Education Commons^™

Making The Grade: Do Teacher-Created Grading Systems Result In Disparate Outcomes For High School Students?, Laura L. Mayberry

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The lack of formal grading policies within individual schools and school districts results in differential grading across classrooms. In many secondary schools, an individual course may be taught by multiple teachers. This study aimed to determine if the existence of differential grading results in disparate outcomes for students based on their assigned teacher. Data about students (demographics, teacher-issued grades, and standardized test scores) was collected from four core content classes at one high school. Regression analysis was used to isolate the impact of students’ assigned teacher on their course grade after controlling for demographics and academic performance as measured by …

Writing And Engagement In A Title 1 Middle School In Northeast Florida, Angela D'Alessandro Reed

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Writing is an integral part of achievement in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA). Across content areas, literacy standards for writing stipulate, “students should demonstrate increasing sophistication in all levels of language use” (www.corestandards.org, 2019). Many teachers are reluctant to incorporate writing in courses since assigning writing activities, reading, and grading of student writing and can be seen as a laborious task (Peha, 2003). This research, conducted in a Title 1 middle school in northeast Florida, is a bounded case study on the effects of writing on the physical occurrences of students’ level …

Conscious Conclusions: The Effect Of Positive-Attitude Cues On Teacher Candidate Dispositions About Mathematics, Shelletta Baker

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to use elements for developing teacher identity, personal philosophy, beliefs about teaching and learning, and reflection to frame an examination of the effect of Positive-Attitude Cues (PACs) on teacher candidates’(n = 135) mathematics anxiety and expressive writing. Participants were randomly assigned to a treatment (PACs) or control group (No-PAC) and their dispositions about mathematics were examined using the Revised Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS-R); which had a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.96 and an expressive writing task before and after the intervention. A significant main effect of test time showed that participants …

Distance Learning For Professional Development In Law Enforcement - What Works, Keith E. Gaston

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Online distance learning is an essential element in the continuing education of law enforcement officers across the nation. However, little research has been conducted into the use of learning management systems by law enforcement agencies as a tool for professional development. This study attempts to assess the attitudes, preferences, and influences that impact distance learning for professional development work for state law enforcement officers and their agencies. Law enforcement agencies and law enforcement training centers have failed to utilize or embrace distance-learning technologies, or they have adopted distance-learning technology without knowing the effectiveness of the training or learning. For adult …

Secondary-School Department Chairpersons’ Perceptions Of Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Jonathan K. Greene

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The concept of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) provides a framework for understanding the professional demands of secondary-school teachers in facilitating student learning. Teachers develop their PCK both formally in preservice and inservice education and informally with their colleagues. Teacher leaders, such as the secondary-school department chairs, can work with colleagues to promote professional growth. The purpose of this study was to understand how secondary-school department chairs understood PCK and perceived their role in promoting the PCK growth of their department colleagues. A qualitative research design using in-depth, semi-structured interviews involved 15 participants from one school district in the southeast of …

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 …

Beyond High School Readiness In The 21st Century: A Multi-Case Study Of The Perspectives Of African American High School Students In Accelerated Learning Programs And Their Experiences Of Success In Terms Of Efficacy, Ethnicity, And Future Aspirations, Phyllis Findley Pearson

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Secondary Education reform efforts have focused on perpetual achievement gaps for more than a decade, highlighting the essence of state level standardized test scores in reading and math, among diverse student groups in relation to their white peers. The reauthorization of ESEA (2013), is a reform effort described as the Student Success Act, whereby the expectation of student success is described in terms of all students graduating from high school, both college and career ready. The concept of no child left behind remains at the base of the law, which designates federal funds for education programs designed to ensure equal …

An Educational Intervention To Increase Fruit And Vegetable Consumption In Parents Of Obese And Overweight Children, Zenesha R. Barkley

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The incidence and prevalence of overweight and obese children in the United States is a serious health concern since the complications of childhood obesity can have serious and long-term effects: cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes, neurological disease, and pulmonary disease. Parental modeling and nutritional education focusing on the obese/overweight child’s parents has been shown as an effective strategy for improving nutritional outcomes of the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables in children from five to ten years of age. Outcomes of this study and targeted nutritional modeling included increasing vegetable and fruit consumption of the parent by at …

