College of Education

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ENHANCING PEER MEDIATION AMONG LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE LEARNERS DURING PEER LED SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS IN ELEMENTARY SCIENCE AND SOCIAL STUDIES CLASSROOMS
(2023) Himmel, Jennifer Gisi; O'Flahavan, John; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Findings from qualitative studies reveal an array of discursive supports that peers employ to mediate language and literacy for one another during collaborative and cooperative learning. Quantitative studies posit that enhanced literacy outcomes can result from students participating in these peer mediated tasks. Studies also suggest that the quality of talk employed by learners during these peer mediated tasks can be measured, and that higher quality talk can lead to enhanced learning. However, no study to date investigates both the discursive supports offered during peer mediated learning and robustly describes how they can lead to higher quality talk among elementary students who are learning in a second language. Moreover, little is known about how student uptake of these supports differs for elementary learners according to their English learner (EL) status. As a result, teachers do not have the pedagogical knowledge necessary to leverage all the benefits that peer interaction confers upon elementary ELs specifically. To address this gap in the research, my study explored and analyzed the impact of discursive supports on 52 third and fourth grade learners from two linguistically diverse classrooms during peer mediated small group discussions within science and social studies lessons. My embedded case study qualitatively explored how peers provided and responded to discursive supports from those in both an instructional and a peer role during small group discussions on informational texts. My study also probed the relationship between peer mediation and discussions that were more exploratory in nature. I coded and evaluated the types of discursive supports offered by students identified as ELs and non-ELs during small group discussions. I measured the frequency of the discursive supports provided during peer mediation and investigated student uptake of the supports. Using classroom observation data, field notes, instructional artifacts, and interview data, I examined the relations among the frequencies of different discursive supports for ELs and non-ELs, focusing on those that occurred in talk characterized as exploratory. My analyses reveal that ELs provided similar discursive supports as non-ELs, including support that is more likely to lead to exploratory talk. The findings also suggest a relationship between student uptake of discursive supports during peer mediated learning and exploratory talk, and that student uptake of supports might be an important mechanism to explore further in order to better understand how peer mediation enhances learning for ELs. I offer recommendations for future research and for classroom teachers who wish to implement peer led small group discussions on informational texts in elementary classrooms.
Structured Literacy: Teacher Understanding and the Instructional Implications for Reading Achievement
(2022) Taeschner, Brandi Marie; Neumerski, Christine M; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Literacy is a critical life skill which impacts individuals and society. Knowledge to practice gaps in the field of education have existed for many years, specifically while teaching all students to become proficient readers. The intention of this qualitative study is to explore teacher understanding and perspectives about early literacy components used while instructing students to read. In 2021, eight K-3 general education teachers from the focus school LEOES, a Targeted Assistance Title I elementary school in southern Maryland, were interviewed and asked to provide information about the current status of their literacy instruction. Teacher reported information about evidence-based literacy practices implemented were explored to identify and suggest future professional development needed to address low literacy achievement and comprehensive literacy planning. As the literacy coach for this school, teacher input was gathered about current early literacy instructional practices through individual interviews. The self-reported instructional approaches described by the participating teachers were then considered in relation to the six evidence-based components of Structured Literacy to determine teachers’ understanding of these components and the challenges teachers identify which impact foundational reading instruction. Participating teachers mostly named balanced literacy as the literacy approach implemented with an emphasis on the five areas of reading. The Structured Literacy components were not identified or described as critical components of daily literacy instruction implemented at LEOES. Teachers identified challenges related mostly to curricular weaknesses and student factors, rather than the daily instruction provided to students. Implications for LEOES and District A were developed to build teachers’ awareness of the invaluable impact of the classroom teacher to implement a proactive approach to literacy instruction using the evidence-based components and guiding principles of Structured Literacy.
