Digital Commons Network^™

Eliminating Barriers For English Language Learners In Gifted And Talented Programs In The U.S., Melissa Dabbs

Graduate Teacher Education

This paper investigated the underrepresentation of English Language Learners (ELLs) in Gifted and Talented (GT) Programs in K-5 settings across U.S. states. Nationally, only 1.5% of ELLs are enrolled in GT programs, with several states below that average (OELA, 2021). Schools often rely on achievement tests as a basis for recommending students for GT programs, usually during 2^nd grade (Coronado & Lewis, 2017). However, several factors, including the fairness of evaluation tools used, may preclude or exclude a student from being considered for GT programs. Other factors include what definitions and guidelines were used to determine giftedness, specifically …

The Anxious Now And The Next Big Thing: Editorial, Manisha Sharma

Journal of Social Theory in Art Education

No abstract provided.

A Critical Discourse On Asian American Stereotypes And Pedagogical Strategies Against Anti-Asian Racism, Ryan Shin, Maria Lim, Oksun Lee, Ahran Koo, Kevin Hsieh, Min Gu, Jaehan Bae

Journal of Social Theory in Art Education

In this article, we address the three derogatory stereotypes and tropes of anti-Asian racism: model minority, perpetual foreigner, and yellow peril. We problematize how each of the three stereotypes was formed and has been sustained, affecting our art classroom and professional practices. After that, we offer the novel and futuristic conception of Asian American inclusivity as a critical project in our society. Lastly, in challenging the three Asian stereotypes and embracing Asian American inclusivity, we offer S-R-C teaching strategies (Sense of Belonging, Resist, and Coalition Building) to confront anti-Asian racism and violence. The strategies are designed to help art educators …

Digital Place-Futures Outside A Colonial Metaversal Imaginary: Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley’S We Are Here Because Of Those That Are Not As Critical Digital Place-Craft, Luke A. Meeken

Journal of Social Theory in Art Education

In this piece, the author analyzes a recorded digital walk through Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley’s WE ARE HERE BECAUSE OF THOSE THAT ARE NOT, a digital archival place designed to contain, protect, and share the experiences of Black trans people. The author’s encounter with Brathwaite-Shirley’s work is contextualized and analyzed through critical and decolonial place lenses and digital materialist lenses. Particular attention is paid to the ways physical and digital places crafted in colonial contexts bodily habituate settler-colonial sensibilities. The author examines how the critical digital placemaking strategies practiced by Brathwaite-Shirley informed teacher and student place-craft within the context of a …

Spatial Mapping With Polaroid Post-Its, Angela C. Dittmar, Katie Claiborne

Arts-Based Collaborative instructional materials

No abstract provided.

Writing As (Self) Service And Witness: Exploring The Experience Of A Teacher Educator Writing Group, Sarah Donovan, Amy Vetter, Eileen Shanahan Phd

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Writing groups in teacher education typically focus on providing faculty, usually junior faculty, with a supportive environment to share their work and to help one another create publishable manuscripts and/or improve teaching practices. Writing groups, however, are also about engaging in the act of writing in both personal and professional ways alongside others. In this collaborative autoethnography, we explored how we, three ELA teacher educators, made sense of ourselves the world around us through a writing group focused on writing as self-service and witness. We portray this exploration in the form of a collage that pieces together our writing, transcripts …

Bridging Cultural Identities: Empowering El Students Through Acculturation, Sarah D.T. Corder

Masters Projects

English learners (ELs) are more likely to develop positive social and psychological outcomes when they acculturate to American society, which is to develop cultural competency while maintaining their home language, customs, and traditions (Berry et al., 2006). Yet, multiple factors in our current society cause ELs to lose connection to their heritage culture by assimilating to American society (Chen, 2018). This project first explores the factors that contribute to assimilation behaviors among elementary-age ELs and limit the positive social, emotional, and academic effects of acculturation. Using Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory as a framework, it then examines culturally responsive pedagogy as a …

Elementary Principals’ Instructional Support To Teach Science, Alfred Lewis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Principals serve as the instructional leader of their schools and teaching staff, a critical role in leading science achievement. In a racially diverse K-8 public school district in New Jersey, elementary principals are challenged to provide instructional support to teachers who are struggling to teach science to elementary students performing below proficiency on the state’s standardized assessment for science. The research questions focused on principals’ perceived challenges to support elementary science teachers, as well as recommendations for improved training and resources to support teachers. A basic qualitative study consisted of semistructured interviews with 12 elementary principals and assistant principals. The …

