Teaching, Leading, and Learning in the 21st Century Classroom

One critical challenge facing our public school system is the urgent need to transform traditional classrooms into 21st century learning environments. To understand what is impacting this transformation in schools, this quantitative case study used survey data to identify the impact of a teacher’s level of transformational leadership on student engagement in the 4Cs of the 21st century: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. The results build a case for teacher preparatory programs and policymakers to require the teaching of the transformational leadership theory as a core component of teacher preparatory programs. In addition, this research looked at the impact of teachers’ perceptions of 21st century professional development on student engagement in the 4Cs. A recommendation is to further research correlating teachers’ growth mindset and their transformational leadership rating to see the possible connections to further support teachers’ developing as transformational leaders within the classroom. Finally, this research challenges the New York State Department of Education’s recent requirement for 100 hours of professional development for new certification holders. While the research agrees with the need for ongoing professional development for all teachers, the findings show that there is no research identifying a specific number of hours as being optimal for learning, and it shows that developing transformational leadership characteristics in teachers results in greater student engagement in the 4Cs

Building Intercultural Capacity in School Teams to Support Refugee Students

In a period of globalization and forced migration, refugee numbers are increasing exponentially, and unprepared school systems embrace students as families settle in unfamiliar territory. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) explores the experiences of a school team at Calluna Elementary School (CES, a pseudonym) in Southern Ontario, where staff strive to build their collective intercultural capacity in order to best serve an influx of newcomers who have survived war and significant loss. The Problem of Practice (PoP) involves addressing staff struggles with trauma-informed pedagogy, early literacy instruction, and maintaining an asset-focused perspective, through a refugee critical race theory lens. To inspire radical change in the current organization, and to flex with the rapidly changing demographics of the school community, the principal adopts both a transformative and adaptive leadership approach. While the organization evolves and oppressive programs and practices are identified and addressed, a change plan and communication plan are applied. Implementing formal professional learning sessions for staff through a 4C framework will be instrumental in developing culturally sustaining practices which adequately provide essential supports for refugee students. Training for the school team which focuses on developing intercultural competence will improve the ability of the system to address the unique challenges encountered. This morally imperative work is applicable to school contexts around the world where refugees are accepted and barriers are faced when supporting effective settlement for newcomers

Principals\u27 Perceptions Of Implementation Levels Of Innovative Education In North Dakota Schools

The purpose of this quantitative study was to bring awareness to education policy makers and educators in North Dakota (ND) regarding the process of implementing innovative education after the enactment of North Dakota’s Senate Bill 2186 (SB 2186) in 2017. For the purpose of this study, innovative education is defined as instruction that incorporates any or all of the 4Cs: communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. This study analyzed ND principals’ perceived levels of implementation of 4Cs instruction, perceived roadblocks and supports to 4Cs implementation, differences in implementation of 4Cs instruction dependent on enrollment, and differences in implementation of 4Cs instruction dependent on type of school. A survey using Qualtrics web based design software was completed by ND public school principals in elementary, middle, and secondary schools. Principals responded to a 5-point Likert scale measuring their perceptions of levels of implementation, roadblocks, supports, and differences in implementation of 4Cs instruction. Results identified principals perceived 4Cs instruction was being implemented in their building at some level. Results identified statistically significant supports and roadblocks to levels of implementation of 4Cs instruction. Principals reported school board, parents, students, and teachers as supports to implementation, while reporting funding and North Dakota Department of Public Instruction as roadblocks. The study identified statistically significant differences in levels of implementation of 4Cs instruction based on school size (enrollment). Principals of schools with enrollment of 1001 to 2000 reported a higher level of implementation of 4Cs instruction than did schools with smaller enrollment (200 or less; 201 to 1000). Results did not identify differences in the levels of implementation of 4Cs instruction based on type of school

Experiences and Perspectives of High School Teachers Regarding Technology Integration

