities.
An Overview to Research on Education Technology Based on Constructivist Learning Approach
Author: Asiksoy, Gulsum
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Technology,Constructivism (Learning),Cooperative Learning,Content Analysis,Questionnaires,Statistical Analysis,Multivariate Analysis,Integrated Learning Systems,Technology Uses in Education,Technology Integration,College Students,Qualitative Research,Journal Articles

The aim of this research is to determine the trends of education technology researches on Constructivist Learning Approach, which were published on database of ScienceDirect between 2010 and 2016. It also aims to guide researchers who will do studies in this field. After scanning the database, 81 articles published on ScienceDirect's data base from January 2010 to December 2016 were examined considering the following criteria in order to serve the purpose of the study; the concepts they deal with, instruments, software, education techniques used in the research, research methods, research designs, data collection instruments, types and sizes of samples, data analysis, the country where it takes place, number of authors, common studies done by researchers from different countries and number of sources. According to the research results, computer-supported education was the most addressed subject in the articles. It was found out that the most frequently used tool was the computer and the most frequently used software was learning management systems in the studies. Cooperative learning technique was the most preferred in terms of the used educational techniques. Quantitative method and survey design came into prominence in the studies. It was figured out about the data collection procedures that questionnaire as a data-collecting tool, university students as the subjects or the participants and descriptive analysis as data analysis method were mostly preferred. It is thought that results obtained will lead other future studies.
The Effect of Creative Drama Activities on Candidate Teachers&apos; Self- Directed Skills
Author: Kosucu, Emine
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Creativity,Dramatics,Drama,Preservice Teachers,Foreign Countries,Independent Study,Self Management,Preservice Teacher Education,Preschool Teachers,Preschool Education,Mixed Methods Research,Creative Activities,Interviews,Pretests Posttests

This research aimed to specify the effect of creative drama activities on candidate teachers' self-directed skills. 35 candidate teachers participated in this study in which a mixture of a qualitative and quantitative method was used. The results obtained from the research showed that creative drama activities are effective on candidate teachers' self-directed skills. In this respect, it can be assumed that creative drama activities improved candidate teachers' self-directed learning skills. It has also been noted that the participant candidate teachers were satisfied with the applications in which creative drama activities were carried out.
Teaching Educational Leaders to Move from Moral Reasoning to Moral Action
Author: Pijanowski, John
Date: 2017-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Leadership Styles,Ethics,Moral Values,Administrator Education,Graduate Study,Decision Making,Curriculum,Standards,Assignments,Evaluation Methods,Leadership Responsibility,Accreditation (Institutions),Research Universities,College Faculty,Department Heads,Semi Structured Interviews

Ethical leadership is critical to effective schools. However, earlier research showed that ethics and moral reasoning were often not formally taught nor assessed in pre-service leadership programs. In this study I examined graduate programs' approaches to curriculum, instruction, and assessment of learning in ethics and moral reasoning. Rest's four component model of moral decision making provided the theoretical base for structuring the inquiry into how colleges define, teach and assess moral leadership (Bebeau, 2002). Results of interviews with 43 graduate schools of educational leadership in the United States showed 91% of graduate schools of educational leadership report teaching moral leadership in some fashion but vary greatly in curriculum, method, and assessment. Professional standards appear to influence the kinds of assignments and assessments most commonly reported in this study. In several cases, school leadership programs have engaged their faculty in a thoughtful planning process to integrate the teaching of moral leadership into their curriculum and develop meaningful assessment strategies. Highlighting these exemplary programs will be a critical next step in sharing information among faculty about how to teach moral leadership and evaluate student work in this area. However, before this can be effectively done the field must begin to reach a shared understanding of how moral leadership is defined within programs and in the literature. It is on this point that the work already done in moral psychology as applied to other pre-professional training programs can be most helpful.
Influence of Mentorship Experiences in the Development of Women Superintendents in Texas as Transformational Leaders
Author: Howard, Elaine
Date: 2017-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Women Administrators,Superintendents,Interviews,Phenomenology,Mentors,Transformational Leadership,Stimulation,Motivation,Influences,Personal Narratives,Qualitative Research,Administrator Role,Needs Assessment

