Education Commons^™

Engaging Teacher-Student Relationships With All Students, Jess Teal

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

Positive teacher-student relationships are essential for a safe classroom that promotes academic achievement and social/emotional development for all children. Teachers need specific practices and resources to support them in establishing positive teacher-student relationships with all their students. All students deserve a consistent adult connection and to call school a safe place to learn and grow.

Teaching Students About Trauma And Brain Regulation, Kathy Van Horn, Joshua Macneill

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

It is important to empower students with information and understanding about trauma along with concepts and interventions for brain regulation and healing. When information about the impact of trauma is shared with students without first establishing a solid foundation for hope and change, it can do more harm than good. In this presentation, we will share guidelines and ideas for teaching key trauma-informed principles to students including physical, emotional and social regulation strategies as well as an understanding of the stress response.

Innovative Strategies To Motivate And Build Resilience In Every Student, Christian Moore

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

How do you help students bounce back from what they have been through? From trauma, isolation, and poverty, to mental health challenges, our students have faced many obstacles over the last two years. Come see a formula to help you guide students through the challenges that destroy motivation and make it difficult to find success.

Strengthening The Academic Progress Of Students Within Multi-Tiered Systems Of Support, Leslie Dial

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Leadership in education is thinking, communicating, and modeling to maximize student growth and achievement. This quantitative research study explored how leadership can strengthen the academic progress of students within Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). When implementation of MTSS is guided by adaptive school leadership, educators will be prepared, communication will occur, interventions will be established, and data will be evaluated. Adaptive leaders who build efficacy will ensure fidelity and continuous improvement of student achievement.

Survey research was conducted to analyze the operational level of MTSS regarding the domains of Leadership, Building Capacity for Instruction, Communication and Collaboration, Data-Based Problem-Solving, Tiered …

Differentiated Instruction And Kindergarten Through 5th Grade Teachers, Aslihan Unal, Zafer Unal, Yasar Bodur

Georgia Educational Researcher

The purpose of this article is to examine Kindergarten through 5th-grade teachers’ understanding of differentiated instruction and perception of their ability to implement differentiated instruction in their classrooms. Differentiated instruction is a critical factor for children’s success. Thirty-one K-5 teachers from the state of Georgia participated in this study. The teacher survey on differentiated instruction developed by Tomlinson (2001) and modified by Page (2007) was used in this study. The researchers also included two open-ended, differentiated instruction questions and seven demographic questions. Study results suggested that while teachers mostly agree that differentiation is an important instructional strategy, they are faced …

Taking Time To B.R.E.A.T.H.E.: Strategies For Strengthening Staff And Student Well-Being, Joelle Hood

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

When students and staff experience chronic stress, it negatively impacts their motivation, performance, and wellbeing, Participants in this engaging workshop will walk away with simple research-based practices from the fields of Mindfulness and Positive Psychology, that they can utilize with both themselves and students to reduce stress and anxiety, improve attention and performance, and strengthen overall physical and psychological well-being.

Teaching Students About Trauma, Stress, And Brain Regulation, Kathy J. Van Horn

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

All students are impacted by stress and can improve learning through understanding the brain and brain regulation. For students who have experienced trauma this information is critical to their success. This presentation will provide guidelines, ideas, and strategies for teaching students key trauma-informed principles including strategies for physical, emotional, and cortical regulation. These principles and strategies can be taught to students individually or through group and classroom settings. Practical ideas and examples will be given along with feedback and lessons learned from the students we have taught.

Professional Development For Working With Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders And Teacher Self-Efficacy, Alison Johnson, Lina Soares, Antonio P. Gutierrez De Blume

Georgia Educational Researcher

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the effect of teacher professional development for working with students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and teacher (N = 56) self-efficacy in the general education classroom. A pretest/posttest quasi-experimental research design was implemented. Teachers in one randomly assigned school received professional development training on research-based practices in working with students with autism to determine if the training had any effect on their perceived self-efficacy ratings and teachers in the other school were randomly assigned to serve as the control (i.e., no additional professional development training was provided during the research phase). …

The Classroom As A Catalyst For Change: Promoting Anti-Racist Pedagogy Through Tolerance In The Elementary Classroom, Madison Setchell

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this paper is to examine the existing research on anti-racist education and synthesize that information to develop lesson plans that teachers can use to promote tolerance in their classrooms. Review of the literature in this area reveals gaps in current curriculum and teaching practices. The literature on teaching tough topics concludes that difficult subjects should be used as a guide for discussion within the low stakes environment of a classroom. Three tolerance-centered lesson plans were developed using the Inquiry Design Model (Grant, 2017). This model highlights key ideas of a topic, presents three supporting questions related to …

Enhancing Hbcu Teacher Education Experience Through Authentic University-School Partnerships, Valeisha Ellis, Patricia Jenkins, Tiffany D. Pogue

Georgia Educational Researcher

This mixed-methods study sought to examine teacher education candidates’ practice-based field experiences and relationships with a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) and an urban P-12 school. As informed by the Networked Improvement Community (NIC) and Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) conceptual frameworks, the three phases of data collection indicated highly favorable results of desired objectives for an innovative, authentic field experience for local pre-service teacher candidates and P-12 partners. The study also evidences a positive effect on students’ achievement as a result of this field experience. Recommendations for future research, education preparation programs, and building partnerships with P-12 schools are discussed.

