Educational Administration and Supervision Commons^™

Elementary Teachers' Perceptions Of Response To Intervention And Classroom Instruction, Lora Coonce

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Response to intervention (RTI) is a federal program created to improve student learning and reduce the number of students misidentified as needing special education services. Differing interpretations of how best to implement RTI between campuses and districts have resulted in teachers' confusion and misperceptions of the program. The purpose of this study was to understand how elementary classroom teachers' perceptions of RTI affect classroom instruction. Based on Gagne's instructional theory and Bruner's theory of constructivism, the study examined the perceptions of 10 classroom teachers in 2 low socio-economic elementary schools. The study examined how RTI forms and protocols, administrative leadership, …

Teachers' Perceptions Of The Influence Of Professional Development On Music Integration, Marcy Thurmond Simmons

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

International Baccalaureate (IB) schools are focused on a school-wide approach to developing inquiring students who are motivated to succeed. The problem explored in this case study was based on a local IB elementary school's response to a reform model to integrate music into other content areas. The curriculum lacked an interdisciplinary approach to music education even though teachers had participated in some professional development (PD) to help them integrate music into content areas. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of elementary teachers regarding the influence of professional development on music integration at the IB elementary school. …

Early Career Principal Development: A Qualitative Case Study Of Principals' Perceptions Of Participation In The Institute Of Engaged Principal Leadership, Teri Marie Preisler

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the perceptions of the participants in the Institute of Engaged Principal Leadership at the start and conclusion of their first year of sessions. The study used a single case study qualitative research approach incorporating semi-structured interviews questions, researcher observations, and review of documents throughout the 2012-2013 initial year of the Institute. The results indicate themes of growth within the participants' beliefs, confidence, focus on equity and student-centered school climate, and a need for networking within the educational leadership roles. Based upon these results, recommendations are provided for future Institutes as well as preparation programs for teachers and …

Ethnically Diverse Students And K-12 Teacher Preparation Programs: An Analytical Study Of Effective Recruitment And Retention Strategies In Select Midwest Colleges And Universities, Mymique Y. Baxter

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

In the years following the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the shrinking numbers of ethnically diverse teachers in U.S. public schools has been the focal point of public opinion, community leaders, educators and policymakers. To address the scarcity of the nation’s teachers in our teacher workforce, a variety of creative and innovative initiatives, which focused on recruitment, retention, and graduation of students of color have been implemented throughout the years. The purpose of this dissertation was to analyze effective recruitment and retention strategies used at a selection of predominantly white Midwest colleges …

Chile’S Educational Reform: The Struggle Between Nationalization And Privatization, Vannia J. Zelaya

Pepperdine Policy Review

This paper looks into Chile's educational system and the recent policy reforms that President Michelle Bachelet seeks to establish. More specifically, this paper explores the "Proyecto de Ley de Fin al Lucro, la Selección y el Copago," which aims to eliminate private for-profit institutions within the public system, admission selectivity, and mandatory copay fees. With this, Bachelet's administration along with Chile's Ministry of Education intend to end the inequality of access to education, which is part of Chile's broader problem of great socioeconomic inequality. This particular policy is part of Bachelet's comprehensive educational system reform, and it brings Chile's voucher …

Perceptions Of The Community Of Inquiry In An Online Rn To Bsn Program, Beth Ann Townsend

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Basic nursing education is no longer sufficient to meet the escalating demands of today's complex healthcare environment. Recognizing the need for the advanced cognitive skills incurred by these demands, increasing numbers of registered nurses (RNs) have been enrolling in online Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs. The problem identified in the RN to BSN degree completion program at a large Midwestern university was the lack of information as to how online teaching and learning strategies were experienced by students. Research has demonstrated that the online community of inquiry (CoI) model facilitates higher order thinking through collaborative learning strategies and …

A Case Study Of The Effectiveness Of A Summer Transition Program For First-Time Ninth Grade Students, Jonathan Wickert

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

High schools have undertaken numerous approaches to reduce the number of first-time 9th grade students who do not move to 10th grade with their cohort. The purpose of this study was to determine if a summer program successfully transitioned 9th grade students from middle school to high school environments. Guided by the stage-environment fit conceptual framework, this study explored the effectiveness of a summer transition program at acclimating first time 9th grade students to physical, social, and academic environments. A mixed-method design was used in the study. A t test was used with a sample of approximately 400 archival 9th …

