Date of Award

2006-08-01

Degree Name

EdD Doctor of Education

Dissertation Committee

Dana L. Grisham Chair, PhD; Marcie J. Bober, PhD; Susan M. Zgliczynski, PhD

Keywords

adaptive, case study, collaborative, curriculum, educational reform, hardware, K-8 education, literacy teachers, multi-layered, professional development, progressive, qualitative, quantitative, responsive, school administration, software, teachers, technology

Abstract

Citrus Heights (a pseudonym) School District is an award-winning exemplar of technology integration. This small urban district has focused its resources on the re-design of its K-8 classrooms and curriculum to support educational reform through the use of technology, including hardware, software, and teacher professional development. Current best practices suggest that while staff development may begin with conventional in-service training, it should move quickly beyond to efforts that support teachers’ development as professionals involved in decision-making, inquiry, and leadership in their classroom teaching. In order to develop as professionals, teachers specifically need help and support in integrating new knowledge and skills into their classroom practice. The case data offer valuable support for theorizing about teachers’ professional development in technology that characterizes the professional literature. Another important aspect for this study is that teachers’ professional development in technology may well serve to further larger goals of school reform. This is addressed in a discussion of what was observed to be the infrastructure that was created to support teachers’ continuing development in technology within the district studied. Attention must be paid to this infrastructure both to understand and to affect the kind of change necessary for school reform. This case study investigates the efficacy of the technology educational reform movement in this district. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, the researcher collected data focusing on the factors in professional development that support or impede 3rd - 6th grade classroom teachers’ meaningful integration of technology and literacy. Five broad themes emerged from the data - multi-layered, adaptive, progressive, responsive, and collaborative. This study offers a preliminary analysis of professional development structures and may be used as a guide by administrators and teacher educators.

Document Type

Dissertation: Open Access

Department

Education

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