Education Commons^™

English Language Learners And Technology: Applying Universal Design For Learning And The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol In The Evaluation Of Literacy Support Software, Susan M. Connolly

All Graduate Projects

The population of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students in U.S. schools has been steadily increasing. These students do not experience equal educational opportunity in U.S. secondary schools. CLD students need to develop English literacy as well as content knowledge to attain equal educational opportunity. Teachers of CLD students need techniques and tools which support CLD students in mastering the content expected of secondary school students while acquiring English literacy. The criteria for effective lesson design and delivery inherent in the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) and the criteria for designing curriculum without barriers to access inherent in Universal Design …

Factors Contributing To Career Success: Perceptions From African American Male School Administrators, Oliver Wilson

Dissertations

In this qualitative study, interviews were conducted with seven Black male school administrators in the Michigan school district who held the position of assistant principal or principal. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of Black male school administrators in Michigan school districts. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. Using a phenomenological approach the participant responses were codified, grouped, and analyzed for emergent themes. Five themes emerged as a result of the data analysis: (1) Colleague support is a key mechanism in the success of Black male school administrators. (2) Parental involvement is important in the success …

The Incorporation Of Communicative Language Teaching Into The Elaboration Of Interactive Software For Esl/Efl Learning, Vladia Borges

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

Investigates the extent to which currently available ESL/EFL software programs develop language skills according to the principles of Communicative Teaching and an interactive approach to computer use for language learning. An ESL/EFL software evaluation instrument was developed, tested for its reliability and validity, and then used to evaluate fifteen software programs. Results indicated that only two programs incorporated more than seventy percent of the technological, pedagogical, and individualization features associated with the principles of Communicative Language Teaching and an interactive approach to computer use for language learning.

A Curriculum Unit For 8th Grade Students Of Spanish: ¿CóMo Eras Tú De NiñO? (What Were You Like As A Child?), Cheyenne A. Jones

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The following Independent Study, written in partial fulfillment for a Master of Science degree in Middle-Level Education from Bank Street College, is a nine-lesson curriculum unit on the study of imperfect tense verbs in Spanish. The unit, titled ¿Cómo eras tú de niño? (What Were You Like As a Child?) was designed for 8th grade English-speaking students of Spanish.

A Pilot Study On A Holistic Model Incorporating A Psycholinguistic Approach Accelerating Second Language Acquisition, Julie C. Catton

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Students learning a second language commonly confront insurmountable obstacles in the language acquisition process, due to the ineffectiveness of traditional, grammar-first methods. This creates detrimental effects on the learner and his or her self-esteem. Existing literature contains information about problems created by traditional approaches, the effectiveness of a natural approach and key elements necessary to establish it. The purpose of this study is to examine the failings of traditional methods and to review some important natural ways that remedy these failings, yet have their own shortcomings. This study reports efforts to improve natural approaches through on-going research at La Catalina …

Examining The Relationship Between Student Support Services And Student Outcomes At A Four-Year Institution, Angela Williams

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study identified and examined the service variable combination(s) provided by Student Support Services (SSS) TRIO program that had a statistically significant relationship with program participants’ academic performance and retention. SSS is a federally funded program designed to increase the retention and graduation rates of undergraduate first-generation, low-income, disabled college students. While SSS has played a significant role in the retention of disadvantaged students, scarce empirical research exist which examine the combination of SSS services that affect students’ academic performance and retention. Considering SSS programs will probably not experience large increases in federal support in the future and given the …

Standards Based Interactive Bilingual Math Centers For The Kindergarten Classroom, Laura Berge

All Graduate Projects

Statistical data from various research sources indicate a large discrepancy between mathematical achievement levels of Hispanic students. The project is significant in that it integrates current research on early learners, educational pedagogy, ELL teaching strategies, and mathematical learning to ensure success in mathematics for young Hispanic students. Toward this end, the purpose of this project was to develop bilingual math centers using a constructivist approach and the latest research on second language acquisition and teaching for the early childhood classroom. This project is also unique because it supplements current math curriculums used throughout the state while providing the necessary scaffolds …

A Handbook Of Strategic Parental Involvement Practices For Dual Language Teachers And Administrators, Leslie Nadine Hartley Holmes

