Education Commons^™

A Comparison Of The Effects Of Full Day Versus Half Day Kindergarten Programs, Deborah C. Gaw

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if the children in full day kindergarten programs made greater gains when compared to half day kindergarten programs as measured by an informal teacher made kindergarten screening test.

The subjects of this study were 81 kindergarten students (40 girls, 41 boys) from two elementary schools in southern New Jersey. Thirty-nine (39) students were enrolled in the full day program, and 42 were enrolled in the half day program. Both groups were pretested with a teacher made kindergarten screening test in the beginning of the school year (September/October) and then post tested in …

An Investigation Of Food Related Versus Socialization Deficits In A Group Of Prader-Willi Syndrome Adults, Janet T. Fioresi

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency of behavior incidents of adults in a group home setting who have been diagnosed with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS), to determine if the behaviors are more frequently related to food issues or socialization problems with peers and/or staff. It was hypothesized that documented behavior incidents were more frequently due to socialization problems.

The sample for this study consisted of eight adults medically diagnosed with PWS in a group home setting. All participants' Behavior Incident Forms (BIR's) were looked at throughout a two year period from January 1, 1996 to December 31, …

An Assessment Of Learning Disabilities Teacher Consultant Role Functions, Jacqueline Delisi D'Auria

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to survey currently employed Learning Disability Teacher Consultants in Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester counties for an assessment of their current job priorities, as related to the five role responsibilities, as well as their perceived competencies within their role functions. Thirty-six questionnaires were mailed; a 66 percent return was obtained. Percentages were computed to determine the rank order of importance assigned to the role functions. A rank order of the list of competencies was determined for both the average ratings of importance and the average ratings of proficiency.

The LDT-C ranked the role responsibilities as …

A Handbook Of Exemplary Training Activities To Improve Access And Success In Higher Education For Students With Learning Disabilities, Heidi M. Mcgarvey

Theses and Dissertations

The number of learning disabled students attending colleges and universities has increased dramatically in the last ten to fifteen years placing greater demands on college personnel to keep abreast of effective service models and educational interventions for this population.

This project attempted to develop an exemplary model to be used by campus disability service coordinators to provide information and technical assistance to members of the post-secondary and high school community in order to enhance educational opportunities for individuals with learning disabilities.

Information for the project was compiled, analyzed, and evaluated from current literature, professional and peer practices, and the writer's …

An Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of Phonemic Awareness Instruction In A Multiply Handicapped Kindergarten Classroom, Janice A. Sanders

Theses and Dissertations

This study is an evaluation of the development of pre-reading skills in kindergarten children in a Multiply Handicapped program. Phonemic awareness activities from the Project ASSIST Kindergarten Curriculum were used to supplement traditional kindergarten instruction in the experimental group. Two kindergarten classrooms for children with Multiple Handicaps comprised the sample (N = 13). The control group had five students, while the experimental group had eight. Instruction in phonemic awareness was delivered to the experimental group for a period of approximately four months. A variety of multi-sensory activities were used daily in the classroom in addition to the kindergarten curriculum. The …

An Internship Experience In Educational Leadership At Berlin Community School In Berlin, New Jersey, Kathleen L. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop a district-wide grading policy to create consistency and fairness among grading procedures.

The intern developed a grading policy committee which included both male and female, veteran and first year teachers. It had a teacher from each grade level.

This committee developed guidelines and criteria for issuing grades for students in Kindergarten through 2nd grade and 3rd through 8th grade.

Data collection was obtained by using three instruments. The first instrument was the policy development committee which, through communication with their colleagues, established a grading policy. The second instrument was a staff survey …

An Intern's Experience In Educational Leadership At Salem County Special Services School District, Kathleen A. Mccarthy

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was in fact a growing number of minority students in special education, if minority staff in special education were being hired in proportion to the number of minority students coming to this particular school district, and finally, whether or not the district was addressing cultural diversity among the staff and student populations due to the increase in minority students.

