Education Commons^™

Mental Health And The Potential Effect On Student Achievement In Ninth Grade Students In Arkansas, Luke Lovins

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

In the State of Arkansas students, grades three through ten, take the ACT Aspire in order to provide a measure of student academic achievement to school districts and the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education. These scores are also used to determine school grades that are released each year and may determine student placement in remediation programs. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the relationship, if any, between student achievement and mental health in ninth grade students in the State of Arkansas. The findings reveal that students who receive mental health services score at a lower …

Teacher And Staff Perception Of School Climate: A Case Study, Michael Shane Hampton

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine how different public-school teachers and staff perceive school climate at an achieving public middle school. The research sought to find relationships between teacher sub-groups and other staff members, and how they perceived the school climate, either negatively or positively. The researcher believed that there would be a positive perception of school climate, which coincided with high student achievement. Additionally, it was believed that there would be no relationship between teacher types or demographics, and how the climate would be perceived among the different groups. This paper also presents a review of the …

Racial And Ethnic Difference In Music Performance Self-Efficacy Among Undergraduate Students, George W. Shannon Ii

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Musical self-efficacy is an area that has been studied in areas such as music performance (McCormick & McPherson, 2000; Zelenak, 2011) and music achievement (Zelenak, 2019). McPherson and McCormick (2006) conclude that the relationship between music self-efficacy and music performance is significant. With this understanding, the present study will determine if there is a significant difference by race or ethnicity in music performance self-efficacy among undergraduate students. Researchers have long reported the need for additional racially diverse studies in educational research with newer studies needed in music. Using the Music Performance Self-Efficacy Scale (MPSES), African-American, Caucasian, and Mixed responded to …

The Importance Of Math Fact Automaticity, Jessica Olson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The retention of math facts is a critical step when it comes to solving mathematical equations. The website I designed for my project addresses this topic. It focuses on giving students, teachers and parents the research, tips and resources they need to be successful. Research shows that automaticity with math facts can lessen the academic load of students and also be a predictor of future math success. Using strategies such as interleaving, engaging with manipulatives and learning mnemonic devices has been shown to positively affect one’s recall of basic facts. However, drilling and mindless repetition has a much more negative …

Exploring The Impact Of The Achievement Gap On Shame And Resilience In African American College Students, Brittany R. Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The achievement gap refers to the stark difference that occurs between racial or gender groups, as one group performs significantly higher than the other. An achievement gap has the propensity to produce psychological distress, as well as buffering techniques that are necessary for survival and success. Growing research shows that African American college students experience unique levels of trauma, shame, hardship, macro, and micro-aggressions, suggesting that these students learn to self-preserve as early as 10 years old. This study used a Pearson correlation, Independent T-Test, and a Moderated Multiple Regression to explore the impact of the achievement gap on shame …

Improving Literacy Homework In The Primary Grades Through Interactive Family Reading, Lisa Mulder

Culminating Experience Projects

Homework is common practice in most elementary school classrooms as teachers try to reinforce material learned in class through the help of parents and families at home. However, research has shown homework to have little impact on students’ academic achievement in the elementary grades. Homework can even cause an increased stress level in young students, a negative impact on motivation, and friction with family members. Elementary parents and teachers need to reevaluate homework’s effectiveness and its impact on today’s busy families.

This project proposes reframing traditional paper-pencil review homework in favor of family-centered reading time. When students are given too …

Social Presence Theory: Creating Engaging And Strong Online Learning Communities At The K-12 Level, Abigail Amundson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Social presence theory is “the degree to which a person is perceived as a real person in mediated communication” (Gunawardena, 1995). Enhancing student’s perception of social presence increases instructional effectiveness and learning in an online learning environment. To increase perceived social presence, teachers must use techniques and interaction skills to build an online classroom community. There is not a lot of research on social presence theory in K-12 online learning environments so the purpose of this study was to find tools and strategies that create a strong online learning environments and to find if there is a relation between social …

The Texts Matter: Essential Text Characteristics For Comprehension Intervention In The Intermediate Grades, Tia Clasen

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Results on state and national reading assessments indicate that students in the U.S. overall, and in Minnesota specifically, continue to struggle to comprehend expository texts; only one-third of fourth graders meeting grade level proficiency on state assessments designed to analyze reading achievement. Further, a significant gap persists for fourth grade students based on race, language, and socioeconomic status. Contemporaneously, technology continues to advance rapidly, demanding increased literacy skills and a better understanding of comprehension intervention. This research study aims to identify essential text characteristics of expository texts that will eventually be included in an online, automated reading strategy tutor providing …

A Capstone Project Concerning Social Justice In Secondary Science Education, Jacob Skerletts

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Minnesota began collecting and analyzing the graduation rates of different student demographics starting in 2012. This has led to the exposure of the Achievement Gap, in which students of color graduate from high school at an alarmingly low rate compared to white students. Minnesota ranks nationally at the bottom for the graduation rates of students of color. This Capstone Project had the driving question of, How can secondary science teachers bring Social Justice into the classroom in order to help close the Achievement Gap? The literature reviewed showed that effectively using Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Disaggregate Pedagogy can increase intellectual …

Impact Of Brain Breaks On Student Engagement, Motivation, And Achievement In A Third-Grade Classroom, Adrianna Gernes

