Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship among training design, trainee m... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship among training design, trainee motivation and work environment on the transfer of learning for teachers enrolled in a continuing professional education (CPE) training program and the confirmation of potential positive, predictive relationships of trainee motivation, work environment and training design to transfer of learning. This study investigated the contribution of training efficiency and relevance as measured by the training design; work environment as measured by work autonomy, work complexity and work variability; and trainee’s motivation of training (learning- and job-oriented) to the transfer of knowledge and skills from the training program to their workplace. Both direct and indirect effects of mentioned components on the learning transfer were explored. Design/methodology/approach This study included 160 teachers working in high-needs schools with large numbers of English learners (ELs) Southwest USA. Teac...
PurposeThe purpose of this study was to explore intrinsic and extrinsic motivations that led 28 t... more PurposeThe purpose of this study was to explore intrinsic and extrinsic motivations that led 28 teachers of emergent bilingual (EB) students to seek a master's in educational administration with a focus on bilingual/English as a second language (ESL).Design/methodology/approachTo address the study objectives, the authors used a qualitative phenomenological design. The authors conducted online interviews with 28 teachers of EBs. The authors used the self-determination theory as the theoretical framework.FindingsPrimarily, teachers of EBs were intrinsically motivated to seek the principalship. The authors identified additional motivators that were not found in the previous literature which heretofore was based on general education teachers' responses. Those motivators were, gain advice from mentors, promote cultural awareness, commit to a campus-wide impact, increase awareness of the importance of bilingual/ESL education programs, and foster a relationship with the school comm...
The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine teachers' perceptions of Project Mas... more The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine teachers' perceptions of Project Massive Open Online Professional Individualized Learning (MOOPIL) Virtual Professional Development and the role it played in their pedagogical practices as they transitioned from face-to-face to online instruction during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. We applied a mixed method approach to understand the experiences of educators engaged in virtual professional development, virtual mentoring and coaching, and an online learning community during a global pandemic in the Spring of 2020. Participants reported various ways Project MOOPIL impacted their experiences as educators. Teachers’ personal experiences in online learning through Project MOOPIL provided insight into the comparable experiences of students who were immersed in online education as well. Teachers reported a successful transfer of knowledge from this experience to their new distance learning domains that not only ca...
COVID-19 pandemic was and continues to be a shock and a challenge to the entire world. This healt... more COVID-19 pandemic was and continues to be a shock and a challenge to the entire world. This health and safety challenge found its way into the world of higher education, even in programs that were already delivered in online environments. In this study, we examined the perceptions of 79 developing principals enrolled in a Master of Education Degree program in Educational Administration at Texas A&M University in the United States as they processed the efficacy of a virtual professional development (VPD) leadership for a state certificate in Advancing Educational Leadership (AEL). The state agency has required AEL as a 3-day state-mandated face-to-face training which is a basic requirement for school leaders who evaluate teachers. In fact, per state policy, AEL was delivered in a face-to-face format since it began in 2015, but was transformed to a VPD format in 2020, for the first time, as a response to safety concerns resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Texas Education Agency ...
International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education
PurposeThis study was conducted in the United States of America to identify what practices virtua... more PurposeThis study was conducted in the United States of America to identify what practices virtual mentor-coaches perceived to be effective in virtual mentoring and coaching (VMC) within virtual professional learning communities (VPLCs). The authors also sought to determine the ways in which virtual mentor-coaches provided VMC for school leaders within VPLCs.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a phenomenological approach in our research, describing the lived experiences of practicing virtual mentor-coaches as they engaged in VMC. Data analysis included video analysis and systematic coding of interview data.FindingsAn in-depth analysis of interview and video data showed that virtual mentor-coaches support school leaders in developing and transforming school leaders' leadership for building teachers' instructional capacity. The authors identified a VMC process model within VPLCs, including four steps as follows: (1) presentation, (2) collaboration, (3) reflection and (...
From 2017 until 2020, we held face-to-face professional development focused on enhancing instruct... more From 2017 until 2020, we held face-to-face professional development focused on enhancing instructional leadership for underserved schools at the campus level. We quickly determined in March 2020, based on the predicted situation of COVID-19, that we needed to change that venue to virtual professional development (VPD). The study was grounded in the theoretical base of adult learning theory and transformational learning since we were working with school leaders. The researchers used a mixed methods research design with a survey to examine to what extent school leaders perceived their engagement in a synchronous VPD webinar with facilitators increased their knowledge on the topic of conflict management. The findings showed that the participants perceived targeted VPD to have significantly increased their knowledge on conflict management. Additionally, the participating school leaders indicated a shift in their attitudes from negative to positive perceptions regarding conflict. The fin...
