Education Commons^™

Teachers' Perceptions About Classroom Management Preparedness, Leslie Ellis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Undesirable student behaviors can disrupt classroom activities and can prevent instruction from taking place. At a local middle school, teachers lacked effective classroom management strategies to address undesirable student behaviors that impeded their abilities to instruct students. The purpose of this study was to explore teachers' perceptions about their classroom management preparation and to investigate professional development opportunities that may strengthen their skills in classroom management. Glasser's choice theory was used in this qualitative case study to explore perceptions of 10 teachers. The research questions focused on teachers' perceptions and experiences with effective classroom management practices, their perceptions of administrators' …

Ideas In Dialogue: Leveraging The Power Of Child-Led Storytelling In The Multicultural Preschool Classroom, Erin E. Flynn

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

An investigation into the interactive features of small group, child-led storytelling in preschool classrooms serving lower socioeconomic status (SES), multilingual children shows both the affordances and constraints of positioning children to author their own experiences in the classroom. In story circles, children told stories which included canonical instantiations of story and culturally-shaped features. Through their stories, the children advanced ideas, built connections, and evaluated ways of telling stories as they continued ideas like threads from story to story. Child-led storytelling did not disrupt the dynamics of power through which some ways of using language are privileged while others are marginalized. …

Building Bridges On Local Soil: Locality And Community-Engaged Research And Pedagogy, Craig T. Maier

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Over a decade ago, Oster-Aaland, Sellnow, Nelson, and Pearson (2004), following up an earlier survey published in JACA (Sellnow and Oster, 1999), found that communityengaged research and pedagogy had become an established part of the communication curriculum. As a special issue of Peer Review has suggested (Carey, 2017), interest in service learning has only grown, and the increasing emphasis on civic engagement and community development has clear implications for the communication discipline. Courses and projects that address pressing or emerging social problems not only raise students’ ethical awareness but also allow students to build research and professional skills that build …

Building Bridges Between Communication Studies And Community: A Praxis-Approach, Jill K. Burk

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

In an effort to demonstrate the field’s usefulness and essentiality to our world, communication studies’ praxis orientation needs to be clearly pursued and publicized. Implementing service-learning into the communication studies classroom could achieve this goal. Through extending the scholarship of Britt (2012) and Pollack (1999), this article proposes that communication educators ground and articulate their service-learning pedagogy from three different paradigmatic lenses; the experiential paradigm, the social change paradigm, and the citizenship paradigm. Moreover, communication administrators ought to understand the different paradigmatic foundations, which drive service-learning enactment, in an effort to not privilege one perspective over another. The service-learning literature …

Accepting The Challenge: A Case Study In Pedagogical Inquiry, Sarah C. Worley

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Higher education has been criticized for not fulfilling its democratic purpose—that is, to prepare students for citizenship, not just careers. Longo and Gibson (2016) argue that “as access to higher education has increased, many colleges and universities ironically have become more detached from their public missions,” leading to the increasing separation between learning and social purpose (p. 61). Many schools and departments have already begun the hard work of reevaluation and critical reflection in response to such criticism and are helping to reinvent American higher education (Hartley & Hollander, 2005). Three such examples are communication programs featured as case studies …

University High Impact Practices: Bridges That Support The Path To Student’S Professional Identity, Naomi Bell O’Neil

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Success for universities is often measured by student graduation rates and career placement. Most graduates are at a developmental stage of achieving their psychosocial identity where they have a sense of self and their own will, but Erikson (1968) purported that identity continues to evolve through post-adolescent years—“beyond identity” (p. 135). This essay proposes that graduates’ development of professional identities is instrumental for successful careers in the marketplace. University high-impact practices contributes to the evolution of professional identity and cultivates students’ connection with marketplace professionals. Communication and behavior play concurrent roles in the development of many facets of identity, which …

Supporting Social Change: Administration Of Service-Learning In Communication Departments, Jennifer Snyder-Duch

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Service-learning has garnered wide acceptance as an effective experiential pedagogy in that it combines community service with academic instruction. This pedagogy incorporates critical, reflective thinking with personal and civic responsibility and involves students in activities that address community-identified needs. Successful service learning courses develop students’ academic skills and commitment to their community (Jacoby, 2015). Some service-learning experiences focus on advocacy or social change work. These are valuable teaching and learning experiences, but as faculty develop these courses, they must be aware of the need for departmental support.

