Digital Commons Network^™

Implementation Of Measures That Establish An Atmosphere Of Safety, Order, And Discipline On School Grounds, Robert N. Baldwin

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to determine the effects that specific interventions have on student behavior change regarding drug and alcohol use on school grounds. A change in leadership philosophy, drug and alcohol survey results, and school community input were the impetus for a study as to the effectiveness of interventions of behavioral indicators. The researcher was clearly interested in systematically reducing alcohol and other drug use on school grounds in order to promote an environment of high-level learning. School accountability was focused on increasing student achievement levels in English language arts and math. A review of related research substantiated …

Reward: An Incentive Program To Encourage Appropriate Behavior And Reduce Discipline Referrals, Clyde O. Harris

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to reduce discipline referrals and suspensions in a middle school of 450 students. Universities provided the majority of the current material in terms of books, periodicals, relevant abstracts, and up-to-date research articles. The Internet was a useful tool as well as Educational Resources Information Center searches to locate information that provided both the pros and cons of using incentives to modify behavior. The school media center had very limited resources. Teachers at the school were given strategies to be used in the classroom to help them manage the classroom better, provide incentives in a timely …

Improving The Reading And Writing Skills Of Retained Eighth Grade Students, Beverley Mckenzie

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to assist eighth grade students who were retained in improving their Reading and Writing skills. These students failed school courses and did not meet the required standards for promotion to high school. The students were previously in large classes with other low-achieving students, were not given individualized attention, were not exposed to the use of technologies, were not given adequate support services, and were not taught by experienced teachers.

The writer designed an after-school program to assist the students with Reading and Writing skills. An experienced Language Arts teacher was asked to work with the …

Preparing Third Grade Students Who Are Adequately Decoding To Comprehend Reading Passages, Marva S. Jeremiah

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation focused on improving the reading comprehension of third grade students in an elementary school. The instructional model of the school was based on providing skills instruction. Further, students were not given opportunities to read independently for an extended time. The third grade students of this elementary school concentrated on decoding and neglected comprehension when they read.

A program was developed by this writer to help the participating students use strategies while reading. This program included teachers reading aloud to students to model strategies, the writer’s explicit instructions and guided practice of these strategies, and the students independent …

Implementing Study Groups To Improve Reading Achievement Scores Of Jensen Elementary School Students, Margaret Gayle Woodall

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was conducted to provide an historical review and assessment of the implementation of teacher study groups at Jensen Elementary School for the purpose of improving student reading skills during the 1997-1998 school year. The reading study groups were grade level groups that met monthly to participate in team learning (Senge 1990) by obtaining new information, revisiting information from a 4-day district in-service session, discussing strategies, problem solving, sharing successes and supporting one another.

The evaluation of the initiative consisted of a formative evaluation to determine if the program was implemented and a summative evaluation to determine if …

Performance-Centered Knowledge Management, Josephine K. Portillo

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to study a process to improve access and filter information efficiently and effectively for employees in a governmental business unit in order to decrease response time and increase customer satisfaction. The writer designed and developed a framework for a performance-centered knowledge management portal. The writer designed real-life case scenarios to determine the effectiveness of the performance-center knowledge management portal in the work setting.

Findings based on qualitative data gathered before and after employees were introduced to the portal show positive improvements in perceptions of customer satisfaction and response time.

Efecto De Utilizar Un Ambiente De Aprendizaje Asistido Por El Computador Sobre El Proceso Instruccional De La Asignatura Microbiología General, José De Jesús Páez

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

Esta disertación aplicada fue diseñada para transformar el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de la asignatura Microbiología General, de un modelo centrado en el profesor a un modelo centrado en el alumno. Este modelo se basó en utilizar las nuevas tecnologías de la información y la comunicación, a través de la creación de un ambiente de aprendizaje asistido por el computador.

El proceso se desarrolló en tres fases: a) fase de presentación de contenidos, b) fase de elaboración de proyectos de aprendizaje y c) fase de presentación de los proyectos de aprendizaje por parte de los estudiantes. Para evaluar el efecto de …

Increasing Enrollment At Community Christian School, Thomas R. Lamborn

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This report describes a program to increase enrollment at Community Christian School (CCS). For the years 2000-2002, enrollment declined from a high of 243 to 200 students. As part of the problem, the faculty turnover was high, creating instability with the staff and concern on the part of parents. CCS had a faculty turnover rate of 48% and 45% for the same 2 years. Other possible causes included insufficient marketing of the school, weak instruction in the high school, low faculty salaries, and insufficient interaction between the administrators and the faculty.

