Education Commons^™

The Power Of Play: The Role Of Children’S Museums In Kindergarten Readiness, Catie Davis

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This study explores the transformative potential of play in preparing young children for Kindergarten, focusing on the intersection of children's museums, caregiver interactions, and school readiness. The study, conducted over an eight-week Pop-Up Classroom program at The Flowerfield Children's Museum, included 52 participants, primarily from low-income backgrounds. Through a mixed-methods approach, including participant observations and caregiver surveys, the research aimed to answer the fundamental question: What is the role of play in preparing children for Kindergarten?

Two significant findings emerged. Firstly, the study illuminated the pivotal role of play in nurturing social-emotional development and communication skills among children. Structured observations …

Efficacy Meets Inquiry: Impact Of Lesson Study And Reflective Inquiry On The Development Of Novice Teacher Self-Efficacy, Taylor B. Hering

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Novice teachers often struggle to meet the demands of an expansive workload in their first years in the classroom. As reality sets in, district, school, parent, and communal needs often diminish the excitement of their first classroom, thus leading to low rates of teacher efficacy and early-career burnout. This is an educational dilemma because teacher vacancies are rising in schools such as Mockingbird High, a southeastern school with high poverty rates and varying racial demographics. This study aimed to determine if Lewis and Hurd’s (2011) lesson study model, an instructional intervention, influences novice teacher efficacy during the transitional period from …

The Use Of The South Carolina School Improvement Model - Quick Cycles In Sixth-Grade Science Classrooms, Jennifer Gnann

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Using data to make informed decisions about instruction strengthens a teacher’s delivery of content within the classroom. However, many teachers have not been taught how to properly use a model of rapid improvement cycles to analyze data and apply it to their classroom instruction. I modified the South Carolina School Improvement Model so that it could be used in short cycles to see how teachers used it to plan for, monitor, and adjust instruction in their classrooms.

I conducted a single case study over a six-week period in which I instructed two sixth-grade science teachers on how to use the …

Exploring Academic Opportunities For Military-Connected Students: A Systems Theory Approach, Georgia Mckown

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Military-connected children experience frequent disruptions to their daily lives as a result of military lifestyle demands like frequent relocations and service-related separations from their service member parent. These disruptions impact all areas of their lives including their homes and schools. While the body of research concerning military-connected children’s experiences at school has grown over recent decades, little is known about specific individual and contextual factors that may serve as assets or constraints. Knowing more about specific factors that influence school experiences for military-connected youth is a critical step in promoting and scaling home- and school-based interventions.

This three-paper dissertation begins …

Supporting Nontenure Faculty In Documenting Teaching Effectiveness In A Faculty Learning Community, Becky Tugman

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This case study project explored the benefits of peer-supported review of teaching (P-SR) as part of a faculty learning community (FLC) to help increase nontenured track faculty's confidence in submission materials for annual evaluations and faculty promotion. The high-stakes evaluation guidelines can be vague, and nontenured faculty may have limited submission support. The FLC format was used to increase submission confidence and understanding of effective teaching evidence by offering a space for collaboration and problem-solving in a collective and meaningful way. The literature supporting professional development using the FLC framework model has grown since Milton Cox introduced it in 2004. …

Use Of Vocabulary Strategies To Aid English Language Learners In A General Education Biology Classroom, Virginia Perry

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The demographics of the typical American classroom continue to present as a more diverse student population with the increase of English Language Learners (ELL) entering public schools. General education teachers on a secondary level are challenged with incorporating academic language instruction into content instruction for ELLs. Many of these teachers seek appropriate instructional strategies to teach ELLs academic language skills related to literacy to comprehend the specific content taught at the secondary level. A deeper understanding of language and skill acquisition within a secondary classroom can help guide future efforts in implementing effective literacy strategies to address ELLs’ academic language …

Annotations Of Awareness: A Framework For Externalizing Thinking To Promote Metacognitive Discourse In High School English And Social Studies Classrooms, Todd Howard

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Teachers find it challenging to integrate metacognition into the classroom to promote critical thinking, but such rigorous instruction is one way to improve access to quality education for all students, no matter their access to outside-of-school resources. To help teachers find more comfort and confidence in designing for increased critical thinking and metacognitive discourse and to help close the theory-practice gap in metacognition research, I conducted a mixed-methods case study focusing on assessment-design interventions. Using the Metacognitive Framework for Assessment Design and Annotations of Awareness, both designed in response to my literature review, my 90-day action research included three Plan-Do-Study-Act …

Building Teachers’ Cultural Capital In The Classroom: Using Funds Of Knowledge To Support Multilingual Learners, Lindsey Skirtich

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This qualitative study has a collaborative focus and blends improvement science with Design Thinking to first understand teachers’ perceptions of their ability to serve ML students and second, how the utilization of the Funds of Knowledge (FoK) can assist teachers in serving ML students. The purpose of this study is to use the Funds of Knowledge to build the capacity of teachers to connect with students through their lived experiences.

