Education Commons^™

Making Room For Formative Assessment Processes: A Multiple Case Study, Rob Mcentarffer

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This qualitative instrumental multiple case study (Stake, 2005) explored how teachers made room for formative assessment processes in their classrooms, and how thinking about assessment changed during those formative assessment experiences. Data were gathered from six teachers over three months and included teacher interviews, student interviews, participant-observation notes, videos of classroom experiences, and classroom artifacts. These data were analyzed using a category construction method (Merriam, 2009) that involved open coding, axial coding, and finally a cross-case analysis that grouped axial codes according to themes relating to the two research questions. Four case studies describe the process of co-created work with …

Family Environment And School Environment As Predictors For Physical Aggression In Low-Income Children, Xiaoyu Li

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of the current study was to examine the unique and collective contributions of child’s own characteristics, their family environment and school environment to the development of child physical aggression at Grade 5. This study was based on Bronfenbrenner’s Process-Person-Context-Time model (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006). Children’s gender and their aggression at age 3 were included as person characteristics. Family environment (primary caregiver’s ethnicity, maternal education, home warmth, physical punishment, exposure to violence, family conflict, and parent-child dysfunctional interaction) and early child care experience measured by whether the child was in child care at both age 3 and age 4 …

Effective Coaching Strategies For Increased Use Of Research-Based Instructional Strategies For Linguistically Diverse Classrooms, Cindy S. West

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis explores effective coaching strategies that support the classroom teacher in implementing research-based instructional strategies designed to assist English language learners (ELLs) in language acquisition and content learning. Through individual interviews, ELL instructional coaches assisted in the identification of coaching strategies they perceived to be most supportive as classroom teachers learned and implemented instructional strategies for supporting ELL students.

The data gathered from the interviews is organized under four main themes: Developing Partnerships, Identifying Student and Teacher Needs, Practical Applications, and The Role of Professional Development. The data indicated participants strongly endorsed instructional coaching as an effective form of …

Two Approaches To Teaching Young Children Science Concepts, Vocabulary, And Scientific Problem-Solving Skills, Soo-Young Hong, Karen E. Diamond

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

The present study examined the efficacy of two different approaches to teaching designed to facilitate children’s learning about science concepts and vocabulary related to objects’ floating and sinking and scientific problem-solving skills: responsive teaching (RT) and the combination of responsive teaching and explicit instruction (RT + EI). Participants included 104 children (51 boys) aged four to five years.Small groups of children were randomly assigned to one of the two intervention groups (RT, RT + EI) or to a control group. Responsive teaching (RT) reflects a common approach to teaching young children, and the combination approach (RT + EI) includes explicit …

Exploring The Effectiveness Of The Learning Community As A Form Of Professional Development And A Catalyst For Changing The Beliefs And Practices Of Family Child Care Providers, Jennifer Gerdes

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study explored the influence of a 12-hour professional learning community for family child care providers in an urban Midwest city on the participants’ beliefs and practices. A secondary purpose was to explore the potential of the professional learning community as a format for professional development of family child care providers. Data for this study were collected in multiple ways including participant journals, field notes, recordings of learning community sessions, and collected artifacts from learning community provocations. For this group of family child care providers, the learning community was a useful format for professional development. The learning community influenced growth …