UMD Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.
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Item THE ROLE OF SOCIAL DESIRABILITY IN STRUCTURED AND NARRATIVE SELF-REPORT DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC(2023) Delehanty, Alexandria Travis; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This research addressed the key question: Does social desirability operate as a validity confound by adding irrelevant variance to self-reports and narratives, or does it serve as a valuable source of information on how individuals choose to adapt. This study used three conceptualizations of social desirability (the Marlowe-Crowne need for approval, and impression management and self-deception from the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR) and investigated their respective relations with self-reports of positive and negative paradigms (e.g. stress and coping, negative and positive affect). Each of these conceptualizations was also related to narrative-based locus of control and coping. The sample comprised 177 U.S. teachers who completed surveys during January-April 2021, in the beginning of the transition back to in-person learning from COVID. Results indicated that social desirability did not operate as a validity confound, and that it served as a valuable source of information of respondents’ personal values in how it influenced the relations among self-reports and coded narratives.Item Relations Between Expressive Writing and Teachers' Affect and Predictors of Engagement with Expressive Writing During the COVID-19 Pandemic(2022) McCurdy, Kelsey Faith; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The physical and psychological health benefits associated with expressive writing (EW) have been extensively studied (Frattaroli, 2006; Frisina et al., 2004; review by Pennebaker, 2018; Smyth, 1998). Despite the depth of this research, two important questions remain why is EW beneficial and who chooses to engage in EW. This study addresses these two questions by using a mixed methods procedure, which includes teachers’ written products about significant teaching experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as their ratings of positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) before and after writing, and their ratings of the impact of the event they wrote about. Narratives were coded for levels of meaning-making and self-regulation with acceptable reliability among four raters. Results showed an immediate small decrease in NA after writing (d=.30) and an immediate small to moderate increase in PA after writing (d=.38). Additionally, correlational analyses revealed that higher levels of narrative meaning-making were related to higher levels of pre-writing NA, but not changes in NA or PA. Conversely, higher levels of narrative self-regulation were not related to pre-writing affect, but were significantly related to adaptive changes in immediate post-writing affect (increase in PA and decrease in NA). Two logistic regression models, one predicting who completed the first expressive writing session and one predicting who volunteered to receive information about the next phase of the study (i.e., additional writing sessions) were not significant. However, a logistic regression predicting whether a participant completed a second writing prompt using change in affect and narrative quality as predictors was significant. Narrative self-regulation was the only significant predictor, such that higher self-regulation was related to an increase in the likelihood of completion of a second prompt. Overall, results suggest that meaning-making and self-regulation are related to different outcomes associated with participants’ affect, with self-regulation being associated not only with adaptive change in affect, but also with continuing to engage with EW.Item From Counting Women to Ensuring Women Count: A Qualitative Study of University and Early Career Experiences of Women Secondary School Teachers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from a Capabilities Perspective(2016) Ashtari Abay, Negar; Stromquist, Nelly P; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)At the heart of this study is a concern with moving from counting women—from a quantitative focus on gender parity—to having women count—ensuring conditions exist that allow women teachers to fully participate in quality teaching and the positive transformation of the teaching profession. Women comprise less than 20% of secondary school teachers in Ethiopia (MoE, 2014), reflecting similar patterns of under-representation elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study uses in-depth interviews and field observations over a period of 15 months in Addis Ababa to shed light on why many women in Ethiopia who enter university do not make it into secondary school teaching and why many of those who enter teaching, in urban areas where most teachers are concentrated, do not stay in the profession. Drawing on a capabilities perspective, the study goes further to examine the cumulative disadvantage—in terms of well-being and agency—that women experience during the process of their university (undergraduate and teacher) training and in their early years of working in urban secondary schools, as well as the ways in which women contend with disadvantage. This study shows that such disadvantage and the responses to it have implications not only for whether women enter and stay in teaching but also for how they engage in their work. Utilizing the rich qualitative data collected and the analysis afforded by using the capability approach, the study concludes by recommending how different actors, including government, universities and schools, can foster institutional conditions of possibility (Walker, 2006a) and educational arrangements that enhance rather than limit full and equal participation in the teaching profession. Foregrounded throughout this study are the voices and experiences of young women, offering a perspective which disrupts the presumed norm of the single male teacher and highlights some of the limits of gender-neutral teacher policies.Item "Natural Enemies" or Intentional Allies? Teachers' & Parents' Perspectives on Middle School Boys of Color(2016) Lowe, Shasha Yolande; MacDonald, Victoria-María; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examined the perspectives and “shared knowledge” of parents and teachers of boys of color. The following overarching research