Education Commons^™

Exploring High School Students’ Perceptions Of The Influence Of Fine Arts Education On Academic Achievement, Samantha Fields

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

This qualitative study aims to explore student perceptions of fine arts exposure on academic achievement in a southwestern Georgia high school. The study focuses specifically on exposure time and how it affects students academically. Qualitative research methods were used for this investigation. Information was collected through questionnaires, interviews, and artifacts analysis to better understand student perceptions of how fine arts education impacts their personal growth and academic success. This study’s findings provide insights about discovering students’ perceptions of fine arts exposure in relation to personal academic achievement. The results of this investigation can help educate stakeholders and policymakers as they …

Unit Plan For A Course On Banned Books For 11th And 12th Grade, Jonny Gherman

English Capstone Projects

This lesson plan will teach high school students (11th-12th grade) what censorship is, why it is powerful, and what to do with it. Aligned with Pennsylvania State Standards, students will identify common themes between the two most popular genres of banned books (race & gender/sexuality). Through a series of activities, discussions, and a final project, students will practice close reading, critical thinking, and basic research skills.

Quickwrites And The Quest To Reverse Writing Reluctance, Jenna Dunn

Honors Projects

Current research suggests that students’ enjoyment of writing will positively impact their writing achievement (Graham, 2007; Bulut, 2017). Given this trend, the following study explores the extent to which quickwriting, a teaching strategy developed extensively by Linda Rief (2003, 2018) as well as Donald Graves & Penny Kittle (2005), impacts the attitudes of reluctant writers. A total of nineteen eleventh-grade students were interviewed in three focus groups. All of the students within the study experienced three weeks of regular classroom quickwriting along with one week of a quickwriting extension workshop prior to participation in the focus groups. Students were asked …

Crowdsourcing Civics Instruction To Improve Student Civic Knowledge, Skills, And Citizen Engagement, Charles T. E. Jones

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Secondary students’ lack of civic knowledge, skills, and engagement is well documented in the literature. States continue to address the issue through an increase in mandated civics requirements, but a striking improvement has not been confirmed. Improving civics instructional delivery through crowdsourcing holds promise in addressing deficits in students’ acquisition of civic knowledge, skills, and engagement. Crowdsourcing is the act of using the internet to obtain information and input from multiple parties on specific topics and to find solutions to problems. The purpose of this study was to determine if crowdsourcing may be an effective instructional tool that civics teachers …

Writing Inside And Outside The Rhetoric Of Containment: An Analysis Of Writing Strategies In First Semester Students Transitioning To The First Year College Composition Classroom, Brenda R. Gallardo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Based on Bowden’s (1993) notion of containment, this study analyzes how containment—as well as other pedagogical restrictions and limitations—was manifested in the high-school-to-college transition of first year student writers. This study addresses the following questions of inquiry: How do participants’ experiences in high school affect them as writers in college?; What practices and strategies do students in the first year composition classroom apply to overcome containment in the college writing classroom?; and, How can instructors use pedagogy to overcome containment? This dissertation applies a qualitative design to gather data via interviews, questionnaires, and classroom observations. Via grounded theory, data gathered …

Mental Illness In Young Adult Literature: A Classroom Approach, Claire Ghent

Honors College Theses

As high school curriculum in the 21st century evolves, the need to increase exposure of diverse literature that reflects culture, gender, and ethnicity is growing. One crucial area often overlooked by educators, parents, and publishers is literature that provides attention to mental illness, in spite of the growing amount of adolescents who suffer from a mental illness. By increasing awareness of mental illness in the classrooms, teachers can reduce stigma and increase empathy in their students while still providing challenging and engaging literary interactions. One of the best vehicles to deliver mental illness and stigma education is young adult literature …

Perspectives Of High School Photography Teachers Regarding Visual Literacy, Kristi Oliver

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative study investigated the perspectives of high school photography teachers regarding visual literacy. A qualitative methodology that used a phenomenographic research design was employed to gain understanding about the perspectives of high school photography teachers in their conceptualization, perceptions, and experiences surrounding visual literacy. A survey/ questionnaire was used to explore participants’ paths towards becoming a high school photography teacher, the amount of years they have been teaching, and their geographic location. Participants perception of school demographics such as school size, community contexts, racial, ethnic, and economic diversity were also collected. Additional prompts were designed to investigate curricular influences, …

The Effect Of Gender And Racial Stereotypes And Education-Related Beliefs On The Academic And Social Identity Development Of Urban African American Girls, Wanda Marie Shealey

ETD Archive

This qualitative, ethnographic study explores various tensions and struggles around gender and racial stereotypes that three urban teenage African American girls encounter as they try to develop a sense of oneself as an individual and in relation to the world. The purpose of this study was to explore Black high school girls’ experiences in a predominately urban public school in the Midwest. This study is guided by the following research question: In what way do gender and racial bias contribute to the self-perception of African American adolescent girls? Interrogating the multiple standpoints that inform African American female identity and how …

Cultivating Engagement Through Student-Centered Learning In A High School Media Art Class, Dyane Goldman

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Student-centered-learning is a broad term for an approach to education where students are independent, self-directed learners (Krueger, 2014). This active environment is invigorating, energizing and filled with students deeply engaged in the work at hand. Educators are leaning towards embracing methods that foster independence in their students and in turn, these methods are proving to be effective in cultivating an atmosphere of engagement in all types of learners.

