Elementary Education Commons^™

Integrating Ncss Notable Trade Books Into Elementary Social Studies Classrooms, Tristin G. Lucas

Student Scholar Showcase

Each year the NCSS Notable Trade Book Committee selects “books that emphasize human relations, represent a diversity of groups and are sensitive to a broad range of cultural experiences, present an original theme or a fresh slant on a traditional topic, are easily readable and of high literary quality, and have a pleasing format and, when appropriate, illustrations that enrich the text. Each book is read by several reviewers, and books are included on the list by committee assent” (NCSS, 2023). In this session presenters will show participants how to access the current and previous lists of NCSS Notable Trade …

The Literary Tarot, The Literary Classics Edition Guidebook, And Oracle's Atlas: A Companion To The Literary Tarot Classics Edition From The Brink Literacy Project, Emily E. Auger

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Review of The Literary Tarot, The Literary Tarot Classics Edition Guidebook, and Oracle's Atlas: A Companion to the Literary Tarot Classics Edition. © 2022 Brink Literacy Project. UPC 195893099603.

Leading Through A Trauma-Informed Lens, Taylor Van Clay

Graduate Teacher Education

Abstract

This paper examined research on what is necessary for leaders to lead and create a school culture that supports students through a trauma-informed lens. This research looked for findings from multiple quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies which examined the importance of effective leadership, the necessity of professional development for educators, and the implementation of trauma-informed practices that will lead to student success. The research revealed specific factors that lead to beneficial leadership outcomes along with interconnectedness of purposeful and ongoing professional development and implementation of trauma-informed practice due to the fact that response to student behaviors is not intuitive. …

Returning To School After A Pandemic: K-6 Special Education Teachers Perspectives On Students With Disabilities Returning To School In Regard To Mindset, Behavior, Social Connections, And Academic Achievement, Andrea Xenios

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to determine K-6 special education educators’ perceptions of the impact on students with disabilities returning to school after the trauma of a pandemic for 2 years with regard to behavior, academic achievement, mindset, and social connections.

Methodology: This qualitative study interviewed 10 special education teachers who taught before, during, and after the pandemic in Orange County, CA. Semi-structured open ended interview questions was the main source of data collection with other sources including observations, and artifacts. Data was coded and the researcher analyzed the data for themes and patterns.

Findings: The study …

Phenomenological Inquiry Into Middle School Teachers’ Perception Of Creativity, Katalin Grajzel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Researchers do agree that creativity is an ability that can be developed and should be fostered (Guilford, 1958; Parnes, 1961). Teachers play an important role in creativity development and often serve as gatekeepers to identify gifted and talented students (Bianco et al., 2011; Novak & Jones, 2021; Schack & Starko, 1990). However, teachers’ judgment of their students’ creativity often only correlates weakly with the results of creativity measures (Kettler et al., 2018; Torrance, 1963). Therefore, in this study I explored teachers’ perception of creativity and creative students as well as factors that support or hinder creativity. The findings revealed that …

Barriers That Exemplary Principals Have Overcome To Increase Parent Participation At The School Site, Sandra Quintanilla

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the barriers exemplary principals have overcome to increase parent involvement at their school sites. This study explored how principals develop strategies to overcome barriers impeding parent involvement. Using those strategies, principals enhance parent involvement at their school sites.

Methodology: A phenomenological qualitative study was conducted, consisting of interviews to collect data from elementary school principals who have successful parent involvement at their school sites. First, the principals were interviewed in 60 min sessions. The data collected were analyzed to understand individuals’ beliefs and motivation.

Findings: Data analysis revealed that …

“We Flourish”: The Role Of Bipoc Parents In Diversifying Children’S Literature, Kayla Neal

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Tukio La Kusisimua La I.M.O.: Hadithi Ya Visiwa Viwili, Wajiku C. Karanja

Books

An epic sea adventure on MV IMO, depicting the challenges, opportunities modern day shipping of their vessel - maritime resources, green fuel/energy sources, sustainable shipping practices, policies, regulations and many other aspects, all inter-related to the ocean environment. The voyagers encounter two possible options (islands) to dock their ship and eventually choose the greener, life-sustaining, economically and socially-adoptable island.

