Education Commons^™

Effects Of Participation In Inquiry Science Workshops And Follow-Up Activities On Middle School Science Teachers' Content Knowledge, Teacher-Held Misconceptions, And Classroom Practices, Linda F. Cepeda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An important aspect of developing science literacy for all students is developing science-literate teachers. With the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, many middle school teachers found themselves in a position where they were no longer qualified to teach middle school science. This study was designed to help science teachers increase their science content knowledge, identify and resolve misconceptions/errors they may have, and assist them in their teaching by providing strategies for inquiry-based teaching, science laboratory exercises, and science equipment.

Teachers enrolled in biology courses offered by the Rocky Mountain Middle School Math and Science Partnership participated in …

Exploring The First Year Of Teaching Through Focus Group Discussions, Ethno-Mimesis, A/R/Tography, And Performance Ethnography, Marilyn F. Cullen-Reavill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The United States is focusing on the important and worthy goal of no child being left behind and in order to accomplish this goal, we must ensure that no teacher, including the first-year teacher, is left behind. This study explores the experiences of three first-year teachers on a monthly basis and uncovers the successes, challenges, supports, and needs that they encounter.

Five research questions guided this study: 1. What are the experiences of a group of first-year teachers and in what ways were these experiences challenging, supportive, or detrimental? 2. What are the benefits for the first-year teachers in meeting …

A Few Drops Of Oil Will Not Be Enough, Stephen James

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn provide a rich description of the various kinds of violence, deprivation, depredation and exploitation that women experience on a vast scale in the developing world. They write of sex trafficking, acid attacks, “bride burning,” enslavement, spousal beatings, unequal healthcare (something the USA still struggles with), insufficient food, gendered abortions and infant and maternal mortality. They are right to identify the education of women and girls as part of the solution to the widespread “gendercide.” However, their approach focuses too much on the capacity, indeed the virtue or heroism, of individual women. It does not take …

Perspectives In Gifted Education: Creativity, Institute For The Development Of Gifted Education, Ricks Center For Gifted Children, University Of Denver, Norma Hafenstein, Kim Haines, Bonnie Cramond

Perspectives in Gifted Education

This is the fifth in a series of monographs published through the Institute for the Development of Gifted Education at the University of Denver, and it has been graciously funded by the Lynde and Harry Bradley foundation. The first monograph contained different perspectives on the growth and development of young gifted children while the second addressed the characteristics and needs of the twice-exceptional - those who are gifted and also have some type of disabling condition. The third monograph focused on the personality and spiritual and character development of gifted children; the fourth explored giftedness in a variety of diverse, …

"The Female Entrepreneur"?, Cath Collins

Human Rights & Human Welfare

I read the “Women’s Crusade” article that forms the centrepiece of this month’s roundtable with initial interest, gradually turning to a vague sense of disquiet spiced with occasional disbelief. After a few more readings, I tried highlighting the passages that bothered me and stringing them together. Countries “riven by fundamentalism”— that’s presumably the Islamic variety, rather than the Christian variant which holds such sway in the US. The suggestion that “everyone from the World Bank to the US [...] Chiefs of Staff to [...] CARE” now thinks that women are the answer to global extremism hides too many questionable assumptions …

Fall 2009 Ctl Newsletter, University Of Denver, Office Of Teaching And Learning

Office of Teaching and Learning Newsletters

Fall 2009 Newsletter from the University of Denver, Center for Teaching and Learning. The newsletter highlights events, workshops, software updates, and resources for faculty.

A Sense Of Trust Through The Eyes Of African American Doctoral Students: An Examination Of How A Predominantly White Institution Of Higher Education Can Create An Environment Of Inclusiveness, Zelda M. Deboyes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological research study explores whether trust influences the experiences of African American students, particularly those in doctoral programs at predominantly White institutions. Recent studies suggest that colleges and universities can benefit in several ways by building and maintaining student trust. However, the body of research typically provides a general understanding of the role and benefits of student trust in the academic arena through the eyes of White students only. Very few studies examine the benefits of student trust for a diverse population, and even fewer address African American students enrolled in predominantly White doctoral programs.

This research provides an …

(De)Composing A Garden For Children's Play, Debra Jean Deverell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Kindergarten has been a part of the educational landscape of the United States since 1856, when the first kindergarten opened in Watertown, Wisconsin. If we fast-forward more than a century and a half to the present, it is clear that the landscape composition of the garden-ideologically, culturally, socially, and politically for children's play has drastically changed.

