Education Commons^™

Assistive Technology In Early Childhood, Ciarah Thoreson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This capstone will be focusing on assistive technology in early childhood special education as it relates to students with physical health disabilities. This project is important because there seems to be a lack of information about supporting early childhood students with physical health disabilities in home and school settings. As an early childhood special education teacher, it can be difficult to determine what assistive technologies would be appropriate for each individual student. This project focuses on exploring assistive technology within early childhood to promote inclusion.

Assistive technology is any product or tool that helps individuals with disabilities learn, work, and …

Elevating The Voices Of Community College Faculty: A Phenomenological Study Of Community College Work, Patria Lawton

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore how community college faculty described their lived experiences concerning their work. Specifically, the study examined faculty work in terms of teaching, service, and other scholarly work. A phenomenological approach was taken to understand the individuals’ shared experience of being faculty at a community college. Data was gathered through eight individual virtual, semi-structured interviews with unlimited-full time faculty who were recruited via email from a faculty union representative on their campus. All the participants within the study were from community colleges in the Minnesota State system. Participants were assigned numbers to ensure anonymity …

Empowering Learners Through Habits Of Mind And Personalized Pathways: An Ethnographic Study, Megan Amundson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

While teaching using a personalized learning concept, it was discovered that learners did not have the necessary social emotional skills that they needed in order to successfully make decisions for their learning. Throughout researching personalized learning, engagement, self-pacing, and empowered learning three different Habits of Mind, the school district’s social emotional learning program, were identified to teach to a small group of learners in grades three through six to help them better understand what personalized learning is and why they are doing it in order to take ownership of their learning. Therefore this research question was created: How does the …

Iep Implementation Fidelity: Literature Review And Handbook, Kiah Love-Latzke

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The use of an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for a student with a disability is mandated under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004 and is used to determine the educational needs of that child. IDEA defines an IEP as a “written statement for each child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised in accordance with section 1414(d) of this title” (2004). This also ensures that students receiving these services through the IEP must have them available in their least restrictive environment. The least restrictive environment according to IDEA states that “To the maximum extent appropriate, children with …

Using Structured Work Task Systems To Foster Generalized Task Management And Independence In Kindergarten And First Grade Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders., Mckenzie Helgeson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

ABSTRACT

Fostering student independence is a common theme in special education classrooms across the United States, and risen to the forefront of Autism programming with curriculum development and program structure in recent years. Educators use a variety of tools such as visual schedules, predictable routines and structured work task systems. Structured work task systems provide a predictable pattern or schedule that students can use either independently or with assistance from an adult to complete work tasks throughout their school day. These structured work task systems may vary in appearance from student to student, classroom to classroom, and school to school …

All About The Special Education Process: A Handbook For Parents, Mikayla Reinke

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Until 1976 and the passing of P.L. 94-482 parents or caregivers of children with disabilities were not significantly involved in the education of their children. Even after this, many parents have felt they were in unknown territory regarding the field of special education. With different types of meetings, definitions, and processes that are not explained in a form that those who have not studied special education would understand, how could there not be unknown territory? Parents are provided with the Parent’s Guide to Special Education (2018) and the Parental Rights for Public School Students Receiving Special Education Services: Notice of …

Coaching As A Framework For Early Intervention Service Delivery, Rebecca Walzak

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Abstract

The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) has set forth a list of high leverage practices that have significant impact on children with special needs from birth through early childhood. One of these impactful strategies is building family capacity, which can be effectively addressed using a coaching framework for service delivery. Research in the field has not yet clearly defined coaching terms, definitions or characteristics, which impacts the fidelity of the practice and requires research and consensus moving forward. This body of work seeks to look at current research around the topic of coaching and it’s effectiveness in meeting student …

Front-End-Connective Phonics Effectiveness In Reading And Spelling In Fifth Through Seventh Grade Students, Bridget Weber

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This 2021 study experimentally investigated the impact five front-end-connective phonics had on the academic performance of middle school students in reading and spelling DIBELS nonsense words. In the upper grades, students depend on whole-word instruction instead of phoneme awareness. My focus was on whether or not front-end-connective phonics instruction played a significant role in the outcome of students’ scores on reading and spelling tests. Participants were assessed twice in both reading and spelling. The participants took an assessment at the beginning of the study and then a final assessment at the end of the study. The research took place in …

