Education Commons^™

Implementing State Initiatives In A Pk-1 Primary School: A Case Study Exploring Instructional Leadership, Jennifer Baldwin

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods case study is to explore the practices that a principal has used to address the individual needs of students through instructional and cultural changes, which resulted in increased student achievement. Using Lambert’s (1998) Leadership Capacity Survey, the espoused beliefs of the principal are correlated to the teachers’ ratings of the principal’s performance. The findings indicate an overall emergent theme that the principal uses broad-based leadership and skillful participation to establish reciprocal trust among the staff by creating teacher leaders. An additional theme of the community’s principal illuminates the work the principal’s efforts to establish …

District Liaison Involvement In Partnership Academies, Debra Gustafson, Nancy Kiltz

Educational Considerations

The greatest legacy a leader can leave is having developed other leaders…if you want to leave a legacy, invest in people, and encourage those you develop to pass on everything they learn from you to others who will do the same.

On Shared Governance, Missed Opportunities, And Student Protests, Nancy B. Rapoport

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Steps In Time: An Exploration Of Tap Dance Education, Sara Pecina

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Tap dance is an indigenous American art form that not only holds a valuable presence in the world of entertainment but also boasts an important historical background. From the slave quarters on plantations to Hollywood’s silver screen, the development of tap dance mirrors the story of American history. Tap dance must be preserved because of its cultural significance in American history; likewise, it is imperative for dancers to understand its development in order to appreciate the art and for today’s artists to continue the growth and presence of tap dance in America. However, many dance educators today focus solely on …

Differentiation For All Learners: Applying Theory And Practice So All Children Reach Their Potential, Kathryn Elizabeth Kreitzer

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Teachers in classrooms today are challenged with students with a ride range of abilities necessitating differentiation in the classroom. Faced with increasingly heterogeneous populations of students, including the mainstreaming of special education students, teachers are challenged to develop curricula that is matched to students’ abilities. This project focused on how to adapt state mandated grade level content to multiple instructional levels. Included in this project is a differentiated unit on the American Revolution based on Minnesota fifth grade standards. The unit is differentiated to first grade, third grade and fifth grade reading and writing levels. This project demonstrates how teachers …

Using A Therapeutic Music Curriculum To Improve The Social And Academic Skills Of Students With Optic Nerve Hypoplasia/Septo Optic Dysplasia, Kimberly Kay Wooster

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This paper addresses the possibility of improving the academic and social outcomes of students with optic nerve hypoplasia/septo optic dysplasia through the use of a therapeutic music curriculum. Students with these conditions are born with blind or with visual challenges and in the case of septo optic dysplasia are also born with behavioral and physical challenges, including austistic-like traits. By exploring the literature and research available in the use of therapeutic music in improving the academic and social outcomes of young students with autism, I was encouraged to create a therapeutic music curriculum to implement in classrooms from K-3rd grade …

Coding In The Curriculum : Fad Or Foundational?, Leon Sterling

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

There has been an unprecedented push to revitalise interest in STEM education. Much of the discussion of the ’T’ in STEM education has been whether coding should be a central element of school education. This talk investigates the arguments for and against ‘coding in the curriculum.’ No sensible person thinks that teaching coding in the classroom will produce master programmers’, any more than teaching music in the school curriculum will produce master musicians. However the teaching of music can encourage some students to become musicians and the same would be true for coding. The issue is more what concepts are …

Expeditionary Learning Curriculum For The Seventh Grade Classroom, Nora Denise Krings

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this project was, how are the components of Expeditionary Learning used to design an interdisciplinary, project-based expedition at a middle school grade level? It documents the creation of an interdisciplinary unit for a seventh grade classroom using components from Expeditionary Learning. The author uses research on Expeditionary Learning and related educational philosophies to incorporate different structures and components into the design of the curriculum. The unit includes such components as community connections, fieldwork and case studies. It also outlines different classroom structures and protocols that can be used to deliver instruction. The capstone documents some …