question guided this study: “What do parents and teachers want each other to know about their middle school son or student of color regarding academics, engagement, and behavior?” Additionally, it explored the challenges and opportunities for shared knowledge and understanding of their (respective) son’s’ or students’ academics and engagement. The methodology was qualitative in nature and the intent in conducting this case study was to describe, interpret, and explain the “shared knowledge” between these stakeholders at a predominantly minority middle school. A sample of seven parents and seven teachers from one school in a mid-Atlantic state participated in interviews and focus groups. Results indicated that parents and teachers of boys of color viewed each other as “intentional allies.” Results further showed that parents and teachers were aware of the challenges faced by boys of color in and out of school. That awareness was reflected in strategies that both groups employed to support, prepare, and protect their son/students. Lastly, the study found that teachers received no formal training in building parent-teacher partnerships, but gathered experimental knowledge on how to build those relationships. These findings have implications for teacher education programs, schools, parents, and teachers.Item Prioritizing Purposes: Two American History Teachers' Choices Among Subject Matter and Classroom-Related Purposes(2016) Blum, Robyn M; Turner, Jennifer; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study explores how two American history teachers - one novice and one experienced – make in-the-moment choices among their history subject matter and classroom-related purposes during the teaching of an American history unit. Using classroom observations, lesson artifacts, student work products, and deep, retrospective interviews with the teachers as they watched videos of their teaching, this study maps out in detail the teachers’ purposes, both within and across different lesson activity structures. This study finds that the novice and the experienced teacher navigated among their purposes differently from each other, and that the characteristics of each teacher’s purposes navigation aligned with student outcomes in that teacher’s class. The novice teacher acted more like a juggler, with visible, reactive navigation among each purpose operational throughout his teaching; student outcomes in his class were similarly fragmented and discrete. The experienced teacher presented more like an orchestra conductor, interweaving his purposes and anticipating the navigation decisions that would create a more seamless whole; student outcomes in his class were aligned with his holistic navigation of purposes. Findings from this study have important implications for education research and teacher practice, including the relationship between teachers’ navigation among purposes and desired student outcomes, the integral role of classroom-related purposes interwoven with history subject matter purposes in teachers’ decision-making, and the differences in purposes navigation between a novice and an experienced history teacher.Item Biology Teachers' Perceptions of Satisfaction:The Mediating Effects of Workplace Conditions and Epistemological Beliefs(2014) Daniels, Elizabeth; Parham, Carol S; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)National policy discourses have placed biology at the heart of the Nation's goal to achieve a global knowledge-based economy. However, researchers are finding educational trends of increasing biology teacher shortfalls which may undermine the achievement of that goal (National Science Board [NSB], 2012). Indeed, researchers have found science teacher shortages have been inexorably tied to many U. S. educational and societal problems, such as the goal of maintaining global economic competitiveness with other nations (National Academy of Sciences [NAS], 2007). On the other hand, in addition to research findings of the large science teacher shortfalls, researchers have found biology teachers' perceptions of satisfaction have a high correlation with retention. As a result, it appears critical to maximize the needed retention of biology teachers by increasing teachers' perceived levels of job satisfaction. Over the years, educational researchers have investigated science teacher perceptions of satisfaction as discrete units of workplace conditions or ii epistemological views. Researchers have given little attention to the relationship between school workplace conditions and the epistemological belief system of biology teachers regarding their views on the nature of teaching and learning, which may contribute to high levels of perceived satisfaction and commitment to their schools. The purpose of this study is to examine the dynamic interactions between these factors to identify the positive and negative influences on biology teachers' perceptions of satisfaction, thusly impacting teachers' practice behaviors, motivation, and commitment to the profession. School systems share many features with large organizations; therefore the design of this study utilized prior research from industry on stress affecting employee perceptions of satisfaction in the workplace. From organizational literature, Kristof-Brown et al.'s (2005) organizational model of person to environmental fit is adapted to illustrate the interactive flow between teachers' personally held epistemic beliefs systems with extant school workplace conditions. A review of literature suggested there are four workplace conditions most salient to biology teachers' perceptions of satisfaction; administrative support, student discipline, collegiality, and accountability along with three predominant epistemological beliefs of realism, contextualism, and relativism which formed the basis of the study. For this qualitative case study a semi-structured interview developed by Luft and Roehrig (2007) is utilized. The Teacher Belief Interview (2007) questions are designed to capture the epistemological beliefs of biology teachers.Item Elementary Teachers' Grading Practices: Does the Reality Reflect the Rubric?