Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring The Experiences And Effectiveness Of Student Loan Entrance Counseling, Manoj Thekkadathu Oommen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Student loan debt is one of the most pressing issues in the United States today. The rate of student loan debt in the United States continues to rise year after year, and the country is experiencing a crisis of increased student loan debt. A program that started with a budget of $15 million in 1965 to expand access to higher education has increased exponentially to over $1.5 trillion in student loan debt today. Students are ushered into the college experience often without possessing a firm grasp of basic financial literacy skills. Federal legislation mandates borrowers to take a 30-minute counseling …

Teacher Expectations, Self-Efficacy, And Collective Efficacy In Three Tennessee Literacy Networks, Amanda Tinker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if there was a significant difference in the dependent variables- teacher expectations, self-efficacy, and collective efficacy among the three levels of the independent variable- membership in one three literacy networks in Tennessee- Leading Innovation for Tennessee (LIFT), Read to Be Ready Coaching Network (RTBR), and Tennessee Early Literacy Network (TELN)- and if significant correlations existed between the dependent variables for each network. The population consisted of 161 K-3 Tennessee teachers who had been involved in the work of one of the three networks. Participants responded to an online survey via Google …

Ireach Blended Learning Model And Reading Lexile Growth Of Freshmen In Maryville City Schools, Whitney Ann Schmidt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Maryville City School system has implemented the first year of the iReach blended learning model for which all students in the school district have access to either a laptop or an iPad to support their learning every day. The availability of research on the impact of iReach is limited because the blended learning instructional model is relatively new and has not yet been subjected to numerous research studies. The purpose of this ex post facto quasi-experimental quantitative study was to compare student reading Lexile growth data collected through the use of the Reading Comprehension Assessment before and after iReach …

An Investigation Of Reading Instruction In Northeast Tennessee., Karen Pierson Reach

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine specific prekindergarten- through 8th-grade reading programs, instructional best practices, academic interventions, and educational activities that are perceived as successful practices in four high achieving schools within the parameters of Northeast Tennessee. This study was accomplished through a protocol of open-ended interviews with 15 participants comprised of 4 school principals, 4 primary reading teachers, 4 intermediate reading teachers, 2 Title I reading specialists, and 1 district language arts coordinator. Additionally, school-specific documentation and basal reading programs were reviewed to triangulate the findings of this investigation.

The findings from this study suggested that …

Response To Intervention: Raising The Achievement Of Struggling Readers, Sarah Ellen Littmann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Two purposes guided this concurrent nested mixed methods research. It examined and described the processes followed and experiences had by the administrators, teachers, and specialists involved in designing and implementing a new Response to Intervention (RtI) model at an elementary and examined the effectiveness of the RtI model on raising achievement scores in reading after its first year of implementation.

Qualitative findings revealed two challenges encountered by district level personnel. First, administrators felt pressured to put RtI into effect quickly due to the needs of students in the district and new educational policies mandating immediate changes to long-standing practices. Second, …