Education Commons^™

Predominantly White Teacher Education Programs Are Stifling Black Preservice Students’ Teaching Experience: Now What?, Jasmine N. Wilson

Culminating Experience Projects

scholarship theorizes and discusses Black preservice teachers’ experiences in predominantly White teacher education programs as stifling. While many studies have explored ways to improve Black students' experiences in teacher education, few studies have sought to adapt Historically Black Colleges and Universities’ (HBCU) successful strategies to produce and retain Black teachers. In this project I have two goals. My first goal is to highlight the neglect and inequity that Black preservice teachers face in predominantly White teacher education programs. My second goal is to ensure that faculty members in teacher education programs effectively support and prepare Black preservice teachers for long …

Beyond The Bell: Rebuilding Care, Civic Learning And Creativity Within Youth Spaces, Michelle R. Haapala

Culminating Experience Projects

The purpose of this research is to investigate high school age students’ opportunities within formal classroom settings to engage in care, civic learning, and creativity within a suburban, publicly-funded charter school. This study used thematic analysis and coding methods to organize and find patterns in the qualitative data from surveys distributed to education professionals at Canton Preparatory High School in Canton, Michigan. The goal is to establish a foundation of the perception of care, civic learning, and creativity within school environments and classroom settings. Overall, education professionals rated these categories positively, but with a closer investigation, a disconnect is found. …

An Analysis Of The Efficacy Of Disciplinary Methods, William Hewitt

Culminating Experience Projects

The practice of punitive discipline is the most common response to misbehavior in American school systems, despite having no evidence to support its continued use. However, there is research that demonstrates its active harm to students in multiple capacities. Punitive discipline has been found to only exacerbate students’ behavior issues, as well as negatively impact their academic performance. Additionally, research has pointed out that punitive discipline impacts students of minority demographics at a significantly higher rate than students belonging to majority demographics. More research in the way of alternative restorative policies, such as Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), is …

Culturally Responsive Education: Creating A Safe And Inclusive Environment For Lgbtq+ Students, Kassidi M. Adams

Culminating Experience Projects

This paper explores research that discusses the impact of a culturally responsive education and lack-of for LGBTQ+ students and recommends a solution to ensure all students are safe and represented in schools. The research cited varies in their definitions and uses of the term LGBTQ+. This paper will use the term LGBTQ+, an abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and more communities; however, the abbreviation used in the referenced research may be shortened to LG, LGB, LGBT, or LGBTQ to reflect only specific communities included in LGBTTTQQIAAP (VandenBos, 2015). This paper will also focus on inclusion, which refers to …

Academic Outcomes Of The Covid-19 Pandemic: Awareness And Action, Tanner B. Howe

Culminating Experience Projects

Research has shown that the online learning implemented during the COVID-19-related school closures had impacts on academic outcomes among secondary students. As schools operate in proximity to this event, it is crucial to investigate and understand those academic outcomes. Research suggests that mathematics and reading/language courses displayed negative academic outcomes for the period of online learning. Through this investigation, stress was observed to have played a major role during this period for secondary students and may have also contributed to the academic outcomes observed. This project seeks to raise awareness of possible student educational needs by shining light on the …

Building Stronger Student-Teacher Relationships With Students Of Color, Diana Berlanga

Culminating Experience Projects

This project examines the racial disparity that exists among students of color and positive teacher-student relationships. Research shows that teacher bias influences teachers' perception of students of color. Teacher social identities play a role in how teachers build student-teacher relationships, which affects some students of color experience in school. For instance, students of color are less likely to experience academic recommendations and more likely to receive harsh discipline. However, research shows that teachers can improve their teacher bias by self-discovering their teacher’s social identity in the classroom. In addition, teachers could improve their interactions with students of color by exploring …

