The Benefits And Barriers To Arts Integration: Arts Accessibility In Public Montessori, Heather Teems

All Theses And Dissertations

This mixed-method exploratory case study investigates the research question: To what extent do pre-K through eighth-grade public Montessori school teachers perceive that their professional knowledge and abilities, experiences, and resources impact their capacity to integrate arts into their general classroom curriculum? Public Montessori teachers from five public-choice Montessori schools in a school district of the suburban and urban areas of southeastern South Carolina were invited to participate. The teachers in these public Montessori schools have varied levels of education and professional development experience with the arts in education. Some participants were general education teachers prior to becoming Montessori teachers due …

Culturally Diverse Student Engagement And Professional Development Needs Of Undergraduate Faculty: A Qualitative Case Study, Christina R. Luther

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

This qualitative single-site case study explored how undergraduate faculty members engaged culturally diverse students and determined the professional development needs of those faculty members to engage culturally diverse student populations. Exploring culturally sensitive practices will enable faculty members of institutions of higher education (IHEs) to engage diverse student populations. Determining the professional development needs of IHEs faculty members will assist IHEs’professional developers to implement training that will enhance the engagement of culturally diverse student populations. Qualitative data were collected through interviews from five undergraduate education faculty members at an institution of higher education (IHE) in the southeastern region of the …

An Evaluation Of Student Perceptions Of Classroom Environment Factors In Faccs Schools, Pamela J. Piorkowski

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The purpose of the study was to evaluate Florida Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (FACCS) high school student perceptions of the relationship between ideal and real classroom environments. The quantitative, non-experimental research design with a survey was used to understand students' overall perceptions of attending five Christian schools and how they perceived the classroom environments. Student perceptions of their classroom environment are a topic of essential importance to the Christian school. The data provided vital insight using nine dimensions measured using a standardized tool, the Classroom Environment Scale (CES), developed by Edison Trickett and Rudolf Moos. Dimensions in the …

The Perceptions Of High School Graduates Regarding The Effectiveness Of Their 504 Accommodations, Jackie A. Wyche

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of high school seniors diagnosed with mental or physical impairments regarding the effectiveness of their 504 academic accommodations. The approach of this qualitative study was transcendental phenomenology. Phenomenology is defined as the qualitative approach to research that encompasses the exploration of lived experiences of the participants. The participants for this research study were high school graduates who had 504 accommodations during high school. Participants for this study contr ibuted by answering open ended questions from an interview guide. In the course of the in depth data analysis, the interviews …

Breaking Barriers And Bread To Build Bridges: How Do Latina/O Families And Schools Develop Meaningful Home-School Relationships?, Cathy A. Shappell

Education Doctorate Dissertations

There is a plethora of research that shows parental engagement is a key contributor to student success. The Latina/o population is the fastest-growing demographic group in our country. Statistical evidence supports that by the year 2050, one out of every three students in our public schools will identify as Latina/o (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019). Latina/o parents overwhelmingly identify education for their children as a top priority and hope to engage with schools to help improve the educational system and advocate for the needs of their children. However, there are significant barriers that still exist including language, logistical issues, …

Communication In A Virtual World - Best Staff Practices For Generating The Greatest Student Engagement In Virtual Learning, Chris Loiselle, Kristi Teall

Andrews University Teaching and Learning Conference

Research and experience show that for students to learn, they must be engaged, and the need to be engaged in learning has been underscored this past year as many schools have shifted to virtual or remote learning. Join leaders from Berrien Springs Public Schools for an interactive discussion that shares research, tools, and best practices that are proven to be effective in engaging students, helping them to thrive in virtual learning environments.

The Impact Of Synthetic Vs. Analytic Phonics On Students’ Reading Skills In An Independent School Setting: A Case Study, Kathleen Foster House

Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide data about the effects of early literacy instructional methods on later elementary reading performance. This study compared students who were introduced to reading through a synthetic phonics approach in contrast to students who were introduced to reading through an analytic phonics approach. Quantitative data were collected from a variety of standardized tests for the two groups, and qualitative data were collected through interviews with a variety of stakeholders. The literature review offers an overview of major trends in phonics and early reading instruction over the entire history of documented reading education. After …

The Writing For Healing And Transformation Project, Heather Elizabeth Osborn

Education Doctorate Dissertations

As a qualitative action research study, the purpose of The Writing for Healing and Transformation Project was to facilitate more inclusive writing strategies and to promote individual and collective healing on issues of social suffering and oppression (Kleinman, Das, & Lock, 1997; Pennebaker & Smyth, 2016) for diverse students at a community college located in the northeastern United States. The 18 participants in the study included students in my English II literature and composition course. The theoretical framework encompassed Pennebaker’s (2016) “writing for healing” paradigm, advocating the use of expressivist writing and “social suffering theory,” examining how power structures affect …

