Elementary Education Commons^™

Emerging Issues And Innovations In Public Pk-12 Education: Implications For Strategic Planning, David B. Naff, Lisa Gwyn, Fred Gatty, Tara Willging, Marzia Farhana, Jill Flynn, Cammie Justus-Smith, Jean Samuel, Alexander Campbell, Ciana Cross, Jamie Nervil, Michael L. Schad

MERC Publications

This research and policy brief from the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC) explores emerging issues and innovations that PK-12 school districts should consider when engaging in strategic planning. It includes a discussion of peer reviewed literature related to how PK-12 school districts engage in strategic planning, a thematic analysis of strategic plans across Virginia (as well as the largest school districts in the United States), and an exploration of Google trends related to prominent topics in PK-12 education over the previous five years. It explores the following questions: 1) How do PK-12 school systems engage in strategic planning?, 2) What …

Teacher Development Multi-Year Study Series. Vanuatu: Final Report, Elizabeth Cassity, Debbie Wong, Jevelin Wendiady, Jennie Chainey

Education Analytics Service

The Australian Government is supporting the Government of Vanuatu through its Vanuatu Education Support Program (VESP) to undertake long-term education reforms. A key focus of these reforms is the rollout of a new national curriculum in conjunction with the National Language Policy (2012), intended to improve teaching quality and student learning outcomes for students in the primary and early secondary years of education. Part of a multi-year study series, the Education Analytics Service (EAS) is investigating how the VESP is making a difference to these teaching and learning outcomes. The new primary curriculum has been rolled out to schools in …

An Examination Of Strategies For Reintegration Of K-12 Students Into Public School Post-Hospitalization, Jacinda Gittens

Education Theses

The reintegration process has been a challenging topic in schools, and most schools do not have policies to accommodate students' needs. Therefore, educators should develop policies to achieve a better outcome for reintegration. The aim of this paper is to investigate how the process of reintegration affects school-aged youths with chronic illness and mental health challenges who are experiencing academic difficulties. The implications are significant, including the amount of schoolwork required to pass the year after reintegration, the need for school nurses to be in contact with hospitals that students attended, and the importance of administrative involvement in the reintegration …

The Landscape Of Advanced Coursework Participation: Understanding Disparities And Intersectionality, Chin-Chih Chen, Chris Parthemos, David Naff, Erica Ross, Virginia Palencia, Beth Fowler, Andrea Herndon, Beverly Fludd-Flanagan

MERC Publications

This population-based study explored students' participation in advanced coursework in elementary schools (gifted/talented programs), middle schools (Algebra I+), and high schools (Advanced Placement) to address enrollment equity. The study identified demographic disparities and the intersectionality of multiple identities to achieve two research aims: 1) to explore how advanced course-taking varies by student demographics, and 2) to understand how disparities in advanced course-taking vary by student demographics and intersectional identities. The findings indicate that disparities in advanced course-taking are related to students’ race, ethnicity, disability status, English learner (EL) status, socioeconomic status, as well as the intersection of these variables. The …

Streaming With Butterflies: A Whole School Stream Project, Carey L. Averill, Janet M. Herrelko

Journal of Catholic Education

This study explores the commitment of a school faculty to use the pedagogical practices needed to employ a project-based unit of Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STREAM). The unit of study concentrated on environmental sustainability of butterflies through project-based learning (PBL). Teacher interviews were analyzed to reveal the similarities and differences, strengths and weaknesses in the teachers’ reactions to implementing a cross-curricula content unit designed for a pre-kindergarten (PK) to eighth grade school. Analysis of teacher data and classroom artifacts provided evidence of: content mastery at the student levels; implementation of scaffolding for developmental levels; and the need …

Assessing The Reliability Of The Five-In-20 Classroom Observation Tool, Danielle Buechlein

Masters Theses

Effective classroom management practices are crucial to fostering a positive learning environment, student achievement, and student social-emotional development, as well as teacher job satisfaction. The Five-in-20 Classroom Observation Tool (FCOT) was developed from the 21 evidence-based strategies identified by Simonsen and colleagues (2008) to assess and support teachers’ classroom management; however, its psychometric properties are unknown. The present study looks at the interobserver agreement of the FCOT, specifically at how consistent observers’ ratings are with each other and how consistent observers’ ratings are with a standard coded copy of the FCOT. Forty-four participants, using the FCOT, rated the same 20-minute …

