Education Commons^™

A Study Of The Effectiveness Of Ixl Math Online Software On Student Achievement In An Urban Middle School, Shawn M. Donnelly,

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of IXL Math online software in raising student achievement on the New York State Math exam, with special focus on effects by student gender, ethnicity and disability status. The study includes an analysis of the relationship between scale scores and time spent using the IXL system, number of problems attempted, and skills mastered. This study is significant because national, state and local measures indicate no measurable improvement in math achievement with an alarming percentage of students scoring below proficient levels. Further, past studies examined teacher perception or student motivation regarding …

Tenured Teacher Motivation For Self-Directed Professional Development In Literacy, Jennifer Lynn Brady

Theses and Dissertations

After receiving tenure, experienced teachers may choose to not participate in professional development opportunities. In fact, tenured teachers may only complete the minimum professional development hours required by their school districts. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the factors that motivated tenured elementary school teachers (grades 3-6) to participate in self-directed professional development (SD-PD) in literacy. This study consisted of six tenured teachers (grades 3-6) who were recruited from three different schools in a suburban elementary school district in Nassau County, New York. Data were collected through one-on-one online interviews, a collection of participants’ written …

Making A Difference By Being Different: An Examination Of Factors That Contribute To Student Success In Alternative Education Programs, Elizabeth Dragone

Theses and Dissertations

Alternative education can provide a pathway to success for students who require a nontraditional approach. Alternative education is neither general education nor special education; rather, it is a setting or program where instruction is provided outside of the traditional school setting, with modifications made to class size, school day and/or delivery of instruction. Research on alternative programs is limited, and further investigation of factors that contribute to the success of students in alternative settings is warranted. New York State has lagged behind many other states in defining alternative education and providing alternative education options for students. The purpose of this …

Educators’ Perceptions Of Benefits And Barriers Of The Inclusion Of Coding In K-8 Curriculum: A Qualitative Study, Jennifer Lynn Dralle-Moreano,

Theses and Dissertations

The 21st century has seen a rapid growth in technological use in schools. Many schools now use computers and other digital devices in order to meet the academic needs of their students. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the benefits and barriers that K-8 educators experienced when integrating or teaching coding curriculum in their classrooms. This qualitative phenomenological study, informed by the Zais model of curriculum design (1976), Johnson (1977), and Beauchamp’s curriculum theory (1968), involved data collection through semi-structured interviews with six K-8 teachers, one instructional leader, one middle school principal, one assistant superintendent, and one …

The Influence Of College-Readiness Testing On High School Students’ And Educators’ Attitudes On Education, Bradley Krauz

Theses and Dissertations

.

College-readiness testing has increased drastically over the last thirty years, with increases in the number of Scholastic Achievement Tests and American College Tests taken by students. The number of Advanced Placement tests has also reached an all-time high. With states using these college-readiness assessments as high-stakes exit tests and the socioeconomic benefits connected to college attendance and graduation, the focus on college-readiness assessment has impacted the classroom environment. With more time spent preparing for college-readiness assessments, the environment in which students interact and grow has evolved. This qualitative case study, informed by Freire’s (2000) “banking concept” of education and …

Nurturing Creative Problem Solving In Social Sciences In Middle School Students, Michele Gaglione

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this non-experimental research study was three-fold: (1) to investigate the relationships among the attributes of creative problem solving ability (divergent thinking, convergent thinking, motivation, general knowledge and skills, and environment) and their relationships in the humanities (specifically those that took enrichment classes in that area), (2) to explore if there were group differences in Creative Problem Solving (CPS) attributes between students that had a high or low perception of class activities as measured by the My Class Activities (MCA) survey, and (3) to explore whether specific components of learning environment were impacted by certain enrichment classes. The …

Korean American Female Educators' Self Concept And Perception Toward School Leadership, Jennifer Hj Kim

Theses and Dissertations

Asian American educators and school leaders’ leading the K-12 educational system have been under researched and under-theorized. Asian American populations is one of the fastest growing populations in the United States, and Asian American educators’ experiences and contributions cannot be ignored in educational policy, teacher education and research. The following study is to contribute to the body of existing research to the voices of Asian American female educators and school leaders through the study of Korean American female educators of long term and short term residents in the U.S.- their self-concept and their experiences that limits or enables them to …

