Elementary Education Commons^™

Classroom Reintegration For Children And Adolescents With Traumatic Brain Injuries, Alli Perkins, Mary Greer, Keith Mcwilliams

Spring 2024 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

The purpose of the poster presentation is to increase the present knowledge regarding the process of school-based reintegration for children and adolescents who have experienced a traumatic brain injury. As children and young adults spend an average of 32 hours per week in the school environment, parents, educators, and rehabilitation professionals are ideally positioned to collaborate with one another to facilitate the reintegration process and enable students to return to their primary occupations of educational participation, social participation, play, and leisure. The presentation includes information from the development and implementation of a program for parents, families, and educators of those …

Exploring Practical Measures As An Approach For Measuring Elementary Students’ Attitudes Towards Computer Science, Umar Shehzad, Mimi M. Recker, Jody E. Clarke-Midura

Publications

This paper presents a novel approach for predicting the outcomes of elementary students’ participation in computer science (CS) instruction by using exit tickets, a type of practical measure, where students provide rapid feedback on their instructional experiences. Such feedback can help teachers to inform ongoing teaching and instructional practices. We fit a Structural Equation Model to examine whether students' perceptions of enjoyment, ease, and connections between mathematics and CS in an integrated lesson predicted their affective outcomes in self-efficacy, interest, and CS identity, collected in a pre- post- survey. We found that practical measures can validly measure student experiences.

The Casnr L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter: Learning Innovation Network For K-12 Schools, Volume 3, Edition 4, April 2024, Bailey Feit, Tammy Mittelstet

CASNR L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter

The purpose of this L.I.N.K.S. newsletter is to provide a monthly update of opportunities and resources for K-12 schools to connect with the University of Nebraska's CASNR Food, Energy, Water, and Societal Systems (FEWS²) programs and partners.

Included in this edition:

K-12 curriculum and resources

Join us at Youth Energy Leadership Camp, July 22-26, 2024

Summer Discovery Day camp, Morrill Hall, June 3-August 2

Explore Food Science summer camps 2024

Save the date: Haskell Ag Lab family field day, August 7, 2024

Other upcoming events

Educator workshops

Compact Teacher Summit-Haskell Ag Lab, Wheat variety field day-High Plains Lab, NAYI conference-East …

Empowering Environmental Education In Portuguese Primary Schools: Energy Focused Curriculum Recommendations And Behavioral Change Framework Guided By Principles Of Developmental Psychology, Ellie Hanson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper explores the integration of principles of developmental psychology within the context of environmental education in Portugal to promote pro-environmental behavior, and specifically energy literacy energy conservation behaviors in primary school students. A review of current literature on the state of environmental education approaches in Portugal exhibits a significant lack of structure and direction for educators to teach students relevant topics in sustainability. Using a meta-theory of behavioral change, the present work connects the elements of the COM-B model of behavioral change to relevant aspects of middle childhood cognitive development using principles of two major theories of developmental psychology. …

Interprofessional Community Schools, Shauna Curran, Morgan Bassett, Belle Betit, Kelly Couch, Allie Hegarty, Katelynn Leblanc

CAIEP Spring Showcase 2024

This presentation details the key components of community schools and their importance to community members and students alike. Comprised of four primary pillars, these schools focus on expanding learning opportunities, bringing in a variety of student supports, serving families collectively, while emphasizing the collaborative element of leadership. Community schools serve as an integration point of various elements of a community to come together in order to produce maximum benefits for all.

An Exploration Of The Role Of Alternative Certification Programs In Teacher Preparedness, Bianca Dugas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alternative certification programs (ACPs) recently gained popularity due to their brevity and appeal to second-career candidates. However, research shows that alternatively certified teachers often need more pedagogical skills than traditionally certified teachers, leading to the possibility of experiencing challenges their first year as an educator. To address this problem, the role of ACPs in teacher preparation was investigated to identify ways to close the gaps and provide ongoing support to alternatively certified teachers. The purpose of this study was to explore the preparedness of teachers based on their experiences in their ACPs. The study was framed within Malcolm Knowles’s adult …

