Secondary Education Commons^™

Brother, Can You Paradigm? Toward A Theory Of Pedagogical Content Knowledge In Social Studies, Dave Powell

Education Faculty Publications

Although research on pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has accelerated in recent years, social studies educators have not generally been part of the conversation. This article explores why a theory of PCK for social studies has been so difficult to elaborate, focusing on the field’s inability to come to consensus on its aims and purposes and on a pervasive distrust of traditional academic disciplines and scholarship they produce. These factors have helped make the effective preparation of social studies teachers, something researchers studying PCK hope to improve, exceptionally difficult. This article proposes that if the field can resolve its relationship to …

Discovery Learning Plus Direct Instruction Equals Success: Modifying American Math Education In The Algebra Classroom, Sean P. Ferrill Mr.

Honors Projects

In light of both high American failure rates in algebra courses and the significant proportion of innumerate American students, this thesis examines a variety of effective educational methods in mathematics. Constructivism, discovery learning, traditional instruction, and the Japanese primary education system are all analyzed to incorporate effective education techniques. Based on the meta-analysis of each of these methods, a hybrid method has been constructed to adapt in the American Common Core algebra classroom.

Intersections: A Theology And Social Justice Curriculum For Christian High Schools, Rachel Lanae Hollingsworth

Honors Projects

Despite much writing on the intersection of race and ethnicity and theology, there are few suitable resources for high school teachers at Protestant Christian schools, so this project seeks to fill that gap by providing a curriculum written for conservative, Christian high schools. The curriculum emphasizes the study of scripture and theological witness in conjunction with relevant literature and media to challenge students to consider a more holistic understanding of the role of identity, inclusion, justice, and reconciliation in their faith. This will be facilitated by asking thought-provoking questions, thinking through issues of faith, providing a foundation for theological exploration, …

Language Ideologies And The Schooling Of Caribbean Creole English-Speaking Youth In New York City, Dale M. Britton

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation seeks to illuminate the ways in which Anglocentric ideologies operate to marginalize and exclude the linguistic and cultural resources of Caribbean Creole English (CCE)-speaking in New York City’s education system. Data was gathered from youths and teachers, and then analyzed to identify the language practices and ideologies relating to both Standard English (SE)and Creole varieties and how they shape teaching and learning for these two groups.

Several broad themes were identified. First, CCE-speaking youths are homogenized as simply black students and as a result, their specific cultural and linguistic resources are rendered invisible and are not included in …

The Impact Of Teacher Perception Of Professional Learning Communities On Student Algebraic Achievement, Tyrone John

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this study, I investigate the impact of teachers’ perceptions of professional learning communities on student algebraic achievement. Furthermore, I also investigate whether these relationships manifest differently for males compared to females. Research indicates that teacher quality and professionalism are considered the most critical factors affecting academic achievement. In this dissertation, I interrogate this issue by employing multivariate analyses using data retrieved from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) and 2012 follow-up. HSLS:09 used a nationally representative sample of over 21,000 ninth-grade students, which incorporated teacher, parent, school administrator, and school counselor input to create a context for …

"Resisting From Within": (Re)Imagining A Critical Translingual English Classroom, Kate Anna Seltzer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This ethnographic case study of an urban, linguistically diverse English classroom explores what happened when space was made for students both to voice their experiences living amidst ideologies that marginalize their language practices and identities and to resist such ideologies through writing that pushed monoglossic boundaries. Intensive one-on-one work with a high school English teacher led to the creation of a year-long curriculum that emphasized metalinguistic inquiry and discussion, linked language, power, and identity, and modeled the ways that writers and other artists take linguistic risks in order to critique monoglossic language ideologies.

Over the course of the year, students …

Translanguaging Practices For Educational Equity: Moments In A Bilingual Middle School Classroom, Luz Y. Herrera

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs in New York City largely follow a 50-50 model: half of the instruction is in English while the other half is in another target language. In NYC, as well as the rest of the country, these programs are typically English-Spanish due to the large Spanish-speaking population in the U.S. Bilingual programs also tend to strictly separate languages and often insist that teachers and students only use the designated language according to the school or district’s particular language allocation policy.