Ten women superintendents in Texas were interviewed for this phenomenological narrative study to understand their mentoring experiences framed within transformational leadership theory. The research used a guided protocol to conduct face-to-face interviews. In this study, authors sought to answer questions about the influence of mentorship experiences on the development of women superintendents through intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, inspirational motivation, and idealized influence. These experiences were then interpreted through a phenomenological approach and retold through narrative. We found that mentorship experiences contribute to the development of women superintendents as transformational leaders and also expose the need to align mentorship experiences of aspiring superintendents to established leadership theory.
Job Satisfaction: A Study of the Relationship between Right-to-Work Policy and Public School Teachers&apos; Perceptions
Author: Buckman, David G.
Date: 2017-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Job Satisfaction,Public School Teachers,Elementary Secondary Education,Unions,State Policy,Teacher Surveys,Online Surveys,Human Capital,Multiple Regression Analysis

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between state unionization policy and teacher job satisfaction in the K-12 public school environment in the states of Florida and New York (i.e., a right-to-work state and a non-right-to-work state). Data were collected via electronic survey to analyze personal demographics, human capital, workload, state union policy and job satisfaction information. A mixed effects multiple regression analysis found right-toWork laws were statistically significant for overall job satisfaction and the job satisfaction facets of work and pay. Via study it was concluded that right-to-work laws had a negative impact on teacher job satisfaction.
Creating a Succession-Planning Instrument for Educational Leadership
Author: Parfitt, Christopher M.
Date: 2017-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Instructional Leadership,Leadership Training,Employees,Organizational Culture,Content Validity,Faculty Development,Administrators,Mentors,Validity,Leadership,Talent Identification,Administrator Attitudes,Occupational Mobility,Labor Turnover,Administrator Surveys

Businesses, non-profit entities, medical units, governmental departments, and other organizations have utilized succession planning for over 30 years, yet the field of education has been slow to adopt models used in other disciplines. Upon review of the literature from various disciplines, themes for developing and assessing quality succession plans were synthesized. The major themes included identification of talent, development and mentoring, and retention of the highest performing employees, with consideration of the unique organizational culture as an overarching theme. Based on the review of the literature, a survey instrument was established. The survey was validated through an expert panel using Lawshe's (1975) content validity ratio before being administered to a pilot group of 12 school administrators and aspiring administrators. The purpose of the instrument is to examine how school administrators and leadership candidates perceived the employment of succession planning in educational organizations. The survey can be administered to aspiring administrators, school-level leaders, and district senior administrators to identify perceptions of succession planning. The results can be used to develop, modify, and strengthen existing succession plans through revitalized professional development and mentoring.
Out over Their Skis: A Study of Principal Preparation Program Policy in Florida
Author: Storey, Valerie A.
Date: 2017-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Administrator Education,Principals,State Standards,Accountability,Program Effectiveness,Certification,Administrator Qualifications,Test Validity,Test Reliability,Test Construction,State Legislation,Leadership Training,Scores

Perceived shortage of principals, increased accountability demands, the changing role of principals, and the growing influence of the state over school administration have created a set of challenges for principal certification and licensure that have propelled a renewed need for analysis of certification and licensure processes. Recent calls to hold preparation programs accountable for outcomes have prompted states to develop and adopt preparation program accountability systems. One primary feature of these systems is the success of program graduates on a state test leading to principal certification. Yet, little research has examined the validity and reliability of such state tests in assessing even the likely effectiveness of aspiring principals, let alone predicting their actual effectiveness once employed as a principal. This conceptual study utilizes theoretical analysis of extant literature and empirical analysis of extant data from one state (Florida) to reach conclusions about the appropriateness of using a state test to (1) credential aspiring educational leaders; and (2) evaluate principal-preparation programs.
The Impact of Spirituality on School Leadership
Author: Zaharris, Mary
Date: 2017-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Religious Factors,Qualitative Research,Spiritual Development,Leadership Effectiveness,School Effectiveness,Religion,Administrator Attitudes,Instructional Leadership,Holistic Approach,Models,Doctoral Programs,Graduate Students,Church Related Colleges,Leadership Styles,Measures (Individuals)

