Education Commons^™

The Effect Of Cooperative Groups On Math Anxiety, Melissa Batton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research indicates that many students have difficulty with mathematics, which can be attributed to many factors including math anxiety. Students who experience math anxiety have poor attitudes towards mathematics and perform below grade level based on class and statewide assessments. The purpose of this quasi-experimental quantitative study was to investigate the effectiveness of cooperative groups on the math anxiety levels of Grade 5 male and female students. The theoretical foundation of the study included Vygotsky's social learning and Piaget's concept of knowledge. Thirty-two students from 2 Grade 5 classrooms were administered the pre and post MASC inventory. A repeated-measure ANOVA …

A Phenomenological Examination Of Antisocial Behaviors In The Elementary School Workplace, Cynthia Morton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Antisocial behavior has a direct impact on the public elementary school setting. While considerable research has been conducted on collegiality in postsecondary schools, this study addressed the gap in practice concerning the lack of attention in regard to the impact of antisocial behavior on collegial relationships in the elementary school workplace. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the perceptions of elementary faculty members regarding the effect of antisocial behavior on collegial relationships using the conceptual framework of systems theory which focuses on relationships in organizations. The central research question asked participants about experiences and perceptions of antisocial …

Preschool Environments, Relationships And Creative Skills: A Case Study, Petronella Anita Cameron

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Studies indicate the importance of supporting children's creative and social skills during the early years of their development, in part because children can develop low self-esteem when these skills are left unattended in preschool environments. However, as of yet research has not identified strategies preschool instructors used to prepare preschool environments to nurture the development of these skills. This qualitative case study examined how preschool environments nurture the development of preschool children's creative skills and relationships. Grounded in Vygotsky's sociocultural theory and Torrance's theory of guiding creative talent, the study used a purposeful sample of 9 prekindergarten and kindergarten teachers …

Exploring A Supplemental Educational Service Math Program: The Math Achievement Of Economically Disadvantaged Students And Teacher Professional Development, Vilma Caban-Vazquez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The No Child Left Behind education act mandates that school districts develop supplemental educational service programs for students not demonstrating mathematical proficiency on state standardized math assessments. Yet there is limited understanding of issues related to supplemental educational service math programs. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate a local after school math program to offer insight on the low math achievement for economically disadvantaged students involved in the program. Constructivist theories of math reform and education for economically disadvantaged students and English language learners guided this study of 10 teachers and 15 of their students in a …

Professional Development In Elementary School Mathematics, C Scoggins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study was an investigation of mathematics instruction and professional development at a rural elementary school. The Department of Education in a southern U.S. state implemented a new curriculum in 2007 that required major changes in mathematics instruction. The problems were that teachers engaged in different levels of training and many students experienced a decline in mathematics scores on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT). The historical learning theories of Piaget and Vygotsky framed the study. The guiding questions focused on how to improve mathematics instruction through professional development for teachers. Nine elementary school educators served as purposefully selected participants. The …

Perceptions Of Recess And The Effects Of A Morning Recess Break On The Oral Reading Fluency Of Second Grade Students, Joy M. Walker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A recent trend in schools has been to reduce or eliminate recess. The assumption behind this elimination is that less recess time provides more opportunities for learning and hence, better learning outcomes. However, little research has examined the effects of this assumption, and little is known about the relationship between recess and learning. The purpose of this mixed method quasi-experimental study was to test the massed versus distributed practice theory and the cognitive immaturity theory, and to gain a better understanding of recess and its implications for learning. The quantitative question was designed to determine whether segmenting instructional time with …

Comparing Rural Parent And Teacher Perspectives Of Parental Involvement: A Mixed Methods Study, Ann C. Stout

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Parents and teachers have differing perspectives of parental involvement which presents a barrier to the development of effective parental involvement. This mixed-method, sequential, exploratory study of parents and teachers in rural school districts sought to identify, compare, and analyze these divergent parental involvement perspectives. A sample of 122 parents and 21 certified teachers from 3 rural elementary schools were first surveyed using parallel questions from Epstein's School and family partnerships parent (or teacher) questionnaire (SFP). Independent-sample t-tests of SFP scales confirmed parental involvement perspectives of parents and teachers differed significantly. Survey data was analyzed descriptively and identified 5 specific topics …

