Education Commons^™

Examining Teachers' Perceptions Of Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices And The Impact On The Academic And Social-Emotional Success Of Black And Brown Boys In Voluntary Prekindergarten Classrooms: A Qualitative Study, Stephanie Gomez Jackson

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore voluntary pre-kindergarten (VPK) teachers’ perspectives regarding the theory of culturally responsive pedagogy. This study also sought to understand how teachers implement culturally responsive teaching practices in VPK classrooms and their perceptions of how culturally responsive teaching impacts the academic and social-emotional success of Black and Brown male students. The study was conducted using a qualitative, phenomenological methodology. Gay’s (2018) pillars of culturally responsive teaching were used as the conceptual framework to explore the cultural characteristics, experiences, and perspectives of voluntary prekindergarten (VPK) teachers. Data collection tools included (1) two recorded semi-structured interviews, …

Exploring The Perspectives Of Teenage Tutors Who Tutor Elementary Students In A One-To-One Reading Tutoring Program, Talya M. Taylor

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There have been minimal studies on tutoring programs that pair elementary students with teenage tutors (Jacob et al., 2016). Innovative tutoring programs are important as student reading achievement has declined since the onset of COVID-19 and school systems face instructional staff shortages. Through the lens of Self Determination Theory, this study explored how tutor autonomy (Ryan & Deci, 2000) to choose instructional strategies and delivery methods influences student reading progress through one-to-one tutoring.

Centered in a constructivist world view, qualitative research methodology was used to explore the relationship between teenage tutors exercising autonomy when delivering a scripted reading curriculum and …

Unearthing The Seeds Of Oppression And Injustice Within Education: Using Intuition, Care, And Virtue To Guide The Educative Process And Cultivate Morality., Lucas Worsham

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The emphasis of the inquiry is on the domain of education and the relationship present between the teacher and student more specifically. Essentially, the first part of the thesis outlines how the larger social-political system impacts the domain of public education, with the predominant issues of adversity becoming manifest at the level of the relationship that exists between teacher and student. The second part of the work utilizes the problems discovered and their impact on human experience to propose a virtue/care based method for approaching the relationship with the student in a way that both aligns more closely with the …

Teachers' Perceptions Of Cultural Change In A Challenged High School During The Implementation Of The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, Victoria Crowell

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Academically failing schools are under scrutiny from government education administrators, policymakers, and the general public, due to chronic inabilities to lower dropout rates and to educate students who can pass high-stakes graduation assessments. States’ efforts to adhere to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act have led to the development of accountability systems to determine adequate yearly progress (AYP) and to assign schools grades, as well as wholesale reassessment of current educational programs, which are often replaced with more rigorous curricula.

Among curricular programs that have been sought as reform measures for academically failing schools is the International Baccalaureate Program …

Promoting Success In Developmental English: Student Life Skills Courses A Mixed-Methods Case Study, Richard Anthony Greene

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was threefold: (a) to describe the impact the SLS courses had on the retention and success rates of students who were taking developmental English courses at FSCJ-Kent Campus, (b) to explain how students taking developmental English felt the SLS courses impacted them, and (c) to find out what elements of the SLS program were most and least valued by students.

In order to understand how the SLS program impacted students in the developmental English program at FSCJ-Kent Campus, I conducted a mixed methods case study using FSCJ–Kent Campus as the research site. The case study …

Functional Literacy: Should It Be Mandatory?, Jeannette Swartz

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Millions of United States citizens are functionally illiterate. Included are persons who cannot read or write or perform simple arithmetic at all. The reasons for failure of voluntary literacy are reviewed, and consideration given to mandatory literacy as a solution to the problem. The effect of functional illiteracy on the military is examined, as well as the relationship of illiteracy to poverty and crime. A survey of educators reveals an awareness among them of this illiteracy problem, and also reveals that some of these educators favor mandatory literacy. The issue of civil rights in relation to mandatory literacy is discussed, …

Changing Negative Attitudes Of Elementary Children Toward The Aged Through Positive Interaction And Aging Education Within The School Curriculum, Mary Emily King

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Children develop attitudes at an early age, both positive and negative. Negative attitudes toward the aged can be changed through direct contact between the elderly and through aging education within the curriculum. Children have negative attitudes toward the elderly and the aging process. Direct contact can change these views by providing interaction between children and the elderly while aging education can bring about an awareness of the aging process and of the aged. With aging being an inevitable and important part of being human, it is necessary as well as important for educators to help children develop positive attitudes toward …

An Auditory Training Program For Kindergarten, Eileen Holihan George

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The intent of this project is to develop an auditory training program for kindergarten children which will strengthen auditory perception. The program will identify the essential auditory skills, establish objectives, construct evaluative measures and outline activities that will develop basic auditory perception skills.