A local school district adopted technology initiatives with the goal of transforming pedagogy to create 21st-Century learning experiences. The problem addressed in this study was high school teachers from 1 of the district\u27s 4 high schools did not integrate technology in ways that transformed pedagogy and enhance students’ learning experiences. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore teachers\u27 perspectives of and experiences and challenges with integrating technology in transformational ways. Mishra and Koehler’s technological pedagogical and content knowledge framework guided this study. The research questions were designed to understand teachers’ experiences, perspectives, and challenges integrating technology in core content areas. A purposeful sample of 12 teachers, who taught social studies, science, English, and mathematics courses and integrated technology in core content, volunteered to participate in interviews. Data were analyzed through coding and theme development. The data showed that teachers had technology knowledge and experience but did not integrate technology in transformative ways, exhibited positive attitudes and beliefs towards technology integration, and faced challenges with managing student behavior. Teachers shared they need more training in integrating technology in core content, methods to teach students how to use technology and digital citizenship, and tools to monitor students’ work. A position paper was drafted for district leaders to address teachers’ training needs. This endeavor could contribute to positive social change when district leaders equip teachers with knowledge and skills to integrate technology in ways that transform pedagogy and classroom experiences to improve student learning

An Evaluation of One School\u27s Reading Program to Support Struggling Readers Through the Use of Data

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of one school’s reading intervention program, and its impact on struggling readers reading performance. Participants in this study included administrators, Grades 3 through 5instructional staff that directly impact student learning in reading through reading instruction. I collected survey data and analyzed it to determine teachers’ ability to instruct struggling readers with high expectations for student learning. As a result, this evaluation exhibit teachers require more quality planning time to prepare effective reading intervention lessons that includes strategies attained from strategically designed professional development structured to increase students’ reading ability. According to these findings, I proposed that teachers are provided additional time to plan reading lessons that augment struggling readers’ achievement

Examining the Impact of Acquiring the ESL Endorsement on Teacher Knowledge, Dispositions, and English Language Learner Performance on a Standardized Mathematics Test

Rising immigration to the United States has changed the demographic make-up of students in general education classrooms. Data from the 2000 Census establish that more than 14 million immigrants entered the United States during the 1990s. The percentage of English language learners (ELLs) in U.S. public schools increased from 8% (3.8 million students) in the year 2000 to 10% (5.0 million students) in 2017. Given this change, classroom teachers are expected to meet the needs of students in mainstream classrooms who are non-native speakers of English. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of teachers acquiring the ESL endorsement on the ESL outcomes of the ELL populations in elementary school and to compare classroom teachers with and without the ESL endorsement in terms of their ELL-related knowledge, pedagogical skills, and dispositions toward the ELL students in their classrooms. A t-test, a questionnaire, and interviews were the three tools utilized to collect data to compare teachers’ dispositions and level of knowledge in second-language-acquisition with and without the ESL endorsement. The findings showed that ESL-endorsed classroom teachers acquired better knowledge, pedagogical skills, and dispositions toward ELL populations

The Effect of Professional Development on Middle School Teachers\u27 Technology Integration: An Action Research Study

Equipping teachers with the appropriate knowledge and skills to integrate technology effectively into their practice is a key component of school-wide technology implementation. Technology is fast becoming ubiquitous in the realm of education. Teachers and schools struggle to keep abreast of changing technologies while preparing students for a 21st century workforce. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills defined four skills critical for success in the twenty-first century: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. School and district leaderships are tasked to provide relevant and meaningful technological professional development (PD) in order to prepare their teachers to integrate these skills into their teaching practices. Hence, quality technology professional development is essential in modern education. In this study, an instructional technology specialist examined the effects of professional development on high-level technology integration

Reaching New Heights: A Pathway to Pedagogical Equity for English Language Learners

