Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Improving Parental Engagement For Kindergarten Readiness: An Improvement Science Study, Sarah Johnson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Every child deserves the opportunity to come to school ready to learn with the skills needed to take on the content in kindergarten. Students, who are not ready for kindergarten, have a higher chance of needing additional support services with academics and behavior (Fitzpatrick et al., 2020). In Kentucky, less than 50% of the kindergarten students were considered kindergarten ready based on the 2022 Kindergarten Readiness data (Kentucky Department of Education, 2023). In the district where this study took place, 43% of students were determined to be kindergarten ready (Kentucky Department of Education, 2023). Knowing the implications and long term …

The Effects Of Personalized Learning On Student Achievement, Keile Phillips

Dissertations

Although many studies have been conducted on personalized learning strategies, teacher attitudes and perceptions, and student engagement, few studies have focused on personalized learning and its impact on student achievement when compared to the traditional classroom. The purpose of this study was to determine if personalized learning increased student achievement in three school districts by analyzing student assessments for three consecutive school years. The study utilized data from three school districts located in Western Kentucky for the 2016-2017, 2017-2018, and 2018-2019 school years. The data were collected from Renaissance Learning for math and reading. In addition to examining the students’ …

Collaboration Among Parents Of African-American Students And A Church Sponsored Tutoring Program, Latiya Evette Kirby-Curlin

Dissertations

This study examines the lived experiences of African-American parents with children who attend a church-sponsored tutoring program. While this study focuses on the African- American parents' perspectives and lived experiences, the study provides an insight into the barriers that impact the implementation and success of the program, challenges of parental involvement, and promotes a higher level of academic achievement in education. This study provides information about lessening the barriers and the way in which parent involvement plays an essential part in a child's education. This qualitative study consisted of nine semi-structured interviews that focused on capturing information as well as …

Perceived Teaching Style And Academic Growth In An International School Setting, Jamie Elizabeth Martin

Dissertations

The presence of international schools has grown significantly around the world to accommodate a growing need for academic instruction that differs from that provided in local schools and to meet the rapid demands of globalization. As demands for international schools increase, demands for student performance are also increasing.

This quantitative correlational study seeks to determine if correlations exist between teaching style and student academic growth in mathematics within an international school setting. The study also determines if a dominant teaching style exists and if correlations between teacher grade level and teaching style can be made among international teachers who teach …

Ua66/8/6 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Geography & Geology Allied Organizations, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about allied organizations associated with the Geography & Geology department, including the Council of Geography Teachers, Green River Grotto, and Kentucky Geographic Alliance.

Ua100/1/1 Rural Training School Administration, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

No abstract provided.

Stem Lessons For Promoting 21st Century Learning Standards, Cynthia Faye Sage

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to identify if and how STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) lessons help student progress toward achieving benchmarks in AASL (American Association of School Librarians) 21st Century Learner Standards. This study was conducted in the library media center with 48 kindergarten students participating. The researcher taught mini-lessons for the AASL Standards prior to students participating in the STEM activities. The data were collected on 23 benchmarks included in the AASL Standards. Students were rated on these Standards as beginning, progressing, or achieving. Data analysis indicated that the STEM lessons were an effective means for providing …

A Study Using The Initial Teaching Alphabet As A Remedial Technique For Ninth Grade Students With Learning Disabilities, Jeanette Conner

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The reading achievement of two groups of ninth grade students with learning disabilities was compared using the standard scores on the Reading subtest of the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) as the pre- and posttest measurement to determine gain in reading achievement. The experimental group used only curriculum materials written in the Initial Teaching Alphabet (ITA). The control group used curriculum materials written in traditional orthography provided for students with learning disabilities by a rural Kentucky School District. At the end of an 80-day period, the standard scores on the Reading subtest of the WRAT were compared using a t-test, …

Ua37/30/2 Wku Research Notecards - E Topics, Lowell Harrison

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Notecards created by Lowell Harrison while researching his book Western Kentucky University. The cards transcribed below are for 104 topics beginning with E ranging from Eagle Prep to Extension.

Ua37/30/2 Wku Research Notecards - L Topics, Lowell Harrison

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Notecards created by Lowell Harrison while researching his book Western Kentucky University. The cards transcribed below are for 151 topics beginning with L ranging from L&M Bookstore to Lyne, John.

