Education Commons^™

The Impact Of Poverty, School Enrollment, And Ninth-Grade Transition Programs On Promotion To Tenth Grade In Thirty South Carolina High Schools, Mark Shannon Hopkins

Theses and Dissertations

This study attempted to determine the impact of poverty, school size, and the presence of a ninth grade transition program (independent variables) upon promotion to tenth grade (dependent variable). Three sets of ten South Carolina high schools were purposefully selected for the study: one from high, one from medium, and one from low poverty index ranges. Poverty information was gathered from SCDE Poverty Index lists, and school size and tenth grade promotion rate were calculated from enrollment data supplied by the SCDE. A ninth grade transition was defined by identifying eight common transition practices in current literature and sample school …

Dialogue In The Relationships Between Principals And Teachers: A Qualitative Study, Tracie Shelley Prichard

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study examines dialogue and discourse patterns between principals and teachers. It analyzes daily verbal interactions in order to identify shared meanings, hidden messages, and the dynamics of power. This study is also based on the belief that democracy in education is vital to maintaining a collaborative, people friendly approach to working together to improve learning for all students.

Although much has been written on the importance of school culture and collaborating effectively, little has been written about the role dialogue plays in shaping school culture. While we know many successful leadership paradigms, including distributed leadership and collaboration, …

Nurturing Resiliency Among Adolescents With Emotional And Behavioral Disturbances (Ebd) In A Special Education Setting, Rimaz Herz

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Many youth with emotional and behavioral disturbance (EBD) face significant challenges and difficulties with their families, schools, friends and peers, and even themselves, and experience them academically, emotionally, physically, socially and behaviorally. These youth need resilience to help them overcome these difficulties and challenges. This qualitative study focused on understanding the nature of schooling and interventions provided to students identified as having the most severe emotional and behavioral disabilities or needs, and how such schooling and interventions might explicitly or implicitly promote resilience. The researcher sought to examine interventions used by observing a specific self-contained program with clearly defined services. …

Using Twitter To Facilitate Case-Based Instruction In A Nursing Classroom, Sherleena Ann Buchman, Patricia Burke Snider, Tian Luo, Kaboni Gondwe

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This paper is a report on the use of Twitter within a sophomore level course in the baccalaureate nursing program at a rural Appalachian university. Students enrolled in the Foundations of Nursing course were in their second year of a traditional nursing program. Meeting the challenge of providing students with a ubiquitous learning environment that extends beyond their rural environment is important in the education of many students in the Appalachian region. The preliminary study looks at the usability of Twitter as the medium that will assist nursing students to build the confidence that comes from completing a case study …

Web 2.0 For Language Learning: Benefits And Challenges For Educators, Tian Luo

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This literature review study explores 44 empirical research studies that report on the integration of Web 2.0 tools into language learning and evaluate the actual impact of using those Web 2.0 tools in language learning. In particular, this review aims to identify the specific Web 2.0 tools integrated in the educational settings, theoretical underpinnings that are commonly used to frame the research, methodologies and data analysis techniques that scholars employ to analyze their research data, the benefits and challenges scholars spotted in their research findings, the pedagogical implications in using Web 2.0 for language learning and future research directions that …

Examining Student Participation In Three Learning Activities Supported By Social Annotation Tools, Tian Luo, Fei Gao, Kathryn S. Hoff

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Social annotation (SA) allows learners to highlight and comment on Web pages and share annotations with each other online. Despite its potential in promoting collaborative learning, examining how to integrate it into educational settings has not been fully studied. The purpose of the study is to examine student participation in three different SA-based online activities: (1) peer review, (2) annotated discussion, and (3) collaborative reading. Students participated in all three SA-based activities and took a survey at the end reporting the effectiveness of these activities. The analysis of students’ annotations and their survey responses suggested that although participants perceived the …

Testing Misconceptions And Building Excitement In A Psychology And The Law Course, Emily Stark

Psychology Department Publications

Did you know that there is no evidence that verifies that each person's fingerprints are truly unique, or that even trained dental examiners cannot accurately match bite marks to the teeth of a suspect? Thinking about our misconceptions can make us excited to learn more about a topic, so that we understand why we were wrong. This article discusses a method that I developed to address misconceptions about psychology and the legal system and to get students excited to learn more about these topics.

