Burnaford, Gail

This quantitative study examined secondary schools across a south Florida school
district to determine the relationship between school characteristics and measures of
teacher quality with the aim of ascertaining the equitable distribution of the educational
resource, teacher quality. Data regarding student population, staff climate survey
responses, school points, and measures of teacher quality were requested from the school
district; however, the requested teacher quality data was not available from the district.
The researcher accessed publicly available teacher quality data from the Florida
Department of Education regarding advanced degree completion, out-of-field teachers,
and highly qualified teachers to serve as measures of teacher quality at secondary
schools.
Data were collected and analyzed using quantitative methods for 119 schools that
served as the unit of analysis. Using multiple regressions, the study found a significant negative relationship between the percentage of students participating in the free and
reduced-price lunch program and the percentage of teachers who possessed an advanced
degree. The study also found a significant positive relationship between the percentages
of Black students, English language learners, students with disabilities, students
participating in the free and reduced-price lunch program and the percentage of out-offield
teachers. Additionally, the study found a significant positive relationship between
the percentages of Hispanic students, students with disabilities, students participating in
the free and reduced-price lunch program, and the percentage of not highly qualified
teachers at schools. The investigation also discovered predictive relationships between
some of these school characteristics and the measures of teacher quality examined in the
study.
All of the findings provided evidence of structural inequality regarding the
distribution of teacher quality and were analyzed by the study’s theoretical framework,
which drew on critical race theory, critical multiculturalism, and other critical studies.
These works underscore the inequitable distribution of teacher quality. Implications and
suggestions for future research are offered for further examination of the equitable
distribution of teacher quality and the role of policy to inform the equitable distribution of
teacher quality across schools in order to address the most urgent problem facing U.S.
education: the unequal distribution of quality teachers.

This mixed methods study investigated second through fifth grade teachers’
perceptions of Curriculum-Based Readers Theatre (CBRT) as a relevant approach for
teaching English Language Learners (ELLs). Quantitative survey data were collected
from 18 teachers who worked at the school with the largest population of ELLs in a large South Florida school district. The surveys investigated teachers’ current use of ESOL instructional strategies prior to participating in a CBRT professional development session as well as their ability to identify ESOL instructional strategies embedded within the approach after professional development and classroom implementation. Qualitative data were collected in the form of interviews and discussion board transcripts from eight
participants, who were also members of a school-based Readers Theatre Professional
Learning Community (PLC). Transcripts were used to investigate how participants
implemented CBRT in their classrooms as well as how they described their identification
and application of ESOL instructional strategies during implementation. The impact of PLC participation on CBRT implementation and identification of ESOL instructional
strategies was also investigated. The findings indicated that participants recognized various ESOL instructional strategies embedded in the CBRT approach. In addition, data indicated that participants viewed CBRT as an effective means for delivering various ESOL instructional strategies. Both quantitative and qualitative data analysis led to similar conclusions and revealed that CBRT incorporates various ESOL instructional strategies that are recognized as effective for teaching ELLs. Teachers reported using CBRT at various points during instructional units and across all content areas. Implications and suggestions for future research are offered for the instruction of ELLs, the benefits of CBRT and other similar approaches, the design of school-based professional development, and the infusion of ESOL instructional strategies within teacher education and inservice professional learning experiences.

The current study explores what characterizes the relationship between the pedagogical
processes within a school culture of creativity in a Reggio Emilia-inspired school in the
Southeastern United States. The questions which frame the study are:
1. How is a culture of creativity fostered within a Reggio Emilia-inspired
school?
2. Within a culture of creativity, what characterizes the relationship between the
pedagogical processes of curriculum and assessment?
The research was designed as ethnography and incorporates multiple data sets which
provide layers of rich and descriptive information that reveal how to foster a culture of
creativity in a school for young children. These data sets were generated by the
researcher and the study participants over 18 weeks of ethnographic fieldwork and
participant observation. These data sets include class group observations, professional development observations, interviews, focus groups, and audio-photo vignettes of the life
of the Reggio Emilia-inspired school which served as the research site for the
ethnography. Through ongoing, iterative, and eclectic processes of qualitative data
analysis, the researcher identified four emergent themes in the combined data generated
during fieldwork. These themes represent the four findings of the study and are presented
in the work in terms of answers to research questions, as well as how they support study
conclusions, implications, and suggestions for future research in early childhood
education. The four thematic findings that emerged in the ethnographic data generated for
this study are: The Protagonists, The Daily Life, Research and Analysis, and Languages
of Expression.