Education Commons^™

Newcomer Perceptions Of Identity And School Membership: Program Comparisons Between English Only And Dual Language Immersion Tracks, Jeanne Lorraine De La Riva [Whisler]

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the differences is ways newcomer ELs in the dual language immersion program characterized identity and sense of belonging in comparison to newcomer ELs in the English-only track. Interview data was analyzed to reveal differences in perceptions of school membership along three different themes: perception of Spanish in the school, academic participation, and peer acceptance. The concept of communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991) was employed to understand students’ participation and sense of belonging within the school community, and the topics of agency and self-efficacy are discussed as they relate to students’ identities. The results of this …

Je Me Suis Couché De Bonne Heure: The Explicit Teaching Of Collocations To High School French 2 Students, Callie Anne Kunz

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Two research questions guided this project: With explicit instruction, to what degree will students be able to acquire and use collocations in a descriptive writing task? And, to what degree will knowledge of collocations affect student confidence in their ability to communicate in French? Watching her students struggle with acquiring and using new vocabulary motivated the author’s interest in trying a novel approach to teaching vocabulary. This capstone discusses the results of explicit collocation instruction to nineteen high school French 2 students. The author uses research to support the teaching of collocations and documents the details of teaching a vocabulary …

Implementation Of Wida Standards: A Cross-Case Analysis Of Twelve Public School Districts In Minnesota, Ashley Elizabeth Karlsson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Implementation of new educational initiatives is never without challenges, and the implementation of WIDA’s English Language Development (ELD) Standards is no exception. As a transformative framework aligning content standards with indicators of language proficiency growth, WIDA Standards have the potential to support and enhance differentiation efforts for English learners. Drawing on the work of implementation science, this research analyzes qualitative interview data from twelve public school districts in Minnesota to determine what is being done to put WIDA Standards into practice. Semi-structured interviewing techniques and cross-case data coding form the basis of the research methodology. The study examines the relationship …

The Effect Of The Mastery Learning Approach On Student Motivation In Middle Level Science, Phillip Jeffrey Hutcheson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed was, How does mastery learning approach affect the motivation of students in a middle level science classroom? The project studied a group of 7th grade students' motivation as they completed a science unit using the mastery learning approach. Data were collected through pre- and post-surveys, observation, and assessment of benchmarks. The collected data showed that students had an increase in motivation after the mastery learning approach. Students' self reported motivation increased. The observed behaviors indicating motivation occurred more frequently. In the assessments, over seventy percent of all students showed mastery of the benchmarks. This paper provides …

Effective Conversations Around Tough Text Within Middle School Literature Circles, Gretchen Elizabeth Enselein

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this project was, how can I ensure that effective conversations around tough text are occurring within middle school literature circles? It explores the role of literature circles within middle school classrooms. The capstone outlines the scaffolding provided for student success. Defined is the term “tough text” and how text can successfully be implemented with the use of discussion to promote effective conversations. The author documents the related research to identify and define best practice strategies to implement and support existing curriculums in a middle school. Created to be implemented school-wide as a supplement to existing …

How Incorporating Physical Activity And Movement Into The Kindergarten Curriculum Will Help To Keep Students Engaged And Increase Their Academic Success, Katie M. Lockrem

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research and curriculum writing that was done for this capstone answers the question of how incorporating physical activity and movement into the kindergarten will help to keep students engaged and increase their academic success. The current epidemic of childhood obesity and the push for all students to perform better on standardized tests lead to this capstone question. This capstone explores different ways to incorporate movement into the classroom to help students get the recommended sixty minutes of physical activity a day all while improving learning. It also explores other areas such as nutrition, breakfast in the classroom and different …

Using A Culturally Relevant Text Effectively To Support Diversity, Racial Equity, And School Community Building, Syra Yang

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed is, how can a culturally relevant text be used effectively to support diversity, racial equity, and school community building? This capstone shows how our school system is not constructed to support African American students’ learning as it does not acknowledge racial and cultural differences. The author was influenced by her own educational experiences and current racial equity journey. The author stresses how culturally relevant text and meaningful conversations or dialogue implemented into classrooms provides opportunities for everyone to learn from and acknowledge each other. In addition, she includes a curriculum design that is culturally responsive, focusing …

Strategies To Support Vocabulary Development In Middle School Content Area Classrooms, Caitlyn Bandy

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this project was, what strategies are available to support content area vocabulary development in the middle school classroom? It explores the needs of a content area classroom as it relates to vocabulary development, then addresses those needs through a strategy map of best-practice vocabulary learning strategies. Created to be implemented school-wide as a supplement to existing curriculums in middle school classrooms, the map supports vocabulary development with two strategies detailed for each grade level six through eight. The strategy lessons follow the gradual release lesson plan model in order to best support student learning.

