The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of experienced STEM teachers regarding STEM preparedness and implementation at a South Texas elementary school for grades kindergarten-five (K-5). This qualitative study used a phenomenological framework. The site for this study was a South Texas elementary school currently…

Grade-level retention is a common educational practice with the goal of improving academic performance, but the evidence of its influence is mixed. This study examines the academic effect of repeating kindergarten, first grade, second grade, or third grade on English Language Arts performance at the end of fourth grade. This study also examines…

This research investigated the impact of a professional development program on enhancing fifth-grade environmental science teacher efficacy through place-based education (PBE) practices--the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEE) Professional Development Training aimed to promote teacher engagement and increase pedagogical content…

Background: Many teachers for different reasons recognise the teaching of fraction as a challenge. This research explored the teaching of fraction in Grade 5 by three experienced teachers (Ben, Greg and Will) in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of different approaches to the…

Teachers' pedagogical design capacity is their ability to perceive and mobilise existing resources to create productive instructional episodes in the classroom. To a certain extent, this ability is dependent on the curricular resource used. As the textbook remains the most commonly used curricular resource in mathematics classrooms, the study…

Curricular reforms in science education represent an opportunity for changes in instructional approaches with the intent of making learning and teaching more meaningful and effective. While beginning teachers may receive instruction on pedagogy aligned with adopted reforms, veteran teachers need support and development to implement instruction…

Education researchers have documented that first-year teachers are often less effective at reading instruction than their more experienced peers. Accordingly, this qualitative, comparative case study was designed to assess the instructional skills and strategies utilized by first-year and experienced teachers using Danielson's Framework for…

The Next Generation Science Standards call for changes in not only what is taught in elementary science but also how students engage in the learning experience to develop understanding of core disciplinary ideas. In this study we examined 5th-grade teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for 1 particular core idea: the small particle model…

Standardized testing and accountability are currently unavoidable components of Texas Public Education. Through years of push-back, parents and educators have demanded that Texas consider alternative testing options that would reduce the high-stakes testing burden on students and schools. In 2015, the State of Texas passed legislation requiring…

After Ava McCall retired from university teaching in June, 2015, she spent the 2015-2016 school year volunteering in a fourth-grade classroom helping to teach Wisconsin history. Her volunteer work was similar to other retired teachers in the local school district who returned to mentor new teachers, volunteer in classrooms, and serve as substitute…

This study aims to incorporate lesson study into the teaching experience of pre-service English language teachers. The participants of the study are three pre-service English language teachers who completed the pedagogical formation certificate program, an experienced English language teacher, seven 6th grade case students, and a mentor teacher…

Historically, reforms designed to transform teaching from rote, teacher-centered instruction to progressive student-centered instruction have had varied levels of success. Plentiful research juxtaposes teachers' enacted instruction with the instructional ideals of reform efforts to determine the extent to which teachers' instruction aligns with…

The California State Board of Education's decision to adopt the Common Core State Standards Initiative, with the incorporation of English language arts expectations for literacy in science, has not yet ensured complete involvement and support of all science educators to implement instructional change. Teachers' willingness to implement this…

This report provides a snapshot of the extent to which U.S. public school students are taught by certified and experienced teachers. The report uses two datasets available to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES): the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). SASS provides a…

How does teacher-guided whole-class interaction contribute to expanding students' potential for making and exchanging mathematical meanings? We address this question through an interpretative analysis of a whole-group conversation in a sixth grade class taught by an experienced teacher in a school in Southern Argentina. The extended interaction…