Initially, a questionnaire was developed for the students. One site in the district was targeted because it had thirty-five emotionally disturbed students. Nineteen emotionally disturbed high school minority students were interviewed. …

Introduction To The Fundamentals Of Chemistry, Rose C. Knowles

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis designs a curriculum to fulfill the charter of the Community college in providing an opportunity for an individual student whether traditional or non-traditional to prepare to become more proficient in chemical understanding and be able to apply the concepts and knowledge taught to a career or advanced study. The curriculum should benefit those individuals who either lack or have a poor background in chemistry and strengthen their reasoning ability. This paper presents a comprehensive comparison of textbooks currently being published for introductory chemistry. Texts reviewed were readily found on library shelves and supplied through major distributors; chemical journals …

A Mentorship Study Program At Monongahela Middle School, Carolyn Morehead

Theses and Dissertations

A mentorship program for ten students was established at Monongahela Middle School. The purpose of this program was for ten at risk students to pass all their subjects through the motivation of a mentorship program. The sample population consisted of those students that failed three or more subjects in the seventh grade. As a result they were either socially promoted, sent to summer school, or retained. The mentors consisted of seven classroom teachers, two guidance counselors, and one librarian. Mentors were encouraged to meet with their students twice a week for approximately ten minutes and make some form of contact …

A Systemic Plan To Improve The Writing Skills Of Students In A Secondary Computer Writing Laboratory, Cherie L. Hill

Theses and Dissertations

This report describes the process used, for an urban high school with a student population of approximately 1,250 students, to investigate the existing writing programs offered to students. The preliminary research indicated a 10% decline in the number of students who pass the writing component of the New Jersey High School Proficiency Test.

Proposed preliminary investigation strategies include (a) interviews with writing teachers, regular English teachers, and teachers in other academic disciplines; (b) a review of documents such as district writing test results, courses of study, individual student writing reports, and grade point averages and English course grades; (c) observations …

An Internship Experience In Educational Leadership At Cherokee High School In Marlton, New Jersey, Jeffrey S. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to implement an in-school suspension program to change students' attitudes and provide alternatives to negative behavior. This was achieved by obtaining information from other schools about their ISS programs. It was then determined what would constitute an effective program at Cherokee. Meetings were held with every department to explain how the program would operate and the teachers' role for the success of the program. The various elements of ISS were explained. They included students being in the safe environment of the school, students not missing school work, not providing for a mini-vacation, and follow-up …

An Internship Experience In Educational Leadership In The Pitman School District, Eileen P. Roberts

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to study the observation instrument and job description of an instructional aide, evaluating each for its relevancy and updating where necessary. Instructional aides and administrators were inserviced to ensure everyone's understanding of job expectations and indicators for evaluation. Classroom instruction would be enhanced by achieving uniformity in evaluation and knowing the value of the job.

All twelve instructional aides completed a survey and were interviewed, answering questions about the responsibilities of his/her job. Through this process, the intern determined the need for a revised job description and evaluation instrument. Samples of job descriptions and …

An Internship Experience To Improve The School Climate At Upper Pittsgrove School Through The Teaching Of Courteous Behaviors And Service, Susan Perna

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to provide evidence to support the statement that all students will be able to follow a basic code of courteous behaviors and participate in service learning during school to improve the climate of the school and to produce a caring community. Surveys were administered to the staff and students at the beginning, midpoint, and end of the year to assess the current school climate conditions. A daily tabulation of behavior incidents was used as a statistical comparison to last year's to determine whether the program had any effect on reducing the number of behavior …

An Examination Of The Positive And Negative Effects Of Retention, Michelle M. Sabia

Theses and Dissertations

Each year many students are misplaced in grade levels and are unable to meet academic expectations. As a result, school administrators, teachers and parents are faced with finding a solution to these children's educational problems. Retention is one alternative that is often considered. Due to the frequency of this practice along with limited options, it is important to look at the academic effects of retention on students. Using teachers' report cards and standardized test results, the effects of retention were studied in six elementary school students. Using a combination of factors including literature reviews and the results of this study, …

Do Smaller Classes Mean Greater Academic Achievement In High School Biology Classes?, Elaine Awalt

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if students in small classes would show greater academic achievement in high school biology classes. The study involved two high school biology classes, one with an enrollment of 20 students, and one with an enrollment of 25 students. Both groups of students were given pretests on the subject of invertebrates. A four week study of this topic followed. Teaching techniques and assignments were identical for the two groups. At the end of the four week study a posttest was given to all students.

The results of the pre and posttest were then …

The Relationships Among First Grade Students' Tonal Aptitude, Singing Vocal Development, And Developmental Age, Florence Tavani

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a correlation between developmental age and scores achieved on music ability tests.