Decolonizing Queer Epistemology: Boys Love And Cultural Imaginary From The Global Majority, Roland Sintos Coloma

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

This article aims to decolonize queer epistemology in order to challenge the hegemony of white/eurocentric LGBTQ histories, cultures, and representations as the universal and normalized standard of queer and trans life and sociality. Toward this objective, it analyzes whitestream queer epistemology, and notes its limits that do not account for its inclusions and exclusions, especially in relation to race, geography, and methodological (homo)nationalism. It draws attention to the works of queer and trans theorists, researchers, and educators from the global majority, especially the growing scholarship on LGBTQ education outside of the United States, to point out a significant gap in …

The Impacts Of Authentic Learning On Student Outcomes, Evan Sheppard, Cameron Conner

Dissertations

This dissertation explores the evolving American education system, emphasizing the role of authentic learning in bridging the gap between schooling and employment, especially in the context of the modern post-pandemic student. Authentic learning, characterized by hands-on activities and real-world applications, is posited as a solution to the skilled labor shortage impacting the economy. This study delves into the history and current practices of authentic learning, examining various programs and strategies implemented in educational settings. Utilizing a phenomenological approach, qualitative data was collected through interviews with recent high school graduates to assess the impact of authentic learning on their post-secondary trajectories. …

Self-Directed Learning In A Qualitative Research Methods Course For Doctoral Students, Amy L. Damrow, Krittika Grau, Brandon Pettry, Karen Plaster, Adepeju Prince

The Qualitative Report

This paper describes (1) the reasoning behind a self-directed learning assignment in an advanced qualitative research methods course, and (2) doctoral students’ experiences with that assignment. Drawing on instructor and student perspectives, a professor and four doctoral students collaborated to reflect and report on the process and product of one assignment within a course. The doctoral students approached the assignment in unique ways: delving into one specific research methodology, comparing multiple research designs, and exploring current uses of qualitative research at a research conference. The piece contributes to the body of literature about students’ and instructors’ experiences in graduate qualitative …

An External Perspective On The Uem, Catherine Cronin

Group Reports

This report provides feedback on TU Dublin’s University Education Model (UEM) from an external perspective. The report details engagement with the UEM team over several months during the academic year 2023-24 and provides feedback on the model, including recommendations for dealing with potential obstacles to progress and implementation.

A Proposed Future Vision For Preparing Geography Teachers In Light Of The Experiences Of Award-Winning Outstanding Teachers In Jordan, Jalal Al-Khasawneh, Hadi Tawalbeh

Jordan Journal of Applied Science-Humanities Series

This study aimed to assess the extent to which the future vision for preparing geography teachers has been realized, based on the experiences of teachers who won the Distinguished Teacher Award in Jordan. It also sought to explore how creativity and inspiration among geography teachers are fostered, as well as to understand the future vision for geography teacher preparation and the significance of the Distinguished Teacher Award in this context. To achieve these objectives, a qualitative research approach was employed. The researchers developed interview questions based on the participants' responses, reflecting the impact of the practices of award-winning geography teachers …

The Effect Of Using Nearpod On The Science Achievement Of Eighth Grade Students And Their Motivation Towards Learning, Jehad Al-Momani, Mo’En Al-Nasraween, Mohammad Maabreh

Jordan Journal of Applied Science-Humanities Series

This quasi-experimental study aimed to reveal the effect of using the Nearpod application on the science achievement and motivation toward learning science of eighth-grade students in the United Arab Emirates. The study participants consisted of 44 eighth-grade students at Al Dhafra School in Zayed City, affiliated with the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. They were divided into two groups randomly selected from the three eighth-grade classes; one was randomly assigned as an experimental group, consisting of 23 students, and the other as a control group, consisting of 21 students. To achieve the study's aim, a science …

Compassionate Care In Elementary General Music Teaching And Learning As A Way To Respond To The World: A Narrative Inquiry, Julia K. Church Hoffman

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

In this narrative inquiry, where stories were the data, three experienced music teachers from one public school district in the southwestern United States shared stories about their experiences as elementary general music teachers. The stories were told through the lens of compassionate care, a perspective that implies a shared experience between teacher and learners (Hendricks, 2018, 2023). The stories, and my interpretation of them, revealed an understanding of elementary general music, a multimodal, fun, school subject, as a vehicle for teaching children how to be kind and respectful humans. Threads that emerged from the stories linked connections between compassionate care, …

The Role Of Language In Identity And Mediating Connection For Fijian College Students, Grace Taito Tora

