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
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Item EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF PEER ASSISTANCE AND REVIEW (PAR) ON TEACHERS' PRACTICE(2018) Curry, David G.; Timmons-Brown, Stephanie; McLaughlin, Margaret J.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Researchers, practitioners, and policy makers widely recognize teacher quality as the school-related factor that has the largest influence on a child’s academic performance. While research has documented the central role that teacher quality plays in promoting student achievement, studies have not yet yielded a consensus on the factors that enhance teacher quality. Understanding which professional development practices prove most effective in addressing district needs can potentially impact how district leaders look to improve both teacher performance and teacher retention. Districts must assess the degree to which existing teacher development activities are helping teachers attain key skills. The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine the impact of Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) on the teaching practices of non-tenured teachers as assessed by the teacher observation tool, Framework for Teaching (FfT). This study sought to identify whether there was a statistically significant difference in ratings from a teacher’s first to last formal observation after participating in PAR. In this mixed methods study, quantitative methods were used to examine formal observation data in order determine whether participation in PAR impacted the performance ratings of teachers. Furthermore, qualitative methods, in the form of interviews, were used to gain insight on a teacher’s perception about their participation in PAR and how it has impacted their instructional practices. Results from this study confirm that there was a statistically significant difference in first to last formal observation ratings recorded for all of the eight instructional components tested. Furthermore, data showed that participating teachers believe that their participation in PAR positively influenced the improvement of their instructional practices. This study enriches the literature on Peer Assistance and Review and the impact the program can have on teachers.Item Bringing Teacher Assistance and Evaluation Up to PAR: First-Year Teachers' Responses to Supervision in Peer Assistance and Review(2004-08-05) Jones, Donna Redmond; Valli, Linda; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Peer Assistance and Review (PAR), a program initiated by teachers' unions to place teachers in charge of promoting teaching quality, rotates high-performing veteran teachers (called consulting teachers, or CTs) out of the classroom to assist and evaluate all first-year teachers, as well as any veteran teachers who fail to meet district performance standards. This study examines the experiences of five, first-year high school English teachers who worked with consulting teachers in a large, suburban school district during the 2001-02 school year. Data from interviews, documents, classroom observations and conference observations address (a) how the district introduced PAR to the first-year teachers, (b) how the relationship between the CTs and the first-year teachers developed, (c) how the first-year teachers experienced PAR as evaluation, support, and/or professional development, (d) how the first-year teachers used school-based supervisors for assistance and (e) how participating in PAR informed the first-year teachers' practices. Findings indicate that some first-year teachers were apprehensive about working with a CT at the outset of the school year. As the year progressed, six elements influenced the relationship between the first-year teachers and the CTs: (1) the frequency of the CTs' visits, (2) the nature of the CTs' feedback, (3) the CT's assistance with instructional planning and materials, (4) how the CTs defined their evaluative roles, (5) the CTs' abilities to identify with the first-year teachers and (6) how the CTs shared the supervisory function with school-based supervisors. The data, which were analyzed using Sergiovanni's (1992) model for sources of supervisory authority, suggest that when CTs supervised using mostly bureaucratic and technical-rational sources of authority, the first-year teachers' practices were narrowed, and they tended to express more negative sentiments about PAR or about their interactions with their CTs. However, when CTs drew more from professional sources of authority, they established a relationship with the first-year teachers that lent itself to promoting teacher growth. How the CT negotiated the school context also influenced whether first-year teachers expanded or narrowed their practices. Coordinated supervision is suggested as a means of increasing the likelihood that first-year teachers in PAR will expand their instructional repertoires.