Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

The Impact Of The No Child Left Behind Act And School Choice On Student Achievement, Wendy Ruddell Pettett

Dissertations

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act, signed into law in January 2002, established a decade of test-driven school reform in an attempt to increase student achievement and reduce the student achievement gap. The state of Georgia created the Criterion Reference Competency Test (CRCT) to align with the guidelines of NCLB. This study examined longitudinal student achievement data on eighth grade math CRCT in 25 middle schools from 2002–2007 and 2008–2011 in a large suburban school district in Georgia.

The study found that all subgroups increased in student achievement from the onset of NCLB in 2002–2011. Furthermore, the study found …

The Influence Of Classroom Instruction And Test Preparation On School Accountability Levels, Karen Adair Carter Bryant

Dissertations

Federal and state educational agencies provide guidelines for public schools across the United States to follow (Linn, 2008; Levy, 2008). During a time of highstakes testing fueled by school accountability standards, educators strive to meet requirements for academic growth in order to maintain a successful accountability level and avoid being labeled as a school under improvement (Behrent, 2009; Hardman & Dawson, 2008). Some argue that the demands of accountability standards pressure administrators and teachers to provide less than adequate instruction in order to focus on the content of mandatory state tests (Abrams & Madaus, 2003; Anderson, 2009; Behrent, 2009; Hamilton, …

K-1 Teachers’ Visual Arts Beliefs And Their Role In The Early Childhood Classroom, Blythe Annette Goodman-Schanz

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and describe the visual arts beliefs and practices of eight K-1 teachers in four schools and in two different school districts in a southern state. Using a phenomenological framework (Creswell, 2007; Leedy & Ormrod, 2005), the research revealed the teachers’ understandings of beliefs and how they applied them to their early childhood classrooms. Data were collected consisting of formal and informal interviews with the eight teachers. Interview data were analyzed using triangulation in phenomenological reflection suggested by van Manen (1990). The analysis yielded three major themes and three sub-themes. The first …

Roadblocks To Integrating Technology Into Classroom Instruction, Courteney Lester Knight

Dissertations

Although research has concluded that technology can enhance the teaching and learning processes, teachers have not yet fully adopted technology to support their teaching methodologies. In the last decade or so, as the accessible gap narrowed, the focus switched to other factors. This study attempts to answer the question: Why teachers do not fully integrate technology into their classroom instruction?

Recently a preponderance of the literature on technology integration has inquired into teachers’ knowledge of technology, the role of the administrator, the curriculum and teachers’ perception of the benefits of technology in instruction. The problem was to determine the relationship …

Educational Technology Integration And High-Stakes Testing, Tracy Demetrie Daniel

Dissertations

Determining if the investment in educational technology will improve student achievement is complicated and multifarious. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of teacher technology integration on student achievement as measured by the Mississippi Subject Area Testing Program (SATP) and to explore the relationship between technology integration and other factors (a teacher’s age, gender, computer self-efficacy, and technology training).

This non-experimental, quantitative study included 106 secondary school teachers from six school districts in Mississippi. The respondents completed a questionnaire based on their SATP course (Algebra I, Biology, English II, and U. S. History) teaching experiences. This study …

A Survey Of Teacher Knowledge And Understanding Of Special Education Law, Cassie Glidewell

Curriculum and Instruction Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study investigated teacher knowledge and understanding of special education law. Teachers from 3 elementary schools in a district in Northwest Arkansas were asked a sample of questions in a survey. Using the survey, the participants’ responses were evaluated to determine the extent of their knowledge. Participation was voluntary, and conducted during school hours. The results of the study concluded that respondent teachers have a general knowledge of special education law indicating that they differentiate instruction as a means to meet IDEA and other laws as appropriate.

