Education Commons^™

The Role Of The Secondary Principal As A Transformational Leader In High Performing, Project Based Learning Schools In California, Daniel P. Ching

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The Role of the Secondary Principal as a Transformational Leader in High Performing, Project Based Learning Schools in California

by Daniel Ching

Purpose: California (CA) schools are facing increased pressure to implement new content standards and perform well on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP). The new standards focus on higher level thinking skills, technology, and skills that cross multiple content areas. These expectations are aligned with project based learning (PBL) as an instructional model. However, there are very few models for PBL schools that are considered high performing. To implement PBL in high schools requires …

The Immigrants In The Central Coast Of California Need Motivation To Attend Classes And Learn English As Their Second Language, Martin Rodriguez-Juarez

Master's Projects and Capstones

This field project shows that the immigrant community that works in the fields from the Central Coast of California need the motivation to attend adult school to learn English as their second language. A six-week courses is included.

Family Experiences With Standardized Assessments Leading To Participation In The Opt Out Movement, Christy Lee Evans

Doctoral Dissertations

With the hope of giving voice to individuals who are usually left out of conversations regarding standardized assessments—the families who live with the effects of those tests on their children—this study was designed to answer the following research questions:

1) Who are some of the individuals who are participating in the opt out movement?

2) How are some individuals making the decision to participate in the opt out movement?

a) What knowledge do these individuals who are participating in the opt out movement have regarding the standardized assessments that their children are being given in public schools?

b) How have …

Graduate Internship In Agricultural Education-John H Pitman High School, Turlock, Luke F. Gocke

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This internship report includes validation documents required in meeting the quality criteria for secondary-level programs of instruction in agriculture. The documents are concurrently used for the Agriculture Incentive Grant review process at John H. Pitman High School conducted by representatives of the California Department of Education. The internship included a project which consisted of researching and implementing safety inside a high school mechanics and welding classroom. Vocational Education enhances the learning experience for students and ensuring a safe environment promotes the learning process.

The Impact Of Short-Term International Volunteers On The Capacity Development Of A School For Students With Disabilities In The Caribbean, Edwin L. Blanton Iii

Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative study contributes to the field of international volunteerism by giving insight into the impact of short-term international volunteerism on the capacity development of a school for students with disabilities in the Caribbean. In the United States over one million people volunteer abroad annually, with 70-80% of these volunteers serving eight weeks or less (Lough, 2010). However, whether the international volunteers are having an impact on the capacity development of the population served remains to be seen. This study focused on an aspect of short-term international volunteerism that has largely been ignored – how short-term international volunteers impact the …

Did Magnet Schools Improve Student Educational Outcomes As A Tool Of Desegregation?, Maureen Elizabeth Pylman

Theses and Dissertations

Magnet schools were implemented in American school districts beginning in the 1970s as part of desegregation plans often required by court order. Magnet schools had three primary goals: provide innovative educational programming, attract students from across school districts, and assist with desegregation. Research evaluating the implementation of magnet schools found that they did effectively desegregate schools (Arcia 2006; Steel and Levine 1994). However, the educational outcomes of magnet schools have not been evaluated, particularly using longitudinal student data, to evaluate magnet school effectiveness. Popular press, the use of effective pedagogy, selection procedures, and exclusivity lead to expectations that magnet schools …

How Select Groups Of Preservice Science Teachers With Inquiry Orientations View Teaching And Learning Science Through Inquiry, Peggy Diana Ward

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although hailed as a powerful form of instruction, in most teaching and learning contexts, inquiry-based instruction is fraught with ambiguous and conflicting definitions and descriptions. Yet little has been written about the experiences preservice science teacher have regarding their learning to teach science through inquiry. This project sought to understand how select preservice secondary science teachers enrolled in three UTeach programs in Arkansas conceptualize inquiry instruction and how they rationalize its value in a teaching and learning context. The three teacher education programs investigated in this study are adoption sites aligned with the UTeach Program in Austin, TX that distinguishes …

An Analysis Of Secondary Integrated Stem Lesson Plans: Common Characteristics, Learning Expectations And The Impact From The Teacher's Definition Of I-Stem, Jacob Hayward

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study investigated teachers’ understanding of their definition of I-STEM (Integrated STEM education), how those understandings manifested into lessons and associated lesson artifacts, how they assessed students in such lessons, and what factors or rationales supported their ability to conduct or not conduct I-STEM lessons. A survey was sent to the members of four professional organizations representing I-STEM disciplines to solicit their participation in this project. Ten teachers ranging from grades 9-12 participated in this study. Of those who responded, six teachers identified with National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), three teachers selected International Technology and Engineering Education Association (ITEEA), …

