Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Adoption And Integration Of Best Practice Methods In Secondary English Teaching, Gretchen Rumohr-Voskuil

Dissertations

Commencing with a critical examination of the history and rhetorical force of the term "best practice," this dissertation undertakes a qualitative study of three secondary English teachers, considering their adoption and integration of best practice methods. The subjects, represented by urban, suburban and rural secondary schools, were National Writing Project participants identified as "exemplary teachers" by a NWP site director. "Best practice" methods analyzed included the process model for the teaching of writing and literature, student decision-making, and a low-risk writing environment. Factors that were found to influence the adoption of best practice methods included undergraduate and preservice experiences, intern …

Impact Of Preschool Education On Reading Achievement Of Kindergarten Through Fifth Grade Students, Melissa Harvey Clark

Dissertations

This study examines the impact of various types of preschool care and education on the reading achievement of children, kindergarten through fifth grade, who participated in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K). The participants in this study are located throughout the United States of America. These students attend public and private schools.

The data for this study were provided by the National Center of Education Statistics (NCES), a division of the U.S. Department of Education. The researcher utilized ECLS-K's Public Use Data File and Electronic Codebook to create an SPSS syntax file in order to determine if …

The Alabama Advanced Placement Initiative: The Roles Of The Principal, Teacher, And Student In Bridging The Racial And Socio-Economic Gap In College Preparatory Curricula, Kimberly Laraine Walker

Dissertations

This research study was designed to determine leadership and instructional behaviors of administrators and teachers who are participants in the Alabama AP Initiative, as well as evaluate the perceptions of the AAPI with regard to student performance. The importance of this research was three-fold. First, this study provided principals, as well as aspiring principals, with statistical research for developing a new AP Program or other advanced curricula. Second, the results of this research provided statistical research for teachers, both experienced and those new to the AP Program, who are developing and/or improving instructional strategies that will become an effective means …

Developmental Studies Courses And The Success Of Non-Traditional Students At A Major Public University In The Southeast, Charlotte Tagert Matthews

Dissertations

The main purpose of the study was to determine the effect of academic preparation in basic skills classes on the academic performance in subsequent collegelevel classes for non-traditional students. A secondary purpose was to determine if academic preparation in basic skills classes had a long-term effect on academic performance as measured by graduation GPA. A third purpose was to obtain the perspectives of non-traditional students about the effect of academic preparation in basic skills classes on academic performance in subsequent college-level classes.

Methodology included statistical comparisons of grade distributions and GPA using archival data from the Banner student record system, …

The Effects Of Reading Apprenticeship On Junior College Students' Metacognitive Awareness And Comprehension Of Academic Texts, Patti Rasberry Smith

Dissertations

This descriptive quantitative research study explored if a focus on Reading Apprenticeship strategies and routines in a college level composition class would affect students' metacognitive awareness and comprehension of academic text. Participants included 141 students from one junior college in a southeastern state. The 141 participants were enrolled by choice in six sections of composition taught by three instructors who had all received extensive training in implementing the Reading Apprenticeship framework in their classes. The participants were administered the Revised-Curriculum Embedded Reading Assessment (CERA) twice (pre and post intervention) during the fall semester of the 2008-2009 school year. Participants read …

Does Change In Timbre Alter Stereotypy Movements Exhibited By Three Persons With Diagnoses Of Mental Retardation And Autism Spectrum Disorder: Three Case Studies, Kathy Wade Webb

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to observe and collect data while monitoring the responses of three individuals to recorded presentations of four folk songs. The individuals, or participants, were all residents of a state-run facility in the southern region of the United States. The participants were females diagnosed with mental retardation and autism spectrum disorder, and they all exhibited one or more stereotypy behaviors in some form or another. The primary purpose of the study was to see if change in timbre of the songs would alter the stereotypy movements exhibited by these participants as the songs were presented …

“The Negro Speaks Of Rivers” An African Centered Historical Study Of The Selfethnic Liberatory Education Nature And Goals Of The Poetry Of Langston Hughes: The Impact On Adult Education, Sarah E. Howard

Dissertations

The purposes of this historical study were to 1) document the Selfethnic Liberatory adult education nature and goals of the poetry of Langston Hughes (from 1921 to 1933); and 2) to document the impact this poetry had on members of the African Diaspora. In addition, the goal of this research was to expand the historical knowledge base of the adult education field, so that it is more inclusive of the contributions of African Americans.

This study addressed the problem that the historical and philosophical literature of the field does not to any significant degree include the intellectual and adult education …

The Impact Of Fast Forword On Mct Scores And Student Achievement, Michael Harvey Van Winkle

Dissertations

Educators today were concerned with how the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 dealt with the improvement of education throughout the United States. Schools should have put forth a greater effort and reduced the achievement gap between different groups of students based on race, gender, special education status, and if that student was economically disadvantaged. A problem was identified as low student MCT scores in the state of Mississippi. A tutorial method that claimed to help improve students in the areas of reading and language was identified as Fast ForWord.