An Analysis Of The Effects Of Parent And Family Engagement Programs On The Academic Success Of 4th Grade Students In Title I Elementary Schools, Farah Leila Henderson

Dissertations

Parent and family engagement has become an essential part of education reform for schools across the United States. There were over 50 years of research on the topic and its impact on student achievement. The purpose of my evaluation was to study how implementing specific parent and family engagement activities at Title I elementary schools affected the reading achievement of fourth-grade students. The context of this inquiry was a large urban public school district where Parent Engagement Liaisons (PEL) were placed in Title I schools to coordinate the district-directed Parent and Family Engagement (PFE) program. I used a mixed-methods design …

An Evaluation Of The Factors That Lead To The Development Of Deferential Interactions Between Teachers And Students, Shondra Browne-Bolton

Dissertations

Schools have historically maintained a hierarchy with an expectation that students show deference. The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors that caused students to treat teachers disrespectfully. This mixed-methods inquiry included K-12 teachers and administrators who responded to a social media post and participated in surveys and interviews. Based on my findings, the factors that led to the development of deferential interactions between teachers and students included establishing trusting relationships, reciprocated respect, clear schoolwide behavior expectations, positive communication with parents, and teachers' professional dress. My recommendations were for establishing clear schoolwide behavior expectations, for school districts to …

Exploring The Experiences Of School Counselors Advocating For Social Justice Within Urban Pk-12 Charter Schools, Betsy Marina Perez

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

School counselors serve students’ academic, career, and social/emotional needs through a comprehensive school counseling program, and center their work on concepts of equity, advocacy, social justice, and systemic change, to remove barriers and increase opportunities for all PK-12 students. Charter schools are also unique public school settings as they offer flexibility, innovation, and autonomy to staff to create individualized experiences for their students. Held in common by these two educational services is the commitment to serving the needs of historically marginalized populations (Black, Indigenous, People of Color [BIPOC] and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds) and the opportunity to advocate for …

Mutualism As Mutual Trust: An Ethnographic Case Study On An Elementary-School Teacher-Team Participation In A Science Pd Program, Olga Gould-Yakovleva, Xiufeng Liu

The Qualitative Report

This grounded in social constructivism yearlong ethnographic case study was conducted at the final stage of a larger, longitudinal, multisite, and multi-year project. The current research focused on a group of urban public elementary schoolteachers who volunteered to participate in the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded interdisciplinary science and engineering partnership (ISEP) project. These teachers were enrolled in the professional development (PD) college courses in physics and engineering design, summer research in university laboratories, and interdisciplinary science inquiry (ISI) pedagogy sessions. This research sought to understand the factors which contributed to successful teamwork at the elementary school under investigation. Additionally, this …

A Mindful And Sustainable Eating Intervention To Improve Attitudes Related To Mindfulness, Sustainability, And Fruit And Vegetable Consumption In Elementary Schools, Amy Schachtner-Appel, Heejung Song

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

Excessive plate waste is generated in elementary school cafeterias. Adapting nutrition promotion strategies to target waste reduction and encouraging mindful and sustainable eating (MSE) are possible strategies to encourage students to reduce waste during school lunch. Farm to Tray, Tray to Farm is a 16-week intervention that aims to encourage elementary school students to develop mindful and sustainable eating behaviors. An educational curriculum was delivered to eight 5th-grade students, who served as peer leaders and disseminated messages throughout the school. Additional strategies included cafeteria reinforcements and opportunities for food recovery. A pilot test of the program was conducted in two …

Guía Didáctica Para Talleres De Habilidades Fundamentales Y Creatividad En Albergues Para Niños, Niñas, Y Adolescentes En Tránsito, Lindsay Ravetz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este proyecto es una investigación-acción para abordar el problema de la falta de recursos educativos para los niños, niñas, y adolescentes (NNA) migrantes. El objetivo fue crear una guía didáctica de talleres para NNA migrantes en albergues, diseñada para ser dirigida por voluntarios. La guía está fundamentada en la investigación de las experiencias de los migrantes que pasan por México, las características de los NNA, y sensibilidad a los afectos del trauma psicológico en los NNA migrantes. La metodología del proyecto se lleva a cabo a través de la revisión de la literatura, observaciones en el albergue COMI, y entrevistas …

Qualitative Study: Brain Breaks In Primary School Classroom, Mandeep Biring

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to identify and describe the brain break strategies used by exemplary primary grade teachers to support student learning for each of the three different types of brain breaks (breathing breaks, movement breaks, and mental breaks). A further purpose of this study was to identify primary teachers’ perceptions of which brain break strategies are most effective to support student learning.