Can A Reform Transform The High School Experience For Latin American Immigrant Students In The Suburbs Of Long Island?, Mariana Gil

Theses and Dissertations

In this phenomenological, qualitative study, the researcher analyzed the lived experiences of Latin American immigrant students in the current school culture in Long Island schools. The purpose of this analysis was to identify a relationship between the school culture and social structure with the academic advancement and overall development of these students. The primary data was collected through individual interviews with the participants. Following a snowball method of research, the participants were carefully selected to represent demographically the general Latin American immigrant population on Long Island, and they included high school graduates and nongraduates to arrive to an effective conclusion. …

Exploring How Faculty Motivations And Professional Development Strategies Influence Digital Literacy Practices In A Study Abroad Program In Italy: A Case Study, Paolo Bartolini

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study research was to explore the multifaceted motivations, perceptions and attitudes that influence digital literacy practices in a small group of study abroad faculty and how professional development can help inspire them to act to innovate their digital literacy practices within a study abroad context. The role of study abroad programs in the U.S. has grown significantly in recent decades. As the number of students participating in these programs continues to increase, so have questions about the role of digital literacy practices in foreign education. Digital literacy embodies a way of learning that focuses …

Student Voice: From Token Participation To Engaged Partnership, Lisa A. Dunn

Theses and Dissertations

The education system is under increased scrutiny, imposed accountability, and transparency while school leaders are expected to seek input from a range of external stakeholders including parents, community officials, organizations, politicians, and businesses to improve schools and increase student achievement (Fullan, 2000). Unfortunately, there is a wealth of untapped insight from key stakeholders and educational beneficiaries, students, who are excluded from sharing their perspectives and ideas in determining school policy and practice (Zion, 2009). Due to their positional lens and unique perspective, designating students as authentic stakeholders so that they have space to participate in the democratic decision-making of educational …

A Quantitative Perspective On The Impact Of The General Education Students’ Academic Achievement And Membership In An Inclusion Class At The High School Level Using New York State Regents Exam Scores, Michelle Kwon-Pineda

Theses and Dissertations

With the increased diversity in our world, the needs of our students are also just as diverse. “Currently, more than half of the K-12 students with special needs are being placed in general education classrooms, demonstrating that the inclusion movement is alive and well in our nation’s public schools” (U.S. Dept. of Ed. 2010). There is a lack of focus on the general education students who also participate in these inclusive settings.

The purpose of this study is to investigate to what extent a high school general education student’s participation in an inclusion class impacts their educational needs using the …

A Case Study Of Trauma-Informed Practice And Implementation To Support Mental Health And Learning In Public School In Suffolk County, New York, Mark Leonidas Palios

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the readiness of school districts in Suffolk County, New York, to implement a trauma-informed system to address the growing needs of mental health interventions in student populations. A review of the literature will show a historical prevalence of mental health providers and individual student interventions within the school building, or in partnership with community agencies. Recent literature shows an increase in school-related issues have origins in student trauma or adverse childhood experiences. The study will examine the issue by conducting a mixed method analysis, using a survey instrument and focus group interviews, …

A Quantitative Study Of The Effects Of A Summer Literacy Camp To Help Mitigate Summer Learning Loss For Students Entering Grades 1-5, Patricia O'Regan

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to see if a summer literacy camp was able to help mitigate summer learning loss for students entering grades 1-5. Students attended a five-week summer program that focused on literacy with a STEM component. Some of the students who attended were economically disadvantaged, some were English Language Learners (ELLs), some were both and others were neither. The one thing they all had in common was that they were all reading below grade level. This study collected reading data from the spring to the fall to see if the summer literacy camp was able to …

Exploring Social Studies Teaching: Student Perspectives Of Teacher Practice In L2 Classrooms, Catrina Rocco,

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the relationship between secondary English learner students’ perspectives of effective teacher practices and how these practices contribute to their self-efficacy in the content area of social studies. As reported by the National Association of Education Progress secondary English learners completed high school at a rate sixty-three percent when compared to the national rate of eighty-two percent in 2017. Comparatively, in New York the statewide graduation rate for these two groups was thirty-seven and seventy-eight percent. In New York State social studies is the only content area where high school students are …