The Effectiveness Of Direct Instruction In Increasing English Reading Fluency For Arabic Speaking English Language Learner Students In Qatar: A Research Case Study, Jared Andrew Lorence

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this project was, what effect does Direct Instruction reading curriculum have on improving the reading fluency of Arabic speaking, English language middle school students? It documents one teacher’s experience and results using Direct Instruction reading curricula to improve reading fluency and comprehension of Qatari English Learner students. The author provides a literature review of Direct Instruction research and documents the results of his own efforts to increase the reading fluency of his students using Direct Instruction curricula and methods. He concludes that Direct Instruction was ineffective for his students, as it did not significantly improve …

Culturally Responsive Math Curriculum: First Grade Dual Language Immersion Addition Unit, Alia R. Morales Towns

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The results of state educational testing show achievement gaps between students of color and white students in many states. This gap is also found in the testing data for school districts that implement dual language immersion using English and Spanish. Research demonstrates that curricula that incorporate theories and practices related to equity, social justice and culturally and linguistically responsive instruction can support efforts to close the gap in achievement. The purpose of this project was to create a standards-based, culturally and linguistically responsive mathematics unit of study, with a focus on social justice, to begin to close the racial achievement …

Teaching Health Literacy To Underrepresented Adolescents: A Curriculum For High School Advisory Teachers, Anya Dmytrenko

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This curriculum-based capstone provides high school teachers with a curriculum guide for teaching health literacy to underrepresented adolescents. The secondary knowledge research examines the effectiveness of advisory programs and current trends in health literacy, and the healthcare needs of diverse youth in urban populations. Earlier public health efforts, such as establishment of school nurses and development of school-based health clinics, are also introduced. The UbD framework and principles (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005) used to design these curricula are discussed in detail. Unit and lesson plans on various topics related to health literacy were developed with appropriate assessment tools. Vital components …

English Language Proficiency, Academic Confidence, And Academic Success: A Case Study Of First-Year Female Students At An Ethiopian University, Jennifer Sue Miller

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Despite increased access to higher education for female students in Ethiopia, gender inequality in universities persists. The present study investigates a group of sixty first-year female students in the natural science fields who were attending an Ethiopian university and who voluntarily participated in an English mentoring pilot program. This research uses a mixed methods approach with qualitative data from participants’ writing samples and quantitative data from grade point averages, English language proficiency (ELP) levels from the British Council’s International Language Assessment (ILA) placement exam, and academic confidence ratings from the Academic Behavioral Confidence (ABC) survey. Results show differences between groups …

A Systemic Functional Linguistics Approach To The Academic Language In Seventh Grade Social Studies, Laura Beth Ripley

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research questions addressed in this project are, what genres and Theme progressions are common in the History Alive! text, and what linguistic resources make up Themes? The aim of this capstone was to inform the instruction of English learners when using a secondary level social studies text, by understanding how language is used in this genre. This research presents rationale for a text analysis using the Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) approach, then utilizes this method to conduct an analysis guided by the research questions. The author discusses the findings, focusing on implications for learner comprehension and instruction. The author …

A Needs Analysis Of Intercultural Competency Skills For The Community Interpreter Preparatory Course, Tina Marie Kush

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed is, In preparing a needs assessment for a 40-hour community interpreter training course,

• What intercultural competence skills do adult ELs need to develop?

• What gap exists between the intercultural competency beliefs, strategies and behaviors of perspective EL candidates and those needed to succeed in the interpreter training course?

The motivating factor in this capstone was investigating ways to prepare adult ELs to enter the 40-hour professional community interpreter training. The study had a qualitative research design that included three individual expert interpreter interviews and a focus group of eight adult ELs. Results indicated that …

Integrating Human Culture, Community, And Sense Of Place Into An Existing High School Environmental Studies Curriculum, Kathy Allen Kline

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This capstone addresses challenges faced by a first year high school teacher on an interdisciplinary team integrating social studies into an environmental studies curriculum. After exploring literature in biodiversity, biocultural diversity, and place-based education, the author determines that the existing curriculum can be enhanced to make stronger connections between people and the places already being studied, including the local community. To that end, this paper presents a sub-unit, developed using the Understanding by Design ® model, that seeks to integrate human culture, community, and sense of place into an environmental studies curriculum. The sub-unit includes six weeks of lessons to …