New Teacher Isolation And Its Relationship To Teacher Attrition, David S. Sleppin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Studies suggest that many promising new teachers who experience isolation do not reach their full potential and may leave the teaching profession prematurely. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between the experience of isolation among new teachers and the potential for teacher attrition in an urban school district in the northeastern U.S. Grounded in constructivist theory, the phenomenological research design examined in-depth interview data collected from 8 new public elementary school teachers with three or less years experience. A coding procedure began by extracting key phrases and statements from the raw data and reduced information …

The Relationship Between Flexible Reading Groups And Reading Achievement In Elementary School Students, Gretchen E. H. Schlag

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the current emphasis on differentiating instruction to accommodate individual student learning needs, most reading instruction is taught primarily in static small groups or whole group settings. However, the use of flexible reading groups for reading instruction allows students to be appropriately challenged and avoids labeling a student's reading readiness as stagnant. This study examines the relationship between flexible reading groups and reading achievement of 130 fifth grade students in one elementary school. The theoretical base for the research is grounded in the constructivist theory as supported by Vygotsky and Bruner. In this quasi-experimental quantitative research study, the effect of …

Survey Study Of The Relationship Between Parents' And Teachers' Perceptions Of What Constitutes Effective School -To -Home Communications, Jill L. Murphy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Even though guidelines at a suburban elementary school in Georgia were in place for teachers regarding frequency and methods of parent communication, it was unclear if these methods were being used consistently and effectively. Research has shown that effective communication increases student achievement, but there is a lack of research examining communication preferences of teachers and parents. Therefore, this study evaluated current practices by comparing parents' and teachers' perceptions of what constitutes effective school-to-home communications. The researcher administered questionnaires to a random sample of teachers and parents of 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students to compare their perceptions of the …

The Impact Of Collaborative Analysis Of Student Work On Student Achievement Among Third Graders In The Area Of Writing: An Action Research Study, Jami A. Lee

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Georgia Writing Assessment scores revealed that there were third grade students at an elementary school in rural Southeast Georgia struggling to meet the state standards. This pre-experimental, action research study examined the impact of collaborative analysis of student work on student achievement among third graders in the area of writing through a one-group pretest-posttest design. The pretest phase of this quantitative study was comprised of the collection of scored student writing samples followed by professional development training for teacher participants on collaborative analysis of student work. The posttest phase of the study included the collection of scored student writing samples. …

The Relationship Between Instructional Delivery And Academic Motivation Of Included Elementary School Students With Special Needs, Daniele L. Kass

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Federal and local school system reports demonstrate an academic achievement gap in inclusive classrooms between students with and without disabilities, prompting attention to alternative instructional practices that support motivation and performance of included students. The purpose of this concurrent nested mixed method study was to fill a void in the literature and explore the impact of interdisciplinary thematic instruction on the motivation levels and performance outcomes of 6 included 5th-grade elementary students with special needs. A multiple case study design guided observations and interviews of 3 participants receiving interdisciplinary, theme-based instruction and 3 participants who continued to receive the traditional, …

The Relationship Between Vocabulary Development, Low Socioeconomic Status, And Teacher Discourse, Amy M. Pritts

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Elementary students from low socioeconomic households often begin and remain behind other socioeconomic groups in vocabulary knowledge. Many reasons for this gap, including cognitive, environmental, and educational, have been researched. The current study examined the relationship between vocabulary knowledge, socioeconomic status, and type of teacher discourse within an early elementary setting not yet explored within the research. This concurrent mixed-method research study investigated this relationship using study groups, taped classroom lessons, and the DIBELS word use fluency assessment measure. Interpretative analysis was used for the qualitative data, and correlational analysis was used to determine relationships between the discourse types and …

