Education Commons^™

Examining Diversity In The Monarch Award, Michele Mcdaniel

Masters Theses

This study explores the 2016 Monarch Award Master List as an educational resource for kindergarten through grade three teachers and librarians. It focuses this exploration by examining how diversity was represented in the text and illustrations of the books in the sample. The Monarch Award is Illinois’ K-3 Kids’ Choice award. Illinois’ children are increasingly diverse, and it is important that they have access to literature that reflects their diversity. The study revealed that diverse characters were portrayed with nuance and respect, but they were still underrepresented on the list. Additionally, diverse characters often had to display extraordinary characteristics to …

Limited By Design: Expanding The Boundaries Of Schooling Policies From Demanded Passivity To Transformative Practice, Natalia T. Carvalho-Pinto

Masters Theses

Schooling is often imagined as the great equalizer and the primary venue towards personal and collective liberation. However, hegemonic ideals and practices have limited the ability for educators to craft and utilize policy in a way that best benefits their students. In this thesis, I utilize the state of Michigan’s Common Core curriculum to examine the limits beyond policy and practice. Specifically, I argue that the demands for student passivity and institutional measurable as signs of success, prohibit student growth. Throughout the document, I describe hope in the ability to instill a variety of transformative educational theories and practices that …

Converting Agricultural Lesson Plans To Be Common Core Compliant For Grades 3-5, Hattie Kaymarie Jameson, Brittany Rose Withnell

Agricultural Education and Communication

There are few Common Core approved lesson plans for teachers to incorporate into traditional science programs in California. The Farm Bureau’s Ag in the Classroom (AITC) program provides K-12 educators lesson plans with an agricultural focus. Only 13 out of 45 of the lesson plans that the California AITC website offers are Common Core approved (Learn About Ag, 2017).

Agricultural literacy is valuable to consumers, can lead to careers in agriculture, and can create a greater understanding of the world and of science for students. The agricultural lessons give students a real life relationship with what they are learning and …

Culturally Relevant Teachers : A Critical Beacon In The Educational Standards Movement., Angela Pleasant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe culturally relevant teachers’ beliefs and teaching practices as they implement the Reading CCSS. It was hypothesized that by exploring the beliefs and practices of teachers who practice a culturally relevant pedagogy, this research could provide evidence of the specific and identifiable practices that demonstrated high expectations, culturally competency, and critical consciousness. This research could provide evidence of effective strategies, which could be used to impact the literacy achievement of students of color while the teacher implements the Reading Common Core State Standards or any standards movement that follows. A qualitative case study …

Rebranding Mediocrity: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Common Core Textbooks For College-Bound Writers, E. Suzanne Ehst

Dissertations

This project analyzes the quality of high school writing textbooks from major publishers, textbooks purported to align with The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for writing. I measure the textbooks against the promise of CCSS’s tagline, “college and career readiness,” focusing specifically on the former goal to discern how “college-ready writing” is constructed and to analyze the degree to which the textbooks align with relevant research and theory in the fields of English Education and Rhetoric and Writing Studies. I begin the project by situating this study in current U.S. educational policy and rhetoric. Specifically, I describe the politicized rhetoric …

Theater Education: Thinking Outside Of The Black Box, Raheve Gray

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A 2005 report by the Rand Corporation concluded that "Involvement in the arts is associated with gains in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skill" (Smith). A 2012 report from the National Endowment for the Arts mirrored these findings, stating that “Students who have arts-rich experiences in school do better across-the-board academically, they also become more active and engaged citizens, voting, volunteering, and generally participating at higher rates than their peers” (Garelick 1). The above statements speak to the mounting evidence that arts in education provide extensive benefits for students fortunate enough to have them as part of …

Teachers' Experiences With Professional Development For The Application Of The Common Core State Standards, Maxine Tracey Ann Amritt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

