The Use Of The South Carolina School Improvement Model - Quick Cycles In Sixth-Grade Science Classrooms, Jennifer Gnann

All Dissertations

Using data to make informed decisions about instruction strengthens a teacher’s delivery of content within the classroom. However, many teachers have not been taught how to properly use a model of rapid improvement cycles to analyze data and apply it to their classroom instruction. I modified the South Carolina School Improvement Model so that it could be used in short cycles to see how teachers used it to plan for, monitor, and adjust instruction in their classrooms.

I conducted a single case study over a six-week period in which I instructed two sixth-grade science teachers on how to use the …

Elementary Teachers’ Perception Of Digital Resources Based On Student Achievement, Tanya R. Small

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

Many factors impact teachers’ decisions about when and how to implement technology during instruction. However, a gap exists in understanding teachers’ motivations for technology integration and face-to-face instruction. Therefore, this qualitative case study explored how teachers’ perceptions of student achievement, motivation, classroom behaviors, and digital challenges influenced their decisions about using technology or direct instruction in the classroom setting. A group of 20 teachers from two southern Florida public elementary schools completed anonymous Likert-scale surveys; six teachers participated in semi-structured interviews. The findings determined via descriptive statistics and thematic analysis revealed that teachers’ inclusion of technology and traditional resources is …

Retention Of Novice Teachers, Renna Varano

Culminating Experience Projects

The field of education is a constantly unsettled field with new pedagogical trends, new policies and immense attrition rates at every turn. Upon attempting to study the causes and effects of teacher attrition, it can be deduced that there is no one cause yet one major effect: student achievement. Schools that have lower rates of student achievement typically have difficulty maintaining a highly effective teaching staff. This issue affects any and all types of schools, some more than others. In order to guarantee students a right to an equitable education, school leaders must create supportive mentoring and induction programs for …

The Potential Link Between Teacher Evaluation And Student Achievement, Darrell Stinchcomb

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Abstract

The push for educational accountability and standardization in the United States gained traction with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Uniformity in the curriculum, academic standards, testing, and accountability were some of the requirements that were being touted by politicians, educators, and special interest groups. School districts across the United States were forced to develop systems to prove that teachers were teaching and students were learning. New York State enacted reform legislation under Education Law section 3012-c, which included the Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) to evaluate teachers and principals. One of the components of this evaluation …

Happiness Advantage: The Impact On School Culture, Jillian Sagan

Dissertations

The purpose of this evaluation is to analyze the implementation of the Happiness Advantage principles (Achor, 2011) to address the mental well-being for all school district employees. In addition to Happiness Advantage Training (Achor, 2011), the study seeks to determine if the implementation of positive psychology principles affects school culture, teacher engagement and student achievement. The program design incorporates whole district training, ongoing professional development for employees and the autonomy to generate new ideas to sustain a positive mindset for individual schools sites and classrooms. The findings indicate that when positive psychology principles are implemented across a school district, teacher …

Correlation Between Instructional School Culture And Student Achievement In An Urban District, Wayman Graham

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The Teachers Talent Toolbox needed a tool that could compile usable information on any given learning institution through data collection and analysis and provide usable qualitative and quantitative data that could be used to identify the causes of low achievement and provide necessary interventions within the school to improve student outcomes. To answer this need, the Instructional Culture Index/Insight Survey was developed by the New Teacher Project in 2016 and has been widely used and implemented in many schools and districts. This survey instrument was validated and deemed reliable by the RAND Corporation also in 2016. The purpose of this …

Elementary Teachers' Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of Coteaching, Geeta Gupta Kadakia

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In response to the low passing rate of its students with disabilities, administrators at a small urban elementary school in south Texas implemented coteaching. Guided by Nonaka and Takeuchi's collaborative learning framework, this qualitative instrumental case study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of collaborative teaching in the elementary education setting. Data collection consisted of a group interview and classroom observations with a purposeful sample of 4 general education teachers and 2 special education teachers of Grades 3-5 math and language arts who were coteaching at the time of the study. Teachers' perceptions regarding the effects of their professional relationship …

The Influence Of Length Of School Day On Grade 4 And Grade 5 Language Arts And Mathematics Performance In The State Of New Jersey, Meghan M. Plevier

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The purpose of this relational, non-experimental, explanatory, cross sectional study with quantitative methods was to explain the influence of length of school day, if any, on Grade 4 and Grade 5 student achievement in Language Arts and Mathematics as measured by the high-stakes New Jersey standardized test entitled New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJ ASK) 2011. Additionally, the study examined the influence of other student, staff, and school variables such as student mobility, student attendance, percentage of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch (SES), percentage of students with limited English proficiency (LEP), percentage of students with disabilities, …

Relationship Between Teacher Inquiry Science Instruction Self-Efficacy And Student Achievement, Grace Hanners

