Education Commons^™

Revising Our Curriculum/ Empowering Students: Teachers’ Preparation And Perceptions About Bilingual Writing, Maria Luisa Spicer-Ecalante

Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

While emphasis on writing instruction has been a main concern in teaching Spanish to bilingual students in the U. S., it is an area in which very few theoretical advances have been made; in Mexico’s case the situation is even more challenging. Therefore, based on classroom observations, and individual interviews with both teachers and students, and on the collection of class syllabi, this paper seeks to describe the current state of affairs regarding Spanish and English writing instruction for bilingual students in both countries. The main objectives are: 1) the analysis and comparison of the diverse teaching methodologies that high …

Per Pupil Spending: How Much Difference Does A Dollar Make?, Nicole Anderson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Education. The one thing everyone needs and no one thinks is good enough. Wherever students and policy makers turn there is the desire for something more, something better, coming out of the public education system. Over the years more and more funding has been poured into the education system in attempt to increase the student success rates and intellect of American students. However, American students are still behind internationally and more and more jobs are going to students from different countries. Is there a point when the money being funneled into education doesn’t make enough difference in student achievement and …

Exploring The Relation Between Office Discipline Referrals And Reinforcement Rates In Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support Programs, Michelle Woidneck

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The implementation of schoolwide positive behavioral support (SWPBS) programs is becoming increasingly common in schools across the nation. Although a primary assumption of SWPBS is that schoolwide administration of positive supports to students who meet behavioral expectations will result in fewer behavior problems, surprisingly few studies have investigated the effects of various positive reinforcement rates (RR) on office discipline referral rates (ODR). This study investigated the relationship between RRs and ODRs among schools (N = 44) implementing SWPBS programs with high fidelity. Results revealed no significant differences in RRs or ODRs between Title I and non-Title I schools but …

Successes And Challenges Of Family And Consumer Science Extension Agents In The Implementation Of Couple And Relationship Education, Stacey A. Huffaker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Although healthy relationship initiatives are becoming more common, relatively little is known about the processes and outcomes of these initiatives. This study uses a phenomenological qualitative approach to examine the experiences of Family and Consumer Science (FCS) extension agents in the implementation of couple and relationship education in the Utah Healthy Relationship Initiative. Data were collected through quarterly report forms submitted by extension agents describing successes and barriers to their work. Successes in the project related to collaborative partnerships, attendance/participation, and positive outcomes for participants. Collaborative partnerships were instrumental in reaching more participants and finding cultural resources. The challenges that …

Predicting Bullying Among High School Students Using Individual And School Factors: Analysis Of A National Survey, Chad M. Bohn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Being bullied has been recognized as a problem within the U.S. school systems. Individuals who have been bullied physically, verbally, relationally, or electronically typically suffer from mental health problems as a result. As it has been shown that males are more at risk for being bullied, it is important to understand what variables can predict males being bullied in order to design appropriate preventions and interventions to curb bullying in the schools. Four forms of school bullying behaviors among U.S. adolescent males and their association with type of bullying, school environment, and school performance and engagement variables were examined.

Data …

Social Skills Intervention For Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Survey Of School Psychologists, Amanda S. Day

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Social skills interventions for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are needed as the number of students with ASD are increasing in educational settings. The purpose of this study was to investigate school psychologists' perceptions on the effectiveness and generalization of social skills interventions for students with ASD. Training and confidence of providing services to students with ASD was also examined in the study. A survey was administered to a sample of school psychologists from the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). In total, 221 responses were received and 136 of those responders indicated that they have implemented or organized …

Housing Factors Associated With Marital Satisfaction, Samantha J. Nelson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to assess the direction and magnitude of the relationship between levels of marital satisfaction and two main housing variables--the housing burden ratio and the amount of home equity. The influence that these variables have on levels of marital satisfaction was mediated and moderated by how satisfied couples were with their homes and their finances, as well as their perceived experience of economic pressure. The results ultimately provide insights that can improve both couple well-being and financial/housing situations by pinpointing factors that account for the variance in marital satisfaction.

This study used existing data from …

Modeling Teacher Ratings Of Online Resources: A Human-Machine Approach To Quality, Mimi Recker, Heather Leary, Andrew Walker, Anne R. Diekama, Philipp Wetzler, Tamara Sumner, James Martin

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

In education, the scalable deployment of media-rich online resources supports peer production in ways that promise to radically transform teaching and learning (CRA, 2005; Pea et al., 2008). Online educational repositories such as the Digital Library for Earth Systems Education (DLESE.org) and the National Science Digital Library (NSDL.org) collect and curate online learning resources created for a wide range of educational audiences and subject areas (McArthur & Zia, 2008). Through a simple, web-based authoring tool, called the Instructional Architect (IA.usu.edu) teachers locate and share educational resources and activities in an IA project. These IA projects can then be viewed, copied, …

Teaching Use Of Digital Primary Sources For K-12 Settings, Anne R. Diekama, Heather Leary, Sheri Haderlie, Connie Woxland

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper describes learning outcomes of a three-day workshop on integrating primary sources into K-12 teaching. The short curriculum — intended for teams of teachers and school librarians — combined visits to a museum and a library's special collections with an introduction to significant national and local digital collections of primary sources. The paper draws on focus group data, reflection papers, and a conference presentation by the workshop participants as well as curricular artifacts presented to the workshop instructors. Using their workshop experience, teachers integrated digitized primary sources into their curricula thereby creating quality instructional content that engaged students' interest. …

Negotiating The "Relevant" In Culturally Relevant Mathematics, N. Enyedy, J. Danish, Deborah A. Fields

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

One approach to promoting successful engagement of underrepresented groups in mathematics classrooms is Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP). However, it has been argued that CRP risks essentializing students or watering down academic content. We report our analysis of a case study of a group of three 6th grade students who took part in a 6-week mathematics curriculum. This curriculum used Geographical Information System (GIS) maps to engage students in designing personally meaningful research projects while learning about measures of central tendency (i.e., learning statistics). The case study was chosen as representative of how students in this urban classroom (47 total) successfully …