Teaching, Learning, Policy & Leadership Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2759
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Item PROSPECTIVE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS' LEARNING TO EDUCATE ENGLISH LEARNERS IN A TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM: A CASE STUDY(2012) Daniel, Shannon Mary; Peercy, Megan M; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In this study, I examined the opportunities prospective elementary teachers had to learn about educating students learning English as an additional language during their thirteen-month Master's with Certification in Elementary Education (MCEE) program. Data collection efforts centered around repeated teaching observations and interviews with four focal participants who were members of the 2010-2011 MCEE cohort during eight months of their program. Additional data collection on candidates' learning experiences in the program included surveys administered with the entire cohort, a focus group interview with the four focal candidates, and a focus group with four other members of the cohort. To investigate efforts teacher educators made to help candidates learn about educating English language learners (ELLs), I interviewed eight teacher educators in roles ranging from mentor teacher to program director. These interviews, along with observations of over one hundred hours of course meetings and a review of program documents, enabled me to identify challenges and opportunities teacher educators encountered when attempting to guide candidates in learning about educating ELLs. When teaching ELLs in their internships, candidates learned valuable skills to educate ELLs, but they also attended to the implicit message that marginalizing ELLs in elementary schools and classrooms is acceptable. In regards to their coursework, candidates identified instances in which they learned about educating linguistically diverse students, but also reported that they remembered little overall because the education of ELLs was addressed infrequently. While teacher educators actively strove toward guiding candidates to learn knowledge, skills, and dispositions of educating linguistically diverse students, they faced challenges such as those related to communication and coherence among teacher educators at the university and school sites. Implications for practice and research include implementing more innovative forms of collaboration among both teacher candidates and teacher educators in elementary education and second language education.Item Equity in Spanish/English Dual Language Education: Practitioners' Perspectives(2012) Sugarman, Julie Sarice; Martin-Beltran, Melinda; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Dual language programs have been shown to be one of the most successful models for closing the achievement gap between English-speaking and English-learning students, which can be considered a strong indicator of educational equity. However, questions remains about how equity is achieved within these programs and what equity means to practitioners. This study examines how practitioners define and interpret the concept of equity in the context of dual language education and what program- and classroom-level policies and practices may contribute to an equitable environment. Two interviews were conducted with fifteen teachers and administrators from a variety of Spanish/English dual language programs. In the first interview, participants defined equity and described examples of equity and inequity in their program or classroom, and in the second, participants used six key points from the Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education (Howard et al., 2007) to stimulate their thinking about what evidence they would look for to determine whether the practice described in the key point was being effectively implemented. Five imperatives emerged as key elements of an equitable dual language environment: practitioners cultivate an environment where English and Spanish have equal status, students of diverse ethno-linguistic backgrounds are positioned and recognized as equals, the curriculum and program model reflect the goals of bilingualism and biliteracy, multicultural curriculum and materials are used, and students have access to the curriculum and to educational resources. The types of evidence that participants felt were salient to the evaluation of equity reflected a variety of practices, including teacher and student language use, student grouping, and multiculturalism in curriculum and instruction. Participants also noted the importance of taking contextual factors into account when evaluating equity in a dual language program, including the reasoning behind teacher decision-making, developmental appropriateness and/or alignment with the dual language model, and the effect of the socio-political context in which dual language practitioners operate. Two ways that participants framed their examples of equity were, first, in terms of the challenges that stem from societal attitudes toward bilingualism and minority languages and cultures, and second, that efforts to increase equity have both academic and symbolic purposes.Item State Policies and Classroom Practice: Adapting Instruction for English Language Learners(2004-11-24) Bentley-Memon, Millicent Lynn; Herschbach, Dennis R; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)A qualitative case study was employed to address if and how fifth grade teachers adapted instruction for English language learners in response to the Maryland School Performance Program (MSPP), and the role of the Program as one of the many factors that shaped instruction for these students. This case study was conducted at two elementary schools in Maryland from March 1999 through May 2000, using observation, participant observation, interviews, and document analysis. Findings indicated that teachers used common instructional strategies to teach English language learners, that teachers' beliefs about language and cognition shaped teaching craft, and that the Program shaped instruction, but was only one of many factors shaping education for these students. Findings illustrated the relationship between state policy and classroom practice, that state policies influence, are nested in, and co-exist with classroom practice.