A Brief Examination Of Predictors Of E-Learning Success For Novice And Expert Learners, Emily Stark, Andrea L. Lassiter, Ashley Kuemper

Psychology Department Publications

As the prevalence of e-learning continues to grow in higher education settings, so too does the need for empirical research examining the antecedents of success in this environment. Previous research has suggested some characteristics that may determine success in an online course; however, little empirical evidence exists relating potential predictors of e-learning success with actual performance outcomes, particularly for different levels of learners. Students new to college may need different kinds of support to succeed in an online course compared to students with more experience in taking college-level courses, whether online or in-class, and navigating institutional resources. A primary goal …

Gvsu Undergraduate And Graduate Catalog, 2013-2014, Grand Valley State University

Course Catalogs, 1963 - Current

Grand Valley State University 2013-2014 undergraduate and/or graduate course catalog published annually to provide students with information and guidance for enrollment.

Unf Journal Winter 2013, University Of North Florida

UNF Journal

A university periodical for alumni and friends of the University of North Florida.

Environments Of Excellence: Two Literate Homes And Teachers' Perspectives, Tracy Swinton Bailey

Theses and Dissertations

African American children and other children of Color and children living in low-income areas are not performing at the same academic level as their European American counterparts. Some educators have blamed those children and their families for their failure. However, studies show that teaching and learning is happening in all familial settings, and that environments of excellence where the characteristics, conditions, dispositions and practices support student academic success are being established and maintained in all communities, including low-income African American communities. Disregard for this fact has led to a challenge for marginalized children and a widening of the gap between …

Using The Instructional Coaching Model To Implement Positive Behavior Supports In Early Childhood Special Education Programs, Heather Donoho

Graduate Research Papers

Challenging behaviors in early childhood programs are of increasing concern to teachers in preschool programs. The use of Positive Behavior Supports, or PBS, has been on the rise in a variety of preschool programs as a way to increase acceptable behaviors while using tiered interventions to identify children in need of specific skills training in hopes of decreasing the chances of negative behaviors. While most teachers are in favor of the PBS initiative, many teachers report not having enough time or expertise to implement the program to the best of their ability. Another new initiative in preschool programs is that …

Argumentation As A Lens To Examine Student Discourse In Peer-Led Guided Inquiry For College General Chemistry, Ushiri Kumarihamy Kulatunga

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation work entails three related studies on the investigation of Peer-Led Guided Inquiry student discourse in a General Chemistry I course through argumentation. The first study, Argumentation and participation patterns in general chemistry peer-led sessions, is focused on examining arguments and participation patterns in small student groups without peer leader intervention. The findings of this study revealed that students were mostly engaged in co-constructed arguments, that a discrepancy in the participation of the group members existed, and students were able to correct most of the incorrect claims on their own via argumentation.

The second study, Exploration of peer leader …

English Language Teachers' Learning To Teach With Technology Through Participation In An Online Community Of Practice: A Netnography Of Webheads In Action, Derya Kulavuz-Onal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The emergence of online learning environments and advances in web-based technologies enable teachers to interact and exchange ideas and experiences in online communities. However, these rapid technological advances also cause such online communities to disband quickly, before they have the opportunity to evolve into a community of practice, in which a group of teachers build a shared history, a shared repertoire of resources and activities, and mutually engage in collaborative professional development, over time. Moreover, rapid advances in technology necessitate on-going collaboration among teachers so that they develop meaningful technology integration practice. While such collaborations have taken place in face-to-face …

School Library Media Specialists' Perceptions Of Collaboration, Leadership And Technology, Jozan Maria Powell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

School impact media studies indicate that a well-staffed and funded school library media program with a certified school library media specialist (SLMS) positively correlates with increased student achievement. SLMS must have a shared understanding of their roles and responsibilities to positively impact student success. In an effort to determine prior knowledge and differentiated learning objectives, the method of certification is critical for planning professional development. This dissertation presents a multi-method investigation of differences between Alternatively Certified (AC) and Traditionally Certified (TC) SLMS as it relates to their perceptions of collaboration, leadership and technology described in Information Power: Building Partnerships for …

