Teaching, Learning, Policy & Leadership Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2759
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Item KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS’ VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE, PRACTICES, AND INFLUENTIAL FACTORS: A MULTIPLE CASE STUDY(2023) Johnston, Tara Burke; Dreher, Mariam J; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Early and explicit vocabulary instruction is one important way teachers can support early readers for later reading comprehension success (Duncan et al., 2007; Marulis & Neuman, 2010; Neuman & Dwyer, 2011; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), 2000); however, some observations indicate that early childhood and early elementary teachers do not provide consistent and explicit vocabulary support (e.g., Dwyer & Harbaugh, 2020; Wright & Neuman, 2014; Donaldson, 2011) and that most teachers do not have much time to spend on vocabulary instruction generally (Baumann et al., 2003). To further explore why these phenomena may occur and to provide direction for future research and teacher education initiatives, this study examined the reported vocabulary knowledge, reported vocabulary practices, and reported influential factors on vocabulary instruction of seven kindergarten teachers in public school settings in the United States. Using a multiple case study design, I studied seven teachers to answer the following research questions: (1) What do kindergarten teachers report about their own knowledge related to vocabulary instruction? (2) What do kindergarten teachers report about how they implement and change their vocabulary instruction? (3) What factors do kindergarten teachers report as influencing their vocabulary instruction? Each case was bound as one teacher, and I framed my study using two main theories: Shavelson and Stern’s (1981) pedagogical decision making and Shulman’s (1986, 1987) pedagogical content knowledge as it relates to teacher professional knowledge. I collected data using a demographic survey, a knowledge screening survey, an initial interview about reported vocabulary practices, four pre- and post-vocabulary lesson interviews, and artifacts related to the vocabulary lessons. I used multiple rounds of coding for both individual case analysis and cross-case analysis. Individual case analysis yielded a profile for each teacher which describes in detail their reported vocabulary knowledge, practices, and influential factors. For example, one teacher’s profile (pseudonym Brenda) describes reported use of a consistent Tier 2 vocabulary routine for every lesson, whereas other teachers in the study did not report a consistent vocabulary instructional routine. Another teacher (pseudonym Joyce) frequently reported using hands on science lessons to teach vocabulary; she also frequently discussed how knowledge of her students’ needs impacted her vocabulary instruction. Cross-case analysis revealed that participants reported little knowledge of and wide variation in reported pedagogies to effectively support Multilingual Learners’ (MLLs) or students with reading difficulties’ oral vocabulary development. Participants frequently reported using explicit instruction to teach Tier 2 (Beck et al., 2002) vocabulary words before and during literacy read aloud lessons. However, participants did not often report teaching taxonomically or thematically connected words using informational texts; these pedagogies have proven to be particularly effective for increasing word knowledge and comprehension in young children (Neuman & Dwyer, 2011; Pinkham et al., 2014). Additionally, participants reported that they received very little professional development in how to effectively teach vocabulary, despite knowing that vocabulary instruction is important for young learners. Most of participants’ reported knowledge about vocabulary instruction was rooted in their knowledge of students’ perceived needs and knowledge they gained informally from other members of their teaching teams. These findings have implications for the professional development of both pre-service and in-service teachers, and for future research on early vocabulary practices in classroom contexts.Item STEM TEACHERS AS INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC LEADERS: CHANGE AGENTS AT THE SYSTEMS SCALE(2022) Vieyra, Rebecca Elizabeth; Elby, Andrew; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation research attempts to answer the questions “What do early childhood teachers perceive as their original sources of self-efficacy for strategic leadership in STEM education?” and “How does their initial self-efficacy for strategic leadership mediate their eventual engagement as international leaders in STEM education?” This study aims to move beyond the mostly descriptive studies of teacher leadership, to understand why a particular group of teachers chose to lead. It attends to visionary leadership outside the school building or district that contributes beyond administrative or political boundaries, at the wider level of the STEM teaching profession. It explores literature across multiple disciplines to aid the adoption and contextualization of a theoretical framework for data collection and analysis of seven case studies of teacher leaders. The resulting theoretical framework is anchored in Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory for its emphasis on self-efficacy and is informed by prior work in leadership and STEM teacher leader development. This theoretical lens is aligned with themes that previously emerged from the results of preliminary interviews with teachers who attributed their leadership to significant increases in leadership self-efficacy. Findings from this