The Relationship Between School Climate Dimensions and Reading and Mathematics Achievement Scores in Elementary Schools
(2018) Camilleri, Vanessa A; Croninger, Robert; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
School climate is a malleable construct that schools or districts can utilize to target the individualized needs of specific groups of students. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceptions of different school climate dimensions and reading and mathematics achievement scores for elementary school students of different gender, grade level, and prior achievement. There is general agreement that school climate is a composite variable made up of many dimensions (Brookover & Erickson, 1975). For school climate to become an important avenue for school reform and improved educational practice, it must be defined in terms of specific contributing dimensions, then studied in terms of the relationship between each climate dimension and achievement scores for different groups of students. To examine the research questions, a two-stage quantitative analysis of data was utilized using school-level data first and student-level data second. Measures utilized included measures of school climate, measures of reading and mathematics achievement, and individual characteristics. The data analysis procedures included bivariate regression and multiple regression. The findings indicated that the most consistent school climate dimensions to have a significant association with student achievement in reading and mathematics were “safety,” and “interpersonal relationships,” as well as several of their subdimensions. Overall, these dimensions were more frequently predictive of mathematics achievement as opposed to reading achievement, male achievement as opposed to female achievement, and 4th grade achievement as opposed to 5th grade achievement. Continued study of the relationship between dimensions of school climate and student achievement could help solidify the literature regarding the efficacy of school climate as an adequate measure of school quality as it relates to student outcomes such as reading and mathematics achievement.
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.
AN INVESTIGATION OF TEACHERS' REPORTED USE OF SCIENTIFIC PRACTICES IN ELEMENTARY INSTRUCTION: IMPLICATIONS FOR STUDENT OUTCOMES AND PRINCIPALS' SELF-EFFICACY
(2017) Rangasammy, Godfrey; McLaughlin, Margaret J.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Innovative and ambitious efforts are taking place to implement the new vision for science education—the Next Generation of Science Standards (NGSS) in the United States. To implement this new vision, teachers must reconsider how they use their science content knowledge (SCK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in new ways that require teachers to use the three dimensions, of the NGSS to deliver phenomena -based science instruction. The use of the science and engineering practices for students to make sense of the world will be at the core of this shift. This study was conducted in a mid-Atlantic state that is one of the leaders in the adoption and implementation of NGSS. All of the local education agencies (LEAs) are expected to implement these standards by revising their science curriculum and providing professional development to their teachers. Additionally, students in grades 5, 8, and 10 will be assessed using a new and more rigorous state science assessment based on the NGSS that will be used for school and district accountability by 2020. If students will be expected to demonstrate their knowledge of the new standards, science instruction aligned with the new standards needs to begin early. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to document the extent to which grade 1-5 teachers in one district within the state report using one of the eight NGSS science and engineering practices, specifically the development and use of models in their science instruction. Selection of this practice was supported by research that supports the development and use of models in elementary science instruction as an anchor for all the other NGSS seven science and engineering practices. This exploratory study utilized an online survey to document the frequency, barriers, and relationships and differences between teacher characteristics and demographics on the use of models to support students’ learning outcomes. Findings suggest that grade 1-5 teachers have a low frequency of use of models in their science instruction. Several barriers were identified and ranked. Of significance were the inequity of resources and inadequate administrator support. Several relationships and differences were also discerned. Additionally, several implications for improvement and reform in District Q were discussed.
IDENTIFYING THE NATURE OF METACOGNITION INSTRUCTION IN READING CLASSROOMS
(2017) Ozturk, Nesrin; Afflerbach, Peter; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Metacognition helps control cognitions through the actions and interactions of metacognitive knowledge, experiences, and strategies. Since 1979, metacognition has been extensively studied and found to be an effective tool for learning. In reading, metacognition is associated with improved vocabulary, reading awareness, strategies, comprehension, and task performance. Research confirmed metacognition can be successfully taught. However, it has limited influence on mainstream classrooms; classroom instruction lacks pedagogies of metacognition. Paradoxically, teachers’ practices have been assessed inconsistently and independent of students’ metacognition. For these problems, this study developed a pedagogy of metacognition (PMR) and examined the structural validity of its measurement instrument (ITMR). Following a comprehensive literature review, a PMR consisted of fostering students’ metacognitive knowledge, adopting goal-directedness, integrating language of thinking, scaffolding students’ strategic reading, encouraging their independence with strategic reading, assessing metacognition, and prolonging instruction. Then, scale validation procedures were followed. After scale items were generated, QUAID examination, expert, cognitive, and focus-group interviews were conducted for content and construct validity. Following the ITMR’s initial simulation, the data were collected from reading teachers in the United States of America. The data were collected by a computer-assisted survey method and a non-probability sampling technique. Then, the data were analyzed by a factor analysis method, Welch’s, and Spearman’s tests. The ITMR at elementary school level was found to have a unidimensional model accounting for 60% of the total variance (α.97). There were no mean differences in teachers’ self-reported metacognition instruction practices at any grade levels. All dimensions of the ITMR were strongly and positively correlated. By these findings, the significance of this study was recognized and its contributions to the literature were summarized. Also, the discrepancy between the literature and the ITMR and the congruence of metacognition instruction practices across elementary grades was discussed. Assessment practices were recognized as potential aids for classroom metacognition instruction. Future studies were recommended to improve the validity of the ITMR and understanding of classroom metacognition instruction. Educational implications aimed to support both in-service and pre-service teachers as possible. Finally, limitations with scale development, scale’s generalizability, data collection, and analyses were discussed.
