Education Commons^™

Paraprofessional Training Materials, Program Implementation & Review, Breann Brewer

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

If ever you enter a special education classroom, you may encounter a few events. You may witness a classroom of impressive, almost automatic interactions, delivered in a way so eloquent that the students and staff seem to be in an effortless dance with one another. Or, you may witness a classroom that feels heavy with needs; needs of more staff, more help, more hands, and more time. This visual exercise demonstrates how the structure of a special education classroom sets the tone for student growth and success.

One pivotal part of a special education classroom is the paraeducators. Paraeducators, also …

Investigating Relationships Among Measures Of English And Chinese Handwriting Fluency In Early-Elementary Chinese Dual Language Immersion Students, Petra Mei Wah Sin Chou

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between English and Chinese handwriting fluency measures in early-elementary Chinese Dual Language Immersion students. This was done by conducting five handwriting fluency tasks among Chinese Dual Language Immersion students and comparing the findings. First, the findings showed that there was a moderate correlation between the participants' English and Chinese handwriting fluencies and that English fluencies predicted Chinese fluencies. However, the students could write English numbers and letters much faster than Chinese characters. Second, as expected, Chinese DLI participants showed that handwriting fluency improved as grade level increased. Third, third-grade students …

The Relationship Between Discipline-Specific Subject Matter Knowledge And Discipline-Specific Science Teaching Efficacy Of Elementary Teachers, Douglas Ball

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Because a teacher's confidence in their ability to teach science is associated with instructional methods and their persistence in the face of challenges, improving science teaching confidence becomes critical for improving science teaching of young children. Science teaching confidence also varies by discipline for elementary teachers: physical science teaching confidence tends to measure lower than life science. This discrepancy leads to elementary teachers engaging in less effective science teaching practices with physical science than life science. A teacher's subject matter knowledge influences their confidence in their ability to teach that subject. Subject matter knowledge impacts science teaching confidence because when …

A Mixed-Methods Study Investigating How A Video Club Professional Development Relates To Teachers' Mindsets, Beliefs, And Reflections On Instructional Practices, Amy Lynn Kinder

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

One of the most significant barriers to changing instructional practices is often the teacher's mindsets and beliefs about teaching and learning mathematics. This study identifies a promising new type of video club professional development that supports teachers in examining their instructional practices and mindsets. This is an important addition to the field due to educators and researchers are just beginning to understand more about how mindset mediates and filters belief systems that impact how instruction is implemented. The purpose of this convergent parallel mixed-methods study is to provide a deeper understanding of how the experience of engaging in video club …

Myside Bias Shifting In The Written Arguments Of First Year Composition Students, Lezlie Christensen-Branum

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation reports on research conducted to better understand how college student writers learned to work against their own biases as they researched and wrote arguments. I conducted a review of former studies to design a curriculum that would help students avoid bias and increase their ability to write arguments tailored to specific readers in ways that accomplish their goals. This review also informed the kinds of data to be collected and analyzed in order to accomplish the research goal, which was to understand whether and how each of seven students enrolled in a composition course reduced their biases. I …

The Experience Of Becoming A Teacher Leader, Cory G. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Teacher leadership has become an increasingly important aspect of school reform and evaluation. Teacher leadership is often viewed as teachers leading either through formal positions or influencing others informally. There is a lot of research describing the benefits of teacher leadership, but there is little that describes the process of a teacher leader and the effects this experience has on the teacher leaders themselves. This study examines the experience of becoming a teacher leader as viewed through interviews with 11 junior high school teachers from a single school district.

The findings of this study suggest the importance of initial events, …

Using Video Modeling To Teach Staff How To Implement Preference Assessments, Megan Weaver

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Identification of reinforcers through preference assessments for individuals with disabilities is an important task because it increases the probability of skill development, including academic tasks, self-help skills, social skills, and behavior modification. Teachers of students with disabilities often experience problems with training paraprofessionals to implement preference assessments using written instructions alone. In this study, researchers will investigate whether video modeling will be more effective than written instruction to staff to implement preference assessments. Participants will include three to five paraprofessionals in a classroom setting with no previous behavior analysis training on preference assessments and three to five students in a …

A Qualitative Exploration Of The Current State Of Observation And Feedback In The Seminaries And Institutes Of Religion Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Christopher B. Garner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

While the Seminaries and Institutes of Religion (S&I) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints expect supervisors of teachers to observe teachers regularly and provide feedback, they have not provided those supervisors with adequate training materials, or explained how these supervisors are expected to accomplish this.

