Education Commons^™

Assessment: Authentic Strategies For Early Childhood Education, Gail Ann Hathaway Tupper

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis explores the relationship between assessment techniques and reporting procedures in early childhood settings. Discrepancies between curriculum being presented and skills and progress being reported are examined.

The curriculum used in this study is Portland Public Schools' Piaget Curriculum, which stresses active, scientific problem solving for children 4 to 6 years old. A variety of assessment, observation, recording and reporting tools are suggested, implemented and critiqued. Creation of a portfolio to store and showcase these items is suggested and explained.

The important role of parents and families in the assessment process is studied. Strategies for involving parents at all …

A Classroom Preferences Questionnaire Based On The Theory Of Multiple Intelligences, Allyn Snider

Dissertations and Theses

A questionnaire based on Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences was developed and administered to forty-five second grade students in three different classrooms. Sections of the fifty-eight item questionnaire dealt with students' preferences for certain classroom activities, methods of learning, and modes of social interaction. Each student's responses were summarized to create an individual profile, indicating preference for linguistic, mathematical, and/ or spatial activity. In addition, students' preferences for receptive and/ or expressive methods of learning, and for working by themselves, with peers, or with adults were profiled.

Effective Middle School Teaching: Factors That Promote And Maintain It, Judith Ann Smith

Dissertations and Theses

The past thirty years has seen the middle school as an organization come of age and with it a renewed emphasis on meeting the needs of the early adolescent student. Although many current studies have addressed middle school issues, one of the most significant was the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development's Turning Points: Preparing Youth for the 21st Century (1989). It claimed that the middle school is the "last best chance" to turn young lives toward a meaningful future and, in order to do so, schools must be staffed with "expert" teachers.

Once one knows what an "expert" teacher is, …

Effects Of Participant Roles On Input Interactions And Comprehensible Output, Larry Douglas Morgan

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate what effect, if any, the social roles between second language learners and their conversational partners have on the types and frequencies of the following discourse categories: (a) input interactional modifications (b) corrections of language learners' linguistic errors by others and (c) language learners' production of comprehensible output. This study also seeks to corroborate previous research findings with regards to negotiation of meaning interactions and other-corrections of language learners' linguistic errors.

A Descriptive Study Of The Implementation Of An Integrated Whole Language Approach At The Fifth Grade Level, Ardyth Shapiro

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to describe the implementation of a major curriculum change at the fifth grade level in two different school district settings; an urban district and a suburban district. The major curriculum change was a shift from traditional reading and language arts instructional approaches to an Integrated Whole Language instructional approach. The implementation of this change was examined on the basis of self-reports by administrators, teachers, and students and was analyzed in the context of organizational factors in schools that have typically influenced change. These included school district demographics, the decision making process, administrative support, inservice …

Intensive Esl Course Performance As A Predictor Of Academic Success, Coleman South

Dissertations and Theses

In order to determine the reliability of international students' English as a Second Language (ESL) class performance as a predictor of academic performance, a population of 169 international students at Portland State University (PSU) in Portland, Oregon were selected and statistical tests were performed on their GPAs and TOEFL scores. Individual students' GPAs were computed for all ESL classes taken and for each component--grammar, reading, writing, and speaking/listening--as well as for the end of the first quarter, first year, and second year of academic study. Pearson Coefficient Correlations were then computed for the ESL and academic GPAs. The students were …

A Diagnostic Analysis Of Elementary Principal' Practices Which Serve Youth At-Risk Of School Failure, Rikki Kenneth Patrick

Dissertations and Theses

This study provides a description of the practices elementary school principals employ to reduce the likelihood that at-risk youth will actually experience school failure. The problem investigated in this study is reflected in this broad question: What is the relationship of principals' practices to the provision of service for at-risk youth?