The Relationship Between Agriculture And The Environment, Elise Nicole Volz

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Southern Minnesota is an agricultural hub, and there is a deeply rooted methodology when it comes to the techniques used to plant, grow, and harvest grain crops. These techniques have come under scrutiny as they are being accused of causing harm to the environment. As an alternative to these conventional agricultural techniques, sustainable agriculture provides an agricultural methodology that aims to grow crops in such a way that the environment is harmed a little as possible. This project was designed to determine awareness of sustainable agriculture among a group of students and develop a curriculum that allows students to explore …

Thematic Learning And English Learners: Integrating Authentic Literacy In An Experience-Based Summer Program For English Learners, Miranda Michelle Gamayunov

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Research indicates that the most successful summer programs and after school experiences do not simply mimic the school year but rather complement it. The purpose of this capstone was to create a stronger connection between the district’s school year literacy curriculum and its summer program for English Learners while maintaining the experience-based nature of the program. The research question explored: How can I best integrate authentic reading and writing into a hands-on, experience-based summer program for English Learners resulted in a series of six lessons complementing the program’s varied experiences and the district’s units of study thereby allowing for an …

Investigating Teacher Learning And Change In A Professional Learning Community: Integrating Ela And Social Studies Curriculum, Derek Jordan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This case study examines teacher learning and change in classroom practices as a result of participating in a professional learning community (PLC) that designs integrated curriculum of English/language arts and social studies. The participants for the study were a team of four fifth grade teachers, of which team the author is a member. These teachers teach in a Title-1 urban elementary school in the American Southwest. Case study methodology was chosen to examine this phenomenon. Data were collected from PLC sessions, interviews, recorded lessons, and artifacts. Collection took place at the research site. Data were analyzed using qualitative techniques of …

Queer History Of The United States: A Syllabus, Jordan Ostrum

History Summer Fellows

This project is a proposed syllabus of a college level history course dealing with queer and trans experiences in the 20^th century. The course utilizes the Ursinus inquiry based approach to learning, focusing on the core questions “How can we understand the world?” and “How should we live together?” Supplementary materials, such as the course proposal, are meant to encourage the Ursinus College History Department to offer the course in the future.

Literacy And Citizenship: Helping Students Learn The Importance Of Being An Informed And Educated Citizen, Luke H. Schlegel

English Summer Fellows

My project utilizes the concept of Understanding by Design, as outlined by education experts Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins, to craft a 12-week curriculum for high school junior and senior English students. McTighe and Wiggins use backwards planning to create long-term learning goals for students. Rather than superficially trying to cover a wide range of material in class, which results in short-term acquisition of knowledge mostly forgotten in the long run, McTighe and Wiggins focus on “big ideas,” that generate conceptual understanding. Ultimately, students will be able to transfer this knowledge to settings outside of the classroom. To help them …

Topic 5: Rawlsian Ethics, Lee Eysturlid

Lee W. Eysturlid

John Rawls (b. 1921, d. 2002) was an American political philosopher in the liberal tradition. His theory of justice as fairness envisions a society of free citizens holding equal basic rights cooperating within an egalitarian economic system. His account of political liberalism addresses the legitimate use of political power in a democracy, aiming to show how enduring unity may be achieved despite the diversity of worldviews that free institutions allow. His writings on the law of peoples extend these theories to liberal foreign policy, with the goal of imagining how a peaceful and tolerant international order might be possible.

Teaching Tolkien: Language, Scholarship, And Creativity, Adam Kotlarczyk

Adam Kotlarczyk

Why Tolkien? Let us start with the obvious—if cynical—question, almost certain to come from a skeptical administrator or colleague: why would any serious, self-respecting English teacher want to teach an author whose work is about dragons, fairies, and the fantastic? With all the increased attention to standardized testing and with the demand for rigor in read- ings in the average English curriculum, choosing a popular text might raise eyebrows among critics. The question that an English teacher may be asked (or indeed, may ask him- or herself) is: doesn't teaching Tolkien as "serious" literature just fan those flames?

Teaching Tolkien: Language, Scholarship, And Creativity, Adam Kotlarczyk

Adam Kotlarczyk

Why Tolkien? Let us start with the obvious—if cynical—question, almost certain to come from a skeptical administrator or colleague: why would any serious, self-respecting English teacher want to teach an author whose work is about dragons, fairies, and the fantastic? With all the increased attention to standardized testing and with the demand for rigor in read- ings in the average English curriculum, choosing a popular text might raise eyebrows among critics. The question that an English teacher may be asked (or indeed, may ask him- or herself) is: doesn't teaching Tolkien as "serious" literature just fan those flames?

