Education Commons^™

Academic Effects Of Writer's Workshop, Marla S. Smithson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this dissertation was to study the effects of a process writing curriculum, Writer’s Workshop, on the writing achievement of fifth grade students as measured by the Georgia Fifth Grade Writing Assessment. The study used three years of data and a total of 321 subjects in determining improved writing scores. The investigation equated and compared the performance levels using a Chi-square contingency table, finding that the group prior to implementation surpassed the performance of the cohorts in the following two years. An independent samples t-test evaluated scale scores from the latter two years, resulting in no significant difference …

Georgia Public School Board Members Beliefs Concerning The Inclusion Of Creationism In The Science Curriculum, Karen S. Cook, Steve Deckard, Kathie C. Morgan

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Data analysis indicated that School Board Members’ beliefs regarding school board members in YEC had a positive correlation and beliefs in OEC had a negative correlation with the permitted inclusion of creationism in the district science curriculum. However, no correlation was found between school board member beliefs in YEC/OEC and the required inclusion of creationism. The results of this study provide insight into connections between beliefs of board members and the science/creationism issue which may translate into enlightened voting decisions.

Called To Teach: Interpreting The Phenomenon Of Calling As A Motivating Factor, Jared T. Bigham, Samuel J. Smith

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This hermeneutic phenomenological study examines the phenomenon of the calling to teach. Nine participants were interviewed, and the dialogue was analyzed for themes uncovered from participants’ interpreted experiences. The following themes were revealed: the calling experience as a process, esteem for the teaching profession as a calling, the use of spirituality for affirmation, and the direct impact of spirituality on career choice.

The Effects Of Participation In Athletics On Academic Performance Among High School Sophomores And Juniors, Lee Sitkowski

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Athletics and academic performance has been studied at length over the years in the literature. Despite the mostly university level research conducted, no consensus has been reached regarding the impact of athletic participation on academic performance at the high school level. As a result, the relationship between the in season and out of season school academic performance of high school sophomores and juniors in one high school was investigated in this study. It was determined that there was a significant relationship that existed between academic performance, measured by GPA, and athletic participation. Through an analysis of 249 high school sophomore …

Parent And Community Involvement: A Case Study, Cynthia Crites

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation is a description of a case study of parent and community involvement and the impact of that involvement on education. The study is based upon the observations, interviews, and reflections of the writer in one elementary school as a plan was implemented to increase parent and community involvement in that school. The primary methods of data collection were structured, open-ended interviews, transcribed minutes from various school-based committees, attendance logs, and event participant logs. The writer interviewed the school’s principal, four parents whose children attend the study school, five individual teachers, a focus group of five teachers, the school’s …

The Application Of Transformational Leadership Among Christian School Leaders In The Southeast And The Mid-Atlantic North Regions, Dan L. Bragg

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Transformational Leadership is part of a growing body of research that is having impact in leadership development in every industry and service organization. The Christian schools leader can also take advantage of the ideas that integrate so well into Biblical principles. This causal comparative study utilizing correlation and parametric statistics (ANOVA) along with descriptive cross-sectional observation investigated the differences of Transformational leadership in two distinct regions to understand how transformational leadership responded to differing cultures. This research has taken a deeper look into the elements of transformational leadership that must be enacted for a Christian school to succeed and thrive …

Praise: Christians Educators And The Difficult Student, Beth E. Ackerman

Christian Perspectives in Education

This article defends the role of the Christian educator in reaching the difficult student. It further offers tips for handling the challenging student from a Christian perspective, coupled with tried-and-true research using the acronym PRAISE: being proactive, using reinforcements, assessing and analyzing the intent of misbehavior, being sincere, and empowering students and the Holy Spirit in them.

