Education Commons^™

The Effectiveness Of Multicultural Storytelling On Attitudes Toward Different Cultures In The Elementary Classroom, Michele Patruno

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to consider the effects of multicultural storytelling and students' attitudes toward different cultures within the classroom. It was hypothesized that exposure to multicultural storytelling in the classroom with a discussion period to follow will produce positive attitudes toward different cultures as opposed to students who are not exposed to the storytelling. The subjects of the study were fifty-five third grade students from a southern New Jersey suburban school district. The study consisted of an experimental and a control group. Each group was administered a pretest and a posttest to determine if changes took place. …

The Effect Of Literature Circles On The Perceived Writing Self-Efficacy Of Fourth Grade Students, Shannon Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

This quasi-experimental research study purported to determine if fourth grade students who were exposed to the integration of literature circles in their classroom would have significantly different scores on a writing self-efficacy scale than students not exposed to this method of instruction. The sample was comprised of two heterogeneous classes of fourth grade students enrolled at an inner city elementary school in southern New Jersey for a total of 40 students. The nonequivalent control group design was the selected research method. The classes were randomly chosen for either the experimental or control conditions and pretested using the Writer Self-Perception Scale. …

The Effect Of Participatory Instruction On The Motivation Of Third Grade Students, Jessica L. Deck

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect differing instructional techniques has on students' motivation in terms of their attitude towards school. Students were pretested using the Inventory to Measure Attitude Towards School and reading (IMATSR). After the pretest, the reading class was conducted in a lecture format with the entire class reading the same novel. Students read a portion of the book and then answered comprehensive questions on a worksheet, prior to discussion. When the book was completed, a comprehensive exam and IMATSR posttest were given. Next, the teacher introduced five books to the class. Each student …

The Impact Extended Day Instruction Has On The Academic Achievement Of At-Risk Low Socioeconomic Students, Diane L. Worthy

Theses and Dissertations

This study determines whether students from low socio-economic backgrounds, who function poorly on tests and report cards, improved academically after increasing time for instruction, and time for working on school related tasks. Research indicates that there is a relationship between time and learning. When distinctions have been made with time allocated for instruction, time engaged in instructional activities and time spent successfully completing instructional activities, the latter of these has been found to have a direct correlation with achievement. Participants worked after school on homework with certified teachers. Factors affecting student achievement in language arts have been identified. The academic …

Examining The Effects Of A Self-Esteem Program On African American Girls, Andrea Alston-Brundage

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the self-concept of African American girls, ages 10-15 and to implement the Zola Circle program in an attempt to enhance their self-esteem.

Two groups of girls attended the Zola Circle workshops. Both groups attended the workshops for five weeks. The girls were given the Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory Test before attending the workshop and at the conclusion of the workshop. A follow-up test was given to group one five weeks after the completion of the workshop.

The Analysis of Variance test (ANOVA) was computed to assess pretest differences between the two groups participating. …

Professional Development Workshop: "Infusing Technology Into The Language Arts Curriculum" – Gateway To The 21st Century, Joy D. Carey

Theses and Dissertations

This technology action research project provided teachers with the opportunity to learn how to navigate the Internet and to enhance the Language Arts curriculum. This project was conducted in a Camden, NJ elementary, urban, Abbott school setting. This sample population was chosen from responses to a cross-sectional self-report pre-workshop interest questionnaire. Thirty-six staff members agreed to participate in the training sessions. The intern scored the results of the Likert surveys using Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint computer software. Seventy percent of the respondents to the pre-workshop interest questionnaire indicated they had inadequate knowledge of the Internet.

The post-workshop Likert questionnaire results …

Assessing And Evaluating Students' Perception Of Cooperative Learning Teams At South Main Street School, Andrea Atkins

Theses and Dissertations

The intern conducted an action research project to evaluate the perceptions of fourth graders relative to working in cooperative learning teams in their reading classes. The target population were 38 fourth graders from South Main Street School who are presently involved in Success For All, a cooperative learning program. The intern wanted to determine whether the target students perceived the cooperative learning experience as being positive or negative, and whether this perception impacted on their learning. The intern utilized the survey as the major instrument for data collection. The students were interviewed as well. The intern utilized mean scores to …

Mentoring As A Method For Increasing The Graduation Rate Of "At Risk" Students, Thomas Anthony Lombardo

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to improve high school graduation rates for "at-risk" students by providing every "at-risk" 7th, 8th, and 9th grade student a mentor. By matching students who have been identified as "at-risk" of failing to graduate with an adult mentor from within Woodbury High School, this intern hypothesized that the students' grades would improve and that they would begin to feel as though they were an important part of the school community.