Appreciative Inquiry In An Urban Context: Service Learning Amidst The Opioid Crisis, Craig T. Maier

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Britt’s (2012) service-learning framework situates community engaged learning activities in three broad categories: the practice of doing, which emphasizes skill building in relation to real-world problems; the practice of becoming, which sensitizes students to a broader range of social and civic responsibilities; and the practice of engaging in social change, which translates skill development and awareness into concrete action. This essay describes a successful service learning project focusing on opioid addiction in a mid-Atlantic city that combines all three. After describing the project’s background and implementation, it suggests practices and lessons that could inform similar efforts.

Complete Issue, Volume 37, Issue 1

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This is the complete issue for Volume 37, Issue 1 of the Journal of the Association for Communication Administration.

Editor’S Note, Janie M. H. Fritz

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This is the Editor’s Note to Volume 37, Issue 2 of the Journal of the Association for Communication Administration.

Fostering Organizational Integrity Through Departmental Program Reviews, James T. Petre, David S. Heineman, Angela G. La Valley

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Conducting a departmental program review can be a stressful and arduous process. At the same time, the final report can provide valuable insights. The challenges and benefits of program reviews have been well noted by scholars. We seek to add to this conversation by arguing that program reviews can prove beneficial by fostering and maintaining organizational integrity. In our essay, we review relevant literature on program reviews, provide an explanation of organizational integrity, present a narrative of our program review process, and explain how this process fostered organizational integrity.

Exploring The Implementation Of Restorative Practices In Bay Area Schools, Vanessa Shea

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Factors associated with successful implementation of school-based restorative justice communities were examined. Restorative practices are alternatives to zero-tolerance, top down approaches that emphasize social engagement over social control (i.e. proactive and reactive responses promote school safety and health). A mixed-methods, survey-based, approach was selected for data collection. Front-line school-based practitioners and administrators from various schools/districts in the Bay Area of California were informed of the study via email and invited to complete an online survey. Analysis of the 37 completed responses suggest that implementation involves various stages that can be identified by practitioners and successful engagement of the wider community …

Editor's Introduction, David M. Palfreyman

All Works

No abstract provided.

In Their Own Words: Teachers Make Meaning Of Participation In A Community Of Practice, Laura Lee Ripley

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Recent studies on effective professional development in schools have paid attention to the concept of learning done in professional communities, but ignore teacher recommendations and voices. This case study focused on the meaning teachers made from participation in a community of practice in a school implementing reforms.

Founded in Wenger and Lave’s concept of the community of practice, defined as groups of people who come together routinely and who learn to do things better as a result, this study follows a community of practice in the face of a significant school reform where very little other professional development had been …

Rethinking Teaching In Stem Education In A Community College : Role Of Instructional Consultation And Digital Technologies, Shelley Chih-Hsian Kurland

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Community college faculty members educate almost half of all U.S. undergraduates, who are often more diverse and more academically underprepared when compared to undergraduate students who attend four-year institutions. In addition, faculty members in community colleges are facing increased accountability for meeting student learning outcomes, expectations to adjust their teaching practices to include active learning practices, and expectations to incorporate more technologies into the classroom. Faculty developers are one of the support structures that faculty members can look to in order to meet those challenges. A survey of literature in faculty development suggests that instructional consultation can play an important …

Effects Of Race And Gender On Probability Of Juvenile Delinquency Leading To Recidivism, Britney Latoya Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Studies have shown that U.S. juvenile recidivism rates range from 50% to 80%, and many risk factors have been associated with adolescent delinquency and recidivism. The purpose of this cross-sectional correlational study was to evaluate the Future Generation mentoring program's effectiveness by examining the relationships between race and gender (independent variables) and youth progress (dependent variable). The Future Generation mentoring program is a pseudonym for the actual program to help protect confidentiality and anonymity of the organization. Juvenile progress was measured by how well a youth met their goals. Youth progress was classified as successful, progressing, or unsuccessful in relation …

