Education Commons^™

The Journey Of A Teacher: Adjusting To A New And Larger School District, Lauren Conroy

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Becoming an educator comes with many challenges. As an educator you are often faced with high or different expectations from administration and superiors, you work with a variety of student abilities, backgrounds, and socioeconomic statuses. Each day you are faced with situations where you might be challenged to use problem solving skills, or conflict resolution. You must also adapt to a new building, demanding schedules, meetings students’ unique needs, working with new colleagues, and implement and effective classroom management system. This study analyzes the adjustments that I, as an educator went through as I adapted to a new school district. …

Power Of Choice: Empowerment Through Reading, Sarah Heise

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the impact and relationship between empowerment through choice of literary work and hand-selection “on-level” books within public schools, precisely grade three, in the West-Central region of Minnesota. Twenty-three third graders completed a written questionnaire before and after the study to determine their preference when reading for enjoyment using a Richter Scale. Upon completion of the study, students’ Accelerated Reader scores, a tool for comprehension, were thoroughly analyzed and calculated. Scores were sorted between choice books, those that students chose for themselves, and hand-selected “on-level” texts that I chose for them. The …

A Survey Of Teacher Attitude Regarding Self-Awareness And Inclusive Education Of Special Education Students, Brooke Parvi

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Self-awareness is not something that develops individually or in solitude. Merriam-Webster (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2019) defines self-awareness as, “an awareness of one's own personality or individuality.” Schools have started to increase their understanding of the relevance of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and have been progressively providing more training in this area to their teachers. Inclusion happens when students with disabilities to mingle and learn with typically developing students; learn from each other and experiencing social expectations together. Research has indicated that students with learning and behavior disabilities lack social and emotional skills, specifically self-awareness skills.

In this study, educators were …

English Learner Advancement In Avmr Structuring, Kristina Bradley

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Add+Vantage Math Recovery (AVMR) is an intensive remedial math program that involves diagnostic assessments and learning trajectories that help teachers identify and work with students who have been identified as having significant difficulties and specific learning gaps in early number learning. When analyzing the AVMR data to see if students can structure numbers as expected for their grade levels in the school district where this study takes place, teachers in the district noted that those who struggle the most are English learners (ELs) and students receiving special education services. While students receiving special education services will continue to experience specialized …

Effectiveness Of Sight Word And Repeated Reading Interventions In The Primary Classroom, Jordan Ackerman

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of my research is to determine if sight word interventions and repeated reading interventions are effective when it comes to increasing reading achievement in primary age students. These interventions are fast paced and focus on intentional teaching practices of reading skills that are critical for emerging readers. Each intervention lasted 5 minutes. One group received direct, explicit teaching and practice of sight words. The other intervention allowed students more freedom in reading a familiar book, to gain confidence and improve their fluency.

Providing A Platform: An Examination Of How Teachers Utilize And Practice Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Hannah Storm

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

For this study, I posed the following question to guide my research: How do elementary teachers reshape and change curriculum and/or teaching practices when provided the opportunity through professional development? Specifically, the study examined K-2 teachers at two different elementary schools in Minnesota. The study aimed to determine how teachers implemented and redesigned curriculum material when provided optional professional development sessions, focused on educational equity, multiracial/multicultural read aloud(s), and culturally responsive teaching strategies. Further, this study focused on how these teachers successfully or unsuccessfully reshaped components of curriculum and teaching practice in order to be more equitable, relevant, and responsive. …

Stress Management: A Group Curriculum For Female Adolescents, Taylor Schaible

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

In recent years, research has found that adolescents are experiencing stress at an astounding rate, even compared to adults. With a thorough review of the literature, it has been found that schools in the United States are experiencing an adolescent stress epidemic. Furthermore, students are experiencing stress in ways beyond an academic arena. With that being said, there seems to be a connection between stress leading to anxiety, as well as stress having a profound affect for students who have experienced traumatic experiences. Additionally, the research has shown that there are structural differences within a developing brain that may cause …