Education Commons^™

The U.S. Conference Of Catholic Bishops' Doctrinal Elements Of A Curriculum Framework For The Development Of Catechetical Materials For Young People Of High School Age: Pedagogical And Theological Perspectives Of Religious Studies Teachers In U.S. Catholic Secondary Schools, Carrie J. Schroeder

Doctoral Dissertations

In 2007, the Catholic bishops of the United States unanimously approved a document entitledDoctrinal Elements of a Curriculum Framework for the Development of Catechetical Materials for Young People of High School Age(United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, 2008; hereafter,Framework). The promulgation of theFrameworkconstituted the first time that the bishops sought to establish a uniform Religious Studies curriculum for all U.S. Catholic secondary schools. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perspectives of six Religious Studies teachers regarding their experience of teaching courses based on the USCCBFramework; specifically, these teachers' experiences of theFramework's impact on the theological …

Teaching Dilemmas: Language Development For English Learners In A Hyper-Segregated Dual Immersion Program, Allison Briceño

Doctoral Dissertations

English learners (ELs), a growing population in U.S. schools, generally

underperform as compared to their monolingual English peers. One potential solution to this EL achievement gap has been the implementation of Dual Immersion (DI) programs. However, given that ELs are often densely concentrated in schools with limited access to native English-speaking peers, some schools do not have enough native English-speaking

students to constitute a true DI program.

This qualitative study explored language development practices in both Spanish and English in a Northern California hyper-segregated DI elementary school, where almost all the students were English learners. The participants were four Latina …

Mature Women Beyond Foster Care: Narratives On Fractors Contributing To Subjective Well-Being And Life-Sustaining Skills, Marie Elizabeth Moore

Doctoral Dissertations

Studies show that African American children enter foster care at a higher rate and remain in foster care longer. The numbers of Black children in foster care increases in any given year. Studies found that even when controlling for risk and poverty, race affects the decision of whether to provide services or remove children from their families. Although poverty may serve as an indicator of risk, when race is included, it changes the decision threshold.

African American women who aged out of foster care and are living self - sustaining lives are small in number and there is an absence …

The Re-Imagining Of Rapa Nui Traditional Healing Arts: Explorations Of Narrative Identity, Mimesis, And The Public Sphere, James Joves

Doctoral Dissertations

Research Topic

In Rapa Nui is undergoing a cultural development crisis. This transition mixed with the ever-increasing popularity of tourism and global media has raised awareness of identity and culture within the Rapa Nui society. The present inquiry explores one aspect of their societal healing arts that is in the midst of re-exploration and re-imagination: their traditional medicinal practices or hervias tradicionales and the potential for the findings to help shape the lives of the Rapa Nui in their society.

Theory and Protocol

This research is grounded in critical hermeneutics and follows an interpretive approach to field research and data …

Changes In Perceived Teacher Self-Efficacy And Burnout As A Result Of Facilitated Discussion And Self-Reflection In An Online Course Designed To Prepare Teachers To Work With Students With Autism, Monica Boomgard

Doctoral Dissertations

A growing number of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who display complex learning needs present challenges to educators who struggle to meet their educational needs. Teaching is stressful and additional instructional challenges may increase teacher vulnerability to burnout, leading to a greater likelihood of attrition. Increasing teachers' knowledge of strategies specific to students with ASD within online professional development may create needed support networks increasing self-efficacy and decreasing perceived stress. The purpose of this study was to examine the changes special and general education teachers' perceived self-efficacy and burnout as a result of facilitated discussion and self-reflection embedded in …

Effects Of Rap Paraphrasing And Semantic-Mapping Strategies On The Reading Comprehension Of English Learners And Fully- English-Proficient Students With Mild-To-Moderate Learning Disabilities, Terry Halterman Jr

Doctoral Dissertations

This study, using a repeated measures design with alternating treatments, measured the effectiveness of traditional instruction, the RAP Paraphrasing Strategy, the semantic-mapping strategy, and a combination of these strategies on the reading comprehension skills of 11 English learners (ELs) with learning disabilities and 8 fully English-proficient students (FEPs) with learning disabilities (LD) in two high-school, mild-to-moderate, special-day, English classes. The students were taught each of these strategies for 540 minutes in 9 days of instruction. The same teacher taught all three strategies to both classes. Data were gathered from the IDEA Oral Language Proficiency Test, alternate forms of the Comprehension …

The Theological Literacy, Beliefs, Attitudes, And Practices Of Lay Catholic Administrators Of The Catholic Secondary Schools In The Awka Diocese Of Nigeria, James Okafor

Doctoral Dissertations

Christ's call to evangelization is a mission the Catholic Church has perpetuated throughout history with its reliance upon its schools. In the 19th century, Catholic missionaries evangelized and catechized the Nigerian Igbo people through the schools they built. In 1970, the Nigerian government confiscated these schools, and converted them to secular institutions. It also closed Catholic Teacher Training Colleges.

