Education Commons^™

Counter-Stories From Former Foster Youth: College Graduates Disrupting The Dominant Narrative, Amanda May Moon

Theses and Dissertations

In the past decade, research on children in foster care or adults with foster care backgrounds has begun to explore factors that contributed to successful trajectories. Little work has been done, however, on factors that can be controlled, such as resources and support offered by K-12 schools, or for K-12 schooling. In this qualitative study, I explored the beliefs and perceptions of former foster youth college graduates about the impact of K-12 experiences on their academic and life trajectories. After surveying and interviewing five former foster youth college graduates, I used narrative analysis to understand the impact of their K-12 …

My Journey Toward A Culturally Relevant Music Pedagogy, Adam Michael Steele

Theses and Dissertations

In this study I utilized critical autoethnography to examine my role as a White, male implementing Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) in an early childhood music classrooms. Five research questions were posed: (a) In what ways does White supremacy appear in an elementary music school curriculum? (b) What curricular transformations occur when I, as a White teacher, seek to make my curriculum more relevant to students of Color? (c) What dispositional transformations occur when I, as a White teacher, seek to make my music curriculum more relevant to students of Color? (d) What happens when students of Color engage in a …

Exploring Literary Responses To Culturally Relevant Texts Through An Asiancrit Lens: A Collective Case Study Of Chinese American Students In A Community-Based Book Club, Wenyu Guo

Theses and Dissertations

Building on AsianCrit, reader response theory, and critical literacy perspective, this dissertation study investigated how second-generation Chinese American students at age eight to twelve respond to culturally relevant texts which portray contemporary and historical Chinese American people’s lives and experiences in the United States. In addition, this study explored how these students negotiate their understanding of race, racism, and anti-Asian racism through associating with the stories, their everyday experiences, family traditions, and interactions with peers and researcher in a community-based book club. Specifically, this study examined how students of Chinese descent respond to xenophobia, discrimination, and racism towards Asian people, …

Examining The Influence Of Argument Driven Inquiry Instructional Approach On Female Students Of Color In Sixth Grade Science: Its Impact On Classroom Experience, Interest, And Self-Efficacy In Science, Written Argumentation Skills, And Scientific Voice, Paul Duggan

Theses and Dissertations

Four of the eight Engineering Standards in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS, 2013) focus on authentic science communication: “asking questions (science) and defining problems (engineering), analyzing and interpreting data, constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering), engaging in argument from evidence, obtaining, evaluating and communicating information” (Sampson et al., 2010, p. 218). Authentic science communication is supported in NGSS through cross-cutting concepts (Driver et al., 2000) that integrate the structure and function of science concepts together with communication strategies that include reading, writing, and peer critique. These cross-cutting concepts include reading strategies that focus on reading informational …

The Use Of Social Justice Socioscientific Issues In Secondary Biology Classes: An Action Research, Stephanie Marilyn Bailey

Theses and Dissertations

The U.S. Education system is founded on a Eurocentric focus of curriculum, and students of color are not achieving as high as white students on the National Assessment for Education Progress in science. This research aims to repay the education debt owed to students of color by decolonizing science curriculum through the implementation of lessons centered around socioscientific issues grounded in social justice. An action research study was implemented in which 9 ^th grade Biology students participated in three instructional units centered on social justice issues. Data was collected through surveys, focus group interviews, student work, and journal reflections from …

Africanizing The Curriculum: African Diaspora Literacy Instruction In Elementary Classrooms, Jarvais Javon Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

Using a Critical Case Study design, this study examines the implementation of African Diaspora Literacy (ADL) in three elementary classrooms in order to understand successes, challenges, and student outcomes. African Diaspora Literacy (ADL) refers to becoming literate about African Diasporic peoples, histories, cultures, languages, epistemologies, cosmologies, and axiologies (King, 1992; Boutte et. al., 2017). Against the backdrop of worldwide and systemic anti-Black racism--the most dominant and virulent form of racism (Dumas & Ross, 2016), there is a need for instructional and curricular antidotes in K-12 schools and in the academy (Boutte et. al., 2017). African Diaspora Literacy offers a promising …

Secret To Success: A Survey Of The University Of South Carolina Student Success Center, Lilian Mitchell