Through collaboration and reflection, this study investigated teachers’ perceptions and focused on increasing teachers’ ability to serve ML students utilizing a framework intended to connect students’ backgrounds to the classroom.

It’S Just An Idea: How Rural Teachers Implement Personalized Learning Within The Education System, Kedralyn L. Folk

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This exploratory case study revealed how rural educators navigate the shift required to implement personalized learning. I collected qualitative data at HMK8, where a personalized learning framework was implemented. This study used improvement science theory to understand the experience of rural teachers’ implementing personalized learning by exploring the experiences of rural educators applying personalized learning practices in the classroom and reviewing how rural educators explain their support needs. About 40% of schools in South Carolina are rural, so this study focused on rural teachers’ needs. The data analysis is rooted in sensemaking theory, which I use to explain and understand …

Transitional Experiences Of Physical Therapy Clinicians To Physical Therapy Faculty Members: A Phenomenological Study, Jessica Jacobs

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In physical therapy education, there is a shortage of physical therapy faculty members. Considering this shortage, it is essential to understand new faculty’s experiences in order to recruit and retain qualified individuals. New faculty are often recruited directly from clinical practice for their expertise but lack training in teaching and learning. Using Schlossberg’s transition therapy as a framework, the lived experiences of physical therapy faculty members’ transition from clinical practice to academia was explored. The purpose of this study was to 1) explore the work-role transition of new faculty members in physical therapy education programs, 2) identify potential resources faculty …

Embracing The Role Of Educator: The Experiences Of Housing And Residence Life Staff In Implementing A Curriculum Model, Eric Pernotto

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Since their emergence at universities, student affairs and housing and residence life (HRL) administrators have continuously evolved their role on campus. Foundational documents challenged administrators to engage in student learning to support institutions’ missions and bridge the gap with academic affairs.

The Curriculum Model (CM) provides a framework do this work. The CM extends learning beyond the classroom and formalizes it by developing learning goals and outcomes, educational strategies, facilitation guides, and learning assessment with rubrics. In a CM, practitioners must acknowledge their roles as educators to guide learning.

Implementing a CM is a paradigm shift for staff as they …

Interventions To Increase Prospective Teacher Candidates' Praxis Ii Content Exam Scores, Takara Hart

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Teacher shortages are a pervasive issue in South Carolina’s public schools. Some prospective teacher candidates have shown obstacles in meeting the minimum required Praxis II Content exam score. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore and develop specific Praxis II Content exam interventions to improve scores for six prospective teacher candidates in South Carolina. All participants were trying to meet the licensure exam requirement for various alternative certification programs. Malcolm Knowles’ Andragogy Adult Learning Theory guided the study as a theoretical framework, and Lev Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Constructivism provided the conceptual frame. Descriptive coding and analysis, using Dedoose …

Exploring The Associations Preservice Social Studies Teachers Make Between Discussion As A Pedagogical Approach And Democratic Education: A Multi-Case Study, Rory Tannebaum

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Educational scholars and political theorists credit the use of discussion in the K-12 classroom as a way to provide students with a democratic education through its ability to incorporate various perspectives, inform students of current events and issues, and teach students to think critically about a range of topics. Despite this, however, an extensive body of research details the lack of discussion occurring in K-12 classrooms in the United States. This study seeks to examine this issue by exploring the associations preservice social studies teachers make between the underlying principles of democratic education and the use of discussion in the …

The Emotional Impact Of Teaching In A High Poverty School On First-Year, Early Childhood Teachers In Rural South Carolina: A Photo Elicitation Study, Kimberly Jedlicka

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The purpose of this research study was to understand the emotional impact of teaching in a high poverty school on first-year, early childhood teachers in rural South Carolina. The research also explored the extent to which these emotions either empowered or constrained the teachers in their work. The study used photo-elicitation with interviews to generate data. Participants in this study took photographs that represented emotional experiences, wrote captions and discussed their images in an interview session. The data analysis focused on honoring the participants' voices and included first and second cycle coding strategies. In Vivo coding and Emotion coding were …

Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers' Knowledge Development And Belief Change Within A Technology-Enhanced Mathematics Course, Vecihi Zambak

