Education Commons^™

Independent Reading: The Power Of Self-Selection And Cafe Discussions In A Seventh Grade Classroom, Ashley Lauren Merkler

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to examine middle school students' motivation to read. The goal was to see what happens to seventh grade students' motivation to read independently when given the opportunity to self-select and discuss books in a classroom setting that mimics a real-world cafe. Motivation profiles, interest surveys, reflections, and student work were all analyzed. The focus group of students demonstrated changes in how students viewed themselves as readers and their desire to read independently for leisure. The implications for teaching in a seventh grade classroom are discussed. A complete data analysis provided the major assertions and …

A Seat At The Table: The Unspoken Values And Benefits Of Student And Academic Affairs Collaboration And Partnerships In Higher Education, Tynesha Mccullers

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

After almost two semesters as a graduate student at the University of Vermont, I decided that I wanted to do more in my second year of graduate school. It was through conversations with my colleagues that I determined that stepping out of my comfort zone of student affairs and looking into academic affairs would help develop me as not only a student affairs professional but as an educator as well. During the fall semester of 2016, I participated in an independent study where I served as a Teaching Assistant for a university diversity requirement course titled “The Political Economy of …

Professional Collaboration: The Value Of Meaningful Conversation For The Studio Art Educator, Christopher L. Bryant

Theses and Dissertations--Art and Visual Studies

This thesis explores the strong support for collaboration in schools’ while synthesizing literature already conducted on the subject. The primary objectives of this thesis is to discuss possible scenarios as to why educators are not collaborating, explore characteristics and implementations of collaboration with three specific groups including colleagues, stakeholders, and practicing professionals, and identify four key benefits of collaboration which include improved health, pedagogy, autonomy, and time. Evidence supports the idea that teachers who work in isolation can hinder growth within their profession. Additional evidence provides conclusive evidence that supports the benefits of collaboration by adding responsibilities to key contributors …

A Learning Model Of Community Collaboration In West Virginia, Tracy L. Bradley

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study tested a grounded theory model, Getting it Together: A Learning Model of Community Collaboration, developed during a six-year study (2004-2010) of a statewide substance abuse prevention program funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP). The model features the perceptions and experiences of those who were active in community-based collaborative and educational work in West Virginia focused on substance abuse prevention. The study revisited community coalitions from three counties that were part of the original ethnographic research used to develop the community collaboration theory. The grounded theory …

Success For Students With Emotional And Behavioral Disorders, Julie J. Soderlund

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Special education students with emotional and behavioral disorders have the right to receive an education that addresses their specific, individual needs. There are many challenges that accompany these students. It is beneficial for teachers to take a positive perspective of support and value collaboration with team members when working with these students. Teachers must also accept a mindset and perspective of the importance of inclusion for all students, regardless of disability or behavioral challenges. All students deserve the opportunity to access general education curriculum with their peers. This is how E/BD students will achieve future success.

Speech-Language Pathologists' Perceptions And Use Of Service Delivery Methods And Models In School-Based Practice, Burgandy Deann Henderson

Online Theses and Dissertations

ASHA (1991c) identifies the value of consultation and collaboration across disciplines in the public school setting. Historically, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) have pulled children out of the classroom to provide therapy in individual or small group settings. However, evidence continues to show the merit of consulting and collaborating with other professionals in the school in order to fully integrate classroom curriculum and support service goals (ASHA, 1991c; ASHA, 2010f; Mecrow, Beckwith, & Klee, 2010; Ritzman, Sanger, & Coufal, 2006). The purpose of this study was to explore SLPs' perspectives and use of consultation and collaboration in the public schools. A survey …

Paralleled Support Models For Young Adults With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Lucy Ellen Klym

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the State of Indiana, for students over the age of 14 who have been diagnosed with intellectual or developmental disabilities, the transition from special education to Medicaid waiver oversight should occur seamlessly, but gaps in integrated and aligned goal development strategies remain. As a consequence, students who need adult-based support may not be receiving the full scope of services to which they are entitled. Using common-pool resource theory as a foundation, the purpose of this explanatory case study of transitional services to Indiana Medicaid was to understand, from the perspective of disability support service staff, the barriers to effective …

Elementary Teachers' Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of Coteaching, Geeta Gupta Kadakia

