ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Exploring Mirrors, Recreating Science and History, Becoming a Class Community
Author: Cavicchi, Elizabeth
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Physics,College Science,Scientific Principles,Light,Discovery Learning,Honors Curriculum,Independent Study,Geometry,Student Interests,Learner Engagement,Peer Relationship,Teacher Student Relationship,Communities of Practice,Cooperative Learning,Investigations,Student Projects,Undergraduate Study

A teacher narrates from activities and discussions that arose among undergraduates and herself while doing critical explorations of mirrors. Surprised by light's behaviors, the students responded with curiosity, losing their dependence on answers as the format of school knowledge. Inadequacies in how participants supposed light works emerged in the context of reinventing historical discoveries, including Ptolemy's second century AD account of how curved mirrors reflect, Chinese burning mirrors reported in the Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), and a ninth century AD Arabic translation of Euclid's surveying proposition. Using historical accounts only as a starting point and motivation, students' improvisational experiments explored personal interests and provided grounds for synthesizing new understandings of light and learning, and for forming relationships of community among each. (Contains 11 figures and 6 footnotes.)
&quot;Coming into My Own as a Teacher&quot;: Identity, Disequilibrium, and the First Year of Teaching
Author: Cook, Jennifer S.
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Beginning Teachers,English Teachers,Teaching Experience,Phenomenology,Reflective Teaching,Interviews,Teacher Role,Teacher Influence,Teacher Student Relationship,Group Dynamics,Personal Space,Barriers,Adjustment (to Environment)

This study examines the experiences of ten first-year English teachers in various school contexts in two Northeastern states. Through a phenomenological approach to in-depth interviewing, teachers were interviewed at the end of their first year of teaching. Commonalities in teachers' experiences include former teachers' influences on their teacher personae, negotiating their authoritative role in the classroom, understanding how and why to set boundaries with students, and demonstrating resilience and resolve in the face of multiple challenges. Implications for teacher education and induction programs are to address the disequilibrium of the self in early teaching experiences and to model habits of mind that promote &quot;productive disequilibrium.&quot; (Contains 1 table.)
&quot;Would that be Social Justice?&quot; A Conceptual Constellation of Social Justice Curriculum in Action
Author: Johnson, Elisabeth
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Beginning Teachers,Social Justice,Course Content,Curriculum Development,Educational Innovation,Vignettes,Academic Achievement,Democracy,High Stakes Tests,Teacher Responsibility,Classroom Environment,Grade 5,Bilingual Education,English,American Sign Language,Role Models,Teacher Expectations of Students,Community Services,Student Projects,Grade 2,Teacher Attitudes,Reflective Teaching,Educational Opportunities,Teaching Conditions,Social Studies

For new educators, the obstacles of high-stakes testing, curricular mandates, and their own inexperience and self-doubt can render teaching for justice and equity overwhelming, seemingly impossible ideals. However, as students are increasingly tied to prescriptive curricula and academic performance standards, the goals of social justice and democracy are all the more necessary. Through interviews and observations with new educators, the authors argue that, despite difficult, often restrictive teaching environments, these educators are indeed engaged in teaching socially just curricula in a variety of innovative ways. Beginning teachers' stories and their inspiring curricular enactments are at the heart of this article.
&quot;Making the Readings Come to Life&quot;: Expanding Notions of Language Arts at Freedom School
Author: Jackson, Tambra O.
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Elementary Secondary Education,Language Arts,Culturally Relevant Education,Teacher Education Programs,Teacher Interns,Teaching Experience,Interviews,Questionnaires,Portfolio Assessment,Educational Practices,Nontraditional Education,Cultural Education

The Children's Defense Fund Freedom Schools provide literacy-rich, summer experiences for both the K-12 children they serve and the servant-leader interns who serve as teachers. In this article, the author expands upon the scholarship of preparing teachers to be culturally responsive pedagogues of language arts instruction by illuminating components of the Freedom Schools' curriculum, teacher-activist preparation, and the servant-leader interns' perceptions of language arts. The preparation of the interns as teacher-activists provided opportunities that allowed for the cultivation of knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to use language arts as a transformative vehicle for social, cultural, and historical awareness as well as social action. (Contains 2 tables and 2 footnotes.)
Full-Release and Site-Based Mentoring of New Elementary Grade Teachers: An Analysis of Changes in Student Achievement
Author: Fletcher, Stephen H.
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Mentors,Teacher Persistence,Achievement Gains,Academic Achievement,Beginning Teacher Induction,Supervisory Methods,Program Effectiveness,Elementary School Teachers,Professional Development,Released Time,Faculty Workload,Comparative Testing