Teacher-Parent Relationship Building, Alana R. Bray

Honors College Theses

Problems can develop when clashes with culture or daily schedules occur and when communication skills breakdown. In order to build relationships with parents/guardians, teachers must develop the necessary skills to overcome those possible challenges. Teacher education programs should design more successful models to prepare future teachers for relationship building.

Stop, Look, And Listen To What Your Data Is Telling You!, Simone Danielson, Jeffrey Harris, Jeff Barnett

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

Join us for a ride on the Data Train where you will STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN to what your data is telling you and use the information to develop a process of continuous improvement in your after-school program to be an effective co-collaborator of closing the achievement gap. This workshop will provide information and strategies to be used in K – 12.

1. Participants will learn the importance of data analysis in afterschool.
2. Participants will learn how to work with regular day school professionals in determining what data sources to use.
3. Participants will be able to analyze sample data and develop …

An Examination Of K-12 Teachers’ Assessment Beliefs And Practices In Relation To Years Of Teaching Experience., Aslihan Unal, Zafer Unal

Georgia Educational Researcher

This study compared K-12 teachers’ assessment beliefs and practices in relation to their years of teaching experience. The data for this study was collected from 87 public school teachers. The findings suggest that as the teachers’ years of experience increases, the value they place in assessment increases as well.

The Interview Project: A Way Of Bridging Theory And Practice In Early Childhood Mathematics Preservice Teacher Education, Doris Santarone

Georgia Educational Researcher

Twenty-nine early childhood preservice teachers (PSTs) participated in an Interview Project. The project’s goals were for the PSTs to apply their knowledge of research on children’s mathematics in their interactions with a child and to learn to listen to and learn from children. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the project and determine whether it met these goals. Pre and post data were collected, and I found that the PSTs showed a significant improvement in their ability to describe and analyze a child’s mathematics and to use their listening to make appropriate instructional decisions. In addition, I found …

Building A Better Risk Prevention Model, Steven Hornyak

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

This presentation chronicles the work of Houston County Schools in developing a risk prevention model built on more than ten years of longitudinal student data. In its second year of implementation, Houston At-Risk Profiles (HARP), has proven effective in identifying those students most in need of support and linking them to interventions and supports that lead to improved outcomes and significantly reduces the risk of failure.

Shattered Ground: Mental Health Disorders In Children – A Hidden Crisis, Yvonne Hefner

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

This session will offer teachers an in-depth understanding of mental health disorders, including basic information about these disorders, background information to assist in identifying early warning signs, and strategies for supporting students that may suffer from a mental health disorder. Teachers will learn classroom strategies that will foster a positive learning environment which will help to support these students

The Importance Of Automaticity Development In Mathematics, Austin T. Baker, Josh Cuevas

Georgia Educational Researcher

This study examined whether students were reaching automaticity with single digit multiplication facts. A fourteen question interview was used to collect data. The first three questions asked the student basic information about themselves and their current math teacher. The next seven questions were math facts. The math facts chosen for the interview were a range of difficulty, starting with a simple problem like 1 x 9 and increasing in difficulty to 6 x 9. The last four questions were open-ended with the intent of gaining insight into whether the students were using strategies to complete the problems or if they …

Alternative Seating And Students' Perceptions: Implications For The Learning Environment, Alicia Stapp

Georgia Educational Researcher

Expectations placed on educators to improve academic performance continue to increase across the United States. One reason for this rise in expectancy is the enactment of The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015. Replacing the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2002, the ESSA mandates that “all students are taught to high academic standards” (ESSA, 2015). Subsequently, educators constantly seek best practices that foster effective learning environments. A component of the learning environment oftentimes excluded from research is the physical structure of a classroom, such as the type of seating in a classroom. Research suggests that students who …

Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions About The Effectiveness Of The Toon Comic Books In Their Guided Reading Instruction, Ewa Mcgrail, Alicja Rieger, Gina M. Doepker

Georgia Educational Researcher

Recently, education and literacy researchers have acknowledged educational merit in guided reading that incorporates interactive and authentic reading texts, such as graphic novels, which meet the needs of today’s predominantly multimodal learners (Jennings, Rule, & Zanden, 2014; Kist & Pytash, 2015). This qualitative study explores through interviews and a questionnaire the perceptions of pre-service teachers about the effectiveness of the comic book series known as TOON comics in guided reading with struggling readers and writers, from kindergarten through fifth grade. Pre-service teachers have expressed positive views concerning the use of these comic books in guided reading instruction with their struggling …

The Values Grounded Learning Environment: Developing A Positive School Culture And Student Success, Michael J. Redivo Ph.D., Lynn Coleman

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

The Values Grounded Learning Environment training provides educators with a comprehensive positive behavior management model, including basic strategies for effective limit setting and positive reinforcement. It is a user friendly model that can be implemented in a variety of educational settings and provides a framework for thoughtfully responding to student behaviors and emphasizing student and staff accountability.