This study attempted to measure the overall effectiveness of the mentoring program by examining Math and Language Arts grades of the mentees prior to …

School-Family-Community Partnership, Cynthia E. Kates

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to investigate the attitudes and perceptions of the school, family members, and local community agencies and organizations concerning the development of a school-family-community partnership. The project centered on a needs assessment for the West Avenue School in reference to parental and community involvement. The views of 15 teachers, 79 parents, and 3 community agencies were studied through questionnaires. Teachers expressed a desire for more parental involvement in their child's education, but would like no interference in the area of classroom management. Parents expressed an interest in taking a more active role in the overall …

Linking Parents, Community And School, Migdalia Soto

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop ways to build and create partnerships between parents, community and School by providing a variety of opportunities for parent-community participation. These partnerships will be fostered through the use of effective communication methods, such as coffee club sessions, focus group discussions, and school newsletters.

This action research was conducted via qualitative and quantitative methods to gather and analyze data. The participants for the study were the parents of the children at Parkside school, community members, and the faculty. A pre- and post-survey were sent to a randomly selected group of parents of students …

Designing, Implementing And Assessing A Financial Education Curriculum In The Juvenile Justice Commission, Kathleen Kelley Michalowski

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the project is to determine the effectiveness of a financial education curriculum on the understanding and application of financial resources to begin a financial plan for the future. This study will provide insight into the current financial practices and beliefs of incarcerated youth in the State of New Jersey and the impact the financial education curriculum has on the reliance of State aid and welfare.

The data was collected through a pen and pencil survey, informal interviews and record abstraction. The sample was derived from five New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission programs and institutions. The sample was …

A Case Study: New Teacher Induction, Keith B. Patterson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine in what areas new teachers were deficient using a case study action research approach. The study will result in recommendations to the administration of Pennsauken Public Schools for a redesign of the new teacher-training academy and for the development of a mentor-training academy. Nine new teachers ranging in one to four years of experience were studied using a variety of instruments designed to answer three research questions. (1) What training do new teachers need in classroom management techniques? (2) What training do new teachers need in lesson planning and instructional strategies? (3) …

Influences Of Leadership Theory And Change Processes During The Implementation Of A Social Skills-Violence Prevention Program, Lanetta Hammill

Theses and Dissertations

An implementation of a prosocial skills program was conducted in the Middle Township School District's K-2 Elementary #1 School, Cape May Court House, New Jersey. Three time periods of the implementation are discussed. The first time period, running from January 1994 to 1998, describes the historical events leading up to the participants desire to implement a social skills program. The second time period, running from January 1998 to December 1998 describes the period when the social skills program was discussed and piloted. During this pilot period, members became discouraged. They felt the program wasn’t giving them the results they wanted. …

A Study To Design, Investigate, Implement And Motivate Parents To Become More Involved In School Activities And In The Education Of Their Children, Bibiana A. Anyanwu-Acholonu

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to define and evaluate the strategies of motivating parents to get involved in the education of their children. The subjects were selected from Sharp School, community businesses, and organizations. The criteria for the selection of the subjects were based on the diverse population of the stakeholders and outside school community interest groups. Questionnaires were administered to parents and teachers. Responses were collected. Data was analyzed and interpreted. Semi-structural interviews were conducted and recorded. Observations were preformed. The result of the observations was recorded. All information obtained from the above were assessed and compared to …

The Affective Effects Of A Newly Created Advisory Program On Middle School Students, Jacqueline Seidman

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of a newly created advisory program on a population of middle school students at a Suburban middle school. Three different instruments were used to assess the subjective affective responses of thirty middle school students ages ranging from 11 to 13. These instruments were a student Quarterly Self-Report Scale, administered twice, an Advisory Assessment scale, and a formal interview.

