Education Commons^™

Timss 2015 : A First Look At Australia's Results, Sue Thomson, Nicole Wernert, Elizabeth O'Grady, Sima Rodrigues

Elizabeth O'Grady

The goal of TIMSS is to provide comparative information about educational achievement across countries to improve teaching and learning in mathematics and science. It is designed, broadly, to align with the mathematics and science curricula in the participating education systems and countries, and focuses on assessment at Year 4 and Year 8. It also provides comparative perspectives on trends in achievement in the context of different education systems, school organisational approaches and instructional practices; and to enable this, TIMSS collects a rich array of background data from students, schools and teachers, and also collects data about the education systems themselves. …

The Impact Of Sports Participation On The Academic Achievement Of African American Girls, Sarita Singleton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Although there are several educational benefits resulting from participation in high school sports, African American students do not always experience the positive outcomes that other populations share. The purpose of this causal comparative study was to investigate the effect of athletic participation on the academic achievement of African American high school female students. The sample consisted of 100 female African American 12th-grade students. Descriptive statistics were collected and analyzed. Analysis involved archival data to determine the grade point averages and graduation rates of student athletes and non-athletes in two urban high schools in Georgia. The study sought to determine if …

The Impact Of Expertise And After-School Program Dosage On At-Risk Student Achievement, Heather E. Orman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

After-school programs (ASPs) aimed at improving at-risk student achievement abound and receive considerable funding. Research provides some evidence that ASPs can improve reading and math achievement for at-risk students, although rigorous evaluation of the programs and outcomes is minimal. Specifically absent from current ASP literature is examination of dosage, in the form of hours of program attendance, and its impact on at-risk student achievement. ASP research; research on learning and time; and expertise theory indicate dosage rates that are too low and too high will not impact student achievement.

This study investigates the impact of after-school program dosage and expertise …

Timss 2015 : A First Look At Australia's Results, Sue Thomson, Nicole Wernert, Elizabeth O'Grady, Sima Rodrigues

Nicole Wernert

The goal of TIMSS is to provide comparative information about educational achievement across countries to improve teaching and learning in mathematics and science. It is designed, broadly, to align with the mathematics and science curricula in the participating education systems and countries, and focuses on assessment at Year 4 and Year 8. It also provides comparative perspectives on trends in achievement in the context of different education systems, school organisational approaches and instructional practices; and to enable this, TIMSS collects a rich array of background data from students, schools and teachers, and also collects data about the education systems themselves. …

What Effect Does Full Day Kindergarten Have On Student Achievement In Literacy?, Philip Lee Munkvold

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Kindergarten has undergone continuous change since its inception in 1837. Minnesota’s kindergarten program experienced a substantial transformation during the 2014-2015 academic year by offering full-day kindergarten at no cost. Students attending full-day kindergarten will receive twice the amount of instruction as years past, prompting a study on what effect this may have on student achievement. This capstone uses a combination of surveys, assessments, and interviews with to help answer the research question, What effect does full day kindergarten have on student achievement in literacy? Research concludes that full-day kindergarten has a positive impact on student achievement in literacy in kindergarten, …

Timss 2015 : A First Look At Australia's Results, Sue Thomson, Nicole Wernert, Elizabeth O'Grady, Sima Rodrigues

TIMSS 2015

The goal of TIMSS is to provide comparative information about educational achievement across countries to improve teaching and learning in mathematics and science. It is designed, broadly, to align with the mathematics and science curricula in the participating education systems and countries, and focuses on assessment at Year 4 and Year 8. It also provides comparative perspectives on trends in achievement in the context of different education systems, school organisational approaches and instructional practices; and to enable this, TIMSS collects a rich array of background data from students, schools and teachers, and also collects data about the education systems themselves. …

An Investigation Of The Link Between Nonverbal Aptitude And Academic Achievement, John E. Althoff

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When a private school works to serve a diverse student population and provide excellence in education, academic aptitude is important to evaluate to better predict whether a student will be provided an education that is appropriately leveled.