The Potential Of A Virtual School To Help Mobile Students, Amy G. Dickinson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

An average of 1.8 million students drop out of high school each year (National Council of Education Statistics, 2014). Dropping out of high school is a problem for both society and the individual (Rumberger, 2003). It can lead to lower wages, unemployment, and incarceration. Mobile students make up a part of those who drop out of school. Students are considered mobile if they attend more than one high school in four years (Rumberger & Larson, 1998). One way of helping highly mobile students is to offer asynchronous virtual classes. Using Institutional Theory (Rumberger, 2001) and Academic Mediation Theory (Vygotsky, 1978; …

Shared Focus/Collective Responsibility: The Lived Experience Of Educators As Members Of A Data Team In A Connecticut Public High School, Abbie-Jean M. Lareau

Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT SHARED FOCUS/COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY: THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF EDUCATORS AS MEMBERS OF A DATA TEAM IN A CONNECTICUT PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL This study explores the experiences of five high school English Teachers in a Connecticut public school acting as an Instructional Data Team as prescribed by the Connecticut Accountability for Learning (CALI) model. Data Teams are teams of educators that participate in collaborative, structured, scheduled meetings, which focus on the effectiveness of teaching as determined by student achievement. Data Teams adhere to continuous improvement cycles, analyze trends, and determine strategies to facilitate analysis that results in action. Data Teams can …

Hiv/Aids Prevention: Educating Future Generations, Carmella Williams

All Student Theses

The purpose of this study was to discover if implementing more educational interventions on HIV/AIDS would lead to lower incidents of HIV/AIDS among youth. A quantitative research design was used to determine the level of knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes of high school students in regard to HIV/AIDS. The targeted population were youth ages 14-18 years old, which are generally high school students who are at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. Participants in this study were students from Human Resources Development Institute’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program at Harper High School in Chicago, Illinois. The researcher administered questionnaires to the students at Harper …

Perceptions Of Fidelity And Adaptation In Evidence-Informed Interventions By Women Of Color Sexuality Health Educators, Sara C. Flowers

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Sexuality health educators (SHEs) adapt interventions to the participants’ needs in the dissemination and implementation of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) programming. However, there is a lack of understanding of how, why and when SHEs make such adaptations. Success or failure of the transfer of prevention technology to practitioners occurs by determining community capacities and preparedness to adopt/adapt high-impact interventions to effectively manage implementation. Experts argue for evidence-informed interventions (EII), as opposed to evidence-based interventions (EBI), as the best way to incorporate research in applied settings. EBIs are solely guided by recommendations from current evidence, whereas EIIs recognize and incorporate the …

Hiring The Most Effective Teachers: An Examination Of Policy And Practice In Pennsylvania, Barbara Launi Powers

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Hiring the most effective teachers not only has an impact on America’s children, but on America’s economic future as well. For two decades, much research about the failings of America’s schools has been conducted. Since the advent of No Child Left Behind (2002), never has more focus been applied to teaching quality. Hiring the best teachers for our children leverages the single largest in-school influence on achievement. James Coleman, in his seminal work, The Coleman Report (1967), notes that a child’s home socio-economic status and race are more significant influences than any in-house school influence. Subsequent research on teacher quality …

A Collaborative Approach To Address Student Behavior And Academic Achievement Across Systems, Beverly Ngozi Okereke

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Academic achievement and in-classroom behaviors are two significant child outcomes that affect student success in school. According to Systems Theory, in order to truly understand the factors that affect these outcomes for children, one must look to the major systems that encapsulate the child (including their school and home environments). This project is a meta-analytic review that examined the effectiveness of measures representing each system in predicting child achievement and behavior: School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports (SWPBS) for the school as a system, level of parent involvement (high versus low) for the home system, and student motivation (intrinsic versus extrinsic) for …

Discussion In Middle And High School Earth Science Classrooms And Its Impact On Students' Abilities To Construct Evidence-Based Arguments In Their Written Work, Rachel Martin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Middle and high school teachers who participate in the Maine Physical Sciences Partnership (MainePSP) noted persistent problems in their classrooms, including low levels of student engagement and gaps in how students use evidence. To address these problems, this study was designed in collaboration with MainePSP teachers in a design-based implementation research process as teachers aimed to better connect classroom discussion and written argumentation. Though scientific writing makes use of argumentation to support ideas, it is often the sharing of ideas that makes an argument stronger.