Individualized Science Instruction In The Middle Schools & Junior High Schools In Kentucky, Rita Byars

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A study was made of the individualized science instruction in the middle schools and junior high schools of Kentucky. The status of the programs was investigated by an information survey. The instrument sought answers as to the size of the schools, organization of the schools, kinds of science taught and the frequency of use of individualized science approaches. Methods of financing and the administering plans, the objectives of the plans, and the strategies implemented to achieve these were parts of the study. Questions designed to elicit details about the requirements of an individualized program included the increase in laboratory activity …

A Study Of The Chronological Development Of The Elementary School Media Center In Kentucky & A Description Of The Kenwood Elementary Media Center As A Current Example, Linda Perkins

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The chronological development of elementary school media centers in Kentucky was traced through an examination of: state constitutions, school laws, biennial reports of the superintendent of public instruction, Department of Education Bulletins, school board minutes, books on education and library periodicals. Kenwood Media Center, Jefferson County Public Schools, Louisville, Kentucky was chosen as the model example of a media center 1975. It was examined in the following areas: personnel, collection of materials and equipment, appropriations, services, organization of center and facilities.

Exploring Childhood: Discovering Teens, Nancy Erickson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This is a study of a practicum-based child development curriculum for eighth grade students in a middle school setting. One hundred students were tested on self-image concepts and attitudes toward young children after they had been exposed to the curriculum. The experimental group was involved in the "Exploring Childhood" course which gave them experience in actual child care agencies in the community. The control group students used the more traditional child development unit in the home economics program.

Testing showed that the experimental group made significantly higher self-concept scores than the control group. There was no significant difference between the …

An Elementary Physical Education Curriculum For Jones-Jaggers Laboratory School, Joanne Powell

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This project proposes the utilization of a movement education approach in a physical education curriculum for elementary school grades one through six. It is intended to assist elementary physical education teachers in establishing and maintaining a program based on current research and literature in the field.

The movement education philosophy differs from the traditional physical education approach in the following ways:

1. The program is child-centered rather than subject-centered with successful experiences for each child of prime importance.

2. Consideration of the affective domain is as necessary to the program as the psychomotor.

3. Creativity is encouraged in that the teacher seeks new …

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A Proposed Supplemental Curriculum For Educationally Disadvantaged Students In Grades Seven & Eight In Green County, Kentucky, Maxideen Pruitt

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this project is to design a proposed supplemental curriculum for grades seven and eight in the Greensburg Elementary School, Green County, Kentucky. This supplemental curriculum is aimed at decreasing the number of students classified as educationally disadvantaged.

The procedure used in the project is to review general information related to the problem of disadvantaged students and to present specific information concerning the existing situation in Green County. The means of identifying disadvantaged students are described and the special needs of these students are enumerated. The latter part of the project is devoted to recommendations concerning implementation of …

The Application Of Self-Instruction To Elementary School Music, Jane Austin

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of self-instruction on achievement in elementary school music at the fourth grade level. In order to study this effect, the investigator will seek answers to the following questions:

1. Which methods of self-instruction are most applicable to children at the fourth grade level?
2. What concepts are basic to the understanding of music?
3. What studies have been concluded to define the range of conceptual developments among fourth graders?
4. What materials and activities are most effective in achieving the desired results based on the above considerations?
5. Is I.Q. a significant factor in musical …

An Elementary Science Program On The Fourth Grade Level, Zelma Miles

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to ascertain what is being done in elementary science on the fourth grade level in the states included in this study; (2) to determine whether the work being done is in keeping with the thinking of the modern authorities on the teaching of elementary science; and (3) to formulate a program of elementary science on the fourth grade level based on the materials considered most practical and organized around the "center of interest" currently accepted as basic for the teaching of science in the fourth grade.

A Course Of Study In Social Studies For The First Grade, Jimmie Leila Blount

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In this study the writer is trying to show that by organizing the entire year's work before the school term begins, and adding to it throughout the year, skills, understandings and appreciations may be achieved much more thoroughly and effectively.

1. To build a course of study in social studies for the first grade.
2. To suggest an evaluation of the entire course of study.