(2011) Shanahan, Katherine Bruckman; Gottfredson, Gary D; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Report cards are the primary way that teachers, students, and parents communicate about student achievement in the classroom. Although many school districts develop rubrics to guide teacher grading practices, most research finds that in reality, grades represent a hodgepodge of factors that vary across teachers and across school systems. The current study investigates student factors that explain variance in elementary report card grades in a suburban school district. The sample includes 4th and 5th grade students (N = 8,555) and their classroom teachers (N = 374) from 45 schools. Multilevel structural equation models, with students nested within classrooms, tested two models describing variance in report card grades. One model included the factors listed on the school system grading rubric along with additional factors thought to be related to grades (non-rubric model). An alternative, nested, model included only the factors from the grading rubric (rubric model). Results suggested that the non-rubric model provided a better fit for the data, but effects for the additional non-rubric factors were uniformly small.Item EFFECTS OF A CO-TEACHING TEAMING PROGRAM ON THE INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES OF HIGH SCHOOL GENERAL AND SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS(2011) Bond, Stephen Phillip Gorton; Burke, Philip J; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Co-teaching is widely used as an option in the delivery of special education services to students with disabilities in accordance with their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Students with learning disabilities frequently struggle in learning specific content areas, a factor representing a significant challenge to providing instruction in the least restrictive environment. Co-teaching is an option that serves to foster an instructional environment in the general education classroom that is inclusive and supportive of students with disabilities and those who require specialized assistance. It holds the potential to effectively combine the talents and skills of both the general and special education teacher, thus maximizing their ability to effectively teach students who present the most significant instructional challenges. The purpose of this study was to study the effects of a co-teaching program on the instructional practices of six high school teachers assigned to co-teach. A multiple probe design targeting the teaming behaviors across three dyads of teachers was used. The participating teachers were trained using the Teaming Instructional Procedures Program developed by the author and based on the teaming approach as outlined in Friend (2007). The classes were digitally audio recorded during baseline, intervention, and maintenance conditions. The recordings were analyzed using time-sampling and a teaming behavior checklist to determine the occurrence of teaming behaviors by the special education teacher. The Teaming Instructional Procedures Program positively impacted the teaming behaviors of the special educators. The occurrence of teaming behaviors increased for each dyad, with increases being sustained during maintenance probes. The educators found the training program useful and user friendly and indicated they would recommend the training to other co-teachers. Most teachers found the co-teaching teaming approach useful, if not ideal for every situation and reported improvements in student engagement and performance, with no reports of detrimental effects. Responses from students confirmed the majority enjoyed having two teachers in the room, and they believed their engagement and performance benefited from the situation. The Teaming Instructional Procedures Program proved to be a socially valid means of training teachers to employ a specific co-teaching approach. The results of this study provide evidence to justify the allocation of time and resources to the formal training of teachers entering a co-teaching situation and the need for the development of a more comprehensive training program addressing more approaches to co-teaching.Item Negotiating theTerrain of High-Stakes Accountability in Science Teaching(2007-11-20) Aronson, Isaak; Hultgren, Francine; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Teachers interact with their students on behalf of the entire educational system. The aim of this study is to explore how biology teachers understand and construct their practice in a high-stakes accountability environment that is likely to be riddled with tensions. By critically questioning the technical paradigms of accountability this study challenges the fundamental assumptions of accountability. Such a critical approach may help teachers develop empowerment strategies that can free them from the de-skilling effects of the educational accountability system. This interpretive case study of a high-school in Maryland is grounded in three streams of research literature: quality science instruction based on scientific inquiry, the effects of educational accountability on the curriculum, and the influence of policy on classroom practice with a specific focus on how teachers balance competing tensions. This study theoretically occurs at the intersection of educational accountability and pedagogy. In terms of data collection, I conduct two interviews with all six biology teachers in the school. I observe each teacher for at least fifteen class periods. I review high-stakes accountability policy documents from the federal, state, and district levels of the education system. Three themes emerge from the research. The first theme, "re-defining science teaching," captures how deeply accountability structures have penetrated the science curriculum. The second theme, "the pressure mounts," explores how high-stakes accountability in science has increased the stress placed on teachers. The third theme, "teaching-in-between," explores how teachers compromise between accountability mandates and their own understandings of quality teaching. Together, the three themes shed light on the current high-stakes climate in which teachers currently work. This study's findings inform the myriad paradoxes at all levels of the educational system. As Congress and advocacy groups battle over the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, they may not pay adequate attention to all the inconsistencies. Educators and researchers must take a critical look at accountability policies. Accountability should promote optimism, responsibility, job satisfaction, avenues for developing pedagogical expertise, and collaboration between teachers and administrators. Only then is it likely to improve educational opportunities for all students.