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the role of language in constructing identity and promoting belonging for seventeen Fijian college students at one U.S. based university in the Pacific Rim. Focus group interviews were analyzed for how students described the role that language played in constructing student identity and mediating connection. Analysis was grounded in post-structural perspectives of identity alongside vā – the Oceanic notion that encompasses identity and belonging. Students described themes of native language proficiency in reinforcing kinship relationships and in participating in cultural traditions and practices. They also expressed other ways of maintaining vā without proficiency in their native languages. …

Career Preferences Of Business Students: Traditional Career Path Or Entrepreneurship And Self-Employment?, David W. Whitlock, Ashley J. Hampton, Shanker Menon

Journal of Business & Entrepreneurship

Factors influencing career preferences of business students are explored. This study builds upon an original research project conducted in 1995, which focused on comparing pursuits of entrepreneurship versus more traditional business employment as career paths for business students. In the present study, 40 students enrolled in the senior-level capstone business course and 26 students enrolled in the freshman-level introductory business course in an AACSB accredited business school were administered surveys to determine career preferences and the factors influencing those preferences. The results of the introductory-level course are compared to those of students in the senior-level capstone business course and reported. …

“Who All Gon Be There?”: On Blackness, Transness, And K-12 Pedagogies For [Black] Trans Futures, Shea W. Martin

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

Grounded in trans-of-color critique and Black trans studies, this theoretical meditation reckons with the impossibility of Black trans safety, recognition, and futurity within our U.S. K-12 educational landscape. Situated in a “post-Transgender Tipping Point” sociopolitical landscape, I explore how these limitations contribute to Black trans youth’s disparate experiences in today’s schools, particularly with attention to the [in]effectiveness of existing queer and trans pedagogies. In an attempt to locate what is deemed possible for Black trans youth in imagined educational futures, I discuss trends within select K-12 trans pedagogical scholarship through which I explore questions related to authorship, reflexivity, and intersectional …

An Evaluation Study Of The Questions Of The Palestinian General Secondary School Certificate Exams In The Subject Of Islamic Education For The Years (2007-2020) In The Light Of The Cognitive Levels Of The Bloom Pyramid, Majdi Joyousi, Afif Zeidan, Hisham Shanaa

Journal of the Arab American University مجلة الجامعة العربية الامريكية للبحوث

The current study aimed at analyzing and evaluating the questions of the Palestinian General Secondary School Certificate in the subject of Islamic education and indicating the degree of their representation of Bloom's levels of knowledge, and identifying the percentages obtained by each of the levels. Six levels (knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation). The results of the study showed that the total number of high school exams questions for the year (2007-2020) is (466). Where the first level constituted comprehension and comprehension, which amounted to (37.1%), and the level of knowledge constituted a percentage of (36.7%) and the percentage …

Marketing In Higher Education: The Effects On The College Choice Experience Of First-Generation Latinx Students, David Cortez

Dissertations and Theses

The Latinx population in the United States has drastically increased over the last twenty years. During the same period, the number of first-generation Latinx students enrolling in higher education post-recession has also increased by as much as 1.5 million students. The expansion of the Latinx student population in Oregon has mirrored the national trend by exponentially increasing over the last 10 years. As the population of first-generation Latinx students grows, it becomes essential to explore the issues and barriers Latinx students face in making their college choices. Previous researchers have found that selecting the right institution is important to increase …

Summer 2024, Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois

Augustana Magazine

No abstract provided.

The Choice Of Pre-K: An Examination Into Black Caregivers’ Early Childhood Care Decisions And How Early Childhood Care Predicts Black Children’S Educational Outcomes, Anna Grace Rollins

Dissertations

Despite the national push for increased Pre-K enrollment, findings on the effects of attending Pre-K are contradictory and inconsistent. Due to conflicting research and viewpoints on traditional education outcomes, many families are choosing not to send their children to Pre-K. This study focused on the often overlooked thoughts and experiences of Black parents and guardians when making decisions about early childhood education for their children, as well as the academic and behavioral effects of attending Pre-K for Black children in subsequent years. Through surveys and interviews, this study explored factors that influence Black parents’ decisions about enrolling their children in …

Being And Becoming Global Citizens: Measuring Progress Toward Sdg 4.7. Monitoring Teacher And School Readiness To Enact Global Citizenship In The Asia-Pacific Region. Phase Ii Report, Lao Pdr, Rachel Parker, Payal Goundar, Karena Menzie-Ballantyne

