Toward Diversity In Texts: Using Global Literature To Cultivate Critical Perspectives, Rick Marlatt

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

Abstract Literature study in the 21st Century should be characterized by the inclusion of global texts that afford diverse students the opportunity to engage in their literacy development through and alongside authors, characters, and storylines that represent their own linguistic and cultural traditions. In this narrative analysis, I reflect on the importance of equity-driven literature study from my perspective as a teacher educator at a Hispanic-Serving Institution in the Southwestern United States. Following an introduction to the political and institutional contexts surrounding text selection in schools and a brief review of the literature, I situate myself and my students as …

Walking The Talk: Promoting Middle School Philosophy By Embracing Student Voices, Rick Marlatt

Middle Grades Review

This practitioner perspective responds to recent scholarship calling for reinvigorating middle level education by suggesting that the purposeful inclusion of student voices in collaborative learning activities can help educators champion the academic and social growth of early adolescents. The recent practicum experience of a preservice candidate who prioritized the voices of her students illustrates the promotion of democratic education, innovation, and social justice in middle level education.

Singing Their Stories: A Musical Narrative Of Teaching And Testing, Desi Richter

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This musical, arts-based educational research describes the lived experiences of four K-12 New Orleans educators who believe that end-of-year standardized tests hinder their ability to teach in ways they believe are best. Using songwriting as a form of data elicitation and narrative restorying, this study documents the lived experiences of teachers who have experienced test-related cognitive dissonance. While curricular narrowing and other test-related practices have been studied in many contexts, the perspectives of New Orleans teachers are barely documented. Thus, this study fills a content gap in the testing literature. Musically restorying the data contributes to the accountability literature in …

Call For Manuscripts

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

Copyright And Open Access

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

Power In Plain Sight: Exploring The Class Privilege At In Curriculum At Wealthy High Schools, Miriam Gross

Master's Projects and Capstones

While secondary education has moderately improved in its approach of racial and gender issues in the classroom, social class remains an undiscussed topic, especially in school communities serving students of the highest social classes where financial privilege often intersects with racial privilege. The lack of discussion of social class is considered against the role schooling is meant to play in creating good citizens and the different ways that is construed. Taking into account research into the identity formation of wealthy adolescents, the hidden curriculum in secondary schools that supports the current social order, and pedagogical practices that could be used …

The Development Of The Wise (Writing To Inspire Successful Education) Writing Mentoring Program: A University-School Collaboration, Bradley H. Smith, Michael S. Mathews, Serrae N. Reed, Michelle Q. N. Tran, Caroline Mousa, Mauricio Lozano, Erica S. Rodriguez, Andrew Hamilton, Jonathan T. Mathews

MLET: The Journal of Middle Level Education in Texas

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a service learning writing mentoring program designed to close the achievement gap in writing proficiency for economically disadvantaged seventh grade students. Compared to writing mentoring studies found in the published literature, this program has three distinguishing components. First, it focused on economically disadvantaged middle school students. Second, it provided writing mentoring through a university-school partnership in which college students provided the intervention in collaboration with a seventh-grade teacher. Third, the program used technology to facilitate the mentoring process. Over the course of an academic year, mentors created videos with feedback on 19 writing …

Assessment Strategies To Promote Peer Learning In An Online Course, Pauline Rooney, Caitríona Ní Shé

Conference papers

The value of peer learning in higher education is now well recognised. Just as we continually learn from eachother in our everyday lives, so our students also learn from eachother as part of informal and formal learning experiences. Within educational programmes, peer learning is facilitated through a variety of pedagogical strategies which promote active participation, collaboration and the sharing of knowledge and ideas. With the increasing ubiquity of social networking and online learning platforms, new opportunities for facilitating peer learning, have emerged. Within online courses – where students often study at geographically disparate locations – peer learning strategies assume arguably …

My Experience Teaching General Chemistry To A Student Who Is Visually Impaired, Katherine M E Stewart

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

This paper summarizes my experience with teaching a first-year, General Chemistry course to a visually impaired student. This includes accommodations and modifications for both the lecture material and the laboratory. Included are also examples of formats and syntax for txt-based quizzes, tests, and laboratory reports, as well as other general accommodations for both the student and the service dog.

Science Instruction For Secondary Students With Emotional Or Behavioral Disorders: A Guide For Curriculum Development, Tal Slemrod, Leah Wood, Shelley Hart, William Coleman

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

This article provides a step-by-step guide for the organization and development of science lessons and units, to support the academic and behavioral performance of secondary students with challenges with related disabilities. This clinical practice guide provides a process for curriculum development for students with emotional or behavior disorders (EBD) in the science classroom. Steps include recommendations, goals, and examples for administrators and educators to discover appropriate plans and interventions to promote engagement and learning, including supporting success on State mandated High Stakes Assessments.