Two teachers collected data from their seventh and ninth grade Earth Science classrooms at schools …

Internationalizing Teacher Education: A Case Study Of A School Of Education, Florence Bromfield

Capstone Collection

Schools of Education across the US are some of the furthest behind in the race to internationalize departments across campuses in higher education. What does this mean for students in the K-12 classroom? The purpose of this case study is to explore the internationalization of teacher education within the context of a medium-sized state university in the South-East of the US. Working with the School of Education on this campus, qualitative interviews and surveys were administered to faculty and pre-service teachers to understand the extent of internationalization at the university, and the needs of the K-12 classroom. For this research, …

“Do I Want To Die On That Hill?”: Perceptions Of Rural Appalachian English Teachers About Using Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, And Queer/Questioning Young Adult Literature In The Secondary English Classroom, Stacey Rochelle Reece

Doctoral Dissertations

Research from GLSEN has shown that rural, Southern schools are some of the most dangerous places to be for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning students. These students hear more disparaging language, face more bullying, have less resources for information, and are less likely to see positive representations of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) people in their school’s curriculum. Based on this research, I wanted to understand the perceptions of secondary English teachers in a small, Southern rural school district of using LGBTQ young adult literature (YAL) in the classroom.

Drawing on parts of Paulo Freire’s dialogic method …

A Statistically Significant Determination From Pretest To Posttest In Knowledge Of Electrophoresis Concepts, Parker Megehee Nelson

Dissertations

The statistical significance from pretest to posttest of 109 high students constructing an electrophoresis chamber or not was explored. The students tested were from six intact biology classrooms. Three classes were treatment groups and three were control groups. The three biology teachers each taught a control and treatment group classroom. Except for building the electrophoresis chamber, students in both groups received identical instruction and testing. Pre- and posttest data was examined by means of a content valid test constructed by the researcher and biology teachers. In order to examine the statistical significance from pretest to posttest in knowledge of electrophoresis …

The Effects Of Teachers’ Self-Efficacy & A Positive Learning Environment On Marginal Students In Mainstream High School Settings, Renée E. Thompson

All Theses And Dissertations

Research from data and anecdotal research from high school students informs us that many traditional high schools are not able to meet the academic, as well as the social and emotional needs of all students, particularly marginal students. The purpose of this research study was to determine how high schools may support marginal students in achieving success by the implementation of teacher self-efficacy and a positive classroom environment. In addition, the research will articulate the critical role of teachers and how their impact shapes the future of their students. The research questions posed will identify what interventions and strategies teachers …

Ireach Blended Learning Model And Reading Lexile Growth Of Freshmen In Maryville City Schools, Whitney Ann Schmidt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Maryville City School system has implemented the first year of the iReach blended learning model for which all students in the school district have access to either a laptop or an iPad to support their learning every day. The availability of research on the impact of iReach is limited because the blended learning instructional model is relatively new and has not yet been subjected to numerous research studies. The purpose of this ex post facto quasi-experimental quantitative study was to compare student reading Lexile growth data collected through the use of the Reading Comprehension Assessment before and after iReach …

Online Education: The Relationship Between The Perceptions Of Online High School Teachers Compared To Traditional Classroom Teachers Regarding The Visual Arts, Karen A. Fine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The incorporation of the arts as an academic subject in the high school distance education delivery method is being reinvented as something new. Most of the current research is focused on college courses. Online high school curricula are most often placed in research studies as an afterthought. Perceptions of faculty members from high schools with traditional instructional delivery models as well as public online schools concerning online education as it relates to the arts in 5 different areas was the focus of this research; mentor, delivery method, satisfaction, student learning, and curriculum. Examining the perceptions of teachers gives a blueprint …

Educational Technology And Innovation Capacity In Arkansas Public Schools, Allie Nicole Taylor

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

We all have high hopes for our educational system. As they stress the need for 21st century learning, governments recognize the importance of innovation and creativity in schools and invest resources to develop learning environments that foster these qualities. This thesis adapts Crosling, Nair, and Vaithilingam’s (2015) model to provide a framework for studying factors that contribute to a creative learning ecosystem (intellectual capital development, 21st century literacies, climate for innovation, and integrity of the system), the quality of the educational system, and the system’s innovation capacity. A survey of 126 Arkansas high school teachers, indicates that two variables, student’s …

Designing Place-Sensitive Professional Development: A Critical Ethnography Of Teaching And Learning Argumentative Writing, Sarah N. Holland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the experiences of teachers participating in a two-year professional development program designed by the National Writing Project and funded by a U.S. Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3) grant. Informed by New Literacy Studies’ ideological model of literacy as a Social practice and rural literacies’ notion of pedagogies of sustainability, this study employs critical ethnography and discourse analysis to analyze the discourse of teachers participating in the College-Ready Writers Program (CRWP) in order to understand how professional development might be adjusted to re-empower teachers. Data sources included field notes, interviews, lesson …