study suggest that the teachers acted upon their tendency toward impulsivity to accept new opportunities for strategic leadership in STEM education even when self-efficacy for STEM and teacher leadership was reported to be low, or non-existent due to the lack of familiarity with leadership or STEM (Finding #1). After accepting leadership opportunities, growing self-efficacy for leadership activities primarily derived from improvements in their STEM identity (Finding #2). Among Bandura’s sources of self-efficacy, these teachers frequently reported the importance of emotional and physiological states to engage opportunistically in strategic teacher leadership in STEM education, as well as the role of persuasion from friends and colleagues (Finding #3). Implications from this research include recognizing the importance of supporting early childhood teachers’ STEM identity through the recognition of work they already do that falls within the domain of STEM content and processes. It also suggests the need for educational leaders to help early childhood teachers move toward and overcome a commonly expressed fear of STEM. Further, it calls for those who support teachers to identify and foster risk-taking mentalities concerning leadership, offering opportunities and support even (or perhaps especially) to those teachers who do not yet feel ready to lead others. This work aims to increase the awareness of early childhood teachers’ potential as reform agents in STEM education, as well as bring attention to more human, individualized elements of teacher personal wellness and professional growth that can be realized through leadership.Item Exploring Instructional and Institutional Opportunities and Challenges in a Newly-Formed Translanguaging Dual- Language School(2021) Shi, Lijuan; Rolstad, Kellie; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Translanguaging pedagogy disrupts linguistic inequalities and creates transformative spaces for emergent bilingual students in dual language education (DLE) programs to leverage and expand students’ full linguistic repertoires. Guided by translanguaging theory and positioning theory, this case study presents an analysis of the opportunities and the challenges of implementing translanguaging pedagogy in a co-teaching Chinese-English dual language Pre-K school in China. Using the entire school as a case, this investigation is based on data from videos and field notes of class observations, interviews of teachers, school leaders and parents, audio recording of school meetings, and school documents. The study focuses on two main factors: First, how translanguaging pedagogy was implemented in the school including the individual or coordinated translanguaging practices of 34 Chinese and English teachers and the challenges they encountered; second, the institutional factors including teachers’ institutional positionality and the understanding of translanguaging among stakeholders (teachers, administrative leaders, and parents), which all influence the implementation of translanguaging pedagogy. The findings provide a rounded view of how the school’s translanguaging policy provided opportunities for teachers to legitimately navigate between two languages in teacher-student interactions and teachers’ co-teaching practices. Teachers employed various translanguaging strategies to construct three translanguaging components (translanguaging bridges, translanguaging assessments, and translanguaging showcases) through which emergent bilingual students’ full linguistic repertoire were validated and developed. The school’s child-initiated play pedagogy and stakeholders’ strong translanguaging stance supported the implementation of translanguaging pedagogy. The findings also reveal that the legitimizing position of translanguaging pedagogy did not eliminate all the challenges teachers encountered. These challenges stemmed from teachers’ insufficient experience of practicing translanguaging and their limited skills in translanguaging co-teaching design. Discrepancies between the institutional positions and co-teaching assignments, between language equivalency inside and outside the classroom, and between different stakeholders’ expectations created hindrances for the implementation of translanguaging pedagogy. This study adds to the growing research on translanguaging in early childhood education, as well as offering useful translanguaging strategies and examples for language teachers at Pre-K schools. This study explores the ideological boundary between two languages and reflects the core of translanguaging theory, which resonates with anti-bias education and conceptualizes the sociolinguistic reality and symbolic competence of emergent bilingual students. This study also provides insights about what kind of administrative and peripheral support is needed for translanguaging to occur and what obstacles may hinder teachers’ translanguaging practices in this specific DLE program. The findings can inform other schools to overcome challenges and enact an anti-bias and dynamic bilingual education based on the acknowledgment of the full linguistic capital students bring to the classroom.Item Reading Analyses with Chilean Children(2021) Cubillos Guzman, Montserrat; Turner, Jennifer; Galindo, Claudia; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Chilean data show that a large reading-proficiency gap exists between students with high and low socioeconomic status (SES), that most children do not see themselves as readers, and that half of adolescents read below grade level (Agencia de Calidad de la Educación, 2019; Consejo Nacional de la Cultura y las Artes, 2014). To understand the reasons behind these phenomena, I conducted three complementary studies on reading