Education Commons^™

Community Partnerships In Urban, Title 1 Elementary Schools: A Mixed-Methods Study, Jae L. Strickland

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to identify and describe community partnerships in Urban, Title 1 Elementary Schools.

Fifty-one principals from the Southern and Midwestern regions of the United States completed a 19-question on-line survey designed to explore community partnerships in Urban, Title 1 Elementary Schools. Of the 51 principals who completed the survey, 26 agreed to participate in a semi-structured interview.

The findings of the study suggest that community partnerships play an essential role in supporting Urban, Title 1 Elementary Schools. Finding community partners can be challenging. Principals who wish to engage community partners should identify the needs …

Roleplaying To Develop Self Regulation, Baylen N. Wagner

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This action research study investigated the use of child-led play in an after school club as a means to reduce peer conflict and increase cooperation. Prior literature suggests that children behave differently during imaginative play and exhibit greater natural behavior regulation when adult involvement is limited or removed. A small group of child participants, aged 9-14 years, were given materials necessary for a roleplaying game where players take on imaginary characters and cooperatively complete dangerous quests. One child acted as game leader, designing the adventure’s challenges and providing rules adjudication. The children attended six game sessions and completed questionnaires after …

Strengthening Tier 1 Elementary Reading Within A Multi-Tiered System Of Support, Carla N. Osborn

Masters Theses

Training teachers about the foundational reading skills is an important step in creating students who are proficient readers. However, training is not enough. Teachers need support through instructional coaching. Even with coaching support, sustainability of these practices will be a challenge if systems are not in place throughout the district to support ongoing implementation. By combining the processes of creating a Multi-Tiered System of Support, reading training, and instructional coaching, sustainability of practices can be possible. Research does not currently exist as to whether the combination of these efforts has increased student achievement in reading at the elementary level. This …

Turnaround Elementary Principals In Rural Missouri, Julie C. Delaney

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Rural high poverty schools can often be invisible to those not living in rural areas. The number of students in rural areas is not far below the number of urban students, yet there has been little attention or research about rural school student achievement (Arnold et al., 2006; Pitchford 2011; Richard, 2005). The state of Missouri has established a program entitled Top Ten By Twenty. This initiative has been an impetus for change in rural high poverty schools. The program has led to increased student achievement in more than 60 rural high poverty schools. In this study, these schools were …