Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Qualitative Research In Teaching Diversity In A Non-Diverse High School Setting Using Contemporary Art, Robin L. Reczek

Art Education Projects

Abstract

This qualitative action research study examined the effects of introducing diverse contemporary artworks into a non-diverse educational setting. For 3 months, 18 female high school students explored a range of artists, art styles, and artworks, in aid to discovering their own diverse qualities as well as the diversity of their classmates. Through participatory action research, I investigated how diverse contemporary artwork impacted student actions, discussions, and artworks. With the assistance of the transformative learning theory, I expected to convert students with non-accepting diversity views into unbiased young women. My research included data gathered from an assortment of alumni interviews, …

Multicultural Education In The Music Classroom: Definitions, Methods, And Motives, Candace Rhnea Stafford-Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to understand the multicultural teaching experiences of music teachers in the Fayetteville and Springdale public school districts through the lens of James Banks' four approaches to curriculum reform. The research was intended to add to the limited literature presently found on the definition of multicultural music education and how this type of education is implemented. The study also increased knowledge of teacher motives for implementing multicultural education in the music classroom and highlight challenges that lie within implementation. Purposive sampling was used and in an attempt to get an information rich sample, two schools were chosen from …

Writing Curriculum And The Adolescent: Addressing Skill Variance In The Classroom, Zakieh A. Mohammed

Ed.D. Dissertations

This study addressed a means of responding to the varying writing skill levels found in the standard high school classroom. A structured writing curriculum was examined through a state, national and marketed rubric, focusing upon a high-risk high school population in Chicago, IL. The research centered around cognitive learning theory, specifically, Vygotsky‘s zone of proximal development. Additionally, to account for the variance in skill level, a new measurement tool was created to quantify rigor in relation to increasingly difficult writing assessments. The longitudinal study determined that, with extended exposure, the proposed structured writing curriculum did enable students to meet state, …

Effects Of Booktalking In Regards To A Students' Motivation To Read, Melissa Smith

Graduate Theses

This study investigates whether the use of booktalking presentations enhanced adolescent students’ motivation when conducted in a sixth grade departmentalized classroom setting. This research study was ongoing for one semester and conducted at a private school in the Permian Basin. Reading builds literacy. As literacy expands, so does language and conceptual development until reading becomes the instrument of empowerment and opportunity. An appreciation for books, along with a desire to read should be supported by teachers (Blass, 2002). The results from this qualitative study indicated that booktalking is an effective motivation tactic for struggling, reluctant and motivated readers.

Factors Influencing Music Teacher Retention: A Mixed Method Study, Charles W. Cushinery

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to determine what internal and external factors influence the retention attributions of secondary level music teachers who participated in this study and identify what interactions exist between those factors. Phase one of this study was a survey of a group of secondary music teachers (N=260). The survey was used to quantify those factors that influenced music teacher retention and how those factors were ranked by the survey group. Phase two of this study employed case study methodology, specifically, interviews of six secondary music teachers selected from the initial survey pool, to provide a …

The Migration Of People: A Model Application Exploring Washington State History, Jamie Nicole Hartman

All Graduate Projects

One of the things that makes Washington State a culturally competent and perceptive place to live is its deep history and appreciation of the migration of its' people. This project is designed to serve as a model and resource for upper elementary school teachers that are seeking to integrate the migration of people into their Washington State History curriculum. A sample inquiry-based curriculum for upper elementary school students "The Migration of People" is offered as a depiction of exceptional classroom practice. Student roles, activities, and assessment methods are portrayed, along with thier connection to core curriculum content and the Washington …

Effective Language Arts Teachers Of Urban African American Middle School Students In The Greater Detroit Area, Lanissa Laura Freeman

Wayne State University Dissertations

Teaching in a large urban district has been historically described as a complex task and with the growing number of diverse students, the challenge continues to grow. The challenge is now coupled with major budget shortfalls. Across the nation public schools are struggling to keep the doors open, and provide basic supplies for students and teachers. Despite looming layoffs, closing schools, consolidations, and increased academic demands, there is a group of teachers in every urban district that consistently get results. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify the beliefs, backgrounds, and classroom practices effective language arts teachers used …

High School English Teachers' Perceptions Of Rigor In Student Assignments, Cynthia S. Misenheimer

Education Dissertations and Projects

This research was designed to examine the perceptions of high school English teachers as to the amount of rigor present in their student assignments as evidenced by a rubric based upon the revised Bloom's taxonomy.

