Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Remedial Education Programs And Student Success: Perceptions Of Faculty And Administrators At Hbcus, Tenora J. Simonez

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine factors that contributed to student success in remedial education as perceived by faculty members and administrators at one public HBCU in the University System of Georgia. The five specific areas that contributed to student success and were identified for review were administrative factors, curricula and instructional models, academic support services, importance of placement tests, and the impact of financial issues. Each of these areas was represented in literature regarding the histories of remedial education programs and HBCUs, recent federal and state admissions and fiscal changes, and instructional best practices of remedial …

Cultivating Literacy And Relationships With Adolescent Scholars Of Color, Noah Asher Golden, Erica Womack

Education Faculty Articles and Research

The authors explore strength-based learning projects that value the lived realities and literacies of adolescent scholars of color, setting the stage for the powerful relationships through which meaningful learning happens.

A Literacy-Level Curriculum For Adult Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners With Limited Formal Education, Kirsten L. Keihl

Master's Projects and Capstones

Many Spanish-speaking adult immigrants in the United States face an immediate need to learn English, but also suffer from a lack of formal education as many did not complete middle school or high school. These learners need a curriculum that is tailored specifically to their needs. This project provides a communicative curriculum for teaching English and Spanish literacy, English speaking and listening skills, and basic classroom skills utilizing native language instruction when helpful using learning strategies and authentic materials that are appropriate for adults. It also addresses sociocultural and sociopolitical concerns of this population and utilizes culturally relevant materials.

Digital Lessons For Enhancing Communicative Skills: A Handbook For Turkish Efl Teachers, Hale H. Demirel

Master's Projects and Capstones

It is necessary for English teachers who are interested in exposing their students to the authentic and communicative use of English to have access to model instructional materials. This project sought to develop a handbook and an accompanying website for teachers of English working with intermediate ESL/EFL students at university level. The handbook includes two theme-based lessons that emphasize the development of communicative competence with the help of engaging free digital tools. The content of the handbook can be improvised or modified and adapted to meet the needs of unique teaching-learning situations in case of need.

The International Humanity Foundation Co-Director Training Program, Indonesia: Supporting International Volunteers, Christina Darling

Capstone Collection

The following capstone paper takes a critical look at international volunteer programs and the potential negative consequences these programs may inadvertently have on the host community. The current volunteer Co-Director program at the International Humanity Foundations (IHF) is an archetype of this phenomenon. This paper examines the ways in which IHF falls short in achieving its mission and warns of the possible neo-colonial impact its Western volunteers may be having on the local communities around IHF’s centers.

The International Humanity Foundation Co-Director Training Program, Indonesia has been created in an effort strengthen IHF’s existing program by minimizing any negative impacts …

Teacher Perspectives On Professional Development Needs For Better Serving Nebraska's Spanish Heritage Language Learners, Janet Marie Eckerson

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

A growing number of heritage language speakers of Spanish are enrolling in Spanish language courses during secondary school. Current scholarship has suggested that these heritage language learners (HLLs) have very different instructional needs than learners of second or foreign languages. Because Spanish language instruction in Nebraska secondary schools has been traditionally conceptualized only as foreign language instruction, classroom teachers may not be adequately prepared to meet the needs of HLLs. This dissertation examined the experiences of Nebraska secondary Spanish teachers who worked with HLLs in order to inform the creation of relevant professional learning experiences for pre- and in-service teachers. …

Enhancing Language Development For English Learners, Frank L. Silva

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Previously accepted and current research has been reviewed regarding the development of English proficiency for English Language Learners. The particular areas of concern deemed crucial for language development are the domains of reading, writing, listening and speaking. The critical components for effective English Language Development instruction as well as the strategies considered the most effective and efficient were also investigated. The review resulted in the creation of an English Language Development unit that includes the essential components and various strategies that are considered effective in developing English proficiency for English Language Learners.

