Elementary Education Commons^™

Educational Leaders, Professional Learning Communities, And Social Media, Ashley Johnson-Holder, Terrie Bethea-Hampton

Journal of Research Initiatives

Though social media is at the forefront of technology strategies in the effort to close the digital divide, many educators fail to find the benefit in platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and MeWe. On the other hand, for many educators, social media has become the “go-to” resource, now that face-to-face communication is decreasing and social media is becoming the popular platform for keeping audiences engaged and informed. Social media has the potential of giving educational leaders the opportunity of communicating with multiple users simultaneously. Since students, parents, faculty, and educational stakeholders are using social media; this makes it an excellent …

Changing Kindergarten Readiness Perceptions In The Rural South, Jeffrey L. Leffler, Ksenia S. Zhbanova, Brooke Sibley, Arnedra Floyd, Tracy Brown

Journal of Research Initiatives

This qualitative study examined the perceptions and understandings of various stakeholders in the early childhood sector of the Southeastern United States about kindergarten readiness in response to the implementation of more rigorous academic standards in kindergarten. The study combined interviews, observations, and documents to assess experiences, expectations, and challenges in meeting the strong accountability standards imposed by accountability measures and the implementation of new standards. The qualitative analysis showed that as more rigorous standards are implemented in kindergarten, all stakeholder groups are experiencing high levels of pressure related to the testing and accountability requirements related to the standards. The study …

Project-Based Learning (Pjbl) In Three Southeastern Public Schools: Academic, Behavioral, And Social-Emotional Outcomes, Brooke T. Culclasure, Kyle C. Longest, Troy M. Terry

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

Project-based learning (PjBL) as a PK–12 instructional model is growing nationwide. PjBL is seen as a mechanism to deliver academic content in a more engaging way for students and in a way that stresses the development of skills critical to success in the 21st-century workforce. Because of its increasing popularity and the disparate breadth of research around the model, a study of PjBL in three southeastern public schools was conducted during academic years 2015–2016 and 2016–2017. This study attempted to better understand how PjBL was implemented in schools and to explore the impact of PjBL on schools, teachers, and students. …

Does The Parcc Exam Alter The Landscape Of A School In Grades 3-6 In The Areas Of Evaluation, Curriculum, Staffing And Technology?, Michael Stefanelli

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This qualitative study explored whether the New Jersey PARCC exam altered evaluation, curriculum, staffing, and technology in Grades 3 to 6 of the state’s public schools. Semistructured interviews were implemented to determine whether administrators and teachers believed that the PARCC test changed the landscape of public schools. Fifteen administrators and teachers were recruited to participate in this study from a consortium of schools in northern New Jersey. The interview instrument for this study was based on existing literature.

Four major themes emerged from the interview data. The first related to PARCC’s influence on staff morale due to the tests direct …

The Training Of Elementary Assistant Principals, Nailya Jarocki

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this Delphi study was to identify the most important professional development topics and practices for preparing teachers to become elementary assistant principals, as perceived by panel of experts. An additional purpose was to identify strategies for implementing the most important practices for the preparation of teachers to become elementary assistant principals.

Methodology: A classical Delphi method was utilized to collect perceptual data from a panel of California elementary school principals and administrators at county, district offices of education, and at the university level in California that met specific criteria regarding their education, years of experience, completion …

Writing Across Campus: Using Authentic Writing Experiences To Help Pre-Service Teachers Learn To Teach Writing, Jennifer A. Knight, Meghan K. Block

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This study demonstrates the impact asynchronous discussion boards had on cross-college preservice teachers writing and writing instruction understanding. Participants from two universities in writing methods courses participated in discussion boards to learn about writing instruction. Students in the groups not only asked higher-level depth of knowledge questions to each other, but they also began to focus their responses and comments about their future teaching and instructional practices. Students built a stronger community of writers than students in previous courses that read, responded, and replied to peers.

From Treading Water To Swimming Uphill: A Comprehensive And Innovative Assessment Program For Teaching Swimming In Belgian Primary Schools., Filip Roelandt

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every child should learn to swim as a recognised life skill. Which swimming skill or stroke to learn first is not the most important question. What is important is to teach children to learn tasks or techniques which allow them to they feel safe. Emphasizing foundational principles of motor development and focusing on safety in and around the water are paramount. Beginning in 2016 school swimming lessons in Flanders (Belgium) were given a new focus in all educational institutions. Foundational competence tasks replaced the focus on acquiring competitive swimming strokes as the primary …

Stem Opportunities - High School 2019, Huey-Xian Kelly Wong, Madeleine Rauhauser, Annie Morgan Nelson

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

This publication details the lesson plan for the “Opportunities in STEM” club for the summer of 2019. This club began out of a desire to educate high school students about the opportunities and careers available in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. Often, students feel that the prospect of entering a STEM field is daunting and out of their grasp. What it means to be a scientist is often unclear, and students never consider opportunities out of the fear of the unknown, particularly when science is associated with complexity and difficulty. This lesson plan integrates experiments with a wealth …

On The Margins Of Friendship: Aggression In An Elementary School Peer Group, Brent D. Harger

Sociology Faculty Publications

This article uses qualitative data from a larger study of two elementary schools in a rural city of about 15,000 people in the Midwestern United States. Here, I focus on a single peer group and those who are on its margins to provide insight into the intersection of friendship, aggression, and masculinity. In doing so, I address the lack of research examining how aggression functions within peer groups and why those who are victimized choose to remain in these groups.

Learning Through Play In Primary School Classrooms, Rachel Parker

International Developments

New research offers a model for playful learning as an effective pedagogy for primary school-aged children. Rachel Parker discusses.

