Secondary Education Commons^™

Silver Girls: A Modern Retelling Of Little Women, Jessica A. Rinker

Honors Program Theses and Projects

When one thinks of a “reader” they might picture a person with large wire-rimmed glasses, their nose buried deep into the binding of a thick book, perhaps with a cat curled up next to them and maybe a mug of tea. If one had to guess what such a literary person was reading, one would assume something very old and wise like Tolstoy or Wordsworth or Austin. What about the twelve-year-old hanging upside down on his bean bag chair devouring James Dashner’s Maze Runner or the fifteen-year-old laying across her bed, lost in the plot of Elizabeth Acevedo’s Poet X? …

Theme-Based Second Language Learning Through Multimodal Experimental Animation, Bailu Li, Yuan Xu

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

In a digital, multimedia, and globalized world, new theories such as multimodality, multiliteracies, and theme-based instruction have signaled a shift in the Chinese as language art and Chinese as second language teaching and learning. However, these theoretical frameworks have not been frequently integrated and implemented in the field of CFL. Focusing on the theme of "Personal and Public Identity'', the article proposed a new attempt to synthetically combine multimodal texts, multiliteracies pedagogy, and thematic learning in CFL classrooms. Through the three selected experimental animations, the article discussed teaching methods and procedures in the topics of individuals and families, individuals and …

Statewide Transitional Math Competencies And Policies, Education Systems Center

Reports, Analyses, and other Publications

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Impact Of Early Exposure To Research On Dual Enrollment Students: A Qualitative Single-Case Study, Kevin A. Adkins, Jorge L. D. Albelo, Samantha Bowyer

Publications

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) provides a concurrent enrollment model to high schools across the United States. The concurrent enrollment opportunity offers science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) college-credit coursework taught by college-credentialed instructors on the student’s high school campus. One faculty member transitioned to Embry-Riddle’s main residential campus following seven years of service with ERAU’s concurrent enrollment program. During his tenure with ERAU’s concurrent enrollment program, in addition to instructing a variety of concurrent enrollment courses, he maintained an active research agenda that involved concurrently enrolled students. His transition was preceded by the matriculation of a subset of these students …

Finnish Adolescent Girls’ Activity Patterns And The Effects Of An Activity-Based Homework Intervention On Their Physical Activity, Mari Kääpä, Sanna Palomäki, Henri Vähä-Ypyä, Tommi Vasankari, Mirja Hirvensalo, Alicia Fedewa

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

Purpose: The insufficient physical activity (PA) of adolescents is a global challenge, and there is a need to find opportunities to engage youth in active lifestyles. The majority of adolescents do not meet the recommended guidelines of physical activity, and especially females have low levels of activity as they approach adolescence. The goal of this study was to obtain insight into Finnish adolescent girls’ objectively measured physical activity by evaluating the effects of an activity-based homework intervention on low, medium, and high-active girls during after-school hours.

Method: A physical activity homework intervention was put into place for female adolescent girls. …

“Communication Is Important. I Learned That On The Fresh Prince Show.” Soft Skills Portrayed In Five Prime-Time Television Comedies: A Quantitative Content Analysis, Jacquelyn Bader

Graduate Theses & Dissertations

This research study merged the seemingly divergent challenges of a soft skills shortage among workforce-ready young adults and the need to develop curricula that are interesting enough to hold students’ attention. This study, based on social learning and human capital theories, explored the portrayal of soft skills in five prime-time television (TV) comedies from the 2019-2020 broadcast season, with the idea that, if the portrayals were sufficiently frequent, readily identifiable, and led to what the TV characters wanted to achieve by exercising those skills, then perhaps the viewing of TV comedies could constitute part of the elusive yet engaging and …

Ecologies Of Hope: Understanding Educational Success Among Black Males In An Urban Midwestern City, Willie C. Harmon, Marlon C. James, Rasheedah Farooq

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

The American Psychological Association's Task Force on Resilience and Strength in Black Children and Adolescents (2008) called for resilience frameworks particularly designed to understand African American development. Thus, the present study explores the lives of seven academically successful Black males in an urban midwestern city. Using a Critical Race Theory framework, the researchers center the counterstories of men of color who matriculated through college from a "failing" high school in a challenging urban community. Using constant comparative analysis, two critical themes emerged: extended family and extended kinship support networks. A synthesis of these themes resulted in an emergent framework entitled …