Experience Between Mentors And Coaches: A Phenomenological Case Study To Examine Effective Coaching Conditions, Brittany Adkins

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

The study uses a phenomenological case method to explore the lived experience of the mentor-coach coaching phenomenon and examines the case of the Literacy Center (university partnership) in providing professional development to build instructional capacity in elementary reading coaches through a coaching model in order to improve reading achievement in students (kindergarten through third grade). The study is guided through the theoretical frameworks of Social Learning Theory (Vygotsky, 1978) and the Capacity-Building Model for Teacher Development (Cooter, 2004). It is focused on two research questions: 1) How does the mentor and coach experience change over time? and 2) What facilitates …

Myth, Power, And Justice: The Danger Of A Single Story, Christen H. Clougherty

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

If we hear only a single story about a group, we risk a critical misunderstanding. In this session, learn to critically analyze assumptions of single stories and dominant narratives about community partners. Engage in hands-on activities to explore this issue as it relates to race, poverty, and social justice. Leave with classroom activities to take back to your classroom.

Changed Agents: Cultivating Students’ Civic Identity Through Participation In A Social Justice-Themed Book Club As A Subversive Approach To Critical Literacy In Education, Elizabeth Schucker

Education Doctorate Dissertations

Through an embedded social justice-themed book club and approach to subversive critical literacy experiences, students gain the necessary skills-based knowledge, which cultivate civic awareness, identity, and civic agency, inviting them to develop perspective of real-world issues and concerns. Transformative teaching practices engage teachers and students in the joy of the partnership model as social justice-themed texts provide the opportunity for liberation and synthesis. The students who participate in the social justice-themed book club acknowledge and welcome the discourse as co-investigators in the real-world inquiry. While engaging in twelve authentic literacy-based subversive experiences, students challenge their own opinions and cultivate a …

A Qualitative Case Study Of A Transitional Program For Students In Middle School As They Transition To High School, Patrick Tremayne Moore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Every school year, many U.S. students prepare to make the transition from being a middle school student to becoming a high school student. School transitions happen regularly and can be considered predictable. As students transition to high school, there are more challenges such as school work and peer influence. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions of students who participate in a transition program as they transition from middle school to high school. Also, this study explored the perceptions of teachers who participated in the transition programs. The population of this study consisted of students …

Leading Organizational Learning, Jessica C. Wells

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Leadership is hard to define but easy to recognize and is found in every facet of life. Leaders themselves range from good to bad, the extremities of which are determined by their character, actions, perception of self, how they are perceived by others and their worldviews. An individual’s values provide the basis for ethical decisions, which makes self-awareness a critical element in the development of one’s leader identity. This article provides an overview of leader identity development and offers ways for leaders to apply ethics in their everyday lives.

Participation In Open Up Resources By Gender And Family Income Level On Mathematics Achievement Of Grades 7 And 8 Students, Timothy Brister

College of Education Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to determine the effects by gender and by family-income level between students using Open Up Resources (OUR) curriculum (a Problem-Based Learning [PBL] curriculum) versus traditional curriculum on mathematics achievement of Grades 7 and 8 students. A stratified random sample of 320 students from four Central and Southeast Arkansas schools (n = 160 for Grades 7 and 8, respectively) was drawn for this study. Data analysis involved the use of 2 x 2 factorial ANOVAs. The key findings of the study were that the mathematics achievement of Grade 8 students using OUR was significantly higher …

Teacher Retention In High-Poverty, Urban Schools, Jill Love

Graduate Teacher Education

Abstract

Teaching has always been about the success of the students. Students who have effective, qualified teachers show the most success. Throughout the years, schools in urban areas have struggled to keep quality teachers within their buildings. Due to teacher turnover in the neediest schools, the students are greatly affected. The students in high-poverty urban schools are some of the lowest performing students across the country. When you pair low performance with significant teacher turnover, the outcome is grim. Research shows that districts and schools need to do more than just recruit qualified teachers, they must also retain them for …

How Will I Thrive? Developing Designer Professional Identity Among Undergraduate Communication Design Students, Denise Bosler