Abstract During the past decade, classrooms in the province of Alberta, Canada, have become more culturally and linguistically diverse. Despite having a strong desire to meet the academic needs of their students, most teachers do not have a well-developed understanding of pedagogy specific to teaching English as an additional language. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) presents educators in the Central School District of Alberta (a pseudonym) with a pedagogical framework that promotes the development of more equitable and democratic classrooms for English language learners (ELLs). Sociotransformative constructivism (STC)—a union of social constructivism and critical cross-cultural education—lays the theoretical groundwork for the OIP through its four key tenets: authentic activity, reflexivity, metacognition, and dialogic communication. The STC paradigm demands that educators teach not only for understanding, but for diversity as well. Through collaborative-transformative leadership, school-based teaching staff are invited to grow in their knowledge and skills in the areas of student engagement, culturally responsive practices, adaptive expertise, and oracy instruction. A dialogic change model and adaptive expertise model of professional learning (PL) guide the change implementation process. Students and families are invited to contribute to the pedagogical shift through personal narratives and the sharing of diverse worldviews. The adoption of the proposed framework and its accompanying PL opportunities results in pedagogical practices that elevate ELL voice, status, and academic achievement in the context of a more democratic and culturally affirming school experience. Keywords: English language learners, sociotransformative constructivism, dialogic change model, adaptive expertise, culturally responsive practices, orac

Experiences of Teachers of the Deaf Using Project-Based Learning to Build Higher Order Thinking Skills

Project-based learning (PBL) is an instructional strategy used to develop higher order thinking skills (HOTS) with a range of student populations. Although all students need to build HOTS for success in the 21st century, PBL studies with deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students were nearly absent; therefore, it was unknown how PBL could be used to develop HOTS with this population. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the lived experiences of teachers of the deaf using PBL to build HOTS with DHH students in the dimensions of pedagogy, product, and process. A self-designed conceptual framework called project-based learning and innovation for teachers and students (PB-LIFTS) was used to discover HOTS in PBL units. The central research question explored the lived experiences of teachers of the deaf designing and implementing PBL to build HOTS with DHH students. A sample of 4 licensed high school teachers of the deaf with a high level of comfort using PBL and at least 5 years of experience participated in this study. Data came from multiple interviews, learning objectives, and e-mailed journal responses. Following procedures for interpretative phenomenological analysis, emergent themes were applied in PB-LIFTS to reveal levels of HOTS that were shared with the teachers to gain their perspectives. Results showed that the teachers used social constructive pedagogy to build HOTS using PBL with academically diverse deaf high school students. This study may promote social change in deaf education by encouraging the adoption of PBL strategies to develop HOTS needed for success beyond high school. In addition, this study may support future research related to assessing HOTS in PBL using PB-LIFTS which could be flexibly adapted and applied in units across disciplines

A First-Year Implementation of Mindquest21, A Project-Based Paradigm Shift to Deeper Learning: A Program Evaluation

This program evaluation examines MindQuest21, a project-based learning (PBL) model that was implemented in a Chicago, Illinois suburban community. It began with a summer institute experience with a group of approximately seventy teachers in grades kindergarten through fifth grade. These teachers volunteered to attend a four-day MindQuest21 professional development seminar where they actively participated in a facilitated PBL model of instruction and collaborated on the development of PBL units within their district. A pre-post survey was used to compare teacher confidence increases and PBL understanding after the summer institute. This was followed by teacher interviews, follow-up sessions, classroom visits, and examinations of student artifacts. This study aims to be a resource for other school districts interested in implementing a highly collaborative PBL professional learning process within their school community. Data collected throughout the first-year implementation served as invaluable formative and summative information sources to identify specific themes and recommendations. Conceptual frameworks structure the recommendations in categories of strategic action. These recommended actions include; shifting from traditional staff development to professional learning systems, building internal sustainability for change, exploring stakeholder belief systems, moving from curriculum delivery to investing in curriculum development, and fostering environments where learning is optimized through active experiences. The research reveals insights and provides direction for educators seeking to transform their teaching and learning practices to meet the needs of our expanding and diverse 21st Century students