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With the adoption of Common Core State Standards, mathematics teachers have been expected to emphasize conceptual understanding as much as procedural and computational fluency in their teaching. Development of a sound mathematical content knowledge during their teacher education could enable mathematics teachers to meet this expectation. The infusion of technology into the domain of mathematics education has also modified the nature of mathematical content knowledge. Regarding the expectations and changes in the nature of mathematical content knowledge, in this dissertation, I examined the influence of Geometer's Sketchpad (GSP) on pre-service middle grade mathematics teachers' Specialized Content Knowledge (SCK); how their …

A Content Analysis Of Implicit Legislator Discourses Within The Passage Of The South Carolina Illegal Immigration Reform Act (2008): Implications For Opportunity And Access To Higher Education, Katie Smith

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On June 4, 2008, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford signed the South Carolina Illegal Immigration Reform Act into law. According to the Act (Section 59-101-430), 'an alien unlawfully present in the United States is not eligible to attend a public institution of higher learning in [South Carolina]'. After the passage of this legislation, public colleges and universities in South Carolina were prohibited from enrolling (or reenrolling) undocumented immigrants as students, and are now required to verify the legal status of all students, through the federal e-verify system. This legislation represents a true limiting of higher education opportunities, as well as …

The Mediating Effect Of Contextual Characteristics On Collectivist Dynamics And Entity Based Creativity Among Faculty In Higher Education, Anthony Olalere

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This study examines the mediating effect of the entity based creativity on the interaction between complexity theory and creativity among faculty members in higher education organizations. The purpose of study was to investigate how mechanisms for intellectual productivity and creativity foster intellectual and disciplinary interactions among faculty members in higher education. The theoretical framework of complexity theory and KEYS model constructs were employed in order to examine how complexity dynamics, motivation, stimulants and inhibitors foster faculty creativity in higher education.

The Partial Least Square of Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze data using the PLS algorithm, bootstrapping and …

College Choice: Factors Influencing High School Seniors' Decision To Enroll At Private Colleges In South Carolina, Brian O'Neil

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This study explores the influential factors of high school seniors in their college choice. The participants in this study were high school seniors planning on attending a four-year co-educational non-HBCU private higher education institution in South Carolina. The sample included four participant institutions and 202 total participants. A survey instrument was sent to each participant from an institutional gatekeeper. The survey included demographic questions and specific factors that were rated on a 5 point Likert scale. A factor analysis was conducted on the data and resulted in three factor clusters. The three factors were named: (a) family influence, (b) institutional …

Underrepresented Students' Perception Of Their Second-Year In College: A Phenomenological Study, Dena Kniess

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The majority of retention efforts have focused on the first-year of college, however just as many students leave college after their second-year (Berkner, He, & Forest, 2002; Lipka, 2006). Experiences of second-year students have been appearing in publications. These studies have identified the broad concerns of the second-year experience, but little is known about how the second-year experience is similar or different for underrepresented students.
This study sought to describe the experiences of underrepresented college students in their second-year of study at a predominantly White institution (PWI). The study was qualitative in nature, and used phenomenological research methods to form …

Avoiding Engagement With 'Invisibles:' Religious Issues And The Field Of English Education, Robert Bruce

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This study used content analysis of selected documents representing the three dimensions of the field of English Education (curriculum, teacher preparation and development, and research) to ascertain how the field was responding to the larger societal problem that religious intolerance and ignorance pose, especially given the growing religious diversity of American society. Data from the documents were classified into four categories derived from various proposals for the incorporation of religious issues into the public school curriculum: religious literacy, religious concerns related to personal development, religious aspects of multiculturalism, and religious issues related to improved civic engagement.
The documents related to …

A Case Study Examining The Recruitment Of 'Other Race' Students To A Public, Historically Black University, Yoruba Mutakabbir

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The purpose of this study was to understand how Jackson State University, a public historically Black university, recruits other race students in the wake of the 2002 Ayers settlement. This settlement included a requirement that historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) increase their non-African American enrollment to at least 10% of their total enrollment by the fall of 2018 and maintain this percentage for 3 years in order to share in the principal of public and private endowment funds. This portion of the settlement was most relevant to this study. Jackson State University was selected as the subject of this …

Teacher Practices And High School Chemistry Students' Metacognitive Skillfulness, Joni Jordan

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The research literature has been dominated with information about teacher practices that promise to help chemistry students improve their problem-solving abilities and maneuver the conceptual complexities inherent in learning chemistry. Drawing on this research, this study proposes that teaching for metacognition may equip students to learn science authentically and more responsibly. Research related to teaching for metacognition has provided some evidence that strategic questioning, specific feedback, and engaging activities help students become more metacognitive. Furthermore, research has shown that enhanced student metacognition improves problem-solving skills, enhances conceptual change, and may even compensate for lower cognitive abilities.
This study was inspired …

Centering The Voices Of South Carolina's Early Care And Education Teachers: A Multi-Case Study Examining How They Select And Are Informed By Professional Development, Lenna Young