The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the effect of Story Telling and retelling and hig... more The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the effect of Story Telling and retelling and higher order thinking for English Language and Literacy Acquisition (STELLA) on the English oral proficiency of elementary students in Mainland China and Taiwan, where English is taught as a foreign language. The 6-week intervention incorporated direct vocabulary instruction, modeling reading, and leveled questioning strategy through storytelling and retelling, and was delivered by certified English teachers who received weekly virtual professional training in two public schools in Mainland China and Taiwan. An English oral vocabulary measure was administered among 10 students in Mainland China and 9 students in Taiwan before and after the intervention. Paired-sample T-tests were conducted to examine the progress from pretest to posttest on the two cohorts, respectively. The results showed a significant improvement on students’ oral proficiency at both sites.
Using qualitative survey response data from 75 third grade bilingual teachers in a randomized con... more Using qualitative survey response data from 75 third grade bilingual teachers in a randomized control trial (RCT), we examined teachersrsquo perceptions towards the projectrsquos virtual professional development (VPD) component. We were interested in the teachersrsquo perceptions as it relates to the potential to take PD to a broader audience across geographic regions (scalability). Through the progression from the original RCT in one school district with face-face PD to a validation RCT in seven school districts across three geographic regions with VPD, it was found that teachers were overwhelmingly positive toward such type of training, and VPD is a gateway to increasing the scalability of strategies presented in the online setting.
International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, 2020
The purpose of this paper is to share a model of a principal preparation program that is socially... more The purpose of this paper is to share a model of a principal preparation program that is socially responsible. The program is collaborative with two departments at the Texas A&M University College of Education and Human Development: Educational Administration and Human Resource Development and Educational Psychology (Bilingual Education). The program is being tested as (a) a four-semester program for 36 credit hours, (b) a year-long residency with an intensive summer residency, (c) a randomized control trial study with the treatment students receiving virtual mentoring and coaching, and (d) an analysis of family-community involvement program and dual language program development by the candidates. How we are evaluating the project is also shared.
English language learners (ELLs) benefit when their teachers utilize a wide range of English as a... more English language learners (ELLs) benefit when their teachers utilize a wide range of English as a Second Language (ESL) instructional strategies. However, content-area teachers often are unfamiliar with these ESL strategies as they have not received extensive professional development on meeting the needs of ELLs, especially within the context in their content area. In the current study, we explored the instructional differences between sixth-grade science teachers in their use of specific ESL strategies through the use of an observation protocol. Treatment teachers received ongoing, in-depth professional learning on working with ELLs and using ESL strategies. Our research question was: Is there a significant difference between treatment and control classrooms on teachers’ implementation of ESL strategies? A total of 1,380 rounds of observation were completed in both treatment and control classrooms during science instruction, with an average of 54.5 minutes per teacher. Chi-square t...
In this empirical study we examined the effect of a literacy-infused science intervention on fift... more In this empirical study we examined the effect of a literacy-infused science intervention on fifth grade economically challenged students’ science achievement in the curriculum-based and standardized assessments. A total of 27 treatment students and 20 comparison students from two intermediate schools in a rural district in South Texas in the United States participated in the present study. The intervention consisted of ongoing, structured, bi-weekly virtual professional development (VPD) with virtual mentoring and coaching (VMC) at the teacher level and literacy-infused science lessons with inquiry-based learning delivered at the student level. Results revealed a significant and positive intervention effect in favor of treatment students as reflected in higher normal curve equivalent scores in the standardized science assessment and higher scores in curriculum-based assessment. We conclude that the literacy-infused science intervention, inclusive of evidence-based curriculum, VPD, ...
When analyzing complex longitudinal data, especially data from different educational settings, re... more When analyzing complex longitudinal data, especially data from different educational settings, researchers generally focus only on the mean part (i.e., the regression coefficients), ignoring the equally important random part (i.e., the random effect variances) of the model. By using Project English Language and Literacy Acquisition (ELLA) data, we demonstrated the importance of taking the complex data structure into account by carefully specifying the random part of the model, showing that not only can it affect the variance estimates, the standard errors, and the tests of significance of the regression coefficients, it also can offer different perspectives of the data, such as information related to the developmental process. We used xxM (Mehta, 2013), which can flexibly estimate different grade-level variances separately and the potential carryover effect from each grade factor to the later time measures. Implications of the findings and limitations of the study are discussed.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship among training design, trainee m... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship among training design, trainee motivation and work environment on the transfer of learning for teachers enrolled in a continuing professional education (CPE) training program and the confirmation of potential positive, predictive relationships of trainee motivation, work environment and training design to transfer of learning. This study investigated the contribution of training efficiency and relevance as measured by the training design; work environment as measured by work autonomy, work complexity and work variability; and trainee’s motivation of training (learning- and job-oriented) to the transfer of knowledge and skills from the training program to their workplace. Both direct and indirect effects of mentioned components on the learning transfer were explored. Design/methodology/approach This study included 160 teachers working in high-needs schools with large numbers of English learners (ELs) Southwest USA. Teac...