Connective Capacity: The Importance And Influence Of Dispositions In Special Education Teacher Education, Scot Mcgregor Rademaker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dispositions are a difficult construct to define and assess within teacher education. The problem lies in the relative ambiguity of the term and the subjective manner in which it is applied to the assessment of the performance of preprofessional teachers. Additionally, because certain accreditation institutes including the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) require that dispositions be measured as part of a teacher's professional development, the issues of how dispositions are constructed and gauged becomes an essential part of the foundation related to understanding the effectiveness of teacher education programs. The fact that much of the research …

Community Arts In The Lives Of Disadvantaged African American Youth: Educating For Wellness And Cultural Praxis, Mabel Sabogal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this study was to analyze the role and potential of community arts programs and organizations in improving the lives of disadvantaged African American youth, through the creation of a participatory video project and the internal evaluation of the same; using applied anthropological methods, and cultural praxis (an innovative educational design), and following the recommendations of expert community arts programs evaluators. The study responds to the need identified in the community arts literature to offer robust program evaluations that explain the benefits of such programs. The lack of evidence seems to derive not only from the difficulties …

Crossing Cultural Boundaries: Explorations In Multilingual Teaching And Learning, Patriann Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A transdisciplinary notion of learning considers what is between, above, and beyond the disciplines. Adherence to such a perspective warrants examination of any research endeavor from multiple entry points and from openness to the changing nature and infinity of knowledge. In this dissertation, "Crossing Cultural Boundaries: Explorations in Multilingual Teaching and Learning," I approached the study of language and literacy teaching and learning across multilingual and multicultural contexts via an optional dissertation process that required completion of multiple studies. This dissertation option allowed me three entry points: (a) an understanding of literacy and language policy in relation to language learners …

From Limited-English-Proficient To Educator: Perspectives On Three Spanish-English Biliteracy Journeys, Elizabeth Visedo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this multicase study was to describe and explain the perceptions of three Spanish-English culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) high achievers on their biliteracy journeys to become educators in the United States (U.S.), by answering: What elements constitute the perspectives of three L1-Spanish/L2-English CLD high achievers on the relevance of their biliteracy experience in order to become educators in the U.S.?; What factors do these three L1-Spanish/L2-English CLD high achievers perceive as key to describe their biliteracy experience?; What relevance, if any, do these three L1-Spanish/L2-English CLD high achievers perceive their biliteracy experience had for them to become …

A Case Study Understanding Employability Through The Lens Of Human Resource Executives, Carmeda L. Stokes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to examine HR executives' perspectives on employability enhancement for employees and how it is operationalized in their workplace. The exploratory questions that guided the study were, What are the perspectives of HR executives regarding employability enhancement for employees, and In what ways and under what conditions is organizational support of employability enhancement demonstrated through workplace learning initiatives? The conceptual framework for this study is based on Clarke and Patrickson's (2008) list of assumptions concerning employability as the premise for the new employment contract.

Data collected consisted of background questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, …

Assessing Appropriate Technology Handwashing Stations In Mali, West Africa, Colleen Claire Naughton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Proper hand hygiene is the most effective and efficient method to prevent over 1.3 million deaths annually from diarrheal disease and Acute Respiratory Infections (ARIs). Hand hygiene is also indispensable in achieving the fourth Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to reduce the childhood mortality rate by 2/3rds between 1990 and 2015. Handwashing has been found in a systematic review of studies to reduce diarrhea by 47%#37; and is, thus, capable of preventing a million deaths (Curtis et. al., 2003). Despite this evidence, hand washing rates remain seriously low in the developing world (Scott et al., 2008).

This study developed and implemented …

Attitude Toward Digital And Print-Based Reading: A Survey For Elementary Students, Diedre D. Allen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to create a valid and reliable survey to measure third through fifth grade students' attitudes toward reading across three mediums: print, e-reader, and Internet. The theoretical framework pulls from self-determination theory and affective models to guide the development of a survey intended for use with intermediate elementary students. The Attitude Toward Reading Survey (ATRS) was developed and field-tested, revised, and field-tested again. Data analysis included confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha reliability, and cumulative logit modeling. The results indicate the survey is a reliable and valid tool for teachers to use. The ATRS …

