Education Commons^™

Educational Environments And Children's Physical Activity And Sedentary Behaviors, Nathan R. Tokarek

Theses and Dissertations

Children and adolescents spend the majority of their day engaged in sedentary behaviors (SB), while also not meeting physical activity (PA) recommendations. The failure to develop and maintain health enhancing behaviors from a young age may impact an individual throughout their life. With children and adolescents spending a large proportion of their waking hours in a school setting, the educational environment presents an opportunity in which children and adolescents’ PA and SB can be positively influenced. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to explore how children and adolescent’s school time PA and SB are associated with the educational setting, …

The Impact Of Prosodic Reading Instruction On Adolescents’ Silent Reading Comprehension, Judy Lynn Fields

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research has established a strong relationship between silent reading comprehension and prosodic reading fluency among young readers, but much remains unknown about this relationship among older readers (Breen, Kaswer, Van Dyke, Krivokapic, & Landi, 2016; Cypert & Petro, 2019). The goal of this study was to determine the impact of prosodic reading instruction on adolescents’ silent reading comprehension. Conducted in a classroom setting in two different school districts, this study included three certified English teachers and a total of 52 students in grades 8, 9, and 10 for a period of nine to twelve weeks with a total of 810 …

Engaging Disinterested Adolescent Readers In The Middle School Classroom, Elizabeth M. Lezman

Culminating Experience Projects

Reading is a necessary skill and habit that adolescents need to carry into adulthood to set them on a more advantageous life trajectory. As students reach adolescence and their interest and engagement in reading tends to decrease, it is vital for educators to implement strategies and structures to promote engagement, passion and interesting in reading. Three key factors of increasing engagement are to build a community of readers, implement choice reading, and provide texts representing a variety of identities, cultures, traditions and voices. Research has proven that students are more engaged in reading when they feel part of a community, …

America’S Middle Schools: Examining Context, Organizational Structures, And Instructional Practices, Ryan Alverson, Mike Dicicco, Shawn A. Faulkner, Chris Cook

Middle Grades Review

The education of the young adolescent has consistently posed a challenge to the educational community. While the general belief is this age group (10-15-year-old children) would benefit from a specialized educational approach, historically, both the junior high school model of the early 1900s and the more current middle school concept have struggled to be fully implemented and embraced by the educational community. With almost a decade passing since the last national survey focused on middle grades schools (McEwin & Greene, 2010, 2011), researchers seek to reassess the context, organizational structures, and instructional practices of middle schools in the United States. …

Cultural And Linguistic Experiences Of Immigrant Youth: Voices Of African Immigrant Youth In United States Urban Schools, Lydiah Kananu Kiramba, Alex Kumi-Yeboah, Patriann Smith, Anthony Mawuli Sallard

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This study explores experiences of 50 culturally and linguistically diverse African immigrant students attending public urban middle and high schools in the US. Drawing on in-depth interviews, and through constant comparison analysis, emerging findings highlight pedagogical, linguistic, and curricular variation struggles in the classroom; transitional contextual challenges; cultural mismatch; miscommunication, and stereotypes. In light of these experiences, African immigrant urban youth draw on familial, navigational and aspirational capital to resist stereotypical assumptions and to develop resilient skills necessary to navigate the inherent challenges. Findings underscore the importance of appreciating ways of knowing that deviate from the host country knowledges as …

Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline: Comprehensive Pediatric Eye And Vision Examination, American Optometric Association

Optometric Clinical Practice

Republished with the written permission granted from the American Optometric Association, October 2, 2020.

Developed by the AOA Evidence-Based Optometry Guideline Development Group

Approved by the AOA Board of Trustees February 12, 2017

Diane T. Adamczyk, O.D., Chair – State University of New York, College of Optometry, New York, New York

John F. Amos, O.D., M.S. – University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry, Birmingham, Alabama, Dean and Professor Emeritus

Felix M. Barker, II, O.D., M.S. – W. G. (Bill) Hefner VAMC, Salisbury, North Carolina

Benjamin P. Casella, OD – Private Practice – Casella Eye Center, Augusta, Georgia

Linda …

Success Plan For The Online Learning Experience: Student Engagement, Teacher Accessibility, & Relationships, Ruchelle Combs

Middle Grades Review

Online teaching in the time of COVID-19 is a new and sometimes scary experience for even the most seasoned educator. It is certainly apparent that many students are struggling to make this instantaneous adjustment. Teachers have a duty to mitigate this stress as they continue to provide relevant instruction. Based on my experience, this can be achieved by fostering student engagement, staying highly accessible, and maintaining the relationships that were formed face-to-face in the conventional classroom.