Implications Of 3-D Printing For Teaching Geoscience Concepts To Students With Visual Impairments, Karen E. Koehler, Tiffany A. Wild, Sean Tikkun

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

This article presents the results of a study on the use of 3-D printed models in a science classroom for students with visual impairments and examines whether the use of these models impacts student conceptual understanding and misconceptions related to geosciences concepts, specifically plate tectonics.

Data were collected one week prior to instruction, one week after instruction and throughout the 3-week instructional period. Results showed that students with visual impairments held many of the same misconceptions about plate tectonics as students who are typically sighted. All students in this study had fewer misconceptions after the instructional period than they held …

The Nature Of Teaching: Connecting K-5 Teachers And Students With Nature, Rebecca Busse

Engagement & Service-Learning Summit

No abstract provided.

Arts Integration Into Elementary Science: Force And Motion And Natural Disasters, Eric C. Ooms, Tabitha M. Wu, Ashley R. Kokemuller, Sarah E. Montgomery, Audrey C. Rule

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

This study explored the effect of arts integration into science during an instructional unit on force and motion and one addressing natural weather disasters. Seventy-eight elementary students in four classrooms (grade 5, grade 4, and two at grade 3) participated in the study. This study assessed content retention, student-made products (rollercoasters and hurricane shelters), and student attitudes. All students in each classroom experienced the two units of instruction, one unit in the experimental condition of arts integration and one unit in the control condition without arts integration. Both conditions involved students in constructing models of given materials. Each unit consisted …

Second Grade Students Learn About Civil Engineers And Erosion, Andrea Earline Anderson, Jessica A. Meier

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

The integration of art into curricula focused on teaching science is a new perspective in education designed to reach a broader range of students. The current study examined the process of second-grade students participating in science and art activities through qualitative content analysis. The subjects of science and art were not taught to the students separately, rather, students engaged in both subjects simultaneously, in an integrated manner. Participants were 23 second-grade students (11 female and 12 male; age range 7 to 8 years) who were learning about erosion through sketching and creative construction and the work of civil engineers through …

Ecosystem Shake Up: An Environmental Change Adaptation Project, Hannah E. Morgan, Dana Atwood-Blaine, Audrey C. Rule

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

This practical article reports an intriguing diorama project for third grade elementary students (ages 8-9 years). Students worked as partners to create dioramas of given ecosystems made in pizza boxes. Then, students rolled a die to determine a change in some environmental factor that affected the ecosystem. The students discussed how this change affected the ecosystem and made a second part of their diorama showing the ecosystem after the change. Finally, students made class presentations concerning their dioramas and ideas. A rubric for assessing the projects is included. Results of this science project indicate that students became deeply engrossed in …

Exploring The Physics Of Sound With Steam-Azing Third Graders, Page L. Foss, Kyrie D. Borsay

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

This practical article was based on a lesson conducted with third graders from an elementary school in the Midwest who were studying concepts about sound. The lesson activities address Next Generation Science Standards that include engineering concepts, along with integrating activities that support National Core Arts Standards. The students created instruments that made music but that were not the standard string, percussion or wind orchestral instruments that they had previously studied: string, percussion, or wind. Their instruments made of recycled materials included drum and shaker combinations, animal-shaped instruments, and instruments that combined three or more instruments.

Science Through Art: Motivating Gifted And Talented Students, Ksenia Zhbanova

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

Gifted and talented students have unique characteristics and needs. Arts Integration is an effective differentiation strategy that helps meeting these students’ needs. STEM subjects are easily and organically integrated with the Arts because scientific and artistic inquiry are very similar. This practical article describes an arts-integrated project that provided the gifted and talented participants with an increased level of challenge, an opportunity for self-expression and for building social skills, amplified motivation, and a chance to deepen and demonstrate their knowledge of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, social studies and English Language Arts. In this project, identified gifted students completed figural transformations …

Editorial: Arts Integration Allows Students The Opportunity To Be Original, Ksenia S. Zhbanova, Audrey C. Rule

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

This editorial explores the other six articles in this issue 2 of volume 3 of the Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions to examine how originality is displayed and supported by art projects. Originality, is a quality or a characteristic of an idea, approach or product. Originality can be defined as newness or novelty. To be classified as original, an idea must be new. It does not have to have a utilitarian value, which is a requirement for an idea to be categorized as creative. Helping students develop originality is important because it allows the freedom to make any …

Learning Ideas - Understanding Accessible Educational Materials (Aem) And Their Use: Tips For K-12 Educators, University Of Maine Center For Community Inclusion And Disability Studies

Professional Development

Students arrive in classrooms with a variety of skills, interests and needs. For many learners, the typical curriculum—including instructional methods, classroom materials, and assessments of knowledge—may contain barriers to educational participation and achievement. Students who are unable to access print materials face particular challenges. Accessible educational materials reduce barriers and provide rich supports for learning. By using accessible educational materials, educators enable all learners to gain knowledge, skills and enthusiasm for learning.