This qualitative study examined the practices and perceptions of six school leaders through the lens of exemplary leadership and spiritual leadership practices. Literature abounds in the field of exemplary leadership practices but spiritual leadership is traditionally overlooked as a credible topic of scholarly research because of its assumed nexus with religion. The irony is that great leaders in history are not remembered for what they accomplished, but rather for the spiritual core of values they imparted to their followers: fairness, kindness, trust, respect, honesty and integrity. The findings of the study revealed clear consistency between this spiritual core of values and the practice of exemplary leadership. The study contends that by viewing spiritual leadership as a holistic practice that transcends denominational doctrine, the achievement of results is solidly built upon the universally accepted spiritual values of hope, faith, altruistic love and caring for the well-being of the human spirit. By 2025, millennials will represent two-thirds of the global work force (Pew Research Center, 2016). Further implications point to the importance of acknowledging the millennial generation's need to have greater work/life balance, meaning and purpose to their work if school districts hope to retain and attract a talented pool of school leaders.
The Effect of Pecha Kucha Presentations on Students&apos; English Public Speaking Anxiety
Author: Coskun, Abdullah
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Visual Aids,Teaching Methods,Public Speaking,Anxiety,Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,College Students,Pretests Posttests,Questionnaires,Computer Software

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of the Pecha Kucha presentation format on English as foreign language learners' public speaking anxiety. The participants were 49 students in the English Translation and Interpretation Department of a state university in Turkey. A pre- and post-test experimental research design was used in this study. Students were given a questionnaire as the pre-test prior to the preparation of their presentations and as the post-test immediately following the presentation in the classroom. According to the paired samples statistics, students' English public speaking anxiety was reduced significantly as a result of their experience using the Pecha Kucha presentation format. It was concluded that this presentation format can be incorporated into the English as a Foreign Language classroom.
&quot;I Will Study More . . . and Pray&quot;: Metacognition about High-Stakes Test Preparation among Culturally &amp; Linguistically Diverse Students
Author: Giambo, Debra A.
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Elementary School Students,Secondary School Students,Minority Group Students,Language Minorities,Student Attitudes,Metacognition,High Stakes Tests,Test Preparation,Student Surveys,Likert Scales,Focus Groups,Standardized Tests,State Standards,Achievement Tests,Student Motivation,Disproportionate Representation,Interviews

Florida implemented the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), a statewide assessment of students' academic content, in 1996. Subsequently, in 2001, the State Board of Education established passing scores on the FCAT to determine eligibility for a standard high school diploma. As of the 2015-2016 academic year, Florida requires students to pass the reading/English language arts subtest of high-stakes standardized test for graduation, now the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA), and also requires passing an end-of-course assessment in Algebra I (Florida Department of Education 2015b). The purpose of this study was to investigate the following research questions: (1) What do culturally and linguistically diverse students think and feel about high-stakes testing (i.e., FCAT)?; (2) What are culturally and linguistically diverse students' perceptions regarding effective preparation for high-stakes testing (in classes and individually)?; and (3) Do culturally and linguistically diverse students perceive that high-stakes testing affects their academic motivation, resulting in perceived differences in academic behavior? Measures employed in this study included a survey and a focus group interview protocol. Participants in both the survey and the focus group interviews were culturally and/or linguistically diverse students in South Florida. Survey participants included elementary (4th to 6th graders) and middle and high school students, and focus group participants included middle and high school students. All were active in programs that support underrepresented students in their preparation for post-secondary education, offered through local colleges and universities in cooperation with the students' home schools. Responses from study participants, combined with the superficiality and lack of specific responses in many cases, seem to indicate that students may lack the metacognitive skills to assess both their preparation prior to testing as well as that which would help improve their preparation.
Verbal Manifestation of Critical Thought: &quot;Transversal Study from Age 10 to 18 in France&quot;
Author: Auriac-Slusarczyk, Emmanuèle,
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Critical Thinking,Elementary School Students,Secondary School Students,Verbal Ability,Logical Thinking,Creative Thinking,Metacognition,Epistemology,Gender Differences,Responsibility