Induction support for new teachers is widespread, particularly in the form of mentoring, but research evidence of effectiveness is limited. The majority of existing research has focused on the impact of induction on teacher retention. Of greater interest is the potential impact on student achievement, and on which forms of support are the most effective. One frequently encountered option is between full-release or site-based mentors. This study examines these two mentoring options employed in one large urban district. While mentors received the same training, they differed in case load and release time. A comparison of student achievement gains for classes taught by fourth and fifth grade new teachers, some of whom were supported by full release mentors and some by site based mentors, showed greater gains for classes of teachers in the full-release group, even though the demographic characteristics of the students would have led to the opposite prediction. (Contains 2 tables and 8 figures.)
Assessing the Value of Education
Author: Reese, Susan
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Assessment,Differences,Public Policy,Measurement,School Districts,Vocational Education,Value Judgment,Data,Outcomes of Education

The issue of assessment in U.S. education is one that is wrought with conflict because there are many kinds of assessments being used--in various configurations--from district to district and state to state. Contributing writer Susan Reese looks at various assessments, including those being used in career and technical education classrooms, and the value of the information they provide about student outcomes.
Raising the Bar: Technical Assessments for Secondary CTE Programs
Author: Uy, Erin
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Vocational Education,School Business Relationship,Student Evaluation,Credentials,Job Skills,Item Banks,Secondary Education,Measurement Techniques,Measures (Individuals)

Having a strong connection to the employer community, career technical education (CTE) has long understood the importance of students being armed with industry recognized credentials and certificates as they enter the workplace. The enactment of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act in 2006, commonly referred to as Perkins IV, brought new attention and debate to the issue of technical skill attainment and assessment, and their related certifications and credentials. In this article, the authors note that secondary CTE has the greatest gap to close when it comes to measuring technical-skill attainment. They review several options for assessing students' technical skills as the CTE community works toward a collaborative solution.
Improving Technical Competence: How the CTE Community Is Responding
Author: Foster, John C.
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Vocational Education,Longitudinal Studies,Data,Competency Based Education,Summative Evaluation,Accountability,Federal Legislation,Testing,Program Improvement,Program Effectiveness

The National Occupational Competency Testing Institute (NOCTI) has been serving the career and technical education (CTE) community for almost 45 years. It is in the unique position to produce longitudinal data that indicates technical competence levels based on end-of-program testing across the country. NOCTI's data confirms that CTE is indeed having an impact. With a variety of diagnostic tools and professional development-related services, NOCTI assessments meet all the requirements of the accountability section of Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, and NOCTI delivers certification services for a number of industries. Many states are already engaged in using industry-based assessment, and are using the resulting reports and data to recognize student achievement, improve instruction, and maintain the currency of a particular program offering. NOCTI has witnessed a growing sophistication on the part of schools and states across the country in their understanding of data and its effective use in program improvement. In this article, the author takes a look at how some states are changing their assessment strategies to improve students' technical competence.
Survey Delves into Educator's Use of Assessment Data
Author: Pritz, Sandra
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Academic Achievement,Professional Development,Surveys,Evaluation,Vocational Education,Educational Improvement

The National Occupational Competency Testing Institute (NOCTI) has a long history, well over four decades, of providing comprehensive occupational skill assessments to measure student achievement. One of the organization's core beliefs is that comprehensive career and technical education (CTE) student assessment is one of the most effective tools for increasing student achievement and motivation through educators' use of data for instructional purposes. This study investigated how secondary CTE educators, both teachers and administrators, use technical assessment data to improve program curriculum and to identify individual/group instruction needs. Of particular interest in developing the survey was to ask how they have learned to make use of the data; what specific types of professional development were provided, if any; their perception of the effectiveness of this training; and what types of professional development they would consider most effective for the future. Findings and significance of this study are discussed. (Contains 2 figures.)
Career Academies as Instruments of School Reform and Change
Author: Blomenkamp, Joel
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Career Academies,Educational Change,School Restructuring,Learner Engagement,Relevance (Education),Educational Environment,Educational Philosophy,Cognitive Style,Educational Strategies

For many, today's classroom is a relic of an industrial-age school system that, perhaps, has outlived its usefulness. Educator Joel Blomenkamp suggests that the career academy model is one way to enter a new age of education and learning--one in which students are excited about the acquisition of knowledge because they are learning in a dynamic environment that fosters both academic and technical-skill competency.
Sustainability: The Next 21st Century Workplace Skill
Author: Konopnicki, Patrick
Date: 2009-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Vocational Education,Strategic Planning,Sustainable Development,Job Skills,Futures (of Society),Conservation (Environment),Ecology,Quality of Life,Education Work Relationship

At Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS), the three pillars of sustainability--environmental, economical and social--are very much on the minds of educators and administrators. It is so much that the school system has selected sustainability as one of its 21-century skills--one that all 68,751 students in the system must learn. This selection sets a new direction and purpose for skill acquisition as part of the VBCPS' new strategic plan, &quot;Compass to 2015.&quot; Acknowledging that sustainability is the new workplace skill, the author says the role of career and technical education (CTE) will be to develop new academic approaches to sustainability and continue to explore alternative curriculum paradigms and career pathway applications. In this article, the author asserts that sustainability skills will help everyone understand and support the transitions toward a green economy. (Contains 2 figures.)
Missouri-Iowa Science Cooperative (Science Co-Op): Rural Schools-Urban Universities Collaborative Project
Author: Shymansky, James A.
Date: 2008-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Rural Schools,Urban Universities,Professional Development,Science Education,Academic Achievement,Program Descriptions,School Districts,Elementary School Students,College School Cooperation,Educational Change,Science Instruction

There is a dearth of studies in science education that are both comprehensive and focused on rural schools. Thus, this brief is in the form of a research report on the impact of an externally funded, five-year professional development project. The project involved approximately 1500 teachers on the student achievement of approximately 20,000 K-6 students in 36 small, rural Midwest school districts. (Contains 1 table.)
A Decade's Difference: Research Revisited on Family Influence of Rural High School Students' Postsecondary Decisions
Author: Legutko, Robert S.
Date: 2008-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Postsecondary Education,Middle Class,Siblings,College Attendance,Academic Aspiration,High School Seniors,Family Influence,Students,Rural Schools,Rural Areas,Comparative Analysis,Statistical Analysis,Higher Education,Parent Background,Educational Attainment,Student Attitudes,Questionnaires

This study is a quantitative descriptive research design which compared 1995 and 2005 data regarding family influence on rural Pennsylvania high school seniors' postsecondary decisions. A chi-square analysis at p less than 0.05 determined that there was (a) an increase in students planning college attendance, (b) a decrease in students not planning postsecondary education or unsure of postsecondary plans, (c) an increase in students planning college attendance who did not have parents with postsecondary schooling, (d) a decrease in students not planning postsecondary education or unsure of postsecondary plans who did not have parents with postsecondary schooling, (e) an increase in lower-middle class students planning to attend college, and (f) a decrease in lower-middle class students not planning postsecondary education or unsure of postsecondary plans. There was no significant difference in students' postsecondary plans when siblings' pursuit of postsecondary education was considered. (Contains 4 tables.)
Factors Inhibiting Hispanic Parents' School Involvement
Author: Smith, Jay
Date: 2008-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: School Schedules,Federal Legislation,School Involvement,Parent Participation,Academic Achievement,Parent School Relationship,At Risk Students,Hispanic Americans,Qualitative Research,Spanish,Translation,Information Sources,Limited English Speaking,English (Second Language)

Factors inhibiting Hispanic parental involvement in non-metropolitan area schools were studied. With the mandates of No Child Left Behind intensifying the need to improve the academic achievement of all at-risk groups of students in American schools, and with the relatively new phenomenon of large numbers of Hispanics settling in non-metropolitan areas, findings of this qualitative study of fifteen Hispanic parents should be highly useful to educators working with Hispanic youth. Primary factors inhibiting Hispanic parental involvement were the following: the failure of the school to send correspondence, school calendar, lunch menus or newsletters written in Spanish; the inability of the parents to speak and understand English in personal communication with the school, and the reluctance of the parents to question authority or to advocate for the rights of their children.
Can a Week Make a Difference? Changing Perceptions about Teaching and Living in Rural Alaska
Author: Munsch, T. R.
Date: 2008-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Teaching,Rural Schools,Alaska Natives,Teaching Experience,Rural Education,Teacher Recruitment,Teacher Persistence,Preservice Teachers,Questionnaires,Student Teacher Attitudes,Teacher Shortage,Educational Facilities,Community Problems,Eskimos