The Perceptions And Experiences Of General Education Teachers Toward Cotaught Inclusion Classes, Beth Milhoan Feustel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This project study addressed the low rate of general education teachers volunteering to coteach inclusion classes at a large urban high school in southeastern Georgia. This low volunteer rate caused administrators at this school to assign general education teachers, who did not opt in, to coteach inclusion classes. Teachers' efficacy was negatively impacted when they were required to teach classes that they did not volunteer to teach. The model of cooperative teaching advanced by Bauwens, Hourcade, and Friend's work served as the conceptual framework for this intrinsic case study. The purpose of the study was to examine how general education …

Factors Associated With Graduation Among Latino Male High School Students, Judyann Watson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

High dropout rates for minority students require additional educational research to understand and implement changes that will increase graduation rates. The purpose of this nonexperimental study was to examine factors that may be associated with graduation for Latino male students. Guided by Tinto's work, which holds that students remain in school when they feel academically or socially connected to an institution, this study addressed the impact of social factors, academic factors, and small learning communities (SLCs) on graduation rates. The research study used archival data and bivariate logistic regression to analyze the data for Latino male participants (n = 208) …

The Disconnect Between Policy And Research: Examining The Research Into Full-Time K-12 Online Learning, Michael K. Barbour

Education Faculty Publications

While there has been some improvement in what is known about supplemental K-12 online learning, there continues to be a lack of evidence to guide the practice of full-time K-12 online learning. This paper concludes that despite considerable enthusiasm for full-time virtual education in some quarters, there is little high quality research to support the practice or call for expanding this form of virtual schools.

Concept Mapping As A Tool For Enhancing Self-Paced Learning In A Distance Scenario, John Allen Richbourg

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have determined that concept maps serve as effective tools in the traditional science classroom. The purpose of this experimental study was to investigate concept mapping as a tool for student knowledge acquisition in 10th grade science for students in distance learning situations. Research questions were designed to investigate the influence of concept mapping on rate and quality of student knowledge acquisition and retention. This study was a pretest-posttest 2-group comparison study, constructivist in nature and based on the theory of cognitive learning. Participants included 36 students in the 10th grade at an inner-city school in the United States. Control …

Supporting Elementary Teachers In Effective Writing Instruction Through Professional Development, Whitney Nash Young

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for writing have created a challenge for teachers at an urban elementary school as they struggled to provide effective writing instruction to support the rigorous expectations of the standards. The purpose of this study was to explore elementary teachers' lived experiences of instruction and better understand instructional writing procedures and strategies. The conceptual framework of this study was based on Dennick's work for incorporating educational theory into teaching practices, which combined elements of constructivist, experiential, and humanist learning theories. Research questions investigated how teachers perceived the impact of the CCSS writing standards on their practice …

Increasing School Commitment By Listening To Veteran Teachers' Needs And Concerns, Carrie Mcatee

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The role that support systems play in new teachers' levels of school commitment has been widely documented. However, veteran teachers' levels of commitment have not been as closely studied. According to the department of education in a Southeastern state, the veteran teacher attrition rate at a Title I school in an urban school district was in the double digits for several years. High veteran teacher attrition rates and low levels of commitment can cause problems such as loss of continuity of instruction for students. The purpose of this study was to identify veteran teachers' perceptions of their levels of school …

School Bullying And Teacher Professional Development, Demita Sidonia Parson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Bullying has become a serious concern in many American public middle schools in recent years. Inadequate professional development (PD) in bullying prevention and response strategies has compounded this problem. The overarching purpose of this study was to increase understanding of the growing problem of school bullying. Bronfenbrenner's socioecological theory, which states that environment and relationships influence student behavior, served as the conceptual framework for this qualitative study. Guiding research questions, grounded in socioecological theory, were used to examine middle school teachers' views of PD and their perceived skills in responding to or preventing bullying. Through purposeful sampling, 8 middle school …

Teacher Allocation Policies And The Unbalanced Distribution Of Novice And Senior Teachers Across Regions In Turkey, Murat Ozoglu

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Policies toward fostering a more balanced distribution of teacher quality have garnered considerable attention from researchers and policymakers around the world. This attention has been motivated largely by the widely acknowledged educational goal of providing quality education for all children. Equipped with similar policy concerns, this study examines the initial assignment of novice teachers and voluntary transfer of senior teachers to determine whether there is any kind of sorting pattern in the allocation of novice and experienced teachers to schools across regions, particularly across provinces, in Turkey. Using the entire initial teacher assignment and voluntary teacher transfer data in between …

School Leaders As Participants In Teachers’ Professional Development: The Impact On Teachers’ And School Leaders’ Professional Growth, Annette Hilton, Geoff Hilton, Shelley Dole, Merrilyn Goos