Comparing the previous grades of a diverse applicant pool may prove problematic because of the differing scaling and grading methods utilized in differing educational systems. A nonverbal aptitude test may be utilized to fill this purpose by not only gauging a student’s aptitude, but also by minimizing bias associated with cultural or linguistic differences, as well as differences that may present themselves because …

The Influence Of Balance Within The Competing Values Framework And School Academic Success On Teacher Retention, Charisse Gulosino, Louis Franceschini Iii, Portia Hardman

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

The primary aim of this study is to use the survey items from the TELL Tennessee Survey (2013) using the Competing Values Framework (CVF) to determine whether teachers' observations about a set of topically organized school climate dimensions and school performance levels are associated with their immediate professional plans. Using a three-by-two-level Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), we find that the effect of CVF “balance” and school performance level explain much of the variation in the percent of teachers who intend to stay at their current school, independent of the school’s student demographic characteristics. Specifically, the effect of having a balanced …

The Effects On Reading Comprehension When Using Prompts In Book Clubs, Kelly Jo Bridge

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this Capstone is: What is the effect on reading comprehension when using talk prompts with second grade students in book clubs? The action research that was conducted involved two book clubs that were each made up of four second grade students. One of the groups used talk prompts to enhance the accountable talk in book clubs and the other group had a book club discussion without the use of talk prompts. Both groups took a pretest before the book club discussion and a posttest after the book club discussion. The data revealed that when second …

A Collaborative Approach To Address Student Behavior And Academic Achievement Across Systems, Beverly Ngozi Okereke

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Academic achievement and in-classroom behaviors are two significant child outcomes that affect student success in school. According to Systems Theory, in order to truly understand the factors that affect these outcomes for children, one must look to the major systems that encapsulate the child (including their school and home environments). This project is a meta-analytic review that examined the effectiveness of measures representing each system in predicting child achievement and behavior: School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports (SWPBS) for the school as a system, level of parent involvement (high versus low) for the home system, and student motivation (intrinsic versus extrinsic) for …

The Effects Of Community-Building On Achievement, Motivation, And Engagement In Undergraduate Mathematics, Hannak Keith

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This 2 x 2 quasi-experimental study examined the effects of pedagogical method (i.e., direct instruction vs. 5E inquiry) and intentional community-building (i.e., absence or presence) on undergraduate student (N = 103) motivation, engagement, and achievement in mathematics. Conditions were randomly assigned to one of four different College Algebra classes with a one-time occurrence and taught by a trained expert teacher. Findings indicated that intentional community-building – regardless of pedagogical method – had the strongest effects on students’ motivation, engagement, and achievement. Although no differing pedagogical effects were discovered (most likely due to the one-time implementation of the lesson formats), …

How Does Culturally Responsive Curriculum Impact African American Student’S Literacy Development In The Primary Grades?, Kaylan Louise Carlson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this capstone was: How does culturally responsive curriculum impact African American student’s literacy development in the primary grades? The work explores common classroom practice, culturally responsive teaching, multicultural education and the implications for a literacy curriculum that is culturally responsive. It documents an educator’s creation of a unit using the tenets of Understanding by Design (Wiggins & McTighe, 1998) and involving elements of culturally responsive teaching through multicultural education, in addition to resources and text sets. The lesson plans and resources were created for use in the primary level but may be altered for use …

Teaching Problem Solving In Mathematics: Cognitively Guided Instruction In Kindergarten, Christy Faith Wilson Eckenrode

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The study explores the effects of mathematical conversations, using Cognitively Guided Instruction practices (CGI), on the problem solving ability and academic language usage of kindergarten students. Four treatment groups of students were followed over a ten week period. Students were grouped by the number of minutes that they participated in mathematical conversations per week. Students in the group that had the most minutes per week of mathematical conversations grew by the greatest amount in both problem solving and academic language capacity. Students in the control group regressed in both problem solving and academic language. Students in the group the met …

How Does Learning About Affixes (Prefixes And Suffixes) Help English Language Learners (Ells) Understand The Meaning And Use Of Affixes?, Melissa Jean Cook

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this paper is: How does learning about affixes (prefixes and suffixes) through games and songs help English Language Learners (ELLs) understand the meaning and function of affixes? It documents one teacher’s teaching of common prefixes and suffixes to 3rd grade ELLs with the use of games and songs in the classroom to increase student learning and engagement. The data includes pretests, posttests and a survey. The findings of this study include, 1) some students were secure before the lessons in their knowledge of prefixes re- and mis- and suffix -er ; 2) the data was …

Post-Secondary Academic Self-Limitation Of Rural High School Students In Northeast Georgia, Jeffrey Lambert

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the phenomenon of academic post-secondary self-limitation of rural high school students in northeast Georgia. The theory guiding this study was based upon self-determination theory, as described by Deci and Ryan (2008). Most high school students must make a decision as to whether or not they continue their education into the post-secondary years. This transcendental phenomenological study examined post-secondary academic self-limitation of high school students in rural, northeast Georgia. This type of phenomenology suggests that the whole of human experience is descriptive and leads to absolute knowledge (Moustakas, 1994). This approach was …

