Education Commons^™

Adolescent Literature And The Power Of Student Perception And Voice In Gay-Straight Alliances And Beyond, Jessica L. Aspeel

Honors Projects

This research was conducted so that I could learn more about how students interact with texts, specifically focusing on how students who are members of their high school Gay-­‐Straight Alliance (GSA) interact with and respond to works of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer/questioning (LGBTQ) adolescent literature. The research was conducted during the spring and fall of 2013 at two local high schools, with Garden High reading “Perfect” by Jennifer Diemer and Donovan High reading “Am I Blue?” by Bruce Coville. The research questions I pose are: 1. What common themes or issues do students in GSA groups discuss when …

Working-Class Students And Historical Inquiry, Leslie Schuster

Faculty Publications

For the past twelve years, I have been teaching a lower division introductory historical methods course that uses active learning to introduce students to the issues and practices of historical methods, the "how to" of historical inquiry, research and writing. While there are many models for such a course, including the one described by Jeffrey Merrick in the February 2006 issue of this journal, the design of such a course at my institution requires consideration of an often-overlooked dimension. The student body at Rhode Island College (RIC) is primarily working class, mirroring a significant transformation in the traditional college student …

A Student's Perspective Of Learning On A Dedicated Education Unit, Rachael L. Johnsen

Honors Projects

It is the intent of this honors project to give a student’s perspective of learning in the Dedicated Education Unit (DEU) on Bridge 7 at Rhode Island Hospital. Bridge 7 is a 38-bed unit specializing in general medical surgical patient care services. A student’s perspective is illustrated by journal entries written from each clinical experience over the course of one semester, during the course Adult Health II. In addition to a student’s perspective, it is the intention to compare the learning experience on the DEU, to the traditional model of clinical learning. This project will include current nursing research that …

A Comparison Of Hybrid/Online And Lecture College Courses, Katelyn Paquin

Honors Projects

The purpose of this research is to investigate relationships between online college courses and in-person courses with regard to student course completion rate and course grade averages. The personality characteristics of Introversion, Conscientiousness and Academic Self-Regulation, and professor student rapport were also examined in relation to performance of the students enrolled in online and in-person classes. This study was based on an integrative theory of self- and social regulation in learning contexts. A two-tailed t-test for independent samples found no significant difference between the end of previous semester cumulative GPAs (CGPAs) of students in the online/hybrid or in-person courses. The …

The Effects Of Adaptive Instruction On Developmental Rhythm Aptitude And Rhythm Achievement Of Preschool Students With Hearing Impairment, Danielle Marcene Carrier Trial

Honors Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of adaptive instruction on the developmental rhythm aptitude and rhythm achievement of preschool students with a hearing impairment. Specifically, this study is designed to determine a) if the addition of body percussion and percussive instruments to music instruction affects the developmental rhythm aptitudes of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children with a hearing impairment and b) if the addition of body percussion and percussive instruments affects the rhythm achievement scores of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children with a hearing impairment. The results of this study may have implications for music teachers …

"Ok, I'M A Teacher Now:" Reading Young Adult Literature In A Teacher Education Program, Brittany Richer

Honors Projects

After taking a young adult literature course as part of my Secondary Education/ English program, I felt I had gained only a limited understanding of the importance of the genre to my future career. In the class, we read several popular young adult texts, learned about their authors, identified censorship issues, and mentioned a few strategies related to the teaching of the texts. Much of the “understanding” related only to future applications in imagined classrooms, which left no room for critical reflection about what we might learn from reading the texts about ourselves as students and teachers. A sense of …

Sex Education In Our Schools, Kelley Conti

Honors Projects

This research project involved interviewing 42 parents with children between the ages of 12 to 18-years-old regarding their views and opinions on sex education for today’s youth. All 42 parents agreed they wanted a more informative sex education for their children than what they were exposed to as children. This included those with formal sex education as well as those that learned from peers, siblings or in their neighborhood. Another aspect all parents agreed on was the need for a more comprehensive sex education. Thirty-eight parents thought abstinence should be included as an option in sex education classes but not …

What About Me? An Examination Of Identity Formation Among Beginning Educators, Nicholas Bernardo

Honors Projects

Over the past decade, I have been an athlete, a stage manager, an actor, a parliament member, a treasurer, a resident assistant, a tour guide, a ballroom dancer, and very involved with music, participating in marching band throughout high school as well as my college wind ensemble. Of all those roles, the only one that has stuck is my most recent—teacher. I decided that I wanted to be a teacher in fourth grade, and I have grown to be very passionate about it. But even in that regard, the question “what is right?” continued to linger. What if I am …

Voices Silenced, Voices Heard: Exploring Status, Discourse, And Learning In Middle School Discussion Groups, Laura A. Chiaravalloti

Ph.D. in Education Program

This qualitative study explores the relationship between the instructional methodologies one teacher used to foster the development of group skills in students and the way literature discussion groups actually functioned. This study was conducted under an ethnographic lens using a teacher-as-researcher approach. Issues of power and status in students' learning opportunities are explored.