The researcher developed a rubric to assess the amount of rigor based upon the revised Bloom's taxonomy. Teachers of standards and honors level English classes in high schools from two school systems were asked to assess four of their student assignments that they considered challenging utilizing the rubric. They were also asked to rank the assignment with a level of rigor from one for low …

A Survey Of Fifth Grade Writing Teachers On Their Instructional Writing Practices, Susan Margaret Muehl Egloff

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Writing is an essential skill that students need in order to become successful in school and beyond. Within a school district in the southwestern United States, student writing scores were not at proficient levels, and students were not prepared for graduation or employment. The purpose of this quasi-experimental research study was to compare the distribution of student writing achievement scores for 5th grade teachers who used 7 or more of the 11 components of effective writing instruction outlined by Graham and Perin to those teachers who implemented 6 or fewer of these components. In this study, a survey was given …

Investigating The Possibility Of A Standard Of Care For Professionals Who Teach Reading, John Michael Mccord

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) has consistently shown that approximately 40% of American students cannot read at grade level. In fact, most of these 40% of students read considerably below grade level. Unfortunately, these results have remained consistent in spite of reports such as the Nation at Risk in 1983 that first alerted everyone to the severity of the problem and provided remedies on how it could be remedied. The Nation at Risk Report was the impetus for a plethora of educational reform enactments at the federal level such as George H. Walker Bush’s education summit in 1989, …

Exploring Instructional Strategies And Learning Goals In Undergraduate Leadership Education, Daniel Jenkins

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Leadership education has been integral to the undergraduate curriculum since the early 1990's. Today, more than 1,000 colleges and universities in the United States offer undergraduate courses in leadership studies and many offer academic credit in the form of a bachelor's degree, academic minor, or certificate. Yet, little is known about those who teach leadership studies courses to undergraduates, the instructional strategies they employ, or the learning goals they set. The purpose of this study was to identify the instructional strategies that are most frequently used by instructors when they teach academic credit-bearing undergraduate leadership studies courses, identify signature pedagogies …

A Reflective Exploration Of A Multiyear Elementary School Learning Community Experience, Susan Jean Ganley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study reports a reflection upon the experience of a multiyear elementary school learning community designed for improved teaching and learning. The exploration uses interview data to describe the perceptions and reflections of the principal and teachers directly engaged in this project of educational reform. The goal of this process is to gain a deeper understanding of the experience and to determine to what factors the participants attribute the outcomes of this project.

Through an auto-ethnographic reflective critical practice inquiry and extended interviews, this study describes the context and environment of this learning community and how the participants reflect on …

A Grounded-Theory Study Of The Teaching Methods Of Jesus : An Emergent Instructional Mode, Liv Fønnebø

Dissertations

Problem. While models of teaching and teaching methods have manifested themselves in the wake of most major world philosophies and thus are accessible to present-day educators, a defined model of teaching based on the Christian worldview is harder to find. This is strange, given the fact that the person who, by definition, stands as close to the Christian worldview as one can possibly get, Jesus Christ has the reputation of being one of the greatest teachers ever. Institutions that offer an education aligned with the Christian worldview should be the ones showing greatest interest in a model of teaching derived …

A Qualitative Study On African American Males' Perceptions Of Reading, Phyllis Marie Stallings

Wayne State University Dissertations

African American male students begin experiencing failure when they enter fourth grade. At this grade, the curriculum becomes more focused, students are expected to complete high-stakes standardized tests, teachers become more distant, and students are expected to become independent learners. Many African American male students are not ready for this transformation. They may not have developed the reading skills needed to understand text books for social studies and science, and are deficient in regard to the math skills needed for problem solving. Understanding which factors are contributing to African American male student failure is important, especially in determining if these …

The Effects Of Story Performance On Fourth And Fifth Grade Students' Comprehension And Oral Reading Fluency Of Narrative And Expository Texts, Shawn Kevin Wightman

Wayne State University Dissertations

This study was undertaken as an attempt to assess the effects of storytelling and reading aloud on fourth and fifth grade children's comprehension and oral reading fluency of both narrative and expository texts. The independent variable involved two strategies for introducing stories to children (storytelling and story reading) and a comparison strategy (silent reading). Each treatment (or strategy) was used, in part, to differentiate literacy instruction over a period of seven weeks.

Treatment 1 consisted of twenty-eight teacher-storytelling performances (fourteen narrative and fourteen expository). Likewise, Treatment 2 consisted of twenty-eight teacher-story reading aloud performances of narrative and expository texts (the …

Opportunity To Learn (Otl) And The Alignment Of Upper Division Mathematics Learning Outcomes, Textbooks, And The National Assessment In Belize, Gabriel Cal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study I investigate the degree of alignment among the learning outcomes, textbooks, and the national assessment in Belize. To establish the degree of alignment, Webb‘s Four Cognitive Levels of Depth of Knowledge was used to analyze the levels of cognitive demand for each curriculum. The degree of alignment of the learning outcomes with the test items and textbooks was used to determine the extent to which the textbooks provide students with the opportunity to study the learning outcomes assessed by the national assessment. The opportunity to learn (OTL) measures addressed were the curricular content coverage and types of …

Hiv Education For Youth In Transition To Adulthood, Peter Eugene Gamache

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigated the role of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) stigma in program implementation. A case study design comprising qualitative methods provided in-depth, context-sensitive comparisons of adult educator (n = 8) and youth (n = 67) perspectives among programs that provide HIV services and those that provide risk reduction services. Nearly half of the youth participants were male, 42% were female, and 6% identified as transgender. Two thirds of participants were Black or African American, one quarter of participants were Hispanic or Latino, and the average participant age was 19. Although program personnel from all youth service programs in this …