comprehension, motivation, and literacy-related home practices with over 800,000 Chilean students, using nation-wide secondary data analysis.In the first study, I examined the association between the frequency of early literacy parent-children interactions (e.g., reading together, reading labels and signs, singing songs, etc.) before they entered first grade and students’ reading scores in fourth grade, while accounting for their second-grade proficiency. I observed that parents frequently engaged in literacy interactions with their children, that those interactions significantly predicted students’ later reading proficiency, and that the effect was steeper for families with high SES than for those with low SES. In the second study, I explored the association between parents’ reading motivation and frequency and their children’s. I examined data of students from sixth, eight, and tenth grade. I found that adolescents were more likely to be motivated and frequent readers if their parents were also keen readers. I also found that SES was a powerful predictor of the likelihood of being a keen reader, and that the effect of having a keen-reading parent was more positively pronounced for adolescents with low SES than for those with high SES. In the third study, I explored whether tenth graders’ reading motivation and frequency was associated to their reading scores. I observed that a large percentage of students who were proficient readers in fourth grade failed to achieve proficiency in tenth grade and that the odds of achieving proficiency in tenth grade increased when students were motivated and frequent readers. Furthermore, students’ odds of being proficient readers increased when their classmates reported high levels of reading motivation and frequency of reading. I discuss the implications of this and my other two studies.Item De Facto Bilingual Education: The Role of Home Language Support in the Academic Achievement of Dual Language Learners(2020) Guzman, Natalia; MacSwan, Jeff; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Despite a clear finding that immigrant children in bilingual education programs outperform children in English-only instruction, little is known about the underlying causes of this effect and the variability in the results. This study seeks to understand cases in which bilingual students with emerging English skills appear to experience success or rapid academic gains in English-only classrooms in the apparent absence of home language support in school. Using a sample of 2,428 Spanish-speaking bilingual students in 438 schools from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K:2011), multilevel models are employed to integrate multiple sources of data from parent interviews, self-administered teacher surveys, school administrator questionnaires, and one-on-one student assessments. Drawing from research on family language policy, which focuses on how bilingual families manage and use languages, and on theories of bilingual education, this study shows that the academic support that parents provide using the home language gives bilingual children background knowledge or a network of contextual clues that helps them navigate English-only classrooms. This background knowledge gained through parental support in the home language allows bilingual learners with the lowest level of English proficiency to score higher in mathematics in English-only environments during the kindergarten year in the same way as home language support contributes to children’s success in bilingual and dual language programs. This finding is an empirical verification of what has been called “de facto” bilingual education, a situation in which an emergent English learner succeeds in an English-only classroom due to parental academic support in the home language. In addition, this study shows that the parents’ preference for a home language does not jeopardize the English language attainment of young children upon entry to kindergarten. These findings are of great significance to educators, policymakers, and researchers who strive for equitable educational practices that support the inclusion of all students in the classroom, as they provide a context for understanding oft-reported immigrant successes in English-only classrooms as “de facto” bilingual education provided by parents at home.Item How Pre-K Teachers Support the Language and Literacy Development of Young Dual Language Learners: A Multi-Case Study of Four Exemplary Teachers(2020) Budde, Christina Marie; Martin-Beltran, Melinda; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This multi-case study uses an ecological theory of language learning (van Lier, 2004) as a lens to examine the teaching practices of four highly-effective teachers of young Dual language learners (DLLs). Young DLLs are children who are learning two languages, simultaneously developing their primary language and acquiring a new language. Analysis of over 150 hours of classroom observations, teacher interviews, and classroom artifacts illustrate how teachers skillfully drew upon a repertoire of instructional practices during both planned and spontaneous teaching moments to intentionally target the language and literacy development of young DLLs. High-quality instruction linked to positive language and literacy outcomes for pre-k children likely provides a foundation for effective teaching practice for young DLLs. However, high-quality instruction must be enhanced to meet the linguistic and academic needs of children acquiring English as an additional language. Findings include the detailed and descriptive analysis of the enhanced set of practices and corresponding micro-practices teachers used with-in and across their pre-k contexts to support their young