National Network for the Study of Educator Dispositions
Make plans now to attend our next Symposium on Educator Dispositions, November 15-16, 2012 near Cincinnati, Ohio. Additional details will be posted on this site as they become available.
Proceedings of the 7th Symposium on Educator Dispositions
held November 18-19, 2010 near Cincinnati, Ohio
Sponsored by the College of Education and Human Services at Northern Kentucky University &
The National Network for the Study of Educator Dispositions
Event chair: M. Mark Wasicsko, Dean and Bank of Kentucky Chair of Educational Leadership,
Northern Kentucky University
Presentation descriptions
all titles, descriptions, papers, presentations, and handouts unedited and as provided by presenters
Assessing foreign language pre-service teacher dispositions in situated practice
Description: Pre-service teachers’ actions, behaviors, and attitudes were examined within five domains characterizing dispositions and representing situational contexts in which pre-service teachers’ dispositions are fostered. The evaluative instrument and findings are shared. The model contributes to the profession’s efforts to interpret the nature and quality of dispositional development in pre-service teachers.
Presenter: Kristin Hoyt
Assistant Professor of French and Foreign Language Education, and Coordinator of Foreign Language Education Program
Kennesaw State University
khoyt3@kennesaw.edu
Dispositional "Field of Dreams": We built it and they came. Now what?
Description: A presentation of data analysis from 4 recent semesters of a current disposition assessment rubric. These data include measurements of significant statistical gains in teacher candidate performance; generalizability of findings to low achieving cohorts; application for teacher candidates experiencing difficulties; data captured from field supervisors; and implications for further study.
Presenters: Debbie Anderson and Bruce Brydges
Assistant Professor, Curriculum and Instruction (Anderson)/Director of Institutional Research and Academic Assessment (Brydges)
SUNY Potsdam
andersdl@potsdam.edu, brydgebc@potsdam.edu
A decade of implementing research-based dispositions instruments: Assessing leadership capacity
Description: Participants will understand the conceptual background for integrating the perceptual dispositions construct in assessing leadership capacity. Participants will be introduced to the 360 Individual Leadership Self-Assessment (ILSA) that is used to assess the leadership capacity of NKU’s Learning Associates who are enrolled in the Ed.D. program. Program strategies for using this instrument will be discussed. Participants will assess their workplace’s readiness to implement a 360 process. Learning Associates will share their experiences with this instrument.
Presenter: Michael Chirichello
Visiting Professor, Department of Counseling, Social Work, and Leadership
Northern Kentucky University
chirichelm1@nku.edu
Reflection on a decade: Developing and nurturing teacher dispositions
Description: At the 2003 Symposium we presented a triadic model for developing teacher dispositions through knowledge, identity, and action. How effective has the model been? In this session, we will share data that demonstrates the positive impact of the model in a teacher preparation program.
Presenters: Linda Young and Verna Lowe
Professor of Education (Young)/Professor and Education Unit Head (Lowe)
Lindsey Wilson College (Young)/Asbury University (Lowe)
youngl@indsey.edu, verna.lowe@asbury.edu
A decade of implementing research-based dispositions instruments: The hiring process
Description: Hiring the right colleagues who possess and demonstrate the same dispositions which are expected of students is both philosophically and practically an appropriate strategy. This session will describe the entire hiring process which has been successfully implemented in selecting university faculty and school district teachers. The process begins with carefully worded position announcements, phone and document screening strategies, and face to face interviews. How the process has been implemented and will reports successes and potential pitfalls.
Presenter: Paul Wirtz
Associate Professor and Director of the Ed.D. program
Northern Kentucky University
wirtzp1@nku.edu
How special education teacher candidates enact professional dispositions during student teaching
Description: The presenters analyzed guided reflections of 28 special education teacher candidates and their cooperating teachers to identify attitudes, behaviors, and activities that could be used to assess eight professional dispositions. The method and resulting alignment contributes to program improvements in the area of candidate assessment.
Presenters: Bev Tillman and Steve Richards
Associate Professor, School of Education and Allied Professions (Tillman)/Associate Professor and Coordinator of Intervention Specialists (Richards)
University of Dayton
Beverly.Tillman@notes.udayton.edu, Stephen.Richards@notes.udayton.edu
Embedding analysis of dispositions in the teacher hiring process in a K-12 public school district
Training packet: Human Relations Incident
Description: This presentation will describe how Fayette County Public Schools has begun to implement analysis of applicant dispositions into the teacher hiring process. Specifically the session will describe the hiring manager training process and the structure of teacher applicant mass interviews.
Presenter: Kelley Crain Ransdell
Director of Middle Schools
Fayette County Public Schools
kelley.ransdell@fayette.kyschools.us
Reflecting on dispositions: Berea's identification, implementation, and assessment of teacher dispositions
Description: This presentation will describe how collaboration was used to identify essential teacher dispositions. Using an innovative approach, dispositions are viewed as developmental and assessment was designed to engage candidates in on-going self assessment. Student and faculty comments from the assessment instrument will be shared to contextualize the process.
