Education Commons^™

Teaching In A Mixed Secondary Spanish Classroom: A Case Study Of Strategies And Successes Of Minnesota Teachers, Meredith Gunderson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The population of Spanish heritage language learners is increasing throughout the state of Minnesota. This change in demographics impacts schools in a variety of ways; one such consequence is the creation of classes for Spanish for Native Speakers in locations with high Latino populations. However, in most locations, such programs currently do not exist, resulting in Spanish heritage language learners enrolling in Spanish foreign language classes. These classrooms, called mixed classes due to the combination of second language learners and Spanish heritage language learners in the same classroom, pose a unique challenge to the foreign language instructors. This qualitative multiple …

Perceptions Of Students With And Without Limited Formal Schooling, Sarah Schmidt De Carranza

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the perceptions that refugee and non-refugee English language learners hold of their academic performance and their perceived sense of membership in a school community. Students currently served in EL programs in grades 9-12 in a large urban school district were invited to participate in the study. Student perceptions were measured using the Morgan Jinks Student Efficacy Scale (MJSES) and Goodenow Pyschological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) scale.

Unexpectedly, the results indicated that differences of perceptions of student efficacy and school membership between the two groups of students were not statistically …

Instructional Design: How Secondary Teachers Promote Student Comprehension Of Informational Text, Patti Strukel

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study examined how secondary teachers supported their students’ comprehension of informational text. Four content-area teachers – English, science, social studies, and vocational – were observed and interviewed in this study based on hermeneutic phenomenology methods. In addition, the teachers provided a sample of lessons delivered outside the observed processes. The findings exposed processes and actions that teachers intentionally engaged in to make informational text accessible to their students, create conditions that celebrated and supported the learning process, and that led students to valuable understandings when their students read informational text. The research also unveiled varied points of emphasis in …