Global education monitoring

This report presents the Phase II findings of a collaborative study by APCEIU and ACER which aims to expand efforts to monitor Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.7 by addressing critical evidence gaps regarding country participation and educational settings. Phase I of this study included three countries in the Asia-Pacific region (Australia, Philippines and South Korea) and targeted primary school settings. Phase I answered research questions about the enabling conditions that support effective global citizenship education (GCED); how these conditions can inform instrument development to measure system, school, and teacher readiness to implement GCED; and recommendations for Phase II. Phase II …

Virginia History Standards And Inclusivity, Laura Byers

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Diversity in the Commonwealth of Virginia is increasing rapidly and there is some concern among citizens that the Social Studies Standards of Learning are not accurately representative of the student population. The purpose of this study was to analyze and assess the current Standards of Learning for diversity and inclusion. The research study was a content analysis of the 2023 Social Studies Standards of Learning. It was found that the standards do not currently reflect the diversity of the student population. The results of this research study highlights gaps in diversity and inclusion of racial/ethnic groups and genders in Standards …

Music Education In The Urban Classroom: Issues Of Equity And Access, Lakeisha Walker

Theses

Music education in urban classrooms plays a crucial role in shaping students' overall development and academic success. The field of music education is not immune to the challenges of equity and access that exist in urban settings. It is essential to address these issues to ensure that all students have equal opportunities to participate in music programs and reap the countless benefits that come with them.

The importance of this topic in the field of music education cannot be overstated. Research has shown that students who participate in music programs demonstrate improved academic performance, enhanced cognitive skills, and increased creativity. …

Experiential Leadership Learning: Narratives Of A Multiple Case Study Of Mexican School Leaders Appointed To Indigenous Schools, Manuel Lopez-Delgado, Argelia Estrada-Loya

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

Training and preparation of school leaders have an impact on the quality of leadership displayed in their readiness for the leadership practice. However, in Mexico the training and preparation processes for school leaders are unclear and lack uniformity. The way of access to headship has promoted that school leaders learn to lead in their role without previous preparation for the position. This paper presents the findings of a study conducted through narratives that analyzed the leadership learning processes of novice and experienced school leaders. The study identified important learning experiences as the receptive observation, malleable observation, practical experiences of leadership, …

Pen Pal Programs As An Effective Tool For Elementary Writing And Intercultural Learning, Michelle Babb

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research has demonstrated how writing can be a challenge for young students. Motivation, authentic use, and low stakes environments are beneficial methods to build student writing confidence. Pen pal programs are an effective way to provide those benefits to student writing. These programs can also assist in students’ ability to build intercultural connections, which holds important skills in the modern world. However, research on pen pal programs is limited, and teachers often lack the time and resources to begin such a program for their students. The project involved creating a website resource for teachers who are interested in developing pen …

Climate Change Education For Student Agency, Katie Kirschbaum

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

While there is no single solution to climate change, climate change education has been identified as a key component. This capstone paper and the unit plan developed for this capstone project seek to answer the research question: How can a biology curriculum that incorporates climate change science, impacts, and solutions foster a global citizenship mindset and pro-environmental behaviors in high school students? The literature review covers dimensions of global citizenship, defines climate change education, identifies what influences pro-environmental behavior, and discusses adolescent development as it relates to pro-environmental behavior. The resulting ten-lesson unit plan is designed for high school teachers …

Using Geography To Spark Curiosity In Students, Stephen Schmitz

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This capstone project explores geography and student curiosity, designed to answer the research question: How can teachers use geography to spark curiosity in their students? Geography has been an often overlooked and diminished subject, yet it has great potential to engage students. As student apathy and disengagement continue to be an issue within the contemporary school system, this capstone advocates for using geography as a way to spark interest in the subject, and learning altogether. The research undertaken in this capstone has yielded a unit curriculum designed for fifth grade students that weaves important geographic concepts with strategies to spark …

Putting Creative Thinking At The Core Of The English School Curriculum: An Exploratory Study, Sladana Krstic

Assessment and Reporting

Across much of the world, in more than 20 educational jurisdictions, the ability to think creatively is seen as a core aspect of what it is to be a successful learner today and, consequently, it has been included within various national curricula (Taylor et al., 2020). In England this is not yet the case, despite strong arguments being made for creative thinking being a core part of the curriculum in the Durham Commission on Creativity and Education (2019). In 2023 Rethinking Assessment and ACER UK conducted an exploratory study to examine the feasibility of integrating creative thinking into five subjects …