The results reflected no difference between male and female students regarding their attitudes toward the advisory process. There was also no statistical difference between student evaluation of the advisory process over time. …

Perceptions And Experiences Of Middle School General Education Social Studies And Science Teachers With Respect To The Inclusion Of Low Reading Level Students In Their Classrooms, David Walls

Theses and Dissertations

P.L. 94-142, and subsequent laws, require that all students receive a free and appropriate public education provided in the least restrictive environment (LRE). When a child study team has determined that a child is eligible for special education services they decide which program will most benefit this child's academic progress. Numerous variables determine placement in the most appropriate and least restrictive environment, so that when a child is placed in the general education setting for content area classes it is in the best interest of that child.

This study provided documentation of the attitudes, perceptions, and concerns of general education …

The Effects Of Institutionalization On Romanian Children When Adopted Into Families In The United States, Dawn M. Roy

Theses and Dissertations

This study attempts to research the dynamic factors involved in the assessment of children placed in adoptive homes in the United States who were taken from large institutional orphanages in Romania. This paper will discuss various aspects of problems that were encountered by children who lack the stimulation, stability and love that are crucial during the early years of development. It also endeavors to provide interventions that will enable these children to progress along more developmentally appropriate guidelines.

This project utilized a single subject design. The analysis was descriptive in nature. It measured the improvement of mean utterance length. The …

What's On Page One? How Minorities Are Depicted In The National Print Press, Susan Guthrie Chang Saridakis

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose was to identify how positively minority groups and non minority groups are depicted in the American print media. Fifty-two editions each of USA Today and The Wall Street Journal published during 2000 were rated for how positively and negatively minority and non-minority groups were portrayed. Two raters completed a questionnaire, identifying 1,144 newspaper stories and providing 1,626 ratings of minority and/or non-minority groups. Descriptive data and correlational results were calculated. No relationship between socioeconomic status of readership and positive presentation of group or minority/non-minority group membership and positive presentation of group were found. However, it was found that …

Using Self-Monitoring To Increase The Academic Responsibility Of Eighth Grade Mainstreamed Students, Solveig V. Jakobsen

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a self-monitoring program on the academic performance of eighth grade mainstreamed learning disabled students ages 13-14. Ten subjects underwent an intervention involving private conferencing on academic responsibility and use of self-monitoring using assignment books. Data was collected on frequency of using assignment books and homework completion for pre-intervention and post-intervention. Data was analyzed for increases in use of assignment books, homework completion, and correlations between self-recorded assignments and assignment completion. The major finding of this investigation was that there was a significant increase in completing assignments on time when …

The Psychological Processing Checklist: Relationship To The Cognitive Assessment System, Shelly L. Lucas

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to test the validity of the Psychological Processing Checklist (PPC) against the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS). The participants of this study consisted of 30 first grade students, 11 girls and 19 boys whose ages ranged from 6 years 6 months to 7 years 11 months and their teachers from Monroe Township, New Jersey. Each child was evaluated with the Psychological Processing Checklist by their teacher and the Cognitive Assessment System by the researcher. The full scale raw scores, the full scale percentile ranks and the subscales of the two tests were then compared using …

The Relationship Of The Language-Based Characteristics Of A Selected Group Of Post-Secondary Esl Students To Pass Rates On The New Jersey Basic Skills Reading Test, Tina Previtera

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between selected language-based predictors of reading competence and the reading performance of a group of college-level ESL students receiving Basic Skills instruction. It appeared that a language barrier was preventing this group of students from passing their Basic Skills Reading requirement. It was hypothesized that this resulted in a lack of necessary skills for comprehending standard English. Based on theoretical perspectives obtained from a review of the literature, the language-based characteristics needed to obtain a passing score on the Basic Skills Reading are vocabulary, short-term verbal memory, and broad linguistic …

A Study Of The Effectiveness Of An After-School Peer Tutoring/Homework Help Program, Karen S. Symanski

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if the students in the after-school peer tutoring/homework help club made greater academic gains when compared to students who did not participate in the after-school program as measured by their grade point average.