The problem of this study was to determine the relationships among the Primary Measure of Music Audiation and the Singing Voice Development Measure and the Gesell School Readiness Test.

Sixty-three students in grade one of the Indian Mills Elementary school took part in this study. All of these students had been tested with the Gesell School Readiness Test prior to entering first grade. This test consisted of eight subtests requiring such tasks as cube stacking, verbal …

The Effects Of Harmonic Accompaniment On The Music Achievement, Aptitude, And Musical Effectiveness Of First Grade Children, Ruth Pelphrey

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to determine how harmonic accompaniments affect first grade children. The specific problems of the study were to understand how harmonic accompaniments affect children in their 1) tonal development, 2) use of their voice, and 3) interest in singing. Furthermore, a fourth problem was to determine the relationships among interest in singing, use of singing voice, and tonal development.

One hundred and six first grade students in five classes were randomly selected to participate in this study. There were three treatment groups; one received song instruction with the accompaniment of piano/guitar, the second used CD …

Internship In Supervision And Curriculum Development In The Millville Public Schools, Millville, New Jersey, 1996-1997, Debra G. Wenrick

Theses and Dissertations

The internship in Supervision and Curriculum Development provided the intern the opportunity to develop and strengthen leadership skills required for educational administrators for the 21st century.

The internship focused on the following projects: 1) the development of a balanced curriculum for the district's bilingual summer enrichment program, 2) the facilitation of a collegial sharing of ideas learned at out-of-district workshops, 3) the piloting of a teacher-centered revision of the district's evaluation system, 4) a teacher-led workshop to encourage the use of CD-ROM technology as an instructional tool and 5) the implementation of cross-age tutoring.

The following recommendations were made: 1) …

The Effect Of Coeducational And Same-Sex Cooperative Learning Groups On Achievement, Michelle L. Rodier

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of coeducational and same sex cooperative learning groups on the achievement of first grade students. It is hypothesized that the academic performance of students in all subject areas while participating in a "same-sex cooperative learning group" will exceed their performance in the "coeducational learning group." The subjects of this study were twenty-two first grade students from a southern New Jersey community. This study was divided into two experimental cycles – cycle A and cycle B. Cycle A included three weeks of coeducational cooperative learning groups and cycle B included three …

Self-Concept In Gifted Children: A Developmental And Comparative Study, Sherri L. Evangelista

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the various dimensions of self-concept in gifted children, to compare self-concept in gifted and nongifted children, and to attempt to discover a relationship between self-concept and achievement in gifted children. The 25 subjects who participated in this study were a sample of gifted students taken from a population of 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students enrolled in a public elementary school in a suburban area in southern New Jersey. The Self-Perception Profile for Children (Harter, 1985) was used to assess self-concept. Mean self-concept scores and standard deviations were calculated for each subscale. …

Effects Of Choice Restriction On The Intrinsic Motivation To Produce Creative Products, Karen M. Suloff

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess whether choice restriction decreased intrinsic motivation for a task resulting in a less creative product. The study focused on two kindergarten classes in a half day school setting. The students were to make collages. The students were either given choice or no choice of materials when making their collage. The morning class was given choice of materials. They were allowed to freely choose what they wanted from the boxes of materials. The afternoon class was given no choice of materials. They were given materials chosen by the experimenter. Two weeks later the …

The Effects Of Social And Tangible Reinforcement On Vocabulary Acquisition In Whole Language, Carolyn M. Brida

Theses and Dissertations

In this study the effects of social and tangible reinforcement in whole language was measured. The purpose was to determine if there were any significant effects of the various treatment conditions on vocabulary acquisition.

Social reinforcement and tangible reinforcement are used to motivate students to perform (Neihoff & Mesch, 1991) and achieve (Hitz & Driscoll, 1989). The academic performance and achievement of students in the area of vocabulary acquisition is an important part of the academic process. Vocabulary remains a key focus in education (Nagy, 1988). Whole language programs include vocabulary acquisition (Blachowicz & Fisher, 1996).

The sample for this …

Reading Attitude And Academic Achievement In Third, Fourth, And Fifth Grade Children, Denise L. Moretz

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if a correlation existed between reading attitudes and academic achievement of elementary school children in grades three, four, and five. Also, the researcher wanted to determine if variables such as gender or time in school affected the relationship between reading attitude and academic achievement.