Using Career Education To Enhance School Success And Reduce The Dropout Rate, Cindy Lue Martin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The new career education program was developed to help over-aged and under achieving 9th graders who are one or more years behind in earning their high school diplomas. This program was designed to reduce the dropout rate and provide every student with a South Carolina State Diploma and a marketable skill upon entering the workforce. This study determined if the program reduced the dropout rate and if students participating in the career education program would show an improvement in factors established as dropout indicators. The students who met the programs qualifications began in the fall of 2006 and were studied …

Missionary English Teaching: The English Language, Western Culture, And Christianity, Derek J. Kresge

Senior Honors Theses

Teaching English as a missionary has become a significantly larger field in the recent years. These missionaries are confronted with a unique set of circumstances in which they perform their service. As English teachers, these missionaries are faced with the dilemma of teaching as best they can while at the same time living as followers of Christ in cultures that may be opposed to Christ as well as to the Western culture. This thesis unwraps the issues involved and discusses possible solutions to the problems that present themselves for missionary English teachers.

A Theatrical Take On Educational Self-Esteem, David Seagraves

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the constructs of self-esteem and theatre arts. The experimental research utilized a Solomon four-group design, which included four groups of public high school freshmen. The study investigated whether or not self-esteem would increase after studying theatre arts, and if a cause and effect relationship existed between theatre arts and self-esteem. The study’s independent variable was a theatre arts treatment of ten lessons centered around a novel. The dependent variables were the scores on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (1965), a self-reporting and numerically measurable self-esteem survey. The scale was administered in a pretest and posttest format. The self-esteem …

Hoyt's Expository Text Strategies, Connie Mcdonald

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Entering The Virtual Teacher’S Lounge: The Efficacy Of Community In Computer-Mediated Communication Based Environments For Professional Educators, Randall S. Dunn

Faculty Dissertations

This study seeks to illuminate an understanding of naturally forming online communities of professional educators in the context of off-line communities. Essentially, an online discussion forum for educators is evaluated for the purpose of determining whether the forum provides a “space” conducive for the development of a community of professional educators as benchmarked against an understanding of offline community formation and existence. The foundational works of Ferdinand Tonnies, James Coleman, and Ray Oldenburg are used to develop 13 characteristics of community - as understood in the context of informal social communities as opposed to the types related to more formal …

The Relationship Of Principal Leadership And Teacher Morale, Keith A. Rowland

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This Study examined the relationship of the leadership practices of middle school principals and the morale of the teachers in these schools. Seven middle schools in a Metropolitan Atlanta school system participated in the study. The Leadership Practices Inventory was used to collect information on the principal practices and the Purdue Teacher Opinionaire was used to collect information on teacher morale. Results indicated that principal leadership and teacher morale were significantly correlated and that the leadership practice of Enable Others to Act had the strongest positive correlation to teacher morale. These results imply that a principal’s daily behavior plays a …

Reading Improvement In The Era Of No Child Left Behind, Meredith Furrow

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This mixed-methodology study described the reading curriculum and instructional changes that occurred in a small, rural, intermediate school in Virginia as a result of the No Child Left Behind legislation and Virginia’s Standards of Learning requirements. A special focus was placed on the progression of reading scores of the 2003-2004 fifth grade students to their eighth grade school year of 2006-2007. Since the Standards of Learning reading scores given in the spring of 2004 initiated the school improvement process for this school, the focus of this research was based on documenting these scores along with the school improvement process that …

Character Traits In Newbery Award Literature 1997-2007, Julie Beth Bryant

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine the character example elements in the Newbery Award winning books from 1997-2007. Content analysis was used to identify the pertinent character traits identified by the researcher using the acronym C.H.A.R.A.C.T.E.R. These example elements include: (a) caring/compassionate, (b) helpfulness, (c) acceptance, (d) respect, (e) ambition, (f) citizenship, (g) trustworthiness, (h) encouragement, and (i) responsibility. Using a coding system developed for this study, four readers read and discussed the books to attempt consensus as to the character traits identified. The researcher sought answers to the following questions: (a) Do the Newbery Award winning books …