Pandemic Innovations In Teacher Education: Communities Of Practice, Mentoring, And Technology, Christy K. Irish, Melissa S. Wells, Janine S. Davis, Kristina A. Peck, Courtney Clayton

Education Faculty Articles

This study aimed to investigate the transformation of pre-service teaching experience due to virtual or hybrid completion during the 2020–2021 school year and to identify teaching and mentoring innovations that teacher educators should continue to promote. The research involved 14 student teachers and 5 mentor teachers from the United States across elementary, secondary, and pre-K–12 programs who participated in surveys, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups. The results indicated that the integration of technology in student teaching and the shift to virtual or hybrid learning brought about new challenges and opportunities for both student teachers and mentor teachers. The study highlights …

A Tool For Digital Bibliotherapy: Fostering Emotional Resiliency Through A Visual Novel, Joy Cooper

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

Suicide rates among children have risen over the last three years. In Clark County specifically, the numbers doubled between 2019 and 2021. The research for this project sought to find the benefits of bibliotherapy and create a tool to be used for early intervention in children displaying signs of developmental emotional and behavioral concerns. Additionally, the research focused on determining the benefits of bibliotherapy across various mediums with a particular aim on the accessibility of digital formats. The research concluded that bibliotherapy in a digital format is not only beneficial but has a tendency to produce higher engagement among children. …

Translanguaging, Multiliteracy, And Sociocultural Dynamics: Exploring Diasporic Identity And Belonging, Seongryeong Yu

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This ethnographic study delves into the language and literacy practices of immigrant children in a public elementary school setting. The purpose of the study is to understand the role of multiliteracy in their learning, their ability to connect with the curriculum and instruction, and their sense of belonging within their peer groups, classrooms, and home countries. To explore how these children utilized their linguistic and cultural repertoires to engage in language and literacy activities in different contexts (Kwon, 2019), the study focused on 10-year-old students from various linguistic backgrounds, including Korean and Chinese students in a United States classroom. Through …

Genrefication: Making Children's Collections Accessible, Kurt Axt

Resources for Educators

[From Introduction]

Most people who have home libraries have no need to classify their collections. They have one or maybe several bookcases, perhaps separating fiction from nonfiction, grouping fiction by genre or format, nonfiction by subject. They may even keep their Outlander books together and not mix them up with their Alex Cross books. But only a rare bird would alphabetize their fiction by author or organize their nonfiction by the Dewey Decimal or Library of Congress (LC) classification systems. Likewise, if their small child has a bookcase in his or her bedroom, it is probably an unsorted mass of …

Lovingkindness Meditation: Effects On Teacher Burnout, Emotion Regulation, And Teacher-Student Interaction Quality, Maria Haji-Georgi

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The quality of teacher-student interactions has important implications for students’ learning and development. The high demands placed on teachers can contribute to teacher stress and burnout, which have negative consequences on teacher well-being, retention, classroom climate, and instruction, impacting student outcomes. Research suggests that teachers’ well-being and social-emotional competence underlie their capacity and ability to effectively facilitate healthy teacher-student interactions and manage the classroom environment. The goal of this study was to test whether a brief and daily practice of lovingkindness meditation could reduce teacher burnout, improve emotion regulation, and enhance the quality of teacher-student interactions. This study’s sample included …

Navigating Through Systems That Create Inequities: Elementary Teacher Perceptions, Sarah Rector

Doctor of Education Dissertations

This qualitative case study was designed to explore elementary teacher perceptions of what it means to provide an equitable education for their students. These perceptions allow educational leaders insight into how teachers navigate systems that create inequities and what professional development may be needed to further support equitable learning in the classroom. K-5 certified teachers were interviewed twice to gather data on their understanding of educational equity and the correlation between classroom and state testing. Four findings emerged from this study: (a) educators believed that providing an equitable education would create successful adults, (b) educators gained cultural experiences by having …

Relations Between Australian Primary Teachers’ Reported Professional Development Engagement And Their Science Teaching Practices And Efficacy Beliefs, James Deehan, Amy Macdonald

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

: Professional development has long been viewed as crucial to sustained improvement in the quality of primary science education. This paper considers professional development beyond the context of a specific program by examining how the science teaching efficacy beliefs and practices vary between teachers who both have and have not engaged with science professional development. This paper reports on a primarily quantitative study wherein a sample of 206 Australian public primary educators responded to an online survey capturing demographic, science teaching efficacy and science teaching practice data. Quantitative data were analysed via descriptive, ANOVA and Chi Square analyses. The supplementary …