Increasing Family Collaboration And Engagement In Early Childhood Special Education Using A Family-Centered Approach, Sam Van Gorp

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The Division of Early Childhood (DEC) has recognized family-centered practice as the recommended model of service delivery for early intervention. A key component of family-centered practice involves collaboration with families. It is critical for families and early childhood special education teachers to work together to increase student outcomes, while keeping the needs of the family in mind (Hile, Santos, and Hughes, 2016). Themes discovered in the literature include: building relationships with families (Odom & Wolery, 2003), family engagement opportunities (Kelty & Wakabayashi, 2020), and providing families with resources (Summers et al., 2007). To increase family collaboration and engagement for the …

Using Structured Work Task Systems To Foster Generalized Task Management And Independence In Kindergarten And First Grade Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders., Mckenzie Helgeson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Fostering student independence is a common theme in special education classrooms across the United States, and risen to the forefront of Autism programming with curriculum development and program structure in recent years. Educators use a variety of tools such as visual schedules, predictable routines and structured work task systems. Structured work task systems provide a predictable pattern or schedule that students can use either independently or with assistance from an adult to complete work tasks throughout their school day. These structured work task systems may vary in appearance from student to student, classroom to classroom, and school to school depending …

Executive Function: What It Is And How It Affects Reading Comprehension, Abegail Harthun

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Executive function is a very key component of development. Awareness of executive function has become more prominent in education. Research has been able to determine how the executive function develops in children versus adults. Specific areas of executive function have been identified. When the area was identified and how they influence behavior, interventions and strategies could be developed to counter the deficit. In the education world, assessing students with the purpose of identifying the deficits was difficult. Administering assessment naturally took care of the need for EF skills. New assessments needed to be developed. Companies have made those developments. Affective …

Social Studies Literacy, Justin Hingst

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The field of education is constantly evolving. It is the role of professionals in education to provide students with the best opportunity to be successful learners. One major element of modern American Education, literacy instruction in the content areas, has become a key point in the discussion of how to best educate students. For the better part of one hundred years, the notion that every teacher is a teacher of literacy has been considered best practice. Within the last thirty years, alternative methodologies for literacy instruction within the content areas have become more prevalent as the literacy scores of American …

Does The Implementation Of Bridges Math Intervention Show Growth In Student Learning?, Heidi Lunde

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This study focuses on the effectiveness of the Bridges Intervention program as a tier two intervention for 4th grade elementary school students in the area of mathematics. The intervention was delivered via instructional videos and follow up activities through the SeeSaw application. The focus of the study was to see if the implementation of Bridges Intervention increases students’ success when working with numbers in base 10 and if students’ have an increase in their STAR MATH scores. Students were be given placement assessments via the SeeSaw application based on the recommendations of the Bridges Intervention program. Once students were assessed …

Effects Of Play-Based Learning On Phonemic Awareness And Phonics Skills, Kristen Heidecker

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of this research was to determine the effectiveness of play-based learning on phonemic awareness and phonics skills in kindergarten. This study aimed to determine whether or not play-based learning materials such as letter tiles, cards, timers, and literacy-based games were an effective way for kindergarten students to acquire skills such as segmenting, letter sounds, and sight word recognition. A pre-assessment was given using FastBridge to determine which skills the students were working towards mastering. Play-based learning materials were then offered to small groups of students during our regular literacy time, and data was collected using FastBridge after two …

Examining Teacher Leadership: The Perceived Challenges Of Being A Teacher Leader, Noelle Hiedeman Green

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Today’s school leaders recognize that one person, mainly the principal, cannot adequately address the needs of all members of the school community. Many principals rely on teacher leaders to lead alongside them to further school improvement, knowing that the traditional way of thinking of school leadership as being the sole role of the principal is no longer effective or efficient. While K-12 teachers typically have a strong background in child development, psychology, and pedagogy, many lack experience in leading and facilitating adults and have little background in adult learning theory.