For this study, three administrators and three teachers were interviewed about their experiences with observation and feedback in S&I. Their responses provided clarification on the purposes of observation and feedback, revealed that a lack of supervisor training has resulted in teachers’ experiences with observation and feedback being different from administrator’s expectations in …

Historical Analysis Of Leadership Theory In The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints And Its Educational System, Kevin D. Whitehead

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

An organization’s leadership theory acts as a collection of primary guiding characteristics which influence its identity and direction. Developing leaders has always been important for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Historically, the Church has promoted leadership ideals for all its members through various aspects of its doctrine and organization. This study provides an analysis of multiple leadership texts produced by the ecclesiastical and educational wings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The study helps to reveal how Latter-day Saint leadership theory has developed over time. This study considers the unfolding of Latter-day Saint leadership …

Changing The World Through The Word: Developing Critical Consciousness Through Multicultural Children’S Literature With Critical Literacy In An Elementary Classroom, Hyekyoung Lee

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to explore how fifth graders develop critical consciousness regarding the self and the world through critical literacy approaches using multicultural children’s literature. I employed Lewison, Flint, and Van Sluys’ four dimensions of critical literacy. I used a qualitative case study to design, frame and conduct this study in order to collect data and examine students’ cultural patterns including values, beliefs, behaviors, and language that they enacted in the critical literacy practices. I collected data through classroom observations, semi-structured students and teacher interviews, informal conversation, researcher’s reflective journal entries and field notes, and student-made artifacts. …

Spanish-Speaking Parents' Negotiation Of Language And Culture With Their Children's Schools, Ronda L. Bickmore

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Latinos are now the largest public school minority population in the U.S. Because of a shift in the states, cities, and counties where Latinos are choosing to live, many schools that did not previously serve substantial numbers of Latinos are doing so now. Additionally, many of the Latinos in these new settlement areas are recent immigrants who speak little or no English. This qualitative study examined how immigrant Latino parents who speak little or no English supported their children in the English-speaking school system of the U.S. It specifically examined how 12 Spanish-speaking parents negotiated language and culture with their …

A History Of The Development Of Charter School Legislation In Utah, Marlies Burns

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Utah Legislature enacted charter school legislation in 1998 in order to offer the state's first school-choice option. The legislation came following a task force discussion about the pros and cons of school choice and what school choice should look like in Utah. There was not agreement among task force constituents about what should be contained in the legislation, nor which entity should be responsible for the monitoring or oversight of the eight pilot charter schools.

Since enactment, Utah charter school legislation has changed during most legislative sessions with some establishing stronger charter school laws and some establishing weaker ones. …

A Study Of The Homeroom Program In Three Senior High Schools In Utah, Ida D. Draayer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The function of the secondary school is to help each individual develop and direct all of his potentialities. It should seek to help boys and girls find their rightful places as citizens in a democratic world. The fact that each individual is different presents a distinct challenge, and the secondary school is capable of meeting this challenge of individual development if the homeroom functions as it should.

A Critical Survey Of Elementary School Playgrounds In Cache And Box Elder Counties, Thomas Cracas

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

One of the fundamental needs of elementary school children is to develop their motor systems by means of physical activities adequately suited to their representative age groups. In so doing, opportunities are provided for sociological and psychological requirements essential in developing a healthy, confident individual capable and willing to accept social and family obligations and responsibilities. This infers that an essential function of the school is to provide appropriate areas, facilities, and equipment for such activities. It also suggests that the playground be an integral element of a modern school.