Proactive Classroom Management Strategies In U.S. Middle And Secondary Education, Brittany R. Graves

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Knowledge of classroom management strategies has great importance for middle and secondary teachers. The present research aims to consolidate findings on evidence-based, proactive classroom management strategies for adolescents that can be effectively used by middle and high school teachers of all experience levels. Results suggest that relationship building, antecedent attention, positive verbal feedback, opportunities to respond, proactive discipline, and parental involvement increase engagement and decrease disruptive behavior in middle and secondary classrooms. Veteran, new, and preservice teachers should evaluate and update their classroom management strategies to reflect current, evidence-based practices.

Adolescent Mental Health Training For Middle School Educators, Sarah Minton

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Abstract

Background: Adolescent mental health disorders are an increasing concern in the United States. School systems, specifically educators, are in the unique role to aid in early identification of mental health disorders, as well to intervene in mental health distress. However, mental health training for educators is lacking, leaving educators unprepared to manage mental health concerns within their classroom.

Purpose: The purpose was to utilize an evidence-based training, the “Teacher Knowledge Update Guide” from TeenMentalHealth.org to train middle school educators on the signs and symptoms of mental health conditions in the adolescent population with the intent to increase awareness, knowledge, …

Peer Taught Sex Education's Influence On Adolescent Sexual Decisions And Hookups, Sarah Kathleen Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Teen Prevention Education Program (PEP) utilizes different methods, mainly peer teaching via skits and small groups, to help influence adolescents to make informed sexual decisions. The purpose of this study is to find how Teen PEP can have an effect on an adolescent's decision on whether to or not hookup. This study utilized interviews with participants of the program asking them about their views on hooking up and how they view how Teen PEP aided in their decision-making whether to or not hook up. While transcribing the interviews and looking for keywords related to the research questions, the analysis …

The Influence Of Equitable Treatment On Latina/O High School Students’ College Aspirations, Amanda Taggart, Jaimi Paschal

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

This study examined the influence of equitable treatment on Latina/o students’ college aspirations. Logistic regression was used to identify variables associated with Latina/o high school students’ aspirations to attend college within the context of theory concerning the college search, choice, and enrollment processes. Data were drawn from a nationally representative sample of Latina/o students in the ELS:2002 dataset. Results indicated that Latina/o students were more likely to aspire to attend college if they perceived equitable treatment for different groups of students during high school.

School Start Times: Is Later Better For High School Students?, Rodney Paul Kimbler

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to answer the question: School start times: Is later better for high school students? Research for this study focuses primarily on high school start times in the United States from 1988 to 2017. Factors include changes at puberty including melanin production, circadian rhythms and homeostatic systems. High school start times of 7:30 a.m. or earlier make it difficult for students to acquire 8.5 to 9 hours of sleep on school nights. Beyond teen biology, there are community factors to consider such as part-time jobs, athletic practices, child care, and school bus schedules. In summary, there is no …

Montessori Adolescent Program Design In A Non-Farm Environment, Rhonda Michelle Lovette

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the idea of constructing a Montessori adolescent program outside of the prescribed curriculum of living in a working farm environment. There is a focus on Maria Montessori’s life and influence. The Montessori Method is briefly explained. Early adolescents, ages 12-15, have different needs than elementary children do; therefore, this thesis strives to design an early adolescent program located in a non-farm setting. Montessori is based on three tenets: the prepared environment, developmentally appropriate materials and the prepared adult. This has been very well developed and applied for pre-school and elementary age children, however, not as well in …

Reducing Adolescent Anger And Aggression With Biofeedback: A Mixed-Methods Multiple Case Study, Jedidiah S. Savard

