Elementary Education Commons^™

Investing In Our Future: A State-Level Analysis Of The Relationship Between Education Funding And Economic Growth, Corinna Campbell-Green

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research paper aims to investigate associations between education investments and economic growth on the state level. These relationships are measured in terms of two dependent variables: state gross domestic product output and cumulative personal incomes by state. These dependent variables, or indicators of economic growth were selected from previous supportive literature. The present study analyzes publicly available aggregate school finance data reports and aggregate GDP output reports for the year of 2018. Two hypotheses were tested to assess these associations. The results of the present study showed significant, positive associations for both tested hypotheses. This study further supports existing …

K-12 Economically Disadvantaged Students, Poverty, And Education: Ecological Narratives Of Successful Raised-In-Poverty, Texas Educators, Rebecca N. Morris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research study aimed to understand how successful Texas educators who grew up in poverty understood and improved the educational experience of economically disadvantaged students. This study utilized a structural ecological theory and three theories of social relationships (Social Identity, Standpoint, and Cultural Capital). This phenomenological and qualitative study used a cross-sectional, descriptive, online case study design rooted in narrative nonfiction. Virtual interviews with six successful Texas educators that grew up in poverty were conducted. A narrative method of analysis was utilized to generate codes then organize them into themes, and to construct and compare the narrative findings. The results …

Implementing Lgbtq+ Curriculum In Early Education Classrooms, Mahri Walker

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Many elementary schools have LGBTQ+ content missing from the curriculum, with gender identity and expression and diverse family structures notably absent. The issue that arises is children from LGBTQ+ families, or who may be LGBTQ+ themselves, do not feel represented in the curriculum. If children are provided with the knowledge of what it means to be LGBTQ+, then they are more likely to have a healthy relationship with themselves and their peers who may be included in that community. In order to address this issue, I created a three-day lesson for Kindergarten through first graders at San Lorenzo Valley Elementary …

Increasing Bully Awareness Among 2nd And 3rd Graders, Anacristina Juarez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Many elementary school age kids may be unaware of how to address bullying. I have created a two-day lesson, which covers addressing bullying and tactics for preventing bullying with second and third graders

¿Cómo Le Va A Mi Estudiante En Clase?: Increasing Parent Involvement For Latinx Elementary Students, Lisset Ochoa

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Parental involvement in the education of Latinx elementary students is truly essential. If a student does not receive the guidance or commitment from their parents while they are young, they may struggle in their education. Early parental involvement, it is claimed, will increase children's motivation to learn while also encouraging cognitive and emotional competencies. It is necessary to incorporate resources that increase parental involvement so that Latinx parents are aware of the help their students need. Two teachers, the vice principal, and two parents were interviewed in order to learn more about the resources that would be useful to both …

Learning From Home…Less Students: A Study On What We Can Do To Reach Homeless Youth During Covid-19, Marcy Twogood

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The focus of this Capstone project is on reaching homeless youth during this time of distance learning. Student homelessness is an issue because it is harder for teachers to reach them than a student with stable living conditions. According to the scholarly literature, schools are struggling to reach homeless students during the pandemic due to their lack of an address, wifi, and/or in-person interactions with their teachers. An argument is made that if schools identify students’ challenges, they can provide adequate resources. Upon interviewing the assistant principal, school counselor, who has access to students and their emotional needs, and a …

An Investigation Of The Effects Of Self-Efficacy On Stem Implementation, Caroline Buechel

Curriculum and Instruction Undergraduate Honors Theses

In order to equip students with the 21^st Century skills necessary for today’s society, STEM education must be properly implemented in school curricula (Lamb, Akmal, & Petrie, 2015). To do so, it is important for teachers to possess both proficient knowledge of the subject matter and confidence towards the implementation of STEM. A person’s beliefs about their ability is known as their self-efficacy (Bandura 1997). Related to education, Bandura notes that this self-efficacy affects a teacher’s views on their ability to handle tasks, obligations, and challenges related to a challenge (1997). Additionally, numerous studies indicate that this self-efficacy in …

A Phenomenological Study On The Experiences Of Educators Of English Language Learners Who Have Self-Determined To Overcome Obstacles To Implementing Best Practices, Melody Corey Steenbergh

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

While the English language learner (ELL) population continues to grow at a rapid rate in the United States, teachers find themselves ill-equipped to meet the needs of these students. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe how teachers experience and overcome challenges in the acquisition and implementation of best practices for meeting the academic needs of English language learners in the general education setting. The central question of this study was: How do classroom teachers experience and overcome challenges in the acquisition and implementation of best practices to meet the needs of English language learners? The theories guiding …

Editorial: Environment, Art, And Museums: The Aesthetic Experience In Different Contexts, Stefano Mastandrea, Pablo P. L. Tinio, Jeffrey K. Smith

Department of Educational Foundations Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

From Barriers To Success: How Elementary School Principals Strategically Lead Schools To Become 21st Century Learning Exemplar Schools, Heather Gold

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to examine the barriers and support systems elementary principals describe, through the lens of Activity Theory, they experienced while leading their schools to achieve 21st century learning exemplar status.