This qualitative case study challenges the strict separatist language model of some dual language bilingual …

Understanding The Public Education Gender Gap Amid Secondary And Central Office Administrators, Danielle L. Taylor

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

Despite advances in political movements and societal awareness, there is still an obvious gender discrepancy among U.S. public education secondary school and superintendent positions plaguing our nation. Data indicates that most middle and high school classroom teaching positions are filled by women and yet more campuses and districts are led by men. The literature review uncovered two main categories that lead to this gap: external and internal factors. Societal bias, stereotypes, and hiring practices are among the external causations of this margin. Likewise, work life balance and self-desire to combat old organizational structure impact women internally from assuming advanced leadership …

A Case Study Of Preservice Teachers' Perceptions Of Their Use Of "Backdoor Praise" In The Classroom, Cynthia Jean Campbell

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

“Backdoor praise” (BDP) is defined as praise that is simultaneously delayed, indirect, and embedded in teacher comments. This case study investigated preservice teachers’ perceptions of their use of BDP as a strategy for getting and keeping students on task. Three participants, representing elementary, middle, and high school, were observed to collect baseline data on their natural use of BDP. The preservice teachers were then informed of what BDP is and how to use it with students, and they were observed twice more using BDP. Overall, 28 incidents of BDP use involving 21 students were recorded, and 16 of the students …

Experiencing The Implementation Of New Inquiry Science Curricula, Peter S. Ower

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Using a phenomenological methodology, a cohort of four experienced science teachers was interviewed about their experience transitioning from traditional, teacher and fact-centered science curricula to inquiry-based curricula. Each teacher participated in two interviews that focused on their teaching backgrounds, their experience teaching the prior traditional curriculum, and their experience teaching the new inquiry-based curriculum. The findings are presented as a narrative of each teachers’ experience with the new curriculum implementation. Analyzing the data revealed four key themes. 1) The teachers felt trapped by the old curriculum as it did not align with their positive views of teaching science through inquiry. …

Conquering Worrisome Word Problems – Algebra Success, Vicki-Lynn Holmes, Karla Spence, Jane Finn, Shelia Mcgee Ingram, Libbey Horton

Faculty Publications

High school students can struggle with word problems in upper level math classes. Causes for this struggle could include lower reading comprehension, limited mathematic vocabulary, and difficulty changing words to algebraic expressions. This article proposes three techniques to help teachers instruct these struggling students that include (a) organization by difficulty of comprehension and computation (b) scaffolding and (c) utilizing the Explain, Practice and Assess (EPA) strategy.

Reception Of "Mecanoscrit" By Secondary School Students: A Case Study, Anna Moreno-Bedmar

Alambique. Revista académica de ciencia ficción y fantasía / Jornal acadêmico de ficção científica e fantasía

És ben sabut que Manuel de Pedrolo ha Estat dels ONU autors MÉS llegits pèls Lectors catalans joves durante dècades, sevamajoria Gràcies a su més emblemàtics llibre de ciència ficció, Mecanoscrit del segon origen (1973), que originalment no hi ha a els dirigeixen. Independentment de les Raons, l'escriptor De La regi de Segarra a Catalunya ÉS VA Fer famòs Quan EL llibre VA Ser Triat bany les Aules de Primària i la notícia ÉS VA estendre rapidament Entre a els mestres A la fi dels anys i Setanta Vuitanta. A partir d'Llavors és va Fer muden popular. Originalment és tractava …

Enhancing Global Education In China - A Global Citizen Language Program, Wen Amy Luo

Capstone Collection

The acceleration of globalization calls for education with an aim of creating global citizens who are able to learn, live and function in an increasingly interconnected world. Educators should remember that they are creating future leaders who need to understand how to perform and interact in a global arena. For global citizens to effectively function in such an environment, they are required to have competencies such as: intercultural understanding, curiosity for discovery, cultural self-awareness, sociolinguistic awareness, and ability to listen, observe, interpret and analyze etc.

Chinese students who live in second and third-tier cities receive significantly less global education due …

Project-Based Learning In Distance Learning High School Courses, Alison Davis

Capstone Collection

Project-Based Learning in a Distance-Learning High School Courses

Project-based learning (PBL) is a teaching methodology that focuses on student-led inquiry that answers a larger question or project completion. Curricula are scaffolded in such a way that a general theory or practice is introduced by the instructor, who demonstrates the necessary skills and presents relevant information for students to experience the topic first hand in a professional context. Students formulate their own questions related to the topic, or design a project that explores the topic in a manner of their choosing. Students then complete their project or solve the larger problem …

Real World Application Of Cct Tools: How Reflection, Dialogue Processes And Action Research Were Used To Promote Organizational Change And Student Success In Re-Engagement Work, Kayla D. Faust