This study set out to find if there was …

Student Perceptions Of An Effective Learning Environment Across The Dimensions Of Synchronous, Asynchronous, And Face-To-Face Instruction, Jarrett Landor-Ngemi

Dissertations

Prior to the implementation of computer technology in the classroom, the traditional classroom dynamic consisted of a chalkboard, a lectern, a teacher handout, and the occasional group assignments. However, as technology continues to evolve, so has the restructuring of the educational system (Woods & Baker, 2004). This evolution, which began as correspondence courses by mail, has resulted in a Web-based learning community characterized by its rich learner-centered environment where both student and instructor collaborate and engage in constructivist practices (Conrad & Donaldson, 2004).

This study sought to expand the existing body of knowledge on distance learning and employed quantitative techniques …

An Assessment Of The Impact Of A Science Outreach Program, Science In Motion, On Student Achievement, Teacher Efficacy, And Teacher Perception, Phillip Allen Herring

Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to analyze the science outreach program, Science In Motion (SIM), located in Mobile, Alabama. This research investigated what impact the SIM program has on student cognitive functioning and teacher efficacy and also investigated teacher perceptions and attitudes regarding the program.

To investigate student cognitive functioning, data were collected from the Mobile County Public School System based upon student performance on Criterion Referenced Tests (CRT's), consisting of the students' average score, percent of students passing the test (students scoring 60 percent or above), and the percent of students who were considered proficient, (students scoring 70 …

Metacognitive Awareness And Strategy Use In Academic English Reading Among Adult English As A Second Language (Esl) Students, Yuko Iwai

Dissertations

This mixed method research study explored the role of metacognitive awareness in reading among adult English as a Second Language (ESL) students of various academic levels enrolled in a university in the southeastern part of the United States of America while engaged in academic reading. In addition, this study examined metacognitive reading strategies employed by those students.

In the quantitative portion of the study, 98 students responded to the Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) instrument and a background information questionnaire. The SORS measured metacognitive awareness and use of reading strategies. In the qualitative portion of the study, six students (two …

The Development Of An Instrument For K12 Coordinators Implementing Curriculum Videoconferencing And A Model To Predict Utilization Of Videoconferencing, Janine Monica Lim

Dissertations

Problem. The role of the coordinator and factors affecting their ability to support curriculum videoconferencing in relationship to the utilization of videoconferencing in the school have not been thoroughly studied. The focus of this study is the videoconference coordinatorand their influence on the utilization of videoconferencing.

Method. A measure of the usage of curriculum videoconferencing was developed and compared to a multidimensional conceptualization of factors influencing usage. The conceptualization included the development of a K12 Curriculum Videoconferencing Implementation Scale, as well as measures of educational service agency support, technical support, administrative support, and school and demographic variables. Multiple regression analysis …

Are The Math Scores Of Students Who Are Taught Mathematics Utilizing The Methods Endorsed By The Alabama Math, Science, And Technology Initiative Affected?, Brenda Elise Jolly

Dissertations

Eighth-grade mathematics scores from 21 schools were compared pre-inception and post-inception of the Alabama Mathematics, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI). Only the scores from schools which had 80% of their mathematics and science teachers trained at one Summer Institute were used, as these were considered to be true AMSTI schools. Results found the effects of AMSTI to be not statistically significant.

The second part of this research was conducted based upon 256 surveys from teachers attending their second Summer Institute of ASMTI training. Results found many school systems may hamper teachers' ability to plan and execute AMSTI lessons due to …

Factors That Are Associated With Students' Standardized Reading Achievement Scores, Cherie Nichole Mothershead

Dissertations

This study examined the factors that are associated with students' standardized reading achievement scores. The participants in this study were obtained from two sources: a national and a regional sample. The national participants were located throughout the United States of America, and the regional participants were from a school district in a southeastern state.

The data for the national sample were provided by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a division of the U.S. Department of Education, and the regional sample was provided by surveying all fifth grade teachers in a school district from a southeastern state. These two …

The Effects Of Strategic Modeling On The Development Of Dispositions In Preservice Teachers, Janet Susan Boyce

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the professional dispositions of preservice teachers could be developed through explicit instruction during a teacher education program. The use of the Strategic Modeling Protocol (SMP) consisted often weeks of short segmented intervention prior to the beginning of each class session. The first step of SMP focused on discussions of dispositional related topics. The participants, 45 preservice teachers in their second semester of a teacher education program, also practiced applying the principles outside the classroom, which served as the second step of SMP, and prepared reflections on their experiences as the third …

An Analysis Of The Career Maturity Levels Of Intellectually Gifted Adolescents, Yolanda Yvette Baker Cobb