Well-Being Among Parents Of Young Adults With Intellectual Disabilities When Transitioning From High School, Teshawnia Thompson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Transition out of high school for young adults with intellectual disabilities (IDs) has been described as a stressful time for individuals and their families, with increased demands for caregiving and parental support. A lack of research is associated specifically with those individuals with moderate IDs and their parents' experiences of well-being during the transition process. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand how parents of young adult-aged children with moderate IDs experience well-being as their child transitions from high school to adulthood. Ryff's model of psychological well-being was used as the conceptual framework to better understand and explore …

Exploring The Multicultural Pedagogy Of Ces Faculty Through An Intersectional Lens, Jenae D. Thompson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Counselor education and supervision (CES) faculty members are responsible for adequately preparing counselors-in-training (CIT) for their work with diverse populations. Current literature explains traditional multicultural counseling education in this way; however, little research is available exploring faculty members' personal and professional experiences with intersectionality and how those experiences contribute to their pedagogy. In this dissertation, CES faculty members' experiences with intersectionality theory and how they could use this theory in their multicultural pedagogy were explored. Research questions exploring CES faculty use of intersectionality in their multicultural coursework, how their personal experiences contribute to their pedagogy, and their experiences with privilege …

Improving Attendance In An Undergraduate Business Program At A For-Profit College, Erica Schacht

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

At a small for-profit college located outside of New York City, declining classroom attendance over the last few years has become a serious concern in the business program. Poor attendance is one of the major causes for enrollment dropping and poor student retention. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify factors that influence student attendance. The study was based on Tinto's (1975) model of student integration and Nora and Cabrera's (1996) student adjustment model, which relates environmental influences on student retention. The research questions were used to investigate why students attend or do not attend classes, and …

An Assessment Of The Financial Literacy Of Undergraduates At One Community College In Texas, Melissa J. Weathersby

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

At a Texas community college, stakeholders wanted to strengthen the financial literacy module offered in the student development course for undergraduates. The problem was that no formative data existed on students' financial literacy, and it was not known if knowledge of financial literacy for students who participated in a prior financial literacy class in high school differed from students who had not. The purpose of this study was to obtain formative data regarding students' needs for financial literacy education and to examine whether the knowledge of financial literacy for college students who participated in a prior financial literacy class in …

Student Perceptions Of E-Assessment Tools For Sign Language Interpretation, Marc Boese

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

American Sign Language (ASL) has grown to be the 3rd largest enrolled secondary language course in the United States, and colleges and universities seek to identify effective assessment methods for this visual-based language. Although much research exists on sign language e-learning programs, asynchronous video feedback, and sign recognition software, very few studies have been conducted on using technology to as a method of assessment for sign language courses. The purpose of this hermeneutical, phenomenological, qualitative study was to document the lived experiences of students using the electronic assessment tool, GoReact, in courses. The conceptual framework was guided by engagement theory …

Third-Party Logistics' Hiring Manager Strategies To Recruit Supply-Chain Professionals, Beth D'Alessandro

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Leaders of third-party logistics companies face a critical talent shortage because of the global deficiency of supply-chain professionals. The lack of trained supply-chain professionals negatively affects business and market performance. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies used by third-party logistics hiring managers to recruit supply-chain talent to meet industry demands. The resource-based view theory was used as a lens for this study. Data were collected from 5 Pennsylvania third-party logistics hiring managers from interviews, organizational documents, and company websites. Member checking occurred after transcription and summarization of the interview data. Data analysis occurred using …

Instructional Strategies That Homeschooling Parents Use To Teach Their Children Mathematics, Lisa Marie Francis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Homeschooling has become a viable educational choice for families; however, limited research has been conducted on the instructional strategies homeschooling parents use to instruct their children and whether these reflect a learner-centered teaching approach. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the learner-centered instructional strategies homeschooling parents use to teach their children mathematics. The conceptual framework for this single-case study was based on Weimer's learner-centered teaching model. Participants included 4 parents who homeschooled students in Grades 6-12 in a Western state and who received instructional support from a private school. Data were collected from interviews with homeschooling …