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The purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to the existing literature focused on quality early care and education (ECE). Specifically, this study examines two main research questions: (1) How do teachers in South Carolina licensed, privately-funded ECE programs select professional development opportunities and (2) How does participating in professional development inform their practices? These questions are particularly significant in light of the minimal requirements for teachers to enter the ECE field in South Carolina. Due to the low entry requirements for ECE teachers, professional development can play a key role in transforming minimally qualified individuals into teachers who care …

Pre-Service Teacher Training Experiences Viewed As A Cultural Activity, Ronald Knorr

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What are the experiences of career-changing pre-service middle school teachers undergoing a group-based activity as part of their training? This series of studies explored two aspects of answering this question. In the first manuscript, a methodology of a novel virtual phenomenology interview technique attempts to determine the influence of a virtual world interviewer compared to a traditional face-to-face setting. While syntactical and other significant differences were found, there was no significant difference found comparing meaning units derived from both settings. In the second manuscript, these meaning units were analyzed to create an essence of the experience for the study's participants, …

Administrators' Perspectives Of Parent Involvement In South Carolina Elementary Schools, Paula Schubert

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The purpose of this study was to examine administrators' perspectives regarding parent involvement within the context of six typologies of parent involvement. A survey was sent to elementary principals in the state of South Carolina, which resulted in an overall response rate of 210 respondents. This study, which was exploratory in nature, utilized a logistic regression model with quantitative descriptive statistical analysis to understand the perceptions of administrators. The three research questions examined were: (A) what do South Carolina principals report are the parent involvement activities they implement in public elementary schools? (B) to what extent do these parent involvement …

The Effects Of Participating In A Service-Learning Experience On The Development Of Self-Efficacy For Self-Regulated Learning Of Third Graders In An Urban Elementary School In Southeastern United States, Nancy Arrington

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Abstract
The teacher-researcher employed multiple methods in this action research to analyze the effects of service-learning on the self-efficacy for self-regulated learning of her third-grade music students as they participated in an intergenerational project--sharing music and writing with residents in a local nursing home.
Quantitative data were analyzed using independent samples t-tests and regression analyses. The quantitative data included the results from the Children's Self-Efficacy Scale (Bandura, 2006) and progress rating scales administered by the teacher-researcher. Emergent coding of qualitative data revealed recurring themes derived from the following sources: observation and field notes, students' reflective journals, student and teacher interviews, …

Influencing Pedagogy And Belief: A Case Study In The Professional Development Of Teachers Of Mathematics, Charles Howard

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This study forms a holistic, rich description of the way a professional development experience transformed teachers of mathematics. This professional development targeted teachers from six underachieving schools in a southern state who trained for a week in inquiry techniques of instruction. The method used to study the impact this experience had upon participants is a case study design in which three of the high school teachers were the subjects of analysis. Additional data were incorporated from project administrators and other teachers and assistants involved with the professional development experience. Data sources include highly structured questionnaires, observations, semi-structured interviews, documents, archival …

The Diffusion Of The Reggio Emilia Approach Among Early Childhood Teacher Educators In South Carolina, Julie Hartman

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Growing numbers of U.S. educators are traveling to the northern Italian town of Reggio Emilia to study the innovative, arts-based approach to early education developed in the town's municipal infant-toddler and pre-primary programs now commonly referred to as the Reggio Emilia Approach. And though there is no way of knowing exactly how many educators and early childhood programs across the U.S. are currently making use of the approach, increasing numbers of U.S. colleges and universities are including the approach in both their ECE teacher preparation as well as campus child development programs, suggesting the Reggio Emilia Approach (REA) is diffusing …

Associations Between Age At School Entry And Academic Performance: Using Data From A Nationally Representative, Longitudinal Sample, Dawn Fleischman

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The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between age at school entry and academic performance in kindergarten through the fifth grade. The study utilized the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K) dataset that includes a nationally representative sample that was collected over a six year period and compiled by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES).
Even when controlling for the variables of gender, race, socioeconomic status, and disability, the analyses revealed that the youngest students did not perform as well in reading and math as their school entry peers through the fifth grade. …

The Impact Of A Ninth- And Tenth-Grade Academy Program On Student Attendance, Discipline, And Achievement, Sandra Wooten

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ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of an Academy Program on freshman and sophomore attendance, suspensions out of school, PLAN and PSAT scores, and the number of students retained in ninth and tenth grades. With the Academy Program at Gaffney High School, the amount of time spent in mathematics and English language arts classes was doubled, staff development was provided, instructional methods were changed, data was analyzed to modify instruction, and successes were celebrated. School data from two years before and two years after implementation were examined to determine whether any significant differences existed. Results …