The Negotiation And Development Of Writing Teacher Identities In Elementary Education, Shartriya M. Collier, Suzanne Scheld, Ian Barnard, Jackie Stallcup

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Identity development in writing is a unique process. While many studies have explored the process of developing a professional identity among future teachers, few studies have investigated how teacher candidates develop a writing teacher’s identity. This study explores the development and negotiation of writing teacher identity among 21 pre-service multiple-subject teacher candidates at a large public institution in California. More specifically, the study examines the students’ journeys as they transformed from students of writing in a university methods course to student teachers of writing in a local school district. Our findings indicate that the use of a sociocultural-based approach to …

Qualitative Phenomenological Study Exploring Instructional Practices That Contribute To Academic Success For Public Elementary School English Language Learners, Mechelle Champion

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore effective instructional strategies of mainstream classroom teachers working with English Language Learners (ELLs). Many teachers feel unprepared to adequately educate English Language Learners. School systems have attempted to rectify this situation by providing teachers with professional development that provides instructional strategies which may or may not be effective. This study answered the questions: What teaching strategies do teachers and administrators perceive to have the most positive impact on learning for ELLs?; How does the culture of the classroom and school impact ELLs’ academic success?; and What are building level administrators’ …

I Learned More From Them Than They Did From Me: Shifting From Deficit To Asset-Based Perspectives In Service-Learning, Sandra Rodriguez-Arroyo

Scholarship of Metropolitan Mission

Research is presented on a Conceptual Model for Cultural Engagement (CMCE) service-learning course for inservice teachers.  The teachers worked with tweens from a non-profit youth organization to showcase their Latino community.  Research data reveals that the course did implement the CMCE, emphasizing asset-based perspectives of the youth and their communities.

The Effects Of Student Self-Assessment With Goal Setting On Fourth Grade Mathematics Students: Creating Self-Regulating Agents Of Learning, Laura Clift

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

With the national trend toward student accountability as learners, few studies have identified effective instructional strategies that motivate elementary students in becoming agents of learning and the effect of these strategies on academic achievement. This quantitative study investigated the effect of student self-assessment with goal setting (SAGS), based on the work of Stiggins, Arter, Chappuis, and Chappuis (2006), on elementary school students’ academic achievement and motivation in mathematics. This study employed a quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest, nonequivalent control-group design. Participants were 130 students drawn from six intact classes of fourth graders from five elementary schools located in a large Archdiocese in the …

School Leadership Along The Trajectory From Monolingual To Multilingual, Laura Ascenzi-Moreno, Sarah Hesson, Kate Menken

Publications and Research

This article explores the critical role of school leaders in language policy change, and specifically in shifting their language education policies and practices from monolingual to multilingual. We examine the process of language policy change in three schools that were involved in a project aimed at increasing the knowledge base of school leaders about bilingualism and language learning, and which required that participating schools use bilingualism as a resource in instruction and cultivate a school-wide ecology of multilingualism. The project encouraged translanguaging pedagogical strategies that engage the entire linguistic repertoire of emergent bilinguals flexibly. Our findings demonstrate that the school …

Preparing Linguistically Responsive Teachers: Why Service-Learning Is Such A Good Idea, Sandra Rodriguez-Arroyo

Scholarship of Metropolitan Mission

Research data will be presented on a service-learning experience through which teacher candidates (TCs) worked with ELLs from a local middle school.  Even though TCs expressed concerns on their ability to communicate with the ELLs and their families, they engaged with them and confronted their own perceived barriers.  TCs learned to overcome the communication barrier to implement quality academic experiences and in the process developed caring relationships with ELLs.

“Does Jesus Want Us To Be Poor?” Student Perspectives Of The Religious Program At A Cristo Rey Network School, Ursula S. Aldana

Journal of Catholic Education

The structure of Catholic schools improves achievement by providing multiple opportunities for face-to-face interaction, the development of meaningful relationships between students, teachers, and other members of the school community, and a shared set of beliefs among all school members (Bryk, Lee, & Holland, 1993). Despite a substantiating body of research for this assertion, few empirical studies exist on how the religious program might impact the intrapersonal and interpersonal development of students. The Cristo Rey Network (CRN) of schools was developed in response to the material realities of students and families living in Chicago (Kearney, 2006). The leaders of the network, …

What Can Jesus Teach Us About Student Engagement?, Glenn James, Elda Martinez, Sherry Herbers

Journal of Catholic Education

This article examines Jesus’s teaching methods as described in the four Gospels, highlighting the ways in which He led listeners to participate actively in their learning. We identify similarities between many of Jesus’s techniques and current practices in the field of student engagement, with a focus on applications for instructors in higher education. Several of His approaches, most notably storytelling and the use of analogies, point to recommendations for improving teaching practice by increasing student engagement in the learning process.

Qu'est-ce que Jésus peut nous apprendre sur l'engagement des élèves?