Methodology: This phenomenological study examined the perceptions of 15 elementary and K-8 principals and their respective assistant principals regarding the barriers and support systems they experienced while leading their schools to achieve 21st century learning exemplar status. Participants were selected based on the criteria that they had been identified as exemplary by the Partnership for 21st Century Learning (P21); were public, non-private, …

"We Can Write, Too!" A Developmentally Appropriate Writing Curriculum For Grades K-1, Danielle Pierce

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

The Common Core State Standards initiative was created to unify current learning standards and ensure that all students were prepared for graduation across the United States (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2021). Despite this initiative, national assessment data has shown that most students do not perform to grade level expectations in writing (Costa et al., 2020; NAEP, 2011). Scholarship has demonstrated that there is a deficit of research in primary grade writing instruction, and a lack of universal direction in how to teach students to meet writing standards (Graham & Harris, 2005; Korth et al., 2017). While it has been …

Study Culture Among College Graduate Students In Electronic Era, Sanila Aslam, Muhammad Rafiq Awan, Nusrat Ali

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Reading is the basic step for learners in education and it plays a key part in literacy and language gaining. It increases intellectual aptitude through giving new thoughts, notions and enhances vocabulary. This study attempts to examine students 'reading behavior in the electronic age and the reason for the decline towards reading. The population of the study was based on graduates’ students of public sector colleges of Lahore vicinity. A well-structured questionnaire for the survey was used for data collection. A sample of 334 students of graduate program was sampled employing proportionate random sampling technique from public sector colleges (6 …

Playing Through Tragedy: A Critical Approach To Welcoming Children’S Social Worlds And Play As Pedagogy, Cassie Brownell

Occasional Paper Series

Children’s play frequently reflects the ways they understand and cope with personal life experiences and those in the wider world. Drawing connections to many of the tenants of Jonathan Silin’s lifelong work, the author offers illustrative examples of why play and children's social worlds matter as well as why adults should pay attention to what children do and say in their play. Through personal stories, the author shows how integrating play(full) experiences into the daily life of a classroom can foster children's understanding of seemingly "difficult" or "adult" ideas and events that may be confusing, fear-inducing or represent significant loss. …

Exploring Elementary Pre - Service Teachers Technological Knowledge For Teaching Literacy: A Phenomenological Study, Christy Nicole Grigsby

Theses and Dissertations

As a result of the fundamental changes to education due to COVID-19, this study focuses on the readiness of pre-service teachers to meet the literacy needs necessary in this technology mediated world by utilizing a theoretical framework that consists of a learning framework: Transformative Learning, a literacy framework: Multi literacies, and a technological framework: Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) to include the 2019 addition of another knowledge base: ConteXtual Knowledge (XK). It is this context component of TPACK that is so frequently overlooked that may encompass the cultural aspects of teaching and learning including the primary and secondary Discourses, the …

Effect Of Covid-19 On Elementary Students' Use Of Language Online, Emma Polen

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in an unprecedented period of online communication among children. This paper aims to exemplify how the reliance on digital communication platforms compelled by COVID-19 affected elementary students’ use of language. Within the study, children used primarily visual language on digital sites with friends. There were two main forms of primary research in this study. The first consisted of a survey of 16 parents of elementary school children in my school district. The second was an observation of Zoom chat room activity among three eight-year-olds. Both methods of conducting research build on the existing understanding that digital …

A Multiple Perspective Journal Through The Texas Revolution Via Graphic Design, Kelly Tatum

Undergraduate Research Conference

Our ELED 3330 course charged us with being critical of our promotion of the hegemonic narrative. This inspired me to analyze 4 4th grade social studies TEKS to identify an opportunity for representation.

After a brief review of the literature, I used my skills in graphic design to develop a story utilizing primary sources that shares the Mexican perspective during the time immediately leading up to the Battle of San Jacinto.

Selected images from this graphic design will be shown. A lesson plan was also developed for implementation in a fourth grade classroom.

Young Mathematicians: Stem Skills For Success, Lindsey Herlehy

Publications & Research

Our youngest STEAM learners are creative and curious but require support and foundational skills in math and science. Through play-based, open-ended explorations, young students can engage in STEAM-learning skills such as subitizing, sorting, drawing, and patterns. In this session, participants will actively take part in activities highlighting each of the mathematical foundations, examine STEAM-integrated tasks that support these concepts, and share resources to be used in the classroom.

Introducing Pre-Service Teachers To Computational Thinking At Scale, Aankit Patel, Ashleigh B. Thompson, Heidi Williams, Octavia Abell, Carolyn Sykora

Publications and Research

This paper describes a replicable partnership model developed by a graduate school of education that aims to improve elementary student performance in science and math through modifications to pre-service methods courses using computational thinking (CT) content and pedagogy. In collaboration with computational thinking subject matter experts at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), a team of childhood education faculty adapted methods courses and field seminars to integrate CT instruction and activities. Pre-service teachers (PSTs) were asked to draw on methods and seminar coursework to design and facilitate CT integrated lessons for grades 1-5 students during field work and …

Dots Explode In HawaiʻI, Veny Liu, Laurie James

Journal of Math Circles

Teachers are wonderful advocates of mathematics for future generations, and they are continually looking for ways to get students more engaged in mathematics. Through visuals and hands-on activities, the Exploding Dots concept can help teachers and students understand many elementary arithmetic and algebra topics. The implemented tasks promote problem-solving by allowing multiple entry points and varied solution strategies. This paper explored this idea beyond drawing clusters of dots by Locking Legos activity. With a thorough understanding of math content, participants in multiple Math Teachers’ Circle of Hawai‘i (MaTCH) meetings expressed confidence in creating and developing meaningful and relevant differentiated learning …

Teaching To The Test Or Limiting Students?, Victoria Rivera

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

The purpose of this paper is to shine light on the way the school systems have been teaching and how it is affecting students in a negative way. It focuses mainly on teaching to the test and how it stops students from learning creatively and also does not let teachers teach the way they might want to. It also shows how this is a wicked problem and is more than a small school system issue. This impacts students, teachers, and the society we live in. The results of this research was that there were a lot of other authors that …