Education Commons^™

The Shared Experiences Of Educators In Grades 7–12 Who Implement Lessons In Social–Emotional Learning Curriculum, Heathre C. Palige

Doctor of Education Program Dissertations

Social–emotional learning (SEL) is used in public school classrooms throughout the United States. The problem that this researcher addressed in this study was that minimal understanding exists of the lived experiences of teachers who implement SEL in Colorado public schools in Grades 7–12. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore and to provide a clearer understanding of the lived experiences of six educators who implement SEL in Grades 7–12 in Colorado public schools. The study fills a gap in literature in understanding the experiences of teachers who use SEL in middle and high school. The literature review …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experience Of Secondary World Language Teachers Who Use Proficiency-Based Rubrics For Assessment, James Donovan

Doctor of Education Program Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the lived experience of Massachusetts public secondary (middle school/high school) world language teachers who utilized the ACTFL proficiency-based rubrics to evaluate student performance environments (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, 2012). This study was guided by the research question, “What are the lived experiences of secondary world language teachers who used Proficiency-Based Rubrics to evaluate student performance?” Husserl’s (1964) transcendental phenomenology served as the study’s conceptual framework, and Andrade and Brookhart’s (2020) classroom assessment theory served as the theoretical framework.

Semi structured interviews were used to gather …

Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Public High School Teachers And Instructional Coaches Participating In Virtual Instructional Coaching During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Alyson J. Manion

All Theses And Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of public high school teachers (grades 9-12) and instructional coaches who have participated in virtual instructional coaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three research questions guided this study: (1) How do public high school teachers and instructional coaches describe their experience with virtual instructional coaching during the COVID-19 pandemic?, (2) How do public high school teachers and instructional coaches describe the changes in instructional coaching experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic?, and (3) How do public high school teachers and instructional coaches describe their relationships with their instructional coaching …

Understanding The Perceived Impact Of Social And Emotional Learning Interventions On High School Student Success, Michelle Wright

All Theses And Dissertations

Integrating social and emotional learning (SEL) skills into instructional practices and academic content has become a priority in many school districts (CASEL, 2018). While educators and clinical professionals alike have made strides in recognizing the importance of SEL, the level of implementation across districts varies greatly (CASEL, 2018). This qualitative program evaluation explored whether school staff at a public suburban high school in the Northeastern United States perceived the implementation of various interventions aimed at increasing SEL skills of students to be successful. This study utilized semi-structured interviews to identify which interventions had been implemented by a group of school …

Perceptions Of Secondary Teachers And Post-Secondary Faculty On The Influence Of Dual Enrollment Participation And College Readiness: A Qualitative Single Case Study, Tanya Berfield

All Theses And Dissertations

Dual enrollment (DE) is the opportunity for high school students to participate in college coursework while high school. DE includes two overarching characteristics, student access and course integrity. Literature boasts of the benefits related to participation such as career exploration and college transition. Roadblocks may include cost, course eligibility, and lack of qualified teachers. Proponents of DE claim that a benefit of DE participation is increased student college readiness. State regulations are inconsistent regarding, development, implementation, and delivery of DE programming resulting in inconsistencies of student access and course integrity. ACT released a report in 2018 that states 38% of …

The Perceptions Of Former Japanese High School Graduates Regarding Student Autonomy: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study, Ade Oni

All Theses And Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study examined the open-ended interview between the researcher and participants to investigate the perceptions former Japanese high school graduates had as it pertains to the development of student autonomy. One interview was used for each of the four participants in the study. Over a four-week period the transcribed interviews were analyzed and coded. Across all four interviews key themes emerged, including (1) Opinions in High School Classes, (2) Independent Thought While Doing Class Activities, (3) Talk Time Between Teacher and Student, (4) Experience Doing Group Work, (5) Teacher Control in the Classroom, (6) Answering Questions Wrong, and …

The Lived Experience Of Rural Cte Teachers As Members Of The Secondary Education Teaching Corps, Matthew E. Speno

All Theses And Dissertations

The secondary education system in the United States provides the opportunity for students to earn a high school diploma in preparation for post-secondary college and career. These students are taught by certified high school teachers with similar pedagogy but deliver instruction in different content areas. This qualitative study was conducted to understand how rural CTE high school teachers describe their lived experience of being a member of the secondary education teaching corps. Guided by two research questions that ask (1) how rural CTE teachers describe their teacher professional identity and (2) how rural CTE teachers characterize the role of vocational …

Massachusetts High School Teachers’ Perceptions Of Transitions In Teaching And Assessment Related To The Next Generation Science Standards, Alyssa Mocharnuk

