Education Commons^™

The Best Of Both Worlds: A Study Of Agreement Between University Teacher Preparation In Literacy And Schools’ Needs/Expectations Of Novice Literacy Teachers, Kristy Lyn Zak

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

The purpose of this dissertation was to understand non-tenured and tenured teachers’, administrators’, and literacy support staff’s perceptions of the most imperative practices new teachers should know to teach reading in local elementary schools located in one regional state university’s service region. As well, this dissertation sought to determine the degree to which there was alignment between what is being taught in reading methods classes at one regional, state university with those practices. Questionnaire data were used to determine the level of alignment between stakeholders at the elementary school districts and university teacher preparation program. The results showed that there …

Reviving The Rules, Roles, And Rituals Of Resiliency, Don Offutt

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

This descriptive case study of a historical period in education in the Commonwealth of Kentucky identifies the resiliency factors utilized by the first class to desegregate the Bowling Green, Kentucky, public school system. The participants in the study were members of the first African-American class to integrate the Bowling Green school system in 1965.

Critical Race Theory provided the tenets undergirding the research study. The qualitative research methods included conducting semi-structured interviews with participants; studying documents and artifacts from the era; having conversations with community members and educators; and collecting, archiving, and housing Bowling Green African-American education documents, artifacts, and …

Student Help-Seeking Behaviors And Teacher Instructional Practices: Examining Their Relationship With U.S. Student Mathematics Achievement, Michael C. Osborne

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

Even though the United States (U.S.) spends, on average, more money per student than most Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, it continues to lag behind its international peers in mathematics achievement. This study, which responded to the call for educational reforms that improve the mathematics achievement of U.S. students, aimed to examine the issue of student help-seeking behaviors and teacher instructional practices as they interact to affect student mathematics achievement. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) defines student help-seeking behaviors as the ways in which students have a propensity to depend on the knowledge and intellect …

Teachers' Preparation To Teach English Language Learners (Ells): An Investigation Of Perceptions, Preparation, And Current Practices, Pamela K. Correll

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

This qualitative case study examined the perceptions of 79 elementary teachers regarding their preparation to teach students learning English as a second language (ELLs). The focus of this inquiry centered on factors related to the preparation of teachers for serving non-native English speaking students. The research questions that guided this study are: (a) What are teachers’ perceptions of their preparation for teaching English learners?; (b) What types of preparatory experiences do teachers perceive as supportive of their preparation for teaching ELLs?; and (c) How do teachers’ perceptions of their preparation shape their practices with ELL students?

Findings of this study …

The Use Of Contrastive Analysis In Code-Switching From Appalachian English Dialect To Standard English Dialect, Shayla D. Mettille

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

This study examined the use of an intervention, Contrastive Analysis (CA), with fourth-graders’ writing in a Central Appalachian elementary school. The purpose was to improve the use of Standard English in students’ writing in Appalachia by decreasing the number of vernacular features typically used in the writing. The researcher collected data through Consent and Assent Forms, interviews with the fourth-grade teacher, classroom observations and an accompanying CA observation evaluation rubric, pre- and post-writing prompts, selected writings and Writer Self-Perception Scale (WSPS), as well as communication data. Data analysis was accomplished for both the prompts, writing pieces and the WSPS scores. …

Professional Identity Development In Online Christian Theological Education: A Case Study Of Preparing Pastoral Practice Through Discursive Activity, Rovina L. Hatcher

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

The purpose of this dissertation study was to explore the professional preparation of students in online classes at a Christian theological seminary. Concerns of theological education involve the capacity or incapacity of community development and somatic or embodied learning in online education. Using a theoretical framework drawn from communities of practice (Wenger, 1998), professional clergical preparation (Foster, Dahill, Golemon, & Tolentino, 2005), and Gee’s (2000-2001) dimensions of identity development, the researcher focused the analyses on students’ written texts located in the discussion board fora of the online courses. These records were examined for indications of formation of the professional identity …