Teacher Perceptions & Practice Of Technology Integration Before And After Picrat Matrix Professional Development Intervention, Donald H. Heberer Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Professional development provides support and training to teachers using new technologies. Several educational technology models, guidelines, and frameworks have provided educators a guide to effective technology integration. Building upon previous models like the SAMR model (Puentedura, 2013), the TPCK model (Misrah and & Koehler, 2005), and the RAT model (Hughes, 1998), a new model called the PICRAT matrix (Kimmons, 2018) has emerged. PICRAT accounts for both the student’s interaction with educational technology and the teacher's use of technology in instructional practice. The purpose of this study was to examine teacher perceptions and instructional practice on educational technology before and after …

The Impact Of Math Placement Guidelines On Community College Student Outcomes, Karen A. Pepe,

Theses and Dissertations

For most students entering a community college, placement tests have become a high-stakes venture as it is often a placement test score alone that determines whether a student is considered college-ready (Scott-Clayton, 2012). The purpose of this study was to assess the math placement, persistence, and retention of first-time community college students from fall 2016 through fall 2019 at one community college located in the Northeast. Students in these cohorts were assigned to introductory math courses based on two different sets of placement guidelines. The first set of guidelines relied more heavily on a single test score, while newly developed …

Examining The Learning Communities Of Two High Schools In An Urban School District, Matel Hanna Hassan, Ed.D.

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to examine the impact of teacher collaboration in an early college high school (ECHS) and a traditional high school as it relates to student

achievement among high school students and on other factors that distinguish an ECHS

from a traditional high school. The ECHS refers to a specific high school model created

to serve traditionally underrepresented students in higher education. Students enroll in

dual credit courses, most often beginning sophomore year. A traditional high school

setting refers to courses that offer students the high school credits and prepare them for

the basic state …

A Case Study On The Implementation Process Of The Leader In Me, Krystina Nicole White

Theses and Dissertations

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams

The purpose of this explanatory, sequential design, mixed methodology case study was to examine the implementation process of The Leader in Me at a suburban elementary school. In the study, the researcher examined the actions that educational leaders took to implement The Leader in Me and examined the challenges that leaders faced throughout the implementation process within a suburban elementary school.

The Leader in Me is an evidence-based, social-emotional, learning process that (a) was developed in partnership …

The Impact Of A Writing Center On Retention, Persistence, And Success At An Open Enrollment Campus, Aisha Maunda Williams

Theses and Dissertations

College writing center practices differ greatly from the types of conventional writing instruction students and faculty are used to in classrooms. While conventional college lectures typically lead to a summative assessment in the form of grades based on students’ performance on high-stakes assignments, writing centers are seen as tutoring centers where students can receive more personalized attention in the form of formative assessment practices and a process oriented approach to instruction prior to receiving summative evaluations from lecturers. This study measured whether or not there was a relationship between writing center visits and student outcomes as they related to retention …

The Analysis Of A Multi-Year Mentoring Program And Its Long-Term Effects On Teacher Self-Efficacy, Kelly Marzocchi

Theses and Dissertations

Preparing novice staff through induction programs is essential for teacher retention and student achievement. The purpose of the current research was to determine the impact of teacher participation in a multi-year mentoring program, teachers’ years of experience, and school-level taught as they relate to the self-efficacy scores of teachers. A non-experimental design was conducted with data collected through online surveys, voluntarily completed by 110 teachers across grades K-12, from a suburban school district nearby a large metropolitan city in the northeastern United States. The Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001) was used to measure teacher self-efficacy in …

Analyzing Factors That Contribute To Technology Use: A Case Study On The Use Of Instructional Technology In A Suburban Middle School, Marlee Caroline Rice

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Reading Builds Empathy: Piloting A Literacy Tool To Measure Reading's Impact On Kids' Empathy Development, Valerie Lorene Williams-Sanchez

Theses and Dissertations

Culturally Relevant Pedagogical (CRP; Ladson-Billings, 1995) and textual strategic approaches to reading development are gaining acceptance and broader usage among students of all ages and walks of life. With this shift, quantitative measures of efficacy can confirm, bolster, and source new policies and strategies for implementation in new and existing learning frontiers that engage at-home reading and family literacy practices. To this end, the Reading Builds Empathy literacy study seeks to develop and pilot a new instrument to be used in future intervention studies. Focusing on the active ingredient of culturally relevant pedagogy, empathy, and its three dimensions (affective, cognitive, …

