Education Commons^™

A Look At The Little Rock Nine, Stacey Noble

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

The sun beat down on fields of puffy white clouds as glistening backs reaped the new harvest. At the end of the long, grueling day, the people known as slaves returned to their cabins to sleep until the early morning call once again beckoned them to the fields. As the white owners spent their evenings reading books, writing letters, updating the accounts, the people they owned may have sung or told stories, but they did not read. They did not write, and they did not update any accounts. They did not show any sign of education. To be educated and …

Teaching Speaking In The Foreign Language Classroom, Amanda J. Smith

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

One of the most necessary skills for living in the twenty-first century is gaining the ability to know and use another language. In many areas of life, from business transactions to broadcasting television weather warnings, the demand for proficiency in a foreign language is growing. One of the most important skills to have in a foreign language is the ability to speak the language with native or non-native speakers of that language. A great number of foreign language learners most likely consider one of their primary language goals to be the ability to speak the language at a high level …

Educational Change Process: A Case Study Of A Rural School District's Reading Reform, Barbara M. Havel Bohach

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Beginning reading instruction is the subject of much debate in educational fields as well as in the political arena. The product of such debates is often a push to reform reading programs and teachers are targeted as the ones to carry out these reforms. If reading educators have been actively involved in a reading change process, what are their concerns about change and the influence of mandated legislation?

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to examine how teachers and administrators initiated and implemented a balanced reading innovation. It also investigated how the Concerns-Based Adoption Model identified teachers' concerns …

A Case Study Of A Child Presenting Reading/Writing And Behavioral Difficulties, John Daniel Warrington

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this case study/case history was to explore one individual thoroughly in order to develop a more specific appreciation and understanding of what has occurred throughout that person's life. This deeper understanding of lvan's life history is likely to enable the researcher to identify both helpful interventions and structures that are currently in place for him and those that should be built upon or redesigned within the current school and/or home settings. Ivan has experienced significant struggles in both academic and behavioral performance for many years now. He is nearing the end of his formalized educational experience as …

The Relationship Between Giftedness And Resiliency Among Head Start Children, Angela R. Fry

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between characteristics of giftedness and resiliency in preschool children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The literature suggests that giftedness and resiliency may be related. For example, there appears to be considerable similarity between the traits identified as characteristics of giftedness and those traits identified as characteristic of resiliency. However, only limited research has been conducted directly examining similarity between of giftedness and resiliency. In the current study, 54 children attending Head Start programs were rated by their teachers on a measure of resiliency, the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA), and a …

Manifestation Determinations: How Do Iowa's Aea Adopted Procedures Compare To Federal And State Requirements And Expert Guidelines?, Keely J. Beam

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Due to the qualitative nature of manifestation determinations there is variation is how manifestation determinations are applied across situations and settings. In addition, IEP teams remain uncertain and uniformed regarding conducting manifestation determinations. This study investigate how Iowa's Area Education Agencies (AEAs) adopted procedures compare with federal and state requirements and expert guidelines. The reliability of manifestation determinations may be improved when AEA's adopt procedures are consistent with federal and state requirements, and expert guidelines. Tue information gleaned from this document review may also be of value to AEA's in establishing their own procedures for manifestation determinations. The study utilizes …

The Relationship Between Social Skills And Resiliency Among Preschool Children, Kathleen M. Twohig

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between social skills and resiliency among preschool children. Numerous research studies have suggested that social skills and resiliency are related. However, the precise relationship between these two constructs remains unclear. Specifically, is it possible for a child to possess good social skills but not be resilient? Is it possible for a child to be resilient but not have good social skills? In the present study, preschool teachers from a private day care center rated children in their classes (n = 68) using behavior rating scales purported to measure social skills …

The Impact Of The Iowa Children's Water Festival On The Children's Attitudes And Behaviors Toward The Environment, Sang-Min Kim

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

As a result of the growing concern about environmental issues, many countries have developed mechanisms and regulations directed at protection and conservation of the environment. As a part of this movement, many governmental and nongovernmental organizations (NGO) have launched a variety of environmental education programs, in an attempt to promote awareness of environmental issues. The Iowa Children’s Water Festival (ICWF) is an annual half-day environmental education program in Iowa. The goal of the ICWF is to provide educational opportunities throughout the state to K-5 children and to educate customers of tomorrow on the importance of safe, reliable drinking water (ICWF, …

Application Of Case Study Methodology In The Context Of Undergraduate Critical Care Nursing Education, James A. Hauschildt

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study represented an initial effort to investigate how a case study methodology could be used in the context of critical care nursing education. The study hoped to improve students' content specific knowledge of critical care nursing and facilitate critical thinking processes vital to clinical decision making. The study describes the transformation of a critical care-nursing course from a traditional lecture-based approach to a case study approach.