Perceptions Of Esl Teachers’ Roles Within School Communities, Angela Carolyn Froemming

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to examine how school personnel perceive the role of the ESL teacher within elementary school communities. Electronic surveys, individual interviews and a focus group were used to collect data from ESL teachers, mainstream teachers and administrators. Results showed that while ESL teachers see themselves as language teachers, mainstream teachers see them primarily as classroom support, suggesting that the role of language within content instruction is not clearly understood by those outside the field of ESL. As a result, the expectations of the ESL teacher vary greatly within the school community. Recommendations for clarifying the …

Effective Teacher Performance Evaluation Systems And The Twin Cities Metro Area: Are Local Public Schools Using Research-Based Valued Practices?, Jeffrey Philip Escen Holtz

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Evaluating the performance of teachers in American public schools has become an issue that is important to many stakeholders. Because of this, it is important to determine if there are effective ways to evaluate teachers and, additionally, if those methods are being used. Based upon the literature, this paper synthesized six research-based valued practices that are used in effective teacher performance evaluation systems (TPES). This paper then conducted a survey of teachers in a suburban area high school in the Twin Cities to determine if these practices were being used in their TPES. Analyses of the data show that these …

Making Content Count: How Content Marketing Can Impact Colleges' Recruitment Of Undergraduate Students, Jacqueline M. Getty

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The primary research question addressed in this study is “How do liberal arts colleges and universities in the Midwest use content marketing strategy to impact their enrollment goals in the recruitment of undergraduate students?” Two secondary questions are “How do marketing, communications, and admissions departments of these colleges or universities intersect, align, and collaborate in achieving their recruiting goals?” and “How effective is each content marketing tool in impacting the colleges’ enrollment goals?” This study documents how three Midwestern private colleges approached, resourced, developed Content for, and deployed content marketing strategy to recruit undergraduate students over three months in spring …

The Correlation Between Athletic Intrinsic Motivation And Academic Intrinsic Motivation Of Student Athletes At The Secondary Level, Rebecca Lee Jelenc

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this project is: Is there a correlation between athletic and academic intrinsic motivation secondary students ? The motivating factor for this capstone was the study of high academic success by highly successful student athletes in high school. This capstone was designed to investigate if intrinsic motivation attributes of athletics are transferred to the academic focus of the athletes. This capstone details related literature on intrinsic motivation in both the athletic and academic setting, the use of the Academic and Sports Motivation Surveys, and results of the surveys. The study of Marionville High School student athlete’s …

The Impact Of Sentence Frames On Readers Workshop Responses, Joseph Peter Reyes Jr

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed is, how does the implementation of sentence frames impact students written responses? The teacher noted how difficult it was at times to get ELs to engage in discussion and writing assignments related to topics being studied. The sentence frames were used as a starting point to elicit students written responses. Sentence frames were implemented during a middle school Readers Workshop class and during a collaborative project with the middle school social studies class. Insight is shared as to factors that may enhance the use of sentence frames as a scaffold such as, instructional planning, peer interactions, …

Food Waste And Behavior Change Through Project-Based Learning, Patrick Cary Crawford

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to find if food waste behavior can be changed through project-based learning. Food is a valuable resource that is being thrown into landfills; I question how we can change that? After compiling research on food waste, pro-environmental behavioral psychology, and project based learning I have constructed a theoretical framework that can be used to teach behavior change through project-based learning. The following were created to attain this goal: (a) a project unit plan, (b) assessments designed to evaluate students content knowledge on food waste, and (c) assessments designed to evaluate students pro-environmental behavior based on Blake, 1999. …

Encouraging Student-­Generated Critical Questions Through Literature Circles In A Tenth-­Grade Classroom, Damon Reuben Brook

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This study explored how literature circles were used to encourage 32 tenth­grade students enrolled in an English 10 class to generate critical questions about memoirs. The literature review overviewed the philosophy of student­centered classrooms as well as the specific benefits of using literature circles and question­answer relationship (QAR) reading strategies. This study covered a four­week unit where teams of students were observed in interest­based literature circles. Students discussed the texts and recorded questions that they used for discussions. Other data included analysis of teacher­generated reflection journals. The results of the study revealed that the students overall responded positively to the …

Using Graphic Organizers, Cooperative Learning, And Written Reflection To Improve Mathematics Problem Solving Skills, Kara Jean Odegaard