Evidence-Based Writing Pedagogy, Patrick Misner

Culminating Experience Projects

Standardized tests continue to consistently show students performing below grade level on writing tasks. This project explores the history of the issue as well as research behind evidenced based writing pedagogy shown to improve students' writing abilities. It focuses on three key strategies: integrating reading and writing instruction, providing effective feedback, and using a process writing framework. The culminating project incorporates these three techniques in a writing unit, which can be used with high school English students. Also provided are pre- and post-assessments with grading rubrics taken from previous National Assessment of Educational Progress tests that teachers can use to …

Addressing Bias From Faculty Through Implementing Bias Training, Tori A. Henning

Culminating Experience Projects

Research has indicated that college students experience bias from college faculty on a regular bias. However, there is no mandated training for college faculty on the various forms of bias and the impact that it can have on students’ ability to be successful. While bias influences many students, students of color, women, LGBTQ+ students, and students from of different ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds experience bias at greater rates than white students. This project explores how the various forms of bias, the training that college faculty receive, student development theory, and how bias impacts students’ success and their sense of belonging …

A Socially Innovative Curriculum For An Afterschool Program, Shelinda T. Knight Davenport

Culminating Experience Projects

ABSTRACT

Since the colonial days in what is now known as America, there has been the social problem of racism. Racism has always been and remains a cancer in America’s culture. From racism, a deep hatred has spawned for other races. To the extremes, it has led to violence and murder, and most Americans believe it is more prevalently outspoken today than it has been in the last 20 years (Schaefer & Edwards, 2022). This thesis project consists of a Disrupting Racism curriculum for approximately 3rd grade, which is situated in the literature on racism and education. Grounded in culturally …

Examining Teaching Practices That Increase Student Mathematical Achievement, Jonah P. Zimmerman

Culminating Experience Projects

The current data in the United States surrounding mathematics shows that there are issues that must be addressed with teaching and learning math in the K-12 setting. In the perfect world, all students would meet grade level expectations in math prior to moving to another grade; however, this is not what is taking place. Students are not meeting proficiency, and as a result teachers and students alike are not gaining confidence in teaching/learning mathematics. This project looks at the Math Workshop Model as being one alternative to the more traditional teaching practices that are used today in the ABC School …

Post-Covid-19 Teaching With Technology Support In Higher Education, Landon Nalepinski

Masters Theses

Using a mixed methods approach, this case study focuses on how technological support in higher education can encourage educators to continue using and developing their teaching with technology practices post-COVID-19. Data and information were gathered via an anonymous survey from faculty members at Grand Valley State University to gain a better understanding of what support is being provided to them and how we can expand on that in the future.

Advocating For English Language Learners: The Role Of The Literacy Educator, Briana Asmus, Austyn Sabin

Michigan Reading Journal

The authors explore how place-based advocacy effects and pedagogies have provided a way to address the needs of students. Insights on the ways authors have confronted challenges in their elementary and secondary settings reveal strategies that can be carefully integrated by literacy educators into other “places” of learning.

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Culturally Responsive Teaching As A Way To Narrow The Opportunity Gap For African American Students, Emily Bazini

Culminating Experience Projects

Research reiterates the importance of implementing culturally responsive teaching and learning. Today, African American students and their families are in critical need for schools and teachers to support and implement characteristics of culturally responsive teaching and learning. The regular, standard curriculum is not benefitting African American students, as they are unable to make personal connections to their learning. In order to fully meet the needs of African American students, it is imperative that the teaching methods and the curriculum taught incorporate the cultural background and home lives of these students. It is important to note that the teaching workforce is …

Diversity In Educational Resources, Samantha Mae Howe

Culminating Experience Projects

Educational resources need to be more diverse to better reflect the populations of classroom communities. Students identifying as Lesbian Gay Bisexual and/or Transgender (LGBT), girls and women, and students from ethnically and/or racially marginalized communities are affected by the classroom content they consume and are taught. This project focuses on the impacts of diversity in educational resources and how intersectional Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) can alleviate the harmful impacts of a one-sided narrative in curriculum. The unit plan included at the end of the project details how teachers can embed diversity into content curriculum and include diverse perspectives while effectively …

