Education Commons^™

Leaders Reflect On Alternative Learning Environments: Resources Needed To Ensure Student Success, Willie Heath Miller

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the decision-making process of school leaders in ALE settings when determining the resources they provide and whether the resources provided ensure that these students are successful in the classroom, graduate on time, or earn a high school equivalency diploma. In the study, there were 10 participants who represented a variety of schools in Southwest Arkansas. Seven of the schools operate their alternative learning environment classes on-site. Three of the schools partnered with an educational cooperative to operate their ALE programs. The data were collected by conducting interviews which allowed the researcher …

A Shared Language: An Examination Of School Interaction Experiences Of Hispanic Ell Students In Northwest Arkansas, Tricia Tice

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

A SHARED LANGUAGE: AN EXAMINATION OF SCHOOL INTERACTION EXPERIENCES OF HISPANIC ELL STUDENTS IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS

Tricia Dawn Tice

Arkansas has one of the fastest-growing Latino populations in the country (Garcia Mont, 2015; Brown & Lopez, 2013). The Northwest Arkansas corridor has the largest concentration of Latinos to date due to the area being host to some of the largest companies in the United States (Garcia Mont, 2015; Brown & Lopez, 2013). Hispanic immigration into Arkansas has greatly increased since the late 1980s (Monroe, 1999). As a result of the area growth, public schools have seen tremendous increases in the …

Secondary Teacher Attitudes Targeting Inclusion Of English Language Learners In Mainstream Classrooms, Jacquelin Drusilla Buttram-Brownell

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

Educational leadership in public schools have struggled to service second language learners across the United States. Although support systems in urban education settings have seemed to be fully staffed, the surge of new immigrants, has posed challenges to classroom teachers. Unspoken attitudes of bias and perception of faculty members have been menacing and could have impeded equitable practice and performance of both the English language learner and the teacher. Previous research of Reeves (2002, 2004, & 2006) has inferred teachers have struggled with their attitudes toward ELLs in their mainstream classes and have indicated professional development as being essential. Specifically, …

Examining Teacher Perceptions Of District Policies On Teacher Absenteeism In Arkansas, Tyler Stephen Reed

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

School districts have adopted policies to limit chronic absenteeism, including changing policies to incentivize teachers to take fewer days off from the school year (Mershon, 2015) due to the effects of a teacher being out of the classroom. These effects include the effects on student achievement (Clotfelter et al., 2006; Ehrenberg et al., 1991), on colleagues and the school district (Bradley et al., 2007; Miller, 2008), and the use of substitutes in lieu of a teacher (Bruno, 2002; Herrmann & Rockoff, 2010). This qualitative, phenomenological study sought to understand teachers’ perspectives regarding policies and practices that are aimed to promote …

Representation Of African American/Black Men Educators In K-12 Public Schools: Impact On Recruitment, Retention, And Responsibilities To Education, Tekyesha Gault Anderson

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

Almost seven decades after the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v Board of Education decision, African American/Black men are still vastly underrepresented in the K-12 public education profession. For this qualitative, phenomenological research study, a small sample of this demographic of educators, who chose to enter and remain in the profession, shared their lived experiences. Three research questions informed this study: (1) What are African American/Black men’s perceptions of their representation in the K-12 public education profession? (2) What are African American/Black men’s perceptions regarding their entrance and retention in the K-12 public education profession? and (3)What are African American/Black men’s …

Implementation Of Standards-Based Grading At The Middle School Level, Amy Louise Manley

Theses and Dissertations from 2019

The grading practices in education are steeped in tradition. Although the inaccuracies of grading have been written about for over 100 years, schools have been slow to tackle grading reform. This research study is based on a case study which investigated the implementation of standards-based grading from traditional grading in one middle school. This case study was developed to answer one research question: How was standards-based grading implemented in the middle school? The research obtained in this case study will be used with the researcher’s own school community as they transition to standards-based grading. The case study involved semi-structured interviews …

The Effects Of "Capturing Kids' Hearts" And Building Student-Teacher Relationships In An Arkansas Suburban Elementary School Setting, Karla Lee Ann Neathery

Theses and Dissertations from 2019

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the Capturing Kids’ Hearts professional development process as it relates to student-teacher relationships. This study sought to determine teachers’ perceptions regarding student-teacher relationships. The study was to ascertain the effect of the Capturing Kids’ Hearts professional development process on: (a) student attendance, (b) student achievement, and (c) student discipline. This qualitative study used the results of surveys, discipline, attendance, and student achievement data to address two suburban elementary schools’ problem of students not reaching their highest academic and social potential due to the absence of establishing relationships at schools. …

The Impact Of Teacher Mentoring On Novice Educator Retention In High Poverty Schools, Gabriel D. Jackson

Theses and Dissertations from 2019

Retaining novice teachers in today’s educational system is proving to be extremely difficult. In schools of poverty, this challenge is much more difficult. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the effectiveness of a district-mandated teacher mentoring program in a Central Arkansas School District in regards to skills, dispositions, and retention. Eight novice teachers who work in high poverty schools were interviewed as part of this study. Through transcription and analysis, themes were established to gain a clear understanding of the novice teachers’ thoughts and perceptions of the teacher mentoring program. The results indicated a strong presence of …

Do Graduate Level Content Degrees Matter? An Analysis Of The Effect Of Content Area Master's Degrees On Student Achievement, Christopher Lee Nail

Theses and Dissertations from 2019

This study addresses teacher education level and the impact it has on student achievement. The purpose of this study was to examine whether there are any differences in student achievement between students taught by teachers with advanced degrees in a specific content area and those students taught by teachers with only a bachelor’s degree or those with a master’s degree outside the subject area. The study examined ninth and tenth grade ACT Aspire student achievement data collected from teachers who hold a master’s degree in a subject-related content area and teachers who do not hold a master’s degree in a …

A Comparison Between Speech Language Pathologists' And School Administrators' Attitudes And Perceptions Regarding Professional Development, Melinda Margaret Salloukh

Theses and Dissertations from 2019

The purpose of this descriptive study was to identify the attitudes and perceptions of speech-language pathologists and school administrators regarding professional development. This study contains both quantitative and qualitative survey data from speech-language pathologists and school administrators currently serving in the public schools in Arkansas. This survey, deployed over a six-week period, contained a series of Likert-type and open-ended questions that were analyzed by the researcher to answer three research questions. There were 182 speech-language pathologists and 103 school administrators who responded to this survey. The participants were chosen from an email list obtained from Arkansas Department of Education and …

A Comparison Between The Effect Of National Board Certified Teachers And Non-National Board Certified Teachers On Student Performance Of Third Graders In The Pulaski County Special School District, Sonya Whitfield

Theses and Dissertations from 2019

Of the many studies related to the effectiveness of National Board Certified teachers, there were none found that related to Arkansas teachers. This research study investigated the impact that Nationally Board Certified teachers (NBCTs) had on the achievement of third graders in the Pulaski County Special District (PCSSD). Achievement was operationally defined as scores in the content areas of reading and mathematics as measured by the ACT Aspire standardized test. This study was designed to generate data related to the effectiveness of NBCTs in meeting the academic needs of all students. In addition, the purpose of this study was to …