Secondary Education Commons^™

Courageous And Coherent Leadership Required For Excellent And Equitable Outcomes, Linda Bendikson

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

The paper illustrates the complexity of leadership work, using data on the varying perspectives of middle and senior leaders about their own goals; the seriousness of the problems that they face in reaching those goals; and the perceived effectiveness of the senior leadership team. The findings from these studies indicate that the basic leadership skills of problem analysis, focused goalsetting and close monitoring of progress towards goals are lacking in many leadership teams in secondary schools. These findings highlight the importance of a team of middle and senior leaders being aligned in their goal pursuit, being active problem-solvers and being …

Designing An Authentic Behavioral Research Experience In The Classroom Using Siamese Fighting Fish, Betta Splendens, Gianne Souza, Ronald M. Coleman

STAR Program Research Presentations

Recently there have been major shifts in biology education towards emphasizing the teaching of the scientific process to more closely reflect actual scientific practices. Authentic research experiences require the development of many higher order cognitive skills. Creating an authentic research experience that appropriately scaffolds the development of these complex skills while engaging individual student motivation remains challenging in classroom settings. Some common challenges include limited time available for working with large numbers of students, cramped working areas, and limited funding and materials resources. Using the Siamese Fighting Fish, Betta splendens, we have created an economically viable authentic animal behavioral …

Teacher Retention In Zimbabwe: Love For Teaching Or Incentives?, Clifford Gomba

Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative interpretive study investigated the lived experiences of qualified teachers who have remained in teaching for more than 10 years in Zimbabwean rural secondary schools. In understanding how teachers make meaning of their remaining in teaching, the focus is also on the role and place of teachers in society. The experiences were investigated using a dialoguing unhu theoretical framework based on the writing of Lortie (1975) and unhu philosophy. Teacher participants were drawn from three rural secondary schools in Chirumhanzu district in the Midlands province of Zimbabwe. In addition, two teachers who left teaching in Zimbabwe and are resident …

Knowledge And Practices Of Faculty At Nasm Accredited Institutions In The Southeast Region Regarding Standards-Based Instruction, Jonathan Leon Nelson

Dissertations

In 1993, Congress passed the mandate Goals 2000: Educate America Act, which established standards for K-12 education that outlined the core benchmarks of student achievement for individuals who have mastered the core curricula required to earn a high school diploma (Mark, 1995). Unfortunately, these curricular requirements did not include any criteria for music education, nor did they consider the curricular implications for higher education in providing NSME Standards based training for music educators.

The aim of this study was to determine if and to what extent music education faculty engage in NSME Standards-based instruction within the higher education classroom. Questionnaires …

Modeling Inquiry-Oriented Instruction Of Beginning Secondary Science Teachers, Lyrica Lucas, Elizabeth B. Lewis

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

New national science education standards, the Next Generation Science Standards, in the United States (US) promote inquiry-based instruction through an integrated emphasis on scientific practices and disciplinary content. Thus, it is important for beginning science teachers to reach proficient implementation of reformed teaching practices by the end of their induction phase in order to become effective science teachers. Yet, extant science education research studies on development of beginning teachers’ classroom practices is rare. In this study, we collected data from a longitudinal study of science teachers from two teacher preparation programs - a bachelor’s program with teacher candidates who had …

Literature Review Of Project Based Learning, Katelyn Kwietniewski

Career & Technical Education Theses

The information gathered leads to an improved definition of project based learning. For students to gain a greater understanding of classroom content they need to experience a hands-on environment that allows for a challenge and problem solving opportunities. It is recommended that a project based learning environment be used in Business and Marketing Education. Students are given opportunities to apply information learned in the classroom to real world situations and make deeper connections with the material. This real-world application will allow students to strengthen their skill sets and further prepare them for their lives after school. They have learned how …

You Are Now Entering The School Zone, Proceed With Caution: Educators, Arbitration, & Children’S Rights, Raquel Muniz

Arbitration Law Review (2009 - Present)

No abstract provided.

Teacher Passion As A Teaching Tool, Brent L. Palmer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to understand how passion is used by participating teachers at Hugo High School and if its use is intentional in the classroom. A qualitative research design was used for this study. The case study was determined to be the most appropriate method for this research because it provided an opportunity to get a deeper understanding of the research topic. This study used Fried’s definition of passion as one who is “in love with a field of knowledge, deeply stirred by issues and ideas that challenge our world, drawn to the dilemmas and …

A Comparison Of Complex Thinking Required By The Middle School New Jersey Student Learning Standards And Past New Jersey Curriculum Standards, Clifford R. Burns

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Learning standards define what knowledge and skills students need to master in order to be prepared for college and careers. The acquisition of knowledge and skills is essential for the 21st century learner as students are required to think, problem solve, create, and communicate for future employers. The best 21st century learning standards are those that provide the opportunity to develop complex thinking skills including creativity, strategic thinking, and critical thinking. This dissertation sought to examine the cognitive complexity of the newly adopted New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS) in Grades 6–8 mathematics as compared to the cognitive complexity of …

Social Media In A High School English Class: A Collective Case Study, Angela M. Wells

All Theses And Dissertations

This qualitative collective case study sought to describe the perceptions and experiences of an 11th-grade English teacher and her students when incorporating social media into the classroom. The teacher introduced social media into four classrooms, wherein the students answered questions and interacted with each other on a discussion board. The teacher’s fifth classroom remained a traditionally taught class, wherein the teacher lectured about class material. After six weeks of instruction, the researcher interviewed the teacher and provided anonymous surveys to the students to determine their perceptions and experiences when incorporating social media into the classroom. The researcher analyzed and coded …

From Foster Care To College: Student Stories Of Success, Tory Nicole England

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the different factors that empower young adults that were in foster care to be successful in a college environment. It has been documented that foster youth have significant challenges during secondary education (Conger & Rebeck, 2001; Geenen & Powers, 2006). Due to these challenges, foster youth attend and graduate higher education at a lower rate than their peers. The perspectives of foster youth currently enrolled in higher education is critical to determining which factors and programs have helped with their educational success. Five participants completed semi-structured interviews about their secondary education, …

Setting The Standard For Project Based Learning: A Proven Approach To Rigorous Classroom Instruction, Michael Dias, Laurie Brantley-Dias

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

No abstract provided.