Senior Theses

This paper seeks to survey the practices of the Student Success Center (SSC) at the University of South Carolina (USC) and show the effectiveness of those practices. Through the analysis of the history of student success in higher education, current literature on student success, and the 2020- 2021 Blueprint for the SSC at USC, it is clear that the SSC has developed a successful and effective method of guaranteeing student success on USC’s campus. At USC, the main focus is on Supplemental Instruction, Peer Tutoring, and Academic Coaching (a.k.a. Success Consultations). By setting goals and measuring the outcome of those …

Planning And Teaching For Student Learning In Mathematics: How Graduate Student Instructors Develop And Implement Instruction, Jennifer S. Crooks-Monastra

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore undergraduate mathematics teaching from the perspective of a graduate student serving as a first-time precalculus instructor of record. A multiple case study was designed to follow three mathematics graduate student instructors (MGSIs) through one semester of teaching to understand their goals for student learning, efforts to achieve these goals, influences on planning, and to identify challenges they encountered. For each MGSI, data collection included four interviews, three observations of teaching, weekly journal entries, and written assignments from a pedagogy course. A focus group, field notes from the pedagogy course, audio from mentor …

#Blackfemaleteachersmatter: The Experiences Of Three African American Female Teachers Who Left The Classroom During Their Induction Years, Ashlye Victoria Wilkerson

Theses and Dissertations

This study captured the lived experiences of three African American, female classroom teachers who left the profession within three years of beginning their careers. The main goal that led this research was to center the perspectives of African American women in the conversation about teacher retention, turnover, and attrition percentages that plague the field of education. The primary questions that guided this study were: (1) “What can be learned from the life stories of former African American female teachers who left the teaching profession from South Carolina public classrooms during their induction years?”, (2) “What do their life stories reveal …

Teacher Perceptions Of Practices That Enculturate Data-Driven Decision-Making, Nevermind Everlasting Chigoba

Theses and Dissertations

Classroom teachers in PK-12 grades in the U.S.A. are under immense pressure to use data from internal and external sources in order to make decisions expected to transform their instructional practice to hopefully meet the adequate yearly progress demanded by accountability policies. This exploratory case study was conducted on a midsized school district in the Midlands region of South Carolina. The study sought to explore what student data forms the district teachers had access to, and how they used those data in making instructional and other student-level decisions. The study also explored the teachers’ perceptions on their attitudes towards data, …

Exploring Neurocognitive Processes That Underlie Reading Performance In Children: A Foundational Study, Ayan Mitra

Theses and Dissertations

With advancement in brain research, neuroscience researchers have collectively informed our understanding of reading-related processes. Despite an extensive body of literature, many educators are not aware of specific neuroimaging findings related to phonological processing and word reading. Therefore, the study builds on this body of research by exploring the connection between the brain and reading scores. Quantitative EEG and standardized academic achievement analyses were performed on 60 school-aged children. Intrahemispheric coherence analysis at rest were conducted across the sample of participants and several coherence networks were extracted and compared to standardized reading achievement scores. Specifically, networks that included Brodmann area …

Integrated Techniques To Increase Systems Thinking For Sustainability Education Of High School Science Students Using Educational Design Research, Nora Kathryn Weatherhead

Theses and Dissertations

This study used a design research framework to teach secondary high school science students about environmental sustainability. A high school teacher and researcher collaborated to design a two week environmental science unit to help students make sense of complex environmental sustainability issues. This dissertation study sought to answer the following research questions: Using Design Research and various instructional tools, how do students develop an understanding of systems thinking and relate it to environmental sustainability; How does analyzing personal and classroom data on paper or plastic usage and recycling influence high school science students’ understanding of global environmental sustainability issues through …

A Narrative Inquiry Into The Lived Experiences Of Early Childhood Teachers Who Implemented Garden-Based Learning, Jamison Keith Browder

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this narrative study was to investigate the lived experiences of early childhood teachers working in preschool settings who have implemented gardenbased learning for more than one year. The seven preschool teachers who agreed to participate in the study were asked to describe significant life experiences that influenced them to implement gardening into their curriculum. Additionally, the teachers were asked to describe the bridges and barriers to implementing garden-based learning and how school gardening has impacted their students’ learning and development. The data collection process included semi-structured interviews and teacher journal entries over a two-month period. The interviews …

Interactive Whiteboard Impact On Algebra Teachers’ Implementation Of Selected Mathematics Teaching Practices, James Dry Hartman Iii