The purpose of this study was: (1) to construct check …

A Study Of The Sequence Of The Professional Education Program For Elementary School Teachers At Utah State University, Christopher Lee Colston

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Education, like any other profession, is responsible for constant improvement. The professional teacher education institutions are constantly looking for ways of improving professional teacher education programs. The course sequence of the teacher education program is an area for continual improvement. Every teacher educator has a theory as to what is the best teacher education program and what is the best sequence for this theory program. The literature has revealed very little in the area of a sequence for the teacher education program.

A Study Of Two Groups Of Superior Students At The Logan Junior High School, Rudgar H. Daines

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Educators have long been aware of the varied needs, abilities, and interests of children. They have tried to provide proper curriculum, materials, and methods to meet the wide range of abilities that exists in every classroom. Despite the attempt of the schools to provide for the particular needs of the individuals, the gifted students continue as a neglected segment in our schools. Because of other pressing educational problems, the awareness of their needs has been somewhat pushed into the background, and only through the present demand for greater leadership in our country and for the optimum use of our manpower, …

Comparison Of Two Plans For Administration Organization Of The School Districts Of Sanpete County, Leon F. Christiansen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Educational administration exists to develop and guide the educational program. Every local public school system is a legal agency of the state for the conduct of public education. State laws usually set up the administrative units for school districts and places upon local boards of education the responsibility for the management of the local schools. Such boards represent the people of the state, and the district, and they perform a large number of legally designated functions.

The constitution of the State of Utah states clearly the responsibility for the maintenance and establishment of the schools. The following are extracts from …

The Status Of The Elementary School Principalship In Utah, Sherman Hansen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The aim of this study is to record the status of the elementary school principalship in the State of Utah during the 1951-1952 school year.

The problem arose from a situation in which the writer, as President of the Utah Elementary School Principal's Association, was continually asked questions pertaining to the status of this group, and because there was a scarcity of current information available upon which to base reliable answers to these requests.

This situation led to the formulation of the study herein presented--a survey of conditions as they existed in Utah during the 1951-1952 school year. It should …

An Evaluation Of The Willard School As A Community-Centered School, Vaughn Wassom

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Every community must be provided with an educational program attuned to community life. It must provide for increased efficiency in production and widom in consumption. It must train in the ideals, the skills, and the habits essential to the highest level of home and community life. To this end there must be well trained, resourceful teachers who work under conditions that elicit their best efforts. There must be a curriculum that embraces community experiences and physical facilities that promote economy and efficiency of effort (12).

Schools can and should make a difference in their communities. As society's special agencies for …

Relative Curricular Emphasis In Some Utah High Schools During The 1941-1951 Years, Edward W. Payne

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

To have a sound and complete philosophy of education is a relative must for all people concerned with the teaching of children. Fortunate is the school whose administration and faculty have in common a functional definition of the term "curriculum" and its place in their total philosophy of education. The school program of only a few decades ago consisted of the strict disciplinary type of teaching, with only a few available subjects which were intended to develop the total capacities of the student. The new philosophy recognizes the variation in students as individuals. One must not assume that there is …

An Analysis Of School Drop-Outs At Tooele High School, Franklin Whitehouse

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study of approximately 50 early school drop-outs is an effort to find out why so many boys and girls leave school before they complete their high school course. We need to know the basic reasons that prompt their decisions, not the superficial excuses that appear on many school records. The study was undertaken in the belief that when the causes are understood, they can be remedied through measures to provide adequate programs of student aid. If it is because of lack of interest in school, this, too, can be remedied through changes in school programs to make them mean …

Occupations Of State Farmers In Utah, Evan J. Memmott

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Future Farmer of America organization had its birth in Utah in 1929. It is a national organization of farm boys, registered in Vocational Agriculture in high school. There are four grades of membership based upon achievement. These are (1) Green Hand, (2) Chapter Farmer, (3) State Farmer, and (4) American Farmer.

Snow College, Its Founding And Development, Ross Partington Findlay

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

It is the purpose of this thesis to give an account of significant events in the founding and development of the school, now known as "Snow College", during the founding and maintenance by the Latter-day Saint Church.