Exploring First Year Students’ Interest In Reading Academic Texts In An Urban Community College Composition Classroom, Adele J. Doyle

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores how the construct of interest may influence first-year community college students’ willingness to engage with academic text assignments. Research on interest theory as presented by Renninger (2009) suggests that students, even those with low self-efficacy or regulation, are more likely to make gains in engagement and/or academic progress, dependent upon how interested those students are in the texts assigned by their teacher. Students from two 2020 spring semester first-year composition courses at a Northeast metropolitan community college were provided with 6 potential academic reading assignments on diverse topics. Students were asked to select one assignment, read it, …

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 …

The Virtual Teaching Experience With Google Classroom During Covid-19: A Phenomenological Study, Morlena Titanya Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

Technology has been the highlight of the 21st century, and its rapid advancement has undeniably changed the world we live in today. The field has been saturated by digital applications (apps) such as Facetime, WhatsApp, GroupMe, and a plethora of educational apps such as Math Series, The Elements, and History Tools. Additional apps have magnified in popularity since the world moved to virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic which devastated the global economy and shut down in person education systems around the globe. Google Classroom from G-Suite for Education was immediately embraced to facilitate the educational process allowing students and …

The Impact Of Graphing Calculators On The Mathematics Achievement Of Black Females, Tonya Bates

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the effect of the usage of graphing calculators on Black Females' mathematics achievement on the 12th grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). This non-experimental research study will analyze the 2015 NAEP publicly available data set, using the twelfth-grade sample, examining their overall math achievement compared to graphing calculator usage, race, gender, and socioeconomic status.

Four regressions will be used to analyze factors created from the twelfth-grade NAEP student surveys, with test results as the dependent variable. The regressions will use race, gender, socioeconomic status., and graphing calculator usage in the classroom as independent variables, and the …

Project Based Learning In Urban Public School Education And Its Impact On Academic Achievement And School Environment, Nayeon Naomi Hwang

Theses and Dissertations

Thinking creatively and critically, demonstrating effective problem-solving skills, and communicating powerfully and compellingly to a wide range of audiences, are undoubtedly some of the most important skills necessary for success in our global society. The purpose of this study is to explore the connection between the development of students’ creativity and problem-solving skills to academic achievement. This study examines schools that emphasize the development of students’ problem-solving skills by employing project-based learning (PBL) as a core method of instruction, and its impact on students’ academic achievement in English Language Arts and in mathematics. This study also examines the impact of …

Theory And Practice: Phonological Awareness Instructional Methods Used In Deaf Education, Mary Cantino

Theses and Dissertations

An inequality in literacy rates exists between deaf children and their hearing peers. Research indicates that visual phonic interventions such as Visual Phonics used alongside a phonics program enhances grapheme-phoneme correspondence. That practice in turn improves overall literacy achievement. However, as rates deaf literacy continue to lag ongoing research indicates that teachers may be ill prepared to use research-based interventions. This study seeks to identify the frequency of teacher implementation of Visual Phonics interventions as well as their exposure to these interventions via teacher education and professional development. This study will investigate if the presence of these elements by using …

International Baccalaureate Primary Years Teachers´ Perceptions On Educating Students With Dyslexia, Jennifer Preschern

Theses and Dissertations

Global organizations, such as the United Nations, have increasingly focused on ensuring that students with special needs are receiving high quality education. With schools in over 158 countries worldwide, the International Baccalaureate (IB) system provides an ideal forum to investigate if students with dyslexia globally are receiving adequate instruction. Yet, there is a general lack of research investigating IB schools, specifically for students with learning differences such as dyslexia. Providing a curriculum framework for students ages three to 12, the Primary Years Program (PYP) forms the foundation of the IB system. This quantitative research study used online survey methods to …

Access To Opportunity: School Choice And The Experiences Of Non-English-Speaking Latino Families In New York City, Christian Toala

Theses and Dissertations

Districts across the United States have embraced school choice as a means to improve educational outcomes. Independent and charter management organization backed schools have entered the public educational market in an attempt to provide parents with more educational options. The marketing and branding of public schools, both traditional and charter, has also increased as schools and districts compete to attract more students. Furthermore, in addition to this school system, the Catholic school system of New York continues to increase its competitive strive in enrollment. In New York City, there has been an increase in charter school applications and in the …