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Over a two-year period, approximately 70 teachers from 18 schools participated in an on-going professional development program as part of a study to promote the teaching and learning of numeracy. Principals and other school leaders were invited to participate in the professional development program alongside their teachers, which 20 leaders from 11 schools chose to do. Throughout the project, data were collected from teachers and participating school leaders using surveys, interviews, and workshop discussions to investigate teachers’ and leaders’ professional growth. The findings showed that school leaders’ participation in teacher professional development programs has a positive influence on the capacity …

Teachers' Use Of Wikipedia With Their Students, Hagit Meishar-Tal

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

One of the most impressive phenomena in the creation and dissemination of human knowledge in recent years is Wikipedia, an encyclopedia written collaboratively by Web users. Nevertheless, teachers tend to oppose the use of wikipedia by their students and question its reliability. This paper explore the perceptions of k-12 school teachers in Israel towards the quality of the information in wikipedia and the reasoning they hold for these perceptions. Findings show that most of the teachers perceive Wikipedia as an environment of middling to poor reliability, accuracy, and timeliness. Many teachers do not realize how authoritative information is when generated …

The Road Less Traveled: Alumni Perceptions Of The Georgia Early College High School Experience, Tequila Tranise Morgan

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Despite the efforts of traditional high schools to educate all students, at-risk populations tend to lag behind their White and more affluent counterparts in educational achievement, high school graduation rates, and college attendance rates. Early College High Schools (ECHSs) were designed to attract and retain at-risk students through rigorous academic practices, strong support systems, and by providing free access to college credits while students are still in high school.

With the case study approach as a guide, this research used an open-ended interview protocol to collect data from a sample of 16 students who attended one ECHS in Georgia between …

Website Blocked: Filtering Technology In Schools And School Libraries, Jennifer M. Overaa

School of Information Student Research Journal

This paper investigates the impact of filtering software in K-12 schools and school libraries. The Children's Internet Protection Act, or CIPA, requires that public schools and school libraries use filtering technology in order to receive discounted rates on technology. As a result, nearly all public elementary and secondary schools today use filtering technology. While the provisions of CIPA narrowly define the content to be blocked, filters are often set to block much more than is required. Filtering technology is often ineffective, and many unobjectionable sites end up being blocked, including Web 2.0 sites and tools needed to educate students in …

A Statistical Study Of The Influence Of Increased Instructional Time On Underperforming Students' Achievement Scores In Grade 7 And 8 Mathematics And English Language Arts, Andrew Trust

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Educational Systems across the country have been put under enormous amounts of pressure to improve student performance in their schools. Recently, New York State has required that struggling students, as defined by results of standardized tests, be given increased instructional time to make up for the deficits that they may possess. This study looked to determine the efficacy of the academic intervention classes being offered within a school district. The study analyzed student test results and performed a logistic regressing in an attempt to determine the odds of a students scoring in the proficient range on standardized exams after receiving …

Successful Approaches To Encourage Family Involvement In A School Division Located In Southeastern Virginia With Varying Income Levels, Katelyn Elizabeth Montague

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The purpose of this project was to identify successful approaches that teachers use to encourage involvement of all families. Following a review of professional and research literature, a survey of Pre-kindergarten through fifth grade teachers was distributed in a school division located in southeastern Virginia with varying income levels.

The findings in this survey suggested that participating teachers encouraged family involvement by inviting families into the classroom and explaining to them how they could help their children at home. The teachers utilized weekly communication in various forms such as printed material, electronic formats, and classroom websites. Teachers were also flexible …

District Support Team Model As A Manifestation Of Central Office Transformation: Experiences From Central Office And School Based Staff, Danielle Pfeiffer

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The purpose of this study was to examine the described experiences of 20 participants—central office executives and specialists, principals, and teacher leaders—in the district support team (DST) process, a manifestation of central office transformation as an approach to school improvement. The site of this study was the Puget Sound School District in Washington State. The district was in its third year of central office transformation employing a differentiated support service model to assist its lowest performing schools. This case study utilized qualitative data from semi-structured interviews, document review, and field observations to understand the prevalence of the six elements of …

A Study Of Instructional Scheduling, Teaming, And Common Planning In New York State Middle Schools, Chad M. Corey

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This descriptive study examined to what extent, if any, three school supports (instructional scheduling, teaming, and common planning) are in existence in New York State middle schools. For the purposes of this study, middle schools were defined as schools that contained the grade configurations of 5-8, 6-8, and 7-8. The sample surveyed was comprised of 232 New York State middle school principals in school districts with an average need/resource capacity. Instrumentation for the data collection was through a five-part self-administered online web survey. Demographic data of the participating principals and their school along with the data collected from the research …