The subjects of this study were 30 fifth, sixth, and seventh grade students from a one school district in a rural southern New Jersey town. Fifteen students were enrolled in the after-school program. Fifteen students did not attend the after-school program. Grade point averages were calculated for both groups at the end of marking periods one and two. A …

The Effectiveness Of Increased Support By Special Education Teachers On The Academic Achievement Of Learning Disabled Students In Main Subject Area Inclusionary Classes At The Secondary Education Level When Compared To No In-Class Support, Kelly A. Fitzhenry

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of increased support by special education teachers on the academic achievement of learning disabled students in main subject area inclusionary classes at the secondary level when compared to no in class support. This information can help analyze the effectiveness of an inclusion program, validate successful inclusive educational policies that should be continued, and pinpoint the need for revision. Grade point average data of included learning disabled students in Core English II, Core B Math, and Introduction to Earth Science during the 94-95 academic year when no in class support was …

An Evaluation Of First Grade Children's Progress In Reading Using The Success For All Program, Alphefia L. Blount

Theses and Dissertations

This study measured the gains made by students in the Success for All program in the areas of word recognition and reading comprehension. Also, the study examined whether the variables of attendance, student behavior, homework completion and family support affected the results of those gains. The students participated in the Success for All reading program for sixteen weeks. Every eight weeks they were given an assessment to measure progress or regression in word recognition and reading comprehension. The students' reading groups were adjusted accordingly. At the end of the sixteen weeks they were administered the Jerry John's Basic Reading Inventory …

Implementing Best Practices When Modifying An Early Childhood Curriculum To Facilitate Inclusion Of Children With Disabilities, Cordalia D. Sullivan

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify current best practices when modifying an early childhood curriculum to facilitate inclusion of children with disabilities. A questionnaire consisting of twenty items pertaining to the benefits and barriers to an inclusive preschool program was distributed to thirty-four educators who service preschoolers with disabilities directly or indirectly. Those surveyed strongly agreed that including young children with disabilities in typical preschool program is a viable model of service delivery. They stated that benefits outnumber the barriers in an inclusive program, that such programs can benefit children with and without disabilities, and staff training is …

A Case Study In Augmentative And Alternative Communication: Usage By An Eight Year Old Male With Developmental Apraxia Of Speech, Marie E. Maine

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of using a sophisticated electronic voice output augmentative communication device with an eight-year-old male who has been diagnosed with Developmental Apraxia of Speech. The design of this research was a case study. Data collection measured the subject's academic, language, and social status before and after implementation of the augmentative communication device. Measures included standardized and criterion-referenced tests, adaptive behavior rating scales, structured observations, anecdotal data, interviews, and review of school records. Findings indicated the subject was able to participate in several assessments during the post-treatment condition that could not be …

Effective Strategies For Managing Adhd Students In The Classroom, Merri Owen

Theses and Dissertations

With so many school-age children being identified ADHD or ADD, many teachers as well as administrators feel ill-prepared to handle these students in their classrooms. The purpose of this study was to determine procedures teachers use effectively to manage ADHD students' behavior in their classrooms. It was also used to determine if a differential relationship exists between the willingness of upper elementary teachers and lower elementary teachers to accommodate ADHD students in their classrooms.

Forty-five teachers completed a survey to determine how frequently specific strategies were used and their perception of the effectiveness of these strategies. The teachers identified how …

A Study Of The Amount Of Training That Pre-Service And In-Service Special Education Teachers Receive In The Teaching Of Reading, Virginia Egbert

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if special education teachers at the pre-service and in-service levels have received and are receiving enough training to proficiently teach reading to their students, This study attempted to reveal the level of knowledge and training that special education personnel possess in the area of teaching reading. Data was gathered through a questionnaire, and then the responses for all of the participants were analyzed and presented in graphs. The responses were classified as those from in-service teachers or pre-service teachers in order to compare the data between the two groups.

The findings for …

The Effect Of Music In Education On Self-Esteem And Academic Achievement In Students With Special Needs, Tony E. Surrency

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine and support the premise that participation in a school instrumental music program can affect a student's self-esteem and academic achievement. I will review existing literature, applicable studies, and articles to support my proposal. The sample size is composed of ten students with special needs, nine are classified learning disabled and one is classified learning disabled with autism. The measurement instrument will be a survey questionnaire. Participants will be teachers in my district. Study results indicate that most Regular Education and Special Education teachers measured agree that music education can and does affect …

Predicting Drinking And Driving, Peter John Arsenault

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to discover the relationship between personality traits and how they can be used to predict an individual's tendency to drink and drive. Specifically, does an individual's locus of control and self-esteem influence their tendency to drink and drive. Past research has suggested that an individual with low self-esteem and an external locus of control has a greater tendency to drink and drive. 125 participants completed a questionnaire, which measured their self-esteem, locus of control and drinking and driving behavior. A cross tabulation correlation was used to find evidence of a relationship between the …