The purpose of this study, (De)Composing a Garden for Children's Play, is to examine kindergartners' play set against changing school polices and practices of recent years in one Colorado school district. Four research questions guided this inquiry:

1. What does kindergarten look like …

A Case Study Of Culturally Responsive Teaching In Middle School Mathematics, Rosanne Fulton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a case study of culturally responsive teaching in middle school mathematics. The study contributes to the emerging definition of learning experiences in mathematics that support all middle school students through the use of culturally responsive teaching strategies. These experiences are organized to actualize the balance between accommodating the individual student’s culture, needs and interests and supporting the attainment of appropriate mathematics learning goals.

The research site was chosen because of its diverse and changing student demographics, and because of the achievement and growth rates of these students. Data collected from classroom observations of three middle school mathematics …

What Matters Most? Measuring Service Quality To Improve Schools, Shannon L. Hagerman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the recent years an observable trend has emerged in the field of education. Parents are empowered and encouraged to make school choice decisions for their children and have become consumers of the educational delivery system. They are inundated information regarding the “product” of the school - student achievement scores and overall performance rankings. Do parents value other things beyond academic performance rankings and student achievement ratings? How do parents perceive the importance of the quality of the delivery of educational services? In a competitive educational marketplace, attracting and retaining families is essential to a school’s ability to survive and …

Concurrent Validity Of The Transdisciplinary Play Based Assessment-2, Keri E. Linas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Standardized assessment tools have been criticized for use with young children; however, there is limited empirical research supporting developmentally appropriate, play-based assessments. Forty children, with and without developmental disabilities, ages 10-73 months referred from the community of a large city received a transdisciplinary play based assessment (TPBA-2) and standardized assessment. Caretakers also completed the Vineland Scales of Adaptive Behavior. Concurrent validity between the TPBA-2 and standardized assessment tools (Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-III and the Mullen Scales of Early Learning) was demonstrated (p

The Longitudinal Factor Structure Of Parent Involvement And Its Impact On Academic Achievement: Findings From The Ecls-K Dataset, Hui-Fang Chen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The critical role of parent involvement has been endorsed by educators and educational policy in the United States. However, various definitions and approaches to assess parent involvement have yielded inconsistent conclusions regarding the impact of parent involvement on child development and failed to provide foundations for practitioners. These contradictory findings, at least in part, reflected that parent involvement is a multidimensional construct which should be captured by many behaviors and activities as well as the limitations of using classical test theory to develop/identify items to assess parent involvement.

This study conducted both CTT and IRT to identify optimal items for …

A Phenomenological Study Of Balanced Leadership, Ann K. Christy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe, interpret and analyze the experiences of six elementary principals in the Stewart district who have effectively balanced the instructional and managerial roles of the principalship. The research question for this study is: How do effective principals balance managerial tasks and instructional leadership responsibilities?

By analyzing these experiences, principals would be able to provide valuable insights into principal's needs and feelings about instructional leadership. This study centers around six elementary principals that provided information regarding the skills needed to become an instructional leader and their interpretation of experiences that contributed to their development …

Peer Victimization, Student Engagement, And School Attendance: Structural Equation Models, Jason Benjamin Dunkle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Survey data from a study of 6^th grade students in Colorado (n=860) were used to estimate structural equation models in which peer victimization types were hypothesized to have significant relationships with both student engagement and attendance. Then, student engagement and attendance variables were hypothesized to have significant effects on achievement (measured as grade point average). Student engagement was viewed as a multi-faceted construct, composed of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional aspects. Four different types of peer victimization variables (verbal, physical, exclusion, and intensity) were combined to form a latent measure for peer victimization that was expected to predict …

Development Of Test Of Academic Readiness, Tanachit Kasintorn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop a test of academic readiness for first grade instruction in Thailand. Test of Academic Readiness (TAR) consists of six domains: verbal, visual, memory, math, logical, and general knowledge. Two pilot studies were carried out and a main study tested items in those domains. Rasch model was used to assess the scale’s level of reliability and item discrimination. Content validity was claimed through extensive review of literature and similar readiness tests both in the U.S. and Thailand.