All Theses And Dissertations

The experiences and perceptions of high school science teachers with the transitions in teaching and assessment related to the adoption of the 2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Framework based on the Next Generation Science Standards were studied in this interpretative phenomenological analysis. The Next Generation Science Standards incorporated both traditional disciplinary content ideas and the new science and engineering practices (NGSS Lead States, 2013). Teachers were required to develop new materials, and difficulty in developing new ways of teaching and assessing science (Friedrichsen and Barnett, 2018; Kawasaki and Sandoval, 2020; Wilde, 2018) was exacerbated by the delay in high-stakes testing …

Examining The Challenges And Benefits Of Inclusion In Urban Secondary Schools, Jeff James Spaletta

All Theses And Dissertations

American high schools with full-inclusion programs often struggle to offer effective academic instruction to students with disabilities. While academic researchers have conducted studies on inclusion programs, a literature review revealed a dearth of academic studies specific to inclusion programs in secondary schools. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the attitudes of general-education teachers in urban, Title 1 high schools regarding the ability of those teachers to provide effective academic instruction to students with disabilities in schools that offer full-inclusion education. This study was motivated by three research questions: 1) What are the attitudes of teachers working in …

Cultural Appropriation: The Continued Phenomena Of American Indian High School Mascots, Joshua Bullock

All Theses And Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the phenomenon of how high school administrators view the identity of their school’s American Indian mascot and how it creates school culture, views of American Indians, and cultural appropriation. Critical race theory offered a positional framework to contextualize the phenomena as experienced by each participant. Understanding the influence of an American Indian mascot has on administration is important because it adds insight into the controversial conversation about American Indian mascots and their use nationwide. This research study added to the body of knowledge regarding American Indian mascots by specifically engaging in …

Teachers Respond To Impact Of Intelligent Mathematics Tutorial On Students’ Motivation And Engagement, Francis Xavier Tweedie

All Theses And Dissertations

Secondary school mathematics proficiency continues to be a point of concern, as the current National Report Cards continue to show insufficient change. For middle school students, grades six through eight are formative years, as they begin to shape emotional connections and make a decision about their ability and motivation to do mathematics. These early decisions are paramount to how they approach mathematics learning in later grades. Student motivation is a critical function of students’ affective domain, engagement in the classroom, and their self-belief for learning. Teachers play a significant role in this process by providing supportive and effective learning environments …

Unpacking The Cultural Relevance Of The High School Experiences Of African-American Males, Damiso A. Josey

All Theses And Dissertations

Despite the vast research on cultural competence and student engagement, little is known about the perspectives of the Black male students who have graduated from any New Jersey public schools This qualitative, phenomenological, multi-case study examines the experiences of Black male students who have been educated predominantly by White educators. The gap in the literature highlights the need for researchers and educators to examine teacher cultural competence from the students’ perspective as it impacted student engagement in the educational process. Student disengagement is a factor in school dropout and a racial/cultural gap exists between Black male students and educators not …

Social Media In A High School English Class: A Collective Case Study, Angela M. Wells

All Theses And Dissertations

This qualitative collective case study sought to describe the perceptions and experiences of an 11th-grade English teacher and her students when incorporating social media into the classroom. The teacher introduced social media into four classrooms, wherein the students answered questions and interacted with each other on a discussion board. The teacher’s fifth classroom remained a traditionally taught class, wherein the teacher lectured about class material. After six weeks of instruction, the researcher interviewed the teacher and provided anonymous surveys to the students to determine their perceptions and experiences when incorporating social media into the classroom. The researcher analyzed and coded …

The Forgotten Population: Honors Math Students At A Vocational High School, Jarrod Richards

All Theses And Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods individual case study was to investigate why honors math students at a regional vocational high school felt that their mathematical ability decreased over their enrollment at the site under study from the levels they experienced in middle school. This study specifically focused on long term retention of material and motivational forces that can influence the perceptions of honors students’ ability in mathematics. The participants for this study were 23 students who had been in honors math for all four years at this school. A records review was conducted for the 23 participants, which yielded …

Examining Student Engagement In The Academic Environment, Michael Scott Milliken

All Theses And Dissertations

This mixed-methods study examined the traits and engagement of five students. The students were high school boys at an independent (non-public) school. The participants’ Big Five personality traits and trait emotional intelligence were examined in depth. In addition, observation and interviews were employed to gain a deep understanding of the students’ behavioral and affective academic engagement. Many themes and subtopics were explored. The themes (and subtopics) were traits (conscientiousness, impulse control, extraversion, stress management, happiness, optimism, and self-esteem), engagement (participation, attention, effort, and perseverance), course content (general academics, English, math, history, and science), and academic tasks (in-class: passive vs. active, …