Education Commons^™

Online Facilitators And Sense Of Community In K-12 Online Learning, Jeffery S. Drysdale

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the continued growth of K-12 online learning, there remains a need for additional research addressing roles of online facilitators and how they can improve the sense of community at K-12 online schools. The first article of this dissertation presents a case study illustrating how online facilitators can provide the same level of support for their students that on-site facilitators provide students in blended environments. Data was gathered from teachers at Mountain Heights Academy (MHA), a fully online high school. MHA implemented a "Shepherding Program" to provide student with online facilitators. Each teacher, or shepherd, was responsible for 20 to …

Understanding Contradictions In Teacher-Learner Identity, Digital Video, And Goal-Directed Activity In A Blended Graduate Reading Education Course, Jennifer K. Lubke

Doctoral Dissertations

More teachers are experiencing professional development within blended/virtual learning communities, which I consider a fruitful avenue for expansion of new literacies in K-12 classrooms. However, new literacies challenge traditional structures in education even as new rules of corporate-sponsored reform and high-stakes accountability serve to reinforce these structures. Within this context of contradictions, a cohort of teachers from a rural, remote county in the southeast United States participated in a blended learning environment in their final semester of graduate-level coursework in Reading Education. Some of the teacher-learners, whose own attitudes and motivations toward technology were as diverse as the tools themselves, …

Starting Early: Perceptions Of Parents And Teachers On 6th To 12th Grade Transition Timeline For Students With High-Incidence Disabilities, Josie M. Nielsen

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

Post-secondary educational and employment outcomes for students with high- incidence disabilities continue to lag far behind their nondisabled peers. A carefully designed timeline including evidence-based transition skills and practices may serve as a guideline for teachers and parents as they prepare student /child with high-incidence disabilities for successful transition into adulthood. This project examined the importance and age/grade-appropriateness of skills/activities on a transition timeline, based on ratings by teacher and parent focus groups. Participants included eight secondary teachers with at least10 years experience, and five parents of children with high-incidence disabilities who graduated from both high school and post-secondary school. …

Exploring Heterosexist Bias And Oppressive Bullying In Anti-Bullying Prevention Programs, Shayna Yamashiro

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Children in the K-12 school environment who identify in the sexually underrepresented groups experience the effects of heterosexism, which is a manifestation of oppressive bullying. This work explores and analyzes the results of Anti-Bullying Prevention Pilot Program (ABPPP) which is a large-scale three-year evaluation. This study analyzed qualitative data (structured interviews) by utilizing a Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) and Mixed Methods approach to find the emergent theme of heterosexism. Grounded Theory was then used to code that information. This work found thick descriptions which illustrated the presence of heterosexist bias in the qualitative data. Thus, this writer proposes a model …

Perceptions Of Elementary School Teachers, Counselors, And Principalsabout Bullying At Two School Sites In Utah And Mexico, Bernardo Villar

Theses and Dissertations

Bullying is a serious issue that exists not only in the United States but in other countries as well. There are significant, and often devastating, implications for both the bully and the victim. This research focused on the perspectives of teachers, principals, and counselors related to bullying in two elementary schools in Utah and Mexico. Through semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions and archival records, this qualitative study explored different perspectives on bullying found in two schools exhibiting approximately the same student and teacher demographics. Interviews with teachers, counselors and principals allowed for comparison of differences and similarities between both locations. …

Types, Subjects, And Purposes Of K-12 Online Learning Interaction, Jered A. Borup

Theses and Dissertations

Although K-12 online learning has experienced exceptional growth, research in the area has lagged behind. This dissertation addressed this gap in the literature using a multiple article dissertation format. The first article used survey data from two online English courses at the Open High School of Utah (OHSU) to examine students' reported interactions with content, peers, and instructors. The large majority of students viewed all investigated types of interaction as educational and motivational. Students perceived learner--instructor and learner--content interactions to have significantly higher educational value than learner--learner interactions, and viewed learner--instructor interaction to be significantly more motivational than learner--content interaction. …

Humboldt County Agriculture Education: Forestry, Nursery, And Dairy Production, Alayna Renner

Agricultural Education and Communication

The purpose of this project was to create middle school agriculture curriculum for the top three agriculture commodities in Humboldt County. It was designed and created specifically for Humboldt County to educate the upcoming generations about the unique and diverse agriculture industry Humboldt County provides. It is hoped that this easy and ready to use curriculum will get the students interested and involved in the agriculture industry in the future years. It includes a teacher’s aide outline, student handouts, a Power Point, and an activity handout.

First Grade Teachers' Perceptions Of The Five Strands Of Effective Reading Instruction And Their Possible Influence On Daily Instructional Practices, Nghia Van Nguyen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

First grade teachers play a critical role in shaping the foundation for early literacy skills acquisition of primary students. Past research studies have indicated that primary students whose teachers followed the Big 5 Ideas to teach reading had higher reading abilities when compared to other students. The purpose of this current research was to address a gap in the literature by examining first grade teachers' perceptions of the Big 5 Ideas, their levels of knowledge of the literacy concepts, the frequency with which these teachers use their knowledge of the Big 5 Ideas, and the possible influence of the use …

Fostering Creativity: Ontario Teachers’ Perceptions, Strategies, And Experiences, Catharine M. Dishke Hondzel

