Teaching, Learning, Policy & Leadership Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2759
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Item TEACHER PERCEPTIONS OF ONLINE SIOP® PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT(2018) McCall, Aundrea; Fagan, Drew; McLaughlin, Margaret; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Educators are concerned with the academic attainment of English learners (ELs) in U.S schools, as this student population’s numbers continue to grow. In 2014-15, 4.6 million, or about 9%, of all public school students in the United States were ELs. The number of ELs in public schools is projected to represent 25% of all public school students by 2025 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2017; National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition, 2013). The purpose of this study was to examine non-ESOL elementary content area teachers’ perceptions of the online SIOP® professional development course regarding implementing the six features of lesson preparation and applying the eight components of SIOP® within their lesson preparation. The study was guided by three research questions and an online survey to obtain teacher perceptions regarding their implementation of the key SIOP® components in lesson preparation, application of the eight SIOP® components, and potential ways that SIOP® had positive effects on instructing ELs. Qualtrics (a web-based tool) was used to create the descriptive survey and generate reports from the participants’ responses. From the research findings, recommendations were made to contribute to the literature and for future study in general, for the school district, and the researcher. SIOP® as an online professional development tool has the potential to reach a growing audience of content teachers who require best practices and sound approaches to teaching ELs in their classrooms.Item EXAMINING NON-ESOL CLASSROOM TEACHER KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES FOR EDUCATING SECONDARY ENGLISH LEARNERS(2017) Quick-McQueen, Contina; McLaughlin, Margaret J; Fagan, Drew S; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)When describing English learners (ELs) at the secondary level, it is important to note that there can be two distinct groups of students: students with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE) and Long-term English learners (LTELs). The Long-term English learners are defined as students who have been in U.S. schools for at least seven years and learned English during their elementary school years. Some, nonetheless, reach secondary levels without having mastered English or the home language and may be caught in a state of semi-literacy, which is hard to escape. Adolescents newly arrived to the United States come during the critical period of adolescent development. For a majority of newly arriving adolescents, their past educational backgrounds have not prepared them for studies in core content areas at the secondary level in any education system. These learners have to work harder than their native English-speaking peers and even harder than their more literate EL peers to meet the same accountability goals. Only educated in the United States for a brief period, these students need to learn a new language, develop literacy skills in the new language, and master content area standards simultaneously. One of the most complex challenges facing educators when working with secondary ELs is how to meet their academic, cultural, and linguistic needs. The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine non-ESOL teachers’ knowledge and practices when working with secondary ELs. Participants were high school teachers in one rural school district in Maryland. Data for the study were gathered utilizing an online survey-questionnaire. The findings showed the knowledge non-ESOL teachers possess and instructional practices they use to support secondary ELs in content area courses. This study also revealed teacher perceptions of professional development needs and the willingness these teachers demonstrate to do whatever it takes to help their students.Item ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ KNOWLEDGE, PRACTICES, AND PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHING ENGLISH LEARNERS(2017) Adams, Wauchilue D.; McLaughlin, Margaret J.; Fagan, Drew S.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)For decades, the academic achievement of English Learners (ELs) has consistently fallen below that of non-ELs on standardized achievement tests. The purpose of this inquiry was to examine the continuous achievement gap between ELs and non-ELs and to understand how the knowledge, practices, and perceptions applied when teaching ELs can impact the academic progress of ELs in elementary schools. This study focused specifically on teachers in Title I schools, because nearly half of the elementary ELs in the district attended a Title I school. Bay Shore Public Schools served as the site for this this study. During the data collection process, the researcher sent an electronic survey to the 50 intermediate teachers (Grades 3, 4, and 5) working at the four Title I elementary schools in the district. This effort resulted in a 50% response rate. The survey included 14 questions and 79 indicators that examined the following: teachers’ knowledge about the federal and state laws, policies, and assessments; specific instructional strategies and practices employed when teaching ELs; specific instructional materials used during instruction; available supports for ELs; and perceptions about the instruction of ELs. The survey revealed that (a) the majority of the respondents had little-to-no knowledge of the laws and regulations that governed their work; (b) most respondents used only 11 out of 20 recommended instructional strategies daily; and (c) the use of specific materials and suggested supports during instruction varied in frequency. The data also revealed that the demographic characteristics of the respondents did not seem to impact their responses, specifically in terms of their perceptions. The findings resulted in a number of recommendations for future studies, particularly for relatively small districts that may be considered low-incidence and have teachers with little-to-no first-hand experience teaching ELs. Based on the results of this study, future research studies should utilize case studies to examine the actual interactions between ELs and their non-EL peers and between ELs and their teachers. Researchers might also apply positioning theory to examine how the interactions change from situation to situation and the impact on the resulting academic outcomes for ELs. Additionally, future inquiries might involve the examination of local policies and practices to identify the types and degree of communication between ESOL teachers and classroom teachers that facilitates understanding ELs’ performance on ACCESS and what the outcomes mean.