Education Commons^™

Schools, Community, And Family: The Promises Of Community-Based School Reform And School Success, Shannon Sue Rishky

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

A new trend in U.S. education is community-based schools. Community schools offer on-site programs and services to whole families to improve student success. Community-based schools can improve student learning, increase parent participation, give teachers more time to focus on instruction, and create the necessary conditions for learning. But we know relatively little about successful new programs in rural states and smaller urban centers. This thesis, a case study of an elementary school in a small U.S. urban center, identifies key factors for the success of such programs. Through in-depth interviews with administrators, teachers, and support staff the following factors were …

School Size And Student Academic Achievement In Idaho High Schools, Barbara J. James

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not a relationship existed between school size and student academic performance in Idaho high schools. This study used the mathematics portion of the Idaho Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) taken by all 10^th grade students in the spring of 2009 to compare academic achievement in students in small schools and students in large schools. Mean scores for proficient and advanced students were calculated and categorized into five school size classifications. For instance, 91% of all Boise High School (BHS) 10^th grade students demonstrated proficiency in mathematics on the ISATs. …

The Effects Of Interaction On Adolescent Reading Motivation, Greg A. Hoetker

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study had two main purposes: One, to discover the nature of interactions that motivate adolescent students to read; and two, to follow how adolescents’ views of interaction and reading motivation evolve over time. The study’s research question was: What do student artifacts and interviews within both middle and high school contexts reveal about adolescents' perceptions of interactions with peers, teachers, and family and their motivation to read? The concept of interaction used within this study was based on a collaborative group-process learning context (Webb & Palincsar, 1996) and a social constructivist conceptualization of intrinsic motivation for literacy learning …

Exploring Brain-Based Instructional Practices In Secondary Education Classes, Constance Darcy Jack

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Research on how the brain perceives, processes, stores, and retrieves information is important to guide pedagogy, yet many schools continue to promote practices that are inconsistent with practices suggested by brain research. Brain-based teaching practices promote a more holistic approach to teaching that acknowledges the interconnectedness of the brain and how it naturally learns.

In order to explore brain-based teaching practices, this study focused on a high school (grades 9-12) in southwestern Idaho to determine whether teachers’ perceptions of their use of brain-based teaching strategies are consistent with the strategies they demonstrate in the classroom. Data included two original instruments: …

An Exploratory Study Of 2007-08 Idaho Early Childhood Special Education Outcome Data, Brenda Mortensen Cannon

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Legislation such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004 include accountability and enforcement provisions for the education of all children, including children with disabilities. The United States Department of Education, through the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), requires all local educational agencies (LEAs) to submit, on an annual basis, data regarding the developmental outcomes and academic achievement of preschool children and youth with disabilities ages 3 through 21 in accordance with NCLB and IDEA 2004. OSEP has established indicators that are meant to inform and support Early Childhood Special …

Rubrics And Revision: What Are The Effects Of 3Rd Graders Using Rubrics To Self-Assess Or Peer-Assess Drafts Of Writing?, Gabriel Cameron Horn

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quasi-experimental research thesis was to determine the effects of rubric-referenced peer-revision and self-assessment on the writing drafts of 3^rd grade students. A convenience sample of students in existing classrooms engaged in two persuasive writing assignments. The first assignment established a baseline score for comparison purposes. During the second assignment, a peer-revision group and self-assessment group received different interventions that focused on revision guided by a rubric. A third control group did not receive an intervention. Student opinions toward the usefulness of the treatments were also gathered through a questionnaire that was delivered after the writing …

Evaluating The Effects Of Credit-Based Transitional Programs On High School Students' Critical Thinking Skills, Jane M. Walther

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This study compared the critical thinking (CT) skills of Grade 12 students (N = 60) enrolled in different academic programs: International Baccalaureate (IB), Advanced Placement (AP), and a control group (NON). CT was assessed using the Ennis-Weir Critical Thinking Essay Test, which provided measures of five CT subscales: Evaluation of Argument, Deduction, Inference, Recognition of Argument, and Interpretation; and a separate category of CT skill: Use of Emotive Language to Persuade.

Despite similar demographics across groups, there were significant differences in three of the five subscales of CT and Use of Emotive Language to Persuade. IB and AP scores were …

Concept Booklets: Examining The Performance Effects Of Journaling Of Mathematics Course Concepts, Todd Stephen Fogdall

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Journaling is an effective tool for writing about mathematics, but research is mixed about the extent to its effectiveness in writing to learn mathematics. This study examined the performance effects of concept booklets on curriculum assessments. Concept booklets are a hybrid style of journal-writing that include responses to journal prompts, diagramming, and traditional note-taking. Prompts were designed to sometimes investigate new concepts and, at other times, to reflect on components of previously learned concepts.

