Digital Commons Network^™

Education Policy Analysis Archives 12/45 , Arizona State University, University Of South Florida

College of Education Publications

Relationship between state and district content standards : issues of alignment, influence and utility / Elizabeth Dutro [and] Sheila Valencia.

Education Policy Analysis Archives 12/42 , Arizona State University, University Of South Florida

College of Education Publications

Chronic teacher turnover in urban elementary schools / Kacey Guin.

Education Policy Analysis Archives 12/39 , Arizona State University, University Of South Florida

College of Education Publications

Voices from the frontlines : teachers, Äô perceptions of high-stakes testing / Brett D. Jones [and] Robert J. Egley.

Examination Of Technologies For Student-Generated Work In A Peer-Led, Peer-Review Instructional Environment, Brian P. Coppola, Alan L. Kiste

Chemistry and Biochemistry

There is a growing literature demonstrating the effectiveness of using computer environments to assist students’ in visualizing science and mathematics concepts. However, with many of these computerized learning environments, students do not have the option of manipulating the environment. Instead, they are presented with pre-made visualizations. Enabling students to display their understanding through multiple representational forms is more interesting. In our peer-led, peer-review environment, students generate a complex, literature-based, multimedia text on which their final examination is based. However, there are great time and personnel costs in this design. Collaborating with SRI Inc., we are addressing these demands via the …

How We Think About And Prepare To Teach Physics, Dewey I. Dykstra

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We have been preparing physics teachers in the same manner for many decades. Yet, physics education research reveals for some observers disturbing evidence of little or no change in understanding the phenomena occurs as a direct result of physics instruction from elementary school through the college years. The apparent compatibility between these learning results and prevailing paradigm enables the construction of a description the paradigm. If it can be demonstrated that there is even just one alternative paradigm from which powerful alternative pedagogical practice is derived, are we not obligated to change how we prepare to teach physics?

Language Interactions Between Reading Recovery Teachers And Their English-Language Learners, Leslie Yerington Edd

Dissertations

This qualitative study investigated characteristics of student-teacher interactions during the new book introduction portion of Reading Recovery lessons. The new book introduction provides the student with background knowledge and story plot sufficient to render a successful first attempt reading the book that takes place directly after the introduction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of student-teacher interactions during the new book introduction portion of Reading Recovery lessons in order to describe the nature of these interactions and discover the relationships, if any exist, between the interactions and student performance. The study also searched for common themes …

Teachers' Handbook For Using Picture Books To Promote/Reinforce Mathematical Concepts In The Early Primary Grades, Andrea Lynn Bannister

All Master's Theses

The purpose of this paper was to design a handbook for early primary grade teachers interested in using picture books to promote/reinforce mathematics. The handbook includes ten lessons based on the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards, 2000.

School-Wide Positive Behavior Support: A Proactive Approach, Marisa Garcia

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study explores what an effective School-wide Positive Behavior Support program looks like, how Positive Behavior Support programs have impacted school districts and what is needed in an educational organization to implement such a program. The study also provides an overview of different strategies that have been utilized for the effective implementation of interventions at the different levels of a PBS program. Different models and projects that have been created based on this theory are also discussed through this study. In addition to this, the study will include the results of observations and interviews conducted by the researcher at X …

Education Policy Analysis Archives 12/36 , Arizona State University, University Of South Florida

College of Education Publications

Reclassification of English learners / James B. Grissom.

Education Policy Analysis Archives 12/32 , Arizona State University, University Of South Florida

College of Education Publications

Interrogating the generalizability of portfolio assessments of beginning teachers :a qualitative study / Pamela A. Moss, LeeAnn M. Sutherland, Laura Haniford, Renee Miller, David Johnson, Pamela K. Geist, Stephen M. Koziol, Jr., Jon R. Star[and] Raymond L. Pecheone.

The Importance Of Program-Delivered Differential Reinforcement In The Development Of Classical Music Auditory Discrimination, Gudmundur Torfi Heimisson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Posttest performances after two forms of Web-based tutorial instruction were compared. Both forms were designed to teach students to identify musical compositions that typify Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20th Century music. The first treatment condition was a series of Web pages with text and accompanying hyperlinks to musical selections matched to the text. In this condition, students read and listened at their own discretion -- without Web software program restrictions. The second treatment contained exactly the same text and musical selections, but students in this condition read the text in small portions while being required to fill in missing …

Education Policy Analysis Archives 12/31 , Arizona State University, University Of South Florida

College of Education Publications

Colorado, Äôs Voucher Law : examining the claim of fiscal neutrality / Kevin G. Welner.