DLLs’ language and literacy development. Additional analysis of teachers’ reflection of their practice, offers insight into how teachers perceived their work with young DLLs and elucidates particular experiences that teachers believed helped to shape their current teaching practice. Implications and suggestions for teacher education, classroom practice, and research on developmentally appropriate practice (NAEYC, 2019) are discussed.Item PANCAKES, DUCKLINGS, THINKING IN YOUR BRAIN: MANIFESTATIONS OF 4-YEAR-OLDS’ EMERGING METACOGNITION DURING JOINT PICTURE BOOK READING(2019) Faust, Brecca Berman; Afflerbach, Peter; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Developmental psychologist John Flavell (1979, 1981) used the term metacognition to encompass any form of thinking about one’s thinking. Flavell did not consider this second-level capacity to be a regular part of the thinking and learning of preschool children. However, research using developmentally-appropriate tasks, especially early literacy tasks, has suggested otherwise. Therefore, through this qualitative and exploratory study, I investigated whether and how seven 4-year-olds attending full-day preschool were metacognitive as they read narrative picture books with me in their classroom. Over the course of their pre-kindergarten school year, during free choice morning centers, I engaged the participants in three joint readings of commercially available, narrative picture books. Throughout the informal dialogue of each joint reading session, I posed questions meant to encourage metacognitive processing. I transcribed the dialogue from these sessions and coded each researcher and participant speech turn. I then utilized a constant-comparative process to analyze transcriptions throughout the data collection process while referring to Flavell’s (1979, 1981) conceptualization of metacognition and prior studies of metacognition with preschool participants. This process resulted in the articulation of seven categories of metacognition relevant to preschoolers’ joint reading processes: Feeling of Knowing Story Content, Judgment of Difficulty, Reflecting on Reading, Verbal Self-Revising, Expanding Storytelling, Task Planning, and Justifying Verbalizations. Participants engaged in a total of 219 instances of these forms of metacognition. Approximately 60% of these instances were prompted—occurring in response to a question that I posed within the joint reading dialogue. However, approximately 40% of recorded instances of metacognition occurred spontaneously. All seven participants were metacognitive in at least five of the seven categories, across all four books, and through both prompted and spontaneous verbalizations. Consistent with Flavell’s (1979) conceptualization, metacognition functioned as a transactionally-relevant resource for each joint reading participant, manifesting in ways that reflected varying efforts to participate in the task and construct meaning from the story. My results challenge the notion that metacognition has limited relevance before proficient or conventional print reading (Baker, 2005; Hacker, 1998; Pressley & Gaskins, 2006; Veenman, et al., 2006) and provide further support for Whitebread et al.’s (2009) conclusion that underappreciation of the metacognitive capabilities of preschoolers is becoming an “increasingly untenable” position (p. 64). Given my findings, I discuss implications for metacognitive theory and for future research on reading-relevant metacognition with preschool children.Item The Student Perspective on Maryland's Associate of Arts in Teaching Degree(2019) Weisburger, Anita Hawner; Valli, Linda R; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation study investigated the student perspective on Maryland’s Early Childhood Education/Special Education Associate of Arts in Teaching (AAT) degree: the factors that affected their experience, especially with the transfer process, and whether their experiences differed by institution. Using a conceptual framework of social constructionism, viewpoints were gathered through focus groups and individual interviews of 18 community college students in their final semester before transferring to a Maryland university to complete their BA and teaching certification. In addition to focus groups and student interviews, this investigation included interviews with program coordinators, discussions with state administrators, observations of state meetings, and a review of program and state/local policy documents. This study made contributions around issues of diversity, the Praxis Core Exam, online courses in ECE, and as the first study of the student perspective across multiple two-year institutions. It reports that participants had positive feedback about their teacher education programs but agreed on the need for more practical experience, especially regarding special education content. A clear concern about online coursework in ECE was also expressed. Factors affecting the student experience included misadvising and confusion around transfer that continued after moving to university programs. Administrators and faculty also acknowledged a number of challenges associated with advising, programming and implementation. Students highlighted differences between institutions but noted that most issues could be resolved through better communication, collaboration, and coordination. This analysis of the student perspective provides a clearer picture of the obstacles and advancements experienced by preservice teachers pursuing an AAT in ECE/SpEd. Since student voices were largely absent from the research on the AAT, this study is useful to two-year programs working to improve retention and transfer, as well as universities working to support transfer