Looking For Agreement Among Criteria Used To Determine Teacher Effectiveness In Two Different Evaluation Models, Charles D. Mcgair

Ph.D. in Education Program

Many theories, methods, and practices are utilized to evaluate teachers with the intention of determining teacher effectiveness to better inform decisions about retention, tenure, certification and performance-based pay. In the 21st century there has been a renewed emphasis on teacher evaluation in public schools, largely due to federal "Race to the Top" funding and the emergence of value-added models for determining teacher performance in relation to student achievement. Bearing that in mind, this study was designed to address the question: Where are the consistency and differentiation among criteria used to measure teacher effectiveness ratings when a 21st century, Race to …

The Relation Between Speech And Reading, Erin St. Jacques

Honors Projects

An analysis is made of the connection between speech and reading, and language and reading, and how both are related to a Speech-Language Pathologist's job in a school setting, working with struggling readers. Research about the process of learning how to read and how and SLP can be brought in at different stages is examined. This research paper looks at how a child learns to read; programs were executed involving young readers with reading disabilities. It also examines the different stages of learning to read and how an SLP can try to hep. The tactics were examined more closely as …

Characteristics And Predictors Associated With Teacher And Faculty Use Of Online Data Collection In Teacher Preparation Settings, Susan Gracia

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to examine some of the gaps in the research around the use of online surveys in teacher preparation settings by exploring the attitudes toward technology and online evaluations, as well as predictors of user assessment of online data collection methodology, among 222 College Supervisors and Cooperating Teachers. Research questions centered around the status of and relationships among College Supervisor/Cooperating Teacher demographic variables, level of computer experience, computer proficiency, attitude toward technology, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, facilitating conditions, and overall assessment of online student teacher evaluations. Findings indicated that Cooperating Teachers experienced far …

Under Scrutiny, Susan Gracia, Monica Darcy, Marie A. Lynch

Faculty Publications

The National Council for Accreditation in Teacher Education (NCATE) requires advanced programs in schools of education to develop and implement high quality unit assessment systems reflecting their conceptual framework and incorporating candidate proficiencies outlined in professional, state, and institutional standards. This is difficult for advanced level programs that are structured differently, award many types of degrees, and prepare candidates for various teaching and non-teaching roles. Faculty buy-in to unit-level assessment is challenging, as well, and the ways advanced programs choose to implement a unit assessment system are not always psychometrically sound. This article describes the process of revising a units …

Determining Eligibility, Marie A. Lynch

Faculty Publications

This investigation examined the relationship between school-based evaluations and private-agency educational evaluation (IEEs) written reports regarding the identification of children with specific learning disabilities (SLD). Analyses included determining the level of agreement between evaluations, and the procedures used to evaluate the special educational needs of the students assessed. Satisfactory agreement between evaluations was found when a broader spectrum of disability categories was compared, while less agreement was indicated when identifying SLD. The private agency used almost twice as many assessment tools than school-based evaluators to determine eligibility. The need for definitive assessment criteria, and the importance of collaboration among evaluators …

Judging Competence, Marie A. Lynch, Linda Capalbo

Faculty Publications

This study analyzed written records created by college clinical supervisors, of student teaching observations carried out during the Fall 2008 and Spring 2009 semester. Observations, conducted in public schools in a Northeastern state, reflected the dual enrollment status of each student teacher; that is, each candidate was observed, multiple times, in both a general elementary or middle level classroom and in a setting focused on students with special educational needs. The purposes of the analysis were to 1) examine the language used by the observer that both describes and evaluates the student teacher_s performance, particularly as it differentiates levels of …

The Face Of Society, Roger D. Clark, Alex Nunes

Faculty Publications

We have updated Ferree and Hall's (1990) study of the way gender and race are constructed through pictures in introductory sociology textbooks. Ferree and Hall looked at 33 textbooks published between 1982 and 1988. We replicated their study by examining 3,085 illustrations in a sample of 27 textbooks, most of which were published between 2002 and 2006. We found important areas of progress in the presentation of both gender and race as well as significant areas of stasis. The face of society we found depicted in contemporary textbooks was distinctly less likely to be that of a white man, very …

Assessment Governance, Richard R. Weiner, Karl P. Benziger

Faculty Publications

There has emerged a web of exogenous forces emanating from national and regional accreditation associations, particularly a satellite professional association involved in teacher preparation called the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). The reality of this web contradicts the implicit idealist sentiment in John Ishiyama’s report on the “Assessment of Student Outcomes’ meetings at the 2004 TLC where he describes “assessment as a voluntarist/bootstrapping “bottom up” effort of individual faculty members. [PS.27: 3, July 2004, 483-85.] Faculty are increasingly bombarded by outside agencies for standards inventory matrices, evaluation rubrics, and course maps.

