Elementary Education Commons^™

Mckinley, Sue (Fa 1236), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1236. Student paper titled “The Early Schools of Taylor County” in which Sue McKinley charts the rise and fall of traditional one-room school houses throughout Taylor County, Kentucky. McKinley examines the lasting influence the schoolhouses had on the community, as well as factors that contributed to the success of educational programs throughout the county. The author also describes the structure of a typical school day, the consolidation of rural schools and districts, and the importance of properly trained teachers. The paper includes black and white photographs of multiple one-room schoolhouses with a brief …

Effective Teaching Methods For Elementary Students With Add/Adhd, Jane Bensen

Honors Theses

This paper first describes ADHD, or attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, then discusses the effects on students with ADD/ADHD when elements of choice (specifically alternate seating and book choice) and strength-based strategies are used in the classroom. Research is conducted as a literature review through peer-reviewed articles on ERIC educational database. The literature shows that incorporating choice in the classroom, including offering alternative seating, is a beneficial practice for students with ADD/ADHD. Additionally, strengthbased strategies are a beneficial way to highlight and work with traits that students with ADD/ADHD possess in the classroom in a positive way. Some of which include incorporating …

Steam Implementations For Elementary School Students In Turkey, Nil Duban, Bülent Aydoğdu, Selçuk Kolsuz

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

The main aim of the current research was to fill the absence of STEAM activities for primary school students in Turkey. Accordingly, a study in which STEAM activities were implemented was conducted with the primary school students. There were four activities during STEAM implementation. The activities were these: Students recognized circuit components of simple electric circuits, designed simple electric circuits using circuit components by the guidance of researchers, later designed an ecological village via STEAM using simple electric circuits, and presented their ecological village via STEAM. A quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest control group design was used in the current …

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, …

Life Through Different Lenses, Teresa Morales

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

For this capstone project, my partner and I were able to explore the lack of affordable housing for low-income families and the demonstrable effect on students academic achievement. Children whose families have a difficult time finding adequate housing, live in poor conditions that limits them to acquire their learning skills and abilities to succeed. The community partner we worked with was a local Family Resource Center that provides housing assistance and other social determinants. The purpose of this research was understand how low-income families deal with inadequate living conditions and the impacts of student academic success. Based on an analysis …

Relationships Between Teachers' Past Experiences Learning Mathematics And Their Pedagogical Practices And Beliefs, Caci M. Jensen

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This creative project centered around the cyclical pattern of mathematics anxiety currently prevalent in our schools. A high percentage of elementary teachers carry mathematics anxiety and beliefs around mathematics that effect their pedagogical practices day-to-day. This anxiety transfers to their students effecting their future choices in mathematics. This project was conducted in case studies with six teachers from a rural charter school. Journey maps, semi-structured interviews, surveys, and observations were used to collect the data.

The Role Of Response To Intervention In Michigan High Poverty Elementary Schools That Are Beating The Odds, Alina J. Fortenberry

Dissertations

The Michigan Department of Education has identified schools that are beating the odds as either schools that perform better than expected based on risk factors of race, ethnicity, low socioeconomics or/and English Language Learner populations, and/or also as schools performing above their comparison group of the most demographically similar schools in the state. Many districts in the state are attempting to incorporate multi-tiered systems of support with a Response to Intervention (RTI) Framework, as the academic component for assisting students in accomplishing skills needed to help them meet grade level expectations.

The purpose of this study is to describe and …

Early-Childhood Computer-Based Testing: Effects Of A Digital Literacy Intervention On Student Confidence And Performance, Benjamin-David Christopher Legrand

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Early-childhood digital students grow up in a fast-evolving age of technology requiring them to use and create with technologies and demonstrate core content knowledge. Although third grade students are mandated to master a new language of standardized testing, a large percentage must also learn a language of technology to complete new computer-based tests to measure content mastery. Krashen (1982) defines high affective filter as negative emotional/motivational factors interfering with understanding and cognition. This high affective filter reduces confidence and negatively impacts measuring content mastery on new computerbased tests. Two third grade classrooms at a high-poverty metropolitan school participated in a …

A Correlational Study Of Teacher Practice Versus Belief, Christopher A. Heery

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this research study was to examin the correlation between what kindergarten teachers identified as developmentally appropriate practices in kindergarten classrooms and what is included in their actual daily classroom practices. This quantitative research used a correlational research design to investigate the strength of the relationship between what teachers identied as their beliefs in developmentally appropriate practices for early childhood education and their self-reported use of developmentally appropriate practices within their own classrooms. The population included kindergarten teachers who currently teach in the northeastern counties of Pennsylvania. The participants completed an online survey developed for teachers of kindergarten …

Video Self-Modeling, Reading Aloud, Or Silent Reading: Effects Of Strategies On Fluency, Rebekah J. Vande Kamp

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

The purpose of this action research is to explore the most effective strategy for children to engage in during Read to Self to increase their fluency. Fluency is the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and expression; and is an important aspect of being a successful reader. In this study, three 2nd grade classes will engage in different Read to Self strategies. One class will be doing silent reading. Another class will be reading their books aloud to themselves. A third class will be using video self-modeling, which is recording themselves reading their books out loud on Chromebooks and watching …

Positive Behavior Interventions And Supports In Transitional Kindergarten Through Second Grade Classrooms: Year Three And Beyond, Anne Driscoll-Mink

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine the effects of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) on students in transitional kindergarten (TK) through second grade before implementation and after implementation of PBIS at platinum level elementary schools.