READING COMPREHENSION STRATEGY INSTRUCTION IN UPPER-ELEMENTARY CLASSROOMS WITH ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS: A STUDY OF PRACTICES AND OUTCOMES
(2015) Doyle, Candice Briece; Silverman, Rebecca D; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between reading comprehension strategy instruction (explicit or skills-based) in general education settings and third through fifth grade students' reading comprehension outcomes. In addition, I was interested in whether relationships between instruction and outcomes differed for students from English only (EO) and English language learner (ELL) backgrounds. To address these goals I conducted a secondary data analysis of 59 Reading/Language Arts classroom observation transcripts. These represented observations of 19 teachers at three time points (fall, winter, spring). I analyzed transcripts by employing an iterative coding process including open, axial, and selective coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). I coded teacher talk at the utterance (Crookes, 1990) level for either explicit instruction (instruction that included all of the following: introduction, modeling, collaborative practice, guided practice, independent practice) or skills-based practice (teacher practice in which students were asked to apply a comprehension strategy absent of instruction of how to do so). In addition I coded for separate parts of the explicit instruction model (introduction, modeling, collaborative practice, guided practice, independent practice). Then, I quantitized (Tashakori & Tedlie, 1998) the instructional code data into average frequency counts across observations in order to conduct multiple regression analyses with student reading comprehension outcome measures. I found no statistically significant results related to the explicit instruction model (as a whole), or skills-based practice and students' outcomes. However, when analyzing separate parts of explicit instruction, results suggested that more guided practice was associated with higher scores on one outcome measure. In exploring interactions between language background and instructional codes, I found no differences in relationships between instructional codes and reading comprehension for EOs versus ELLs.
The Effects of Prompt Condition and Genre on the Writing Performance of Students in 3rd and 5th Grade
(2014) Worland Piantedosi, Kelly; De La Paz, Susan; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Research on writing at the elementary level has shown that prior knowledge and task environment can have a significant effect on writing performance. In addition, there is preliminary evidence that suggests that children's development in writing may vary by genre favoring the narrative over expository genres (e.g., Olinghouse & Wilson, 2011; and Camp, 1993). One way to mitigate the effects of prior knowledge on topic and genre is through varying prompting conditions. The new Common Core writing assessment context requires students to write in response to texts read. To date, however, there are no studies that simultaneously examine the effects of genre and prompt condition in the elementary grades. This study examines the effect of two prompting conditions (supported and unsupported) on students' writing performance in multiple genres (narrative, persuasive and informational report) in order to assess the potential impact of the read aloud accommodation on these new types of writing assessments along with the effect of genre simultaneously. Findings show that at the 3rd grade level, students write best in the informational report genre over the narrative and persuasive genre, and that the read aloud accommodation positively affects writing quality. At the 5th grade level, the read aloud accommodation does not have a significant effect on writing quality. Based on the findings above, there are a number of implications for current testing policy and instruction. First, features of the prompt condition such as providing a common text, and audience and genre cues resulted in higher style, organization, conventions and mechanic scores for the informational report genre in the younger grades. This contradicts earlier findings that suggest at the elementary level, the narrative genre is more accessible. Accordingly, an effort should be made by test-makers and educators to provide students with these beneficial supports when designing tests and assignments particularly for expository genres. Second, given the observed benefit of the read aloud accommodation for students in the younger grades, test makers should consider designing tests that vary the degree of supports students are provided on the read and write response tasks as they progress through the grade levels.
