Date of Graduation
1998
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
Three distinct teachers, recognized by their administrators as excellent, were chosen to participate in a study designed to describe a recent phenomena in education. All three teachers were members of a faculty that was recognized as a Professional Development School in collaboration with the Benedum Foundation. Traditionally educators have looked to their local school district to provide continuing education. This professional development covers a wide range of topics and is given with a random approach. Recently there have been schools that have decided that their instruction and assessment could change to incorporate more alternative methods to accommodate a variety of student interests and abilities. Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences and Bernice McCarthy's 4MAT System have become increasingly popular, adopted by teachers realizing that student performance can be increased. Although these two approaches have somewhat different theoretical underpinnings, they realize student individuality. The two questions in consideration during this study asked how three different approaches to professional development affected the instruction and assessment of three teachers. After spending time with each teacher through classroom observation, interviewing, and analysis of lesson plans several themes emerged: teacher attitude toward change, curricular and instructional design, the role of the teacher during instruction, the style of delivery, student empowerment, collaboration, and creativity. Several areas in the profession of teaching fall under the umbrella known as instruction. It is impacted by time and classroom management, teacher attitudes and experience, as well as content and strategy. To answer the question dealing with instruction this research addressed these turning points: teacher attitude toward change, the framework used for design, the role of the teacher during instruction, the style of delivery, student empowerment, collaboration, and creativity. The assessment practices in the three classrooms studied revealed varying levels of change. Each are described with specific examples. Professional development has a direct impact on the type of instruction and assessment used in the classroom. The purpose of this study is to contribute information that will be beneficial to teachers and administrators as they plan and implement professional development.
Recommended Citation
Morris, Mary D., "A Description of the Instructional and Assessment Practices of Selected Elementary Teachers." (1998). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 9454.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/9454