Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Digital Equity: Difficulties Of Implementing The 1:1 Computing Initiative In Low-Income Areas, Demetric D. Williams

Dissertations

Successful One-to-One Computing Initiative implementation requires educators to communicate and collaborate effectively with everyone in the learning community. However, other factors such as teacher’s professional development, student’s perception, and parent’s perception often affect the implementation of the One-to-One Computing Initiative. School districts, which serve low-income areas in Mississippi, have difficulties ensuring students and communities have access to the information technology they need to participate outside the school setting. The concept is often called digital equity. However, when officials do not address the capacity, there is a vital threat to the participants’ civic, cultural, employment, lifelong learning, and access to essential …

Development And Initial Evaluation Of The Assessment Of Teacher Expectations And Practices (Atep), Kimberly Barajas

Dissertations

Teacher practices and expectations are important factors for students’ academic and behavioral functioning (Andersson & Palm, 2016; Oliver, Wehby, & Reschly, 2011; Rimm-Kaufman, Storm, Sawyer, Pianta, & LaParom 2006; Rubie-Davies, 2007; Sandholtz, 2011). The current measures available require a great deal of resources (i.e., time, money, personnel), have poor psychometric properties, or are not comprehensive (e.g., facets assessed; assessment of teacher practices for different grade levels). Given these concerns, the proposed study aimed to develop a psychometrically sound measure that is time and cost efficient and comprehensively assesses the multi-faceted construct of teacher practices. This measure is expected to allow …

Diversity And Inclusion: Examining The Lived Experiences Of Lgbtq Students At Historically Black Colleges And Universities (Hbcus) In The Bible Belt, Steven Jones

Dissertations

Throughout the twentieth century, the Gay Rights Movement has gained momentum as LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) individuals have fought for civil equality and social acceptance. However, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have been slow to adapt, implement, and effect change that improves the quality of education for LGBTQ students. Strong religious beliefs derived from the church; especially in the South, may be the connection to understanding why homosexuality isn’t vastly accepted or celebrated in the Black Community and at HBCUs; particularly, in the Bible Belt.

Thus, this phenomenological qualitative study, guided by the theory of care framework, …

Identity Crisis: Understanding How American Males’ Self-Perception And Experiences Impact Their Educational Attainment, Jo Yarketta Hawkins-Jones

Dissertations

If you google African American males, the top results include the following words and phrases: poverty, incarceration, locked out of employment, struggle in the classroom, and high school incompletion. Likewise, research continues to show that disadvantages in education and in African American communities are responsible for many Black males’ poor academic achievement and social outcomes. However, there is one key element missing from majority of the research on Black males, their perspectives.

This dissertation addresses how the personal and educational experiences of low-income African American males, who dropped out of school, influenced their self-perceptions and decision regarding their educational attainment. …

National Survey On Leadership Capacity And Scaling-Up Of Pbis Implementation, Julie L. Lowery

Dissertations

This study examined State Education Agency (SEA) efforts to scale up Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) implementation across K-12 public schools within the United States of America. The researcher used archival data to determine percentages of school within each state currently implementing PBIS and a survey method to determine each state’s status regarding standards of PBIS implementation and variables of leadership capacity. The survey instrument was the State PBIS Implementation and Leadership Survey (SPILS). The participants were SEAs from each state and the District of Columbia, as represented by PBIS Coordinators or other designated PBIS professionals. The purpose of …

Determining The Academic Achievement Of English Language Learners (Ells) By Using Additional Measures Of Growth, Adriana Maria Marin

Dissertations

Accountability measures employed in the country to determine the academic achievement of all the student population rely solely on the results obtained on the standardized tests. Such measures have often placed English language learners’ (ELLs) at risk of academic failure despite the fact that research on second language acquisition (SLA) has stated the complexity involved in the learning/acquisition process of a target language. Scholars have also discussed the influence accountability measures and the issues with the validity of the tests implemented to assess ELLs may have on such results. Therefore, in an effort to obtain a more comprehensive idea of …

Efficacy Of A Basic Public Speaking Course Delivered Via A Virtual Community College, Stephen Bradley Bailey

Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to: (a) determine if taking the basic public speaking course in face-to-face, hybrid, and online format statistically significantly reduces public speaking anxiety; (b) determine which course format, if any, reduces public speaking anxiety to the greatest extent; (c) determine if students’ satisfaction with learning is statistically significantly different in the three course formats; (d) determine faculty’s perceptions of students learning in the basic public speaking in the three course formats.

Pre- and post-data were collected from 263 participants taking the basic public speaking course in a virtual community college in January 2012 and in …

An Exploratory Investigation On The Effects Of An Electronic Recording System For Repeated Reading, Seajae Calvin Hartness

Dissertations

Repeated Reading is a common reading intervention that has been used to help students read fluently since 1979. There are many variations of Repeated Reading that have been investigated and found to be effective. However, there is a relative research deficit on the effectiveness of software programs for administering Repeated Reading. This exploratory research project examined the effectiveness of Repeated Reading with an electronic recording system. The performance of the electronic Repeated Reading group was compared to the performance of participants who received traditionally administered Early Intervention Program services. The results suggest that electronically scored Repeated Reading is as effective …