The Virtual Teacher's Lounge: How Teachers Meaningfully Connect Through Online Networks, Randall S. Dunn

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study seeks to illuminate an understanding of naturally forming online communities of professional educators in the context of off-line communities. Essentially, an online discussion forum for educators is evaluated for the purpose of determining whether the forum provides a “space” conducive for the development of a community of professional educators as benchmarked against an understanding of offline community formation and existence. The primary approach to this study is qualitative in nature with some quasi-statistical support to elucidate analysis and conclusions. The study employs the use of QSR NVivo 7 to collect, catalogue, and analyze discussions from this online forum, …

Is Response-To-Intervention Good Policy For Specific Learning Disability?, Kenneth A. Kavale, Lucinda S. Spaulding

Faculty Publications and Presentations

The reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA, 2004) established new provisions for specific learning disability (SLD) identification, including: (a) no longer requiring consideration of IQ-achievement discrepancy, and (b) permitting response-to-intervention (RTI) as part of SLD evaluation procedures. We discuss several policy implications of these new regulations by considering the original construct of SLD, the still “experimental” status and implementation of RTI, the closer alignment of RTI objectives with No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2001) than former IDEA regulations, and the shift in focus from serving as a special education identification procedure to a general education instructional procedure. We …

Developing Decision Making Using Online Contextualized Case Studies, Samuel J. Smith

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Educational Theory into Practice Software (ETIPS) is an online case study program in the testbed stage of development intended for use by professors of education administration. The program is being developed by Sara Dexter and Pamela D. Tucker of the University of Virginia and is being tested by various other universities throughout Virginia. As a testbed member, the author will outline the theo-retical framework, elaborating on the advantages of interactive, authentically contextualized online case studies over traditional print scenarios. Emphasis will be given to the outcomes of the program, which are to strengthen candidates' skills in data analysis, problem solving, …

The Teaching And Learning Cycle: Integrating Curriculum, Instruction, And Assessment, Donna L. Jones

Christian Perspectives in Education

The philosophies of educators and government entities guide the teaching and learning cycle of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The educator’s worldview plays an important part in developing these concepts which is demonstrated throughout history. Studying the history of the educational philosophers reveals their beliefs about curriculum, instruction, and assessments and the effects on education today. It shows the importance of integrating all three concepts in the educational process creating the teaching and learning cycle.

To Read Or Not To Read: A Comprehensive Study Of Effective Reading And Methods Of Teaching Reading, Morgan Decker

Senior Honors Theses

The ability to read written language proficiently is an important skill in modern society; however, reading seems to be a lost art in many ways. In order to correct this problem, educators must determine the most effective method for teaching reading to elementary students. The most prominent methods include the whole language method, the phonetic method, and the balanced method. Research on the techniques, advantages, disadvantages, and case studies associated with each method indicates that the most effective method for teaching reading to elementary students is the balanced method.

Meeting The Literacy Needs Of Adult Learners Through A Community-University Partnership, Jill A. Jones

Faculty Publications and Presentations

What is the best approach to scaffolding graduate students to higher knowledge and a heightened awareness of their own pedagogy? This article addresses that key educational question by investigating and depicting one atypical scenario, a collaborative model between a university graduate Remedial Reading class and a local adult literacy coalition. The purpose of this study was to examine the phenomena of signifacnt learning gains that occurred for the graduate students. The co-researchers utilized hybrid discourse and grounded theory in order to gain a new perspective on a familiar situation, the learning process that occurs within a university classroom. The educational …

Using Children’S Literature To Teach Writing, Rachel Schwedt, Janice A. Delong

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Selected titles of children’s literature are shown that can enhance writing instruction. Titles shared cut across content areas and address the writing of letters, journals, non-fiction, poetry, and fables. The following information is given for each title: awards won, themes, writing ideas, and website addresses for further information. The target audience is grades 4-8.

