Education Commons^™

Teachers' Perceptions On Improvement Of Declining Grade 8 Language Arts Test Scores, John David Mcgroarty

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Once viewed as a way to establish educational placement, high-stakes testing is used to establish benchmarks for success within school systems. Within a local Utah school district, raising these benchmarks has been deliberated due to a steady decline in Grade 8 language arts scores, which has heightened concerns among local school administrators and teachers. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the perceptions of teachers on how to improve declining Grade 8 language arts test scores. Based on the theoretical concepts of constructivism, 3 research questions were created to examine the underlying factors of the steady decline in …

"Investigating Instructor Perceptions Of On-Line Teaching Versus Traditional Classroom Instruction"., Gena Mcnair-Crews

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Web-based education is an important method of instruction across multiple higher education contexts due to its convenience, accessibility, and flexibility. A local college faces demand for online teaching that exceeds the availability of willing faculty. This study investigated instructors' perceptions of online teaching versus traditional classroom instruction to ascertain whether there were systematic differences between online teaching and face-to-face classroom instruction. Transformational learning theory was the conceptual foundation of this study. The study's guiding questions were designed to determine how faculty regarded their experiences teaching online classes and the reasons for their opinions, as well as what limitations faculty thought …

A Comparison Of Dominant Intellectual Strengths And Learning Styles In College Freshmen, Jessica Mioduszewski

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Remediation has become a compensatory way for an increasing number of students to attend college. The problem addressed in this study was whether student intellectual strengths and learning style preferences were, in part, related to placement or enrollment in remediation courses. The purpose of this quantitative study was to assess whether a particular learning style or dominant intellectual strength was characteristic of freshmen enrolled in remediation courses compared to freshmen not enrolled in remediation courses. This study filled a gap in the literature as no studies have analyzed the combination of learning style preferences with dominant intellectual strengths in an …

School Bullying And Teacher Professional Development, Demita Sidonia Parson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Bullying has become a serious concern in many American public middle schools in recent years. Inadequate professional development (PD) in bullying prevention and response strategies has compounded this problem. The overarching purpose of this study was to increase understanding of the growing problem of school bullying. Bronfenbrenner's socioecological theory, which states that environment and relationships influence student behavior, served as the conceptual framework for this qualitative study. Guiding research questions, grounded in socioecological theory, were used to examine middle school teachers' views of PD and their perceived skills in responding to or preventing bullying. Through purposeful sampling, 8 middle school …

Middle School Teachers' Experiences With Cross-Curricular Connections At The Incident Level, Melita M. Penchalk

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many curricular innovations, including cross-curricular teaching, are started in schools without adequate teacher preparation and support, reducing the effectiveness of the interventions in supporting student learning. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to describe the implementation of the cross-curricular connections teaching technique in middle schools. Research questions focused on how middle school teachers experienced implementation of cross-curricular teaching at the incident level and how teachers perceived cross-curricular teaching and its long-term value. Myers-Briggs personality type theory informed the study, supporting the postulation that teachers are more comfortable teaching from their personality types. Data from 10 middle school teachers …

Academic Achievement Of Esl Learners At A Teaching Hospital Training Programs, Abdul Fattah Rachdan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many students in an allied health program at a Middle Eastern Arab university were experiencing difficulties with courses taught in English, resulting in poor academic achievement, low grade point averages, a high failure rate amongst its first year students, and an adverse impact upon a future skilled and educated work force for the region. Tinto's theory of institutional action for students' success served as the conceptual framework for the inquiry that used a qualitative explanatory case study method to examine the experiences of those students who were facing difficulties with their studies. To address questions about why students were failing …

Development Of A Nursing Informatics Competency Assessment Tool (Nicat), Alphonsa A. Rahman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nursing workforce competency in informatics is crucial to providing safe patient care, improving quality, and reducing healthcare costs. Assurance of informatics competency in a workforce with increasingly diverse educational preparations, demographics, and informatics skills poses significant challenges. The question addressed was the lack of nursing informatics competency assessment tool relevant to bedside nursing. The purpose of this project was to develop and review a new nursing informatics competency assessment tool designed to address the individual educational needs of newly hired nurses. The tool was designed to measure nurses' competency in computer literacy, informatics literacy, and informatics management skills recommended in …