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In response to the low passing rate of its students with disabilities, administrators at a small urban elementary school in south Texas implemented coteaching. Guided by Nonaka and Takeuchi's collaborative learning framework, this qualitative instrumental case study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of collaborative teaching in the elementary education setting. Data collection consisted of a group interview and classroom observations with a purposeful sample of 4 general education teachers and 2 special education teachers of Grades 3-5 math and language arts who were coteaching at the time of the study. Teachers' perceptions regarding the effects of their professional relationship …

Systems Of Support For Elementary School Principals: A Case Study, Jennifer Francone

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Principals need support throughout their careers in order to lead effectively and promote continuous improvement. However, some elementary school principals of small, rural schools lack access to structured systems of support that could increase their knowledge and skills as instructional leaders. The purpose of this study was to examine a central California school district's existing system of support for elementary school principals to learn the essential features that could be used to provide support for principals of small, rural schools. Informed by the Principal Support Framework provided by the University of Washington's Center for Educational Leadership, the guiding questions for …

Literacy Training In An Urban High School Professional Learning Community, Vicki Sandra Ross-Norris

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this study was to explore the essence of professional learning experiences shared by teachers who participated in a professional learning community (PLC) at a New York City high school in the South Bronx. Guided by Hord's PLC characteristics and Bruner's constructivism theories, this phenomenological study addressed the research questions of what PLC practices urban high school teachers employ to support the academic-literacy achievement of their students of low social economic status (SES); the role of administration in the PLC process; and the roles of a shared mission, values, vision, norms, and collaborative knowledge on the functioning of …

Teacher-Based Teams Talk Of Change In Instructional Practices, David Dewitt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mandates have been issued for educators to collaborate and improve student achievement, requiring a change in instructional practices through teacher talk. Teachers have struggled to make the transitional conversion from team planning to observed changes in instructional practices with evidence of improvement. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how teachers collaborated while following the Ohio Improvement Process. The purpose was then to make data-driven changes regarding instructional practices in the continuous improvement cycle. The conceptual framework was constructed from the teachers' dialogic stances towards talk of instruction, along with the intellectual and emotional attitudes teachers have about …

Using Extremophile Bacteriophage Discovery In A Stem Education Professional Development Partnership To Explore Model Classroom Research Experiences Integrating The Three Dimentions Of The Next Generation Science Standards, Carrie L. Boudreau Ms

All Student Scholarship

The National Research Council’s (NRC) A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas describes a vision of what it means to be proficient in science. The project discussed in this thesis was developed with a NIH SEPA Grant 8R25OD010937 to the Virology and Electron Microscopy Laboratory at the University of Southern Maine (USM) under the direction of Dr. S. Monroe Duboise. The goal of the project was to explore using discovery of extreme environment bacteria and their bacteriophages as a model for using the three dimensions of learning to teach Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Specifically, …

Synchronous Communication And Its Effects On The Collaboration Of Professional Workplace Employees Engaged In A Problem Activity, Michele R. Rochester

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

SYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATION AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE COLLABORATION OF PROFESSIONAL WORKPLACE EMPLOYEES ENGAGED IN A PROBLEM ACTIVITY

by

MICHELE R. ROCHESTER

December 2017

Advisor: Dr. Monica W. Tracey

Major: Learning & Design Technology

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Asynchronous communication may have a profound impact on employee collaboration and productivity in the workplace due to the loss of face-to-face interaction and the relationships these opportunities may foster. However, as broadly defined within the literature, synchronous communication is a rich media that supports this type of collaboration and social interaction. Synchronous communication methods that encourage collaboration lead to deeper level learning, …

Investigating The Extent Of Collaboration Between Jesuit Administrators And Non-Jesuit Faculty And Staff In Jesuit Secondary Schools In The Eastern Africa Province: Staying True To Mission, Stephen Nzyoki Nduati

Doctoral Dissertations

Investigating the Extent of Collaboration Between Jesuit Administrators and non-Jesuit Faculty and Staff in Jesuit Secondary Schools in the Eastern Africa Province: Staying True to Mission

The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) is well known for its educational institutions. Over the years, Jesuits have run excellent schools all over the world. However, Jesuits have also realized the increasing need to incorporate non-Jesuits more fully in their ministry. This dynamic of deeper incorporation of non-Jesuits into Jesuit works is referenced as collaboration.

