Education Commons^™

Our Voices: A Descriptive Account Of African American Parental Involvement In An Urban Elementary School, Charletta D. Sudduth

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Parent involvement may have implications for student achievement (Epstein, 1986; Hoover-Dempsey, Bassler, & Brisse, 1987; Lopez, Scribner, & Mahitivanichcha, 2001). Today African-American parents are frequently criticized for not being involved enough in their students' education (Dearing, Kreider, Simpkins, & Weiss, 2006). African-American parent involvement can be limited due to a lack of time, monetary resources, or transportation; past negative experiences with school; a non-welcoming school environment; or a different definition of parent involvement (Epstein, 2001, Hamre & Pianta, 2001; Hill, Castellino, Lansford, Dodge, Bates, et al., 2004; Hughes & Kwok, 2007). Missing from the research of both Hoover Dempsey and …

School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports : An Evaluation Of An Elementary School Program, Lisa Andreasen

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The outcomes of a school-wide positive behavior support program at a rural elementary school were evaluated to determine the effects of a school-wide program on the behavior of students. A program evaluation was conducted using student office referrals that were collected over a six year period. The results indicated that student office referrals significantly decreased from Year 1 to Year 6 and that specific behaviors of aggression and inappropriate language also decreased significantly from Year 1 to Year 6. Data were investigated to indicate trends in total office referrals by gender, grade, month, location, and problem behavior.

Parental Perceptions On Maintaining Heritage Languages Of Cld Students, Ruth Lingxin Yan

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The rapid growth of the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) students in public schools of the United States has been steady in the past decades. Issues concerning CLD students such as their school failures, high dropout rates, the limited English proficiency, family poverty, and their unequal job opportunities, have caused increasing concerns from policy makers, school administrators and educators at all school levels. Various efforts to modify CLD students' social and academic disadvantages have been attempted through educational approaches, especially in the form of heritage language support in bilingual education programs initiated at the local school levels and funded by …

Hong Kong Higher Education In Transition: The Academic Community's Perception At The Time Of 1997 Retrocession, Jiyu Yang

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the perceptions of selected faculty and academic administrators of the 1997 retrocession of Hong Kong to China with respect to the dual challenge of Hong Kong higher education assisting with the modernization of socialist Mainland China while maintaining its function supporting the capitalist system in Hong Kong. Twenty-five selected faculty and academic administrators in two representative universities of Hong Kong were interviewed at the eve of the retrocession. Four related themes were investigated in the interviews: the implications of “one country, two systems,” the ability of the Hong Kong higher education system …

Performance Of The Chapter 1 Preschool Children In The Waterloo School District, Deanna M. Wagner

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study was designed to describe the progress of the Waterloo Chapter 1 program on students' subsequent school test scores, and Chapter 1 and special education placements. The subjects for this study consisted of 297 students who were enrolled in the Chapter 1 preschool program during the academic years 1985-1989, and who remained in the Waterloo School System through 1990-1991. The Waterloo Chapter 1 prekindergarten program identifies educationally disadvantaged children and offers them a developmentally-appropriate, preschool program to assist them with developing language and math skills. Results of the study suggest that enrollment in the Waterloo Chapter 1 prekindergarten program …

The Characteristics Of Elementary Teachers Perceived And Identified As Curricular Leaders, Celia R. Burger

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of elementary teachers who were perceived and identified as being influential in curricular change by peers, principals, and district administrators. The study described characteristics which appeared to be shared by 16 elementary teachers selected from 20 elementary schools in one major school district in a Midwestern state.

Subjects were identified from responses by peers, building administrators, and district administrators to the Instructional Leadership Survey prepared by the researcher. Twenty teachers, identified as influential by all three of the surveyed groups, were considered teacher leaders in this study. Sixteen of the …

Attitudes Of Elementary Principals And Kindergarten Teachers Toward Mandatory Kindergarten And Optional Pre-Kindergarten Programs In Iowa, Janice E. Woods

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This thesis research provided background for the Iowa Association of Elementary Principals on the current status of early childhood education in the fifty states. It also determined the support for mandatory kindergarten and optional pre-kindergarten programs among elementary principals and kindergarten teachers in Iowa. This data was sought to provide information for the Iowa Association of Elementary School Principals for possible legislation requiring mandatory kindergarten and optional prekindergarten programs in Iowa.

One aspect of the study involved compilation of data reported by the department of public instruction in the fifty states. A second aspect concerned a survey of elementary principals …

Iowa Teacher Perceptions Of K-6 Articulation In Large School Districts Employing K-6 Or K-12 Curriculum Directors, Dorothy Kessler Engstrom

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study was concerned with finding out what perceptions K-6 classroom teachers would express about K-6 articulation within their districts. The study was also concerned with finding out what difference, if any, existed between the perceptions of teachers from districts with fulltime K-6 curriculum directors and the perceptions of teachers in districts with full-time K-12 curriculum directors.

It was expected that teachers in both groups of school districts would express the need for more K-6 articulation awareness and activities within their districts, but that teachers in districts employing a K-6 curriculum director would indicate that their districts were doing more …

Family Size, Intelligence, And Patterns Of Achievement In Preschool Children, H. Jane Reppas

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of membership in a large or small family to the patterns of achievement as revealed by the results of the subtests of the Iowa Test of Preschool Development (ITPD). Of interest also was the study of the relationship of membership in subgroups based on both race and family size to patterns of achievement.

The subjects of the study were eighty black and white preschool children. There were twenty children in each subgroup small black family, large black family, small white family, and large white family). The subgroups were similar in …

The Effect Of Preschool Experiences On The Achievement Of Kindergarten Children Enrolled In The 1971-1972 Follow Through Program In Waterloo, Iowa, David Phillip Stetson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The problem of the investigation concerned itself with the effect of preschool experiences on the achievement of the kindergarten children enrolled in the 1971-1972 Follow Through Program in Waterloo, Iowa, which used the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, model of individually prescribed instruction. The study explored the effects of preschool experience upon kindergarten males and females as contrasted to the male and female kindergarten children without preschool experience.

Two conceptual constructs gave direction and provided the rationale for this study. The first conceptual construct provided research related to early childhood education presented according to the Geneticist, Environmentalist, and the Interactionalist's positions. The second …

The Performance Of Grade Xi Students Of Saskatchewan (Canada) And Iowa (U.S.A.) On Two Of The Iowa Tests Of Educational Development, Kamal Dev Verma

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this investigation was to study the performance of grade XI students of Saskatchewan (Canada) and Iowa (U. S. A.) on two of the Iowa Tests of Educational Development: Test 3, Correctness and Appropriateness of Expression; and Test 4, Ability to Do Quantitative Thinking. The interpretation of the performances involved examination of several related educational factors.

The sample comprising 543 grade XI students was drawn from twelve selected Saskatchewan high schools.

In each of the twelve participating high schools, the principal arranged for the administration of the two ITED tests and the Student Questionnaire: Form A. In addition, …

A Study Of Faculty Meetings In Selected Elementary Schools In Iowa And Their Implications For The Philippine Schools, Romeo Villar Carleta

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

It was the purpose of this study (1) to investigate current practices in conducting teachers' meetings in some selected elementary schools in Iowa and the United States and (2) to formulate some guidelines that can help Filipino elementary school administrators and supervisors improve their practices in conducting teachers' meetings.

The questionnaire was the major research tool used to investigate current practices in conducting faculty meetings in selected elementary schools in Iowa. In the construction of this device, the first step undertaken by the researcher was to make an intensive review of the available literature on the subject. The purpose in …