Education Commons^™

Examining Opportunities For Higher-Order Thinking In Secondary And Middle-Level Proficiency-Based Mathematics Classrooms, Quinton Donahue

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2011, the state of Maine introduced a statute that required all diplomas to be awarded on the basis of proficiency by 2017. During this period of time, school districts moved to incorporate Proficiency-based Education (PBE) systems of instruction and learning. This prompted educators to bring clarity to standards, assessment, and grading practices. In many schools, they also began to focus on the idea that mastery drives movement. Districts were encouraged to integrate higher-order thinking opportunities for students when making these changes to their learning system. Despite this guidance, it is not clear as to the extent that higher-order thinking …

Without A Map: An Examination Of District Leadership During The Covid-19 Crisis, Megan E. Welter Phd

Muskie School Dissertations

Achieving coherence and coordination in a complex system like a school district is complicated by the nested layers of the organization. This structure allows for teachers in classrooms and schools in a district to operate autonomously, as their organizational layers insulate those in the center from external demands and mandates. The COVID-19 pandemic represented an external demand that led district leaders to implement a series of situational reforms that affected nearly every aspect of the educational organization.

This qualitative study examines how the experiences and decision-making processes of district, school, and teacher leaders from a single district in Maine during …

Mathematics Instruction In Pre-Service Undergraduate Programs In The State Of Maine, Jessica Cefalo Osich

All Theses And Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate elementary pre-service teacher preparation in mathematics offered in undergraduate education programs in the state of Maine. The research questions were: How many mathematics courses are undergraduate programs requiring pre-service teachers to take for their baccalaureate education? Within the courses that are required, how many are mathematical content courses, and how many are mathematical pedagogical courses? How does a knowledgeable informant characterize the quality of elementary pre-service teacher preparation in mathematics at their institutions? And, how do faculty evaluate student-teacher competence in math preparation? The conceptual framework was based on three core ideas: …

Lorraine Grace Libby Bowdoin Interview, Susie R. Bock

Lorraine Grace Libby Bowdoin Papers

Lorraine Grace Libby Bowdoin, Gorham State Teacher's College '59. A Portland native, she attended King Middle School and Portland High School. Mrs. Bowdoin taught for several school districts during her long teaching career and advocated tirelessly for mental health and elder issues.

Lorraine Grace Libby Bowdoin's physical papers are expansive and cover her entire life and career, including items from her attendance at Camp Laughing Loon as a child and young teen, her school assignments from elementary through graduate school, photos of her family and friends, items from her run as a Maine house representative, and several meticulously organized scrapbooks …

Social And Emotional Learning In Portland Public High Schools, Makenzie Thompson

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) can be defined as, “the capacity to recognize and manage emotions, solve problems effectively, and establish positive relationships with others; competencies that clearly are essential for all students. Thus, SEL targets a combination of behaviors, cognitions, and emotions to better students in school and prepare them for the world after”(Zins et al., 2003,p.1). Emerging evidence suggests that schoolwide and teacher-focused interventions involving a social and emotional learning framework are among the most effective approaches for improving student behavioral outcomes and student success in school (Anyon, et al., 2016). The aim of this study was to …

The Impact Of Mathematics Coaching On Teacher Pedagogy And Student Understanding In Rural School Districts, Renee Bouchard Charette

M.S.Ed. in Educational Leadership Research Projects

This study collected data from teachers and math coaches in rural Maine schools to determine if working with a mathematics coach had an impact on teacher’s pedagogy. Participants were asked about their perception of whether coaching interactions impacted students understanding of mathematics. The design included interviews with four coaches who had been trained through the Maine Mathematics Coaching Project. Data from nineteen teachers was collected through surveys that were emailed to all teachers who had worked with the four coaches. Conclusions indicate that most coaches and teachers do believe that working with a mathematics coach has a positive impact on …

Exploring The Ways In Which Highly Efficacious Intermediate Teachers Employ Best Practices In Reading Instruction For Struggling Readers, Terrence P. Young

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed method study was to build on the earlier efficacy work of Tschannen, Moran, and Hoy (2001) and the reading teacher efficacy work of Szabo and Mokhtari (2004) to add to educational research related to teacher efficacy and reading. This study is specifically focused on the teaching of reading to struggling readers at the intermediate levels. The study was guided by four research questions that focused on the teaching of struggling readers at the intermediate level. Reading teacher self-efficacy levels were established through a survey instrument. In addition, data from two interviews, structured and semi-structured, about …

Graduation Policies In A Public High School (A Case Study), Erika K. Stump, Erin Connor, Catherine Fallona, Bernadette Doykos

State of Education

This report shares research conducted in a case study of one higher performing high school to examine the practices, challenges and facilitators of implementing a standards-based curriculum and proficiency-based diploma systems.

Nurturing Environmental Literacy At Colby College: Higher Education And The Environmental Crisis, Molly Nash

Honors Theses

The environmental crisis will affect all people, career paths, and academic disciplines. Acknowledging this, does higher education have an obligation to educate all students for environmental literacy (EL)? This study reviews literature on how to effectively assess and implement EL initiatives and highlights how other colleges successfully nurture EL in all students. This study also uses quantitative and qualitative survey measures to understand student levels of EL at Colby College and to highlight specific programming or curriculum that leads to high EL levels in students. Findings include significantly different EL scores between environmental studies student respondents and respondents in all …

Maine’S Charter School Law: Predicted Impacts On Waynflete School Enrollment, Kelsey Robinov

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

The aim of this study is to predict the impacts of Maine’s recently enacted charter school law on the enrollment at Waynflete School, a private co-educational day school in Portland, Maine. National data on current public and private school enrollment trends were examined, as well as existing data on the effects of charter schools on enrollments at these schools. The intent at looking at this data will be to determine what, if any, factors can predict in what areas charter schools are likely to flourish and pull students from private schools in significant numbers and to compare the characteristics of …

The Principal's Role In Affecting Student Reading Achievement, Kathleen J. Beecher

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

.

The Maine Learning Technology Initiative: Teacher, Student, And School Perspectives, Mid-Year Evaluation Report, David L. Silvernail Phd, Walter J. Harris Phd, Dawn M.M. Lane, Janet C. Fairman Phd, Paula B. Gravelle, Lori Smith, Katherine I. Sargent, Walter Mcintire

Education Technology

This report presents some early evaluation evidence on the effectiveness and impact of the implementation of the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI). The goal of the Year One evaluation, which is being conducted by the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI), is to provide policymakers and practitioners with information that will assist them in determining whether or not, and to what degree, the vision and goals of the MLTI are being achieved. The Year One design is focusing primarily on the students who entered seventh grade in September 2002, and their teachers and schools.

The MEPRI evaluation team has focused …