Factors That Inhibit And Support The Work Of School-Based Mental Health Providers, David B. Naff, Jennifer Murphy, Alexandra Javna, Wyatt Aldrich, Erin Standish, Jeen Joy, Ciana Cross, Sandra Saji

MERC Publications

This research brief comes from the MERC Supporting Mental Health in Schools study. Launched in 2021 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study explores research-based strategies for supporting mental health in PK-12 school settings, as well as the emotional and professional capacity of PK-12 faculty and staff in the MERC region to support the social and emotional wellness of their students. This brief shares takeaways from a systematic literature review that highlight the factors that inhibit and support the work of school-based mental health providers, including school counselors, school social workers, and school psychologists. It outlines the roles …

Exploring Perceptions Of Advanced Coursework Enrollment Practices: A Multiple Case Study, Tomika Ferguson, David B. Naff, Jenna Lenhardt, Amy E. Jefferson, Isaiah Moore, Andrea Herndon, Richard Ashburn, Jessica Harris, Jenna Conlee, Courtney Forstmann

MERC Publications

This report from the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium highlights findings from a multiple case study exploring enrollment practices related to advanced coursework matriculation in a suburban middle school and rural high school. In connection with the MERC Equitable Access and Support for Advanced Coursework study, this multiple case study included perspectives from students, parents, and educators as they reflected on the factors that support and inhibit access for advanced courses in their schools.

Homework Perpetuating Inequalities For Low-Income Families In Education, Eileen Boyd

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This capstone project delves into the persistent issue of homework perpetuating inequalities among low-income families. Drawing on insights from North American public school teachers who have shared their perspectives and experiences, this research employs a combination of literature reviews, teacher interviews, and anonymous surveys. The collective evidence underscores the unsettling fact that homework drives educational disparities. Consequently, it calls for a broader acknowledgment among educators and schools that homework often hinders rather than enhances a student's academic achievements.

Revisiting The Master Food Volunteer Program: Examining How To Enhance Nutrition Education In The United States, Stacey Viera, Lindsey Haynes-Maslow

Journal of Extension

America’s diet-related illness crisis intersects with a lack of nutrition literacy, nutrition security, and systemic inequities. The Cooperative Extension Service’s (CES) national infrastructure could potentially provide equitable access to quality nutrition education in the US utilizing a Master Food Volunteer (MFV) model. This research brief examined preliminary evidence for the MFV model as a support for CES agents and paraprofessionals, and results show a paucity of evidence. Further research and a pilot program with pre-established measures for health-related knowledge and behaviors could elucidate the model’s potential to increase equitable access to evidence-based programming, nutrition, and implementation guidance.

The Value Of Stem As An Educational Tool For Enhancing Cognitive Development, Leaders 20/20, Alessandra Olmedo Robles

San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative

STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. The focus of STEM education is to provide a holistic approach through hands-on, problem-based learning where students are able to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to real world problems.

Covid-19 And Learning Loss At Kalamazoo Public Schools, Randall W. Eberts

Upjohn Institute Policy and Research Briefs

No abstract provided.

How Middle School Students Describe And Explain Their Elementary Science Experiences, Tryna Knox

Teaching and Learning Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to elicit students' voices to examine elementary science experiences to better understand foundational learning. The grounding philosophy and framework of phenomenology guided this work as I sought to capture the lived elementary science experiences of students. I administered a handwritten science autobiography to 52 middle school students at a private middle school in a suburban southwestern community. Utilizing a hermeneutic analytic approach, I learned that middle school students describe and explain elementary science experiences in many interesting ways. For example, students shared a preference for participating in hands-on, active, or engaged learning experiences over …

A Transitional Program From Elementary To Middle School, Savannah S. Shontere

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

I created a program to promote a smooth transition from elementary to middle school for the students at Bradenton Christian School (BCS). Following my literature review and needs assessment, the program was designed to provide students with the tools and strategies needed to feel prepared for middle school, foster friendships, and advocate for themselves and their peers. Following the program implementation, I created educational resources for the faculty at BCS to continue the program in the future.