Content Analysis Of Conflict Resolution Curricula, Mary Smith

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Violence in schools in various forms has become recognizable. Awareness of this situation has resulted with proliferation of curricula for conflict education. The purpose of this study was to analyze conflict resolution curricula designed for five to eight year olds. The study examined three issues formulated from the review of related literature: time and space, skill building, and developmentally appropriate practices. The findings included time and physical space requirements for conflict resolution curricula, the suggested skills needed to peacefully resolve conflicts, and an evaluation of the developmentally appropriate activities in the curricula for early childhood ages 5-8.

The Effects Of Using Interactive Word Walls To Teach Vocabulary To Middle School Students, Ledale Southerland

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Teaching vocabulary to middle school students requires that educators find the most effective means of instruction to achieve this goal. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of using an interactive word wall as the tool to combine five effective, research-based teaching strategies with social interaction to teach vocabulary to middle school students. In this study, 124 middle school students participated. The control group consisted of 67 eighth grade English students, and the intervention group was comprised of 57 seventh grade English students. The intervention was for a period of four weeks and included specific activities that …

Teaching Communication Skills Through Video Tape Productions, Jane R. Fleetwood

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Motivating students to learn and practice effective communication skills has always been a dilemma for teachers of all grade levels. Video cameras and camcorders are now being used as teaching tools in many schools to not only motivate students to use and practice a variety of skills, but to stimulate their creativity, as well. Loretto Elementary School in

Jacksonville, Florida, is developing a program which incorporates student-written video productions into its existing curriculum. Loretta's innovative program is a direct result of a 10-rninute informational video tape production done by graduate student Jane Fleetwood and Continental Cablevision, a local cable television …

A Curriculum Design Using Mnemonic-Type Techniques To Aid Recall In Low/Average Achievers In The Fifth Grade, Blanche Floannell Fuqua Mcmath

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Children in the Duval County School System in Jacksonville, Florida, who are low/average achievers have to compete in a multi-graded classroom atmosphere. These students are passed along supported by low minimum-based competency test scores. The purpose of this project was to show teachers how they can present mnemonic procedures to these students in an effort to help these students raise test scores, boost self-esteem, and provide a self-help study device that can aid their progress in subsequent grades, aid morale, and thus avoid potential drop-outs in the system. This curriculum design is offered in the subjects of health and science. …

Using Newspapers In The Junior High Classroom To Enhance The Development Of Citizenship, James J. Langen

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to design a curriculum utilizing newspapers as a primary learning resource to establish newspaper reading habits among junior high students. Research suggested a strong correlation between consistent reading of the daily newspaper and political knowledge, voting, and other acts reflecting good citizenship. Use of the newspaper in the classroom helped to establish newspaper reading habits among adolescents. This resulted in students being more aware of the adult world they would enter and more confident. They understood how their society functioned. With increased mastery of newspapers, came increased self-esteem, since newspapers were seen as an …

A Curriculum For Developing Supplemental Storytelling Activities To Enhance Reading Skills For Intermediate Students, Olivia Sarah Starling

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This curriculum was developed to assist elementary school teachers in the intermediate grades in the use of storytelling activities in the classroom. It is divided into four sections. The first two sections are addressed to the needs of the elementary students; they include activities that enhance the learning of reading, and activities that will enable the student to become a storyteller. The last two sections are directed to the elementary school teacher; they include various methods and ways for the teacher to become a successful storyteller. These activities and resources will enable the classroom teacher to incorporate storytelling into the …

A Research Study Of The Effect Of Instruction In The Basal Reader Supplemented By The Language Experience Approach On Comprehension Scores Of First Grade Readers, Nancy L. Keene

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether children enrolled in two first grade classes who did not meet the criterion score for one or more of the seven subtests on a selected readiness test given during the first two weeks of the school year would make higher scores on selected comprehension measures when instruction in a basal reading series is supplemented with instruction in the language experience approach than children who receive instruction only in basal reader materials. Language experience activities were conducted with all reading groups in the experimental class for three days every two weeks. Group …