Changing Attitudes - Health Sciences Students Working Together., Elizabeth A. Taylor, David Cook, Rosemarie Cunnigham, Sharla King, Jan Pimlott

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Is it possible to alter limiting stereotypic attitudes of health professionals toward each other? Perhaps a first step might be an undergraduate interdisciplinary course that brings students from different faculties together to work on scenarios of common interest? The Inter-professional Health Development, Education & Activities Group (IHDEA) at the University of Alberta believe that their innovative INTD 410 course addresses the goal of changing attitudes. Over a five-week period, more than 700 students attend this required course. They are supported by some fifty facilitators who are drawn from the community and from six different university faculties. Students interact in small …

An Interactive Learning Environment For A Dynamic Educational Digital Library, Ee Peng Lim, Dion Hoe-Lian Goh, Yin-Leng Theng, Eng-Kai Suen

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

GeogDL is a digital library of geography examination resources designed to assist students in preparing for a national geography examination in Singapore. We describe an interactive learning environment built into GeogDL that consists of four major components. The practice and review module allows students to attempt individual examination questions, the mock exam provides a simulation of the actual geography examination, the trends analysis tool provides an overview of the types of questions asked in previous examinations, while the contributions module allows students and teachers to create and share knowledge within the digital library.

Tyson, Cyril Degrasse, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Cyril Degrasse Tyson was born in Harlem in the early 1930’s and frequently moved around Harlem and eventually made his way into the Bronx at an early age. He discusses his family history and when his parents first moved to New York. His parents were both born in the West Indies on the island of Nevis and moved to New York after the first World War. They moved to an area of Manhattan which was referred to as the San Juan Hills at the time. He describes it as a pocket of blacks from the south and West Indies, Puerto …

Education Policy Analysis Archives 12/26 , Arizona State University, University Of South Florida

College of Education Publications

Do EMO-operated Charter Schools Serve Disadvantaged Students? The Influence of State Policies / Natalie Lacireno-Paquet.

Diabetes Stepping Up To The Plate: An Education Curriculum Focused On Food Portioning Skills, D. Pauline Williams, Heidi Leblanc, Nedra K. Christensen

Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Sciences Faculty Publications

The Diabetes Stepping up to the Plate program was developed to determine the effectiveness of food portion based diabetes education. One hundred fifty-one individuals enrolled in the diabetes series. Food portion knowledge and skills tests, height, weight, and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) were measured pre- and post-program. Data was analyzed through paired t-tests and correlations. Evaluation showed a decrease in HbA1C, waist/hip circumference, WHR, and BMI, and an improvement in food portion knowledge and skills. Seventy-five participants completed pre- and post-data collection parameters, although more participants completed all classes in the series. Extension can play a role in successful diabetes education.

Education Policy Analysis Archives 12/21 , Arizona State University, University Of South Florida

College of Education Publications

Income and financial aid effects on persistence and degree attainment in public colleges / Alicia C. Dowd.

Education Policy Analysis Archives 12/19 , Arizona State University, University Of South Florida

College of Education Publications

Predicting higher education graduation rates from institutional characteristics and resource allocation / Florence A. Hamrick, John H. Schuh [and] Mack C. Shelley, II.

Obesity, Educational Attainment, And State Economic Welfare, Martin W. Sivula Ph.D.

MBA Faculty Conference Papers & Journal Articles

For the first time in history, estimates of the overweight people in the world rival estimates of those malnourished. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2002) ranked obesity among the top 10 risks to human health worldwide. In the early 1960s, nearly half of the Americans were overweight and 13% were obese. Today some 64% of U.S. adults are overweight and 30.5% are obese. Even more alarming, twice as many U.S. children are overweight than were twenty years ago, a 66% increase. Non-communicable diseases impose a heavy economic burden on already strained health systems. Health is a key determinant of development …

Obesity, Educational Attainment, And State Economic Welfare, Martin W. Sivula Ph.D.

Higher Education

For the first time in history, estimates of the overweight people in the world rival estimates of those malnourished. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2002) ranked obesity among the top 10 risks to human health worldwide. In the early 1960s, nearly half of the Americans were overweight and 13% were obese. Today some 64% of U.S. adults are overweight and 30.5% are obese. Even more alarming, twice as many U.S. children are overweight than were twenty years ago, a 66% increase. Non-communicable diseases impose a heavy economic burden on already strained health systems. Health is a key determinant of development …

Interview With Fong Her, Peter Chou Vang

Hmong Oral History Project

Interview with Fong Her discussing experiences with Hmong refugee resettlement in Thailand and the United States.

Interview conducted by student interviewer, Peter Vang.