Analyzing Csr Implementation With The Rasch Model, Susan Gracia

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this research was to examine the measurement properties of a CSR Implementation Scale developed using classical test theory. Rasch analyses were employed to determine (1) the degree to which the scale meets the assumptions of the Rasch model; 2) the validity and reliability of the scale; 3) how respondents utilize the rating scale; 4) the nature of the continuum of CSR implementation; and 5) ways to optimize scale length, both in terms of eliminating redundancy and adding items where gaps in the continuum of the CSR implementation variable might occur.

Staff Development Strategies And Contexts Associated With Positive Impacts On Teachers_ Attitudes And Practices, Susan Gracia

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to identify staff development strategies, organizational contexts, and teacher characteristics that were associated with positive impacts on teachers_ attitudes and practices. The study focused on 89 elementary teachers in 11 schools across 5 districts, all of whom participated in a state-sponsored staff development project during the 1999/2000 academic year. This staff development initiative was designed to assist teachers in acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary to develop and implement standards-based math instruction and assessment in their classrooms.

Using surveys, interviews, and written teacher logs, data were gathered regarding the amounts and types of staff …

On Students, Standards, Employers And Jobs, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The recent an first national census survey on hiring, training and management practices in business in this country statistically reaffirmed the complaints of business leaders made a decade ago--young people coming out of our schools are not ready nor qualified for the workplace."

Geographically, R.I. Teachers Are Among The Best, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Isn't it time that we recognize the good teachers and good work being done in the schools of this state rather than constantly harping on problems with education and how our students don't measure up to those in other countries?"

The Research Critique Approach To Educating Sociology Students, Rachel I. Filinson, Darek Niklas

Faculty Publications

In recent years, instructors of methods courses have made a repeated plea in pedagogical journals for teaching students research techniques through "doing" or simulating a real project (Ballard 1987; Cutler 1987; Irish 1987; Ransford and Butler 1982; Stoddart 1987; Takata and Leiting 1987; Weiss 1987). Approaches are varied; they include individual, group, or class research projects that generate data for class-specific projects, collect data for external consumption, or use existing data. It is argued that the disembodied knowledge of scientific inquiry presented in the classroom must be supplemented concurrently by an exposure to the actual process of research. Only by …

Multinational Corporate-Investment And Womens' Participation In Higher-Education In Noncore Nations, Roger D. Clark

Faculty Publications

This article posits a theoretical connection between multinational corporate (MNC) investment and women's participation in higher education in noncore nations. It suggests that because MNC investment encourages a "breed-and-feed" ideology for women, the prejudicial hiring of men in high-status occupations, and the lack of state regulation of gender discrimination, its presence skews the demand for higher education away from women. Panel regression analyses of data from 66 noncore and 44 peripheral nations indicate considerable support for this position.

Student Personality Traits And Values Across Generations, Thomas J. Lavin, Richard W. Prull

Faculty Publications

To assess possible generational differences in student personailty traits and values, an analysis was conducted of four samples of college freshman who had completed the Omnibus Personality Inventory (OPI) at intervals spanning 1969 through 1987. A linear increase in impulsivity during that period was the strongest of the observed shifts.

Effects Of A Content Area Reading Course On Teacher Attitudes And Practices, Ezra L. Stieglitz

Faculty Publications

Efforts have been made during the past 10 years to develop the teaching skills of secondary teachers In the area of reading. Not just those designated as reading specialists but other secondary teachers have been called upon to devote more attention to reading skill development in their classes.

A Rating Scale For Evaluating English As A Second Language Reading Material, Ezra L. Stieglitz

Faculty Publications

In the last decade, a wide variety of commercial materials has been published for use in developing the speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills of second language learners. This article focuses on the selection of instructional materials for the reading component of an English as a second language (ESL) program.

Savor The Word To Reinforce Vocabulary In The Content Areas, Ezra L. Stieglitz, Varda S. Stieglitz

Faculty Publications

Success in the content area is determined mainly by the degree to which students master important concepts. This grasp of concepts is the major goal of instruction in all the content areas regardless of the modes of presentation such as reading from a textbook, viewing a filmstrip, or listening to a lecture. Along with concept development, the subject matter teacher must recognize the importance of words, whether printed or spoken, to content area learning. Words and content are inseperable. As Allington and Strange (1980, p. 143) state, "identifying a set of key concepts is primarily a task of identifying the …

Why Busing Plans Work, John A. Finger Jr.

Faculty Publications

The year 1975 has seen a rising opposition to busing for school integration. Advocates of busing are placed in the position of defending the initiation and continuation of busing. Those opposed to busing can have their opposition widely accepted despite the complete lack of analysis of the consequences. Historical injustices against Blacks and minorities are widely known, but much of the public seems unaware of or unconcerned about present injustices and the official acts of discrimination which are still perpetuated.

Academic Motivation And Youth-Culture Involvement, John A. Finger Jr.

Faculty Publications

The increased pressure for enrolment forces more and more colleges to be selective in their admissions procedures. This selection is customarily achieved through the use of aptitude tests combined with a student's high school record. Students are therefore selected on two bases: intelligence and academic motivation, for high school record is one index of the latter. As a result, admission is denied to students with low academic motivation.