All Graduate Projects

A handbook of strategic parental involvement practices has been developed to aid dual language teachers and administrators in developing a plan to incorporate parents into the school setting. The handbook is based on Lindholm-Leary's Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education (2005), and consists of three main strategies in the areas of establishing and maintaining positive relations with families and the community, parent education and support services for parents, and involving parents and the community as strategic partners. Among the three main strategies there are subsequent strategic practices in the areas of communication, parent education and relationships with the community. Each …

A Culturally And Linguistically Responsive Curriculum For Secondary Biology Teachers, Raquel Georgina Martinez

All Graduate Projects

Research was conducted in the following areas, which help support the need for a culturally and linguistically responsive curriculum for secondary biology teachers. The history of both bilingual education and science, the importance of bilingual education, a summarization of selected bilingual and ESL models, bilingual and science curriculum, supported bilingual research, standardized tests, science and ELL students, and in closing secondary bilingual research. Based on the conducted research, the curriculum was developed utilizing the late-exit bilingual model, preview/review, and the incorporation of the student's culture.

A 5-Stage Cross-Cultural Reentry Training Model: Proactive Curriculum And Training Giude For Exchange Organization Representatives, Sponsor Teachers And Returning Student Sojourners, Stacey Anne Howell

All Graduate Projects

This project is the result of an exploration into the process and product of cross-cultural reentry; that is, reentry into one's country of origin following an extended stay in a host country. The history of reentry training programs in the United States was researched, the process of cross-cultural adjustment was explored, and research involving the identity development of adolescents and the effects of stress on adolescents and adolescent sojourners was reviewed. Following a review of the research in these areas, an extensive five-stage curriculum model for cross-cultural reentry training was designed. The curriculum model includes a complete training outline, a …

Strategies For Improving Instruction & Services To English Language Learners In The High School Library Media Center, Eileen Ray

All Graduate Projects

One of the biggest challenges facing librarians in schools today is working with students who are just learning the English language. An extensive body of literature and research related to school library media centers and English Language Learners was reviewed to address this challenge. On the basis of this research, a handbook was created to help fill the gap between the instruction librarians receive in library methodology courses and the reality in which librarians work every day. The handbook includes eight strategies addressing four areas of need: information literacy instruction, the promotion ofliteracy, the development of technological skills and the …

Innovative Literacy Content, Methods, And Assessment In English-As-A-Foreign Language Primary Instruction, Tzu-Ru Tsai

Theses Digitization Project

The primary goal of this project is to offer Taiwanese teachers diverse innovative literacy instruction and assessments to motivate students' reading processes. Sample curriculum/lesson plans are included.

Strategic Spelling Instruction, Casie Dawn James

Theses Digitization Project

The study proposes an alternative way for elementary school educators to instruct students in spelling. It suggests that spelling instruction should allow ample time for students to manipulate letters and patterns in their spelling words and provide time for writing. It also offers a two-week lesson plan of spelling instruction backed by research. The study was conducted using a mixed design with a predominantly Hispanic 6th grade class at a Title I school, with 60% of the students classified as English Language Learners. The study design consisted of observations of the students manipulating the spelling words, anecdotal notes taken while …

The Status Of English Language Learners Post Proposition 227 In Reading In The Leander Unified School District For The Years 1998-2001 Grades 2-11, Susana Leija

Theses Digitization Project

This project explored the impact of the implementation of Proposition 227 on SAT-9 scores in grades 2-11 of the Leander Unified School District. Minimal growth in test scores was found as a result of replacing the bilingual programs with English-only programs, contradicting claims by proponents of the proposition.

The Spanish Assistant, James Randolph Campbell

Theses Digitization Project

The Spanish Assistant is an electronic resource created with Macromedia Flash, Dreamweaver and Hot Potatoes 6, to help students in their quest to learn Spanish faster and easier. This project includes a discussion of the processes used to analyze, develop, design, implement and evaluate the electronic resource.

Addressing Diversity: A Case Study Of Teacher Educators' Views And Instructional Practices At A Midwestern University, Alina Slapac

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

It is well documented that while the student population is becoming more and more diverse, the teacher population remains mostly white, female, monolingual, and monocultural (Banks, 2001a; Darling-Hammond, 2002; Nieto, 2000a). Consequently, teacher education programs have the important role of addressing diversity throughout curriculum, field experiences and faculty recruitment.