The Effect Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Kps Student Enrollment And Nwea Test Scores, Randall W. Eberts

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This report focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic in the Kalamazoo Public Schools District in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which closed its doors to students from mid-March 2020 to June 2021. During this time, instruction transitioned from face-to-face to virtual, with students having three options for virtual instruction. In addition to individual KPS student data, the study looks at the NWEA national sample as presented in several publications and technical appendices. The study addresses three basic questions, as well as examining students’ race/ethnicity and poverty status, summer learning loss to determine the change in achievement gains, and attendance rates as an example of …

Parental Perspectives On The Role Of Music As A Core Subject, Justine M. Hansen

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite the designation of music as a core subject by federal and many state education policies, instructional time for elementary music classes is disproportionately less than that allocated to other core subjects. The perceptions held by parents of elementary school children may indicate the extent to which elementary general music education is valued by the public, affecting the allocation of instructional time. At present, no research exists examining the views held by parents concerning the designation of music as a core subject and its role in a well-rounded education. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions held …

Educators’ Perceptions Of Implementing The Specialized Program Individualizing Reading Excellence: A Multiple-Case Study, Terra Elizabeth Brown Jordan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to describe educators’ perceptions concerning the implementation of the Specialized Program Individualizing Reading Excellence (SPIRE) as an intervention to help students meet state proficiency standards at a large suburban school district in Utah. Bandura’s self-efficacy theory served as the theoretical framework to guide an inquiry into educators’ beliefs and how well they executed the SPIRE intervention to answer the central research question, “How do educators explain their perceptions of the use of SPIRE in the classroom?” This study utilized a multiple-case study design that captured the perception of 12 educators who …

Book Review: Qualitative Studies Of Exploration In Childhood Education: Cultures Of Play And Learning In Transition, Transitions In Childhood And Youth Series By M. Fleer Et Al., Ridhi Sethi

International Journal of Playwork Practice

This review of Qualitative Studies of Exploration in childhood Education: Cultures of Play and Learning in Transition outlines the manner in which chapters in the book use qualitative data to inform understandings of how culture affects children’s development. With little research on how play and culture affect the wellbeing of children, this book fills the void. It uses data qualitatively and answers the how and why about play and transitions. The review also looks at how the book informs my work as a developmental psychologist, and some of the book’s limitations or omissions.

How To Create 3rd - 5th Grade Activity Plans, Admin Stem For Success

STEM for Success Showcase

This flier provides elementary school teacher with a guide for how to create science activities and labs for their students.

Liberating Children, Or Breaking The Backbone Of Our Democracy? A Book Review Of Hostages No More: The Fight For Education Freedom And The Future Of The American Child, Jeffrey Frenkiewich

Democracy & Education

In Hostages No More, former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos provides a 10-chapter memoir in which she argues for school privatization, including the expansion of government funding of charter schools. DeVos argues that the modern public education system, supported by an “establishment” of government bureaucracies, the education industrial complex, and teacher unions, holds American children, especially poor Black and Hispanic children, “hostage” (DeVos, 2022, p. 261) and that her life’s work has been a civil rights struggle to help parents and their children obtain their “education freedom” (p. 216). However, many of her claims are supported with misleading information, and …

Creating Inclusive Interface And Online Learning Environments, Grace Mosher

Education | Master's Theses

This study seeks to examine educational learning environments with a focus on new platforms of learning, course design, equity, inclusion, and user interface (ex: seeing impaired, cultural differences, gender) that includes the perspectives of students with disabilities. The evolution of learning from singular multi-age classrooms through institutional schools and into dynamic online platforms has radically reshaped the educational ecosystem (Sarkar, 2020), and there have been calls for a deeper understanding of inclusive learning practices to meet the needs of diverse students (Philips & Salem, 2021). Adams (2017) also outlines how the aesthetic interface of each learning environment impacts the quality …

Experiences Of School Administrators And Teachers: Challenges And Promising Practices During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Helen Teresa Hyde Carter

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the lived experiences of teachers and administrators as reflected in their responses regarding instructional materials, instructional delivery, social and emotional well-being of students, and access to critical school services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants shared their experiences about how the instructional materials and delivery modes were selected as well as the guidance and support given by school administrators. Major challenges and concerns along with promising practices related to student engagement, social and emotional well-being of students, and access to critical school services were identified.