Nursing Faculty Perceptions Of And Responses To Student Incivility, Lori Linn Theodore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Student incivility has become a problem in nursing schools around the country. Researchers have noted that uncivil behavior that goes unaddressed may compromise the educational environment. Nursing faculty have differing standards about uncivil behavior; thus, students experience inconsistencies in approaches to incivility. The purpose of this mixed-methods explanatory study was to explore nursing faculty experiences with, understandings of, and responses to student incivility. The conceptual framework was Clark's continuum of incivility and the conceptual model for fostering civility in nursing education. Descriptive analysis of the level and frequency of uncivil behaviors of nursing faculty members (17 full-time and 15 part-time), …

Transformational Strategic Choice: The Generational Succession Effect On Small Businesses, Eric D. Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Changing workforce demographics, combined with a gap in knowledge and skills between older and younger generations, threatens small business viability. The presence of four generations in the workforce, where 1 in 5 employees are 55 years and older, presents an unprecedented challenge for small business leaders planning for succession with a multigenerational workforce. The purpose of this case study was to explore the effect of Baby Boomers' presence on small business leaders' ability to retain and transfer knowledge to successive generations. Using snowball and purposeful sampling techniques, 36 small business leaders in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area participated. The conceptual …

The Relationship Among Esol Services, Vocabulary, And Reading Comprehension In Primary Grades, Cassandra Marie Arcila-Knortz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

With the growing English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) population in the United States, English instruction is becoming vitally important in schools. Despite this growing need, many schools are eliminating ESOL support services that promote English learning, and some schools are eliminating ESOL support services in primary grades. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether providing ESOL support in kindergarten improved students' reading level, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Vygotsky's social learning theory and theory of proximal development provided the theoretical framework of the study. The research questions concerned differences in comprehension scores, vocabulary scores, and reading …

Classroom Management Strategies As A Cornerstone Of Elementary Teachers' Self-Efficacy, Niamh Kathleen Conner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the local school district under study, there has been a lack of professional development (PD) in classroom management, and challenging student behaviors in the classroom are increasing, eroding teachers' self-efficacy. The purpose of this correlational study, guided by a constructivist theoretical framework, was to examine the relationship between teachers' self-efficacy in the classroom when addressing challenging student behaviors and the amount of PD that the teachers have had in classroom management. The convenience sample comprised 99 teachers from 8 elementary schools; this total was based upon a response rate of 45%. The instrument, the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale …

School Counselors' Perceived Multicultural Competence, Adherence To The Asca National Model, And Students' Performance, Jessica Helene Conroy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Multicultural competence (MCC), despite its integral part in school counseling and the school setting, is not applied within the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) national model (NM). Rather, the ASCA NM is a guideline that is expected of school counselors with limited opportunity for deviation. Without incorporating multicultural practices in the school setting, student performance may suffer. Student performance affects everyone who is learning, working, or has a child who is or will be at the middle school level. The purpose of this study was to identify if perceived MCC, as measured by the MCCTS-R, and/or adherence to the ASCA …

The Effectiveness Of Professional Learning Communities As Perceived By Elementary School Teachers, Quonias Hudson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

School districts in a southeastern state have faced the challenge of choosing an effective professional development model that assists teachers in improving student achievement. Some school districts have implemented professional learning communities (PLCs) as a means of addressing teachers' professional development. Guided by the social learning theories of Bandura, Vygotsky, and Wenger, the research questions focused on teachers' perceptions of the use of PLC experiences for making classroom decisions and their value for enhancing teacher learning, teacher collaboration, and student learning. Data for this case study were collected from 7 certified elementary teachers in 1 school who had participated in …

Middle School Teachers' Perceptions Of Incorporating Alternative Assessments To Accommodate Students, Terra Wright

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A suburban middle school located in the southeastern United States included differentiated instruction and technology in all aspects of the curriculum. Teachers at this school received professional development on differentiated strategies; however, many teachers did not apply the strategies to assessments and continued to use traditional assessments despite the poor performance of their students on class evaluations. This qualitative case study, rooted in constructivist theories, examined middle school teachers' perceptions and use of alternative assessments. All 6th Language Arts teachers were selectively invited to participate in my study because they teach a core 6th grade subject, four teachers responded and …