Teacher Perceptions Of Preparedness To Teach A Diverse Group Of English Language Learners With Different Literacy Levels And Languages In The Mainstream Elementary Classroom, Jennifer Mehu

Theses and Dissertations

All across the United States, increased numbers of English language learners (ELL) are entering schools with limited formal education or proficiency in the English language at alarming rates. This new shift has affected school districts that are not prepared to address the needs of these ELL students due to the lack of preparation of mainstream teachers in their districts and schools. The problem addressed in this study was that many ELLs were not making adequate progress academically in mainstream classes. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore teachers’ perceived preparedness to teach ELLs in mainstream classes in the …

Faculty And Staff Perceptions Of Mental Health Services In The Elementary Schools Of A Rural District, Vera Collins Richardson

Doctor of Education Dissertations

This case study focused on the perceptions of faculty and staff of mental health services at the elementary level in a rural district. Mental health services provided in elementary school settings can ultimately change the outcome of individuals’ lives. Many districts in North Carolina lack the funds to hire mental health counselors, and must rely on elementary school counselors to take the lead in providing students with the mental health care they need. This qualitative case study focused on the perceptions of faculty and staff and was the primary focus of this research. An analysis of feedback from three elementary …

Comparing The Efficacy Of Interventions Derived From Concurrent Operant Analysis And Indirect Assessment, Lane Marquardt

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

In this study, a simultaneous treatments design was used to conduct a concurrent operant analysis (COA) to evaluate the choice making behavior of one elementary aged student. The COA results were used as a possible reinforcer for one of the conditions for the intervention to increase work completion. An indirect assessment, Questions about Behavioral Function (QABF), was used identify a hypothesized function to the student’s lack of task completion behavior. The results from thee QABD were used as a possible reinforcer for one of the conditions for the intervention to increase work completion. An alternating treatments design (ATD) was used …

Instructional Practices That Promote Reading Growth In K-3 Students: A Qualitative Study Of Highly Effective Reading Teachers, Valora J. Unowsky

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The focus of this study was to examine the effective instructional practices, philosophies, values, and beliefs of highly effective reading teachers, as evidenced by their students’ rate of reading growth over the course of one academic year across all demographic subgroups. Teacher instructional strategies, approaches to tier one and tier two instruction, planning, preparation, and philosophical beliefs about teaching were investigated. The primary goal of this study was to identify and examine teacher practices and characteristics which result in high reading growth, so as to benefit students. This qualitative grounded theory study used targeted teacher interviews and extensive coding methodologies …

Exploring Bibliotherapy And Creating Family Literacy Bags In Response To Community Violence, Sierra Urbaez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis sought to aid children in coping with community violence. As violent crimes terrorize communities near and far, children are hearing about them. Children might learn about this violence on the news or by overhearing adults' discussions. Regardless, this thesis sought to help students navigate a world that may be anxiety filled. This thesis includes an exploration of bibliotherapy and discussions of the use of books in a therapeutic manner to delve deeper into its profound effects. The topics of this thesis surround social-emotional learning, which is also investigated and explained. The benefits of combining bibliotherapy and social-emotional learning …

Volunteering At An Elementary School, Kaila R. Sobol

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Fall 2023

For this service learning project, I chose to volunteer at Timbercrest Elementary School, my community partner, in Deltona, Florida. Before selecting my service project, I did research regarding parts of my community that needed volunteers to help out. I discovered an article by SF Ed Fund named "5 Reasons to Volunteer in a School" which focused on how "underfunded and understaffed" public schools are. I volunteered approximately eight hours a week at Timbercrest, moving between different classrooms and helping out multiple teachers. While volunteering there, I administered and graded tests, inputed grades, worked with students in small groups, and lead …

Anchored To A Community: Middle School Students’ Experience Of Belonging In The Classroom: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study, Angela Thera Butler

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

A student’s sense of belonging in the classroom makes a difference. Students who experience a feeling of belonging within the learning environment are more engaged and prepared to learn and contribute. Students who do not feel this sense of belonging in the classroom often pull away from school norms, and may separate themselves from formal education entirely. This qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of belonging for a small group of 6th grade students from a suburban, midwestern school. Experiences and intentions of three educators who shared these students were also collected and compared to the experiences and perceptions …