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

I started the CCT program while also beginning a new role as a Dropout Recovery Specialist, working in partnership with a local school district. I work with students who have dropped out or are at risk of dropping out explore alternative options to finish their high school diploma or an equivalent. As the newest member of the center, the transition into a new organization created an internal struggle in finding my place. I was also seeing opportunities to improve current routines and practices as demands from district partners were increasing. Overwhelmed by the challenges before me, I was struggling to …

Neighborhood Strategizing: Understanding Community Collaborations Within California Bay Area Public Schools, Windi Hazzard

Master's Projects and Capstones

For the better half of a century, education policy has been guided by economics and profit. One after another, every U.S. president since the 1960s has championed legislation that reflects neoliberal ideals of competition and profitable skills. Through the standardization of the public school system, education has become a marketplace rather than an environment for cultivating empowered learners and critical thinkers. The purpose of this field project is to show how communities are challenging the current education system in order to influence education policy in San Francisco, California. I interviewed four participants from two organizations that advocate parents’ rights as …

Cultivating Student Voice: Writing As A Tool For Multilingual And Multicultural Students To Develop Language, Identity, And Cultural Competence, Gaeun Lee

Master's Projects and Capstones

The importance of using writing as an educational tool to English learners cannot be understated. It is critical for youth learning English as their second language to be encouraged to value their first language, culture, and identity by writing. Unfortunately, many teachers overlook the significance of the writing activity, which can be greatly helpful to develop the English learners’ language and cultural competence and their identity, specifically for multilingual and multicultural youth.

This project is developed with the purpose of cultivating student voice by using writing as a tool. The project is based on the two theories: the affective filter …

Strategies For First-Year University Esl Students To Improve Essay Writing Skills, Mengjie Wei

Master's Projects and Capstones

This project provides a writing guidebook for first-year university level English as a Second Language (ESL) students and teachers. Most ESL students have difficulties in academic English writing, especially first-year university ESL students. Due to the differences in linguistic and education backgrounds, first-year university level ESL students desire a writing guidebook that is appropriate for them; ESL teachers should be provided with professional teaching methods and materials in delivering lectures too. By applying Schema Theory and Stephen D. Krashen’s Monitor Model, strategies for students and teachers are professionally designed in this guidebook.

In order to help ESL students better their …

No, Education Isn't The Civil Rights Issue Of Our Time, Dave Powell

Education Faculty Publications

George W. Bush said it as he warned us about "the soft bigotry of low expectations." Barack Obama said it. So did Mitt Romney, Arne Duncan, and John McCain.

And now Donald Trump is saying it, too. In his first joint-session address to Congress, President Trump promised that "our children will grow up in a nation of miracles" and added the familiar kicker: "Education is the civil rights issue of our time." He said it right before he announced his plan to ask Congress to pass new legislation supporting school choice. His idea of a school reform "miracle," apparently, is …

A Case Study Of The Implementation And Impact Of The System For Teacher And Student Achievement (Tap), Tyrone D. Burton

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

For many years, educators and researchers have debated over which variables influence student achievement. A growing body of evidence suggests that schools can make a great difference in terms of student achievement, and a substantial portion of that difference is attributed to teachers. (International Institute for Educational Planning, 2004). Specifically, differential teacher effectiveness is a strong determinant of differences in student learning, far outweighing the effects of differences in class size and class heterogeneity (Darling-Hammond, 2000). Students who are assigned to one ineffective teacher after another have significantly lower achievement and learning (that is, gains in achievement) than those who …

Examining Attrition Through The Hierarchal System Of Education For Zero - Fifth Year Teachers: A Mixed Methods Study, Joshua D. Nation

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teacher attrition was the focal issue of this mixed-methods study. Teachers, for a wide variety of reasons, have left the profession of education due to issues surrounding school leadership, compensation, and student behavior, just to name a few. This study intended to expand the understanding of zero through fifth year teachers, and if this population of teachers is satisfied, and staying in the field, or if they are dissatisfied. By using Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, the factors within in the hierarchal educational system were explored to identify which part of the educational system is connected to teacher attrition: the microsystem, …

An Analysis Of New Small High Schools' On-Time Graduation Rates In New York City, Nathan Dudley

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Beginning in 2002, with the election of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City’s Department of Education undertook an unprecedented overhaul of the largest school district in the United States. Over the next 10 years the Department of Education closed more than 25 large, underperforming high schools, and created almost 200 new, small high schools, which, by the end of the decade, were serving approximately 30% of public high school students in the city. The first classes began graduating in 2006, and many of the “New Small Schools” graduated more students on time than many of the large schools they had …

Perceptions Of Effective Pedagogical Practices And Classroom Management Strategies: A Cross-Case Analysis Of Four Middle School Teachers, Igor Gusyakov

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to identify and describe the pedagogical practices and classroom management strategies of consistently effective and successful teachers as evidenced by teacher perceptions and observations.