Cet article examine la manière dont les méthodes d'enseignement de …

Difficult Knowledge And The English Classroom: A Catholic Framework Using Cormac Mccarthy's The Road, Scott Jarvie, Kevin Burke

Journal of Catholic Education

In this article, the authors explore the generative possibilities of risk-taking in the Catholic school English classroom. They associate pedagogical risk with what Deborah Britzman (1998) has called “difficult knowledge”—content that causes students to consider social trauma. Incorporating difficult knowledge meaningfully requires English teachers to take significant pedagogical risks, especially in the Catholic school classroom. Drawing on critical theology and Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road (2006) as a difficult text, the authors employ a case study looking at how the traumatic difficulty of the novel could be fruitfully taught at a Catholic school. How might students reckon with The Road …

Beating The Odds: Teaching Italian Online In The Community College Environment, Giulia Guarnieri

Publications and Research

This study analyzes data collected from Italian language online classes during the course of four consecutive semesters at Bronx Community College in order to measure the impact that distance learning has on students’ retention and success rates in elementary courses. The results reveal that reconfiguring the online meetings to a lower percentage and implementing social pedagogies reduce course abandonment and favor the creation of strong learning communities. Furthermore, the data relative to the grade distribution shows no substantial difference between online courses and face-to-face instruction.

Collaboration, Pedagogy, And Media: Short-Term Summer Program Emphasizes Project Based And Social-Emotional Learning., William R. Bowden

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This article purports the idea that summer programs that experiment with media literacy and social-emotional learning could potentially affect students’ academic performance. Based on a six-week program, working with rising eighth grade students in a low-income school district, this program allowed students to work on media projects while trying to develop stronger capacities of self-awareness, positive decision-making, and stronger relationship development. The article intends to offer practitioners in media studies and pedagogy, insight of how to implement social and emotional learning into media classrooms.

Foreign Language Education Through An International Education Lens, Bridget Landry

Capstone Collection

Inspired by current dialogue around foreign language education in the United States - which reveals that foreign language education faces budget cuts, dropping enrollment rates, and competition for resources – this study sought to better understand the value of foreign language education through the lenses of international education professionals. The literature review explored the relationship between foreign language education and the field of international education, and examined foreign language education’s role in advancing intercultural competency. The study surveyed a sample of 57 international education professionals, and interviewed 8 of those 57. It assessed professionals’ perceptions in three main areas: current …

Similar Settings, Different Story Lines: The Positioning Of Esl Teachers In Two Middle Schools, Mary Mcgriff, Maria Selena Protacio

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

As the need to better support English learners’ achievement in academically rigorous content area classes increases, so does the call for expanded ESL teacher – content area teacher collaboration. However, the nature and outcomes of such collaboration depend on how these professionals are positioned within their school settings. Using positioning theory as an analytic lens, this article investigates the collaborative interactions of two ESL teachers in two separate, but demographically similar suburban middle schools. It examines the impact of these ESL teachers’ collaborations on ELLs’ opportunities for academic language and content area learning, and it calls for the field to …

Latina Mothers' Expectations And Perceptions About A Dual Language Education In The Rio Grande Valley, Rosalinda A. Cobarrubias

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The initial purpose of this study was to identify Latino parents’ expectations and perceptions of a dual language program in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. All of the Latino parents of children in one dual language program were invited to participate in the study. The parents who agreed to participate in the study were all mothers. Consequently, only the perceptions and expectations of Latina mothers were explored. The chosen method of this study was qualitative research to explore the expectations and perceptions of the dual language program of twenty Latina mothers of Mexican descent. There were eleven English dominant Latina …

Applying Systems Theory As A Lens On Teacher And Student Perceptions Of Assessment And Feedback In An Intensive English Program, Thomas A. Germain

MA TESOL Collection

The goal of this project was to apply systems theory, or more generally, systems thinking as a lens on the perceptions of teachers, students, and administrators who work together at an intensive English program (IEP). This goal necessitated a two-part project: a review of pertinent literature on systems theory and a limited qualitative study situated at the IEP. Sixteen participants, including seven teachers (more than half of the current faculty), two teacher/administrators, and seven students from different levels within the program, were invited to participate. The primary focus of the study was on participants’ awareness of and attitudes about two …