Using Critical Environmental Agency To Engage Teachers In Local Watersheds Through Water Quality Citizen Science, Lacey D. Huffling, Heather Scott

Middle Grades & Secondary Education: Faculty Publications

This qualitative study explores teachers’ critical environmental agency (CEA) through deepening content knowledge, engaging in identity development, developing a critical consciousness of place, and moving toward civic action. We explored the meanings secondary science teachers made of an on-going professional development (PD) situated in the Okefenokee Swamp (unique ecosystem that drains to Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean) and focused on local watershed citizen science monitoring and the global implications of all water being connected. Data analyses focused on how the nineteen teachers’ experiences and meanings were leveraged to develop CEA and the constraints that restricted their CEA development. Our …

Improving Equity Through Master Scheduling, Allison Degregory, Craig Sommer

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

A real and measurable gap exists in our country, and our educational system has served to increase this gap. Our system has failed to provide equitable access to advanced coursework for Black and Hispanic students. Implementing a deliberate and strategic system for scheduling high school students will provide historically underrepresented student groups equitable access to college credit and college-level courses. Quantitative research will determine how such an approach impacts high school students at an urban district in the southeastern United States when principals, and principal supervisors, create systems to schedule students equitably.

Clear and present gaps exist in the rate …

Examining The Children’S Defense Fund Freedom Schools Model On Middle School Students’ Reading Achievement, Lakia M. Scott, Rachel Renbarger, Yasmin Laird

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

In effort to curb summer learning loss, the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools program identifies as a six-week summer literacy program for students in grades K-12. This study explored the impact of the Freedom School program on 128 middle school students’ reading achievement using Johns (2005) Basic Reading Inventory. Findings support the program’s effectiveness in increasing students’ reading outcomes, as demonstrated in the existent literature, but unlike other studies, data provided for both independent and instructional levels across three fluency indicators. In recognition of heightened state of summer learning loss for students with lack of access to quality enrichment summer …

Home Economics And Food Literacy: An Investigation Into The Factors Influencing The Effective Delivery Of Food Literacy Curricula In Irish Post Primary Schools As Perceived By Key Stakeholders, Aisling Geraghty

Dissertations

In 2018 the new Junior Cycle specification for home economics was introduced. This year also saw the recommendation by the Irish State to make home economics compulsory for all Junior Cycle students. Home economics is a multifaceted, inter disciplinary subject that seeks to empower students with the skills to cultivate reflective, critical decision-making abilities they require to deal with practical perennial problems. Food literacy exists as a key contextual strand to home economics, and to this new Junior Cycle curriculum in particular. This study seeks to identify influences, both positive and negative, that impact on the effective delivery of food …

2022 Viewbook, Office Of Admissions

Viewbook

EXPLORA, APRENDE Y IMPACTA AL MUNDO. IMSA fomenta a los descubridores. Los pensadores. Los solucionadores de problemas del futuro quien puede cambiar el mundo. Nuestra misión es encender y nutrir mentes creativas, éticas y científicas que promueven la condición humana. Somos una comunidad diversa que promueve la curiosidad y la exploración. Estamos a punto más que excelentes perspectivas universitarias y excelentes trabajos, estamos a punto de hacer nuestras familias orgullosas. Se trata de un mundo mejor para todos a través de la inmersión experiencias de aprendizaje.

Student Voice: From Token Participation To Engaged Partnership, Lisa A. Dunn

Theses and Dissertations

The education system is under increased scrutiny, imposed accountability, and transparency while school leaders are expected to seek input from a range of external stakeholders including parents, community officials, organizations, politicians, and businesses to improve schools and increase student achievement (Fullan, 2000). Unfortunately, there is a wealth of untapped insight from key stakeholders and educational beneficiaries, students, who are excluded from sharing their perspectives and ideas in determining school policy and practice (Zion, 2009). Due to their positional lens and unique perspective, designating students as authentic stakeholders so that they have space to participate in the democratic decision-making of educational …

A Quantitative Perspective On The Impact Of The General Education Students’ Academic Achievement And Membership In An Inclusion Class At The High School Level Using New York State Regents Exam Scores, Michelle Kwon-Pineda

Theses and Dissertations

With the increased diversity in our world, the needs of our students are also just as diverse. “Currently, more than half of the K-12 students with special needs are being placed in general education classrooms, demonstrating that the inclusion movement is alive and well in our nation’s public schools” (U.S. Dept. of Ed. 2010). There is a lack of focus on the general education students who also participate in these inclusive settings.