Listen To Me! An Exploration Of The Students' Voices Regarding Homework, Gladys Landing-Corretjer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research on students' voices and perspectives regarding homework is absent from the literature. This qualitative case study explored the perspectives of 5th and 6th grade students and ten teachers' perceptions regarding homework completion. The literature review revealed 3 trends in homework, including support homework, support against homework, and homework reform. However, most of this research considers the adults' perspective. The researcher administered 46 questionnaires and conducted 12 in depth interviews using a stratified purposive sample and extreme case sampling. The questionnaires and interviews educed the participants' perceptions and practices regarding homework. The students represented 4 distinct groups: English language learners, …

Factors Affecting Retention Of Veteran Classroom Teachers: A Q -Method Study, Theresa Hollingsworth Hafen Corry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Teacher attrition compromises efforts to provide a quality teacher in every classroom, and attrition brings high financial and organizational costs to school districts. Yet, there are few studies on retention of veteran teachers. Within a framework of economic, organization, and attrition theories, the purpose of this study was to provide a clearer focus on factors that contribute to the retention of veteran teachers using Q-methodology. The independent variables were 49 participants from a large school district in the southwest United States. The dependent variable was the Q-sample of multiple factors. Using previous literature, a concourse was developed. The P-sample of …

Nonquantifiable Instructional Factors That Contribute To Achievement In Reading For Students In Grades 3-4 In A Midwestern Urban School District, Alice Marie Figgs

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Currently some elementary students in large urban school districts are not able to perform well in school because they do not have strong reading skills. The recent No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal legislation has supported the use of research-based instructional materials and strategies in reading to remedy this problem; however, qualitative studies exploring the specific nonquantifiable instructional factors that contribute to reading achievement in large urban school districts are still limited. The purpose of this multiple empirical case study was to explore the instructional factors that contributed to achievement in reading for students in Grades 3 and 4 at …

The Effects Of Teacher Race In The Elementary School On Student Achievement Test Scores, John Stortz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The racial and gender composition of elementary school teachers does not match those of the students and this may be contributing to an inequity of achievement scores between African American and European American students. This ex post facto causal comparative study compared three levels of elementary school diversity personnel staffing on Grade 4 African American student Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) scores and differences between male African American scores and female African American scores in a suburban Atlanta county. Nine intentionally selected elementary schools were chosen representing 3 racial diversity personnel staffing levels including 39% to 50%, 25% to 27%, and …

Dialogue Within Professional Learning Communities And Its Impact On The Professional Growth Of Teachers In The Elementary School Setting, Melanie Spradley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The implementation of professional learning communities is a professional development practice that uses collaborative interactions within a constructivist framework to increase teacher and student learning. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the question of how the dialogue of grade level meetings within professional learning communities impacts the professional development of teachers using the constructivist theory of learning as the conceptual framework. The researcher gathered data through hour-long interviews over a 4-week period with 6 learning community participants, one from each of the 6 grade levels at the elementary school research site. A thematic analysis of the …

Family Message Journals: A Tool For Writing Instruction Combined With Parent Involvement, Sandi Michele Mccann

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mandates on reading and math achievement in elementary education in rural Georgia have led to a decline in writing proficiency as the subject becomes increasingly neglected. At the same time, schools strive to increase parental involvement programs. Consequently, there is a need for more research on the impact of parental involvement on student writing proficiency. Accordingly, this qualitative case study examined the impact of Family Message Journals (FMJ) and parent participation on teaching writing across the curriculum. Participants included 6 third-graders and their parents. Students wrote in journals 4 days per week across the 4 months of the study, and …

A Program For The Training Of Elementary Art-Music Teachers, Edward A. Boynton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The writer has had experience as a supervisor of music at the elementary and secondary levels. This experience combined with the development of courses to suit the program for an elementary teacher training institution provided the background for the development of this project.

The problem, as it appeared to the writer, was that in spite of valiant efforts on the part of music supervisors and art teachers’ elementary students did not comprehend music or art as an aesthetic whole. The methods in use, in most Maine schools, presented the arts as a technical skill to be mastered by the student …