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This mixed methods study uses a participant selection model with a qualitative emphasis (Creswell & Plano-Clark, 2007) to examine the science teaching practices of elementary teachers in self-contained classrooms. Their choices regarding amount of time and teaching methodology are explored in relation to their perceptions of instructional and curricular autonomy within their teaching context. The study focuses on reform teaching methods such as those outlined in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (NRC, 2011) as the desired standard of practice for science instruction. The Framework emphasizes the importance of the role of elementary science education in providing a foundation for scientific literacy and proficiency, which has also been incorporated into the recently released Next Generation Science Standards (2013). Even with this national imperative, statistics show that significantly less time is spent in elementary schools on science instruction than on other core subjects (Banilower et al., 2013). It has become imperative to find ways to support and encourage teachers to devote sufficient time to science teaching and learning. Studies in science education examining the relationship between teacher beliefs about science and science learning and what they do in their classroom have yielded mixed results. Teacher efficacy and nature of science beliefs are not consistently shown to match elementary teachers’ enacted classroom practice (Jones & Leagon, 2014). These discrepancies show that the belief constructs behind teachers’ instructional decisions, rather than being linear and predictable, are complex, interrelated, and situated in context. This has made it difficult to delineate specific ways to help teachers implement reform-based science teaching practices (Davis, Petish, & Smithey, 2006; Russell & Martin, 2014). Another approach to studying the disconnect between beliefs and practice could be to explore teacher motivation for science instruction through a motivational framework that considers context within the belief system. This study frames the issue from a motivational approach using Self-determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Self-determination Theory (SDT) is concerned with looking at the decisions people make based on the perception that their psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness have been met. The study examines teacher perceptions of autonomy in relation to their instructional choices about science teaching. Findings show that contextual factors considered through the needs-based perspective of SDT can either support or serve as barriers to teacher autonomy for acting on beliefs they have formed through teacher education and experience. Identification of autonomy support structures has the potential to inform professional development and teacher education to find ways to encourage elementary science instruction at a time when its importance has been elevated by the Framework and the NGSS.

This research examines the relationship between the International Baccalaureate (IB) program and individual and institutional development as well as the potential of the IB program to increase students’ social capital. Drawing on a case study approach, research methods included semi-structured interviews with 21 educators; a focus group with students and a focus group with parents; and a review of archival material. Study findings suggest that educators found the learning curve challenging in opening and sustaining a school with the IB curriculum. Teachers reported tension between teaching the transdisciplinary IB content while also needing to attend to state standards on which their students would be tested. Educators and parents underscored the experience of uncertainty in terms of issues of staffing, space, and enrollment, often sources of anxiety and sometimes a source of engagement. The goals of the IB curriculum, combined with the opportunity and resources to shape the direction of a new urban school, appear to have sustained a high level of teacher motivation. Educator experience suggests the IB curriculum provides teachers with a platform to make significant, lasting change in the lives of their students due teachers’ feelings of professionalism, autonomy and willingness to challenge themselves for the betterment of the student body and the school itself.In an era of school accountability and national efforts to implement a common core of content standards, it is useful to study the growth and struggle encountered by key stakeholders as they participate in building a rich curriculum focused on the whole child and attentive to social, academic, physical, and civic development at its core. The study is significant in terms of its ability to offer insights in the development of future IB schools, particularly in urban settings.

High school students often face foreign language requirements, either to graduate from their high school or to be accepted at a college or university of their choice (www.ncssfl.org). These requirements serve as external motivators and may decrease a student's intrinsic motivation to learn a language. Indeed, researchers have determined that extrinsic motivation greatly undermines self-motivation (Deci, et al., 2011). Without intrinsic motivation, students struggle to learn in meaningful ways and fail to implement strategies that lead to meaningful foreign language learning and proficiency. Educators must critically analyze their materials, instructional style, lesson plans and assessments and then remove from the curriculum any practice or task that does not foster learner autonomy that ultimately leads to intrinsic motivation. Further, to foster intrinsic motivation, language teaching and learning must focus on the relational aspect of language, as the use of any language is purposed to communicate needs and ideas with others This report explores how learner autonomy and interrelatedness aid the development of intrinsic motivation and provides pedagogical implications for the classroom.

