Digital Commons Network^™

Components Of Effective Writing Content Conferences In A Sixth-Grade Classroom, Paul Ricks

Theses and Dissertations

Students are now required to show proficiency in writing through performance on standardized tests. Educators and researchers are looking for ways to improve persuasive and argumentative writing created by students. The writing content conference setting gives educators and students opportunities to discuss student writing in a one-on-one format in which students receive feedback. Ideally, this helps them to create multiple drafts of writing that improve with each revision. Many practitioner guides have been created that offer suggestions as to how conferences can be conducted and what types of interactions can theoretically occur. Few, however, have examined what actually happens during …

At The Core Of School Reform: A Culture Of Commitment, Collaboration, And Collective Leadership, Lari Ann Nelson

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Public education in America today is a product of more than a century of reform. Innovators of each era have attempted to transform the education system to match their ideals and beliefs. Educational reform efforts to improve learning for all students have been an issue of debate since the founding of America – seeking for equality and quality of education. The most recent educational initiative an emphasis on accountability via high-stakes tests, many schools are now branded as “failing” and requiring program improvement. As such, leaders search for reform models that will save their school from further sanctions.

Of the …

"We Can't Reclaim What We Don't Understand": Teachers' Perceptions Of Advocacy And Voice In A Rural Institute Of The National Writing Project, James Anthony Anderson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines teachers' perceptions of advocacy and voice in a summer institute of the National Writing Project. The Rural Advocacy Institute, a first-time initiative through the Northwest Arkansas Writing Project, offered three weeks of professional development centered on rural education and teaching English language arts in rural public schools. The study is a grounded theory study; grounded theory forces the researcher to stay "close to the data," compare data sets, and use reflective writing to identify conceptual categories in the data. Data collection in the study included semi-structured interviews with six K-12 teachers participating in the Institute and twenty-seven …

Relationships Between Participation In Extracurricular Activities, Act Scores, Gpa, And Attendance In Select Public High Schools In Mississippi, Lance Kelvin Reed

Dissertations

There are contemporary concerns about improving and sustaining positive student outcomes in secondary schools today. In light of student needs and limited time and resources available to address those needs, educational leaders are faced with making difficult decisions about what should and could be offered to students through their schools. In addition to the general curriculum, schools generally offer a variety of extracurricular activities. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between extracurricular participation and select student outcomes. The findings of this study can provide valuable insight to school leaders as they make decisions about how to …

The Effect Of A Summer Oral Language And Literacy Intervention On The Literacy Acquisition Of At-Risk First Grade Emergent Readers, Mary Beth Stevens

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

The persistent achievement gap between children from low-socioeconomic and mid- to upper-socioeconomic homes is evident in both national and statewide literacy assessments. Although the summer months away from school are part of the problem, they also hold the potential for an effective solution. Interventions that accelerate literacy development during summer vacation, particularly for children of low-socioeconomic status, have the potential to shift the educational trajectory of our most at-risk students. We investigated the effect of a four-week summer oral language and literacy intervention on the literacy development of rising first grade students from at-risk elementary schools in Jefferson County Public …

An Overview Of U.S. Bilingual Education: Historical Roots, Legal Battles, And Recent Trends, Eric Ruiz Bybee, Kathryn I. Henderson, Roel V. Hinojosa

Faculty Publications

This article provides a broad review of the development of bilingual education programs in the United States. We start by providing a brief background and then describe the historical trends, policies, and legal decisions that laid the framework for the implementation of formal bilingual education in our public schools. Lastly, this review highlights recent developments that have complicated traditional views of bilingual education in policy and practice

Culturally Competent Common Core Practices: A Delphi Study, Katherine Sprott

Journal of Research Initiatives

Research has shown that standards and benchmarks lack guidance for diverse learners with regard to the lesson planning and practice. The Common Core Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics, a national state-led crusade, seeks to safeguard rigorous grade level content to prepare all students for college and career readiness. This study identifies five Culturally Competent Common Core Practices that can provide anchors for informing the instructional process in culturally contextualized ways. The Delphi study shows that the educator’s self-awareness fosters the level of cognitive consciousness that facilitates effect interaction with diverse populations.

