Education Commons^™

Teachers Talk: A Case Study Of The Experience Of Working Across Cultures With Immigrant Children And Their Families, Anne Lundberg

Doctoral Dissertations

One of the persistent challenges confronting our society is how to reduce inequities in educational and life chances of students from different socioeconomic, ethnic, language, and racial backgrounds. One of the most important factors in a child’s success in school is the degree to which their families are actively involved in their education. These two facts framed this research work. The current large-scale immigration occurring in the U.S.A. is an important social development because children of immigrants currently make up 20% of all youth in the U.S.A.; first and second generation immigrant children are the most rapidly growing segment of …

Moving Toward Professional Self-Authorship: A Case Study Of Participants In A Program For Students Pursuing Faculty Careers, Dia Sekayi, Alexandra Coso

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

This study in-progress explores the perspectives and practices of students enrolled in the Preparing Future Faculty program at a large, state-sponsored research university. The motivation for this study is the need to understand the impact of this program on participants’ pathways through graduate school, their experiences teaching, and their preparation for postdoctoral positions. The theory of Self-Authorship will provide a structure to consider students’ experiences within the PFF program, how they have been affected by those experiences, and the extent to which these experiences affect (or affected) their perceptions, intentions, and actions. A case study approach using a survey, asynchronous …

Location, Location: Student Achievement And Regionality, Petra Lietz

Dr Petra Lietz

The further schools are from larger cities, the more challenging it is for their students to excel, but some buck the trend. Petra Lietz explains.

Exploring Preschool Educators' Funds Of Knowledge About Print Literacy Pedagogy Through A Narrative Lens, Nazila Eisazadeh

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis reports on a narrative case study in which I explored early childhood educators’ (ECEs) beliefs about print literacy and play pedagogies. The purpose of the study was to learn about the ECEs’ subjective views regarding how to support young children’s print literacy; the extent to which ECEs viewed play as a contributing factor in children’s print literacy development; and how ECEs appropriated their understandings of the relationship between play and print literacy. I conducted in-depth, qualitative interviews with six registered early childhood educators (RECEs) employed in privately funded childcare centres in Ontario, Canada. I asked: What can be …

Navigating Chinese And English Multiliteracies Across Domains In Canada: An Ethnographic Case Study Of Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Children’S Literacy Practices, Xiaoxiao Du

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Increasing diversity in the globalized world challenges the field of education such as policy development and curriculum design (Suarez-Orozco & Suarez-Orozco, 2009). With more and more students speaking a home language other than English entering schools, numerous studies have examined their English language development with a focus on how they learn to read and write at home and school. However, less is known about culturally and linguistically diverse children’s literacy practices across domains. This study investigated Chinese children’s literacy practices and asked What are Chinese children’s literacy practices at school, home, and in the community? What(linguistic and sociocultural) resources …

Examining The Process Of Identification In The Mathematics Classroom And The Role Of Students’ Academic Communities, Richard J. Robinson

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this research was to provide insight into the identities students develop as they interact in a high school mathematics classroom. A normative divide developed which eventually split the classroom into two distinct academic factions: those who resisted the emerging local definition of what it meant to do mathematics and those who did not resist (i.e. complied or identified). A secondary purpose of this research was to understand the role of students’ academic communities in mathematics identity development. Student narratives helped uncover mathematical spaces outside the classroom that each developed their own unique definition of what it …

A Multiple Case Study Of Whiteness And Critical Literacy Practices Among White Elementary Teachers In Urban Public Schools, Amanda Rose Vandehei

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether white elementary teachers' perception of Whiteness influences critical literacy practices in elementary classrooms in an urban school district in the Southwest United States. This study consists of six white elementary school teachers.

Using Hardiman's model of White Identity Development, (WID) this study specifically explores the phenomenon of Whiteness and how teachers view themselves as having white privilege and advantage in American society. Hardiman's WID model includes five stages of white racial identity development in which a white person begins with no awareness of him or herself as a racial being and …

Addressing Social, Emotional, And Organizational Goals For A Child With An Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd) Using The Cognitive Orientation To Daily Occupational Performance (Co-Op) Approach, Gina M. Czmowski, Shea L. Willert, Sarah K. Nielsen

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have social, emotional, and organizational skill deficits which are frequently addressed through behavioral based skills training. However, these approaches often do not result in generalization of skills. This case study sought to understand if the Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP), a problem-solving approach, is effective for addressing social, emotional, and organizational goals with a child with an ASD. Pre and post-intervention assessments indicated an improvement on all three client-centered goals, with the client transferring his goals and problem-based strategies to the community. Analysis of video recordings of the intervention sessions indicated the …

Familial Dialects, Amanda King

MFA in Photography and Integrated Media Theses

Using the framework of scientific investigation, ‘Familial Dialects’ explores the languages – systems of signs and codification of those signs - of individual members of my family, and the metaphors that arise from their interaction with pieces of the natural world. Each of the pieces combine an inherent form and an organizing action as a means of representing an individual’s form of expression. These familial dialects are created and translated using the methodologies of a naturalist - collection, dissection, observation, and classification. The pieces draw meaning from the connotative associations built from familial connections as well as from broader cultural …

Understanding Facilitation: A Study Of Knowledge, Skills And Behaviors In Intergroup Dialogue Facilitation, Leasa Evinger

All Dissertations

Institutions of higher education have recently articulated the value of creating environments where diverse individuals can interact. However, 'educators have been challenged to articulate clearly the educational purposes and benefits of diversity' (Gurin, Dey, Hurtado, & Gurin, 2002, p. 330). Intergroup dialogue is one approach that has been utilized in academic settings to further social justice education (Dessel & Rogge, 2008). This approach 'combines experiential learning and dialogic bridge-building methods with critical analysis of socially constructed group differences and the systems of stratification that give rise to intergroup conflicts and social injustice' (p. 10). While there is a body of …