A Case Study On The Implementation Of Additional Daily Physical Activity Beyond The State-Required Guidelines, Frances Eugenia Phipps

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to provide an in-depth understanding of teachers’, principals’ and educational stakeholders’ viewpoints of students in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades pertaining to the incorporation of additional daily physical activity into the school day above the state-mandated 30 minutes in an elementary school in rural Western North Carolina. Research questions included: How does additional daily physical activity implemented in the school day influence student cognitive development? Why has additional daily physical activity time been incorporated into the school day? How does extended play benefit students beyond cognitive impact? Personal semi-constructed interviews with 11 …

Wii-Ma-Li (Light The Fire): The Impact Of The Connected Communities Strategy On Hillvue Public School, Chris Shaw

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Hillvue Public School has an enrolment of approximately 300 students, 80 per cent of whom identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. The school, located in Tamworth, is one of 15 Connected Communities schools in New South Wales. The Connected Communities Strategy is about developing an inclusive culture in a school and providing an environment that maximises student learning with an emphasis on high expectations, engagement and achievement. Globally, there have been significant changes to the ways that children learn and teachers teach. Our school environment and the world in which our students grow and function continues to change in …

The Science Behind The Art Of Teaching: Evaluation As Inspiration, Michele Bruniges Am

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Teachers across Australia inspire students to love learning. Our best teachers are constantly evaluating their impact on learning outcomes and adapting their practice – balancing the art and science of teaching. As we move rapidly towards the third decade of the 21st century, there is more pressure than ever for all teachers to deliver both deep discipline knowledge and the skills students need to survive and thrive in the workplace of the future. We need to use technology and data to support teachers to maximise learning outcomes for their students. This has to be done in a way that helps …

21st Century Skills: Realising The Potential Of The Australian Curriculum, Robert Randall

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (Melbourne Declaration) (MCEETYA, 2008) proposed that the Australian Curriculum (and state or territory and local curriculum) develop: a solid foundation in knowledge, understanding, skills and values on which further learning and adult life can be built; deep knowledge, understanding, skills and values that will enable advanced learning and an ability to create new ideas and translate them into practical applications; and general capabilities that underpin flexible and analytical thinking, a capacity to work with others and an ability to move across subject disciplines to develop new expertise. The Australian Curriculum, approved …

Educational Reform – Scottish Style!, David Leng

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

The government in Scotland has made education their defining mission, setting out a clear framework for improvement based on four key aims as articulated in the National Improvement Framework (2015). One improvement driver is Assessing Children’s Progress. This new approach to assessment has been developed to integrate curriculum, assessment (particularly classroom assessment) and pedagogy. Teacher professional judgement has been central to this, and national initiatives have focused on supporting and strengthening it. In this context, the Scottish National Standardised Assessments (SNSA) was launched in 2017, and is a national assessment tool to support improvement in classroom practice while still providing …

Acer Research Conference Proceedings (2019), Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

In a rapidly changing world, there is widespread agreement that students require new levels of skill in collaborating, communicating, thinking critically, innovating, solving problems and applying what is learnt in new contexts, underpinned by values and dispositions that include a commitment to social inclusion, responsible citizenship and respect for human rights. So how do we best prepare young people and equip them to survive and thrive in the unpredictable world of the future? Research Conference 2019 will profile research around innovative ways of conceptualising, developing and assessing this broader range of priorities for student learning and development in the 21st …

Vocabulary Instruction: Impacts Of Using A Science Notebook In A Dual Language Setting To Teach Science Vocabulary And Content, Manuel Andazola

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

Language learners and students in general often struggle to close the achievement gap in monolingual schools because they lose academic content due to lack of vocabulary. To combat this issue, programs such as dual language schools have been introduced and have gained popularity due to their ability to help students keep learning academic content in their native language while becoming literate in the second language and also maintaining literacy in the content areas. Although these programs offer different instruction models and teaching techniques that teachers are implementing to improve science literacy, many teachers still struggle to find creative and effective …

English Learner Advancement In Avmr Structuring, Kristina Bradley

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Add+Vantage Math Recovery (AVMR) is an intensive remedial math program that involves diagnostic assessments and learning trajectories that help teachers identify and work with students who have been identified as having significant difficulties and specific learning gaps in early number learning. When analyzing the AVMR data to see if students can structure numbers as expected for their grade levels in the school district where this study takes place, teachers in the district noted that those who struggle the most are English learners (ELs) and students receiving special education services. While students receiving special education services will continue to experience specialized …

Egyptian Fractions Re-Revisited, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich, Francisco Zapata

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Ancient Egyptians represented each fraction as a sum of unit fractions, i.e., fractions of the type 1/n. In our previous papers, we explained that this representation makes perfect sense: e.g., it leads to an efficient way of dividing loaves of bread between people. However, one thing remained unclear: why, when representing fractions of the type 2/(2k+1), Egyptians did not use a natural representation 1/(2k+1) + 1/(2k+1), but used a much more complicated representation instead. In this paper, we show that the need for such a complicated representation can be explained if we take into account that instead of cutting a …

Social And Literacy Development Of School-Based Pre-Kindergarten Students, Stewart Smirthwaite

Dissertations

In order to meet the demands of college and career ready standards, students are expected to enter kindergarten knowing more than ever before. A need exists to examine data that provides evidence of desired social and literacy outcomes for students in kindergarten. In order to address the need for further study of school prekindergarten opportunities for young children, two different sets of data were collected, examined, and discussed. Literacy proficiency was measured by using data from the Mississippi K-3 Assessment Support System’s (MKAS²) Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA). Social competence was measured using the Behavior Assessment System for Children, …