Mobility As An Element Of Learning Styles: The Effect Its Inclusion Or Exculsion Has On Student Performance In The Standardized Testing Environment, Linda Miller

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between mobility and the standardized testing environment. The project focused on nine students who had a pronounced need for movement while learning and/or being tested. The study was conducted to determine whether the achievement scores of these nine students would be influenced by the denial or availability of movement while they were administered a standardized reading test. Twenty-one second grade students were the subjects. Two forms of Level B of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test were used. All subjects were tested in a traditional environment with no movement allowed. The same …

Technology And Its Implications For Early Childhood Educators: Considering The Microcomputer In The Kindergarten, Linda Lasalle Campbell

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Kindergarten teachers can effectively and sensitively integrate the microcomputer into a curriculum which strives to meet the needs of the total child. This study indicates, through a review of professional journals and current books on the microcomputer in education, the need for technological skills. It demonstrates the presence of microcomputers in today's schools, even in the early years. Uses of the microcomputer in the kindergarten classroom are presented for consideration. Recommendations are included which call for informed and caring teachers to use the microcomputer to meet the social, emotional, and cognitive needs of the individual child.

Interpersonal Interactions In Student-Teacher Relationships: Types And Effect On Student Achievememt, Cheryl S. Spivey

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify the types of interpersonal interactions, in student-teacher relationships, that have an effect on student achievement. These essential conditions of communication have been labeled: warmth, empathy, respect, genuineness, concreteness, self-disclosure, immediacy, and confrontation. Communication of these conditions, by teachers to students, shows a significant effect on student achievement when observed by classroom researchers. This investigation has also addressed the efficiency of training procedures used with groups of teachers who participated in the research studies, the results of which support the increasing awareness of human-relations development.

A Comparison Of Practices In Grading Reading Performance And Their Underlying Philosophies And Policies For Children Reading Below Grade Level In Selected Florida School Systems, Linda Powell Ginn

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this project was to survey selected school systems in the State of Florida and to determine their philosophies, policies: and techniques for grading reading. The area of special concern was children reading below assigned grade level but up to potential. The focus of this paper was to identify reports to parents that dealt in a positive way with below grade level readers and allowed for effective as well as cognitive development. Positive aspects of current reports were pointed out and suggestions for improvement to better serve needs of children reading below grade level were made. Since most …

A Curriculum Of Supplemental Activities To Promote Positive Attitudes Toward Reading In Correlation With Ginn 720, Level 10, Mary H. Campbell

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This curriculum project reviews the methods, materials, and supplemental reading activities that have been shown in the literature to be effective in developing or promoting positive attitudes toward reading and how these can be used as an integral part of the daily reading program. The major findings and some various methods and materials used to measure attitudes toward reading are also discussed. This curriculum project is specifically designed for fourth grade teachers to use in correlation with the Ginn 720 Series, Level 10. The project includes directions for developing a curriculum of activities to promote or develop positive attitudes toward …

The Cloze Procedure: A Measure Of Reading Comprehension Ability, Theresa Lorene Donaldson

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study was conducted in order to determine if a relationship exists between those comprehension processes measured by the Paragraph Comprehension subtest of the McGraw-Hill Basic Skills System Reading Test and the cloze test developed for this project. Two classes of undergraduate education majors enrolled in “Foundations of Performance-Based Education” were administered both the cloze test and the multiple choice comprehension test.

A correlation coefficient was computed between the summary scores on the McGraw-Hill and the summary scores on the cloze test. The results yielded a correlation of .021. These results did not support the research hypothesis.