A Health, Physical Education & Recreation Program For The Todd County Consolidated School, James Holpp

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study is to outline an adequate, correlated program of health, physical education and recreation for the students of the Todd County Consolidated School of Elkton, Kentucky. The necessity for providing better programs of health, physical education and recreation in our public schools has been demonstrated in the results of the Selective Service medical examination during World War II. All our educational agencies are stressing the need for a unified, integrated, and functioning program of this type. This study makes an attempt to develop such a program in this one particular school.

Unit Procedure Versus The Traditional Procedure In Teaching Social Science, Uberto Price

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The problem is to determine which is more effective in teaching social science, the unit procedure or the traditional procedure, the assign-study-recite-test.

An Experiment In Teaching Sight Reading By Shaped Notes, Coralie Runyon

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study is to make an attempt to apply in the elementary grades of the public schools the principle of shaped notes with the purpose of fostering sight reading.

A Study Of The Effect Of Growth In Reading Achievement Upon The Total Personality Of The Child, Lillie Nix

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of reading achievement as measured by a standardized test of reading, upon the total personality of the child, as measured by a standardized test of personality.

An Experimental Study Of Leisure Reading In The Eighth Grade, Georgia Mcelwain

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The problem of the study was: To test the effect of free reading in the eighth grade, having materials provided with a range of difficulties suited to the differences in ability of the pupils.

Mechanical Drill & Meaningful Drill In Arithmetic For The Primary Grades, Mary Schell

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis has been written to emphasize the differences in two methods of teaching arithmetic - mechanical drill and meaningful drill - and attempts to present a psychologically and theoretically sound proposal for instruction in number skills in the primary grades of the elementary school.

A Contract Plan For Teaching American Literature In High School, Elizabeth Stagner

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The plan may be characterized as follows:

1. A definite provision for four levels of mastery.
2. A challenge to the individual pupil, through a written presentation of contracts, to place himself satisfactorily at the grade-level he desires.
3. Provision for a period of thirty-six weeks, in six-weeks units.

A Study Of The Frequency With Which The Small & Capital Letters Are Used, Vivian Gillespie

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Because of the fact that so little has been done to create a scientific, objective basis for a sound course of study in penmanship, it has long been the desire of the writer to develop some ideas that presented themselves several years ago. It has occurred that there is a real need for a basis of fact, rather than mere personal opinion, in the teaching of penmanship.

While the great pen artists and the great penmanship teachers of the past and present have wrought exceedingly well and have made a wonderful contribution to the improvement of handwriting pedagogy, there still …

A Proposed Plan Of Supervision For Bethel Woman's College Demonstration School, Vera Early

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study is an attempt:

1. To present the supervisory program now in use
2. To set up a proposed supervisory program

(a) To improve the instruction of teachers in service that they may be able to direct the pupils' learning activities.

(b) To train student-teachers in order that they may make better teachers.

The scope of this study is limited to the effort of Bethel Woman's College to train teachers in service and student-teachers by the use of its supervisory program in the demonstration school. It is so limited in order to make a more thorough study of these …

An Analysis Of The Vocabularies Of Primers, Katie Motley

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of the present study is threefold:

1. To analyze the vocabulary of each of fourteen primers to determine the extent to which their vocabularies are identical.
2. To find what percentage of words each primer has in common with the Kentucky adopted text Ben and Alice.
3. To suggest primers which best supplement Ben and Alice for slow learners and for fast learners.

A Comparative Study Of The New-Type & Old-Type Assignment, Mary Tanner

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The assignment is the teacher's one best chance of stimulating children with a desire for the work that is to follow. For this reason it should be carefully and methodically given and should be definite and clear. Study increases in intelligence somewhat in the degree that the main or salient features of the material to be studied are emphasized in the assignments.

The Status Of Handwriting Instruction And The Qualifications Of Teachers Of Handwriting In The Elementary And Secondary Schools Of Kentucky, Robert Ashby

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The major reason for this survey was to secure definite facts and opinions from superintendents, principals and teachers in elementary and secondary schools on the subject of handwriting. The information gathered gives conclusive evidence that these groups recognize the need for more and better training in this fundamental subject.

The aim of the writer was to determine:

1. The extent to which outlined courses of study in handwriting are followed.
2. The number of special instructors in handwriting, whether part- or full-time and other subjects they teach.
3. Whether handwriting is taught incidentally with other subjects with no formal lessons, or as a …