The traditional approach addressed the content through abundant teacher centered lecture, but did not require students to actively engage in discourse or apply critical thinking skills to real nursing problems. The case study …

Students' Views Of Classroom Management Strategies In Assertive Discipline And Constructivist Classroom Settings, Joan Carolyn Gerbo

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The present case study was designed to investigate third grade students' views of their teachers' behavior management strategies in two contrasting classroom types at the third grade level: an Assertive Discipline classroom that represents the behaviorist paradigm, and a constructivist classroom that emphasizes the social cognitive paradigm. Understanding students' views at this age is important because these views become the lenses through which children interpret subsequent school experiences and may provide insight into how to reduce student misbehavior in schools (Valeski & Stipek, 2001). However, limited research exists to compare third grade students' views in classrooms of teachers with different …

Early Literacy And Making Sense In An Inclusive Preschool Classroom, Patresa A. Hartman

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to build understanding regarding the meaning and role of early literacy as a meaningful interaction in one inclusive preschool classroom. I was specifically interested in the idea of literacy as a social construction - as an interaction with one's environment for the purpose of making sense of it. Furthermore, I investigated the way this construction facilitated or denied one child's citizenship in the classroom community, which is located within an early childhood center in a mid-sized, Midwestern city. My topic, examining early literacy as a sense-making interaction, lent itself quite naturally to qualitative …

A Case Study Of Senior Students' Perceptions Of Factors That Shape Aspirations In One Low-Income Rural Iowa High School, Louise Elizabeth Esveld

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Rural Iowa high school graduates from districts enrolling fewer than 600 students are more likely than their more urban peers to be economically disadvantaged as measured by eligibility for free and reduced cost meals. They are also less likely to aspire to high levels of educational attainment. Over the last decade, the percentage of graduates from small, rural schools intending to pursue any postsecondary education or training has approached or exceeded the percentage in more urban districts. However, among rural graduates with postsecondary intentions, the ranks of those students planning to pursue a four-year degree or higher remain disproportionately thin. …

The Influence Of Spelling Strategy Use On Student Achievement And Attributions, Lisa Lynn Ludwig

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study investigates the relationships between spelling strategy instruction and use, student attributional beliefs, and achievement. Nineteen fifth grade students from the same classroom were taught three different strategies to remember their spelling word lists over the three-week intervention. The students reported their attributional beliefs relating to the causes of their spelling performance at the beginning and end of each week. They reported to what extent they agreed that luck, ability, effort, and task difficulty are the cause of their spelling performance. A different strategy was taught to the classroom of students at the beginning of each week by the …

Identifying School-Aged Children At-Risk To Develop An Eating Disorder, Natalie Jean Muth

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Current research supports that school-based eating disorder prevention programs have yielded unsuccessful results. Hypotheses presented in chapter one suggest failure to implement effective prevention programs are related to problematic screening attempts and a lack of focus on targeting prevention at the primary level. Chapter two outlines a review of literature analyzing eating disorder identification, history, prevalence, assessment and existing prevention programs. Chapter three describes the present study, which uses an eating disorder assessment instrument to screen a consenting sample of forth through twelfth graders. Results, presented in chapter four, suggest (a) that a significant number of students could benefit for …

School Climate, Culture, And Educators’ Beliefs And Practices In Motivation: An Exploratory Study, Sarah Galloway

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study seeks to examine one aspect of school climate, school culture, through the lens of achievement goal theory in order to link the broad construct of climate and educational practices. Achievement goal theory is a motivational theory that provides a framework for organizing and construing cognitive and affective responses to achievement related situations. An underlying assumption of the current study is that goal structures can positively influence school climate and lead to positive outcomes for students. Goal structures were investigated through educator perceptions of goal structures and educators self-reports of their educational practices. Overall, the 124 educators who responded …