Education Doctorate Dissertations

A designer’s professional identity is constructed throughout a designer’s life and is developed through life experiences and education. While understanding the general importance of a professional identity is often clear to recent design graduates, developing it requires becoming self-aware of what traits constitutes designer professional identity (DPI). Kunrath, Cash and Yi-ling (2016) define DPI as the synthesis of personal attributes and design skills. However, the development of this full complement of DPI traits is often ignored and ill-supported in design education curriculum. A student’s DPI, if under-developed, can be a barrier to successfully transitioning from student to professional. Design educators …

The Impact Of Student-Centered Coaching On Teacher Self-Efficacy: An Exploratory Case Study, Dustin L. Collins

All Theses And Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to determine the impact that participation in student-centered coaching had on teacher self-efficacy within a large, international school in east Asia. The study aimed to fill the gap in international school research around student-centered coaching and teacher self-efficacy. The study explored how the student-centered coaching process impacted teacher self-efficacy and perceptions of self as well as how teachers described their development of self-efficacy in relation to the student-centered coaching model. Four elementary homeroom teachers participated in this single site study. Data were collected over a six week period in the form …

Faculty Perceptions Of Self Efficacy In Interprofessional Healthcare Education, Rose M. Defeo

All Theses And Dissertations

Interprofessional team-based care is of the utmost importance to maximize health outcomes. These mixed discipline teams work together to complement skills and support each other for patient-centered care delivery. To prepare future healthcare clinicians, effective and efficient interprofessional healthcare education is needed. Students must learn to reflect on their abilities and demonstrate confidence in their skillsets to work effectively within this type of group. Reflective ability and development of self-efficacy are the foundation for learning how to function in an interprofessional team. Faculty within undergraduate and graduate healthcare programs have been tasked with facilitating activities to teach teamwork, roles, responsibilities, …

A Phenomenographic Study Of Academics Teaching In Engineering Programmes In Ireland: Conceptions Of Professional Skills And Approaches To Teaching Professional Skills, Una Beagon

Doctoral

Engineers play a central role in addressing the challenges which face society. However, the influence of globalisation, disruptive technological change and socially complex problems will greatly affect the way engineers work in the future.

As a result, there have been calls to embrace transformational change in engineering education, yet the literature reveals that many reform efforts have fallen short. Industry and society will therefore continue to look to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to better prepare engineering graduates with the new skills needed to face the challenges of the future. Notwithstanding the critical and valued role that technical engineering subjects have …

Reading With Mission: Creating And Implementing A Mission- And Student-Centered Undergraduate Admission Reading Process, April Crabtree

Ignatian Colleagues Program

The purpose of this project is to create a comprehensive reading guide that provides context of and guidance in approaching applications centered on Mission and Values. This reading guide reimagines a mission-centered and Jesuit- focused review of the undergraduate admission application. Key components of the new reading guide including an outline of USF’s Mission and Enrollment Goals, frameworks on accompaniment and positionality, educational privilege and implicit bias. In addition, this guide rests on a social justice platform of gender affirmation, inclusive sexuality,

and anti-racism. Throughout the guide, there is a continued commitment to cura personalis as well our team’s keystones …

Scaffolding Middle And High School Students’ Engineering Design Experiences: Quality Problem-Scopeing Promoting Successful Solutions, Andrew Hughes, Cameron Denson

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

Highly proficient expert engineers begin the iterative process of design by thoroughly investigating the design problem. Engineering students are often distracted by surface details, leading to a faulty conception of the problem and inappropriate solution strategies. Adequate problem-scoping is arguably the most important step in the design process. To address this issue, the researchers developed an instructional framework to help teachers scaffold students’ cognitive and metacognitive processes during the problem-scoping phase of a design challenge. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to investigate the impact that scaffolded instruction related to the SCOPE process had on students’ solution success during …

Teachers’ Experiences Of A District’S Transformational Leadership Design Program: A Qualitative Study, Jarit Unrau

Education (PhD) Dissertations

Facing the rapidly changing 21st-century education, educational organizations strive for innovative ideas to continuously motivate their teachers to enhance student performance. iLead is a district’s pioneering attempt to incorporate transformational leadership's essential elements, the four I’s, Inspirational Motivation, Idealized Influence, Intellectual Stimulation, and Individualized Consideration, into its program design and implementation to develop a collaborative learning culture through teacher motivation and the focus on improving student achievement. The iLead program has drawn statewide attention by winning the 2020 California Golden Bell Awards recently. The annual awards promote excellence in education and recognize prominent California schools’ and districts’ programs and exemplary …

A Mixed Methods Examination Of Elementary Teachers’ Conceptions Of Benchmark Reading Assessments, Marie N. Derby Ed. D.