Effects Of Intervention On Self-Regulated Learning For Second Language Learners, Lu Yu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of the study were to investigate the process of self-regulated learning and the effects of an intervention program on self-regulated learning designed for second language (L2) learners. 120 participants who were sophomores majoring in English education at a university in an Asian country were randomly assigned to either the experimental group or control group. The self-regulated learning intervention was composed of six weekly two-hour training sessions that focus on five main variables of self-regulatory process: goal setting, self-efficacy, time and study environment management, language learning strategies, and attribution. The operation of self-regulated learning processes in the context of …

Exploring English Language Learners' Identity Negotiation In A Sixth Grade English Language Arts Classroom, Carolina G. Lopez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Secondary schools in the United States are filled with English language learners. The large amount of English Language Learners (ELLs) represent a diverse population with unique academic trajectories and language needs. The diversity among ELLs requires an examination of ELLs’ identity, as it relates to literacy development and achievement. This qualitative study explores how different types of ELLs negotiate identities in an English language arts classroom. Specifically, how different types of ELLs’ perceptions as readers and writers impact identity negotiation is analyzed. The study takes place in a sixth grade English language arts classroom in deep South Texas. It is …

Preparing For Storms Nonreader Facilitator's Guide, Hazel Spaulding Parker, Tara Lambeth, Pam Jenkins, Monica Farris, Jeff Rinehart

CHART Publications

The Preparing for Storms nonreader facilitator's guide includes lesson plans and flashcards that coincide with the Preparing for Storms nonreader manual.

Preparing For Storms In Louisiana: Manual For Nonreaders, Pam Jenkins, Tara Lambeth, Maggie Olivier, Race Hodges, Hazel Spaulding Parker, Monica Farris, Jeff Rinehart

CHART Publications

The Preparing for Storms nonreader manual uses the same curriculum as the Preparing for Storms student manual, but is designed for beginning readers.

The Effects Of Encoding Strategy Training On Foreign Language Learning, Olla Najah Al-Shalchi

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Vocabulary of a language makes up approximately 75% of comprehension (Nagy & Scott), and researchers agree that learning vocabulary is more effective when learners are given strategies to learn the vocabulary (Cheng, 2011; Lee, Lim, & Grabowski, 2010; Liu, 2010; Teow, Ismail, & Kabilan, 2010). Research will allow instructional designers to determine what strategies work best for different groups of learners while taking into consideration the amount perceived workload to ensure that it is not too much or too little.

The purpose of this study was to compare the keyword and context strategies with learners enrolled in various undergraduate Arabic …

Exploring The Effect A Speaker Series Has On Students Level Of Multicultural Sensitivity And Cultural Competence Awareness, Christine Karpinski, Scott Heinerichs

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: The population of the United States continues to become more diverse each day, and this changing demographic impacts our healthcare system, demanding that healthcare providers begin to provide culturally competent services. In order to have culturally competent practitioners, it would be prudent to incorporate the concepts of cultural competence effectively into respective health professions curricula. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a three-part, semester-long cultural competency speaker series on students’ level of multicultural sensitivity and their attitudes toward cultural competence and its effect on healthcare. Methods: A convenience sample of 118 athletic training and …

The Accuracy Of Computer-Assisted Feedback And Students’ Responses To It, Elizabeth Lavolette, Charlene Polio, Jimin Kahng

Language Resource Center

Various researchers in second language acquisition have argued for the effectiveness of immediate rather than delayed feedback. In writing, truly immediate feedback is impractical, but computer-assisted feedback provides a quick way of providing feedback that also reduces the teacher’s workload. We explored the accuracy of feedback from Criterion®, a program developed by Educational Testing Service, and students’ responses to it. Thirty-two students received feedback from Criterion on four essays throughout a semester, with 16 receiving the feedback immediately and 16 receiving it several days after writing their essays. Results indicated that 75% of the error codes were correct, but that …

Through The Looking Glass: A Case Study Of Photovoice And Digital Storytelling With Fourth Grade English Learners, Judy A. Wright

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

The recent evolution of ICTs has sparked a catalyst of action that has led the way to the creation of innovative user experiences and created a climate for on demand learning anytime and anywhere. These experiences, at both the individual and collective level, have expanded student access and interaction to information in a way that would have been unconceivable years ago. Students who are learning English for the first time, better known as English learners (ELs), make up a greater proportion of the K-12 population than ever before. Georgia specifically has experienced a 291% growth of ELLs from 1995 to …