The study, of an experimental design, was carried out at the high school level in honors-level mathematics classes with the independent variable being exposure to the …

Another Look At Reflection: Promoting Student Voice, Self-Efficacy And Student/Teacher Dialogue Through Structured, Guided Reflection Prompts In A College Reading And Study Skills Course, Linda Kirby

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

“Learning improves to the degree that it arises out of the process of reflection.”

Shermis, 1999

In the past 10-15 years, numerous commissions, boards, and foundations as well as states and local school districts have identified reflection/inquiry as a standard toward which all teachers and students must strive not only in meeting new educational reforms but in helping maintain a dynamic, democratic society. The focus of this study was to examine the impact of using guided, structured reflective prompts and written discourse occurring between students and teachers within a college-level reading and study strategies course. Although there is a large …

Searching For Patterns Of Discourse In A Sea Of Professional Development: Professional Learning And Teacher Discourse, Brian T. Whitney

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Professional development, like a sea of changing tides, ebbs and flows through a myriad of professional trends. Some of these trends have disenfranchised teachers from the core of professional learning while others have empowered teachers to confront change with passion and courage. As collaboration continues to gain popularity as an empowering and effective route to professional learning, scrutinizing the effects of professional development on teacher discourse will ensure desired outcomes are achieved.

While collaboration holds the power to break down some of the isolation that exists in the teaching profession, talk alone, void of inquiry and reflection, will not necessarily …

Idaho Building Capacity: Developing A Statewide System Of Support For Districts And Schools In Need Of Improvement, Lisa L. Kinnaman

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, established by Congress as a re-authorization of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (EASA) requires that all states establish a statewide system of intensive and sustained support and improvement for local educational agencies and schools. This provision in the law was designed to insure that states are adequately supporting districts and schools in their efforts to help all students meet the State’s academic content standards and student academic achievement standards. This study will describe and analyze the design and establishment of a comprehensive statewide system of support in Idaho, the Idaho Building …

Writing In The Middle: A Qualitative Study Of Seventh Grade Language Arts Teachers, Cherie Jolene Dockstader

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe what four seventh-grade teachers in four districts in southern Idaho do that helps achievement on both the Direct Writing Assessment (DWA) and Idaho Standards Achievement Test (ISAT). Through analysis of interview, observations, and classroom documents, similarities and differences between the four teachers was documented and reported. The results of this study suggest there are key practices that these teachers have in common that may contribute to student test success, but it also suggests that state standards and assessments influence the teaching practices of these successful teachers in both positive and negative …

Response To Intervention At The Secondary Level: Identifying Students At Risk For High School Dropout, Carrie Lisa Semmelroth

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Using the basic premise of RTI, which is to identify those students at risk, in order to provide timely intervention, this study contributes to the development of a universal screening measure to identify high school at risk of drop out. This study was designed to apply the Early Warning System (EWS) tool developed by the National High School Center as a possible Tier 1 universal screening measure to identify students at risk as part of an RTI framework for the secondary school level. Freshmen data from one high school from the 2004-2005 school year was entered into the EWS tool …

Information Technology Infrastructure Library Problem Management Practices In Higher Education: A Maturity Model Approach, Peter Allyn Jurhs

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses the movement from a traditional to an ITSM approach for Help Desk services in Higher Education. The central goal of the study was the development of a Problem Management Maturity Model. The Problem Management Maturity Model was constructed by reviewing the Information Technology Infrastructure Library Problem Management literature for core components to include in the model. The data collected from surveys of Help Desk managers was used to place Higher Education institutions on the specific level of the Problem Management Maturity Model. Several different hypotheses about predictors for Problem Management maturity were tested but none proved to …

Title I Program Models Of Delivery: The Impact Of Paraeducator Instruction On Idaho Fourth Grade Reading Proficiency, Janet S. Byers-Kirsch

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Under federal law No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2002), each state must annually increase the percentage of students proficient on their achievement tests. They must also have a plan to ensure school districts adequately train and evaluate paraeducators or possibly face losing them as instructional assistants. The study was a descriptive design using quantitative analysis from information gleaned from Idaho’s school district Title I Directors and principals statewide who responded to Qualtrics web-based survey with data about their elementary schools’ models of Title I program service delivery, instructional staff and their training. It examined the relationship between the five most …