Learning To Develop A Culturally Relevant Approach To 21st Century Writing Instruction, Detra Price-Dennis, Molly Trinh Wiebe, Michelle Fowler-Amato

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

In a position statement, Beliefs about the Teaching of Writing (2004), NCTE outlines eleven broad principles to serve as a guide for teaching language arts. Among the key ideas in this document is the call for language arts teacher educators to consider how literacy courses can create opportunities for pre-service teachers to account for the multifaceted and multimodal world of literacy with students in K-12 settings. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to learn from the experience of one pre-service teacher during his language arts methods course. Drawing on a subset of data from two, our research team …

2014 Cehs Student Research Conference- Abstracts

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

No abstract provided.

The Identification Of Variables And Factors Related To Preservice Teacher Candidates’ Passing A State Teacher Certification Examination At An Hbcu, Melanie Frizzell, Noran L. Moffett

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

This study sought to examine the outcome of teacher education candidates’ performance on a state content exam. Seventeen participants from the class of 2012 were identified for the study of which 12 participants fully participated in the study. This study utilized data collected from the participants through the Teacher Quality Enhancement Subcontract Grant Summer/Fall/Spring 2011-2012 Workshop Series held at the private HBCU. The research design used a QUAN- QUAL-QUAN to triangulate the data through three methods of data collection: GACE early childhood education (ECE) data, GACE ECE survey questionnaire and class of 2012 member interviews. The findings from the survey …

Today's Dream Keepers: Exploring The Personal And Professional Beliefs Of Teachers Who Successfully Provide Literacy Instruction To African American Males In Grades 3-5, Lateshia Warren

Georgia Educational Research Association Conference

The purpose of this study was to describe the personal and professional beliefs of teachers who were successful with providing literacy instruction to elementary school African American males in a Title I elementary school. This study examined the literacy practices of teachers and their beliefs about African American males. It also investigated their use of culturally relevant teaching practices. It was hypothesized that by exploring the beliefs and practices of successful teachers with African American males, this research could provide evidence of effective strategies, which could be used to impact the literacy achievement of African American males. A qualitative case …

Using Literature For Project Based Learning, Jacquelyn Urbani

Collected Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Beyond Library Resources: How To Implement Integrated Learning Across The Curriculum With Information Literacy Components Using Hybrid Delivery, Bernadette Maria Lopez-Fitzsimmons

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

As an academic librarian at Manhattan College, Riverdale, New York, I collaborate with teaching faculty and academic support centers on campus to provide holistic support to students. In the last year a cross collegial group including teaching faculty, library faculty and Instructional Designers has been created to explore ways in which to provide a “flexible structure” in curriculum across disciplines (e.g., Arts, Science, Engineering, Education, Information Literacy, etc.). Two instructional designers and a faculty member from the English Department lead the monthly in person workshops. After each workshop, scholarly and professional articles are posted in Moodle for all participants to …

Challenging, Eye-Opening, And Changing U.S. Teacher Training In Korea: Creating Experiences That Will Enhance Global Perspectives, Kevin Oh, Natalie Nussli

School of Education Faculty Research

This case study explored the short-term international experience of preservice teachers to create and enhance global perspectives. These teachers (n=5), all female graduate students at a university in the U.S., were fully immersed in a foreign culture for three weeks while teaching English to primary and secondary students in Korea. Pre-, during-, and post-data were collected to investigate how the participants work and live while being completely immersed in a new culture. Eight themes emerged from the analysis of multiple qualitative instruments: (a) language barrier, (b) being the minority, (c) cultural differences and cultural shock, (d) student participation and teaching …

A Sociosemantic Examination Of Secondary English Teacher Written Feedback, Ryan Angus

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide a functional linguistic based description of teacher writing comments in secondary ELA classrooms. Based within a case study methodology, this study used analytical tools from Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) in order to discover the various meanings that teachers make through their commenting practices. The findings of the study show that teacher comments focus on the content of the student writing, but also, significantly, help teachers to discursively realize various teacher identities. It was also found that teacher comments tended to either be concrete in their reference to …

Exploring Literacy And Technology With Middle School English Teachers: Articulating Understandings Of Knowledge And Teaching Practices, Benjamin A. Boche

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate five middle school English teachers' understandings of literacy and technology. In particular, how do they define literacy, view literacy and technology learning and teaching, and how do they use (or not use) technology to enact their views of literacy in their classrooms. This narrative inquiry qualitative study consisted of three open-ended interviews, written literacy narratives, and multiple classroom observations with each participant as well as the collection of various teacher documents, such as lesson plans, presentation notes, rubrics, and student handouts. Narrative methods were used in the data analysis. ^ Findings were …