The purpose of this research is to determine how K-12 …

Strategies Utilized By Speech-Language Pathologists When Treating Speech-Language Disorders In Children Who Are Bilingual, Julianne L. Monceaux-Visser

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

In the state of Minnesota, more children who use a language other than English were reported to speak English less than “very well” (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020). There was neither a “gold standard” (Verdon, McLeod, & Wong, 2013), nor Preferred Practices (ASHA, 2020) for the treatment of speech-language disorders for children who were bilingual. The current study investigated the practices for treating speech-language disorders in this population by SLPs employed in schools in a region of west-central MN and eastern ND. Using an interpreter, and explicit instruction on targeted language skills were the most common clinical approaches utilized. The child’s …

The Impact Of Teacher Leadership In Public Schools, Christopher Larson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

ABSTRACT

The system of education in the United States needs support. Schools are at a constant struggle to maintain a positive climate and culture and retain quality educators. We now live in a world where the grades and performance measures are highly scrutinized. Schools are measured against each other and society wants to see outstanding achievement data from their school systems.

Working within Moustakas’s phenomenological approach, this qualitative phenomenological study will investigate the extent to which teacher leadership advances school climate and culture. The study will be conducted in four public schools in North Dakota: Two that have teacher leadership …

Designing Effective Online Courses: Exploring The Relationships Amongst Teaching Self-Efficacy, Professional Development, Faculty Experience, And Implementation Of Effective Online Course Design Practices, Elizabeth Mcmahon

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

How best to prepare and support faculty to design and teach effective online courses is a topic of great significance to higher education institutional leaders and faculty developers. This research project was motivated by several research questions that were formulated to explore how specific demographic characteristics including online teaching experience, hours of professional development completed, gender, institution type, whether or not the participant has participated in a Quality Matters official course review, and whether or not the participant had experience as an online student were related to online teaching self-efficacy and the extent to which participants reported implementation of effective …

The Effects Of A Shared Vision Of Teacher Leadership On Classroom Teachers’ Instruction, Tiffany Bockelmann

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Many models of instructional teacher leadership exist in schools with various outcomes for teachers. The aim of this case study was to understand systemic alignment in a formal teacher leadership system and how this alignment impacted instructional change. This dissertation was framed by three research questions: 1) How do the rationales of teachers, teacher leaders, and administrators regarding teacher leadership in their school align? 2) How does the coherence of a system of leadership impact classroom teachers’ abilities to engage with formal teacher leaders? 3) How does the coherence of a system of leadership impact classroom teachers’ abilities to implement …

Feelings Forward: A Trauma Group For Adolescents, Lindsay Thronson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Within the United States, research has shown that roughly 14% to 43% of children and teens go through at least one traumatic event and of those children 3% to 15% develop PTSD (VA.gov: Veterans Affairs, 2018). The current research has indicated that children who have endured a traumatic event can suffer from lifelong determinantal effects such as emotional, physical, and psychological issues. With these statistics in mind, this group manual has been created for adolescents who are presenting with PTSD symptomology. Among the literature regarding the detrimental impact that trauma has on adolescents development, there will be a focus …

Kindergarten Teachers' Perceptions About The Language And Literacy Skills Of Their Students, Toni Gohman

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

In the United States, 68 percent of four-year-old children and 86 percent of five-year-old children were enrolled in a preprimary program in 2017 (Institute of Education Sciences [IES], 2019). Preprimary programs are defined as programs that provide educational instruction and childcare, which includes both preschool and kindergarten. Because children entering kindergarten have a diverse array of experiences due to their home environments and previous experience in childcare, they have varying abilities when it comes to skills in language and literacy. Language can be defined as the words that are used to share information and how they are used to communicate, …

Assessing The Influence Of Mentorship On Faculty Job Satisfaction In Higher Education, Rachelle Hunt

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This research study aimed to explore the influence of mentorship on faculty job satisfaction in higher education. The study followed a quantitative correlational study under the paradigm of post-positivism. Higher education faculty members require careful attention to components associated with workplace satisfaction or dissatisfaction, such as the presence of mentoring. Intrinsic and extrinsic factors play an integral role in job satisfaction, such as the induction experience and personal interactions. Out of 144 faculty members from a Midwest institution of higher education, 38 completed the questionnaires, and five participated in the focus group discussion. Men and women participants were equal in …

Implementation Of Word Solving Strategies During First Grade Guided Reading, Kimberly Ann Gienger