Teaching Tolkien: Language, Scholarship, And Creativity, Adam Kotlarczyk

Adam Kotlarczyk

Why Tolkien? Let us start with the obvious—if cynical—question, almost certain to come from a skeptical administrator or colleague: why would any serious, self-respecting English teacher want to teach an author whose work is about dragons, fairies, and the fantastic? With all the increased attention to standardized testing and with the demand for rigor in read- ings in the average English curriculum, choosing a popular text might raise eyebrows among critics. The question that an English teacher may be asked (or indeed, may ask him- or herself) is: doesn't teaching Tolkien as "serious" literature just fan those flames?

Selected Works By Harriet Cuffaro, Miriam Raider-Roth, Jonathan Silin

Occasional Paper Series

Selected works by Harriet Cuffaro.

Introduction: Living A Philosophy Of Early Childhood Education - A Festschrift For Harriet Cuffaro, Miriam Raider-Roth, Jonathan Silin

Occasional Paper Series

This issue of the Occasional Paper Series is a Festschrift in honor of Harriet K. Cuffaro, a Bank Street College faculty member from 1968-1998. A Festschrift—a volume reflecting the values, theories, and passions of a senior scholar in a field—seeks to offer scholarship that builds on these contributions. Harriet Cuffaro has touched and shaped more lives of teachers, scholars, and colleagues than we can possibly count. A teacher in her soul, and an esteemed scholar of John Dewey, Harriet has “unfolded and connected” essential Deweyan ideas and made them accessible and meaningful in the lives of teachers. …

What Are You Teaching? Curriculums, Expectations, And Experiences Of High School Writing Teachers And First Year Composition, Kathryn Elizabeth Fullmer

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the teaching of writing in high school and first year composition. In depth interviews and document analysis were employed to allow five writing instructors to detail their curriculums, expectations, and experiences of teaching writing. Findings suggest that the teaching of writing is nuanced and is affected by many outside variables. Implications for future research include the possibility of developing better communication between high school and colleges, more and better professional development for writing instructors at both levels, and an evaluation of current practices at the high school and college level.

The Use Of Visual Arts As A Window To Diagnosing Medical Pathologies, Katrina A. Bramstedt

Katrina A. Bramstedt

Observation is a key step preceding diagnosis, prognostication, and treatment. Careful patient observation is a skill that is learned but rarely explicitly taught. Furthermore, proper clinical observation requires more than a glance; it requires attention to detail. In medical school, the art of learning to look can be taught using the medical humanities and especially visual arts such as paintings and film. Research shows that such training improves not only observation skills but also teamwork, listening skills, and reflective and analytical thinking. Overall, the use of visual arts in medical school curricula can build visual literacy: the capacity to identify …

Quantitative Literacy At Michigan State University, 3: Designing General Education Mathematics Courses, Samuel L. Tunstall, Vincent Melfi, Jeffrey Craig, Richard Edwards, Andrew Krause, Bronlyn Wassink, Victor Piercey

Numeracy

In this paper, we describe the process at Michigan State University whereby we have created two courses, Math 101 and 102, designed to foster numeracy and alleviate mathematics anxiety. The courses--which are not sequential--provide a means of satisfying the University's general education requirement without taking college algebra or calculus, among other options. They are context-driven and broken into modules such as "The World and Its People" and "Health and Risk." They have been highly successful thus far, with students providing positive feedback on their interest in the material and the utility they see of it in their daily lives. We …

Using Critical Literacy To Build Community Among Minority Adolescents, Julia Quinn Moe

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Studies continue to show the alarming achievement gap between white and minority students throughout the United States. The purpose of this capstone was to explore how critical literacy can be used to build classroom community among minority adolescents, with the intention of helping diverse learners feel successful in school. Included is research on the effectiveness of and how to use critical literacy practices, the importance of building community in the secondary classroom, and the state of minority education as a whole, encompassing the unique difficulties encountered by minority students in a primarily white school. Three major themes emerged from the …

2016-2017 Ursinus College Course Catalogue, Office Of The Registrar

Ursinus College Catalogues, 1869-Present

A digital copy of the 2016-2017 Ursinus College Catalog. It contains details of the curriculum, departmental requirements and courses of instruction as well as core requirements such as the Common Intellectual Experience (CIE) and Independent Learning Experience (ILE). Academic policies, special opportunities and scholarships, off-campus programs and graduation requirements are also outlined.