THE PERCEIVED RELATIONSHIP OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ON TEACHER SELF-REPORTED USE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
(2014) Tresler, Tiffany D.; Kivlighan, Dennis; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Beginning in 2012 teachers from 44 states have been challenged to make significant changes in curriculum and classroom instruction to meet the rigor of the Common Core State Standards. However, available research does not provide definitive methods to impact wide-scale reform, such as Common Core Standards adoption. This preliminary, quantitative study seeks to examine professional development and one component of the Common Core. The purpose is to determine if specific teacher perceived features of professional development are related to self-reported classroom use of the six English language arts (ELA) Common Core instructional shifts. The specific professional development features studied and the statistical analysis are based on the work of Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman, and Yoon (2001), examining what makes professional development effective. The features are type (reform vs. traditional), duration, collective participation, content focus, coherence, and active learning. The ELA instructional shifts are balancing informational and literary text, teaching reading and writing through disciplines, use of complex text, text-based answers, writing from sources, and use of academic vocabulary. The study population consists of 89 elementary school teachers in one school system in Maryland who completed a survey asking them to describe their most recent professional development experience and their classroom use of the six ELA Common Core instructional shifts. The survey is modified from the Teacher Activity Survey (Garet et al., 1999) used in a large-scale national study (Garet et al., 2001) and a follow-up three-year longitudinal study (Desimone, Porter, Garet, Yoon, & Birman, 2002). The results of the correlation and ordinary least-squares regression analysis indicate that alignment, a component of coherence, and content focus are the only two perceived professional development features that are strongly correlated with teacher self-reported use of the Common Core instructional shifts. Specifically, the feature of content focus is likely to be a predictor of reported use of students reading and writing through disciplines and writing from sources. Alignment is likely to be a predictor of the reported use of teaching students using complex text. Content focus and alignment are predictors of the reported use of the shifts in total.
Teaching Mathematics Through An Integrated Caring Approach: Examining the Process of Building Pedagogical Relationships in One Fourth-Grade Classroom
(2014) Tseng, Nancy; Edwards, Ann R; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Although there is wide consensus in the field of mathematics education that the teaching and learning of mathematics is a social, interactive, and relational practice, less attention has explicitly examined the role of the student-teacher relationship in the classroom or why this relationship matters for student learning. A central goal of this dissertation was to understand how teachers build productive working relationships with their students through their mathematics instruction and investigate how this relationship influences mathematics learning, with particular respect to student participation and mathematical dispositions. Using practitioner inquiry and design-based research methods, I took up the role of teacher-researcher to detail and surface the work involved in establishing pedagogical relationships that aim to support ambitious and equitable student learning outcomes. I designed an organized pedagogical approach to mathematics practice called an integrated caring approach (ICA) and implemented this approach in one fourth-grade classroom during a 12-week classroom-based intervention. Drawing from the theoretical lens of care, the framework of ICA conceptualizes the work of building relationships along the three dimensions of personal, mathematical, and political care. Primary data sources include a teacher-reflective journal, transcripts of audio-recorded lessons, and student surveys and interviews, which were contextually supplemented by lesson plans and student artifacts. Findings reveal that pedagogical relationships served as an instructional resource that enabled me to make opportunities to learn more accessible for students and attend to students' mathematical experiences in the classroom. Analysis indicates the instructional practices that emerged from ICA supported students' willingness to participate in mathematical discussions and fostered the development of positive student dispositions. Findings also suggest that students' experiences with ICA varied across the classroom and were influenced by their conceptions of the discipline and mathematical competence, peer relationships, and the recurrent presentation of learning opportunities during the intervention. This research provides insight into the deliberate and complex work involved when teachers strive to establish and maintain productive relationships with their students in service of ambitious and equitable learning outcomes. Moreover, this study identifies caring pedagogical relationships as a potentially valuable instructional mechanism to make opportunities to learn more accessible for students in mathematics classrooms.

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