Sense Of Community, Perceived Learning, And Achievement Relationships In An Online Graduate Course, Jesus Trespalacios, Ross Perkins

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The ubiquity of online programs in higher education requires continued focus on designing instructional environments that improve students’ learning. We examine students’ perceptions of sense of community and learning, as well as academic achievement, using grades obtained from a final project and participation in asynchronous discussion forums. Findings indicate a significant correlation between perceived learning and the sense of community connectedness subscale. Although sense of community is closely associated with interactions, the results did not show a significant relationship between the sense of community and the discussions achievement variable. Implications and challenges in implementing activities to foster sense of community …

Motivation Towards Success: A Qualitative Comparative Case Study Illustrating The Differences In Motivating Factors In Achievement Between Low Ses High Achieving And Low Achieving African American High School Females, Ashanti C. Friels

Theses and Dissertations

For years educators have made attempts to explain the effects of poverty on student achievement. Many have set out to explore methods for better helping students with limited resources succeed academically, thus bridging the achievement gap between these students and their financially stable counterparts. The ultimate combination of poverty and race/ethnicity define major sources of disadvantage in educational outcomes (Maruyama, 2003). Viewing this from a racial standpoint places African American students at the receiving end of low achievement as a result of low socioeconomic status.

The missing thread that could potentially pull this together exists among the population of impoverished …

The Influence Of An Extended School Day On Middle School English Language Arts And Mathematics Achievement In A New Jersey Suburban School District, Davida Lindsay-Harewood

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study examined the influence of an extended school day, reported in instruction minutes, on academic achievement of general and special education middle school students in one public suburban New Jersey school district using English Language Arts and Mathematics data from the 2014 New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJ ASK). The sample was selected using Propensity Score Matching, a statistical technique employed to reduce the influence of selection bias. The final sample consisted of 238 students in Grade 6, 238 in Grade 7, and 238 in Grade 8 in the New Jersey suburban, upper middle-income school district during …

Arts Integration: The Missing Link, Samuel G. Cochran

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Many of our K-12 schools have experienced various challenges in order to narrow the achievement gap that addresses academic improvement for all students. Arts integration offers a foundation for learning that can improve student achievement. Teaching academic content through the arts provides students with opportunities to engage in 21st Century skills that promote critical thinking, collaboration, creativeness and communication. This project examines how arts integration can improve student learning outcomes and how teacher preparedness and ongoing support contributes to it being an effective framework for educators. The researcher was able to conduct observations and interviews with teachers and write and …

The Influence Of Chronic Absenteeism On Grade 6, Grade 7, And Grade 8 2014 New Jersey Assessment Of Skills And Knowledge, Cheryl A. Dunlap

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This cross-sectional, correlational, explanatory study aimed to explain what influence, if any, chronic absenteeism has on Grade 6, 7, and 8 English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJ ASK) performance, in the aggregate, when controlling for other influential student and school demographic variables. Student achievement scores on the Grade 6-8 ELA NJ ASK and Mathematics NJ ASK were analyzed separately. Analyses were conducted using simultaneous regression, hierarchical regression, and binary logistic regression models. All student data explored in this study pertained to 220 Grade 6-8 middle schools located in New Jersey during the …

The Effectiveness Of Using Mobile Learning To Enhance Uaeu Students’ Achievement And Motivation In Emirati Studies Course, Emad Kotb Farg Hendawy

Theses

United Arab Emirates University adopted a particular project aiming to improve and develop the learning process. The idea of the research focused on the utilization of mobile learning in classrooms through using the iPad devices by students in different content areas. Applying such a notion helped in motivating students in learning, especially, for some courses featured as more theoretical and abstract like Emirati Studies course. The Emirati Studies, considering as a compulsory course for the students in the UAEU, addresses different aspects related to the Emirati community whether socially, historically, geographically, politically or economically. So, the purpose of this study …

How Can Instructional Staff Be Effectively Introduced To A Standards-Based Grading Policy, Joseph Patrick Millard

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Standards-based grading is a style of grading developed over the last 30 years as a means for schools to create agreed upon standards for learning and grading (McMillan, 2000). While there may be school policies and philosophies motivating a teacher’s grading system, there is no universal method or standard for the assessment of American students. Grading practices may vary from school to school, subject to subject, and classroom to classroom. As a result, teachers’ grading policies have the potential to become subjective, based more on teacher experience and preference than a student’s mastery of a subject. Subjective grading is problematic …

The Influence Of Building Configuration On Academic Achievement, Attendance, And Demographic Variables In Selected Midwestern School Districts, Catherine A. Macarthur