The Phenomenon Of Novice Teacher Resiliency In At-Risk Elementary Schools, D'Ann Coale Calams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In an urban school district in North Texas, there was a problem retaining highly qualified novice teachers. This phenomenological study examined the experiences of novice teachers to understand why some teachers demonstrated the resiliency to succeed as professional educators and to suggest potential solutions to improve novice teacher retention. Guided by Henderson and Milstein's theory of resilience, 8 novice teachers with 2-5 years of teaching experience participated in semi structured interviews. Research questions elicited the experiences that empowered novice teacher resiliency, the perceived role of administrators and colleagues to cultivate and build capacity, and recommendations to promote resiliency. Data analyses …

Listening To First-Year Community College Students, Mary Elizabeth Drake

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

First-year community college students are often from underrepresented groups who are unaccustomed to voicing their needs or to being recognized for having more and varied needs than other groups. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain an understanding of the factors that may engender or prevent success through listening to what first-year community college students have to say. Research questions addressed what students identified as challenges and successes during their first year and how first person accounts can contribute to the information college personnel need to understand.

Human development theories and models of student persistence informed this study. …

Effects Of Single-Gender And Coeducational Learning Environments On Middle School Mathematics Achievement, Tasha Graves Henderson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As a result of the increased number of schools failing to meet adequate yearly progress (AYP), school districts are searching for innovative ways to raise student achievement and meet the rigorous performance standards set by state governments. Using the theoretical framework provided by brain research and the theory of multiple intelligences, the purpose of this quantitative study was to compare 2 middle school classroom structures for differences in mathematics achievement among students. The study examined whether a significant difference existed in mathematics achievement scores on the state-mandated mathematics test for 2 groups (single gender classes versus coeducational classes) in 6 …

Concepts About Print And Literacy Skill Acquisition Of Preschool Students, Cassandra Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Choosing the most effective method of teaching literacy acquisition that will improve student achievement is a challenge for many early childhood educators. The problem is the target school district where this study took place did not have a curriculum for preschool teachers to use that provided reading instruction. The purpose of this causal comparative study was to explore the relationship between Concepts About Print (CAP) scores of preschool students who received direct CAP instruction and those who received indirect instruction through indirect reading and writing activities. Guided by Marie Clay's theory, which concludes that reading difficulties among beginning readers stem …

A Program Evaluation Of A Remediation Program For Underprepared College Students, Jane Neuenschwander

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This participant-oriented program evaluation study was prompted by the problem that a cohort remediation program for underprepared freshmen at a small, private university in Appalachia was implemented for 1 year and dropped without any review of the program's impact on retention. The purpose of this project study was to conduct a summative program evaluation that recorded perceptions from the cohort program's participants and to compare their retention rates with underprepared students' retention rates from the subsequent year's individualized remediation. The study was guided by Tinto's retention theory, which posits that academic and social integration is critical to retention. A Chi-square …

Exploring The Meaning Of School Bullying Among Parents Of Victimized Children, Mildred Peyton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Bullying in American schools has increased to what some have considered an epidemic and is a major problem among youth. Bullied youth experience poorer mental health and lower school performance, in comparison to those who are not bullied, and the growth of bullying has raised concerns from parents, schools, policy makers, and human-services professionals interested in prevention and intervention of bullying behaviors. The purpose of this study was to explore how parents whose children experienced school bullying perceived school administrators, teachers, antibullying school policies or programs, and their family's dynamics, to better understand the parents' internal experiences. The theoretical framework …

Addressing Gaps In Student Reading: Read 180 Program Evaluation, Shonda Patrice Pittman-Windham

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Students are reaching middle school 2 or more years behind in reading ability. As a result, they are unable to meet state testing standards. In 2007, the READ 180 program was implemented at an urban middle school in Virginia to address the reading gaps of these middle school students. The purpose of this sequential mixed-method program evaluation was to analyze the reading success of 30 READ 180 students and the perceptions of 4 teachers who taught the READ 180 curriculum. The theoretical framework that served as a basis for this study was Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, which holds that …

Elementary School Teachers' Perceptions Of The Process Of Integrating Technology, Diana June Thompson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Administrators in a rural K-5 school district provided leadership, technical assistance, and technology resources to increase teachers' use of technology to improve student achievement. Despite these efforts, teachers incorporated technology on a limited basis and some teachers reported they were unprepared to integrate technology. The purpose of this qualitative bounded case study was to examine teaching practices and teachers' perceptions of technology integration in their daily lessons. The conceptual framework for this study included technology integration and constructivism, a theory based on observation and scientific study about how people learn. A purposeful sample of 10 K-5 teachers who integrated technology …

An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of Caregivers' Support For Their Preschool Children's Language And Social Skills Development, Sheri Stein Blum