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed is, how can cooperative learning, graphic organizers, and writing improve eighth grade advanced geometry students’ problem solving skills? The motivating factor for this capstone was students being unsuccessful when trying to solve an assignment which required synthesizing information and problem solving. This capstone documents the process of having students complete problem solving assignments using a graphic organizer, cooperative learning, and reflecting on the assignment through writing. The researcher found success and struggles with the use of these tools and concludes that 1) students were more successful in the problem solving process when they used the graphic …

Academic Language In Book Clubs, Tanya Marie Schuh-Modelli

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Book clubs are increasingly used by teachers to help raise ELL literacy levels. Yet, there has been little research on whether this tool actually contributes to improved oral language proficiency. The research question is, after being taught the academic language needed to ask and answer higher order questions, how well are students able to ask and answer questions? This study examines to what extent students are able to engage in higher-order questioning after receiving direct instructional support through book clubs. The methods employ anecdotal notes, transcripts of student conversations, and student written work to assess how students can discuss text …

Using Toolkit Activities To Reduce Household Food Waste, Nancy Lo

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Food waste is a significant problem with environmental, economic, social and ethical consequences. Wasting food wastes energy, water, fuel, and land that go into producing, packaging, and transporting food. Additionally, the agriculture-related release of pesticides and greenhouse gases into the air, soil and water makes wasting food an environmental hazard. As much as 40 percent of U.S. food produced for human consumption, which is more than 20 pounds per person per month valued at $165 billion annually, goes uneaten. Worldwide, onethird of food is wasted while the population continues to grow. There are many reasons why Americans throw away food …

The Integration Of Social And Emotional Learning And Literacy, Sarah Marie Kennon Hippert

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

A curriculum development project exploring the integration of Social and Emotional Learning skills into the mini-lesson portion of Reader’s Workshop. Included is a definition of Social and Emotional Learning, an exploration of existing Social and Emotional curricula and state standards, a discussion of the effects of Social and Emotional Learning on both students and teachers, and an examination of impacts of Social and Emotional Learning on future success of students. The curriculum developed herein relies on picture books as a framework for enhancing both existing literacy and Social and Emotional curricula. It is organized around the five Social and Emotional …

Literacy And Social Skill Development: A Technology-Focused Curriculum Design, Karissa Sue Wentzel

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The curriculum design created in this project was centered around the concept that the integration of technology into a 6th grade classroom can facilitate the advancement of both literacy and social skill development. It documents one teacher’s use of various technological applications and reading related activities to cultivate academic conversations and see growth amongst five pre-selected and targeted social skills. The author documents the details of the unit and provides researched literature to support the foundation for the curriculum design. The key influence for the study was the author’s personal experience at a one-to-one iPad school. The author concludes the …

Teacher Beliefs And The Common Core State Standards For Mathematics, Erin M. Smith

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) marks an unprecedented event in American education: nearly all students have an opportunity to learn the same mathematics content at the same stage of their K-12 educational experience. One goal of the CCSSM is to promote mathematics educational equity and excellence through common, rigorous standards. However, common standards may not translate to a common learning experience for all students. Teachers’ mathematical beliefs act as filters through which new information is interpreted and dispositions toward actions taken in the classroom. This study examined this beliefspractice relationship by asking two questions: …

Graduate Students’ Perceptions Of Sense Of Community And Contributing Factors, Amy Lynn Watters

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Research indicates that a strong sense of community has many benefits for the learner, including increased engagement, persistence, satisfaction, and perceived learning. The growth of online learning requires that effective strategies be identified to establish a strong sense of community in a virtual environment. This mixed method study investigated the following primary and secondary question: What are graduate students’ perceptions regarding sense of community in the online graduate programs at a small, private college? What contributes to graduate students’ sense of community in the online graduate programs at a small, private college? A quantitative survey using Likert-type questions was sent …

How Can Personalized Learning Devices Be Used To Best Support English Learners In The Middle School Classroom?, Laura Jolin Franke

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed was, how can personalized learning devices be used to best support English Language Learners in the middle school classroom? The motivation was interest in 1:1 computing and its potential for ELLs. The project involved surveying, interviewing, and observing ELLs and their teachers, in a public middle school, regarding their experiences during the initial three years of implementation of a 1:1 computing environment in which iPads were distributed to each student. The project found little quantitative data on ESL students specifically, but could confirm much of the research on computing and education. Overall quality of teachers, support …