Many Alaskan schools are located in extremely remote or &quot;fly-in&quot; places. These geographical extremes affect the recruitment and retention of teachers to remote rural schools. Through a partnership between the Southwest Region School District of Alaska and the Department of Education at Alaska Pacific University (APU), 14 pre-service teachers participated in a one-week remote rural practice teaching experience. These APU students lived and taught in village schools where indigenous Alaska Natives were the majority and whose language is Yup'ik. Through the use of pre and post experience questionnaires, the pre-service teachers' views about rural teaching and seeking rural appointments were sought. (Contains 4 tables.)
Preparing Teachers for Rural Appointments: Lessons from Australia
Author: Lock, Graeme
Date: 2008-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Teachers,Practicums,Foreign Countries,Financial Support,Rural Education,Teacher Recruitment,Teacher Persistence,Rural Areas,Teaching Experience,Surveys,Program Effectiveness,Program Improvement,Program Descriptions

Education authorities continue to experience difficulty in recruiting and retaining teachers in rural and remote schools. In Western Australia (WA), a state noted for its vastness and number of schools located in rural and remote settings, a scheme developed by the Western Australian Department of Education and Training (DET) and the WA Chamber of Minerals and Energy aims to address this challenge by offering financial support to student teachers who wish to undertake their final practicum in a remote or rural education district in which they hope to work after graduation. The Student Teacher Rural Experience Program (STREP) assists with return travel costs and a weekly stipend for the duration of the practicum. The DET specifies the particular districts to which the STREP will apply and applicants need to satisfy a number of selection criteria. In 2005 a survey involving 2004 and 2005 STREP participants was undertaken to ascertain their opinions about how effective the program was in preparing them to teach in rural locations. This article discusses the quantitative data and participant comments on issues not adequately covered by STREP and how the program might be improved. (Contains 1 table.)
Rural Teacher Satisfaction: An Analysis of Beliefs and Attitudes of Rural Teachers' Job Satisfaction
Author: Huysman, John T.
Date: 2008-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Rural Schools,Teacher Effectiveness,Job Satisfaction,Teacher Persistence,Focus Groups,Collective Bargaining,Interviews,Teacher Attitudes,Surveys,Teacher Role,Faculty Mobility,Academic Achievement,Educational Environment

This study analyzed teachers' beliefs and attitudes affecting job satisfaction in one small, rural Florida school district. This mixed methods study included a self-administered survey of Likert-type items measuring 20 factors for job satisfaction and individual semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Several issues related to dissatisfaction surfaced not presented in previous studies. Teachers often found themselves frustrated at work because of conflicting expectations concerning their professional and social roles within the community and perceived that peers or coalitions within the schools possessed undue influence and power. Of most concern to participants was the perception of being unappreciated. This perception was influenced by the collective bargaining process and promoted the perception of a &quot;lack of respect&quot; and an &quot;unhealthy competition&quot; between homegrown and transplanted faculty. Addressing these perceptions afford rural administrators an opportunity to positively influence teacher retention, teacher quality, student achievement, and school climate.
Leadership Behaviors of Superintendent/Principals in Small, Rural School Districts in Texas
Author: Canales, Maria T.
Date: 2008-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Rural Schools,Leadership Effectiveness,Measures (Individuals),School Districts,Boards of Education,Superintendents,Instructional Leadership,Principals,Presidents,Administrator Behavior,Surveys,Questionnaires,Statistical Analysis,Scores

In this study, 206 teachers, 35 school board presidents, and 37 superintendents/principals (n = 278) were surveyed regarding their views of effective leadership behaviors demonstrated by school leaders with dual role responsibilities through serving as both a school principal and as a superintendent in small rural school districts. Data were collected through use of the Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire Form XII and the Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire Form XII Self. Of the 12 leadership domains assessed through use of this measure, statistically significant differences were yielded on 6 of the 12 leadership areas: Representation; Demand Reconciliation; Tolerance of Uncertainty; Persuasiveness; Initiation of Structure; and Role Assumption. Superintendents/principals reported lower scores in these areas than did teachers and/or school board presidents. Implications of these findings are discussed. (Contains 1 table.)
Transformational Teacher Leadership in Rural Schools
Author: Anderson, Kirk David
Date: 2008-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Rural Schools,Transformational Leadership,Teacher Leadership,Instructional Leadership,Decision Making,Creativity,Teacher Role,Teacher Administrator Relationship,Foreign Countries

In this paper, the author explores the rural school context and its teacher leaders as a third transformational leadership prototype adding to Leithwood and Jantzi's (1999) two transformational leadership prototypes of females and new teachers in the elementary school. The author helps illuminate new understanding of rural schools and their highly interactive decision making styles where teacher leaders are a source of creativity development of unique forms of leadership. If researchers focus on teachers as leaders in rural schools, specifically those who operate outside of traditional leadership roles, there exists a promising area of new understanding for educational leadership as transformational teacher leadership. (Contains 2 tables.)