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Effective reading instruction in the primary grades is essential to students’ future academic success. Research has shown that there are different methods in which students can be taught to figure out unknown words as they are reading. The study took place during small group, guided reading time. The study included five first grade students in the researcher’s classroom that were reading below grade level. The purpose of this purposive study was to determine the effectiveness of two different word-solving strategies. The first research question that guided this study was, “What impact does utilizing the cueing system during guided reading have …

Implementation Of Social Emotional Skills To Students With A Developmental Delays During A Pandemic, Monica Beier

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

With increasing pressure on preschool programs and families to ensure students are ready for kindergarten, teaching pre-academic skills have gained increased attention. However, mastery of social-emotional skills is also imperative to kindergarten readiness. As with all skill areas, students enroll in preschool programs with a varying degree of competence in their social-emotional skill level. Programs must adapt their approaches to teaching social-emotional skills and responding to problem behaviors in order to reach all learners. However, not all early childhood staff are prepared to address these growing areas of need. A large portion of research supports the implementation of evidence-based interventions …

Flipped Classroom Effects On Upper Elementary And Middle School Student Motivation Inside And Outside The Classroom, Katarina Kuhlmann

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This action research study focuses on the effects the Flipped Classroom Model has on student motivation in the classroom, as well as at home. Two research questions are utilized in this study and the two research questions are the following: How does the Flipped Classroom Model (FCM) enhance student motivation at home, as well as in the classroom? What obstacles can educators and students face pertaining towards motivation with the Flipped Classroom Model (FCM) and how can they overcome those challenges? The study on the Flipped Classroom and student motivation took place in a 5^th grade classroom consisting of …

Effects Of Student Choice On Student Motivation And Engagement Within An Elementary Classroom, Sarah Theesfeld

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of this research is to determine the effects of allowing student choice on student motivation and engagement in an elementary classroom. Specifically, the study will focus on student engagement during reading instruction and motivation to participate when they are offered choice in reading materials versus when they are not offered choice in reading materials. Students will provide information about their thoughts on lessons; when they are able to choose their reading materials versus when they are chosen for them. This study aims to determine best teaching practices for student engagement and motivation during reading instruction. Student feedback and …

Technology Or Pencil And Paper: How Do Fifth Graders Best Learn Math Facts?, Carrie Hartwig

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This research was conducted in order to answer two questions. First, technology or pencil and paper: how do fifth grade students best learn math facts? The second question asked was: How does fact fluency affect feelings about math? The group of 20 students (13 boys, 8 girls) was divided into two groups. One group worked with a technology-based intervention. The second group used the paper and pencil intervention called Cover, Copy, Compare. The study revealed that both interventions were effective at increasing fact fluency, however the technology based intervention showed greater growth. The students were also surveyed about their feelings …

The Effects That A Flipped Classroom Has On Engagement And Academic Performance For High School Mathematics Students, Jordan Geraets

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Flipped classrooms continue to spark educator’s attention and curiosity as an alternative to the traditional teaching and engagement in a classroom, especially during the time of a global pandemic. New, innovative technology has allowed for educators to be able to evolve their classrooms into new learning environments. Research into how flipped classrooms can impact mathematics classrooms and how students engage and perform differently than in a traditional mathematics classroom was expanded on in this study to determine what benefits there could be for students and how effective the teaching model can be in a class where students often struggle. As …

Effects Of Flexible Seating In The Lower Elementary Classrooms, Jessica Van Veen, Lindsey Lindell

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This 2021 study focused on the effects of traditional and flexible seating had on student engagements and autonomy in second and third grade students. The focus was to see which type of seating most benefit student focus, attention, attitude, and morale. Students were observed in four increments per day for four weeks. The first two weeks focused on traditional seating and the second two weeks were focused on flexible seating. Students were also given a survey to present their preferences on both types of seating, traditional and flexible. The research took place in two North Dakota Elementary schools during independent …

A Phenomenological Inquiry Into The Perceptions Of Single Mother College Students, Jamaica Delmar

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

As parenting students are an underserved subset of the growing nontraditional college student population in the United States, this study aims to understand and illuminate the experiences of single mother students while in pursuit of a post-secondary credential. This research is motivated by the following research questions, viewed within the context of a participant's identities: How do single mother college students perceive institutional support services? How do single mother college students experience their interactions with faculty? What institutional systems are in place that pose the biggest barriers to persistence and degree completion for single mother college students? A phenomenological qualitative …