The purpose of this study is to investigate to what extent a high school general education student’s participation in an inclusion class impacts their educational needs using the …

Examining The Learning Communities Of Two High Schools In An Urban School District, Matel Hanna Hassan, Ed.D.

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to examine the impact of teacher collaboration in an early college high school (ECHS) and a traditional high school as it relates to student

achievement among high school students and on other factors that distinguish an ECHS

from a traditional high school. The ECHS refers to a specific high school model created

to serve traditionally underrepresented students in higher education. Students enroll in

dual credit courses, most often beginning sophomore year. A traditional high school

setting refers to courses that offer students the high school credits and prepare them for

the basic state …

Employer Perspective On Augmenting Work Experiences For Individuals With Disabilities, Liza A. Laurino-Siegel

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate employer perspective on augmenting work experiences for individuals with disabilities in the workplace through a qualitative case study approach. This study utilized two specific workplaces that are structured, have core values, are mission-driven and support individuals with differing abilities. The goal was to develop an understanding on how these workplaces continue to help individuals gain meaningful employment while supporting their differences and unique learning approaches in the workplace. Data collection included employer interviews, employee insight, an employer focus group, observations of employees at the work sites, artifacts, photos and the researcher’s journals. …

Parental Involvement To Support School Choice For Children Transitioning From Middle School To High School And Beyond, Jacqueline W. Boswell

Theses and Dissertations

It is a belief that when parents participate in the transition process of school choice for their children’s secondary schooling, parental involvement increases the likelihood of their youngsters graduating from high school, having opportunities for selecting the best colleges, and a trajectory for greater success in the career opportunities of their children. This study examined transition-focused parents to understand what factors affect their satisfaction with the college and career transitions in grades 9 through 12.

The 66,202 parent participants in this study were from the northeast region of the United States. The children are enrolled in public schools, and they …

Olivia Solomon's Portfolio, Olivia Solomon

Honors College Portfolios

This portfolio is a collection of my favorite works (thus far) throughout my time at Duquesne University’s School of Education. Included are papers and reports centered on education theory, reform, and psychology, as well as detailed lesson plans and projects that can be utilized and/or built upon for classroom use. Each lesson plan is focused around Common Core, Pennsylvania Department of Education, and/or National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards of education, combined with enriching activities and technologies that aid in creating successful learners in the mathematics classroom. This portfolio also shows my overall growth in learning about my field, …

School Climate For Lgbtq Youth: Principals’ Perceptions And Experiences, Jessica L. George

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study explored the practices that can mitigate a hostile school climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth and the barriers that negatively affect implementation of those practices. LGBTQ youth are at higher risk for bullying, harassment, and other characteristics of a harsh learning environment, which can result in negative outcomes, both short- and long-term. Principals of West Virginia public high schools were surveyed to collect data on the frequency at which LGBTQ-supportive practices are implemented in their schools and the barriers, if any, they faced. A total of n = 29 (x̄ = 27.6%) participants completed …

Ethnography: Building A Thriving Classroom Community In The Face Of A Pandemic, Joshua Timothy Jackson

Claremont Graduate University School of Education Teacher Education

A dive into the ride of a first-year teacher, which was also taught an entire year virtually. An extremely intensive look into the skills needed to grow as a secondary school teacher, in a situation that has never been experienced before. This paper also explores the foundations and scaffolds a teacher needs in order to become both a critical and socially just educator for all students within their classroom. The aspect of community is felt heavily throughout this journey, and the idea that communities are the very keystone of every single classroom; student-to-teacher community, student-to-student community, and classroom-to-household community are …