“I Don't Read No Books” : How Teachers Can Use Students' Literacy Stories To Change Literacy Lives., Stephanie J. Malone

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Practitioner knowledge, as the center for change in teacher education, is the heart of The Carnegie Project of the Educational Doctorate (CPED) program. Margaret Lata and Susan Wunder explain a key principle of CPED is to grow practitioners as change agents, through the development of a Problem of Practice. In their article, Investing in the Formative Nature of Professional Learning: Redirecting, Mediating, and Generating Education Practice-as-Policy (2012), they discuss how the capstone product that evolves from this Problem of Practice should impact the professional field by producing knowledge that informs and changes professional practice.

This Dissertation in Practice, “I …

Supporting Student Connectedness And Social Satisfaction During Recess, Elizabeth Teasdale Wells

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

This project examines the effects of how recess preparation and reflection can be focused on providing students an opportunity to connect socially and strengthen overall happiness. By investigating the role social satisfaction plays in a child’s life during recess, educators may gain knowledge about how to foster social connectedness for every child. While most studies about recess focus on a child’s level of physical activity or negative behaviors, researchers have yet to investigate recess as a place to improve a child’s well-being and social satisfaction. This study was conducted at a public elementary school through qualitative interviews and observations. Teachers, …

Breaking Through The Echo Chamber: Teaching Students To Use Technology For College Research And Global Citizenry, Kaitlin Drake

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Preparing high school students for college level courses is vital to their success in higher education. Information literacy and digital literacy are necessary skills for college students in order to conduct their research for their classes. My own research was a compilation of scholarly articles and books focused on digital literacy, information literacy, and the issues surrounding these terms to understand what today’s students need in the classroom to succeed as young researchers. Search engines like Google operate under a facade of being an unbiased source. In reality, they are a for profit company whose search results go through an …

Teacher Perception And Their Understanding Of Progress Monitoring Throughout A Longitudinal Assessment System, Rena A. Duewel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the phenomenon of teacher perception and their understanding of progress monitoring throughout a longitudinal assessment system. This monitoring of student progress is to enhance their academic skills in mathematics and provide necessary interventions for growth as measured on a longitudinal assessment system through fidelity of implementation of interventions processed through progress monitoring. Data was collected from participant responses through interviews, a demographic survey, and focus groups. Interview respondents participated in a closed-door, face-to-face interview. The survey was used to collect specific demographic data to provide a concise snapshot of each individual …

Improving Professional Learning Community Structures For Enhanced Professional Practice, Stephen Juracka

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This Change Plan gauges the historical reality of the District ABC professional learning communities (PLC) to gain a better understanding of their past effectiveness and secure recommendations for the future. This Change Plan included a qualitative study conducted with the members of the Instructional Leadership Team (ILT). The ten members of the ILT provided feedback to the PLC Survey. The PLC survey was then coded for general themes and common language. The PLC Survey found that in past practice PLCs were absent within District ABC and collaboration among teachers was inconsistent and ineffective. Based upon the findings of the …

Student Voices: African American High School Seniors' Perception Of Culturally Responsive Teaching., Whitney M. Stewart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examined African-American high school seniors’ perceptions of culturally responsive teaching in one public high school within a large urban public-school district in the southeastern region of the United States. It begins with a brief historical overview on the plight of African-Americans in the US public education system and how public school educators have failed to leverage Afrocultural learning orientations as an asset to educate and increase the academic achievement of African-American students in classrooms. The Philosophical Aspects of Cultural Difference Framework (Nichols, 1986, 1995) will guide this dissertation study. The latter part of the dissertation reveals that a …

The Role Of The Clinical Educator In Teacher Preparation: An Exploratory Study Of Perceptions Of Preparedness, Kristen M. Driskill

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

As the demands on P-12 teachers increase, so do the demands on teacher preparation programs. In higher education institutions across the country, coursework is regularly updated to reflect changing academic standards, increasing diversity in classrooms, rigorous certification exams, etc. In addition, accreditation standards have been updated to reflect the need for P-12 partnerships in best preparing teacher candidates. As a result, clinical practice has come under focus. Yet the role of the clinical educator remains unclear. There is a gap in the literature regarding the preparedness and support of clinical educators, particularly addressing their role in developing teacher candidates along …

Letter From The Editors

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Past President

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Using Virtual Exchange To Advance Media Literacy Competencies Through Analysis Of Contemporary Propaganda, Renee Hobbs, Christian Seyferth-Zapf, Silke Grafe

Journal of Media Literacy Education

With the rise of so-called fake news as a global phenomenon, interest in propaganda analysis has advanced along with the recognition of the fundamentally social process of interpretation. In this essay, we explore the use of cross-national dialogue among German and American undergraduate students who are seeking to better understand how media messages are interpreted and how they inform and guide the civic actions of citizens. We describe and analyze five lessons that used a virtual exchange using a variety of digital media platforms, texts and technologies to support the cross-national study of contemporary propaganda. We observed that cross-national dialogue …