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study provides a broad overview of perceptions elementary school teachers hold regarding creativity, the strategies those teachers use to foster creative thinking and behaviour in their students, and the environmental challenges and opportunities they navigate when striving to develop 21^st century skills in students. Earlier research examining teachers’ perceptions and creativity-fostering behaviours have typically asked teachers to describe their classroom practices, or self-report their perceptions regarding creative children or children’s creative actions. Using a mixed-methods approach, in this study 22 Grade 5-7 teachers working in Ontario completed an online questionnaire which measured their creativity-fostering behaviours. Following the survey, …

Teachers’ Perceptions On The Availability And Quality Of Computer Science And Technology In Schools, Pauline H. Lake

Senior Theses and Projects

As our world becomes more technologically advanced and the availability of jobs in the Computer Science (CS) field increases, it is important that U.S. students are provided with a CS education and experience technology integration in their classrooms. My research examined the availability and quality of CS and technology in schools based on the perceptions of K-12 teachers in the Hartford area. Through analysis of online survey responses and follow-up interviews, I identified that teachers’ perceived the availability and quality of CS and technology in schools to be influenced by factors, such as funding disparities, teacher inexperience, and lack of …

Teachers' Mental Health Literacy And Capacity Towards Student Mental Health, Tamara D. Daniszewski

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The current youth mental health care system is ineffective at meeting the needs of Canadian youth. More than ever, teachers are placed on the frontlines of mental health care provision, including identification and intervention delivery. The present study explored teachers’ mental health literacy and capacity in the context of providing help to their students. Secondary data from a large-scale survey of teachers in one Ontario school board was analyzed to assess teachers’ current levels of knowledge, awareness and comfort levels in student mental health care. Teachers were compared based on teaching experience, school division, and school location, in terms of …

A Phenomenological Study Of Indonesian Cohort Group's Transformative Learning, Markus Budiraharjo

Dissertations

This study was set to investigate how a cohort of ten Indonesian teachers experienced transformations in their teaching professionalism upon receiving an assignment of instructional leadership training to other school leaders. These ten teachers, who came from three different Indonesian Jesuit high schools and one archdiocese-based educational foundation in Jakarta, belonged to an initiative called Indonesia Secondary Education Development Program (ISEDP) intended to develop instructional leadership skills among school administrators in Indonesia. This six-year initiative (2006-2012) involved three international institutions, namely Loyola University Chicago (LUC), Indonesian Jesuit High Schools Association (IJSA), and Sanata Dharma University (SDU), Indonesia. The goal was …

Listening To Teacher Voices: Using Narrative Inquiry To Understand The Lives Of Beginning, Experienced And Veteran Female English Teachers, Tiffany Michelle Sedberry

Open Access Theses

Research shows that teacher retention is an issue of serious concern. Job dissatisfaction from personal and professional stressors is causing teachers at different experience levels to reevaluate their commitment to the classroom. Veteran teachers who complete their career are also evaluating whether or not teaching is worth what is invested. This project is grounded in narrative inquiry, in hopes of understanding the lives of female English language arts teachers. For the participants in this study, financial concerns and family commitments, issues of student accountability, and educational reform worry them equally. For all teachers, regardless of experience level, student apathy remains …

Curriculum Gatekeeping In Global Education: Global Educators' Perspectives, Robert Wayne Bailey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Teaching social studies from a global perspective has been resisted by many since its inception (Kirkwood, 2009). Critics have labeled the theory anti-American and unpatriotic (Schlafly, 1986; Burack, 2001). Others are concerned with its shifting perspectives and apparent lack of core facts (Finn, 1988). Over time, some critics have changed their stance on global teaching and now endorse the idea (Ravitch, 2010). This qualitative case study sought to identify the barriers seven self-proclaimed global educators faced while teaching global themes and to identify the effective gatekeeping strategies for circumventing such obstacles. The goal was to provide a rich, compelling account …

Complicating Whiteness: Identifications Of Veteran White Teachers In Multicultural Settings, Anthony Miele

Doctoral Dissertations

A scrupulous search of whiteness literatures in relation to multicultural education reveals a preponderance of scholarship noting White privilege and race evasiveness. Given contrasting scholarship arguing White identity as complicated, multifarious, and bound to social and historical context, concurrent with a dearth of scholarship that examines such complexity, studies that explore and complicate White racial identity are of vital importance in advancing discourse around whiteness in education. Moreover, studies on veteran White teachers in multicultural settings explore professional identifications that have emerged along a continuum within authentic educational contexts rather than pre-service teachers in decontextualized settings.

Exploring identifications of veteran …

Engagement, Capacity, And Continuity: A Study Of The Impact Of Participation In Alternative Pre-Student Teaching Placements, Jodie Lynn-Smant Rose

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

ENGAGEMENT, CAPACITY, AND CONTINUITY: A STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF PARTICIPATION IN ALTERNATIVE PRE-STUDENT TEACHING PLACEMENTS

by

JODIE ROSE

December, 2013

Advisor: Dr. Thomas Edwards

Major: Education Curriculum and Design

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

The training and preparation of prospective teachers includes an important phase where the future teachers begin to make a transition from learner to teacher. During this time, prospective teachers begin to utilize the knowledge they have gained through coursework and life experience to begin teaching students of their own. During this time, assignments and activities that prospective teachers undergo become less about conveying personal knowledge …

Fraud Prevention And Employee Rationalization In New York State Public Schools, Kathleen M. Slezak

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Prompted by frequent media reports of school fraud and a lack of relevant K-12 literature, this research study was designed to investigate current fraud prevention practices in public school districts in New York State. Using a "fraud triangle" model, an analysis of existing legislation and professional practice guidelines reveals that an integral element is being overlooked in current fraud prevention efforts, namely employee attitudes (more formally rationalization).