Developing Coping Strategies For Early Elementary Students In Relation To Anxiety, Kayle M. Ogrodzinski

Masters Theses

There has been a growing concern about the number of students exhibiting anxiety in schools. Research shows that implementing interventions can help reduce the amount anxiety in students. School counselors can implement small group lessons with a focus on a theoretical approach using cognitive behavioral therapy to help address this concern. This method allows the student to be in control of their feeling and learn to cope with what is making them anxious. This project acts as a guide for school counselors to implement small group lessons. It provides an outline of seven weekly sessions for students in early elementary …

Financial Literacy: A Case Study On Current Practices, Briana Lee Hammontree

Masters Theses

In the last few years, the concern for financial illiteracy among teenagers has only grown as the economy has shifted. Many teenagers feel unprepared and unsecured moving forward with their finances as adults. This issue is intensified further among low-income and marginalized youths who deal with additional hardship in their lives. Accessibility is a huge issue among teenagers and the role of financial literacy of their lives in education is often predetermined by government officials and policies they can only really advocate for change for but cannot vote on. In this research I explore the concept of utilizing social innovation …

Creating A Generalized Michigan School Constitution, Kurstin K. Frank

Honors Projects

Educational theories in the past have attempted to define, arrange, and design education to benefit society, institutions, and students of all ages. The conversations surrounding those educational theories, however, have consistently neglected to include those that the structures, policies, and purpose of education will benefit the most: the students. This research project was devised to include student voice within the conversations surrounding educational theories through the construction of a Generalized Michigan School Constitution. By delving into those theories of education, the researcher was able to dissect the five most common theories and beliefs within education to be able to decipher …

Standardized Testing And The Call For Alternative Assessment Methods, Rebekah Weiss

Culminating Experience Projects

Standardized testing has become the primary means of measuring success of students, educational stakeholders, and educational entities themselves, in turn permeating a practice of subsidiarity while further segregating educational opportunities for the American public. The research suggests this gap in practice is due to federal mandates enforcing standardized testing policies that hinder educational leaders from assessing students in more reliable ways. The experimental qualities of the research also contribute to this gap because the educational research holds a lack of generalizability and weak external validity due to subject and researcher bias’. This practice in subsidiarity could be addressed by taking …

An Examination Of The Role Of Total Instructional Alignment And The Impact On Teacher Confidence And Student Success, Catherine Cushway

Culminating Experience Projects

Research has revealed alignment in curriculum and expectations is beneficial to all stakeholders within an educational system. Recent projects have focused on the alignment of standards and curriculum but districts, including Coopersville Area Public Schools, have neglected to put together a strategic plan for total instructional alignment hence seeing adverse effects in both teacher confidence and student success. Total instructional alignment can be reinforced through vertical teaming, professional development, and the use of common language for behavior and academic expectations.

This project explores the importance of total instructional alignment and challenges districts to implement this alignment. This project provides a …

Creating A Safe And Supportive School Climate For Transgender Students, Taylor Dewilde

Culminating Experience Projects

Research has shown that transgender students do not feel safe at school and as a result experience negative outcomes. An effective teacher training program on transgender students will help these students feel a greater sense of safety at school. Additionally, this project will explore inclusive curricular resources for educators. The research reviewed for this project includes the key findings for why transgender students feel unsafe that included bullying & harassment, untrained and unprepared staff, and unsafe spaces in school. It is imperative for transgender students to feel safe at school so they may have the same opportunities for success in …

Spirituality In Secular Schools: A Grounded School Counseling Intervention, Alexis P. Joseph

Culminating Experience Projects

The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, also known more commonly as separation of church and state, is a policy implemented at the federal and state level that schools must strictly adhere to. This means religion can neither be supported nor denied in educational institutions to receive federal and state funding. Due to the intertwining of religion and spirituality, this policy encourages spirituality to be invisible in schools in order to neither support nor reject any one religion. While this policy presents an opportunity for everyone to practice their religion of choice, lack of intentional spiritual development, such as expanding …