At one local school site in Georgia, a subgroup of students did not achieve a score of at least 800 on the state's Criterion Referenced Competency Test in math. To improve student success, the local site implemented professional development (PD) for teachers. Successful PD has been shown to promote effective teaching practices, which in turn, have resulted in improved student learning. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore 5th grade teachers' lived experiences of PD and its influence on their application of the Common Core state standards. Bandura's social cognitive theory of self-efficacy guided the study. In-depth interview …

Teacher Perception Of Social/Emotional Skills Of Preschool Children And The Relationship To Common Core Standards, A. Mi'kel Price

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Sampson is a 4-year-old preschooler. It is difficult for him to make friends, understand simple social settings, and interact with peers. He struggles to interpret incoming contextual information (such as talking to a peer about the blocks they are playing with), has difficulty comprehending non-literal/figurative expressions (such as jokes and irony), and implicit messages (such as when a child does not want to play with him). Sampson’s difficulties increase his risk of social isolation and lower self-esteem.

This vignette offers a glimpse into the challenges faced by children with low social/emotional skills. The social use of language, often referred to …

Exploring The Impact Of The Common Core State Standards Implementation Through The Eyes Of Teachers', Parents', And Administrators' Beliefs And Attitudes Related To Reading Instruction, Sheryl Coglaiti

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Belief(s) and attitude(s) about education, moreover reading, can shape the way in which we respond to pressures to initiate instructional changes in schools and society. Recently, an enormous reform effort, known as the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is underway in the nation. The implementation plays a critical role in how the CCSS will be received. In light of being received, how will they impact teachers’, parents’, and administrators’ belief(s) and/or attitude(s) related to reading? According to research, there is a need to consider teachers’, parents’, and administrators’ belief(s) and/or attitude(s) about reading, which may play a role in the …

The Leonard Bernstein Artful Learning Model: A Case Study Of An Elementary School, David S. Brothman

Other Dissertations

Case study methodology was used to explore and better understand how the Leonard Bernstein Artful Learning comprehensive school reform model impacted a high performing suburban elementary school outside Chicago, Illinois. The school adopted the model not because it was doing poorly academically, but rather as a vehicle to institute a comprehensive arts-based curriculum school wide. Focusing primarily on teachers’ perceptions of how the model affected teaching and learning in their classroom, the study also uncovered how the school, families, the community, and district leadership responded to and supported Artful Learning over a five year period since its inception. The study …

The Research-To-Practice Gap: Practical Strategies For Common Core In The Inclusive Classroom, Jillian M. Gentry

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

A Case Study Exploring The Relationship Between Culturally Responsive Teaching And A Mathematical Practice Of The Common Core State Standards, Tashana Howse

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This collective case study explores the nature of the relationship between teachers’ use of culturally responsive teaching (CRT) practices and students’ engagement in constructing viable arguments and critiquing the reasoning of others (SMP3). This study was informed by the Common Core State Standards Initiative related to developing mathematically proficient students through the use of student engagement practices consistent with the standards for mathematical practice. As a means to support teachers’ facilitating specific student engagement practices, professional development was provided. This study is situated in the growing body of research associated with student engagement and cultural identity. The case of two …

A Case Study Of Two High School English Teachers Transitioning From Arkansas Writing Standards To Common Core Writing Standards In The Secondary English Classroom, Cindy M. Williams

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study is to gain an understanding of secondary English teachers' perceptions towards implementing Common Core writing standards. The study allowed me to examine how teachers' perceptions affect the level of implementation of Common Core writing standards in their English classrooms during the first year. The study focused on two research questions and two sub-questions centering on the perceptions of secondary English teachers and how they are responding to early implementation to the Common Core State Standards. Specific facets to consider in teachers' transitioning from state standards to Common Core standards are what pedagogical training opportunities teachers …

The Common Core Standards : Their History, Current Status, And Implementation In My Classroom, Anna Lassiter

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Describes a history of national standards, a description of the creation and adoption of the common core standards, and an explanation of how the common core state practices have changed the author's practice of teaching English in New York public schools.