TAR achieved a range of reliability between 0.73-0.93 with the exception of the visual subtest, with …

Perspectives In Gifted Education: Diverse Gifted Learners, Institute For The Development Of Gifted Education, Ricks Center For Gifted Children, University Of Denver, Norma Hafenstein, Jamie A. Castellano

Perspectives in Gifted Education

This is the fourth in a series of monographs published through the Institute for the Development of Gifted Education at the University of Denver. The first monograph contained different perspectives on the growth and development of young gifted children. The second monograph addressed the characteristics and needs of the twice-exceptional - those who are gifted and also have some type of disabling condition. The third monograph focused on the personality, spiritual, and character development of gifted children.

Self-Advocacy Experiences Of College Students With Learning Disabilities And/Or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Jennifer Cano-Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Self-advocacy is identified as a factor important to the success of college students with Learning Disabilities (LD) and/or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). However, educators do not yet know enough about the experience of self-advocacy in the post-secondary learning environment to effectively guide students in the development of this complex set of skills. This study was designed to describe the experience of college students with LD and/or ADHD as they advocate for themselves in the college or university environment and to compare the students' experiences as self-advocates to what educators believe to be true about self-advocacy based on the existing …

Bridging Policy And Education: How Elementary Students Are Impacted By Reform Efforts, Kristen E. Bunn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on how state policies that encourage school reform impact student experience. The paper demonstrates what students in these reformed schools experience and what lessons we can learn from their experiences. In particular, the research focuses on engagement levels and the matching of intentions to student propensities. A goal of the paper is to help bridge the policy and educational worlds by shedding light on what is happening in four school-of-choice classrooms.

A mixed methodology is used; data from an Educational Connoisseurship and Criticism, an engagement measure, and interviews are triangulated. The research was conducted at two school-of-choice …

Law School 2.0: Legal Education For A Digital Age, David I.C. Thomson

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

Legal education is at a crossroads. As today's media-saturated students enter law school, they find themselves thrust into old style lecture-orientated, casebook modes of instruction, much of which is over 100 years old. Over those years legal education has resisted many studies recommending change, most recently from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Clinical Legal Education Association. . .

Job Satisfaction Determinants Of Certificated Staff In The Xyz School District, Grant Edward Schmidt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Job satisfaction is closely related to motivation theory. Many factors influence human motivation. For example, employee performance is greatly influenced by the expectancy of what the job will provide, the employees attitude toward personal achievement and advancement, and their wish for harmony in the workplace (Bittel, 1990). The amount of opportunity people see in their jobs also has a direct relationship to their job performance (Hill, 1979). Motivation can be provided by allowing employees to participate in the goal-setting activities (Catt, 1989). Motivators, such as sick leave, medical/ dental plans, and holiday pay are best enjoyed by the employees when …

School Engagement And The Achievement Gap, Nicole R. Skalsky

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Evidence of the influence of engagement on learning and achievement is well established. There is also indication of a test-score gap between poor students and middle class students as well as among racial and ethnic groups.

This gap continues to be a top priority in educational reform. Since the achievement gap continues to widen for many school districts and states, investigating the possible connection between the engagement gap and the achievement gap deserves needed attention.

This study sought to determine the differences in school engagement and achievement levels between students from low and high-SES backgrounds, as measured by free and …

Teacher Artistry And The Not-So-Still Life Of Arts-Centered School Reform, Cassandra Andres Trousas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite a current climate that often undervalues the arts in education, arts-centered schools and school reform continue to proliferate. This study describes, interprets and evaluates arts-centered school reform which is defined within this study as the comprehensive and intentional restructuring and re-culturing of schools using the theories and practices of the arts and arts-learning as the primary basis for educational change decisions to uncover its aims, practices and significance.

Four research questions guided this study: 1) What are the aims of arts-centered school reformers in the two schools studied? 2) What does arts-centered school reform look like in practice? 3) …

Social And Emotional Factors And Achievement Patterns Amongst High Ability Learners, Jacquelynn Anne Truckey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research indicates that social and emotional factors play a very important role in the achievement levels of all learners and especially so for gifted populations. This qualitative multi-case study was designed to explore, with a sample of secondary level gifted students, their lived experiences and the influences that contribute to their learning success. The rationale for this study stems from the researcher's desire to discover ways to better support secondary gifted students and to help them find more engagement and passion in school.