Presenter: Althea Webb
Assistant Professor of Education
Berea College
althea_webb@berea.edu
The complexity of identifying and measuring disposition in teacher education
Description: An investigation to explore the process of identifying and measuring teacher candidate dispositions as required by state and national accreditation bodies in order to assist teacher education programs to identify and develop operational definitions of the critical attributes that comprise professional dispositions and the construction of a reliable assessment instrument.
Presenters: JoAnn Jurchan and Ann Bradley
Associate Professor, Teacher Education Department (Jurchan)/Assistant Professor and Program Director, Single-Subject Teaching Tracks (Bradley)
Asuza Pacific University
jjurchan@apu.edu, apbradley@apu.edu
Teacher as entertainer: Can humor be a serious teacher disposition?
Description: This session examines findings from a three-state descriptive study, which sought to determine the attitudes of over 200 middle/secondary teachers toward the use of humor as a component of effective teaching. Practical and research-based suggestions for effectively adding humor to the dispositional practices of classroom instructors are provided.
Presenter: John Huss
Associate Professor of Education
Northern Kentucky University
hussj@nku.edu
Description: We have seen an explosion of interest about dispositions that teacher preparation programs hope to instill in their students. But how do they do so? This presentation reveals the results of a national survey of such programs, explicating the means they use to explicitly guide their students in dispositional development.
Steve Rose
Professor of Education and Coordinator of Secondary Education
Simpson College
steve.rose@simpson.edu
The School Leader Dispositions Inventory ©: A validation study
Paper: A Validation of The School Leader Dispositions Inventory©
Description: In this session the presenters will introduce the School Leaders Disposition Inventory©, a scenario based instrument designed to assess leadership dispositions for candidates in educational leadership preparation programs. The theoretical basis for the instrument will be explained and a brief report on the first phase of validation will be given.
Presenters: James Green, Barbara Mallory, Teri Melton
Professor of Educational Leadership(Green)/Associate Professor of Educational Leadership(Mallory)/Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership(Melton)
Georgia Southern University
jegreen@georgiasouthern.edu, bmallory@georgiasouthern.edu, tamelton@georgiasouthern.edu
Dispositions over time: The first five years
Description: Data from a multi case study of five teachers: student-teaching through year five, using the concept "dispositions in action" will be examined. Participants will discuss the utility of "teaching" dispositions.
Presenter: Holly Thornton
Associate Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Appalachian State University
thorntonhj@appstate.edu
Description: Arthur W. Combs, Ph.D. (psychologist/educator) and Eric J. Cassell, M.D. (internist) draw remarkably similar conclusions about the nature of dispositions associated with effectiveness in their respective professional disciplines. This session presents excerpts from publications by each author and demonstrates the necessity for increased dialogue among professionals in different disciplines.
Presenter: Anne Richards
Trustee, The Field Psych Trust
University of West Georgia, retired
arichard@westga.edu
Knowledge and skills documentation? Check. Dispositions documentation? In progress
Description: While Emporia State University has a disposition assessment in place, dispositions are still a slippery construct for university supervisors and mentor teachers to grasp. Are dispositions fluid, or a part of the personality that cannot be changed? This session will examine the history of dispositions assessment at ESU, some intern dispositional issues and how they were resolved.
Presenter: Lendi Bland
Instructor and PDS Coordinator
Emporia State University
lbland@emporia.edu
Developing effectiveness dispositions through dramatics
Letter of welcome
Session agenda
Description: A workshop/presentation to develop and nurture two bedrock dispositions related to teacher effectiveness: empathy and authenticity. Activities will include portrayal, rehearsal, movement and discussion; each participant will receive a resource material and activities packet with references to professional literature and research support for the use of dramatics in developing effectiveness dispositions.
Presenters: Dick Usher and Letitia Usher
Professor Emeritus in Educational Psychology (D. Usher)/Counselor and Teacher (L. Usher)
Murray State University, retired (D. Usher)/South Park TAPP High School (L. Usher)
ushmd01@yahoo.com, gypsytishy@yahoo.com
A decade of implementing research-based dispositions instruments: Student admissions processes
Description: Participants will understand the conceptual background for integrating the perceptual dispositions construct in student admission processes. Participants will be introduced to the Dispositions and Professional Behaviors assessment form used as an admissions and evaluation tool in the undergraduate, MAT and EdD programs at Northern Kentucky University. Participants will also be shown how it can be used in the admission-deferral process.
Presenter: Mark Wasicsko
Dean and Professor, College of Education and Human Services
Northern Kentucky University
wasicskom1@nku.edu
Mixed method research: Instrument development for investigating educator dispositions
Description: Since 2000, dispositions inclusion in the conceptual framework of teacher education programs has become mandatory (NCATE, 2000). In seeking to investigate the ways in which and to what extent dispositions were included in the curriculum, taught and assessed in pre-service teacher preparation programs in the U.S.A., a search for appropriate survey instruments was conducted. When no such instruments were found, two had to be developed to answer my research questions leading to the completion of my dissertation.
Presenter: Andrea Baldwin
Dean, College of Business and Hospitality Management
Northern Caribbean University
a.baldwin37@yahoo.com