Dissertations

This research project was conducted to analyze the career maturity level scores of intellectually gifted middle school students. The Career Maturity Inventory-Revised (Crites & Savickas, 1995) was used to compare the career-choice readiness of the intellectually gifted students to their typical middle school-age peers, as well as to the 9th through 12th graders in the norm sample. In addition, a comparison of the career maturity levels of intellectually gifted male and female 6th and 7th graders was also conducted. It was also hypothesized that the intellectually gifted students' career maturity score would increase as the students' grade level increased T-tests …

Effects Of Nonfiction Guided Interactive Read-Alouds And Think-Alouds On Fourth Grader's Depth Of Content Area Science Vocabulary Knowledge And Comprehension, Tania Tamara Henderson Hanna

Dissertations

Effects of nonfiction guided interactive read-alouds and think-alouds as a supplement to basal science textbooks on three vocabulary measures, definitions, examples, and characteristics, and one multiple-choice comprehension measure were assessed for 127 fourth graders over three time periods: pretest, posttest, and a 2-week delayed posttest. Two of three fourth grade elementary science teachers implemented a series of 12 content enhanced guided interactive scripted lessons. Two of these teachers implemented two treatments each. The first condition employed basal science textbooks as the text for guided interactive read-alouds and think-alouds while the second treatment employed basal science textbooks in conjunction with nonfiction …

Critical Components To Improve Literacy Learning For All Students, Marcia Harriet Kaye

Dissertations

The purpose of this multiple case study was to understand the critical components to improve literacy learning for all students. The central focus of the study involved looking at principles for classroom instruction in reading and writing that are essential for students to become good readers and writers. According to Allington and Cunningham, the following principles are critical: (a) the amount of time students spend on reading and writing each day, (b) the explicit teaching of comprehension strategies, (c) modeling writing and reading daily, (d) student engagement in thoughtful literacy learning, and (e) literate rich classroom environments.

Six classrooms were …

An Initial Exploration Of The Undergraduate English Major Curricula Issued By The 2000-2001 Member Schools Of The Council For Christian Colleges And Universities, Maralee Sue Crandon

Dissertations

Problem

This study made the initial exploration of English major curricula among 101 members of the 2000-2001 Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), describing their nature and state and discerning evidence of Christian thought.

Method

Stewart’s (1989) Modified Categories of English Majors and Eisner’s (1991) education criticism provided frameworks to categorize all curricula and to describe a purposeful sampling of 20 selected by region, religious, and enrollment.

Results

Types 1.0 Straight Literature and 1.5 Primarily Literature majors represented 78% of the population and 75% of the sampling; Type 2.0 More Flexible majors represented 18% of the population and 25% …

A Laptop-Learning Initiative: Relationships With Student Achievement, Technology Proficiency, And Attitude Towards Technology, Kevin Scott Nicholas

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between a laptop learning initiative, student achievement, technology proficiency, and attitude towards technology. The initiative, Project One-on-One, was designed to provide teachers with the ability to teach technology integrated lessons in classrooms with a student-to computer ratio of 1:1. This was accomplished by utilizing two mobile laptop labs that were financed through a national grant competition. The variables that were examined in the study were three years of eighth-grade student achievement scores from the criterion-referenced Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) test and the Louisiana Center for Educational Technology’s Technology Proficiency …

An Overview Of Gerald R. Prescott’S 1935 “The Prescott Technic System” With Recommendations For A Contemporary Edition, Carson Lee Vermillion

Dissertations

Gerald R. Prescott (1902-2005) served as the Director of Bands at Mason City (Iowa) High School from 1927-31. During his tenure, Prescott established himself as an outstanding band director and music educator. While serving as the Director of Bands at the University of Minnesota, Prescott published The Prescott Technic System; a band curriculum employing excerpts from conservatory methods to develop individual technique. The system encompassed fourteen years of study, from beginning band through graduate school.

Due to the performance expectations placed on today’s instrumental music programs, little time remains for a sequenced individual course of study that adequately develops a …

Academic Performance And Engagement Of Educational Opportunity Program Students In A College Algebra Extended Class At The State University Of New York, New Platz, Courtney Anthony Pindling

Dissertations

Problem

The purpose of this study was to describe the academic performance of a group of Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) students in a College Algebra Extended Program (CAEP) at the University of New York, New Paltz. Generally, EOP students are admitted with low mathematics placement scores. In the past, they would have been required to do remedial math. However, since college remedial math is no longer available, the CAEP was implemented to remedy this problem. This study was conducted to examine how a small group of EOP students performed in this course.