Implementando La Educación Sexual Integral En El Conurbano: Interpretaciones, Practicas, Y Dificultades De Los Docentes De La Esi En La Escuela Secundaria / Implementing Integral Sexual Education In Grand Buenos Aires: Interpretations, Practices, And Difficulties Of High School Sexual Education Teachers, Alexcia Chambers

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The enactment of Law 26, 150—Argentina’s national Integral Sexual Education (ESI) program—in 2006 gave all Argentine teachers the opportunity, and the responsibility, to teach sexual education in the classroom. Although it has been eight years since the passing of this national law, it has not been universally implemented, and high school teachers in Greater Buenos Aires have yet to receive training on the new curriculum. Analyzing the opinions and experiences of seven high school teachers in the Greater Buenos Aires area, this study seeks to show the reality of sexual education in the Argentine classroom today through the teacher’s eyes. …

Impact Of Collaborative Specialization On 5th Grade Student Achievement In A Title I School: Program Evaluation Proposal, Nicole Villaverde

Dissertations

This paper details a complete program evaluation of an elementary school's transition from having mainstream classes to a collaborative specialization model of instruction. My study examines how this model of instruction impacts students' achievement levels and student behavior in a title 1 school. I created the model and in the process of doing my study was required to change it into a model I then defined as Collaborative Specialization. I concluded from my research that this model of instruction was indeed a success because it increased the number of students making learning gains and decreased disciplinary problems.

Beware: Teachers Who Blog, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

A recent case from Pennsylvania, Munroe v. Central Bucks School District (2014), raises fresh questions about the free speech and expression rights of public school teachers as they use the Internet. In Munroe, when a board terminated a high school teacher’s employment for making controversial postings about her students and colleagues on her personal blog—postings that proved disruptive—a federal trial court rejected the educator’s claim that she was dismissed in retaliation for exercising her right to free speech.

Before reviewing the facts and judicial opinion in Munroe, it is worth noting that blogs (a term coined in the late 1990s …

A Balanced Approach: Advocating For Middle School Improvement That Levels The Playing Field, Derrik Craun

Dissertations

With a large disparity in the rate of suspension incidents received between African American and White students, it is evident why there still exists a gap in academic achievement. Too often we rely heavily on out of school suspensions as a consequence for student misbehavior. This approach leads to students falling behind academically and feeling less connected to their learning environment. My study takes a close look into establishing district policy to help each middle school offer a balanced approach to addressing student discipline in order to improve behavior and increase the amount of instructional time that African American middle …

Closing The Achievement Gap In Elementary Schools: A Policy Advocacy Dissertation, Nicole Villaverde

Dissertations

My paper details a policy recommendation for elementary schools in a large school district in Florida. Its aim is to provide equal educational opportunities and equity for all students. I developed it in part based on an educational, economic, social, political, and moral-ethical analysis. My policy's purpose is to enhance the educational experience for all children, maximize time-on-task (TOT) on all subjects, and close the achievement gap. It discourages the use of the pull-out program for remediation in reading and/ or other areas. My new policy, combining the collaborative specialization model, which I developed, with a push-in program, will provide …

Effective Instructional Strategies Utilized In Successful And High Performing Secondary Schools In The Southern Region Of Mississippi, Jeanifer Lynn Pearson

Dissertations

The schools in the United States have implemented measures intended to close the achievement gap for over fifty years (Solomon, 2009). The mandates handed down by the federal government cannot be altered. Therefore, schools are required to determine specific measures that increase student academic success. Prior research has demonstrated that schools can be successful if effective leadership at the district, school, and classroom level was present (Gregory, 2003; Johnson, Livingston, & Schwartz, 2000). At the classroom level, it was the leadership of the individual teacher to determine the creation of innovative techniques aimed at academic success of all students (Farr …

A Proposed Change Leadership Plan For Bimmer Elementary School, Nicole Villaverde

Dissertations

My paper details a Change Leadership Plan (CLP) for a school with the fictious name of Bimmer Elementary School (BME). My study's purpose is to enhance student learning by collaborating with staff to explore ways to maximize time-on-task (TOT) for all subjects. Currently BME has a reading achievement problem and is using pull-out programs for 4th and 5th grade students that take needed instructional time from core academic programs. I used Wagner's As-Is and To-Be charts (see Appendix A) for BME to identify and present the current status and future desired state of the school's culture, context, conditions, and competencies. …