Respond back to each of the post bellow with at least 250 words 2 in text citations and refences…
1st post…
To support the development of literacy skills, elementary educators utilize data to inform instructional practices, with interventions based on individual skill gaps. In the past five years, Arizona legislation has included mandates for professional development in literacy practices, and recommendations for future studies highlight the need to explore teacher familiarity with effective literacy instruction aligned to cognitive research (Goldberg & Goldenberg, 2022). In research, self-reported data on knowledge of best practices does not align with practical implementation of literacy instruction (Karst et al., 2022). A disconnect between evidence-based recommendations and classroom practice may be connected to resiliency factors such as emotional competence, social competence, and future focused thinking.
The qualitative methodology is chosen for this study to focus on individual experiences of general education professionals within an elementary school setting to understand the alignment between knowledge and practice. Washburn et al. (2022) conducted a qualitative study with 40 K-5 teachers and administrators to investigate the effect of professional development for data-based decision making in reading. Outcomes of research indicate support from administrators and access to high-quality intervention materials were factors in teacher perceptions of this process. Recommendations include the need for interviews, focus groups, or structured observations to better understand barriers to implementation of data-based interventions. Possible research questions include the following:
RQ1. How do elementary educators in general education classrooms describe how emotional competence is developed in successful data-based reading interventions?
RQ2. How do elementary educators in general education classrooms describe how social competence is developed in successful data-based reading interventions?
RQ3. How do elementary educators in general education classrooms describe how future focused thinking is developed in successful data-based reading interventions?
The investigation of individual perspectives through a qualitative study allows for insight about resiliency factors in this problem-solving process of reading interventions. For the intended study, the topic and research focus do not lend themselves to a hypothesis, indicating an inductive qualitative approach would be appropriate (Edmonds & Kennedy, 2017). Advantages of a qualitative approach include the opportunity for interviews and focus groups with open-ended questions for a detailed overview of the phenomenon (Maxwell, 2008). Disadvantages of this method include the small sample size and challenge with generalizing results outside of the study population. Reaching data saturation is possible through the use of coding of concepts based on themes in participant reports (McGregor, 2018). Qualitative data and findings for the connection between resiliency and decision-making processes may be beneficial for literacy experts and educators reflecting on classroom practice.
References:
Edmonds, W. A. & Kennedy, T. D, (2017). An applied guide to research designs: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. SAGE. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781071802779
Goldberg, M., & Goldenberg, C. (2022). Lessons learned? Reading wars, Reading First, and a way forward. The Reading Teacher, 75(5), 621. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2079
Karst, K., Bonefeld, M., Dotzel, S., Fehringer, B. C., & Steinwascher, M. (2022). Data-based differentiated instruction: The impact of standardized assessment and aligned teaching material on students’ reading comprehension. Learning and Instruction, 79, 101597.
Maxwell, J. A. (2008). Designing a qualitative study (Vol. 2, pp. 214-253). The SAGE handbook of applied social research methods.
McGregor, S. L. T. (2018). Understanding and evaluating research: A critical guide. SAGE. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781071802656
Post. 2….Attrition of special education teachers has been the topic of several research studies. Hester et al. (2020) conducted a qualitative study with 366 special educators to investigate work-related stressors including reasons for leaving the field and found that the most stressful aspects of their jobs were related to administration. Special educators reported the main reason for considering leaving the field was due to emotional and physical health. The recommendation for further research was to further investigate the themes found in this study as well as broaden the participants by race, gender, and region of the United States. The focus of this research study is to explore how special educators overcome stress through positive emotions and accomplishment.
RQ 1: How do elementary special education teachers describe overcoming stress using positive emotions in a Midwestern school district?
RQ2. How do elementary special education teachers describe overcoming stress using accomplishment in a Midwestern school district?
Quantitative methodology is most appropriate when the researcher is looking to investigate a theory to gain generalizable findings on a topic through numerical data (Habib et al., 2014). Qualitative methodology is most appropriate when the researcher is looking to investigate perspectives and beliefs to gain a richer understanding of a topic (Rahman, 2017). Qualitative methodology will be utilized in this study to allow for an authentic environment as qualitative studies are conducted in a natural setting.
Additional rationale includes qualitative studies are often utilized within the social sciences including education. Alnaim (2018) conducted a literature review with five scientific articles to explore the usefulness and limitations of qualitative research methods in special education. Benefits of qualitative research within special education are to investigate the systems and interventions to help inform practice. Disadvantages of qualitative methodology include sample size and a potential mismatch between the participant’s perceptions and the researcher’s meaning within the questions (Creswell, 2017, p. 218). The current study would include semi-structured interviews and focus groups to gain special educator’s insights.
Creswell, J. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Habib, M, Pathik, B.B., & Maryam, H. (2014). Research methodology – Contemporary practices: Guidelines for academic researchers. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Rahman, M.S. (2017). The advantages and disadvantages of using qualitative and quantitative approaches and methods in language “testing and assessment” research: A literature review. Journal of Education and Learning, 6(1), 102-112. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jel.v6n1p102
Yin, R. (2016). Qualitative research from start to finish (2nd ed.). The Guilford Press.