PurposeThe purpose of this study was to explore intrinsic and extrinsic motivations that led 28 t... more PurposeThe purpose of this study was to explore intrinsic and extrinsic motivations that led 28 teachers of emergent bilingual (EB) students to seek a master's in educational administration with a focus on bilingual/English as a second language (ESL).Design/methodology/approachTo address the study objectives, the authors used a qualitative phenomenological design. The authors conducted online interviews with 28 teachers of EBs. The authors used the self-determination theory as the theoretical framework.FindingsPrimarily, teachers of EBs were intrinsically motivated to seek the principalship. The authors identified additional motivators that were not found in the previous literature which heretofore was based on general education teachers' responses. Those motivators were, gain advice from mentors, promote cultural awareness, commit to a campus-wide impact, increase awareness of the importance of bilingual/ESL education programs, and foster a relationship with the school comm...
The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine teachers' perceptions of Project Mas... more The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine teachers' perceptions of Project Massive Open Online Professional Individualized Learning (MOOPIL) Virtual Professional Development and the role it played in their pedagogical practices as they transitioned from face-to-face to online instruction during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. We applied a mixed method approach to understand the experiences of educators engaged in virtual professional development, virtual mentoring and coaching, and an online learning community during a global pandemic in the Spring of 2020. Participants reported various ways Project MOOPIL impacted their experiences as educators. Teachers’ personal experiences in online learning through Project MOOPIL provided insight into the comparable experiences of students who were immersed in online education as well. Teachers reported a successful transfer of knowledge from this experience to their new distance learning domains that not only ca...
COVID-19 pandemic was and continues to be a shock and a challenge to the entire world. This healt... more COVID-19 pandemic was and continues to be a shock and a challenge to the entire world. This health and safety challenge found its way into the world of higher education, even in programs that were already delivered in online environments. In this study, we examined the perceptions of 79 developing principals enrolled in a Master of Education Degree program in Educational Administration at Texas A&M University in the United States as they processed the efficacy of a virtual professional development (VPD) leadership for a state certificate in Advancing Educational Leadership (AEL). The state agency has required AEL as a 3-day state-mandated face-to-face training which is a basic requirement for school leaders who evaluate teachers. In fact, per state policy, AEL was delivered in a face-to-face format since it began in 2015, but was transformed to a VPD format in 2020, for the first time, as a response to safety concerns resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Texas Education Agency ...
International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education
PurposeThis study was conducted in the United States of America to identify what practices virtua... more PurposeThis study was conducted in the United States of America to identify what practices virtual mentor-coaches perceived to be effective in virtual mentoring and coaching (VMC) within virtual professional learning communities (VPLCs). The authors also sought to determine the ways in which virtual mentor-coaches provided VMC for school leaders within VPLCs.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a phenomenological approach in our research, describing the lived experiences of practicing virtual mentor-coaches as they engaged in VMC. Data analysis included video analysis and systematic coding of interview data.FindingsAn in-depth analysis of interview and video data showed that virtual mentor-coaches support school leaders in developing and transforming school leaders' leadership for building teachers' instructional capacity. The authors identified a VMC process model within VPLCs, including four steps as follows: (1) presentation, (2) collaboration, (3) reflection and (...
From 2017 until 2020, we held face-to-face professional development focused on enhancing instruct... more From 2017 until 2020, we held face-to-face professional development focused on enhancing instructional leadership for underserved schools at the campus level. We quickly determined in March 2020, based on the predicted situation of COVID-19, that we needed to change that venue to virtual professional development (VPD). The study was grounded in the theoretical base of adult learning theory and transformational learning since we were working with school leaders. The researchers used a mixed methods research design with a survey to examine to what extent school leaders perceived their engagement in a synchronous VPD webinar with facilitators increased their knowledge on the topic of conflict management. The findings showed that the participants perceived targeted VPD to have significantly increased their knowledge on conflict management. Additionally, the participating school leaders indicated a shift in their attitudes from negative to positive perceptions regarding conflict. The fin...