This study is confined to the forty-four years the institution was under the control of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and deals largely with data of educational significance. The problem, thus, is the founding and the development of Snow College, while under the direction of L.D.S. Church

Evaluation Of Aspects Of The Guidance Programs In The Salt Lake City High Schools: An Opinion Survey, Liliuo Poulter

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A significant phase of the modern high school curriculum is the program of specialized guidance services to pupils. The importance of providing personalized services as a means of aiding individuals to grow toward social and occupational adequacy is becoming more and more definitely recognized by educators today. Monroe (1), in discussing the literature in this field, gives the following definition of personnel services:

"As differentiated from instruction and the business affairs... student personnel work refers to all activities undertaken or sponsored by an educational institution, aside from curricular instruction, in which the student's personal development is the primary consideration. Student …

Revenue Trends And Sources Of Revenue In The Public Schools Of Utah Between 1916 And 1950, G. Frank Raymond

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

During the past few years revenue for the support and maintenance of public schools in Utah has become a subject of increasing concern and discussion. Considerable effort has been made on the state level in an attempt to equalize the financial programs among the school districts in the state. Much of this effort has placed its emphasis upon property tax as the major source of school revenue, both on the local level and the state level. Inflationary trends in the national economy have added to the aggravation of this problem. It has become increasingly necessary to seek additional revenue in …

A Comparison Of The Band And Orchestral Programs In The High Schools Of Utah, George D. Harris

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the schools of Utah, as elsewhere in the nation, a situation has arisen which is of vital importance to the continuance of orchestral music. We find, on the basis of casual observation, that the string instruments are not being taught on an equal basis with the band instruments. It is generally assumed that band and orchestra instruction are equally desirable in an instrumental program. Unfortunately, many school authorities are not aware of the necessity of such equal opportunities for school children and as a result we may find string music relegated to an insecure position in our educational system.

An Intensive Study Of The Practices Of Financing Extracurriculum Activities Discovered In Five Utah Secondary Schools, Irving B. Moore

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The evaluation of the effectiveness of the various aspects of our educational activity has long been practiced. Such evaluations have resulted in greater efficiency and widespread improvements in the educational fields. Continued appraisal of those aspects of our extracurricular programs that will result in greater efficiency is an ever present need; and the need for continual improvements in the field of extracurriculum finances assumes greater importance now, since in the addition to a greater tax burden for education, parents must contribute to the bulk of the funds for the extracurriculum program, in one way or another, through meeting the needs …

Social Status Of The Male Teacher In The Utah Rural Elementary Schools, Morris M. Miller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Prior to 1820 the teaching profession in the United States was composed predominantly of men. However, with the opening of the American social and economic world to woman, the female teachers became more numerous, until at the close of World War II only about 6 percent of the elementary school teachers in the United States were men.

Evaluating The Curriculum Of Logan Secondary Schools In Terms Of Meeting The Imperative Needs Of Youth, Leo R. Walker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Committee on Curriculum Planning and Development of the National Association of Secondary School Principals has published a list of 10 objectives for secondary schools, known as the Ten Common and Essential Needs That All Youth Have in a Democratic Society.(8) They are generally referred to as The Ten Imperative Needs of Youth.

Imperative Need No. 1. All youth need to develop saleable skills and those understandings and attitudes that make the worker an intelligent and productive participant in economic life. To this end, most youth need supervised work experience as well as education in the skills and knowledge of …

Teacher And Prinipal Evaluations Of Selected Administrative Practices In Secondary Schools In Utah, Leo William Jex

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

It is the purpose of this study to gather data concerning the frequency of occurrence, and the degree of desirability is the judgement of teachers, of selected administrative practices in the secondary schools of Utah, and to present the data in a way that will make them meaningful to those interested in the improvement of administering schools. The study deals with selected administrative practices in terms of : (a) department and school budgets and extra-curricular funds, (b) classrooms, teaching aids and supplies, (c) supervision and other methods of improving instruction, (d) methods of keeping the public informed about the schools, …