Perceptions Of Teachers About Using And Analyzing Data To Inform Instruction, Lateasha Monique Harris

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Monitoring academic progress to guide instructional practices is an important role of teachers in a small rural school district in the Southern United States. Teachers in this region were experiencing difficulties using the approved school district model to implement data-driven instruction. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify elementary- and middle-level teachers' perceptions about using the Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) model to analyze data in the classroom and use it to inform classroom instruction. Bambrick-Santoyo's principles for effective data-driven instruction was the conceptual framework that guided this study. The research questions were focused on teachers' perceptions …

Elementary English For Speakers Of Other Language Teachers' Perceptions Of The Push-In Program To Support Mathematics Skills, Joye Henry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Walden University

College of Education

This is to certify that the doctoral study by

Joye Elfreda Henry

has been found to be complete and satisfactory in all respects,

and that any and all revisions required by

the review committee have been made.

Review Committee

Dr. Gloria Jacobs, Committee Chairperson, Education Faculty

Dr. Jerita Whaley, Committee Member, Education Faculty

Dr. Mark Earley, University Reviewer, Education Faculty

Chief Academic Officer

Eric Riedel, Ph.D.

Walden University

2018

Intrinsic Classroom Teacher Motivation, Mindi Hennefer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the public education accountability movement, politicians and corporate reformers claim that student performance on standardized tests is an appropriate and reliable measure of a teacher's ability to educate. Given the process of holding K-12 classroom teachers directly accountable for individual student achievement based on standardized testing results, the teachers at XYZ Elementary School are currently motivated to change only through externally controlled factors or extrinsic motivation. The purpose of this research was to explore processes other than extrinsic motivation that motivate teachers to engage in strategies and methods that indirectly influence students to learn over the long term. The …

African American Males' College Readiness Through The Public School System, Howard Lee Hope

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem in a Northeastern district is that African American (AA) males need enhanced support in the high school to improve college readiness thereby strengthening access and the opportunity for college success. The purpose of this study was to gather educators' and adult AA males' perspectives of the influence of connectedness, perception, and self-valuation. Using McClelland's need achievement theory as the conceptual framework, the study focused on educators' perspectives of college readiness and AA males' perceptions of goal-valuation, academic self-perceptions, motivation, and attitudes related to teachers and college readiness. This qualitative case study included interviews with 6 administrators and 1 …

Reading Achievement Of Middle School Boys In Single-Gender And Coeducational School, Jean Hunter-Batty

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in the study was the lack of evidence on the efficacy of the single-gender educational model as compared to the coeducational model in increasing reading achievement for middle school boys in the local school district. Leaders in the district implemented the single-gender model to address the problem of an ongoing reading achievement gap among middle school boys and girls. The gap has also been noted nationally and leads to limited reading-dependent opportunities for boys. The purpose of this quantitative study was to compare the two educational models to determine whether the single-gender model offered advantages over the …

Relationships Between Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, And Teacher Engagement, Chakita Jackson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Educational researchers contend that high-quality, sustaining teachers are critical to student success. However, few policymakers agree on the best way to improve teacher quality. Researchers outside of education found associations between employee engagement and job performance, which suggests that improving teacher work engagement may potentially improve teacher productivity. Engagement theories framed this correlational study; Kahn's engagement theory, Spector's job satisfaction theory and Meyer and Allen's organizational commitment theory. These theories contributed to examining relationships between job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and teacher work engagement. Additionally, this study further examined how these relationships mediated teacher demographics ( gender, age, educational level, and …

Teacher Perspective On Differentiation For Gifted Students In The General Education Classroom, Karen Arnold Kilgore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Gifted middle school students may not always be provided with a differentiated curriculum that ensures their academic progression in inclusive educational settings. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine teachers' perspectives on differentiation for gifted students in the general education classroom. The conceptual framework for the study was anchored by the theories of Gardner, who recognized that students learn in different ways, and Vygotsky, who determined that students learn best at their level of learning or zone of proximal development. The research questions focused on teachers' perspectives about teaching the gifted students in the general classroom environment …