Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration Commons^™

Instructional Approaches That Increase Reading Achievement For Boys, Grades 3-6, Tiffany M. Rudek

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An achievement gap persists in many educational settings with females outperforming males in reading. In a Southern California school district, reading scores for boys average 10 percentile points below those of girls. A qualitative case study was conducted to explore which instructional approaches can help close this gender gap. The conceptual framework for this study was based on engagement theory, which proposes that students who are engaged in learning tasks achieve at higher levels. The guiding question asked how reading achievement for boys in Grades 3-6 could be improved in the district under study. Semistructured individual interviews were conducted with …

Teachers' Perceptions Of An Integrated Third Grade Curriculum's Effects On Students' Reading Achievement, Charlene Lane Bazemore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

School leaders in a Virginia urban school district designed and implemented a reading-infused integrated curriculum to address Grade 3 students' struggles to read and comprehend grade-level text. Informed via a constructivist approach, the curriculum integrated the core subjects, reading, and service learning for developing competent readers, thinkers, and problem solvers. This instrumental case study focused on 13 Grade 3 teachers' perceptions of the integrated curriculum in regards to their students' reading achievement. Qualitative data were collected from face-to-face interviews, students' progress of work documents, and the district's integrated curriculum unit. Open coding was employed to analyze the data. Inductively, triangulated …

Elementary School Teachers' Levels Of Concern With Disruptive Student Behaviors In The Classroom, Jacquline Mccaskey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Educators are concerned over disruptive student behavior that diverts teacher attention from instruction to student's negative behavior. The disruptive student is frequently removed from the classroom, decreasing negative behavior but resulting in shorter instructional time for the disruptive student. The purpose of this correlational survey study was to identify teachers' (a) levels of concern for specific disruptive behaviors, (b) methods most frequently used for disruptive behavior, and (c) professional needs related to general classroom and behavior management. The study examined the relationship between teachers' levels of concern regarding specific behaviors and the degree of support needed to manage those behaviors. …

Improving High School Service-Learning To Increase Long-Term Impact On Volunteerism, Tracey Boldemann Tatkin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Passage of the Kennedy Serve America Act in 2009 led to wide support for service-learning programs in high schools. The effectiveness of these programs on future volunteerism in college, however, has not been established. In the absence of research clarifying the variables that might influence programming effectiveness, it is difficult to design and adapt such programs to increase their impact. This study explored how high school service-learning programs could be improved to encourage greater student participation and to motivate continued volunteerism in college. A multiple case study methodology was used that included face-to-face interviews with 7 teachers and service-learning coordinators …

A Case Study Investigating Secondary Science Teachers' Perceptions Of Science Literacy Instruction, Phyllis Ann Blackmon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This project study addressed the lack of inclusion of discipline literacy pedagogy in secondary classrooms in a rural school district in eastern North Carolina. Discipline literacy practices are recommended in the Common Core Standards for History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. The district had implemented content area reading strategies across content areas, yet no significant progress in secondary students' reading abilities had been demonstrated in statewide or national assessments. The conceptual framework that drove this study was disciplinary literacy, founded by the literacy research of Shanahan, Shanahan, and Zygouris-Coe. Within a qualitative case study method, this investigation of 8 secondary …

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) …

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 …

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 …

Dual Language K-2 Latina Teachers: Juxtaposing Linguistic Identities And Pedagogical Practices On The U.S.-Mexico Frontera, Brenda Oriana Fuentes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This ethnographic study explored the linguistic identities and pedagogical practices of Latina bilingual-certified K-2 teachers in a dual language (DL) program in the U.S.-Mexico border area. Drawing on sociocultural theory, methods of data collection and analysis focused on linking DL Latina teachers' identity formation with both their conceptions of teaching and their actual pedagogical practices related to language use. The findings from this study painted a portrait of how DL teachersâ?? languages, literacies, and identities intertwined to shape their pedagogical practice. The linguistic backgrounds of DL teachers on the border were shaped by country of origin and languages, schooling experiences, …

Student Experiences In College Readiness Programs: A Phenomenological Study, Marisa Elva Pierce

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study discusses the concept of college readiness initiatives and defines what educational systems expect from this level of readiness of a high school student. It demonstrates that the topic of college readiness is broad and particularly concerned with academic rigor, teacher preparedness, and administrative support systems. The purpose of this study is to examine an aspect of these initiatives that is not often addressed - how students experience these programs.

Attempts to research the topic of college readiness from the lens of the student yielded few studies on the issue. Consequently, seeking a grounded understanding of the meaning and …