To enhance this collaboration, Jesuits have produced documents that advocate for collaboration, delineated the path to accomplish collaboration, and the …

Faculty Perspectives Of Student-Faculty Collaborative Course Design, Lauren Mead

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative research study explored speech-language pathology (SLP) faculty perspectives of collaborative course design. Student-faculty collaborative course design offers benefits to faculty members and students; however, research regarding this topic is lacking in the field of SLP. Interviews with faculty members in SLP programs explored faculty perspectives regarding the incorporation of student input into course design as well as anticipated benefits and challenges involved. The results of this study identified several factors related to faculty reluctance to use collaborative course design, including reluctance to share control, faculty views of students, institutional expectations, faculty planning styles, and uncertainness of how to …

Secondary Students’ Perceptions Of An Interactive Mathematics Review Program: An Action Research Study, Crystal Burroughs Wingard

Theses and Dissertations

The present action research study describes an Interactive Mathematics Review Program (IMRP) developed by the participant-researcher to enable remedial algebra students to learn in a cooperative classroom with pedagogy that promoted collaboration and hands-on, active learning. Data are comprised of surveys, field notes, semistructured interviews, and focus group insights about the IMRP over an 8-week period in the spring of 2017 at a southern, low-socioeconomic status high school. Findings include: (1) greater comprehension; (2) increased engagement and math-related discussions; (3) increased motivation; (4) egalitarian principles; and (5) high-quality reciprocity. A nine-step action plan designed to enable other math teachers at …

The Response Of Ells To Task-Based Instruction Within An Inclusion Classroom, Sarah E. Bularzik

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study describes the influence of task-based instruction on English Language Learner (ELL) motivation in a seventh grade inclusion classroom. This research study was grounded in a theoretical framework that involved inclusion education, ELLs, task-based instruction (Willis, 1996), and the ARCS Model of Motivation (Keller, 2008). This action research study employed a convergent parallel mixed methods design to explore the following research question: What is the influence of task-based instruction on ELL student motivation in a grade seven English Language Arts (ELA) inclusion classroom? The participants in this study included 5 ELL students and 10 Native English Speakers …

Examination Of The Collaboration Between Career Technical Education And Core Teachers In Linked Learning Pathways, Lucia M. Van Scyoc

Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine how teachers in Linked Learning Pathways rate the effectiveness and identify the impact of the collaboration strategies of a shared purpose, interdependent team and focus on results as they are used in the integration of career and technical education and core academic courses. This also included identifying and describing the criteria used by teachers to determine positive impact in identifying positive collaboration strategies.

Methodology. A mixed method research design, consisting of quantitative and qualitative data, was used to conduct this study. Specifically, an explanatory sequential design model starting with …

Collaborative Work Environments: Development And Sustainability, Christy L. Thompson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation examines how elementary principals develop collaborative work environments. Specifically, it explores how principals understand collaborative work, examines the strategies principals employ to encourage such an environment, the supports principals use when developing collaborative work environments and the challenges principals experience when trying to create one in his or her school. The study was conducted using a qualitative research design and an interpretivist approach was used to frame the research. Eleven elementary principals were interviewed for this study. The interviews were semi-structured and ranged in length from 45-60 minutes.

Findings included an important emphasis on positive relationship building amongst …

Implementing Arts-Integrated Lessons Through Auto-Ethnography To Improve Teacher Collaboration, Richard M. Romero Jr

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

By utilizing the auto-ethnographical approach to writing in the creatively structured format of an arts-integrated exercise that is project-based, this study analyzes qualitative responses made by one administrator and three in-service teachers. By retroactively highlighting students’ epiphanies of musical memories (see Appendix D) while also integrating Common-Core and State Standards into its structural design, it produced an activity that was extremely challenging for fifth-grade students but also may hold potential for growth in writing skills and self-knowledge especially as it relates to the practice of teacher self-study. This approach may be utilized in classrooms in the future, but any integration …

Digital Video As A Summative Assessment Tool, Meghann Peterson

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This action research study examined the effects of video production on student engagement and learning in a tenth grade English classroom. The study participants totaled 76 students in a large suburban Midwest high school. Over a period of five weeks, students worked in groups to read, analyze and make a video about a book of their choosing. The standards based project assessed their understanding of theme, characterization, and the cultural significance of their choice novel. Students worked collaboratively to answer questions about these aspects of the book and then complete storyboards and scripts for their videos. Throughout the study, the …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Intensive Professional Development On The Daily Five™ In Literacy Instruction: A Multiple Case Study Exploration, Lori A. Hamilton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This multiple case, qualitative study explored the experiences of six early childhood teachers as they implemented a structured, differentiated literacy framework (The Daily Five™) in a rural northeast Tennessee school system. This study investigated teachers’ perceptions of professional development, specifically the professional development components of coaching including ongoing online discussion, collaboration, and reflective journaling, on changing their literacy planning and instruction. Data were collected through interviews, journal entries, and transcribed meeting conversations. Findings revealed that teachers perceived coaching and collaboration as instrumental professional development components that directly contributed to changing their literacy planning and instruction. Both coaching and collaboration offered …

