A STUDY OF THE PERCEIVED TEACHING SELF-EFFICACY AND LEADERSHIP OF NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFIED TEACHERS

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived levels of teacher self-efficacy and leadership of National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs). One of the goals of Race to the Top is to provide highly qualified, efficacious teachers in every classroom, prepared to lead in the 21st century. Given that National Board Certification is one avenue to highly qualified status, this study sought to discover whether NBCTs perceived high levels of teacher self-efficacy and assumed leadership roles at a higher rate than a matched sample of non-NBCTs. This quantitative, non-experimental approach compared the perceived levels of teacher self-efficacy in the domains of instruction, engagement, management, and leadership of NBCTs to a matched sample of non-NBCTs in one district in the state of Maryland. The Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale - SF (TSES), a 12-item Likert-like scale, used with permission by Dr. Anita Woolfolk-Hoy measured teacher efficacy in the three domains. A question regarding compensated leadership roles was added to the TSES. Results derived using SPPS generated a T-test to examine the subset correlations and tabulate compensated leadership roles. The T-test failed to reveal a statistically reliable difference between the mean scores of the NBCTs and a matched sample of non-NBCTs. Both groups scored high on the TSES and assumed leadership roles in the district. The non-significant results do not discount National Board Certification as a vehicle to identify highly qualified, self-efficacious teachers prepared to lead in the 21st century

Petrology and diagenesis of the lower Mississippian Price Formation, southwestern Virginia

The primary objective of this study of four cores from the Lower Mississippian Price Formation was to determine the dominant controls on diagenesis and porosity as the Price sandstones are potential reservoirs for coalbed methane. Facies analyses of the cores, in combination with outcrop data from previous studies, lead to the conclusions that these rocks represent distal bar and prodelta, wave-reworked distributary mouth bar, and upper delta plain deposits. Petrographically, the sandstones typically are fine-grained lithic arenites that were derived from a low-grade metamorphic provenance with lesser sedimentary and minor plutonic influences. Diagenetically, most sandstones are dominated by siliceous cements and replacements, although some samples from the marine zones are dominated by carbonate cements. No original porosity is preserved and secondary porosity of any type is rare, but where present is usually the result of dissolution of carbonate phases. The age of the rocks and the maximum temperature of diagenesis (found to be >150°C throughout these sections) were strongly influential in diagenesis. The composition of the sediments was also very important in compaction, cementation, replacement, and dissolution. The variation in detrital mineralogy is limited, and this, in combination with temperature and age, results in diagenesis that is relatively homogeneous throughout these sections of the Price Formation. Finally, as porosity in the sandstones is extremely low, it seems highly unlikely that the Price Formation sandstones in this area could be economic producers of methane.M.S

Exploring the Impact of Narrative Persuasion on Student Attitudes Towards the Death Penalty: A Qualitative Approach

Attitude change on the death penalty is highly relevant issue to both legal and public policy actors. Previous studies on students’ death penalty attitudes used vignettes in quasi-experimental methodologies to measure attitude change on the death penalty. Few studies have explored the impact of nonfiction narrative on death penalty attitudes. The current study adopted a novel approach to student attitude change through exposure to first-person narratives in the context of community engaged learning. Senior capstone students (n = 28) completed projects on the death penalty. Four journal reflection entries, submitted by individual students in three-week intervals, captured attitude change and learning experiences over time. Coders examined 119,522 words and conducted thematic analysis. Participants who connected with a narrative experienced a significant reduction in death penalty support as well as increased advocacy intentions, attitude strength, and subject knowledge. Implications for narrative persuasion in legal and learning contexts are discussed