A more definitive marketing plan was developed to be …

Evaluation Of The Math Project At Horace Mann High School, Lula Brooks Reeves

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation studied the improvement of student course grades through the math program in 10th grade at Horace Mann High School, Gary, Indiana. In order to improve students' outcomes, strategies using Performance Based Learning, small group instruction and student collaboration were implemented.

The Math Project was implemented with 10th-grade teachers who agreed to participate in this study. The students in the study were a heterogeneously mixed group of students with common scores from the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress (ISTEP+/state competency) test at the 8th-grade level, common socioeconomic status according to the Federal Lunch Program guidelines, and common …

Meeting The Psychological Needs Of School-Aged Native Students In An Extreme Geographic Region, Deborah Diette Wilson

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to meet the psychological needs of a unique Native population through a continuum of services and the utilization of technological platforms. The host community has experienced significant historical events including the exclusion in full participation education and the provision of educational curricula by individuals lacking the cultural competency base to provide appropriate educational experiences sensitive to Native learning styles. Psychological services were dictated by Federal and State mandates and consisted solely of educational and ability testing for the purpose of special education eligibility determination. As a result, school-aged Native students experienced significant social and emotional …

The Effect Of Incorporating Interactive Concept Maps On Non-Major Adult Students’ Attitudes And Motivation Toward A Web-Supported Biology Course, Efrain J. Venezuela

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This study aimed to investigate the effect of incorporating interactive concept maps, as an instructional strategy for teaching complex biological concepts, on non-major adult students’ attitudes and motivation toward a Web-supported biology course. The author hypothesized that the incorporation of interactive concept maps would have an affect on non-major adult students' attitudes and motivation toward a Web-supported biology course. Consequently, this study attempted to answer the following question: How would the incorporation of interactive concept maps influence non-major adult students' attitudes and motivation toward a Web-supported biology course?

This study was conducted with non-major adult students enrolled in upper-level, Websupported …

Improving The Lifetime Wellness Skills Of Middle School Students With Disabilities, Rene Rodrigue Jr

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to improve the lifetime wellness skills of middle school students with disabilities. It was conducted in an Adapted Physical Education Program, with support visits to a local fitness facility. The lifetime wellness activities included aerobic fitness, strength training, and making healthy food choices. Students in the past program were not given the opportunities to learn the skills needed to participate in these activities. The writer believed this contributed to the high incidence of childhood obesity and poor motor skills of the population.

Several aerobic fitness and strength training activities were selected by the writer. They …

Implementing Therapeutic Conflict Management Groups To Decrease Serious Incidents Of Misbehavior In A Middle School Setting, Kelvin E. Rogers

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

A review of the literature indicated that there were concerns from the public and public school officials regarding too many serious acts of misbehavior being committed in our public schools, which included recent events of violence in Oregon, Colorado, and California that resulted in multiple deaths and injuries of students and staff. During the 2001-2002 school year at this writer’s site, discipline records indicated that several students were suspended off-campus for fights, verbal abuse towards their peers, weapons on campus, and gross defiance towards school authority.

In order to combat the amount of episodes of serious acts of misbehavior, 30 …

Development Of An Instructional Outcomes Evaluation Plan For The Information Technology Strategic Plan At Montgomery College, Mona Levine

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

Montgomery College has invested substantial sums in technology improvements based upon a carefully developed strategic plan. The College has tracked how the technology has been used, but it has not assessed its impact on student learning in any systematic way. This study was designed to meet that need through development of an evaluation plan for instructional outcomes for the use of technology. The four research questions in the study focused on review and selection of conceptual approaches, components, criteria, and metrics for an instructional outcomes evaluation plan for the Information Technology Strategic Plan.

The development methodology was used in this …

The Role Of Homework In Relation To Student Achievement, Rita Bernard

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

St. Anna School is a small, parochial school located in Leominster, Massachusetts. Homework is an academic requirement for all students in Grades 3 through 8. At the middle school level, Grades 6 through 8, students are given between 1 and 2 hours of homework 4 nights per week. Parents expect homework. Teachers assign homework. Students should do homework. Although parents, teachers, and students are aware of the existence of homework, students still failed to complete homework. Why did students fail to complete homework? Interviews were conducted with middle school teachers, students, and parents to find out why students failed to …