In response to this, the Nigerian Conference of Catholic Bishops built diocesan Catholic schools, and those who ministered within them were charged with knowing and integrating the six tasks of catechesis--knowledge of the faith, liturgical life, moral formation, prayer, communal life, …

An Investigation Of First-Year Teacher Induction Programs In Jesuit Secondary Schools Within The California Province, Justin James Dixon Christensen

Doctoral Dissertations

This mixed methods study invited principals (n=5) and first-year teachers (n=25) in five Jesuit secondary schools in the California Province to participate. Online surveys and follow-up online interviews were designed to assess the degree to which the schools met 11 standards that constituted the conceptual framework for the study: (a)Program vision, goals, and institutional commitment, (b)Formation of the Ignatian educator, (c)Program administration and communication, (d)Principal engagement, (e)Program assessment, evaluation, and accountability, (f)Assessing first-year teacher practice, (g)First-year teacher professional development and learning communities, (h)Mentor role and responsibilities, selection, assignment, and assessment, (i)Mentor professional development and learning communities, (j)Focus on instructional practice, …

The Impact Of Transactional Strategies Instruction On The Reading Comprehension Of A Diverse Group Of Second Graders, Sunjoo Shawn Kim

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of TSI in teaching reading comprehension to a diverse group of second graders. The diversity included various levels of readiness in reading, language status such as English learners and native speakers of English, and various levels of participation by children in a whole-class setting. Part One of this study used teacher action research as its methodology to address reading comprehension and student autonomy. Part Two of this study used participatory action research, involving children as co-researchers, to investigate how second graders perceived Literature Circles as their reading comprehension instruction and …

The Effect Of Dynamic Assessment On Adult Learners Of Arabic: A Mixed-Method Study At The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, Mohsen Mahmoud Fahmy

Doctoral Dissertations

Dynamic assessment (DA) is based on Vygotsky's (1978) sociocultural theory and his Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). ZPD is the range of abilities bordered by the learner's assisted and independent performances. Previous studies showed promising results for DA in tutoring settings. However, they did not use proficiency-based rubrics to measure students' progress and did not mention the method of using DA practically in classrooms. The literature showed that task-based language instruction (TBLI) is effective in adult classrooms. This study combined DA with TBLI to answer four questions. What is the change in the structural control of Arabic speaking based on …

The Effect Of Sequent Input On Speech Accuracy And Fluency In Adults At The Intermediate Level, Salah Farah

Doctoral Dissertations

To help students achieve their potential, input/feedback must be sequenced by the level of complexity that immediately follows the student's actual developmental level. I assert that effective input/feedback has to follow a set of suggested but not directly expressed rules that represent basic criteria for the development of communicative competence. This study made these criteria explicit, and converted them into ready-for-use input/feedback specifications. Such specifications allow instructors to provide effective remedies to treat particular interlanguage errors. Thus, it is important that instructors understand how to sequence input/feedback to target students differentially in response to their different proficiency levels.

The study …

"These Rights Go Beyond Borders And Pieces Of Paper": Urban High School Teachers And Newcomer Immigrant Youth Engaging In Human Rights Education, Juliet A. Schiller

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study explored the ways that two ninth and tenth grade teachers and their newcomer immigrant students engaged in HRE using elements of critical pedagogy at an urban pubic high school. Research data included eight months of classroom observations and interviews with two teachers and nineteen of their students across four of their classrooms. In this study, the complexity of engaging in HRE with newcomer students was brought to light as two teachers enacted their vision of critical pedagogy, human rights content and learning goals, as well as English language instruction.

The findings in this study conveyed that engaging …

Being In Deep, Authentic, Dramatic Celebration: Narratives Of Community Cultural Workers For Social Change, Mi'jan Celie Tho-Biaz

Doctoral Dissertations

The common discourse in the field of education in the United States during the years 2002 through 2013 centered on the approach of making schools accountable for their students' performance, while aiming to bring proficiency to all students regardless of their socio-economic background. Prior to this study, little research existed on cultural workers who teach, and their associated outcomes with marginalized populations of learners. To fill this gap in the research literature, this study explored the question: How do cultural workers define their work, and in what ways do they connect their stories to the current academic discourse on the …

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 …