Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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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 give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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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.Item Class Advantage: Social Class and Knowledge Production In Classrooms Under The New Accountability(2005-04-20) Aaron, Philbert; Selden, Steven; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: CLASS ADVANTAGE: SOCIAL CLASS AND KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION IN ELEMENTARY CLASSROOMS UNDER THE NEW ACCOUNTABILITY Philbert Aaron, Doctor of Philosophy, 2005 Dissertation directed by: Professor Steven Selden Department of Education Policy and Leadership This study interrogates the relationship between social class and academic achievement. It examines the ways in which social class and the new accountability policy influence teachers' and students' co-production of knowledge in the elementary school classroom. The study analyzes student and teacher talk in two elementary school reading classrooms in a mid-Atlantic state. The first school is categorized as middle-class, having less than 5% of its student body receiving Free and Reduced-price Meals (FARMs). The second is classified as working-class, having more than 60% of its students receiving FARMs. The study draws upon the work of the British sociolinguist, Basil Bernstein. Bernstein's theory of symbolic control provides both theoretical base and method for the inquiry. Using Bernstein's frameworks for classification and framing, language data on teacher-student pedagogical interaction was collected by note-taking during classroom observation in the Spring of 2004. These data were analyzed using a priori codes, including 'visible' (explicit or traditional) and 'invisible' (implicit or constructivist) practice. The study finds that pedagogical practice in the middle class school incorporated both visible (traditional) and invisible (constructivist) practices, while pedagogy in the working class school is of the purely visible type. In addition, the middle class school also achieves a faster pace of learning than does the working class school. Faster pace is indicated by syntactical (elaborated) text whereas in the working class school a lexical (brief utterances) text is produced. The study concludes that social class has unanticipated consequences for academic achievement under the new accountability. By providing identical policy tools to local schools, irrespective of student class location, the new accountability promotes a visible (traditional) pedagogy. Differences in family cultural, social, and economic capital mean that the working class school does not meet the social assumptions of a visible pedagogy and these differences manifest themselves in differentials in achievement.