The purposefully selected sample was composed of five students at the middle and high school levels who …

Motivation And Perceptions Of Learner-Centered Practices At A Military Service Academy, Joel Leonard Witzel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Considering today's expeditionary warfare, it is essential the United States military service academies produce cadets and midshipmen who are intrinsically academically motivated, intellectually curious, and ready to meet the diversity of "publics and parliaments" they may influence during worldwide deployments (Scheffer, 2007). Research shows teachers' learner-centered practices that focus on students' needs positively influence college students' academic motivation. The purpose of this study was to measure cadets' levels of academic motivation and perceptions of learner-centered practices at the United States Air Force Academy.

This was a quantitative correlational study examining the relationship between cadets' perceptions of five learner-centered domains of …

Media Literacy Education, Elizabeth Etherington Wood

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study offers an analysis of media literacy practices and techniques used at local public middle and high schools in Colorado. Media literacy is an emerging field in education that blends literacy skills such as critical analysis and evaluation with an inquiry-based questioning process that encourages students to process information using cognitive, moral, aesthetic and emotional dimensions. This inquiry-based process is not a new educational approach; it has been used to critically evaluate literature for centuries. However, media literacy scholars argue that applying inquiry-based approaches can enhance learning across all grades and content levels by applying new methodologies.

The literature …

Cortisol Reactivity Across The Day At Child Care: Examining The Contributions Of Child Temperament And Attachment To Mother And Lead Teacher, Lisa S. Badanes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous work has shown that full-day center-based child care is associated with increased physiologic stress for many young children (e.g., Tout, de Haan, Campbell, & Gunnar, 1998; Watamura, Sebanc, & Gunnar, 2002). Specifically, increasing cortisol from morning to afternoon at full-day child care in contrast to decreasing cortisol across the day for these same children at home has been repeatedly demonstrated for toddlers and preschoolers. Factors that have been related to rising cortisol across the day at child care include the child's age (rising cortisol at child care between 2 and 5 years, but not for infants or older children, …

Even In The Face Of History: The Experiences Of Gifted African-American Students, Rivian Segal Bass

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While schools are experiencing unparalleled racial, linguistic, and ethnic diversity, gifted programs do not reflect these changing demographics. In fact, African-American students are less than half as likely to be in gifted classes and programs than are their European-American counterparts. In addition, little is known about the impact of gifted programs on students.

This qualitative study incorporated oral history interviews to examine the experiences of four gifted African-American students who attended full time programs or schools designed for gifted students. In telling their stories through narratives, participants constructed past events with a focus on the personal meanings ascribed to their …

Extraordinary Leaders For Unordinary Times: A Grounded Theory Study, Doris E. Candelarie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Across the United States, school districts are working to turnaround their lowest performing schools in order to meet the requirements of Adequate Yearly Progress mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. These failing schools are facing district, state, and federal sanctions of closure, takeover, or restructuring. A new phenomenon emerging from this dire state in education is the turnaround leader. An educational turnaround leader is one who leads a high poverty, low performing school to dramatic improvement. Limited research exists on educational turnaround leaders, but what is available hypothesizes that turnaround leaders have different characteristics and qualities. …

Perceptions Of Race And Academic Success In An Affluent Suburban Middle School, Robyn Ashley Duran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Public school districts across the nation are organizing to eradicate the racial predictability of academic achievement between African American and Hispanic children and their White and Asian peers, (Ferguson, 2001). This phenomenological study was designed to better illuminate the phenomenon of the racial achievement gap in an affluent educational setting. The story of race and academic achievement was told through perceptions held among minority and non-minority parents in an affluent educational setting.

Parents are a large piece of the bedrock which determines the academic success of all students. The role of the parent is particularly important in shaping the academic …

Poetry From The Glass Closet: The Experiences Of Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Pk-12 Educators As They Manage Their Sexual Orientation Identity Within A Teaching Role, Megan Suzanne Kennedy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to portray the experiences of lesbian, gay, and bisexual educators in PK-12 schools in the State of Colorado. This aim emerged from my own personal experiences, previous research, and the current status of state and federal laws. This research focused on the experiences of 15 lesbian, gay, bisexual and allied identified teachers, including myself.

This study focused on a primary research question: What are the experiences of lesbian, gay, and bisexual PK-12 educators as they manage their sexual orientation identities within a teaching role?

Heuristics was the qualitative methodology best suited to address this …