Browsing by Subject "Co-teaching"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Case Studies of Secondary School Teachers Designing Socioscientific Issues-Based Instruction and Their Students’ Socioscientific Reasoning
    (2015-05) Karahan, Engin
    Addressing socioscientific issues (SSI) has been one of the main focuses in science education since the Science, Technology, and Society (STS) movement in the 1970s (Levinson, 2006); however, teaching controversial socioscientific issues has always been challenging for teachers (Dillon, 1994; Osborne, Duschl, & Fairbrother, 2002). Although teachers exhibit positive attitudes for using controversial socioscientific issues in their science classrooms, only a small percentage of them actually incorporate SSI content into their science curricula on a regular basis (Sadler, Amirshokoohi, Kazempour, & Allspaw, 2006; Lee & Witz, 2009). The literature in science education has highlighted the significant relationships among teacher beliefs, teaching practices, and student learning (Bryan & Atwater, 2002; King, Shumow, & Lietz, 2001; Lederman, 1992). Despite the fact that the case studies present a relatively detailed picture of teachers� values and motivations for teaching SSI (e.g. Lee, 2006; Lee & Witz, 2009; Reis & Galvao, 2004), these studies still miss the practices of these teachers and potential outcomes for their students. Therefore, there is a great need for in-depth case studies that would focus on teachers� practices of designing and teaching SSI-based learning environments, their deeper beliefs and motivations for teaching SSI, and their students� response to these practices (Lee, 2006). This dissertation is structured as three separate, but related, studies about secondary school teachers� experiences of designing and teaching SSI-based classes and their students's understanding of science and SSI reasoning. The case studies in this dissertation seek answers for (1) teacher's practices of designing and teaching SSI-based instruction, as well as its relation to their deeper personal beliefs and motivations to teach SSI, and (2) how their students respond to their approaches of teaching SSI in terms of their science understanding and SSI reasoning. The first paper presents case studies of three secondary science teachers within three high schools located along the Minnesota River Basin. The findings of this study documented the experiences of the participant teachers, as well as the contextual influences on those experiences. The second paper presents a case study of a science teacher and a social studies teacher which describes how these two teachers collaboratively designed and taught an environmental ethics class. The results of this study documented teacher's ways of sharing responsibilities, bringing their content and pedagogical expertise, and promoting the agency of their students in the environmental ethics class. The final paper in this dissertation presents case studies of secondary school students who were the participants in the SSI-based science classes described in the first two studies. The results of this study provided evidence for participant student's understanding of science and their socioscientific reasoning, as well as how they were influenced by the instructional decisions their teachers made.
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    A case study of a first-grade teacher team collaboratively planning literacy instruction for English learners
    (2013-06) Frederick, Amy Rae
    Teachers, researchers and policy-makers in the areas of literacy and language development have recently touted teacher collaboration as an innovative approach to better serving elementary English learners. Collaborative planning and instructional approaches are becoming widespread in educational practice. And though research seems promising in terms of benefits for teachers and students, there is scant information about the collaborative meaning-making practices of teacher teams and the instructional decisions that result. In the current study I explore the practices and perceptions of one first-grade team as they collaborate to plan instruction for their English-learning students. My study is situated within a sociocultural framework (Vygotsky, 1978; Johnson, 2009) and uses case study methodology to provide an in-depth exploration of the actions and perceptions of teachers within a unique context (Merriam, 2009). I highlight three major findings: the team's planning practices were significantly influenced by multi-layered policies in both supportive and restrictive ways; the team's collaborative planning promoted practices that may improve the teachers' understandings of English learners and support improved classroom practice; and the participants, though dissatisfied with aspects of their collaborative practices, felt that overall they were better teachers because of them. Findings from this project add to the fields of professional development and literacy instruction for English learners by identifying the influences and tensions embedded in the teachers' work and exposing the everyday negotiations of complicated issues that teachers undertake.
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    A formative evaluation of a Midwest District's integrated services pilot
    (2014-06) Resch, Laurie J.
    The purpose of the Integrated Services pilot was to develop models for the delivery of special education, supplemental programs, and English as a second language services that were based on a philosophy of inclusion. The intent was to provide all students with learning experiences in which they could be successful both academically and socially in the most inclusive environment. The pilot was conducted at four elementary schools in a large Midwestern public school district. The pilot schools served students with diverse needs and were situated in divergent communities, which provided four unique contexts for the pilot. Teacher collaboration and co-teaching were utilized at each pilot school to achieve pilot goals. The purpose of this formative evaluation was to inform pilot development and to determine if the Integrated Services Pilot should be expanded to other elementary schools in the district. To inform these decisions, qualitative and quantitative data were collected in five areas: (1) professional development and support; (2) collaboration and professional learning communities; (3) impact on teacher knowledge and practice; (4) impact on student engagement and achievement; and (5) overall perceptions of the pilot. Surveys, individual and group interviews, and student achievement data provided the data for analysis and evaluation of pilot results. Teachers, instructional coaches, and principals reported that the pilot positively impacted both student engagement and student achievement. Additionally, the Integrated Services Pilot had a positive impact on teacher practice and on the relationships between support service and classroom co-teaching partners. Participants indicated that they were eager to continue with the Integrated Services model and had no desire to return to past practice.
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    Two delivery models of inclusive practices for ELLs in a Midwest school district
    (Minnesota and Wisconsin Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, 2012) Lin, Yishu
    The study examined how the instructional delivery models in inclusion programs were specifically implemented for Grades 1-3 English Language Learners (ELLs) at 2 elementary schools in a large Midwest inner-city school district. The nature of the 2 delivery models was diagramed and explained respectively. Interview, observation data, and relevant documents were analyzed through the use of a comparative matrix. Themes and trends were developed: (a) collaboration between the classroom teachers and resource teachers; (b) scheduling; (c) reading instruction, curricular, and instruction time; (d) workload for classroom teachers and the resource teachers; (e) use of paraprofessionals; (f) assessment of students’ ongoing progress; and (g) strengths and challenges of the implemented models as described by the teachers. The findings indicated that the participating teachers were very positive about their inclusion models even though the two models were distinctively different. The results signify that inclusion can work for ELLs, but it is difficult for one classroom teacher to accomplish the job. Collaboration is the key to the success of inclusive practices.