A Presuppositional Critique Of Constructivism, Paul R. Rickert

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Educational theories have roots. They have roots in broader philosophies, conceptions of the nature of reality, and the theories utilized in classrooms to teach have implications for broader society. Specifically, this paper discusses the problems of constructivist theory in the classroom. The author takes a presuppostitional view and shows that all systems have most basic beliefs which are un-provable. So at the heart of any form of interpretive schema is faith in that schema. The author discusses ontological and epistemological options and how shifts in philosophy change the order of the most basic beliefs, but not the fact that they …

An Analysis Of Rx For Discovery Reading For Elementary Students Below Average In Reading, Susan Kay Stanley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Rx for Discovery Reading® is an intervention developed by the National Institute for Learning Development to impact the reading abilities of students below grade level in reading. The program was designed to address every area of reading acquisition, but, for this study, the areas of phonological processing, decoding, and fluency were investigated using pre- and post-test scores from the KTEA-II, GORT, and DIBELS. The problem studied was whether Rx for Discovery Reading® would raise the mean standard scores in the three areas at the conclusion of the field test. Using a small-group format, twenty-nine students who were not on grade …

Cognitive Retention Of Generation Y Students Through The Use Of Games And Simulations, Melanie A. Hicks

Faculty Dissertations

A new generation of students has begun to proliferate colleges and universities. Unlike previous generations, Generation Y students have been exposed to a variety of technological advancements, have different behaviors towards learning, and have been raised in a different environment. These differences may be causing conflict with traditional pedagogy in educational institutions, thereby creating, while it may be unintentional, an inability for Generation Y students to learn under the standard educational method of lecture presented to previous generations. The literature supports the position that additional teaching methods are needed in order to effectively educate Generation Y students (Prensky, 2001; Brozik …

Ilrc Student Worker Orientation, Marcy Pride

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This presentation was made at the 2007 ILRC Student Worker Orientation. Some 90 students , 10 library faculty and about 10 library staff members also had a part in the half day orientation.

Overcoming Challenges In Online Counseling Course Practica, L. Zoe Payne, Lucinda C. West, Amanda J. Rockinson-Szapkiw, Anita Castellanos

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Masters and doctoral students enrolled in Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs [CACREP] accredited programs must meet certain standards regardless of the environment in which they learn. In our case, we are doctoral students enrolled in an online counselor education and supervision (CES) program delivered through the Blackboard.comSM e-learning system. Members of our cohort live in various parts of the United States and beyond its borders. The standards by which our program seeks to offer quality education are the standards established by CACREP (2001).

CACREP (2001) standards address group counseling and practicums. Doctoral-level students must engage in …

Teacher Candidates In The Urban Environment, Kathie C. (Johnson) Morgan

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Teacher candidates are often reluctant to enter the urban environment, fearing poor discipline, safety issues, and culture mismatch. The Partners in Education Program thru the Lynchburg City Schools allows Liberty University Students to become involved with inner city students and experience the urban environment.

Viewing Skills & Methods Of Visually Representing, Kathie C. Morgan, Connie Mcdonald

Faculty Publications and Presentations

The International Reading Association and National Council Teachers of English have recognised the importance of teaching viewing and visual representing as a means of communication amd have included it in the Standards for the English Language Arts. This presentation offers methods to address and teach those modes of communication, arguably the most used of all language arts skills for today's student.

Christian School Administration: Exercising Biblical Competence: A Consecrated Heart And An Educated Mind, Julia Curruth Mcmillan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

There is minimal research conducted to assist Professional Educators with effective ministering and administration in Christian Schools. While secular academic training and experience provide the Administrator with great preparation, there are specific dynamics unique to the Christian school environment that warrant deliberate attention if the Administrator is to be effective. Observed from the perspective of a parent, having served faithfully as both teacher and the current Principal of the Bible-Based Fellowship Christian Academy; in its young life, this nine-year old school had experienced eight different administrators, most recently in January 2005. Inconsistency in leadership had stunted the growth of the …