In order to illustrate, I begin this report with an account of some of my experiences as a bilingual teacher, instructing curriculum designed to elicit student reflections their language ideologies and engaging praxis. The data includes student responses to a writing prompt and interview which elicited their language ideologies. Some of the student comments were striking due to their recognition of the higher status of English. The student-collected data aided me in evaluating my curriculum and instruction and inform my future practice. My report ends with a proposal to investigate these issues more deeply by conducting a study on student language ideologies.

Teacher effectiveness has become a national conversation and an issue that is debated in both public and educational arenas. Recently, the notion has arisen to quantify teacher effectiveness through the measurement of both teacher and student performance. This study focuses on one state’s initial attempt to implement a policy reform that measures a teacher’s performance both qualitatively, through scored classroom observations, and quantitatively, through student achievement scores. Ultimately, the idea is that these scores could then be used to make important decisions about salary, retention, and tenure. Using qualitative ethnographic research procedures within a framework of critical theory, I studied 8 first grade teachers and their experiences with Tennessee’s Education Acceleration Model (TEAM). I specifically sought to understand the following: 1) the commonalities amongst teachers experiences with the TEAM evaluation, 2) the commonalities in teachers’ perceptions of the influence of TEAM on literacy instruction, and 3) how the context of teachers work may complicate teacher perceptions of the influence of TEAM. Interviews, observations, artifacts, and public documents were the primary sources of data for this study. Results indicated that the implications of policy implementation may be less cut and dry than policy makers might hope. While the hope might be that policy translates directly into change in classroom practice, this study demonstrated otherwise. The amount of change varied greatly from school to school and teacher to teacher and was highly dependent on teacher belief and context. For the most part, teachers tended not to disregard literacy practices they saw as valid just because policy required them to do so. These findings indicate that policy makers might be wise to consider teacher autonomy as well as teacher in-put. Likewise, there are indications that appropriate professional development might assist in scaffolding a new policy implementation.

The goal of this research was to investigate teachers' perceptions of professional discretion and satisfaction related to internal and external factors of curriculum control. Results of the study were intended to provide data to policy makers and school district administrators that could be used in the development and implementation of the curriculum reform process. Middle and high school teachers in a large central Florida school district completed the survey. The survey's six constructs were 1. Influence of Teacher Beliefs 2. Perceptions of Success and Satisfaction 3. Influence of Tests and Curriculum Guides 4. Teacher Control of Pedagogy 5. Leadership 6. Maintaining High Standards The research questions focused on determining the difference in perspectives due to years of teaching experience, level of teaching (middle or high school), and curriculum control category (high, medium, or low). The results revealed there was not significant disagreement among teacher perceptions based on years of teaching experience. However, results indicated significant differences in perceptions based on level of teaching and curriculum control category in regard to the six survey constructs. The construct of leadership revealed significant differences between both levels of teaching and curriculum control categories. Overall, the results indicated a significant relationship among curriculum control policies and effects on teachers' perceptions of professional discretion and satisfaction. The literature on curriculum reform efforts since the 1980s, specifically in the areas of curriculum standards, textbook adoption policies, testing policies and leadership practices, framed the study. The literature review focused on existing research issues within the six constructs and the research questions. The information gained from this study may be used to inform policies, improve teachers' working conditions, and promote teacher and leadership effectiveness. Recommendations for practice were addressed in terms of what policy makers, school district administrators, and individual classroom teachers can and should do to implement and support meaningful curriculum reform. The researcher emphasized that recognizing the professional expertise and knowing the perspective of teachers are key to the development and implementation of an effective curriculum reform process.