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Adolescent anger, aggression, and violent outbursts are social problems significantly affecting each of us. Individual therapeutic management of pathological anger is treated in various ways depending on practitioners’ theoretical orientations and competency levels. Popular psychological individual and group therapies addressing anger and aggression in adolescents focus primarily on cognitive-behavioral techniques that manage anger’s symptoms. Evidence-based cognitive-behavioral therapies often require clients to self-identify emerging antecedents of anger without assistance; such therapies employ predetermined strategies to assist the client to emotionally de-escalate prior to an angry or aggressive episode. However, cognitive responses to an emotional upheaval stemming from an emergence of anger …

Middle School Teachers' Experiences With Teaching Self-Regulation Skills To Adolescents With Disabilities, Jessica Traylor

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research shows that adolescents with disabilities often lack self-regulated learning skills. Current research further indicates that explicit teaching of self-regulation skills is beneficial to adolescents with disabilities. The site of this study was a local middle school in rural Georgia that did not assess whether or not teachers were explicitly teaching self-regulation skills to adolescents with disabilities. It was unknown, therefore, whether adolescents with disabilities were learning self-regulation skills in school and whether teachers faced problems in teaching these skills. The study sought to explore this gap in knowledge and practice. Zimmerman's self-regulated learning theory and Bandura's self-efficacy theory served …

What Middle Schoolers Want: An Analysis Of The Most Circulated Texts In A Public School District, Kimberly Flanders Mccuiston

Doctoral Dissertations

In today’s climate of education reform and the classroom concentration on texts that are academically rigorous, it is easy to forget the importance of encouraging voluntary reading for adolescents. Understanding students’ interests in texts can provide teachers with the knowledge to promote voluntary reading within the classroom. This embedded case study examined the popularity of texts in a public school district’s middle school libraries through quantitative data drawn from library circulation records. The records from 12 public middle school libraries from a school district in the southeastern United States were used to determine the 10 most frequently checked out books …

Student Engagement And Action In Classroom And Community: Place-Based Education And Social Action For The High-Achieving Student, Rachel M. Jank

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This paper briefly discusses the work done in a college-preparatory, Senior English class to combat the disengagement present in many educational institutions. This disconnect does not allow for learning retention and, therefore, does not allow for students to apply the moment of learning to life outside of the secondary classroom. The work I do is based off of Jessica Singer Early, Bruce Bigelow, Linda Christensen, and many other master teachers who work with the educational designs of Place Consciousness and Social Action within their respective classrooms. The theories of John Dewey and Paulo Freire suggest that a non-traditional style of …

Intersections: The Schooling Experiences Of African-American Females Inolved In Long-Term Foster Care And Their Transition Into Womanhood, Sonia Kennedy

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

African-American girls are entering foster care and experiencing longer stays in a system that was not intended to facilitate adolescents transitioning into adulthood. For African American adolescent girls many remain in care indefinitely and move from one temporary foster home, group home and institution to another, with little stability or preparation for the future. Although the Adoption and Safe Families Act (AFSA) of 1994 and other policy reforms were designed to guide the temporary placement of children in foster care, this has not been the case, particularly for African American females. Upon entrance into foster care, African American adolescent females …

Parental Influence On Adolescent’S Academic Performance, Jessica Schmuck

The Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this survey research was to uncover how the relationship of parental involvement and parenting styles influence their adolescent’s academic performance and success. Parents need to be actively involved in their adolescent’s life, support and provide assistance with school and help instill motivation and confidence. This research was conducted by personally distributing surveys to a class of students at the Brookings High School in October 2010. The survey found that half of the participating adolescent’s stated that their parents had a strong influence on their academic performance. This was critical information because it supported previous research conducted regarding …

Timing Of Initial Sexual Intercourse As A Mediating Factor Between White And Black Adolescent’S Sexual Attitudes And Sense Of Self, Paul R. Springer, Scott A. Ketring, Jeffrey R. Hibbert, Connie J. Salts

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Based on the Normative Hypothesis, theorists have believed that differences in sexuality among black and white males would affect each group differently due to the disparate cultural norms. The current study evaluates the relationship between adolescent sexual attitudes and timing of first sexual intercourse as factors affecting problem behaviors, suicidal thoughts, and sense of security among black and white adolescents. The sample size comprised of 847 black and white adolescent males from rural Alabama. Results discovered that earlier sexual expression was dealt with differently for white and black adolescents, depending on timing of first intercourse. Most interestingly, it appears that …

Student Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of A Student Random Drug Testing Program In One New Jersey High School, Lisa Brady

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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