The Effect Of Graphic And Phonemic Similarity On Syntactic Acceptability, Barbara D. Barket

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this study was to determine the effect of graphic and phonemic similarity on syntactic acceptability. Ten third graders were audio-taped reading material new to them at the end of the 1982-1983 school year. The children were given no assistance. Substitution miscues were recorded and analyzed according to The Goodman Taxonomy of Reading Miscues. Statistical analyses were carried out using the chi-square procedure and contingency coefficients were computed. The results indicate that graphic and phonemic similarity are somewhat related to syntactic acceptability but the relationship is very slight. Graphic similarity appears to be more independent of syntactic …

The Effects Of A Problem-Solving Strategy On The Long-Term Memory Of Algorithms, Anne Elcan Mann

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Because of the importance of long-term memory of concepts and procedures and because of the need for the ability to retrieve data to solve
problems, the relation between the method of instruction and retentionretrieval ability of students must be examined. This study was designed to approach an analysis of the nature of this relationship.

Specifically, it was conducted to answer the following question:
What is the relationship between retention of algorithms for problem solving as measured ,by the Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT) by ninth grade physical science students at a college preparatory school who have been
trained in control …

A Curriculum To Increase Interest In Reading Using Children's Literature, Paula Forrest

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project is to develop a resource of techniques using children's literature which will increase interest in reading for students who have met the minimum standards of reading for their grade level. The completed curriculum is to be used in grades kindergarten through six, with a flexible time limit of thirty to forty-five minutes per day, for fifteen school days.

Study Guides: Their Effect On Reading Comprehension In Content Areas In The Third Grade, Ruth Hackenson

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of using study guides in content areas of the elementary curriculum on the general level of comprehension of third grade pupils in those content areas. It appeared from the search of the literature that study guides had been little used for lower elementary students. More frequent use has been with upper elementary and high school students. A study using third grade subjects seemed to be of value for at least two reasons: one, to fill the gap and two, to discover the benefits that might accrue, or to lend credence …

Oral Reading, Silent Reading, And Listening Comprehension: A Comparative Study For Above-Average And Below-Average Readers, Rita M. Joost

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

By comparing listening comprehension to reading comprehension for above-average and below-average readers, one can come to some conclusions about where the problem resides for poor readers-whether it be lack of phonic skills or lack of general verbal competence. Because teachers need to know better where to invest their resources, investigations such as mine need to be done.

Cross-Age Tutoring, Joan P. Mcgovern

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As stated before, it appears that the sixth grade students at San Jose Catholic School would benefit from reading skills practice that would give them the opportunity to become more involved in the learning process. This project is designed to implement cross-age tutoring at San Jose Catholic School with an entire sixth grade class tutoring a second grade class in reading. The goal of the project is to improve the attitude toward reading of the sixth graders. Attitudes before and after tutoring will be rated on a slightly modified version of the Estes Attitude Scale. It is expected, though it …

A Kindergarten Curriculum Guide In Environmental Education, Lynda H. Leukel

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The assumptions of this project imply that concepts concerning the relationships among living organisms can be assimilated by the child only if his experiences include exploration of his environment and the opportunity to discover these relationships himself. In order to help him progress, an interested, informed teacher who will encourage and help him is of prime importance.

Because progress needs to be started as early as possible, kindergarten age children will be the focus of this project. Here the school should use the opportunity to begin developing the environmentally aware citizen. Unfortunately, few texts and guides in environmental education have …

Reading: A Preprimer For Parents, Cheryl Gillikin Faubion

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project is to plan a booklet for parents which will provide them with some background information on the reading process and methods and approaches to reading instruction, along with some specific suggestions of ways they can help their children learn to read. Also included is a teacher's supplement for directions and suggested implementation. The booklet is designed for parents of students in the primary grades who are beginning readers. It is intended to be used in conjunction with a parent-teacher conference or a small group meeting of parents and teacher. It is hoped that the meeting …

Construction, Administration, And Validation Of A Test Of Oral Language Usage, Ronald Harrison

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

We as teacher of English are faced with the task of preparing students for the world they will meet when they leave the classroom—a world that will judge them in part by their ability to manipulate the language to their advantage. And yet to measure the use of language, we rely almost exclusively on written measurements. It seems likely that students may easily learn to give the teacher the answer he wants on written tests of English usage. Oral tests are commercially available, but many are prohibitively expensive; others require hours of instruction before the teacher can consider himself qualified …