Elementary Education Commons^™

Thumbs: The Brain's (New) Writing Instrument, Mariel Morton

Conspectus Borealis

No abstract provided.

Benefits Of School Gardening On Low-Income Elementary School Students, Caitlynn Lange

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The increase in obesity rates in America’s youth could be a reflection of undernourished school lunches, a decrease in physical activity, and the lack of knowledge of health and nutrition. Children who come from a low-income family are more likely to be affected by these circumstances. School gardening may be a way of replacing those impacts. This senior capstone research project examines the benefits of school gardening on low-income elementary school students when implementing as part of the curriculum in schools.

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Reading Wonders: Is It Really A Wonder? A Program Evaluation, Myra A. Richardson

Dissertations

Reading programs are essential tools for leaders to use while building literacy. The transfer from instructional delivery to student knowledge should be easily recognizable in the end-of-year assessment data. As the principal analyzing the end-of-year data, I discovered a problem when I struggled to see this transfer in my data. The purpose of this program evaluation was to determine whether teachers perceived Reading Wonders to be an effective reading program for the school district as well as whether the assessment data aligned with teachers’ perceptions. A survey was used to collect responses from the participants and an Excel spreadsheet was …

Second-Grade Students’ Perceptions Of Their Classrooms’ Physical Learning Environment, Tsitsi Nyabando

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Guided by the constructivist framework, the focus of the investigation was on second-grade students and their perceptions of their classrooms’ physical learning environment.

A qualitative multiple case study approach was employed, and data were collected through interviews, participant-generated photographs, and observations. Participants in the study were 16 second-grade students in four classrooms in three school districts in Northeast Tennessee. A physical learning environment tool, Assessing the Pillars of the Physical Environment for Academic Learning (APPEAL), developed by Evanshen and Faulk (2019) was used to select classrooms to take part in the study. The tool focuses on dimensions that help observers …

Bicultural Development Of Students In A Dual Language Program, Quinn Wulbecker

Dissertations

Dual language programs are often viewed as enrichment programs for students of various language backgrounds. This study evaluated the long-term bicultural impact on students who participated in the Hawkins School District (pseudonym) Spanish-English dual language program. The participants in this study were graduates of the Hawkins Spanish-English dual language program who were in college or beginning their careers. These graduates participated in an interview to offer their perceptions on their current level of biculturalism and the extent to which their participation in the dual language program shaped it. The results of this study revealed that biculturalism is a possible outcome …

Assisting School Level Teams To Identify And Address The Needs Of Struggling Learners Through A Tiered Intervention And Aligned Professional Development Model, Tammy Dionne Person

Theses and Dissertations

The adoption of the IDEA charged schools with the responsibility of identifying students who have disabilities and special needs and then providing them with appropriate educational services so that they progress academically. Schools have adopted, implemented, and revised a variety of screening processes to identify these students. The process of trying to help students who are experiencing difficulties is often referred to as RTI. The RTI framework is comprised of a multi-tiered educational system that outlines instructional practices based on student needs. Many schools have formed teams and devised policies to explore options for student assistance. This study involved designing …

The Convergence Of Negotiated Imaginative Play, Literacy Learning And Kindergarten Common Core English Language Arts Standards, Grace Salinas-Casper

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The implementation of strict academic requirements is replacing play as a previously widely accepted developmentally appropriate practice in kindergarten classrooms around the United States, resulting in an imbalance in cultivating the whole child. Research focused on the importance of play in children’s cognitive, linguistic, physical, moral, creative, emotional and artistic development exists. Couched in Vygotsky’s social development theory and the Reggio Emilia principle this ethnographic case study investigates how kindergarteners demonstrate literacy learning, practice and mastery of Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CC.ELA) through imaginative play in a negotiated environment. Research outcomes suggested that negotiated play appears to provide …

Integrating Mindfulness Into School Classrooms, Crystal Chesshire

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This senior capstone research project examines how mindfulness could be integrated into the school classrooms through the use of literature review, interviews with elementary school teachers in the Monterey Bay area and surveys with several students along with one subject participant at the California State University Monterey Bay. As a result, the findings reveal that most students and teachers thought that mindfulness proved to be successful and useful when integrating it with the younger population to deal with their emotions.

No Habla Espanol: Are Monolingual Teachers Getting The Support They Need?, Rosa I. Castillo-Rocha

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

For this Capstone Project, the researchers investigated how monolingual teachers view the support and resources they received to teach English Language Learners (ELL) and what they thought could be done to improve their teaching effectiveness. An evidence-based argument is offered that monolingual teachers were not being provided with effective support and resources. More specifically, three themes emerged from an analysis of the data obtained from interviews of monolingual teachers and administrators. Based on the emergent themes, an action was undertaken to help monolingual teachers better address the needs of ELLs. This is an important issue for monolingual teachers because the …

No Habla Espanol: Are Monolingual Teachers Getting The Support They Need?, Cristina Benavides

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

For this Capstone Project, the researchers investigated how monolingual teachers view the support and resources they received to teach English Language Learners (ELL) and what they thought could be done to improve their teaching effectiveness. An evidence based argument is offered that monolingual teachers were not being provided with effective support and resources. More specifically, three themes emerged from an analysis of the data obtained from interviews of monolingual teachers and administrators. Based on the emergent themes, an action was undertaken to help monolingual teachers better address the needs of ELLs. This is an important issue for monolingual teachers because …

Learning From The Past To Educate The Future: An Analysis Of The Modern Classical School, Miranda Boljat

Senior Honors Theses

Classical schooling combines the wisdom of thousands of years of learning with the knowledge necessary to succeed in today’s world. Despite the antiquity of some of these ideas, the movement has continued to grow in both number of schools and also number of students attending, measuring almost 100 new schools each decade since 1993. One of the motives for this growth is how Classical schools utilize a curriculum which includes the trivium, Latin, and the Great Books of Western Civilization. Together, these elements of the curriculum lead to improved test scores and general college readiness.