An Examination Of Teachers’ Beliefs About Critical Reading And Academic Writing, Cindi Davis Harris Edd

Dissertations

The ability to compose a well-written research paper is evidence o f a student's ability to read critically and write academically. However, evidence suggests that many college-bound high school graduates have not learned these skills. While the research literature overwhelmingly supports the notion that teachers are an important factor in students’ academic success, and that in order to be academically successful, students need to have critical reading and writing skills, there has been little research about how teachers' beliefs and knowledge about critical reading and academic writing influence instruction with regard to these skills. This naturalistic case study employed in-depth …

Explicit Writing Instruction: Effects On Sixth Grade Students’ Writing And Reading Achievement, Jennifer Hamby Edd

Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the effect of explicit writing instruction on sixth grade students' writing growth and achievement as measured by holistic and analytic assessment. This research responds directly to the need for additional research on effective reading and writing instruction (Langer & Allington, 1992; The College Board, 2003). The preponderance of research in writing has been devoted to early writing. Less evidence is available to examine the effect of writing instruction at the sixth grade level. Writing samples from 124 sixth grade students at two elementary schools were used in this study. The two …

Webquest Design Strategies: A Case Study Measuring The Effect Of The Jigsaw Method On Students’ Personal Agency Beliefs, Engagement, And Learning, James P. Frazee Edd

Dissertations

The WebQuest model continues to grow in popularity, with teachers from around the world and many teacher-educators and experts in the field of educational technology espousing its potential to extend content knowledge and promote higher level thinking. While the model is well received by teachers and students alike, most evidence of its effectiveness is anecdotal, and there is very little in the way of empirical research on the elements that make an effective WebQuest. Furthermore, rich descriptions of how students interact during a well-developed WebQuest are largely absent from the literature. In short, the WebQuest model suffers from a lack …

Factors That Predict Underachievement In Hispanic Gifted Students, Sandy Salinas Olivarez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that predict underachieving gifted students. The participants were 44 Hispanic gifted students enrolled in the 8 th grade from 3 different junior high and middle schools in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. The following were used as independent variables: parental influence, motivation, self-concept, attitude, self-perceptions, and goal motivation. The dependent variable was dichotomous, achiever or underachiever. The School Attitude Assessment Survey-Revised and the Parent Influence Survey were the instruments used to collect the data. Analysis was done using the logistic regression model. The results show that attitude towards school …

Cultural Relevance In The Lep-Ld Classroom, Blanca Estella Rojas

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This investigation considered Mexican-American students classified as Limited English Proficient (LEP) and Special Education Learning Disabled (LD) on achievement in and attitudes toward reading. Two students used culturally matched materials and two students used non-culturally matched, grade appropriate materials. The individuals who received treatment were paired with those who did not receive treatment on key variables as closely as possible. Qualitative descriptive information answered the following questions: (1) Will the use of a culturally matched novel have the same learning effects as use of a non-culturally matched novel? (2) Will the use of the culturally matched novel lower the affective …

Similarity Judgment And Feature Weights, Antje Mefferd

Student Work

This thesis project investigated the relationship of linguistic features and their modality, and the amount of change in similarity judgments within each age group and between age groups. Three triads of unfamiliar line drawings were presented to four year-old preschoolers and college students. Participants were asked to judge which one of two line drawing stimuli is most similar to the target stimulus. In the control condition no linguistic labels were provided for the line drawings. In the experimental conditions linguistic labels were added in the form o f spoken words, printed words or spoken and printed words. Linguistic labels were …

A Study Of Technological Literacy In Writing Programs., Katherine V. Wills 1957-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation empirically studies computer-assisted writing administration as a site of agency for social change by inquiring how writing program administrators (WPAs) use their agency and power when developing and maintaining computer-mediated spaces (CM) or computer-assisted instruction (CAI). This study asks, What are the results when individual agency meets technological literacy in the academic workplace? Numerous articles have examined WPAs as agents of social change (R. Miller, C. Selfe, M. Pemberton); few have used empirical data as their grounds. To date, no articles have examined the WPA's agency with technological literacy in computer-mediated environments. This study utilizes triangulated and multi-modal …

An Empirical Investigation Of Factors Influencing Teacher Attraction To A Career As School Counselor., Beverly Cox Keepers 1948-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study addressed the administrative task of recruiting school counselors in the largest school district of Kentucky, a state undergoing systemic school reform. The participants (N = 553) were elementary (n = 162), middle (n = 113), and high (n = 278) school teachers.The independent variables included personal characteristics of the participants (age, gender, number of dependent children, ethnicity, education, current school enrollment, current school level, current school CATS level, years of teaching experience, years of teaching experience in JCPS, years of teaching experience in Kentucky) serving as control variables. The other independent variables were counselor job facets (predictor variables) …