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Standardized test data indicate that student achievement in science is a problem both nationally and locally. At the study site, only a small percentage of fifth-grade students score at the advanced level on the Maryland state science assessment (MSA). In addition, the performance of African American, economically disadvantaged, and special education students is well below that of the general student population. Some studies have shown that teacher self-efficacy affects student achievement. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between fifth-grade teacher inquiry science instruction self-efficacy scores and the scores of their students on the MSA. Bandura's …

Children Are The Messengers: A Case Study Of Academic Success Through The Voices Of High-Achieving Low-Income Elementary Students, Stephen Howard Mccray

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

For low-income minority and marginalized communities, American democracy’s educational mission remains unfulfilled. Student voices have provided insight into ways that schools disserve and serve students and how schools can improve in promoting academic achievement; however, academically successful low-income students’ voices—particularly those at the elementary school level—are largely excluded from the literature. Providing a platform for student voices, this qualitative, intrinsic critical case study explored six high achieving low-income students’ views of their academic success and how that success was achieved. Participants were six fifthgrade students, their parents, and teacher, in a school-wide Title I urban public school. Data were collected …

Student Mobility On The Rise: A Case Study Of Strategies To Support Mobile Students, Alisha J. Cloer

Education Dissertations and Projects

Extensive literature on the problems in our country's education system exists; however, little attention has been given to high classroom student turnover at the state and federal levels (Hartman, 2002). Largely, research suggests mobility as being one of several interrelated factors which have an effect on students and the level of success experienced in school. Poverty is a prevailing factor in much of the student mobility research. Children in poverty are most likely to be mobile because their parents are moving from place to place to avoid rent, and they often become homeless. Some researchers say poverty is the cause …

Teachers' Perceptions About The Types, Quality, And Impact Of Their Job-Embedded Professional Development Experiences, Delilah Mitchell

Dissertations

This study was designed to determine eighth grade teachers’ perceptions of the impact, quality, and types of job-embedded professional development activities they have participated in and the relationship to student achievement in language arts, math, or science. The researcher identified school districts with 50% or more of their eighth grade students scoring proficient or advanced on all three areas of Mississippi’s Curriculum Test, Second Edition (MCT2). Sixty-four eighth grade language arts, math, or science teachers who had been at their current school at least two years completed a questionnaire created by the researcher. Multiple Linear Regression and Pearson’s Correlation were …

The Relations Among School Status Variables, Teacher Academic And Arts Curricular Emphases, And Student Academic Achievement In Grades 1, 3, And 5, Browning Michael Neddeau

Doctoral Dissertations

The National Center of Education Statistics' Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K) data were used to explore the curricular emphasis in schools of varying socioeconomic status in both public and private schools. Data collected between 1998 and 2003 were used in the secondary analyses of curricular emphasis in nine curriculum areas identified in the Teacher Questionnaire were grouped into academic, arts, or physical education.

The results from descriptive statistics, correlations, and multiple regressions at each grade indicated differences in academic, arts, and physical education emphases based on public or private schools and school socioeconomic status (SES). Although …

Pre-Kindergarten Education: Is There A Relationship Between Pre-Kindergarten Participation And Student Achievement?, Carol Goldate Barlow

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if the intervention of attending public school pre-kindergarten had an impact on student achievement as measured by the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) considering gender, socioeconomic status, and grade retention. This research study included both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data included all 2009-2010 fourth-grade LEAP math and English language arts scaled scores collected from a specified public school district. To determine the impact of pre-kindergarten attendance on student achievement, the LEAP scores of students who attended public school pre-kindergarten were compared to LEAP scores of students in the same school district …

A State Level Analysis Of Teach For America's Impact On Student Achievement, Steven Ferguson

CMC Senior Theses

Teach For America (TFA) has seen its profile and list of donors expand tremendously in recent years. Despite its success in attracting support, research on the effectiveness of the program has been inconclusive. This study investigates the impact of TFA on student achievement measured at the state level. Panel data from grades 4 and 8 are analyzed to examine how the presence of TFA corps members in a state impacts student test scores compared to states which have no TFA corps members.

The Influence Of A Reform-Based Mathematic Program On Third, Fourth, And Fifth Grade Student Achievement, William M. Ward

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Early Childhood Education: The Sustainability Of The Benefits Of Preschool Participation In Abbott Districts, Norma Fernandez

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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The Relationship Between Parental Involvement And Student Achievement In Three Working Class Elementary Schools, Laurie Zickler-Bandlow

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Evaluating The Effectiveness Of The Developmental-Interaction Approach On Student Achievement Within A Charter School Setting, Madeline M. O'Dea

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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The Impact Of Classroom Organization In Grade 4 On Student Achievement In Science, Edward Duncanson

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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