The article studies the verbal manifestation of critical thought in a school context. Four modes of thought--logical, creative, responsible, and metacognitive--accompanied by six epistemological perspectives, are studied from 1,730 pupils turns to speak analyzed in eight class groups. The pupils dialog about freedom. Quantitatively and gradually the collective thought gives the lion's share to the manifestation of logical, followed by creative and then responsible thought, and very little to that of metacognitive thought. The study reveals a significant developmental effect for logical and responsible thought--to the advantage of the girls. While each mode of thought evolves following its own developmental path, the epistemological congruence that emerges between the logical and responsible modes of thought on the one hand and responsible and creative on the other seems perhaps debatable. The results lead to a pedagogic proposal which consists in proposing to introduce a cognitive activity of doubt, not spontaneously adopted by the pupils, to favor the advent of a form of critical thinking more balanced as concerns the modes of thoughts of which it composed.
The Effectiveness of Pictured Letters Mnemonics Strategy in Learning Similar English Language Letters among Students with Learning Disabilities
Author: Dakhiel, Maysoon A.
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Pictorial Stimuli,Mnemonics,Learning Disabilities,Instructional Effectiveness,Statistical Analysis,Gender Differences,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Foreign Countries,Experimental Groups,Alphabets,Control Groups,Comparative Analysis,Teaching Methods,Correlation,Pretests Posttests,Semitic Languages,Native Language

The present study aims to investigate the effectiveness of pictured letters mnemonics strategy in learning similar English language letters among students with learning disabilities in Saudi Arabia according to experimental group (1) and (2), control group, gender, and interaction between them. The study sample comprised (90) students with learning disabilities who were randomly distributed to three equal groups. While the first experimental group was taught using the modified letter method, the second experimental group was taught using the method of both modified and abstract letters, and the control group was taught in the traditional way. To measure the effectiveness of the strategy, the authors applied (pre, post, and follow-up) tests. As a result, two-way ANOVA indicated that there were significant differences attributed to the teaching method, in favor of the method of both modified and abstract letters, while there were no statistically significant differences due to gender or interaction between the teaching method and gender. The same results were obtained from the follow-up test. Accordingly, a set of recommendations were made.
Arab Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Fields: The Way Forward
Author: Islam, Samira I.
Date: 2017-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Arabs,STEM Education,Females,Womens Education,College Students,Gender Differences,Gender Bias,Equal Opportunities (Jobs),Social Bias,Cultural Influences,Barriers,Foreign Countries,College Graduates

In most countries of the world, 40 to 50 % of students are women. However, there is greater sex imbalance in STEM fields. Indicators show that tertiary education in Arab region is high compared with gender balance in several countries; there is even imbalance in favor of women as in Saudi Arabia &amp; Gulf States. UNESCO and World Bank statistics reveal that Arab women actively pursuing STEM fields e.g. in 2014, women comprises 59% of total students enrolled in computer Science in Saudi Arabia while UK and USA women enrolment were 16% and 14% respectively. Graduate women attempt to pursue career or postgraduate degrees are often excluded on bases of their gender and marginalized therefore much less apt to enter and remain in the job, few achieve leadership positions. In principle, there are equal opportunities for both genders in many Arab States, but social perception and prejudice determine which types of employment are particularly suitable for women or men. Removing the barriers would foster major social and economic benefits for every Arab State.