The Relationship Between Attitudes And Perspectives Of American Sign Language University Students Towards Deaf People, Beth Lilessie Cagle Brightman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

N/A

A Descriptive Study Of Four Principals' Experiences In Leading, Lewis Curtwright

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this portraiture study is to describe four African-American principals'

experiences, in the context of their principal's role, with the interventions they championed in

meeting the needs of their struggling students. This research attempts to answer questions

concerning: What role did the four principals play in the targeted school reform? What

interventions did each principal introduce and what evidence of effects do they identify for each

one? How did each principal's values and beliefs affect what they chose to do? Framed within

Social Justice Theory (SJT), the study provides insight into how these respondents increased

student achievement …

The Positive Illusory Bias And Adhd Symptoms: A New Measurement Approach, Sarah A. Fefer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions of academic and social competence among adolescents with a continuum of inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive symptoms. Past literature suggests that children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) display self-perceptions that are overly positive compared to external indicators of competence, a phenomenon that is referred to as the positive illusory bias (PIB; Owens, Goldfine, Evangelista, Hoza, & Kaiser, 2007). The PIB is well supported among children with ADHD, and recent research suggests that the PIB persists into adolescence. To date, research on the PIB has relied on difference scores (i.e., an indicator of competence is …

The Perspectives Of Graduate Students With Visual Disabilities: A Heuristic Case Study, Luis Perez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The concept of liminality describes the experiences of individuals who live "between and betwixt" as a result of their indeterminate status in society. This concept seems appropriate to describe the experiences of people who live with vision loss, because we simultaneously belong to two social or cultural groups. On the one hand we must navigate the mainstream society in which we live day to day, which we are often able to do with the vision we have left. On the other hand, our disability sets us apart from that mainstream society. This idea of living in "between and betwixt" the …

Navigation And Immersion Of The American Identity In A Foreign Culture To Emergence As A Culturally Relative Ambassador, Lee H. Rosen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Globalization is forcing many American college students to re-evaluate their perspective on foreign travel. If they are offered an opportunity to improve their cultural relativity skill set by immersing themselves into a new culture, the more astute students might choose to embark on that journey especially if it would result in resume enhancement. This paper focuses upon a group of twelve community college students' cross-cultural experiences, navigation techniques, and adaptation methods as student interns teaching conversational English in Changchun, China for a period of nine to thirteen weeks in spring 2011. Several areas of interest emerged from their experiences …

Examining School Capacity For Inclusion Using A Multi-Dimensional Framework: A Case Study, Amy Lenee-Monnier Toson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2002) and the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004), the inclusion of students with disabilities (SWDs) in general education classrooms has become more prevalent within our public schools (DuFour & Eaker, 1998; Mcleskey et al., 2010). Current research on inclusion focuses on student outcomes and procedural changes and not the contexts and capabilities of education leaders who are implementing it. Empirical research that examines how schools have built the capacity for sustaining these models, especially through the perspectives of those who implement it, is limited …

Interdisciplinary Collaboration For Youth Mental Health: A National Study, Audra St. John Walsh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Collaboration between school- and community-based mental health professionals has the potential to result in early identification of and intervention for youth with mental health problems; however, the limited research in this area suggests that collaboration does not often occur between these professionals (Walsh, 2011). The purpose of this investigation was to collect survey data from a national sample of school psychologists in order to examine the collaborative practices of school psychologists and community-based mental health professionals on behalf of youth with mental health problems. Survey data from 327 members of 11 professional state organizations of school psychology were collected and …

Predicting Academic Outcomes For Third Grade Students: Examining The Reading Achievement Of Diverse Students Using The Diagnostic Lens Of The Dynamic Indicators Of Basic Early Literacy Skills, Zhivago Trevino Adderley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite the billions of dollars spent in the last forty years, America's efforts toward closing the achievement gaps among diverse learners and their receptive counterparts have not been realized. Limitations noted in previous research discussed the need to examine the unique contributions of diverse learner variables as a way of determining their specific academic needs. The purpose of this study was to examine the intra- and inter-group growth trajectories of two diverse student groups (English Language Learners and Students with Specific Learning Disabilities) on reading achievement. The study employed a longitudinal, quasi-experimental research design utilizing archival data from 26,947 students' …