Culturally Responsive Vocabulary Curriculum: Third Grade Culturally Responsive Vocabulary Guide, Maureen Mccullagh

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Educational state testing results have shown gaps between students of color and white students for many decades. Research demonstrates that white students perform better on standardized reading tests than do the students of color. The purpose of this project was to create a standardsbased, culturally and linguistically responsive vocabulary guide, to help select vocabulary in order to build a bridge between students’ home vocabulary and academic vocabulary; to support the efforts in closing the achievement gap. Research on best practice for culturally responsive teaching, culturally responsive literacy and vocabulary instruction, including specific strategies to teach vocabulary instruction was integrated. The …

Wearable Technology And Schools: Where Are We And Where Do We Go From Here?, Brian K. Sandall

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

The area of wearable technology is having a rapidly growing impact on society with more consumers purchasing wearable tech. At the same time, wearable technology seems to be poised to have an impact on educational settings. This paper explores the area of wearable technology related to schools. It considers how wearable technology can be used by teachers to improve instruction and by students to change how they interact with the school environment. Wearable technology applications currently being implemented as part of the curriculum in schools are identified and discussed. To conclude, traits and skills that school leaders need to exhibit …

The Creative Warrior: A Holistic Approach To Health And Longevity, Daniel Robert Gray

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

When we look at artists in contemporary society it is unfortunate how many of them turn to drugs, alcohol, and suicide as a means to cope with and escape the world. Sadly, there are artists who never live long enough to have a career or share their brilliance with the world. This tragedy is the underlying motivation for this project. One of our goals at the school where I teach, Idyllwild Arts Academy, is to help prepare students for a life in the arts. For the most part we focus on the skills and concepts of their discipline. This …

A Three-Year Study Of A Professional Development Program's Impact On Teacher Knowledge And Classroom Implementation Of Strategic And Interactive Writing Instruction, Kimberly A. Wolbers, Hannah M. Dostal, Paulson Skerrit, Brenda Stephenson

Theory and Practice in Teacher Education Publications and Other Works

A professional development (PD) program for Strategic and Interactive Writing Instruction (SIWI) integrating effective PD features was implemented with teachers over three years. Using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), it was examined whether length of participation in PD impacted knowledge and ability to faithfully implement. Findings indicate significant improvements with each year of PD; those who participated for three consecutive years received the highest possible ratings on knowledge as measured by the Levels of Use (LOU) and instruction as measured by the SIWI observation and fidelity instrument. Additionally, because of modifications to the PD program, it was examined …

Examining The Application Of Experiential Learning Techniques Across Sport Management Programs, Elizabeth Sattler

Theses and Dissertations

The Commission on Sport Management Accreditation (COSMA) has identified experiential learning projects as an integral element to be included in sport management curriculum (COSMA, 2016). However, often the experiential learning opportunities offered by sport management programs are limited to a required internship experience (Foster & Dollar, 2010). While internship programs have been widely accepted and implemented by sport management programs (Eagleman & McNary, 2010), there is little evidence of the implementation of other experiential learning practices within sport management programs. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to investigate the widespread application of experiential learning practices of sport management faculty. …

How Can Incremental Rehearsal Be Used To Facilitate Successful Sight Word Acquisition For English Language Learners To Improve Their Sight Word Reading Ability?, Elliot Kohl

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this capstone was, how can Incremental Rehearsal be used to facilitate successful sight words acquisition for English Language Learners to improve their sight word reading ability? It documents one teacher’s creation of a curriculum unit that serves as an intervention for struggling English Language Learner readers in grades K – 3. It draws upon the research done on a flashcard drill method known as Incremental Rehearsal. With this method, the teacher created a curriculum to help struggling readers memorize a sight word vocabulary, with the intent of helping them increase their fluency. The author documents …