Education Masters Papers

In a third-grade classroom in a highly populated city, a researcher was concerned about her students’ focus level in the afternoon. Students have a long day at school, their brains get exposed to so much information on a typical day, and it is hard to retain the knowledge as well as being able to stay focused and motivated throughout each and every day. This study investigated how brain breaks affect student engagement, achievement, and motivation. For the entirety of a math unit, math instruction was taught incorporating planned brain breaks throughout each lesson. Data was collected from pre-and post- assessment …

Equitable Strategies: Broadening Opportunities For Students In Public Education, Anthony Ellis

Art of Teaching Thesis - Written

In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that public education is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms. Despite the ruling, the American education system is still not equitable for all students. Children of color (Black, Latino, Native Americans) or of lower income are more likely to jump over several hurdles to get to the finish line. Meanwhile, white and wealthy children will cross the finish line without going through a single hurdle. The hurdles begin at early childhood and the final hurdle is college graduation. Some of these disparities include racial bias, the burden of …

The Relationship Between I-Ready Intervention And Grade 8 Mathematical Achievement, Kenyatta Shanta Aldridge

Theses and Dissertations

A problem exists in using educational software as an intervention for middle grades mathematics. The rural middle school used an educational program to improve mathematical achievement; however, the effectiveness of this program was not evaluated. The e-learning theory served as the theoretical framework for this study. The purpose of this explanatory, sequential mixed methods design was to examine the relationship between the i-Ready intervention program and students’ mathematical achievement and to explore teachers’ perceptions of implementing the i-Ready intervention program. The participants included 48 Grade 8 students from one middle school. A series of bivariate correlations was conducted using the …

Parent-Child Relationships And Student Outcomes In Children: A Comparison Before And During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Angela Kladias

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

The current study investigated the connection between parent-child relationships, academic achievement, and child attitudes in school-aged children both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, I examined relationships among parent- and child-perceived emotional closeness, attitudes toward school, and child achievement in elementary and middle school aged children. The current study examined associations between parent-child relationship factors and academic student outcomes, comparing these associations both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Differences in student outcomes were examined based off of COVID-19 circumstances as well as what level of emotional closeness and interaction the parents and child have. Attitudes and achievement of …

Growing Mindset And Goals: A Blog Designed To Lead Intrinsic Motivation In Students, Alison Prahl

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research conducted by Dr. Carol Dweck clearly demonstrates the importance of building a foundation of growth mindset in order to build resiliency in students. Not only does this resiliency help students overcome challenges but also supports students in building lifelong skills, such as: forming and carrying out goals, receiving and utilizing feedback, and increasing intrinsic motivation in a variety of settings. The educational blog designed for this project focuses on sharing research relating to mindset theory, gifted students, goal setting, feedback, intrinsic motivation in adolescents, and curriculum materials. It also provides educators with free resources to begin implementing a combination …

Investigating Whether The Flipped Classroom Instructional Approach In Conjunction With Gender, Satisfy Students’ Basic Psychological Needs And Influence Their Chemistry Achievements In High School, Jordan Salhoobi

Theses and Dissertations

The current study aims to investigate whether the instructional approach (flipped or traditional) and gender (male or female) influence students’ sense of autonomy, relatedness, and competence, or influence their achievements in high school chemistry. Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction theory was used to design the flipped classroom (FC) implemented in this study as recommended by Lo, Lie, and Hew in 2018. The theoretical framework for the study is the self-determination theory (SDT) which posits that satisfaction of individuals’ psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, enhance their intrinsic motivation and performance (Deci & Ryan, 2002). Ninety participating students who enrolled …

Effects Of Racial Identity On The Academic Achievement Of Biracial Students With Academic Self Concept As A Mediator, Kamio Ayisha Jones

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The current study investigated the relationship between racial identity and academic achievement of biracial high school students and whether academic self-concept mediated the relationship. Data from the National Institute of Child Health and Development- Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development was examined. A structural equation model with two groups was used to assess if academic self-concept is a mediator for the relationship between racial identity and academic achievement. Results suggest that academic self-concept in Math or English did not mediate the relationship between racial identity and scores on the WJ-R Passage Comprehension and Applied Problems subtest for both …

Families And Schools Together In Academic Partnerships And Student Literacy Achievement, Kathleen S. Reynolds

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractFamily engagement in schooling has academic benefits for students and has been cited in decreasing the achievement gap. Half of all study district first-grade students did not meet benchmark goals on continuous text reading assessments. Further, first-grade treatment school students performed below published benchmarks on measures of sight word identification fluency (WIF). The purpose of this study was to examine changes to WIF scores after participation in the Families and Schools Together in Academic Partnerships (FAST-AP) pilot and to examine the effect of parent participation on changes to continuous text reading scores. Emergent literacy and sociocultural learning theories provided the …

Implementation Of International Society For Technology In Education Standards In Elementary School Teachers’ Pedagogical Science Practices, Rochelle Anne Mccoy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study addressed the problem of whether elementary school teachers are consistently implementing the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards in their pedagogical practices of teaching science. It was evident that half of all teachers in the United States do not consistently implement technology into their instruction. The purpose of this study was to understand elementary school teachers’ perceptions about how teachers are using the three selected ISTE standards during their pedagogical practices when teaching elementary science in order to maximize learning. The technology acceptance model was the conceptual framework used in this study. The research questions focused …