Gender Expansive Students In The Choral Classroom: Awareness & Practices Of Secondary Music Educators, Emma E. Taranko

Honors Projects

In an age of growing diversity, it is essential for educators, both pre- and in-service, to seek out strategies that will assist them in creating a welcoming classroom environment for all learners. It is incumbent upon choral music teachers and community leaders to educate themselves in the diversity that presents itself in their classrooms in order to better service all students. In this study, twenty-five secondary music educators shared their awareness of gender expansive students in their choir classrooms and any strategies they have used to better service their singers. This study was conducted in order to assess which strategies …

Linguistic Justice: Black Language, Literacy, Identity, And Pedagogy, Raven Jones Stanbrough

Michigan Reading Journal

No abstract provided.

Addressing Sexual Violence In K-12 Education, Taylor Bowie

McNair Scholars Manuscripts

Sexual assault has been widely recognized as a public health crisis for decades. Since at least the late 1980s, rates of sexual violence have been steady around 25% of women experiencing it by their freshman year of college. Our past and most prevalent prevention methods have consistently shown to be useless, as rates of violence have not decreased, and the results often do not lead to increased understanding about sexual assault and violence intervention. In recent years, college campuses have started to implement a new prevention education known as the bystander model. While the literature generally agrees it has some …

An Exploration Of Leadership Qualities Demonstrated During Level Ii Fieldwork, Amy Maurer, Summer Besteman, Jessica Mooney, Katelyn Campbell

Education

Background. Occupational therapy (OT) students are expected to demonstrate leadership qualities throughout their Level II Fieldwork experiences; however, it has been reported that students lack this quality. The purpose of this project was to identify the leadership characteristics that master’s-level OT students demonstrate and develop during their Level II Fieldwork experiences.

Method. This study utilized an online survey tool, Qualtrics, to understand the perceptions of Fieldwork Educators (FWEds) who have taken a Level II Fieldwork student within the past five years. A code-recode procedure was used to analyze open-ended questions. The frequency and mode of responses were used to report …

Intersections At A Multiethnic High School: C3wp Meets Culturally Relevant And Sustaining Pedagogy, Amy Carpenter Ford, Maria G. Kioussis

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

In this article we describe how an English teacher at a multiethnic, suburban high school adapted the National Writing Project’s innovative argument writing program, the College, Career, and Community Writing Program, to be culturally relevant and sustaining for students in her 10^th grade English Language Arts classroom. Building on the C3WP’s roots in critical pedagogy and emphasis on engaging multiple perspectives, we explore the program’s potential in multiethnic classrooms as part of a culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogy. Specifically, we recount how the teacher employed tools from three mini-units (“Coming to Terms with Evidence,” ”Coming to Terms with Opposing …

In This Together: Secondary Language Arts Teachers’ Responses To Learning Labs, Lisa A. Britten

Masters Theses

Since the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act was signed into law in 2001, literacy leaders and other school administrators have been challenged to increase student achievement to meet the law’s rigorous student proficiency goals and avoid penalties. To avoid the sanctions associated with not making adequate yearly progress (AYP), school and district leaders have been challenged to provide teachers with professional development that effectively equips teachers with the knowledge to meet the unique needs of each student in their classrooms. Because research has determined that high-quality professional development leads to higherquality teaching, and higher-quality teaching leads to increased student …

The Teleological Effect Of Neoliberalism On American Higher Education [Special Section], Paul E. Bylsma

College Student Affairs Leadership

This article explores the impact of a neoliberal political and economic context on American higher education, arguing that the purpose of higher education has been reduced to a transactional process rather than maintaining its transformative potential. Recommendations to mitigate this phenomenon are presented.

Developing A Master Data Sharing Agreement May 2012, The Foundation Review

Research, Reports, and Publications

No abstract provided.

Final Report, Chronic Early Absenteeism:Prevalence And Meap Performance In Kent Isd, 2006-2009, Community Research Institute-Johnson Center

Research, Reports, and Publications

No abstract provided.