Differences in the importance and frequency of use of practices by principals were compared. Variables such as school size, percentage of students who are eligible for free lunch, percentage of students who are at-risk, student mobility, and principal's rating of how successfully their school is serving at-risk youth were …

Personal Values, Work Values, And Job Interests Of Nursing Students, Stella Beach Bellarts

Dissertations and Theses

The purposes of this study were to (1) describe the personal values and work values of nursing students in the last year of their present educational preparation, (2) to investigate the relationships between values, both personal and work, and selected demographic variables (type of educational institution, present educational preparation, job interests, and age), and (3) to examine the correlations between students' personal values and work values. Using the Profile of Life Values (PLV) and the Ohio Work Values Inventory (OWVI) , the personal and work values of 452 student nurses were examined, first as a total sample for means and …

Working It Out: Esl Literacy Skills, Strategies, And Systems In The Workplace, Mary Louise Cohn

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigates the strategies and resources a group of non-native English speakers with limited reading ability use to fulfill literacy functions work. The nineteen study subjects are employed as production workers in a large electronics manufacturing company. Using in-depth interview data, limited testing and document analysis, the study addresses three major research questions: 1) For what functions are reading and writing actually used in the workplace? What level of reading and writing do these functions assume? 2) How do these literacy functions relate to the rest of the work system? 3) How do limited readers fulfill these literacy functions? …

Foreign Student Enrollment Planning In Five Oregon Institutions With English As A Second Language Programs, Maureen Denise Sprague

Dissertations and Theses

Planning for foreign students in institutions of higher education takes many forms. This study set out to find out how this planning takes place within and between three particular units in five universities and colleges in Oregon. The three units chosen as the focus of this study work closely with foreign students in the initial admissions process, in the orientation, visa status and services area of their stay, and thirdly in academic coursework in English as a second language programs. The titles of the units are, the admissions office, the international student services office and the English as a second …

Peer Response Groups In The Esol Classroom : A Study, Karin Dorothy Krueger

Dissertations and Theses

This qualitative study is introduced through a discussion of peer response groups and the researcher's interest in them. The guiding question of whether peer response groups are as useful for teaching writing ESOL classrooms as in first language classrooms is stated along with supplementary research questions. These are fol lowed by a review of relevant theories and summaries of peer response group hi story, social and cultural factors, and research done on peer response groups in first and additional language classrooms.

Monitoring And Management Of Psychiatric Symptomatology In Conditionally Released Insanity Acquittees, Jo Mariah Mahler

Dissertations and Theses

Community treatment of insanity acquittees is a highly controversial matter among legislators, mental health professionals and the public. At issue is the balancing of public safety concerns with least restrictive, non-punitive rehabilitation alternatives for insanity acquittees. Attempts to determine predictors of dangerousness in mentally ill offenders have produced mixed results with questionable practical value. In view of this, many mental health professionals are instead recommending that research on insanity acquittees be focused on evaluating the effectiveness of mandated community treatment programs for insanity acquittees. One area being designated for such research is the monitoring and management of psychopathology in conditionally …

International Education In The Public Community Colleges Of Oregon And Washington, Stephan Ernest Cragg

Dissertations and Theses

There were at least five purposes in pursuing research on international education in the public community colleges of Oregon and Washington states. The first purpose was to fully demonstrate a new and original taxonomy of ten elements, or dimensions, found in defining and describing international education. A second purpose was to add to the body of knowledge and research on international education practices at the nation's community colleges through an extensive literature search and original research. A third purpose of the study was to identify and describe the current status of international educational programs and activities of the forty-three public …

A Qualitative Case Study Of Chinese Teaching Assistants' Communication In The U.S. University Classroom, Lina Lu

Dissertations and Theses

This is an exploratory, interpretive study, focusing on classroom communication experiences of Chinese teaching assistants (CTA) in a U.S. university. The research asked: What are CTAs' experiences communicating in the U.S. university classroom? How do they interpret their experiences from their own perspective? And what is their emergent adaptation pattern to the U.S. university classroom?

Student Attitudes And Feelings About Standardized Tests And Parent Observations Of Behavior During Testing : A Survey Of Third Grade Students And Their Parents, Candace Ann Iseminger

Dissertations and Theses

This study was a descriptive study of student attitudes toward standardized tests and parent observations of behaviors during the testing process. A total of 87 third grade students and their parents were surveyed. predominately white and middle class. The students were The school settings consisted of parochial elementary schools.

Perception Of Stressors By 9th And 12th Grade Students Utilizing The Youth Adaptation Rating Scale, Michael James Krummel

Dissertations and Theses

Stress is a fact of life. There has been much research done since the early 1970's dealing with the various aspects and relationships of stress and life events for all stages of human development. The purpose of this study was to investigate perceived life-event stressors of 9th grade and 12th grade students in three Pacific Northwest rural schools. The study also sought to a) ascertain whether male students in the 9th grade and 12th grade perceive stressful life events differently than female students in the same grade, and b) explore if there was a difference in perceptions of students of …