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Abstract

This study examined the case of 22 mid-Atlantic K-5 public school teachers’ conceptions of the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Reading Assessment Systems 1-3. The Namaste School District delivers ELA curriculum through reader’s and writer’s workshop. Triangulated data showed that participants held varying conceptions of the F&P. Specifically, they shared similar conceptions regarding the importance of one-on-one time with students, the amount of time it takes to administer the assessment, and the subjectivity of the F&P results. Results of this study provided similar results to other studies of teachers’ conceptions of assessment and adds to the literature debate regarding …

Lessons From The Pivot: Higher Education's Response To The Pandemic, Janine S. Davis, Christy Irish

Education Faculty Articles

The intensity of major events often leads us to remember minute details of where we were and what we were doing when they occurred: what we wore as we watched the towers fall on September 11, 2001; the faces of our classmates when the space shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986; the smell in the air when we lived through a major earthquake, fire, or other personal tragedy. Similarly, faculty, staff, and students will remember the series of moments that led to the closure of their schools and universities as the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic spread throughout the world--the timeline …

Lessons From The Pivot: Higher Education's Response To The Pandemic, Janine S. Davis, Christy Irish, Ellen Watson, Rosemary Huff Arneson, Jennifer D. Walker, Tracey S. Hodges, Olivia Murphy, Lee Skallerup Bessette, Et Al.

Education Faculty Books

This text includes chapters from instructional designers, university faculty and staff, and undergraduate and graduate students, and the text has been divided into three sections to reflect these varied perspectives. Each section begins with research-based perspectives, but also contains more personal narratives at the end. While the context of most of the chapters is the United States, there are also chapters with a Canadian context. It is also important to note that, as of the first half of 2021, the pandemic rages on, and mentions of COVID-19 in the following chapters will be reflective of the state of affairs in …

The Past And Future Of Teacher Efficacy, Thomas R. Guskey

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

Knowing how the concept of teacher efficacy has evolved in education research shows us good ways to raise teachers' confidence now.

The Effects Of A Strengths Based Faculty Coaching Intervention On First-Year Undergraduate Student Academic Confidence: A Mixed Methods Action Research Study, Conrad Alfred Davies Sr.

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

Deficiency remediation models of education imply that students may enter the university with deficiencies, problems, or needs that imply the student needs to be “fixed” before they can proceed in their academic studies. In contrast, strengths-based education models infer that students come to the university with inherent talents, natural propensities, and behaviors that can be leveraged to overcome their challenges. These differing perspectives can influence the effectiveness of university policies designed to improve student retention. This mixed methods action research study, undergirded by student development theories, examined the effects of a strengths-based, faculty-led coaching intervention on first-year undergraduate students’ academic …

Catalyzing Change In Higher Education: Social Capital And Network Leadership In The Competency-Based Education Network, Bruce William Haupt Jr.

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

Collaborative inter-organizational networks can be effective at catalyzing and supporting the generation and diffusion of new models and practices. With shared purpose, structure, and resources, network organizations can facilitate knowledge exchange and the growth of inter-organizational relationships. In this study, I sought to better understand how network organizations influence social capital and the spread of innovative practices. Of particular interest were the roles of national network and sub-national network organizations (sub-networks), and the interactive learning processes of network newcomers. I focused on the diverse array of colleges and universities involved in the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN), and their efforts to …

Pivoting To Deeper Experiences In Higher Education Classrooms, Danielle M. Pratt, Daniel W. Eadens

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

In higher education, pivoting quickly to a fully virtual experience online in the midst of a global pandemic is an adventure. There are marked differences between the online experience for a student who was already in a web-delivered course versus one that started face-to-face and quickly pivoted to an online setting. Some assignments, lessons, and courses are easily delivered in alternate formats while other learning opportunities are much more difficult to transition for online delivery. For example, assignments that involve internships or in-person experiences had to shift dramatically, be delayed, or cancelled. Beyond the experiences within the higher education classroom, …

Assessment And Learning In Knowledge Spaces (Aleks) Adaptive System Impact On Students' Perception And Self-Regulated Learning Skills, Honda Harati, Laura Sujo-Montes, Chih-Hsiung Tu, Shadow J.W. Armfield, Cherng-Jyh Yen

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

Adaptive learning is an educational method that uses computer algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) to customize learning materials and activities based on each user's model. Adaptive learning has been used for more than 20 years. However, it is still unique, and no other system could bring more or even similar capabilities than the ones adaptive technology offers, including the application of AI, psychology, psychometrics, machine learning, and providing a personalized learning environment. However, there are not many studies on its practicality, usefulness, improving students' learning skills, students' perception, etc., due to the limited number of institutes investing in this new …