Planning For Change While Changing The Plan: A Case Study Of Staff Perceptions Of An Elementary Ell Program Redesign, Joanne Panopoulos

Dissertations

This study shows how I, the leader, conceptualized and implemented a program redesign over the course of two years (2009-11). At the time of this study I was faced with multiple factors which led to the inspiration for change: (a) the relatively rapid increase in the number of students needing ELL services, (b) a growing teacher concern for ELLs performing in the core academic areas, and (c) greater emphasis on improving level of English proficiency and overall academic performance for placement purposes in the ELL program and in the regular education class, and (d) the change of exit criteria in …

Through A Critical Sociocultural Lens: Parents’ Perspectives Of An Early Childhood Program In Guatemala, Yaëlle Stempfelet

Master's Capstone Projects

The present case study is on an Early Childhood program in Guatemala based on participant parents’ feedback. The Early Childhood program is non-formal, focuses on emergent literacy and nutrition, and takes place in a community-run library in a poor, semi-rural town in the mountainous regions of Quiche, Guatemala. The library was set up by a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that works in Guatemala as well as another neighboring country.

Using a critical sociocultural lens, this study assumes that the parents’ perceptions reflect the state of the program and that involving their feedback through this research will ultimately help to bolster the …

A Multiple Case Analysis Of Technology Integration Knowledge By Practicing Elementary Teachers In An Urban Charter School, Kendra Lynn Minor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the perceived and demonstrated technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) of practicing elementary teachers in an urban charter school setting. Contextual factors that influence teachers' abilities to apply technology integration knowledge were also identified. A qualitative research design with multiple case study strategy was used to study practicing teachers in a charter school setting in two phases. The first phase of the study included nine participants and used the Teachers' Knowledge of Teaching and Technology Survey to garner insight on teachers' perceived technological pedagogical content knowledge. Descriptive statistical procedures were used to calculate …

Exploring Public Middle School English Language Learner Teachers' Grammar Teaching: An Instrumental Case Study, Sevda Budak

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

We know little about how teachers teach grammar in the public school context. This qualitative study explores public middle school teachers’ grammar instruction in today’s diverse classrooms. An instrumental case study design was employed to provide a broad description of two ELL middle school teachers’ grammar teaching. Analysis of the multiple data sources revealed how ELL teachers orchestrated grammar teaching, which is explored in themes within each case. Based on the findings that emerged in cross-case analysis, similarities and differences between two cases are also discussed. The particularities of these two in-service teachers’ grammar teaching provide insight to all language-teaching …

The Approach, Methods And Impact Of A Non-Governmental Organization In Education Of Child Workers In India: A Case Study, Rajul Shah

Doctoral Dissertations

Child labor is an extremely prominent and complex socio-economic issue in many developing countries. Obtaining an adequate education is the only way child workers may escape lives filled with poverty and exploitation. There is a strong indirect relationship between education and child workers. Compulsory primary schooling may provide a pathway to success.

This qualitative study explored the issue of children in India who work rather than receive a formal education, and the various resources that were provided to them by a local non-governmental organization, the Learning Foundation. It offered an informal educational opportunity, known as the New Beginning Project, to …

Collaboration For The Common Good: Examining Americorps Programs Sponsored By Institutions Of Higher Education, Erin B. Brown

Theses and Dissertations

The report, A Crucible Moment, published in 2012 by the National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement described a crisis in higher education surrounding the lack of civic learning and engagement opportunities for students. This crisis has led to decreased political participation and a general lack of knowledge in civics education (National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement, 2012). Educating students for citizenship in America’s colleges and universities will assist with sustaining the country’s democracy by engendering a sense of civic responsibility in young adults that will last throughout their lifetime. This qualitative case study …

Leading Between The Lines: Exploring The Development Of Identity Among Literacy Specialists, Peter Joseph Lancia

Educational Studies Dissertations

This dissertation study addresses the phenomenon of literacy leadership through a multiple case study of four practicing veteran literacy specialists in elementary schools in different New England cities. Using qualitative methods of data collection and analysis, namely extensive interviews and the Voice Centered Relational Method, respectively, narrative portraits were created that suggest themes related to their role, preparation, and ongoing development as well as models of leadership in their schools. In addition, the portraits suggested how the social context of their schools impacted the development of their identity, particularly in the relationships they built among colleagues and principals. With a …

Information Architecture For Social Media: A Case Study On Building An Event Backchannel With Twitter, Robert L. Moore

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This paper presents a case study on creating a backchannel through Twitter for the live event, featuring the Secretary of the US Navy, hosted by the School of Government. The project, which ultimately was successful in creating social media buzz for the lecture, was a new approach for the School of Government in how it markets its events. The study discusses the tools and processes used in the backchannel's creation and development. This paper was written because the author discovered a gap in existing literature on creating backchannels. It outlines how the adaptation of best practices from the general population's …

Teaching For Students' Confident Transition From Number To Algebra, Christina Lang Lee

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The adoption by all states and territories of the national curriculum by 2013 saw students in schools across the country taught introductory algebraic concepts from Year Five. In the twenty first century the need to be algebraically competent has become a necessity much as computation was in the previous centuries.

The Researcher has found from experience that students who have struggled with number and number operations will then most probably make poor progress in their study of algebra. The transition from number to algebra requires a robust understanding of number and number operations

This study investigated the balance of instructional …