The Development Of An After-School Program For Youth Placed At-Risk: A Collaborative Approach, K. Andrew R. Richards, Victoria Shiver, Michael A. Lawson, Tania Alameda-Lawson

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

Educators, program practitioners, and potential community partners may enjoy this presentation on a collaborative approach to improving the lives of youth that have been placed at-risk within and outside of a Title I elementary school’s after-school program. By combining resources, expertise, and disciplines, the program works to develop well-rounded and personally and socially responsible children through academic enrichment, sport-based youth development, and parental engagement.

Galileo: Staying Afloat In The Digital Age, Pamela Y. Mccreless

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

According to the Pew Research Center, 94% of teachers surveyed indicated that their students are “very likely” to use Google or other search engines ahead of all other sources when doing research for assignments. Educators agree that students are drowning in information. Teachers and librarians alike have the mission to teach information literacy skills to enable students to stay afloat in the sea of information. These same students were reported to lack online search skills. Students should understand that not all search engines are alike nor can all search engine results be trusted 100% of the time. GALILEO - Georgia …

Teacher And School Characteristics: Predictors Of Student Achievement In Georgia Public Schools, Alisande F. Mayer, Ellen W. Wiley, Larry P. Wiley, Dianne C. Dees, Simmie A. Raiford

Georgia Educational Researcher

Student achievement of fifth-grade students in 106 Georgia public schools in CRCT reading and mathematics was examined as a function of five characteristics of teachers and schools. The five independent variables used as predictors of CRCT scores were Title I status, teachers’ education level, teachers’ average years of experience, class size, and computer to student ratio. Designation as a Title I school was the strongest predictor of student achievement. When compared to non-Title I schools, Title I school status resulted in a higher percentage of students meeting CRCT standards in both reading and math and a lower percentage of students …

Building Resilience & Life Skills For At-Risk Military Youth Through A Science Mentoring Program, Kasey L. Bozeman

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

Since the events of Sept 11, 2001, military service members have experienced frequent war-zone deployments, causing issues of separation, anxiety, and stress in military youth. Using established learning models and curriculum development tools, learn how to plan, implement, and evaluate after-school programming for military youth, enabling them to build resiliency and develop life skills to deal with these challenges.

Integrating Teaching Literature And Writing, John J. Hobe

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

Brief Description: Come and learn how we can better understand each other through reading and writing about literature. Participants will see demonstrated and participate in integrated literature and writing lessons for all age students. They will receive references and lessons for integrating literature and writing lessons. Participants will discuss teaching literature and writing in schools.

Relationship-Based School & Classroom Management, Ryan Lucas, Matt Teegarden

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

Participants will learn about the four roles of relationship-based classroom and school management in working with students of all ages. Additionally, participants will have the opportunity to reflect on previous interactions with students (some that went well and some that didn't go so well), learn which role is their strength ("go-to" role), and identify the role with which they need peer support. This presentation is given lecture style with encouraged audience participation and includes plenty of laughter, practical applications, and"just-in-time" ideas to implement the very next day.

Developing The Whole Teacher: A Phenomenological Case Study Of Student Teachers' Emotional Experiences In One Teacher Education Program, Kathleen M. Crawford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Student teaching serves as the culminating field experience in the majority of teacher education programs, and studies have revealed the need to investigate the connection between pre-service teachers and the emotions they experience, express, and manage. Therefore, the overarching purpose of this phenomenological case study was to examine how one Early Childhood (PreK-5^th) Education Program addressed and prepared teachers for the emotional dimensions of teaching, as well as to examine the emotional experiences of the student teachers. The results of this study revealed the need for teacher education programs to amend the ways in which they prepare pre-service …

Integrating Reading Into Mathematics Instruction, Meredith Eby

Honors College Theses

Reading is not often thought of as a topic that affects mathematics, but it is a reality for low-level reader students. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how teachers describe the relationship between mathematics and literacy skills, and to explore specific methods mathematics teachers used to accommodate low-level readers in their mathematics instruction. Participants were six teachers from a rural elementary school. Data was collected through recorded interviews and supplemental email questions that were coded. The data gathered showed that teachers use literacy in mathematics classrooms through word problems and mathematics stories. The most common accommodation was …

Table Talk: Empowering Alive Conversations, Jeanine Judd, Beverly Anne Richardson

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

Are the skills of conversation becoming lost in today's fast-paced and technology-enhanced world? Table Talk is an instructional framework created to teach elementary students how to communicate and collaborate effectively. Just as technology's ubiquitousness and society's rapidness have sustained, Table Talk seeks to empower students to overcome barriers to successful and productive adult lives.

Mentor Partnerships Between Colleges And K-12 Schools: Perspectives From College Students Who Mentor, Tammy J. Graham, Ra'shaud Graham, Traceel Andrews, James Mcmanus, Matthew Harris

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

This interactive presentation will focus on ideas for building mentor partnerships between colleges and K-12 schools. Additionally, college students who serve as mentors will present tips for establishing positive rapport, serving as constructive role models, and fostering trusting relationships with mentees. Target audience members include K-12 faculty members, college students, and college faculty members.