Method

A descriptive research design was used to …

Electronic Literacy: Teaching Literary Reading Through The Digital Medium, Robert Adams Rozema

Dissertations

Over the last decade, digital technology has become an increasingly important part of education. In the discipline of English language arts, digital technology has been enlisted to teach writing, as the word processor and more recently, the World Wide Web, have provided new tools and new publishing opportunities for student writers. The presence of digital technology is less pronounced, however, in literature instruction in secondary schools. In both theoretical and practical discussions of digital technology and literature, the two mediums have been conceived as radically different. This dissertation argues that the digital medium, and more specifically the World Wide Web, …

What Kinds Of Adolescent Leaders Are Hiding In Newbery Books?, Carol Jasperse Lautenbach

Dissertations

Though adolescent leadership is worth developing, often it is not addressed effectively in the general middle school curriculum. This study addresses adolescent leadership by describing and discussing eight major leadership categories and 38 subcategories found in seventeen representative Newbery Award-winning books. The sample was chosen using a multiple-step process and contained fictional stories with adolescent protagonists in realistic situations. Content analysis was used to quantify and analyze the leadership themes; a code book was used to organize data. Occurrence of each sub-category was ranked for prevalence within each book. These rankings form the basis for the analysis of findings which …

Adult Esl Oral Reading Fluency And Silent Reading Comprehension, Kristin Lems

Dissertations

A descriptive study of second language adults studying ESL at the beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels in a post-secondary academic program revealed that their oral reading fluency had a significant, low-to-moderate correlation with scores on a measure of silent reading comprehension. The correlation was slightly stronger for measures of accuracy than speed, and strongest for miscue ratio. The correlation increased as proficiency level increased. Among different first language groups, the correlation was highest for Hispanic learners, and lowest for Chinese. Furthermore, all fluency measures correlated better with a listening measure than with the silent reading comprehension measure. When a system …

A Test Of Factor Analysis As A Validation Procedure For Physician Certification Examinations, Jeffrey D. Greene

Dissertations

Two physician certification examinations from different medical specialties were investigated. The purpose of the study was twofold: 1) to determine the similarities between the factor structure of the examinations and their respective tables of specifications; and 2) to demonstrate the relative efficacy of factor analysis in differentiating the structure between two related but dissimilar domains of information. Specialty A is a homogeneous discipline focused on a relatively narrow concentration of organs, body systems and anatomy. This examination contained 309 items. There were 845 cases available for analysis. Specialty B is a heterogeneous area of specialty concerned with numerous areas of …

How Does It Mean? Literary Theory As Metacognitive Reading Strategy In The High School English Classroom, Lisa J. Schade

Dissertations

In the last two decades, serious scholarly attention has been paid both to theories of teaching reading and to theories of literary interpretation. These potentially related fields have been treated as separate, focused either on teaching reading in the elementary grades or on teaching interpretation to advanced college literature students. Until very recently the relevance of either reading theory or literary theory to middle school or high school pedagogy has remained unexamined. My research, as a reflective practitioner, addresses this important gap. I focus on the teaching of literary theory in the high school English classroom as a strategy to …

Classroom Questioning Strategies As Indicators Of Inquiry Based Science Instruction, Linda Hale Goossen

Dissertations

Inquiry teaching often rests upon the assumption that through the use of questioning and response strategies, teachers can stimulate students to actively construct knowledge. Based on this hypothesis, middle-school science lessons were observed and questioning and response strategies were identified that are related to inquiry-based instruction.

Twenty-four science lessons were observed, videotaped, and ranked by inquiry characteristics other than questioning strategy. The video and audio portions of the recordings were analyzed to determine the student and teacher’s questioning and response strategies in each classroom. These strategies were then compared to teaching style, along a continuum from traditional to inquiry, to …

An Autobiographical Study Of My Beliefs, Attributes, And Practices As An Instructional Support Consultant, Jennifer Wilcox Dove

Dissertations

Problem . People ask what I do as an instructional support consultant. Over time, I have created my own approach to instructional support. This study uncovers the beliefs and attributes that drive my practices as an instructional support consultant, as well as those that comprise my model of instructional support.

Method . Using a narrative autobiographical approach, I analyzed early experiences that provided a foundation for beliefs I have about teaching and learning. With the help of close colleagues, I analyzed my current beliefs,attributes, and practices. I wrote stories using my journals and conversations I had with close colleagues. I …

A Descriptive Case Study : The Implementation Of A Field-Based Master's Program, Jeanne Renita Grant

Dissertations

Purpose of study. This study focuses on the implementation of the Field-based Master's Program at Midwestern Christian University. The three-step Adoption Change Model (Fullan, 1991) guided me through this innovation: (1) adoption, (2) implementation, and (3) institutionalization of the program. This 2-year study describes the program's adoption and implementation stages. Institutionalization was not included as it takes 3-10 years to occur. Three research questions guided this study.

Research questions. (1) What did the teacher training in the uses of processes look like during the initial summer session of the Field-based Master's Program? (2) What did the transfer of training …