This study investigated how the figured world of the RET, and other figured worlds of science that teacher's experience, impacted their conceptions around the nature of science and their identities in science and as science teachers. The main premise behind RET programs is that by partnering science teachers with scientists as mentors, science…

My dissertation is a pre-mid-post-test, quantitative research design, including surveys and written assessments, to answer these research questions: 1. How do students' science mindset vary over time when engaged in science inquiry activities? Is there a difference between male and female students? 2. Is there a relationship between 7th grade…

This dissertation presents three interrelated studies examining opportunities for student learning through contributory citizen science (CS), where students collect and contribute data to help generate new scientific knowledge. I draw on sociocultural perspectives of learning to analyze three cases where teachers integrated CS into school science,…

This dissertation introduces the construct of "worthwhileness" as an important aspect of students' "practical" epistemologies of science (Sandoval, 2005). Specifically, it examines how students conceptualize what makes a scientific research question worthwhile, through a close analysis of the criteria they use for…

After decades of attempting to identify effective reading programs within the United States, in recent years, the emphasis on identifying these programs has made a dramatic shift. The continuous increase in federal involvement began the implementation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). One of the primary goals for NCLB is to drastically improve…

This dissertation is the result of research which examined the implementation of professional learning communities in a primary school. Professional learning communities or PLCs are groups of educators coming together collaboratively in a process of inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve. While there were…

This dissertation was designed to explore the impact of the identified responsibilities of the principal, as an instructional leader, within the professional development model of Reading First. Specifically, the research focused on the principals' use of the Observation and Constructive Feedback Processes as well as five specifically defined…

The purpose of this study was to explore the possible causes that might contribute to the disproportionate percentage of English language learners ELLs with special education individual education plans (IEPs). Elementary school classroom teachers from school districts that exhibited high growth in the percentage of ELLs with IEPs during 2007-2010…