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the use of the interactive white board (IWB) and the impact the technology had on mathematics teaching practices for algebra teachers. The study used the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model as the conceptual framework for the investigation, collection, and analysis of data. Teachers were interviewed to obtain teacher level of IWB use, and the Mathematics Classroom Observation Protocol for Practices (MCOP2) was used to obtain data for effective mathematics teaching practices. Observations of teachers were analyzed in order to answer the research question: How does the use of an Interactive White Board impact an algebra teachers’ …

Practices, Beliefs, And Perceptions Of Effective Science Teachers In Elementary Schools Serving Low Socioeconomic Communities, Edwin Wheeler Emmer

Theses and Dissertations

Students who come from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds are more likely to manifest a science achievement gap when compared to their high SES peers as a result of the myriad of factors that have the potential to influence student performance, including limited access to resources, fewer life experiences, health care concerns, fewer extracurricular opportunities, etc. (Crook & Evans, 2014; Duke, 2000; Ladd, 2012; Sirin, 2005). This achievement gap can be exacerbated in the elementary setting where many teachers do not feel comfortable teaching science as a result of a lack of science content knowledge and limited experience teaching inquiry-based …

Impact Of A Practicum In Education Course Designed To Recruit Stem Majors Into A Teacher Education Program, Rebecca A. Spencer

Theses and Dissertations

Research suggests that the most efficient way of improving students’ performance, in mathematics and science, is by recruiting and retaining highly qualified mathematics and science teachers. This study augments the body of research aimed at the recruitment of STEM majors to the field of education. The purpose of this study was to determine how a practicum course, developed to recruit freshman and sophomore STEM majors into a teacher preparation program, impacted participants' perceptions of teaching as a profession. The impact of this course, which utilized a reflective cycle framework for evaluating participants’ reflections as the foundation of the program, was …

Meeting The Needs Of Middle Grades Social Studies Students With Language Based Learning Disabilities: An Analysis Of Students’ And Teachers’ Perspectives, Monica J. Hacker Hadwin

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the consistency with which middle level social studies and special education teachers and administrators assist, educate, and guide middle level social studies students with language-based learning disabilities. The study was an inquiry into the students’, teachers’, and administrator’s literacy beliefs and practices and it examined the coherence and congruence among these beliefs and practices.

Conducted as an action research study, it examined the extent of the alignment using data collected from five teachers, six students and one administrator by means of interviews, focus groups, photographs, journal entries, and inventories. The data from …

Service-Learning: An Interpretive Case Study Of Teachers’ Perspectives And Planning Strategies, Cory Susanne Miller

Theses and Dissertations

This interpretive case study focused on elementary teachers who were implementing a service-learning project in their classroom. Research suggests that service-learning is beneficial for students and is becoming more prevalent in high schools and universities. Current literature, however, provides little evidence for the use of service-learning at the elementary level. The purpose of this study was to explore and gain insight in to how elementary school teachers use service learning and to examine underlying factors that shape and influence how teachers plan for and implement service learning projects. This study aims to provide a planning model to support elementary teachers …

How Female Social Studies Department Chairs Navigate Their Roles As Leaders, Jeffrey C. Eargle

Theses and Dissertations

During the past four decades, state and federal education policy in the United States has focused on standardization and increased accountability. In contrast, education researchers advocate elevating the status of teachers through the professionalization of education. Teacher leadership is a concept that is used to reform schools and increase student achievement. The high school department chair is a formal teacher leadership role in the school hierarchy. Because research indicates that a majority of social studies teachers are male, female social studies department chairs are in a position to lead predominantly men.

A gap exists in the research on social studies …

An Investigation Of A Culturally Responsive Approach To Science Education In A Summer Program For Marginalized Youth, Brittany A. Garvin

Theses and Dissertations

The demographics of today’s schools are becoming more and more ethnically and linguistically diverse, as culturally diverse students comprise approximately one third of school populations (Ladson-Billings, 2005). However, the educational experiences of students of Color demonstrate a history of marginalization and inequity (Williamson et al., 2007) as far too many students of Color have maintained poor educational achievement outcomes. The effects of such disproportionally high levels of low academic achievement are extensive and can be witnessed across subject content areas, particularly in math, science, and literacy. To improve the academic performance of students who are culturally, racially, ethnically, and linguistically …