Increasing Bullying Awareness In Elementary School Special Needs Students, Maria Olvera

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Students with learning disabilities are two to three times more likely to be bullied than nondisabled peers (Banks, 2009). Students in special education need to be continually taught to identify the signs of being bullied and when to speak up to an adult if they are being bullied due to them being a hire target. It is important to teach students about expressing their feelings and identify common bully characteristics. Students with disabilities are already addressing challenges in the academic environment. There are many risks that can develop from a special needs child who is not reporting bullying at school …

Growing Elementary Education With Curriculum Founded In Place, Sally A. Triant

Masters Projects

Public school education has become increasingly homogenized as teachers work to meet national and state standardized curriculum goals. What is at risk is students losing touch with the places where their learning occurs. By inviting our schoolyard habitats, neighborhoods, and communities back into the curriculum educators can reconnect their classrooms to place allowing the environment, both ecological and cultural, to serve as the foundation for meaningful learning. Through the development of a guidebook, that administrators and educators can use, this project serves as a tool to implement place-based education. The guidebook has been designed as a scaffold of seven core …

Preservice Teachers Knowledge Of Adolescent Suicide, Annette N. Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teacher preparation programs have a responsibility to prepare future teachers to teach

and mentor students through their academic years. With the rise of suicide in school age children, responsibility has fallen to teachers to better recognize and understand students who may be suicidal. This study sought to answer the question: to what degree does teaching certification, teaching experience, and suicide awareness embedded coursework predict preservice teachers’ knowledge of suicide awareness and prevention? Data from the Adolescent Suicide Behavior Questionnaire and a demographic survey which asked about participants’ preservice training was sent to universities and colleges in Texas with an undergraduate …

Helping Academic Struggling Elementary School Students Succeed, Dulce M. Carmona

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

There is a push to focus on academics for struggling elementary school students to be successful. Research has shown that teachers and tutors who use various teaching methods have helped students to be successful in their academic performance. This senior capstone project explores how struggling students can achieve success in school and at the same time can catch up with their classmates. Through a literature review, interviews and surveys conducted with two elementary school teachers, a coordinator and students in Monterey County, the results reveal how beneficial it is for students to have extra help from teachers and tutors. In …

Gnome Waste Warriors: Waste Reduction Through Sustainability, Hayley E.R. Frost Rubino

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The focus of this Capstone Project was on how waste and waste reduction could positively impact a community. Waste reduction is an important issue because the negative impacts of waste affect the whole planet. By educating Monterey Gnome School (MGS) about waste, changes in daily habits are intended to result in lasting change. An evidence-based argument is offered that waste is a global issue that negatively impacts the earth's landmasses, oceans, and human health. Both MGS staff and students were interviewed and surveyed, as their perspectives provide unique aspects of thinking about waste issues. The themes that emerged from an …

Reading Rainbow: Give Hope To Struggling Readers, Celia Higer

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

For this Senior Capstone Project, the researcher investigated what stakeholders had to say about reading difficulties, the Irlen Method, and how to increase awareness and access to the Irlen Method in schools. Based on analysis of the data and the relevant research literature, the researcher used what she learned to formulate an action that responded to the focus issue. This is important to students and other stakeholders that have reading difficulties.

No Habla Español: Are Monolingual Teachers Getting The Support They Need?, Natalie Correa

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

For this Capstone Project, the researchers investigated how monolingual teachers view the support and resources they received to teach English Language Learners (ELL) and what they thought could be done to improve their teaching effectiveness. An evidence based argument is offered that monolingual teachers were not being provided with effective support and resources. More specifically, three themes emerged from an analysis of the data obtained from interviews of monolingual teachers and administrators. Based on the emergent themes, an action was undertaken to help monolingual teachers better address the needs of ELLs. This is an important issue for monolingual teachers because …

Implementing Mindfulness To Promote Mental Health In Elementary School Students, Kathleen Dunlap-Demarco

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The practice of mindfulness has been around for thousands of years, however; the practice has just become more common in the Western world, and especially in the classroom. The purpose of this paper is to discover how implementing mindfulness promotes mental health in elementary school students. In order to find out just how mindfulness promotes mental health in the elementary classroom, the research that was done involved an extensive literature review on the topic of mindfulness, surveys and interviews with local teachers in the Tri-County area, and also reached out to teachers to be interviewed more in depth. The results …

Impact Of Leader In Me On Social-Emotional Learning Of Elementary Students, David Danielski

Dissertations

Social-emotional learning and college and career readiness skills are increasingly important in preparing our students for a successful future. The Leader in Me, based on Steven Covey’s seven habits, offers a process intended to increase the leadership skills of students through the explicit teaching of each of the habits. By studying the practices and outcomes of The Leader in Me process from schools with high degrees of implementation, this study evaluates the impact on social-emotional learning of elementary students. The findings inform programmatic decisions for social-emotional learning implementation and advocate for policy that emphasizes teacher preparedness and accountability measures for …