Methodology: A phenomenological research design was used for this study. A qualitative method was used to collect data which included conducting semistructured interviews and observations with participants to gain information related to …

Cultivating Massachusetts Public Elementary School Formal Teacher-Leadership, Amy Mitchell

Educational Studies Dissertations

In Massachusetts public elementary schools, teaching and leadership roles are perceived as mutually exclusive rather than interwoven. Despite credentials that would recognize Massachusetts public elementary school teachers as leaders beyond their classrooms, the leadership frame of reference attests that those who have the position, power and authority to lead (e.g., superintendents, directors, principals) are the leaders of schools and school districts. Because of this, the prospect of an expanded pathway for formal public elementary school teacher-leadership is challenged and there is a dearth of literature pertaining to formal teacher-leadership practices in public elementary schools. This study sought to understand this …

Leading Through A Trauma-Informed Lens, Taylor Van Clay

Graduate Teacher Education

Abstract

This paper examined research on what is necessary for leaders to lead and create a school culture that supports students through a trauma-informed lens. This research looked for findings from multiple quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies which examined the importance of effective leadership, the necessity of professional development for educators, and the implementation of trauma-informed practices that will lead to student success. The research revealed specific factors that lead to beneficial leadership outcomes along with interconnectedness of purposeful and ongoing professional development and implementation of trauma-informed practice due to the fact that response to student behaviors is not intuitive. …

A Phenomenological Study On The Effectiveness Of Induction Programs To Prepare Second- And Third-Year Teachers To Meet The Needs Of All Students After The Covid-19 Pandemic, Mary Henschel

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative descriptive study was to identify and describe how second- and third-year elementary school teachers who participated in induction programs perceived the efficacy of the induction programs in preparing them to design and implement effective instructional programs to meet the needs of all students after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methodology: This phenomenological qualitative descriptive study explored and described second- and third-year teachers participating in induction programs to learn how the induction programs support new teachers after the COVID-19 pandemic. Using convenience sampling, structured interviews were held with 12 participants from Los Angeles County to learn …

A Delphi Study To Explore Successful Implementation Of The International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme From A Principal's Perspective, Hilary Reynolds

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this Delphi study was to identify the essential elements needed to implement the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB PYP) standards and practices from the perspective of elementary school principals who have successfully implemented the programme.

Methodology: This research study examined the essential elements needed for elementary schools as they transition to an IB PYP. This study illustrated the framework for the implementation of the study. Additionally, a description of the population, target population, and the sample used for the study was explored. The instrumentation, data collection procedures, and description of data analysis were then explained. …

Exploring Brain Breaks, Nathan Swanson

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Do you have times when students are disengaged? Are they too squirrely to sit still? Or too tired to pay attention? During this session we examine how best in the moment to assess what kind of brain break your students need. We also look at how to build brain breaks into your classroom lessons and routines in order to increase student engagement and academic retention

Organizing Your Teacher Life For Maximize Management And Instruction, Mark Gibson

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Lesson plans, meetings, and bus duty...Oh My! The first few years of teaching can be overwhelming as new educators struggle to find a balance between work, life, and self. This session is aimed at equipping participants with practical and effective strategies to feel confident, empowered, and capable as new classroom teachers. Join veteran educator and Instructional Specialist Mark Gibson in an engaging opportunity to maximize what you can as a new educator.

Prison Walls To College Halls- How To Win With The Most Challenging Students, Floyd D. Lyles

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Prison Wall to College Halls- How to WIN with your most challenging students is about teaching educators about how to work with at-risk, and challenging students. I believe all students need a champion. Are you a champion for every kid in your building? I will teach you the winning formula and how to be successful with the most challenging, difficult students. You must be Willing to Invest your time and Never give up.