Integrating Service Learning Into A Course On Teaching English Language Learners And Looking At Preliminary Data, Sara Lamb Kistler, Cate Crosby

Early & Middle Grades Education Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Business Of Learning To Teach: A Critical Metaphor Analysis Of One Teacher’S Journey, Lauren Gatti, Theresa Catalano

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

This article analyzes the learning to teach process of one novice teacher, Rachael, enrolled in an Urban Teacher Residency (UTR) in Harbor City, United States. Building on Loh and Hu’s (2014) scholarship on neoliberalism and novice teachers, we employ Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA) to make visible the ways in which Rachael contends with conflicting frames of learning to teach—TEACHING IS A JOURNEY vs. TEACHING IS A BUSINESS— within her program. Rachael encounters three primary obstacles: programmatic incompatibility, pedagogical paralysis, and, ultimately, programmatic abandonment. The discussion explores the potential consequences of learning to teach in neoliberal contexts.

Includes Supplementary appendices (Interview …

Teaching, Learning, And Leading With Schools And Communities: One Urban University Re-Envisions Teacher Preparation For The Next Generation, Ann Marie Ryan, David Ensminger, Amy J. Heineke, Adam Kennedy, David P. Prasse, Lara K. Smetana

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

Colleagues in the TLLSC program at Loyola University Chicago analyze the trajectory of teacher education and how it can be improved.

The Relationship Between Online College Students' Learning Style And Response To Literature, Katie Robinson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Students entering the "Composition and Literature" classroom find themselves presented with a number of challenges as they learn to analyze literature beyond reader comprehension. The online learner experiences even more obstacles while approaching an often-difficult curriculum without the guidance of a residential instructor. For this reason, the online learner must adapt and develop autonomy in learning. Reader Response literary critics place great emphasis on the reader while determining meaning in a text, and Louise Rosenblatt explored the connection between the reader and the text in her Transactional Theory. To assist online learners in their endeavor, this study aimed to determine …

The Flipped Classroom: Its Effect On Student Academic Achievement And Critical Thinking Skills In High School Mathematics, Joranna Saunders

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the effect of the flipped classroom on academic achievement in high school mathematics. The purpose of this study was twofold. The immediate purpose was to determine if there was a statistical difference in student academic achievement in two high school mathematics classrooms once the flipped classroom concept was implemented. This study also examined the effect of the flipped classroom on students' critical thinking skills. This static-group comparison utilized a pretest-posttest non-equivalent control group design and two null hypotheses were tested. The flipped curriculum was not a significant factor in increasing student academic achievement or in increasing student …

Understanding Literacy Teacher Educators’ Use Of Scaffolding, Joyce E. Many, Eudes Aoulou

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This inquiry examined four literacy teacher educators’ perspectives and practices as related to scaffolding by using document analysis (i.e. syllabus), observations, and interviews. Findings indicated these teacher educators used scaffolding to develop preservice teachers’ dispositions, strategies, and conceptual understandings. Faculty used scaffolding processes such as modeling, feedback, purposeful structured assignments, discussions, and reflective pieces. Participants’ use of scaffolding varied; with the participant with more years of teacher education experience exhibiting a richer and larger repertoire of scaffolding strategies. Findings also suggested some faculty might be unsure of how to monitor preservice teachers’ growth in order to provide subsequent scaffolding.

The Nebraska Educator, Volume 1: 2014 (Complete Issue), Kristine Sudbeck Editor-In-Chief, Jeff Espineli, Abraham Flanigan, Sarah B. Mcbrien, Jessica Sierk

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

The Nebraska Educator is an open access peer-reviewed academic education journal at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This journal is produced by UNL graduate students and publishes articles on a broad range of education topics that are timely and have relevance in the field of all levels of education. We seek original research that covers topics which include but are not limited to: (a) curriculum, teaching and professional development; (b) education policy, practice and analysis; (c) literacy, language and culture; (d) school, society and reform; and (e) teaching and learning with technologies.