students. More research is needed on internet-based classes in teacher education as well as proactive advising (a preemptive approach to working with students). Further investigation of individual programs, coordination, mandatory advising, and mentor programs is also warranted. Given the complexity of the transfer process, especially in EC programs, further research is needed beyond Maryland on the student experience and on potential solutions offered here.Item Learning to teach for social justice in early childhood classrooms of privilege(2018) Blackmon, Laurel Catherine; Imig, David; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purposes of this study were to examine how Social Justice Education (SJE) was envisioned and enacted at an elite school and to examine what the experiences of the school’s early childhood teachers were as they participated in professional development (PD) programming around SJE. Through embedded case study methodology, the researcher analyzed the school as one unit, with the five teacher participants as bound cases within this context. Conducted in 2017, data included interviews with school leaders, curriculum documents, school documents, PD materials, teacher interviews, and classroom observations. These data were analyzed in the context of a theoretical framework of SJE developed from the literature. Findings indicated that SJE was largely defined by the teacher participants and the School Head as a way to create a welcoming school community and that observed classroom practices aligned with this definition. Administrators and the School Mission & Statement of Community Values, however, included taking action against inequity in the definition, a conceptualization of SJE that would be challenging to fully realize in the context of the school and professional cultures at the time of the study. The school and professional cultures were also found to be key factors in how teacher learning was experienced by the teachers. Each teacher participant positioned herself as an outsider to these cultures in some way, and each described this position as having an impact on her implementation of SJE. Participants described their learning experiences as both personal and professional, and they expressed that PD that supported development of their critical lenses and their classroom practices was impactful. Implications for professional developers and school leaders include the importance of understanding the school and larger socio-political context in which teachers are learning about SJE. Three areas of focus for PD were also identified: teacher self-knowledge, critical lens development, and training programs for specific curriculum and pedagogy that supports SJE. Implications for research include inquiry into the role of school and professional culture in shifting schoolwide practices to SJE and into the impact of PD that emphasizes teacher self-knowledge, critical lens development, and training in SJE curriculum programs.Item A Case Study of the Implementation of a Head Start Program Into A Public School System(2017) Hall, Kelly Murray; MCLaughlin, Margaret J.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)ABSTRACT Title of dissertation: A CASE STUDY OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A HEAD START PROGRAM INTO A PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM Kelly Murray Hall, Doctor of Education, 2017 Dissertation directed by: Dr. Margaret J. McLaughlin College of Education Head Start is a federally funded program that has been in existence since 1965. Recently there have been changes to the federal program as a part of reform efforts. The reform efforts include a competitive grant process and a strong desire for established organizations to become grantees in the hope of improving educational outcomes for young children from impoverished backgrounds. The challenges of program and new initiative implementation in school systems have been studied for many years. Much has been written about implementing change in schools and school systems, using federal funds in particular, and the impact of those changes on existing school structures. More recent approaches to implementation of reforms have looked to implementation science as the model. Dean Fixsen and his colleagues at the National Implementation Research Network have identified common elements in successful implementation that apply to any human service. The purpose of this study was to examine the technical and social factors of the implementation process for the federally funded $11 million Head Start grant in a school system. Fixsen’s implementation framework and qualitative case study methodology were used. The following question guided my case study: To what extent does the implementation of the Head Start program in the school system reflect the Fixsen model and to what extent has it been influenced by each of the Fixsen drivers: organization, competency, and leadership? The data for the study were obtained through a review of the original grant application and annual reapplication documents, analysis of a series of Health and Human Services program monitoring reviews, and interviews with Head Start teachers. The data were organized using the Fixsen implementation framework for comparison and analysis. This school system’s implementation followed the Fixsen model. There was evidence of all of the phases and drivers in its implementation. The successes the school system experienced can be attributed to the thoughtful consideration to components identified in the phases and drivers. The challenges the school system faced also can be directly linked to deficits or oversights with the drivers as well as inadequate time and attention to detail throughout the various phases.