A Qualitative Study Of The Positive Transformation Of Public High School Cultures As Perceived By Administrators, Teachers, And Classified Staff Members, Amy L. Besler

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study is to discover the factors which contribute to the positive transformation of a comprehensive public high school’s culture as perceived by the school’s administrators, teachers, and classified staff. An additional purpose of the study is to determine what similarities and differences exist between the perceptions of administrators, teachers, and classified staff.

Methodology: The researcher identified comprehensive public high schools within the state of California where measurable growth in positive perceptions of school culture had been achieved within the preceding two to four years. Of this target population, six schools were identified, through …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Educational Games That Keep Score Of Cooperative Performances, Theodore Alden Wohlfarth

Dissertations

The scoring systems used in traditional sports and games are founded on the zero-sum premise that players are on opposite sides and one side can win only if the other side loses. These scoring systems may be effective at nurturing zero-sum mindsets and providing data for assessing performance in win-lose relationships. If so, games that use different scoring systems can be used to facilitate the development of collaborative mindsets, nurture win-win skills between diverse groups, and enable objective self-assessment of performances in non-zero-sum events when engaging with those on “other sides.” Although economic game theory has rich reservoirs of research …

Aligning The Curriculums For College Success: High School And College Library Collaborations, Carl R. Andrews, Dickens Saint Hilaire

Publications and Research

Many students enter college lacking the necessary research and critical thinking skills needed for academic success. A strong body of literature shows evidence that information literacy instruction at the secondary level enhances college readiness in freshman students. The authors discuss the importance of collaborative curriculum development and the role academic libraries play in supporting college readiness. The research will review and cite successful high school and college partnerships, curriculum development initiatives, secondary information literacy instruction, and teacher professional development. The utilization of select library databases as a tool to promote college readiness is also discussed.

Connecting Individuals With Social Services: The Academic Library's Role, Samantha G. Hines

Collaborative Librarianship

As socioeconomically-disadvantaged people become a core user base for libraries, some libraries have collaborated with non-library workers to connect their user communities with beneficial social services, which ties in with librarianship’s values of promoting social justice and providing for the common good. As public libraries earn attention and kudos for connecting their communities to social services, the question arises as to the role of the academic library in connecting our campus community with resources on services for societal needs. Working with existing campus and community organizations can create many positive networks for our library users, our institutions and our larger …

Numeracy Across The Curriculum In Australian Schools: Teacher Education Students’ And Practicing Teachers’ Views And Understandings Of Numeracy, Helen J. Forgasz, Gilah Leder, Jennifer Hall

Numeracy

In this article, we confront the challenges to teacher education students and practicing teachers raised by the concept of numeracy and its place in the curriculum. In the Australian Curriculum, there is an expectation that teachers at all grade levels and in all subject areas develop students' numeracy capabilities. At Monash University, a public, research-intensive university, the largest university in Australia, graduate level teacher education students are now required to complete a course entitled Numeracy for Learners and Teachers. We describe the content of this course and, from an online survey, report findings of the impact on students' understandings …

The Case For Urgency: Advocating For Indigenous Voice In Education, Kevin P. Gillan, Suzanne Mellor, Jacynta Krakouer

Australian Education Review

In 2004 the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) published an Australian Education Review (AER) on Indigenous Education: The Case for Change: A review of contemporary research on Indigenous education outcomes, AER 47 (Mellor & Corrigan, 2004). In the 13 years since its publication, the state of Indigenous education outcomes has remained substantially unaltered. All the social indicators demonstrate that Australia’s First Nations people continue to be the most socio-economically disadvantaged population cohort in Australian society. This is after decades of continued policy efforts by successive Commonwealth, state and territory governments to ameliorate Indigenous education disadvantage. We still struggle with …

Teach Your Students Well: This Land Is Their Land, Dave Powell

Education Faculty Publications

Most people know Woody Guthrie as the author of the song that's often called our second national anthem, "This Land Is Your Land." Not everyone knows that it's a protest song. In the winter of 1940, Guthrie was hitchhiking his way east to New York City at the invitation of Will Geer, an actor best known later in his life for playing Grandpa Zebulon Tyler Walton on the show "The Waltons." At the time, Geer was a stage actor and political activist who saw something in Woody Guthrie that he wanted to share with the rest of the world. Guthrie, …

Will Teachers Implement Instruction Aligned To The Common Core State Standards?: Utilizing A Predictive Model, Audrey Lynn Harper

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as a predictive model for secondary (i.e., grades six through twelve) teachers’ intent to implement instruction aligned to the Common Core State Standards. Two differing TPB models were investigated utilizing a regression analysis. The first model included TPB elements including attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (i.e., self-efficacy) while the second model included two additional measures including perceived knowledge and accurate knowledge. Because a measure for secondary teachers’ sense of efficacy for literacy instruction did not exist to measure the construct in …