Teachers' Perceptions Of The Feasibility Of Tower Garden Implementation In Pre-Kindergarten 4-Year Old Classrooms, Kaitlyn Sills

Honors Theses

Explicit nutrition and gardening education for preschool-aged children is on the decline as health concerns increase (Fryar et al., 2018; Malden et al., 2019). Though the health, social-emotional, and academic benefits of hands-on gardening education are evident in research, many barriers to integration exist that inhibit teachers from implementing gardening into their classrooms (Burt et al., 2018; Heim et al., 2009; Gatto et al., 2011; Lineberger et al., 2000). Tower Gardens, otherwise known as hydro- and aeroponic, vertical gardening systems, offer an alternative to the space and time required for traditional gardening. However, the body of literature surrounding the impacts …

In Search For A Better South: President Johnson’S Elementary And Secondary Education Act Of 1965 In The Lone Star State, Kade L. Kahanek

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Education before the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 was inconsistent with the need for quality education in the United States. Extreme poverty and racial issues existed in the South. Texas was no different. Part of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society was to reform education across the United States while targeting poverty in the South. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is regarded as the largest education reform program in U.S. history. Its irreversible impact on school systems across the nation led to societal and educational changes—which set new standards for education.

This thesis analyzes the impact …

Playful Learning: The Disposition Of Architecture As Pedagogy, Alyssa Franklin

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Education is a vital foundation of a society. The standard of today’s school environment is built upon the pedigree of the factory schools from the nineteenth century. However, elementary age children require a flexible, engaging, and creative learning environment that the standard school environment does not provide. Learning is a dynamic and innovative action. Architecture should mirror the learning that it supports through providing spaces that allow for flexibility, engagement, accessibility, and attraction. Children are transformed by the spaces they are in, spaces that will leave lasting impacts on the cognitive development of the children, spaces that can be playful …

The Utilization Of Recorded Read Alouds By Teachers In Kindergarten Through Sixth Grade, Kira Hart

Curriculum and Instruction Undergraduate Honors Theses

In March of 2020, schools in the United States turned to virtual instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recorded read alouds flooded the internet during this time (Shedrow & Stoetzel, 2021). Now that school is back in person, the internet remains full of these recorded read alouds. The purpose of this study is to examine the utilization of recorded read alouds as an instructional practice by kindergarten through sixth grade teachers within in-person classrooms. This study also determines whether the use of a recorded read aloud by teachers has changed following COVID-19 and the purposes recorded read alouds serve. Research …

Stories In Motion: Integrating Creative Dance In A Language Arts Classroom, Amira Akam

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

As learning gaps have widened in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increased need for research-based strategies to improve student academic achievement and engagement. This study explored the integration of creative dance as a form of storytelling in a kindergarten language arts classroom. Students were introduced to an element of dance and used it to create short dance phrases in a unit on retelling. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected using pre/post tests and student interviews measuring students’ engagement and enjoyment. Students involved in this study showed significant growth in their ability to orally retell …

Multilingual Zambia - Language Issues In Primary/Secondary Schools Of The Eastern/Southern Provinces, Kenzie Steiner

NUTR/GLST 498b: Global Research Experiences in Nutrition and Health

Introduction: Zambia is a multilingual country that uses 8 different languages for instruction including English and 7 other indigenous languages.

Methods: Survey research conducted between May-June 2022 on 6-7th graders within 9 Zambian schools. Classroom observations made and teachers interviewed.

Results: In Eastern and Southern Provinces, Zambian teachers speak an average of 5 languages while students speak an average of 2. Both teachers and students say English remains the most important language followed by first languages.

Conclusion: Continued research on language-in-education policies and impacts on student performance must be conducted if “One Zambia, One Nation” is meant to promote all …