The Impact Of Teacher Training Concerning Recognition Of Child Abuse And Neglect, Emily Timpe

Curriculum and Instruction Undergraduate Honors Theses

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2010), child abuse and neglect continues to be a significant issue in our country. An estimated six million children were the subject of reports of child maltreatment in 2009. Walsh, Laskey, McInnes, Farrell, Mathews, and Briggs (2011) explained that many educators are not well-equipped to recognize the signs of abuse among their students. Conducting a study to discover the preparedness of current and pre-service teachers to recognize when a child is being abused should identify potential gaps in the education of teachers, not only in college/university programs, but also in …

A Case Study Of Young Children's Play, Emily Myers

Curriculum and Instruction Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper explores the playtime of elementary students in two Northwest Arkansas schools. This paper examines the difference in the amount of play students are receiving from preschool to kindergarten. The research question is, “Are the types of and amounts of play in preschool and kindergarten settings appropriate to meet the developmental needs of young learners including cognitive, socio-emotional and physical development?” Data were collected through observations and teacher questionnaires. The results implied that the preschool setting was receiving the adequate time for the developmental types of play to take place, but the kindergarten setting was not receiving the adequate …

Elementary Teachers' Perceptions Of Their Teaching Practices To Foster Creative Thinking In Their Students, Jessica Roy

Curriculum and Instruction Undergraduate Honors Theses

Divergent thinking is a 21st century skill that allows individuals to create innovative ways to alleviate some of the burdens on society by finding new solutions to old problems. However, creativity is often overlooked or ignored in the classroom environment because the rigid atmosphere of authority does not allow for the simultaneous use of multiple cognitive abilities. What can teachers do, or are they doing, to ensure that divergent thinking is fostered in their classrooms? Three surveys were administered to 32 elementary school teachers to determine if there is a disconnect between what teachers believe fosters creativity in relation to …

The Impact Of Multimedia And Redundancy On The Efficiency Of History Presentations, Adam Leach

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The use of educational technology to create classroom presentations is already commonplace in American history classes. Therefore, this study focuses on how multimedia presentations can promote efficient instruction specifically, can the employment of the multimedia and redundancy principles (Mayer, 2009) improve the efficiency of student learning in high school history. The goal is to identify methods of multimedia presentation design that maximize the efficiency of instruction, as a gap in literature exists when referencing the performance of adolescents in a public high school and in the study of history. Keeping the focus on efficient learning, this study uses a quasi-experimental …

The Effects Of Technology Instruction On The Academic Achievement Of Fifth Grade Students, Karen Davis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A digital native is an individual born between 1981 and 2001, and children born after 2001 are called millennials. Educators are expected to meet the needs of today's technologically savvy students. Some researchers assert that an academic `moral panic' is taking place that lacks the empirical and theoretical knowledge to support the claims that education needs to change to meet the needs of digital natives and millennials. The problem is that considering that the majority of students today are digital natives are educators meeting the learning needs of their students. This research study focused on the use of instructional technology …

What Is The Lived Experience Of The Learners In A Coteaching Classroom?, Janet Adams

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to describe the lived experiences of the learners in a fifth-grade coteaching classroom. Because the practice of coteaching is gaining popularity in schools, there is increasing use of this teaching method in general education classrooms. If learning in a coteaching classroom is to be meaningful for students, it is important to have their perspective of this instructional delivery option. Through careful listening, observation, and interpretation of the students’ lived experience, a better understanding of the students’ perspective in a coteaching classroom was gained.

The results of this study suggest coteaching can be an effective …

Cultural Competence In The Baccalaureate Degree Nursing Curriculum, Angela Elizabeth Silvestri

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Health care providers are members of a helping profession and need to provide quality care to all members of society. As a result of current and projected demographic changes within the United States (U.S.), health care professionals are faced with the challenges of providing culturally competent care and fulfilling the role as the "helping profession." In the past 10 years, minority populations have increased in the U.S. For example, the African American population experienced an approximate 12.3% increase, and the Hispanic population increased by 43%. Just as it is necessary for health care professionals to respond to the increase in …

Transforming Selves For Inclusive Practice: Experiences Of Early Childhood Preservice Teachers, Joseph S. Agbenyega, Sunanta Klibthong