Methodology: A mixed-methods study will be used to examine the effects of PBIS on students in TK through second grade before implementation and after implementation of PBIS at platinum level elementary schools in southern California. The quantitative method was used to gather archival data on pre PBIS implementation and post PBIS implementation to determine if there was a difference in …

Hands Of The Future, Inc.: Connecting Children To Nature, Rebecca Busse

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

Rebecca Busse is the project coordinator for the Nature of Teaching Extension Program. This provides K–5 teachers with standards-based lesson plans related to wildlife, food waste, and health and wellness. She has been volunteering with Hands of the Future, Inc., for three years. In this article, she describes the organization and her experiences with it.

Learning Statistics Through Guided Block Play: A Pre-Curriculum In Statistical Literacy, Robert P. Giebitz

Organization, Information and Learning Sciences ETDs

Learning to use data to investigate the world and make decisions has become an essential skill for all citizens. Play and curiosity are powerful motivators for learning. Inquiry – the process of asking questions and seeking answers – can engage the natural curiosity of young learners and motivate early learning. Recent research in statistics education has shown that children as young as 4 and 5 years old can learn to collect, organize, and interpret data they acquire through observation, counting, and measuring in a process of guided inquiry. Guided block play has been used for over 100 years to enable …

A Phenomenological Narrative Study: Elementary Charter Principals' Role As An Instructional Leader, Ahmet F. Cetinkaya

School Leadership Review

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS) (2013) defined charter schools on the company website as "independent public schools allowed freedom to be more innovative, while being held accountable for improved student achievement" (p. l ). Although there might be differences in their structures depending on state charter school laws and agreement between their authorizers, charter schools have been shown to have more flexibility in their educational programs and management styles in comparison with traditional public schools.

Texas School District Liability In Pupil Transportation: A Legal Analysis Of The Texas Tort Claims Act And Sovereign Immunity, Kayne M. Smith, Melissa Arrambide, Timothy Letzring, Chuck Holt

School Leadership Review

Despite information and research being available in the area of tort liability, including relevant topics in public school law, there are limited resources on the topic for school transportation litigation. The question arises with the motor driven vehicle exception of sovereign immunity and how this may pertain to litigation involving school bus services.

Unmasking Whiteness: Progressing Toward Cultural Responsiveness Within A Rti Framework, Melinda F. Scheetz

Dissertations

Response to Intervention (RTI) developed out of educational policies and practices that comprise NCLB and IDEA. RTI is a system to ensure all students receive high-quality instruction that meets their needs, increases opportunities to learn, and prevents reading failure. A culturally relevant RTI framework offers the most promising pedagogical approach to quality instruction and educational equity. The purpose of this study was to understand, describe, and explore the intersection of culturally relevant practices and RTI. The research questions that guided this study were: What can be learned about a culturally responsive approach to RTI by listening to teachers’ perspectives and …

Differences In Leadership Behaviors Of Principals And Success In The School Turnaround Processes, Annette Lee

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine leadership behaviors of principals associated with public elementary schools that were either in the school turnaround process or had already transitioned out of school academic turnaround from 2011 through 2016. Transformational leadership guided the study to determine whether leadership behaviors differed among leaders of schools associated with academic failure. School accountability data were initially gathered through the Louisiana Department of Education website. Academically unsuccessful schools (AUS) were identified. Schools that were deemed failing at least one time during the 2012-2016 timeframe were grouped as follows: (a) Group A consisted of two schools …

Easy As Abc?, Allison Bickerstaff

Quest

Professor Introduction: The Profile Essay

Research in progress for English 1301: Composition 1

Faculty Mentor: Lisa Roy-Davis, Ph.D.

The following paper represents research work begun by students in English 1301, the first course in the two-semester composition sequence at Collin College. Students in English 1301 are introduced to the concept of academic research by learning to ask research-focused questions and then use the library resources to find sources that provide answers.

In the following profile essay, Allison Bickerstaff merges her research-based understanding of the elementary education field with her subject’s experiences of teaching at a local elementary school. By focusing …

Breaking The Silence: Discussions About Disability, Sex, & Gender Identity, Janet Sauer, Kirsten Bond, Cassidy Donahue, Molly Wolber, Hannah Hunter, Elizabeth Bellin, Katherine Deluga

Violence Against Women conference

Silence often accompanies topics about disability, sexuality, and gender identity. This panel of Lesley students, alumni, and faculty discuss the issue of silence involving social stigma and ignorance that can often lead to violence against people with disabilities. The panelists participated in an interdisciplinary course, Disability Studies, in which students chose to research these topics for their social action projects and papers. Panelists who see themselves as allies and/or self-identify as disabled share their research, personal experiences, and interviews with the audience to provide insights into some of the systematic exclusion of people with disabilities in these discussions, particularly in …

The Critical Need For Mental Health Education To Be Mandated In New Mexico's Public Schools, Bonnie L. Murphy

Shared Knowledge Conference

Based on a review of research and best practices in mental health awareness and skills, this inquiry project argues for state legislative policies that would require mental health awareness and skills in the K-12 curriculum. Mental health affects individual accomplishments in every stage of people’s lives beginning in early childhood and throughout the life cycle. Prevention and treatment of mental illness plays a key role in the ability of an individual to cope with loss and develop resiliency and perseverance in challenging times and to make better decisions that improve the individual’s life and the lives of those around them. …