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some children have difficulty communicating due to a lack of age-appropriate language and social skills. Researchers have explored how music and language share features that shape language processing. The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological analysis was to explore the experiences of caregivers of preschool children who participated in a music-based program and to understand their perspectives related to children's language and social skill development. Learning style and sensory integration processing theories were used as framework to provide foundations of skills in this study. Research questions addressed caregivers' choices related to this program for their children, their experiences of their children's …

Teachers' Perceptions Of The Implementation Of The Response-To-Intervention Program, Alfred Saldivar Lopez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study was designed to address teachers' difficulties implementing Response-to-Intervention (RtI) program strategies at a low-performing school in south Texas in response to students failing to meet statewide assessment standards in reading. This exploratory case study investigated the perceptions of Grades 3 and 4 teachers to assist in understanding a pathway to increase higher fidelity of RtI implementation and improve student academic performance. Knowles's theory of andragogy and Lewin's change theory provided the framework for the study. The study included interview data from 6 purposefully selected Grades 3 and 4 teachers supplemented by document reviews of professional development (PD) presentations …

Out-Of-The-Box Teaching Helps Students Excel

DePaul Magazine

As the education sector evolves, new strategies and teaching tools are making their way into classroom. At DePaul University, faculty are incorporating mobile technology, online lectures with comment threads, and service learning that creates a community approach to curriculum called culturally responsive teaching.

College Retention Connections With Multiple Influencing Factors, Jamie Esther Mccracken

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There are many challenges associated with student retention. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) has focused on determining the factors affecting student retention across its campus and distance course delivery formats in order to improve student retention. The purpose in this study was to explore the extent to which age, course delivery, technical ability, and financial background determine retention at SMWC. Retention and attrition models of Tinto and Walleri laid the foundation of this study. Qualitative data on technical ability were collected from 69 students who responded to the survey instrument on Survey Monkey. Quantitative data on retention, age, course delivery, and …

Teacher Intent And Involvement In Incidents Of Student Bullying: A Multiple Case Study, James Michael Petrakis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Public awareness of the negative impact of bullying on adolescents has increased due to social networking and news media reports. Prior research on bullying has focused on the prevalence of bullying in public schools, yet few studies have explored teacher intent, constructive or punitive, and teacher involvement in incidents of bullying. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine teacher intent and teacher involvement in responding to student bullying. The conceptual framework was based on Bandura's social learning theory and Marshall et al.'s conceptual model of teacher intent and involvement. The central research question asked how teacher intent and …

Exploring Selected Online And Face-To-Face Course Inclusion Of Faith Integration In A Business Administration Program, Ellen A. Sorberg

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Students enrolled in face-to-face and online business administration courses at a Midwestern Christian college were provided faith-integrated opportunities; however, the challenge was to maintain consistency in providing the online courses with similar faith integration as the face-to-face courses. It was unknown whether the same faith-integrated opportunities were provided in face-to-face and online courses. Kohlberg's cognitive moral development and Fowler's spiritual development theories grounded this qualitative bounded case study. Research questions focused on whether instructors taught the same faith-integrated content in online and face-to-face classes, and whether online and face-to-face students received the same faith-integrated experiences. A purposeful sample was gathered …

An Assessment Of Middle School Teachers' Efforts To Integrate Technology Effectively, Plas Williams Jr

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study focused on a middle school that, according to the website of its district, should be classified as Target Tech, which is the highest level of technology integration on the Texas School Technology and Readiness (STaR) chart. The middle school has failed to meet this goal in 3 out of 4 focus areas. This mixed method project study investigated how teachers at the school currently use technology to support their teaching and student learning, situations under which teachers would use more technology, and specific technology trainings teachers have taken. The theoretical framework for this project study, diffusion of innovation, …

Elementary School Teacher Perceptions Of Using Formative Strategies To Improve Instruction, Deborah Peterson Bennett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Standardized test data from a southern suburban elementary school showed lagging student scores behind those of students from similar settings. These scores suggested a disconnection between teachers' understanding of and practice in formative assessment. Bloom's revised taxonomy, backward design planning theory, and differentiated learning theory guided this study, which focused on how elementary teachers use formative strategies in the classroom to inform instruction. Data collected through face-to-face interviews from 10 teachers were transcribed and organized in codes and themes. Member checks were then used to ensure credibility of interpretations. The key results showed that these 10 teachers used many formative …