The purpose of this qualitative research was to gain more understanding, from the teacher educators' perspectives, about the way diversity is being addressed at a Midwestern university by examining teacher educators' various methods of instruction, and their course materials, which focus on diversity issues and the needs of diverse learners. The …

Why Parents Choose A Two Way Immersion Program For Their Children, Elisa Maria Barr

Theses Digitization Project

This project investigates the reasons parents cite for enrolling their children in a bilingual alternative program, Two Way Immersion (Dual Immersion).

Making Sense Of Nonsense, Violeta Erendira HernáNdez

Theses Digitization Project

The project focuses on the creation of supplemental teaching materials that can be used to support reading and writing activities in the science content curriculum taught in a bilingual fifth grade classroom. Mediated structures are used to link the curriculum in the language arts with science materials. They are also used to provide depth and complexity to the materials offered by textbooks adopted by the school district. The mediated structures discussed and developed in the project are included.

Using Project Glad Strategies In The Teaching Of Literacy Genres To Second Grade Bilingual Students, Socorro Arellano

Theses Digitization Project

The project provides second grade teachers at the Perris Elementary School District with teaching approaches, tools, and strategies that have been proven to increase comprehension skills in English language learners (ELL) when teaching literary genres. Project GLAD (Guided Language Acquisition Design) offers an alternative curriculum to the scripted curriculum as required by the No Child Left Behind Act.

Co-Teaching And Reciprocal Teaching For English-As-A-Foreign-Language Reading, Pei-Ying Chou

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project is to help promote elementary English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) students' reading comprehension. The project investigates the co-teaching model and its implementation in the Taiwanese English class. Curriculum and lesson plans are included.

Teaching Character Education In Primary Grades Using Multicultural Children's Story Books, Gilbert Mwangi Muraguri

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this curriculum project is to offer K-3 regular education and 4-8 Special Education teachers ideas and activities for integrating character education into their regular curriculum. The whole group activities, games, art ideas, and more will help the teacher teach character education in a fun way and help students learn how to be caring and productive citizens.

Words Without Color, Shari Simpson

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Metacognitive Strategies In Promoting Learning English As A Foreign Language Independently, Chayada Danuwong

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

One of the challenges facing universities in Thailand is that of equipping graduates with the capacity for independent analytical thinking and learning which will enable them to operate in a global context while also contributing constructively to the changing needs of the local scene. The ability to think analytically and to learn independently calls for learners to be purposeful, strategic, and persistent in learning as well as to have more adaptive cognitive processes and the willingness to take charge of their learning. This is the role of metacognition in learning autonomy across domains. This thesis reports on research which has …

Academic Content Instruction And The High School English Language Learner: A Series Of Lessons That Model An Approach To Content Instruction In Science In A Multi- Level English As A Second Language High School Classroom, Juliet M. Parry

MA TESOL Collection

This paper presents a series of lessons on biology that model an approach to content instruction Biology in a multi-level English as a second language high school classroom. It includes background information on the course, lesson plans, explanation of and rationale behind them, historical perspective on the shift from content instruction in the native language to content instruction in the new or target language.

Investigating Culture Through Story, Jennifer Jabareen

MA TESOL Collection

This paper is a description and discussion of a project which incorporates the design for a story-based cultural investigation, based principally on the synthesis of teaching methodologies such as Collaborative Learning, Reader Response Theory and Alternative Assessment and their application to a series of stories. The cultural investigation relies on the application of a five-point graphic model, adapted from the book Teaching Culture: Perspectives in Practice by Patrick R. Moran, which analyzes culture in terms of persons, products, practices, perspectives and community. The paper presents the process by which this project was developed, piloted and assessed, as well as detailed …

Using Tv News To Integrate The Four Skills: A Guide For Efl Teachers, Christina Evans

MA TESOL Collection

These materials were developed to help guide an EFL teacher’s approach to incorporating TV news stories in an intermediate or advanced level course. An introduction and rationale are presented, the role of the instructor is explored and teaching suggestions are offered. An extensive checklist of four skill core activities and a demonstration on incorporating them into a lesson plan are also integrated into these materials.