The Reading Intervention Program Making Connections Intervention And Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program Scores In One East Tennessee School District, Jami H. Corwin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between the reading intervention program Making Connections Intervention (MCI) and pre-intervention and post- intervention Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) reading scaled scores in one East Tennessee school district. Participants included 99 Tennessee students in grade levels six through nine who received reading intervention instruction through MCI and were frequently monitored following the requirements stipulated in the Tennessee Response to Instruction and Intervention (RTI2) Framework. This study assessed pre- and post-intervention data specific to gender, special education classification, Title I classification, and instructor classification through a series of t-tests. Findings …

High School Teachers’ Perceived Self-Efficacy In Teaching Literacy Across The Curriculum In Tennessee First Core Region 1 High Schools, Ashley N. Keys

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

At the high school level teachers are often departmentalized by their content area and do not teach subjects outside of their specialties. Common Core State Standards (CCSS) introduced literacy standards across the curriculum requiring reading and writing instruction in all courses. The adoption not only affected traditional literacy teachers but also science, math, social studies, and career and technical education teachers who may have had little or no training or experience in teaching literacy to adolescents. These teachers, because of little training or experience in teaching literacy, may feel unprepared for the CCSS literacy shifts or inadequate in delivering literacy …

An Investigation Of Multiliteracies Pedagogies In Language Teacher Education: A Mixed Methods Study, Adrienne Doucette-Vanthuyne

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Research into teacher preparedness within teacher education programs and its relationship to teacher attrition is an increasing area of interest in Canada and around the world. In Canada, on average, the estimated turnover for second language educators is approximately 30% in the first five years and 50% of these are within the first two years (Canadian Teacher’s Federation (CTF), 2004; Karsenti, Collin, Villeneuve, Dumouchel, & Roy, 2008; Siwatu, 2011; Swanson, 2012). The CTF (2004), French and Collins (2014), Karsenti et al. (2008) and Swanson (2012) have reported on several factors that influence language teacher attrition and retention: teacher preparedness, teacher …

Supporting Emerging Multilingual Newcomer Students And Their Teachers In California Public High Schools, Rosa Lea V. Ojeda

Master's Theses

This study focuses supporting emerging multilingual newcomer students and their teachers. The study examines research regarding deficit mindset that has led to student labels that perpetuate negative school and teacher views of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Additional research used for this study includes studies on what has been determined to benefit emerging multilingual students, as well as studies about the role of globalization and politics in the education of emerging multilingual and other culturally and linguistically diverse students. The study seeks to further the research on what changes in practice and mindset need to take place in the system …

Transitioning From Elementary To Junior High: Action Research At Bark River-Harris School District, Jason B. Lockwood

All NMU Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this action research was to identify factors related to attendance and academics that contribute to student failures and absenteeism in a rural school district. Comparing data between 2012-2013 through 2014-2015, the school district administration recognized a trend in failing grades and absenteeism in the middle school grades. Using a mixed methods design, data was collected from an on-line survey, focus group interviews, teacher interviews and student records. The seventh grade class of 57 students were recruited with twenty-four students participating. The key findings included both teacher behaviors and student behaviors which contributed to the trend in …

Urban English Language Arts Teachers’ Stories Of Technology Use: A Narrative Inquiry, Bridget Abbas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Technology use in high-minority, low-income middle school ELA classrooms is defined by traditional instructional practices (Applebee & Langer, 2013; Attewell, 2001; Boser, 2013; Cuban, 2001; Lankshear & Knobel, 2008), barriers to access (O’Dwyer et al., 2005; Purcell et al., 2013; Warschauer & Matuchniak, 2010), and inequalities in use (Banister & Reinhart, 2011; Beers, 2004; Gorski, 2009; Makinen, 2006; Powell, 2007; Reinhart et al., 2011; Dijk, 2003, 2006; Warschauer et al., 2004). This characterization, or grand narrative, of technology use is echoed and challenged by this narrative inquiry. Here the stories of two ELA teachers frequently using technology in instruction and …

Subtext Of Decisions: Literacy Practices In The Context Of Coding, Julia Hagge

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation I present findings from a qualitative case study of five early adolescents engaged in an online programming community. As a researcher, I was interested in how early adolescents designed digital media as they learned how to code within an online programming community known as Scratch. My research was guided by two questions: (1) What are the literacy practices and processes embedded in the design and collaboration of products created within an online programming community? (2) In what ways do participants make decisions in the design of their projects created in Scratch? The data collected for …