The subjects consisted of seventy students from three intact classrooms. This study took place in a middle class suburban elementary school in southern New Jersey. Twenty-seven students were from third grade, twenty-one students were from fourth grade, and twenty-two students were from fifth grade, Thirty-eight females and thirty-two …

The Effect Of Gender And Birth Order On Reading And Mathematics Achievement Among Third Grade Students, Laurie D. Rosenberg-Asch

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine that there was no significant correlation between the effect of gender and birth order on reading and mathematics achievement among third grade students.

The sample in this study consisted of students in a third grade class, in a public elementary school in a suburban school district in southern New Jersey. The sample was comprised of forty randomly selected students from two third grade classes in the school. Twenty students were female, and twenty students were male.

Interim report cards were used as the instrument to determine achievement in reading and mathematics. The …

Vocabulary Acquisition Of Target Words By Second Grade Students Through Storybook Read-Aloud Sessions, Joann Ulbrich

Theses and Dissertations

The effects of three conditions of vocabulary presentation were examined to determine which method is optimal for vocabulary acquisition of the meanings of unfamiliar words in elementary school students. The design of this study was similar to that used by A. Brett, L. Rothlein, and M. Hurley (1996). Three intact classes of second grade students, N = 59, in a suburban area in Southern New Jersey were randomly assigned to a control group, a group where students received no explanations of target words when they were read a storybook aloud, or a group where students received brief explanations of target …

The Relationship Of Attendance (Absenteeism) To Achievement And To Single-Parent And Two-Parent Home Status, Kristi H. Weikel

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a significant correlation between student attendance and overall achievement level. This study also investigated if there was a significant difference in the absentee rate of students from single-parent homes versus students from two-parent homes.

The sample in this study consisted of one hundred and thirty-five fourth grade students from an elementary school in southern New Jersey. This was the entire fourth grade population for this district. The school was located in a suburban area.

The report cards were used to determine the grade point averages for the students. Their …

A Parent And Student Handbook For The Howard M. Phifer Middle School, Valerie Anne O'Brien

Theses and Dissertations

This study was undertaken to determine if there was any significant difference in the expressed needs of the parents and students of the Howard M. Phifer Middle School and the expressed information in various districts' middle school handbooks.

The sample in this study was one hundred and thirty-five randomly selected sixth graders in the Howard M. Phifer Middle School, Pennsauken, New Jersey and their parents.

The sixth grade students and their parents responded to a twenty-five question needs assessment. A comparison of other districts' middle school handbooks was also used to compile information for a middle school handbook for Howard …

A Comparison Of Multiage Education And Graded Education In The Areas Of Academics, Social Skills And Attitudes Of Participants, Cheryl L. Buff

Theses and Dissertations

This study compared the effects of multiage education and graded education on academic performance, social skills development and parent, student and teacher attitudes toward school.

The 34 multiage students and the 27 graded students were assessed through curriculum based tests and informal reading inventories. Statistical analyses were completed A significant difference was found.

Both groups of students completed a social skills development survey. Cafeteria/playground aides were surveyed and discipline referrals were examined to find the percentage of students in each group who received a detention for a discipline violation. Data was collected, and statistically analyzed. No significant difference was found. …

Accelerated Reader: A Study Of The Effects On Reading Comprehension And Attitudes In The Fifth Grade, Christine Welk Clegg

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if fifth graders, using the Accelerated Reader, a computer-based reading motivation and management program, will demonstrate an increase in reading comprehension scores as tested by their performance in a pre and posttest using the reading comprehension portion of the Metropolitan Achievement Tests. This study will also measure any increase in favorable reading attitudes as measured by a pre and posttest using the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey by McKenna and Kear.

Two classes were selected from the fifth grade at D'Ippolito Intermediate School in Vineland, New Jersey to participate in this study. Both …

A Preliminary Study Of New Jersey's Charter Schools, Carol Sowney Datz

Theses and Dissertations

Charter schools have recently become an innovative method of educating a portion of today's students. A charter school is a deregulated public school that is performance-based. It operates under a charter (contract) between people who want to start a school and an official body authorized to grant a charter.

On January 11, 1996, New Jersey Governor Christine T. Whitman signed into law The Charter School Program Act of 1995. This act enabled the beginning of New Jersey charter schools. This study investigates the paths New Jersey's eighteen approved charter schools are taking. Becoming familiar with the Charter School Program Act …