Education Commons^™

Using Multi-Tiered Systems Of Support To Improve Student Outcomes, Kevin Daniel Annis

Culminating Experience Projects

The passing of NCLB and ESSA creates a mandate that every school must take proactive steps toward every student in their population to be college and career ready. U.S. students are consistently scoring lower on achievement than students from other developed nations. With diversifying student demographics and a relatively stable teaching demographic, schools needed to develop systems to help each student be successful. Many schools have begun to utilize a tiered system of support; however, schools are focused on different aspects of intervention. Effective models of student support include developing a quality school environment, social and emotional learning, response-to-intervention, and …

Benefits Of Inclusion: Supports And Strategies For Students With Intellectual Disabilities, Molly M. Mccain

Culminating Experience Projects

Special Education has evolved over the years. One shift has been the placement of students with special needs, specifically those with Intellectual Disabilities (ID). These students are getting out of their special education classrooms and are being mainstreamed in the general education setting with their same aged peers. Studies have revealed there are positive social and academic benefits to inclusion, including increases in peer-to-peer interactions, shared learning opportunities, and access to general education curriculums. Unfortunately, students do not always acquire these benefits because people working with students with ID: students, teachers, and paraprofessionals, are unaware of what inclusion is and …

Trauma-Informed Schools: A Strategy For Problem Behaviors In The Classroom, Timothy Hall

Culminating Experience Projects

Students that are making poor behavior choices in school generally are performing lower academically. The growing number of students that are coming to school that have experienced trauma is one reason why students are misbehaving in class. Schools have the opportunity to address this issue by implementing a trauma-informed school methodology. Trauma-informed schools work with students to be aware of the trauma that they have faced and teaches them ways to cope with the symptoms of trauma. This project discusses what trauma is and how it affects students and what schools can do to meet the needs of these students. …

Using An Integrative Framework To Address Teacher Workforce Engagement In Lgbtq-Supportive Policies And Interventions, Callie Youngman

Culminating Experience Projects

Expectations for school safety and performance are at historically high levels and educational policy climates are rapidly changing. Agencies are needing to quickly adapt to the Supreme Court decisions in B ostock and prepare for the impending executive transition. Disparate treatment and outcomes for LGBTQ students and educators will persist absent contextualized, codified and strategic policy adoption, implementation and operationalization agendas. This project argues for policy makers, district officials and school leaders to critically engage in efforts to stabilize workforce and in-school protections for LGBTQ stakeholders. This is achieved via clarifying and codifying organizational priorities, building collective efficacy for intervention …

Elementary College And Career Readiness Curriculum: A School Counselor Intervention, Alexandra Evans

Culminating Experience Projects

Labor market projections indicate that across all industries, jobs will require increased post-secondary education, credentials, and training requirements. The U.S. will not have the workers that meet these requirements, resulting in a worker shortage. Knowing this predicted shift, our current education system is charged with the responsibility of educating and preparing students for these positions and to fill the needs of our society. Career development is a lifelong process beginning in childhood, and school counselors are responsible for supporting this healthy development. Despite this call to action, there is a of lack content, resources, or evidence-based programs available for elementary …

Differentiating Literacy Instruction Through Guided Reading, Emily Clare Ringquist

Culminating Experience Projects

Research reiterates how instilling a strong reading foundation in young students is vital to their growth in the future. Today, students need more support and individualized education to meet the diverse needs students enter school with. Whole group reading instruction does not benefit students in comparison to differentiated instruction. In order to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of the students as well as provide scaffolds to enhance literacy, teachers must incorporate small group instruction such as guided reading groups.

Guided reading are groups of students around the same developmental level that showcase similar learning needs exploring books. Teachers work …

An Exploration Of Leadership Qualities Demonstrated During Level Ii Fieldwork, Amy Maurer, Summer Besteman, Jessica Mooney, Katelyn Campbell

Education

Background. Occupational therapy (OT) students are expected to demonstrate leadership qualities throughout their Level II Fieldwork experiences; however, it has been reported that students lack this quality. The purpose of this project was to identify the leadership characteristics that master’s-level OT students demonstrate and develop during their Level II Fieldwork experiences.

Method. This study utilized an online survey tool, Qualtrics, to understand the perceptions of Fieldwork Educators (FWEds) who have taken a Level II Fieldwork student within the past five years. A code-recode procedure was used to analyze open-ended questions. The frequency and mode of responses were used to report …

Examining How White College Women Make Meaning Of Their Identities And Experiences After Studying Abroad In A Non-European Country, Damaris Renee Crocker De Ruiter

Masters Theses

One of the many ways higher education institutions attempt to provide students with an opportunity to examine conflicting identities is through study abroad experiences. The purpose of this study was to explore how White college women make meaning of their privileged and oppressed identities after returning from studying abroad in a non-European country. It focused specifically on issues related to their gender identity, racial identity, and their nationality. This qualitative study was rooted in grounded theory (Charmaz, 2014). The theoretical frameworks guiding this study were the Model of Multiple Dimensions of Identity (MMDI) (Jones & McEwen, 2000; Abes, Jones, & …

Literacy Coaching Serving As A Way To Create Self-Efficacy In Educators, Stifle Teacher Burnout, And Improve Student Achievement Scores: A Framework For Coaching, Jamie L. Grant

Award Winners

Current legislation and push for higher student achievement has teacher expectations at an all-time high. Highly skilled teachers can significantly affect student growth, however more and more highly qualified teachers are leaving the field due to lack of appropriate support within their classrooms. This project argues for the importance of literacy coaching to create a collaborative and supportive environment for teachers. Literacy coaches are able to support teachers’ best literacy practice, create an environment of collaboration, and provide ongoing and supportive professional development for the classroom teacher. This collaborative environment and ongoing support can combat teacher burnout and help teachers …

A Look Into Mindset, Motivation, And Self- Regulation: How To Foster Motivation And The Growth Mindset In The Classroom, Jennifer Slack

Award Winners

People are naturally curious beings, and the desire to learn is a natural and innate part of human nature. So why is it that by the time students reach their secondary education, their motivation is at an all time low? As students’ motivation is directly linked to their success and well-being, this problem is troubling. Many researchers have sought to find the cause of this shift, and what they have found is that although there cannot merely be a single determining factor to account for this shift, the vast majority of our schools and classrooms are promoting strategies, systems, and …