Dissertations

This study examined the influence of building configuration on the academic achievement and attendance of students who were considered chronically absent. A longitudinal nonequivalent groups research design was used to test the study’s six hypotheses. Data were collected from over 10,000 students within 38 K-8 schools and 40 6-8 middle schools in 24 urban school districts. These districts belonged to the Middle Cities Education Association (MCEA) in a Midwestern state. Student achievement data were collected from this state’s Department of Education’s Center for Educational Performance and Information (CEPI) database that focused specifically on 6th (2009) and 8th-grade (2011) achievement and …

Effects Of Learner-To-Learner Interactions On Social Presence, Achievement And Satisfaction, Susan Elizabeth Allred Oyarzun

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The relationships between learner-to-learner interactions, achievement, social presence, and satisfaction in online learning have varying degrees of strength according to the research. More evidence is needed to identify clarify relationships among these variables and to identify best practices for designing learner-to-learner interactions to increase achievement, level of social presence, and learner satisfaction. This non-experimental, comparative study investigated the strategies used for learner-to-learner interactions effects on achievement, social presence, and satisfaction. Surveys measuring social presence and interaction quality were administered to instructors and students enrolled in 17 undergraduate asynchronous online courses. The surveys for instructors and students were the same, except …

Living Out Faith: Reflections On Motivation For Academic Achievement And Career Choice, Felicia D. Richardson-Mcgee

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

It has often been said that conversations concerning religion, sex and politics should be avoided in most, if not all social settings. In general, it was believed that discussions on these topics could lead to very heated and argumentative debates as the participants openly expressed their views on these subjects. Increasingly, however, religion has become a popular discussion topic in many areas, such as politics, health and medicine, and even the business world. This is likely because religion, for many, is an important part of daily life. It shapes how individuals see themselves and others in the world and may …

Building Successful Academic And Behavioral Programs For At-Risk Youth: Low And No Cost Options, Jeannette Hallam

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

In order to effectively educate all students and make progress in closing the achievement gap, we must look at two areas for school improvement: positive relationships, and school policies and procedures. Participants in this group will walk away with strategies for building positive relationships, reducing the drop-out rate, and assisting students in meeting their goals. Participants will also learn how to evaluate current policies and procedures that may be restricting student growth or achievement through data awareness.

The Predictive Influence Of Family And Community Demographic Variables On Grade 7 Student Achievement In Language Arts And Mathematics, Adam Wolfe

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This correlational, explanatory, longitudinal study sought to determine the combination of community and family-level demographic variables found in the 2010 U.S. Census data that most accurately predicted a New Jersey school district’s percentage of students scoring proficient or above on the 2010, 2011, and 2012 NJ ASK 7 in Language Arts and Mathematics. Analysis included simultaneous multiple linear regression and hierarchical linear regression. The population for this study included 100% of New Jersey school districts containing at least 25 valid NJ ASK scores in Language Arts and Mathematics for the years 2010-2012 and complete 2010 census data for the communities …

Mindset Training For Undergraduates In Developmental Mathematics, Valorie L. Zonnefeld, Kate Van Weelden

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

This poster highlights the work of an individual study that student Kate Van Weelden did in Dr. Zonnefeld's Math 100 class. Kate was a teacher assistant who led a lab session for 6 of the students in the Math 100 course. Throughout the semester Kate implemented incremental mindset training for her 6 students. The results showed a promising avenue for improved achievement, especially among males.

The Role Of Individual Character Strengths In Adolescent Academic Achievement And Risky School Behavior, Paul Deschamps

Wayne State University Dissertations

Adolescent achievement is a major developmental task in adolescence and reducing Risky School Behaviors is an important part of the process. Patterns of adolescent achievement and general development are the result of the cumulative process that includes a long history of experience and socialization in school, in the family, in the peer group, and in the community. This study is the first to expand understanding of these key interrelated but unique outcome variables of both Academic Achievement and risky School Behavior through examination of individual Character Strengths in the presence of other key intrapersonal and contextual variables from multiple systems …

The Relationship Of Growth Mindset And Goal-Setting In A First-Year College Course, Chelsea E. Sorensen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has found that mindset and goal orientation are intricately related in motivation and academic achievement, which holds significant implications for students in higher education (Dweck, 2009). While growth mindset-focused intervention has been studied, finding improvement in mastery goal-setting (Blackwell, Trzesniewski, and Dweck, 2007), goal-focused intervention accounting for student mindset has not. Firstyear college students’ implicit theory of intelligence, or mindset, was measured before they were randomly assigned to set either a mastery- or performance-based goal in relation to their first exam in a difficult chemistry course. Upon receiving their first exam score, students were free to set whatever …