The demand for highly qualified teachers is well documented, yet numerous stressors influence educators to leave their positions. The guiding question for this study was: Is there a relationship between perceived principal leadership behavior and the stress experienced by the novice secondary teacher? The target population was novice teachers in Louisiana. The purposive sample was delimited to novice secondary teachers having six semesters of teaching experience or less in grades 6 through 12. The ten largest parishes in Louisiana were selected to sample. Four of the ten parishes granted permission to survey novice secondary teachers. The Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire, Form XII (Stogdill, 1963) was used to determine the perception of principal leadership in two dimensions: consideration behavior and initiation of structure behavior. The Teacher Stress Inventory (Fimian, 1988) was used to collect demographic data on the participants and to determine a composite stress score from five sources of stress and five manifestations of stress. The statistical analyses included stepwise multiple regression and one-way ANOVA. Data were analyzed with the Statistical Package for the Social Science Version16.0 (SPSS). Time management, along with discipline and motivation, were the top two sources of stress for novice teachers. Fatigue manifestation and emotional manifestation were the most conspicuous manifestations of stress. These results reflect relevant issues facing the contemporary teacher. Professional investment, the diminished autonomy teachers experience when the locus of control is external to the classroom, was the single most reliable source of stress to predict both initiating structure and consideration leadership behavior. Emotional manifestation was the single most reliable manifestation of stress to predict initiating structure xiv and consideration leadership behavior. No significant relationship was found between the demographic and organizational variables and stress in the novice secondary teacher. Principal leadership is a potential predictor of teacher retention. Thus, the findings of this study have implications for three specific areas: programs of support for new teachers, preparation and training of principal leadership, and policies that are critical for the successful principal.

This study was conducted to provide information concerning the attributes of professional learning communities, i.e. supportive leadership, shared values and vision, collective learning and application, supportive conditions-relational, supportive conditions-structural, and shared personal practice and their correlation with teacher efficacy, satisfaction, and morale. These six characteristics of learning communities were studied to ascertain the association of those characteristics or attributes with teacher measures. The underlying premise for the study was that teachers who feel supported in their classroom practice are more committed and effective than those who do not. When teachers have a strong sense of efficacy, they tend to adopt new classroom behaviors and stay in the profession longer. Pearson Correlation analysis and regression analysis were performed on nine constructs to determine their associations. The three dependent variables were teacher measures of efficacy, satisfaction, and morale. The independent variables were the six constructs of professional learning communities, i.e. supportive leadership, shared values, collective learning, conditions-relational, conditions-structural, and shared personal practice. The three control variables were teacher experience, teacher autonomy, and teacher salary contentedness. The results of Pearson Correlation analysis showed that all six constructs of PLCs were significantly related to teacher efficacy; four of the six constructs, i.e. supportive conditions-structural, supportive conditions-relational, collective learning, and shared values of PLCs were significantly related to teacher satisfaction; and, all six of the PLC attributes were significantly related to teacher morale. Regression analysis determined that there were no significant relationships with teacher efficacy and professional learning community dimensions, one significant relationship with satisfaction and the PLC dimension of supportive conditionsstructural, two significant relationships with morale and PLC dimensions of collective learning and supportive conditions-structural.

In recent years new directions in special education have been legislated. This paper examines these new directions and how they affect the orientations of teachers and instructional aides who are working with severely mentally impaired students. It examines decision making based on the feelings of effectiveness and autonomy experienced by teachers and aides. The school was chosen because it provides the opportunity to observe teachers and instructional aides at work with students. Observation, as a method, offered original data and allowed the observer to participate in the classroom. These orientations are important because they affect the way teachers and instructional aides relate to students.

The problem with which this investigation was concerned was that of determining the relationship between personally perceived autonomy and the extent of professional activity of secondary teachers. The two methods of determining this relationship were questionnaire completion and personal interview. It was assumed that the two methods complemented one another in the determination of findings.