Education Commons^™

High-Growth Elementary Schools In Arkansas Based On Performance On The Act Aspire Examinations, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

This section highlights elementary schools across the state whose students demonstrated high growth on the Arkansas ACT Aspire exams. The ACT Aspire was administered to students in grades 3 through 10 in April 2022 in Math and ELA courses which include English, Writing, and Reading.

Each table in this section presents the Top 20 schools for the noted subject area and school level. In addition, these tables include the region in which the schools are located, the grades served at the school, the weighted achievement score, and the content growth score in that particular subject.

The level of the schools, …

Utilizing Counter Narratives To Develop Culturally Sustaining, Critically Conscious Preservice Teacher Practitioners, David Wolff

Essays in Education

The content areas that get most attention in an elementary classroom include mathematics and English/Language Arts (ELA), and little time is devoted to other content areas like social studies. Preservice elementary teachers can learn to maximize instructional time by integrating social studies content in the ELA block. Using counternarratives, preservice teachers can learn to use children’s literature to teach multiple perspectives to the dominant narrative in the textbooks. This article shares strategies to present counternarratives and examples of children’s literature that can be used in an elementary classroom.

The Effects Of Goal Setting And Self-Reflection On Student Work Completion And Work Habits In A Montessori Upper Elementary Environment, Kari F. Frentzel

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This study implemented goal setting and self-reflection as self-regulated learning strategies and explored how these affected student work completion and on-task behavior. Students in this environment struggled with self-regulated learning and were observed to not complete work on time and needed redirection to focus on work during the work cycle. The study took place in an upper elementary Montessori environment at a private international school. Thirteen 4th grade students (ages 9-10) participated in the study. During this study, students were given lessons on goal setting and self-reflection and had group discussions about effective goal setting. Students set daily goals for …

"Mindfulness Breathing In Support Of Emotional Self-Regulation In A Montessori Upper Elementary Environment", Emily Farris

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this research was to examine whether the implementation of mindfulness breathing exercises aided in emotional self-regulation. This study incorporated various breathing techniques five days a week for five to ten minutes each day. The six-week study involved 14 children between the ages of 9 and 12 years in a private Montessori school in the southern region of the United States. Data collection included daily observations of the breathing exercises, pre and post-behavioral self-assessments, a daily reflection tool by the researcher, and a student feedback form. Results showed an increase in regulated behavior and breathing techniques being used …

Exploring Ungrading In An Elementary Writing Methods Course, Jen Mcconnel

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

In this reflective piece, I discuss what I learned when I began to implement ungrading practices in my institution's elementary writing methods course. Based on this ongoing experiment, I offer three suggestions for other teacher educators who are intrigued by ungrading but not sure where to start.

Writing Workshop And Creativity Despite Standardization: An Exploration Of Elementary Teachers' Practices, Darcie Kress, Matt Townsley

Journal of Research Initiatives

The focus on formulaic approaches to writing in today’s classrooms can be problematic, for it may inadvertently cause the quality of students’ writing to decline. The National Writing Project (NWP) provides teachers with professional development to learn how to effectively incorporate evidence-based practices into their writing instruction. The aim of this study was to explore the practices of three elementary teachers who received professional development training from the NWP. The researchers investigated how these teachers navigated the tension between creativity in a workshop approach and accountability for teaching the Common Core writing standards. Findings suggest participants navigated the standardization of …

A Program Evaluation Of The Support Facilitation Model In One K-8 School, Marvin Pitts

Dissertations

The goal of my evaluation was to determine if the support facilitation model for providing Exceptional Student Education (ESE) was effective for the students' academic success in the school under study. The school under study was a charter school located in the southeastern United States and served students from kindergarten to eighth grade. The school’s community was considered low-socioeconomic based on the number of students receiving free and reduced meals. The two main questions that guided my research were: (1) What are the perceptions of general education classroom teachers and ESE teachers of support facilitation in the school under study? …

Learning Through Play At School: A Framework For Policy And Practice, Rachel Parker, Bo Stjerne Thomsen, Amy Berry

Student learning processes

Learning through play has emerged as an important strategy to promote student engagement, inclusion, and holistic skills development beyond the preschool years. Policy makers, researchers and educators have promoted the notion that learning though play is developmentally appropriate - as it leverages school-age children’s innate curiosity while easing the often difficult transition from preschool to school. However, there is a dearth of evidence and practical guidance on how learning through play can be employed effectively in the formal school context, and the conditions that support success. This paper addresses the disconnect between policy, research and practice by presenting a range …