The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the effect of Story Telling and retelling and hig... more The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the effect of Story Telling and retelling and higher order thinking for English Language and Literacy Acquisition (STELLA) on the English oral proficiency of elementary students in Mainland China and Taiwan, where English is taught as a foreign language. The 6-week intervention incorporated direct vocabulary instruction, modeling reading, and leveled questioning strategy through storytelling and retelling, and was delivered by certified English teachers who received weekly virtual professional training in two public schools in Mainland China and Taiwan. An English oral vocabulary measure was administered among 10 students in Mainland China and 9 students in Taiwan before and after the intervention. Paired-sample T-tests were conducted to examine the progress from pretest to posttest on the two cohorts, respectively. The results showed a significant improvement on students’ oral proficiency at both sites.
Using qualitative survey response data from 75 third grade bilingual teachers in a randomized con... more Using qualitative survey response data from 75 third grade bilingual teachers in a randomized control trial (RCT), we examined teachersrsquo perceptions towards the projectrsquos virtual professional development (VPD) component. We were interested in the teachersrsquo perceptions as it relates to the potential to take PD to a broader audience across geographic regions (scalability). Through the progression from the original RCT in one school district with face-face PD to a validation RCT in seven school districts across three geographic regions with VPD, it was found that teachers were overwhelmingly positive toward such type of training, and VPD is a gateway to increasing the scalability of strategies presented in the online setting.
International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, 2020
The purpose of this paper is to share a model of a principal preparation program that is socially... more The purpose of this paper is to share a model of a principal preparation program that is socially responsible. The program is collaborative with two departments at the Texas A&M University College of Education and Human Development: Educational Administration and Human Resource Development and Educational Psychology (Bilingual Education). The program is being tested as (a) a four-semester program for 36 credit hours, (b) a year-long residency with an intensive summer residency, (c) a randomized control trial study with the treatment students receiving virtual mentoring and coaching, and (d) an analysis of family-community involvement program and dual language program development by the candidates. How we are evaluating the project is also shared.
English language learners (ELLs) benefit when their teachers utilize a wide range of English as a... more English language learners (ELLs) benefit when their teachers utilize a wide range of English as a Second Language (ESL) instructional strategies. However, content-area teachers often are unfamiliar with these ESL strategies as they have not received extensive professional development on meeting the needs of ELLs, especially within the context in their content area. In the current study, we explored the instructional differences between sixth-grade science teachers in their use of specific ESL strategies through the use of an observation protocol. Treatment teachers received ongoing, in-depth professional learning on working with ELLs and using ESL strategies. Our research question was: Is there a significant difference between treatment and control classrooms on teachers’ implementation of ESL strategies? A total of 1,380 rounds of observation were completed in both treatment and control classrooms during science instruction, with an average of 54.5 minutes per teacher. Chi-square t...
In this empirical study we examined the effect of a literacy-infused science intervention on fift... more In this empirical study we examined the effect of a literacy-infused science intervention on fifth grade economically challenged students’ science achievement in the curriculum-based and standardized assessments. A total of 27 treatment students and 20 comparison students from two intermediate schools in a rural district in South Texas in the United States participated in the present study. The intervention consisted of ongoing, structured, bi-weekly virtual professional development (VPD) with virtual mentoring and coaching (VMC) at the teacher level and literacy-infused science lessons with inquiry-based learning delivered at the student level. Results revealed a significant and positive intervention effect in favor of treatment students as reflected in higher normal curve equivalent scores in the standardized science assessment and higher scores in curriculum-based assessment. We conclude that the literacy-infused science intervention, inclusive of evidence-based curriculum, VPD, ...
When analyzing complex longitudinal data, especially data from different educational settings, re... more When analyzing complex longitudinal data, especially data from different educational settings, researchers generally focus only on the mean part (i.e., the regression coefficients), ignoring the equally important random part (i.e., the random effect variances) of the model. By using Project English Language and Literacy Acquisition (ELLA) data, we demonstrated the importance of taking the complex data structure into account by carefully specifying the random part of the model, showing that not only can it affect the variance estimates, the standard errors, and the tests of significance of the regression coefficients, it also can offer different perspectives of the data, such as information related to the developmental process. We used xxM (Mehta, 2013), which can flexibly estimate different grade-level variances separately and the potential carryover effect from each grade factor to the later time measures. Implications of the findings and limitations of the study are discussed.
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