Four middle school teachers from two middle schools within the same school district were selected to participate in the study. The teachers were selected based on their effectiveness identified by their supervisor. The teachers were interviewed about their own perceptions as to what effective pedagogical practices are, based on their teaching experience. The teachers were also observed in their classrooms.

The key findings of the study indicated the importance of stablishing classroom procedures, …

Improving College-Going Trends For First Generation Latino Students: The Importance Of Habitus, School Culture And Culturally Responsive Counseling, Patricia A. Marchesi

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Throughout history, the United States has symbolized a place of opportunity, viewed as a place where achieving a better life is possible. This viewpoint still holds true for Latino immigrants, who currently account for more than half of the country’s population growth since 2000. Latino families and students specifically see higher education as a means by which to attain the proverbial “better life.” However, prior research dedicated to Latino students in the college-going process cites obstacles to enrollment in American colleges and universities. Inadequate academic preparation, language barriers, limited social capital, and restricted access to financial aid are among the …

A State-By-State Policy Analysis Of Stem Education For K-12 Public Schools, Courtney C. Carmichael

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

For practitioners and policy makers across the nation, STEM education has a vague definition. This study looks at how all 50 states define STEM education in policy, using four models: (a) Disciplinary STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics); (b) Integrated STEM focusing on combining two or more disciplines to produce critical thinking, real world application, and creative problem solving; (c) the Disciplinary and Integrated STEM model that acknowledges both to summarize programs at the state policy level; (d) the model with no definition of STEM education. The final results include 10 percent of states use the first model, 42 percent use …

In The Tristate Area Consisting Of Kansas, Missouri, And Oklahoma, A Local And State Level Comparison Of High School Chemistry Prerequisites, High School Chemistry Instructor Preparation, And The Readiness Of A High School Student For College Chemistry, Greg Howard

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to create an awareness among secondary and post-secondary instructors as to the student’s preparation in high school Chemistry I and the student’s readiness for General Chemistry I in college for a tristate area consisting of Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Student preparation in this research included chemistry I course prerequisites, high school chemistry teacher qualifications including preparation, and student exposure to rigorous science and math course patterns in high school as these relate to college readiness.

Data was gathered from a local cohort group consisting of high schools in Southeast Kansas (SEK), Southwest Missouri (SWM), …

Unemployment, Does It Really Hurt?, Claudia Vargas

Theses and Dissertations

This paper analyzes the consequences of changes in the unemployment rate in Colombia on the level of education attained for adolescents. Increases in the unemployment rate are associated with an increase in the average number of years of education. No significant effect was found for men of the same age.

An Analysis Of Ohio School Districts, Ernest M. Oleksy

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

Money has recently been posited to be a panacea for education: the more a district spends on its students, the better their results will be. However, actuarial analysis of school districts shows that this ideology is muddled in inconsistency. To determine the effect of money on education, the Ohio Report Cards of four school districts were observed. Upon inspection, explanations for the evident correlations are made to discover that money does not have an additive effect on academic success.

Looking For A Cure For Educationl Exhaustion, Dave Powell

Education Faculty Publications

Whoa, folks! An entire month got away from me there. Ever had that happen to you? If you're a teacher I'm guessing it probably has. I wish I could say that there was a good reason I hadn't written anything at all on this blog in the past few weeks, but the sad truth is that I haven't really been any busier than usual. Every semester becomes a slog at some point—that right there might be a topic for another post soon; maybe I could write two in a month!—but that hasn't stopped me before. I had some extra responsibilities …

English Learners In Virginia's Secondary Art Classrooms, Alexandra M. Mamatas

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The purpose of this study is to examine effective strategies for accommodating and differentiating secondary art education curricula for English learners. This thesis documents the gap in research on adolescent English learner (EL) students in secondary art classrooms, and investigates classroom strategies implemented by secondary art educators. The literature review analyzed a historical perspective on English learners in the United States, as well as state standards. Triangulation of the literature review, online survey, and follow-up interviews were utilized in this research. The survey was disseminated to 338 secondary members of the Virginia Art Education Association to examine state, school, and …