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In this paper we discussed the impact of ‘spaces of difference’ on teachers’ professional learning to embrace and celebrate diversity, as perceived by early childhood preservice teachers who share their opinions through online group discussions. Spaces of difference is a first year undergraduate course unit designed to support preservice teachers’ professional education to embrace and implement inclusive practice in early childhood education. Informed by Critical theoretical ideas of Bourdieu (Capital, Field, Habitus), we investigated early childhood preservice teachers’ concept of spaces of difference and their personal transformations. Results of this qualitative study suggested that teachers’ understanding of space extended and …

Second Grade Ell's Emic Perspective Of An Afterschool Reading Program: An Interactional Ethnographic Study Of Reading Opportunities And Social Construction Of Second Grade Ell's Read Alouds, Susana S. Saldivar

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this research was to uncover what counts as reading to second grade ELLs (English Language Learners) in a non-graded, afterschool reading program. I used an interactional ethnographic epistemological research approach. I video-and audio-taped twentyfour afterschool reading lessons, took fieldnotes, conducted semi-structured interviews, and collected artifacts. The thirteen participants were ELLs, from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and of Mexican-American descent. First, I identified children’s opportunities on an event map. Next, I analyzed moment-by-moment discourse analysis of read alouds from the beginning and end of the program. Finally, I made visible what counted as reading from participants’ discourse through domain …

Interactive Whiteboard Use: The Catalyst Of Student Achievement, Tenneille Terrell Lamberth

Dissertations

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 forced school districts to become more accountable by requiring all students to read on grade level by the year 2014. However, President Obama’s educational policy shift is allowing states to develop their own accountability and improvement system. This study examined fourth and eighth grade math achievement on the Mississippi Curriculum Test, 2nd edition and interactive whiteboard use, attitudes and perceptions, and professional development. Data were collected from 21 participating Mississippi Gulf Coast area schools to determine if a correlation existed between fourth and eighth grade math achievement and interactive whiteboard use, …

Relationships And Learning In Early Childhood Education: A Structural Equation Model, Alicia Gordy Westbrook

Dissertations

A study of the relationship between mediated learning experiences (MLE), social and emotional development, student-teacher relationships, and overall development using structural equation modeling was conducted. With attachment theory as the theoretical base, the current study proposed that the educational constructs have a direct effect on the overall development of young students and the relationships between the constructs have an indirect effect on overall development. This research suggests that through positive student-teacher relationships, teachers engage students in mediated learning experiences which promotes social and emotional development and effects the students’ overall development.

Data collected from 118 pre-primary teachers and students were …

Departmentalization And Twenty-First Century Skills, Toy Coles Watts

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between school organizational style and student outcomes. The research questions that guided this study were, “Is there a difference in mathematical performance of fourth graders who receive departmentalized instruction as compared to fourth grade students who receive self-contained instruction?,” Does the number of years of implementation affect academic outcomes in a departmentalized organizational style?,” “Are teacher attitudes toward a departmentalized organizational style influential on the academic outcomes of the students?,” and “Does teacher preparation in their area of instruction affect testing outcomes?”

The results of this study indicated no significance …

Literacy: Parent Training In The Elementary Educational System, Mattie Darlene Mathis Hill

Dissertations

Over several years, second grade parents have expressed concerns about not understanding the curriculum in the area of phonetic coding. The purpose of this study was to give second grade parents the skills they lacked in understanding phonetic coding so they could better help their children with homework and thus see if a significant difference in the children’s Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills® (DIBELS) Oral Reading Fluency test performance was observed. Parents were offered training in the mornings and evenings for 15 weeks using the Saxon Phonics Program – the same program used to teach the children. The …

The Relationship Between Student Achievement Of At-Risk Students And The Georgia Performance Standards In Mathematics, Loralee Ann Hill

Dissertations

Educational leaders continue to be challenged in terms of accountability measures for increased student achievement, as mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). In particular, schools must show adequate yearly progress (AYP) reaching 100 % proficiency levels for all students in the areas of English language arts and mathematics by 2014. In 2008, the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) in mathematics were implemented at the high school level. Coupled with this new curriculum, a newly developed Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT) in mathematics was administered in March 2011. The purpose of this study was to add …