This study assessed implementation of opportunities for self-directed learning, and evaluated student interest and engagement in classroom activities. A review of the literature indicates that adapting this approach can be effective in …

What Are Factors Of An Effective Parent And Family Involvement Program Within High School?, Nicole Walsh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

According to the literature, parents or guardians of high school students will participate within the high school—though their participation is dependent on many factors. Parents with a higher social capital tend to be the most involved, while parents with lower social capital tend to be less involved. In other words, generally parents or guardians with high social capital would be much more likely to be involved in their child’s school, whereas parents with low social capital would not be involved in their child’s school at all (Goodwin, Rothon, Stansfeld, 2012). In this study, the researcher formulated and analyzed the following …

Fairy Tales And Adaptations: A Unit Of Study For High School Seniors, Angelica P. Babauta

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This project is a unit of study designed for high school seniors in an advanced English class. The topic is fairy tales and adaptations, and through these twelve complete lesson plans, students will be led to examine the way fairy tales and society influence one another based on how a classic fairy tale is adapted over time. Students will study Jeanne Leprince de Beaumont's "Beauty and the Beast," the Brothers Grimm's "Brier Rose," and Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" as the original fairy tales. The adaptations paired with these texts are Alex Flinn's Beastly, James Finn Gardner's "Sleeping …

An Exploration Of Catholic High School Religious Studies Teachers' Perceptions And Experiences Of Their Role And Practice, Laura Witter Ramey

Doctoral Dissertations

Research literature has demonstrated that Catholic high school religion teachers face a number of possible challenges or tensions as they go about the preparation and practice of teaching religion. One challenge that emanates from the literature is that religious studies teachers are expected to be as professional as their counterparts in other disciplines, yet they lack the structural resources for developing that teaching professionalism (Cook, 2001; Cook & Hudson, 2006; Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, SCCE, 1988; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, 2005). A second challenge is the expectation that religious studies teachers must meet the needs of …

Deliberate Use Of Creative Problem Solving In Art Making, Rebecca Dame-Seidler

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project explores the productivity of the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) tools in the visual art making process. The project offered the opportunity for high school student volunteer’s to participate in an after school program called Creative Art Group Experience (CAGE). Volunteers learned and made use of CPS tools to guide their art making. The project researched the effectiveness of using CPS tools in art making documenting volunteer progress and feedback. As an art educator, I had the opportunity to evaluate the impact of using CPS tools with the art-making process. The results of CAGE will benefit how CPS tools …

School Facility Design: Are We Asking The Right People?, Dale C. Jerome

Ed.D. Dissertations

Realizing the need for changes in the design of new school facilities, architects and educators must reach beyond the norms of past designs. This mixed-methods study was conducted at four recently completed high schools. Questionnaires were utilized in the initial phase of research to identify statistically significant differences between the perceptions of teachers and students regarding the physical design characteristics of their learning environment. Structured interview sessions were then conducted with teachers, principals, and architects, to understand their perceptions regarding the involvement of students in the design and planning process of school facilities, and indicated the importance of providing a …

A Qualitative Multi-Site Case Study: Components, Strengths, & Benefits Of Studio Production In Traditional Public High Schools, Kristy M. Tartaglia

Art Education Projects

My own experiences in the visual arts lead me to a personal understanding of their importance and an interest in arts education advocacy. In order to advocate for the visual arts one must know what the arts teach and how to talk about those benefits. The lack of research on what is taught in the visual arts makes discussing the benefits difficult. Hetland, Winner, Veenema, & Sheridan (2007) began to close this gap with their findings of eight Studio Habits of Mind (develop craft, engage and persist, envision, express, observe, reflect, stretch and explore, understanding the art world) being taught …

Differentiated Instruction, Tracy E. Winzer

All Graduate Projects

The advantages of differentiated insh·uction compared to traditional direct instruction were contrasted aud compared in this study. The research examined the need for differentiation in public school classrooms with a wide range of student skill aud ability. The focus of the research was to determine whether or not differentiation is a sound and best teaching practice, and to what extent it should be incorporated into national curriculum instruction. The project centered on the creation of a differentiated unit for au eleventh grade U.S. Hist01y class. The unit is designed to accommodate a mixed-ability classroom by using differentiated instruction strategies. The …

Re-Centering Students’ Attitudes About Writing: A Qualitative Study Of The Effects Of A High School Writing Center, Katherine Palacio

Department of Writing and Communication Theses

While attitudes are difficult to assess, a qualitative research study can produce results to give insight into how a student feels a writing center has improved his or her confidence and attitude towards writing. This study reviews the minimal discussion of students‟ attitudes towards writing in past and current writing center research and builds upon the conversation by following three students‟ journeys in the writing center and discussing whether their experiences with the tutors has improved their attitudes about writing.