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 …

Tools For Effective Implementation Of Response To Intervention In The Elementary Classroom, Tonia Y. Manning

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

Abstract

Response to Intervention is a regular education initiative composed multiple tiers of service designed to deliver scientifically based instruction and intervention. The Response to Intervention Model monitors student growth over time and enables schools to provide support to students identified as at risk through curriculum-based measurements. The reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (2004) allowed states to use Response to Intervention to identify and provide intervention to students at risk of developing a reading disability. The purpose of this qualitative collective case study was to examine the tools used by teachers experienced in providing instruction and intervention …

Once More With Feeling: Elementary Classroom Teachers’ Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of Reader’S Theater, Alissa Marie Allen

Selected Honors Theses

Due to the No Child Left Behind policy of 2001, school systems are held to a higher standard with more advanced curricular aims. The resulting intense focus on content leaves little time for extracurricular activities such as the arts. Yet, educators may still include the arts in their classrooms by integrating the arts into curricular content. For example, the use of an arts integrated reader’s theater gives teachers the opportunity to integrate all four strands of the arts and teach oral reading fluency.

This study was guided by the enquiry of how reader’s theater integrates the arts and influences student …

Fostering The Mobilization Of Knowledge From Professional Development To The Classroom, Robert J. Williams

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study examined the extent to which professional knowledge, acquired from professional development programs in education, was mobilized in elementary school classrooms. The author investigated the alignment of participants’ perceptions and actions with the aims of professional development providers, studied teachers' in-depth experiences of that professional development, and noted the key aspects of professional development that related to knowledge mobilization. The project acquired data from four elementary school teachers employing semi-structured interviews, multiple classroom observations and teacher-generated and published documents. Participants’ perceptions of professional development were influenced by the following factors: impact on income, personal/professional growth and professional collaboration. Additionally, …

An Investigation On The Value Of Integrating Mental Health Supports In Education To Build Capacity For Change, Erin Keith

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Current statistics in Ontario show that one in five students suffer from mental health issues (Canada, 2012). Mental health disorders cause significant distress, impairing students’ functioning at school, at home, and in the community (Children’s Mental Health Ontario, 2014). Research has shown that prevention and early intervention strategies targeting students at risk for mental health challenges are beneficial, cost-effective, and reduce the need for more costly, intensive interventions. (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2013). In response to recent Ontario Ministry mental health initiatives (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2006; 2011; 2013), the Peel District School Board, in Ontario, Canada, launched an interprofessional, …

Mindfulness Intervention: Usefulness In Elementary Classrooms In Regards To Transitions And Collaboration, Jessie M. Filkins

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this investigation was to see if mindfulness lessons based on breathing and meditation techniques would be effective with elementary age students in building community and collaborative work skills. This was done in a classroom of 25 students ranging from nine to twelve years old. I used a pre and post survey as well as observational data to determine the relevance of the meditations on community clean up time. The results showed that there was an increase in participation as well as a decrease in the time it took for the children to clean up. There was also …

Common Core State Standards : Elementary Teacher Perceptions Of Administrator Supports With A Focus On Professional Learning Communities And Walk Throughs., Kara Joan Ammerman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2009, there was a major instructional shift in the state of Kentucky. Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were adopted and funding was provided to the state by Race to the Top in order to facilitate implementation of the CCSS (Kentucky Department Education, 2014c). Within this framework, teachers and administrators have had to re-examine the education of students and, specifically, administrators have had to rethink their approach to supporting teachers. To address these new standards, teachers and administrators had to restructure how students were taught. Implementing CCSS requires teachers to teach students differently than they did before. Two widely implemented …

Preparing For 1:1 Technology: Impact On Collaboration, Instruction, And Student Learning, Pamela R. Schwallier

Masters Theses

The purpose of this action research project was to examine how the preparation of a 1:1 technology initiative, through professional development and early access to devices, in secondary (6-12) schools affected personal computing skills of teachers as well as collaboration, instruction, and student learning. This study takes place at West Ottawa Public Schools where district educators received personal Chromebooks and had ongoing professional development throughout the 2015-2016 school year to prepare specifically for the successful adoption of the 1:1 technology model in the 2017-2018 school year. The district is able to provide personal Chromebooks for all students entering grades 7-12 …