Urban Immersion: Changing Pre-service Teachers' Perceptions of Urban Schools …

Social Media Use: A Critical Analysis Of Facebook's Impact On Collegiate Efl Students' English Writing In Thailand, Tharinee Kamnoetsin

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

In this technology era, a new trend of using Social Media or Social Networking Sites (SNSs) has been recently highlighted. Social media influences people’s lives in many aspects including education and English language learning. The purpose of this study is to examine whether using Facebook online impacts the type (formal or informal) of English EFL students use for in-class writing or not, as well as to understand the students’ perceptions on how the use of Facebook helps to facilitate or inhibit their English writing skills.

The study was conducted by using qualitative research methods to explore EFL college students’ writing …

Examining The Relationship Between Math Scores And English Language Proficiency, Denfield L. Henry, Beate Baltes, Nicolae Nistor

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Multiple studies propose that English proficiency dictates English language learners’ (ELLs) performances on mathematics assessments. The current study investigates the predictive power of English proficiency on mathematics scores, while controlling for gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and grade level among ELLs at a south Florida elementary school. Krashen’s theory of comprehensible input as a precursor to second language acquisition provides the framework for this quantitative, correlation study. Mathematics scores from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test for Grade 3–5 ELLs (N = 177) were analyzed using multiple linear regression. Analysis reveals English proficiency as a statistically significant predictor of mathematics scores. …

The Relationship Between Teaching Approaches And Student Science Achievement For Four Racial Groups In Us Eighth Grade Classes, Su Gao

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Lower science achievement and substantial racial performance gaps persist among students in the US. In the current reform of science teaching, inquiry-based science teaching is assumed effective in improving all student science learning in both scientific content and process and reducing learning gaps across racial groups. Conversely, traditional didactic science teaching is believed to be the most popular and has contributed to lower science achievement and the racial gap. These two assumptions, although central to science teaching reforms, cannot be empirically sustained in the existing literature on science teaching. Framed through the theoretical perspectives of inquiry-based instruction and culturally relevant …

Principal Emotional Intelligence And Teacher Perceptions Of School Climate In Middle Schools, Ashley Dawn Meadows Allred

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the correlational relationship of principals’ emotional intelligence on the perceptions that teachers have of a school’s climate. The Organizational Health Inventory for Middle Schools (OHI-M) served as the assessment for teachers’ perceptions of the school climate or the overall health of the organization. Principals’ emotional intelligence competencies were assessed using the Mayer Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test version 2, hereinafter referred to as the MSCEIT V.2.0. Participants of the study included 22 principals of public middle schools in Mississippi. There was an average of 45 teachers employed at each middle school.

A Pearson …

Language Diversity In Trainings: Analyzing The Use Of English In A Writeshop Process, Elis Cardoso Motta

Capstone Collection

This capstone paper discusses a learning process called “writeshop,” and the role played by language use in a writeshop I co-facilitated in November 2013 in South Africa. A writeshop is a workshop to collectively create a written product for publication. This paper starts with a description of my experience in co-designing and co-facilitating a writeshop as part of my practicum, followed by a reflection on the process and the different roles I played, from a trainer lens. The third part of this capstone paper presents an analysis, based on a survey and individual interviews conducted with the writeshop participants, of …

The Effects On Using Ipads In Teaching Sight Words To English Language Learners, Samantha Funaro

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to (a) examine the effects of using iPad technology to teach high frequency Dolch sight words, in terms of identification and application, to beginner English language learners (ELLs), and (b) evaluate satisfaction and motivation among participants in the use of iPads in sight word acquisition. The participants consisted of two fourth grade and one third grade English as a second language students (ESLs). A multiple baseline single subject design with AB phases was used. During the baseline, each participant's performance was assessed using flashcards and cloze sentences. Their scores were recorded. During the intervention, …

What Matters Most? The Everyday Priorities Of Teachers Of English Language Learners, Johanna Boone

Theses and Dissertations

Teachers work within a context of competing stories, including pressures regarding English language learners (ELLs), a deficit view of teachers, and high-stakes testing and accountability, all of which impact teachers' emotions. Within this context, teachers prioritize what is most important to them. This self-study using narrative inquiry methods lays the author's stories of teaching alongside those of two other teachers of ELLs. The author conducted a series of interviews with the participants, analyzed the interviews for themes and tensions, negotiated meaning with participants, and created interim texts to represent the participants' priorities in teaching ELLs. Three teachers' priorities, as indicated …