So Tell Me, What's Different But The Skin I'M In? Seven Adolescent Black Girls Making Sense Of Their Experiences In An Online School Book Club Featuring African American Young Adult Literature, Benita Rutonya Dillard

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Believing the claim made by Black feminist research and scholarship that Black women writers and Black female social networks were safe spaces for Black females to come to voice, this qualitative multiple case study examined how seven adolescent Black females enrolled in a public virtual charter high school positioned themselves as they responded to contemporary realistic young adult fiction written by African American female authors in an online single-gendered book club. This study captured participants as some interacted in Tuesday's group and the others in the Thursday's group. Interpretivist methods are used to specifically examine the ways in which the …

Closing The Achievement Gap Of The Urban Minority Student Migrating To The Suburban Public High School, Joseph Pompilio

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

.

Construct Validity Of The Career Decision Scale With Hispanic High School Students, Richard F. Coco

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

.

The Influence Of Selected Noncognitive Variables On The Academic Success Of Urban Black High School Males In An Enrichment Pre-College Program, Leon Rouson

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The thrust of this study was to examine the influence of selected noncognitive variables on the academic success of urban Black high school males in an enrichment Pre-College Program. The major research question was: Which of the selected noncognitive variables are most useful in predicting academic success for urban Black high school males?

This study reinvestigated Sedlacek and Brooks' (1976) proposed set of seven noncognitive variables related to academic success: (a) self-concept; (b) realistic self-appraisal; (c) understanding of and ability to deal with racism; (d) preference for long-term goals over more immediate, short-term needs; (e) availability of a strong support …

A Model Administrative Handbook For Secondary School Instrumental Music, Steven L. Boyle

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this study was to design and develop a model handbook of administrative and management procedures to guide secondary school instrumental music teachers and directors in the Prosser, Washington, School District. To accomplish this purpose, current research and literature on secondary instrumental music, and the administration and management of music programs was reviewed. Additionally, selected materials were obtained from secondary music programs of similar size in eastern Washington.

The Superintendent's Point Of View Concerning Music In The High Schools Of Washington State, Morris Ray Pedersen

All Master's Theses

A common philosophy of administrators and music educators should be prerequisite for a successful music program. This philosophy should permit enough flexibility to allow for individual differences and yet be rigid enough to encompass general education needs and goals. It can only be shared through communication. The place of music within the curriculum will be understood through this communication between the music educator and the chief administrator. It shall be the purpose of this study to encourage the shared philosophy and communication relationship between school music educators and their administrators.

A Guide To The Production Of Broadway Musicals In High School In A Selected Geographical Area, Donald Hornbeck Boyer

OBU Graduate Theses

The performance of Broadway Musicals by high school students as an integral part of their public school music education is a relatively new concept. The apparent absence of any written material directly relating to the concept has created a need for information among directors faced with the task of producing a show ·using high school students.

The purpose of this study was to prepare a guide to the anticipation and solution of these problems endemic to high school student productions of Broadway Musicals. The preparation of a catalog of those agencies that rent the scores, scripts, dialogue books, stage manager's …

A Study Of The Teaching Of Voice In High School Choral Groups, John Malcolm Mitchell

Graduate Student Research Papers

It is the purpose of this study (1) to explain the various factors which comprise the act of singing; and (2) to present various concepts concerning the teaching of singing to choral groups.

A Proposed Course In General Science For The Portola High School, Homer Dewitt Hildebrant

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis the author's first aim is to not forth a science course that will awaken the students of this high school to a realization of the significance end value of their environment, and thereby stimulate their interest and appreciation of things scientific. We are living in the midst of a great scientific age, and application of scientific knowledge will continue more and more to dominate our life. It is essential then that our high school boys and girls should learn how to adapt themselves to this life of scientific application, and be able to interpret their own environment …

Articulation Of Junior And Senior High School Curricula, Belle Joachims

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Our American school system with its distinction between elementary and secondary schools grew out of European tradisione. The history of secondary education in America abone that there have been three periods of development, each characterized by a dietinot type of school. As our colonial policies were shaped by Europeans, naturally our schools were organized to confora with the European institutions; and the Latin grammar school was the dominant institution for secondary education in American until the middle of the eighteenth century. During the Revolutionary period there was a tendency to turn from the school fostering social distinction to one more …