Secondary Education Commons^™

Flashback To 1985: The State Of Speech And Debate: A National Perspective, Richard G. Fawcett

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Since I left Minnesota to join the staff at the National Federation of State High School Associations as their speech and music coordinator in July 1978, a number of forces have impacted America’s high schools, high school activities programs, and more specifically, high school speech and debate activities. I should like to focus on some of these forces tracing their eventual impact on speech and debate programs.

Robotics In Japan: A Program Design For The Experiment In International Living, Allison Barnes

Capstone Collection

“Robotics in Japan” is a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) based program design for The Experiment in International Living (The Experiment). This design is for a four-week program for high school students. It is grounded in The Experiment’s mission and basic program structure. The purpose of Robotics in Japan is to add a STEM-based program to The Experiment’s portfolio in one of The Experiment’s most popular and marketable countries. In addition, this design adds a computer and technology theme, an area within STEM that has even less representation in The Experiment’s portfolio. In this paper, all necessary aspects to …

The Rise Of Infographics: Why Teachers And Teacher Educators Should Take Heed, Katie Alford

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

How can teacher educators utilize infographics to prepare preservice ELA teachers for the complex task of creating both critical consumers and conscious creators of this 21st-century genre? As what counts as “text” expands because of our digital world, teachers are struggling to keep up with the demands of knowing and being able to support students in both their reading and writing of many new genres. Infographics have proliferated on the internet and have now hit print media, so they are a growing reality in our world today. This article lays out what we know about infographics in education today and …

What Does It Mean To Be Prepared For College-Level Writing?: Examining How College-Bound Students Are Influenced By Institutional Representations Of Preparedness And College-Level Writing, Ann Burke

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This article explores how institutional representations of college readiness (e.g. teacher talk and standardized assessment) and writing expectations influence high school students' perceptions of their preparedness to write at the college level. Findings presented are from an IRB-approved research study. This work offers important implications for how educators and educational institutions represent college-level writing to students and the ways in which those representations influence students’ perceived preparedness and expectations for college-level writing through peer comparison, teacher talk, curriculum, and assessment.

The Teaching Of Writing: Methods, Resources, Plans, And Analysis, Katelyn Knochenmus

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

As a culminating project for an MA in English on the individualized track, this portfolio is woven together with the theme of composition instruction. Beginning with a wide scope, the first selection is a reflective overview of writing instruction methods. The second piece in the portfolio, an annotated bibliography, offers many resources for teachers and tutors to better reach reluctant writers in particular. A unit plan for creating dynamic sentence variety through the use of grammar as a tool is the third selection. Lastly, the portfolio concludes with a narrower analysis related to one particular aspect of teaching writing: the …

Nailing Jell-O To A Tree, Jayson Lozier

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

This portfolio contains papers addressing writing instruction, women's studies, queer theory, and literary analysis. “Mr. L 2.0 or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love English Composition” details the implementation of more effective techniques to teach writing in the secondary English classroom. “Educating Women in Afghanistan: Power, Revolution, and Rebellion” examines the feminist struggles around education and the efforts of the Afghan Institute of Learning to bring about change. “Out of the Closet and into the Classroom: Introducing Queer Reading Strategies to the Secondary English Classroom” examines the importance of queer theory and queer reading techniques in high school …

Philosophy And Actions For Authentic, Meaningful, And Lifelong Learning, Anthony Klever

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

This portfolio explores several major areas of education related to English teaching. A major research essay, “Incomplete Instructions: Building the Future of Technical Writing in Ohio Education”, explores the current situation and prospective future of technical writing in the state of Ohio’s education system. Also, a reflective essay, “Reflective Narrative: My Journey as a Student and My Map for Teaching”, explores the many elements of teaching philosophy with particular attention to English teaching. Another research essay, “Meaningful Revision: Revise for a Day, Teach Revision for a Lifetime”, explores the function of revision and offers suggestions for increasing the meaningfulness …

Final Master's Portfolio, Brooke Welch

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

This portfolio fulfills the requirements for my MA in English with a specialization in Teaching. It contains a teaching pedagogy, a proposal to an academic journal on the benefits of project-based learning, and two research papers that cover reflective writing and the importance of teaching literature.

Fostering Metacognitive Skills: A Longitudinal Cohort Study, Paul Welch, Annie Van Homrigh

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Metacognitive awareness, which is part of self regulated learning, includes the domains of knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition. Students with effective metacognitive skills are more aware of their strengths and weaknesses and strive to further improve their learning skills. This longitudinal cohort study uses the Junior Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (Jr. MAI) to measure student metacognitive awareness across Years 7 to 10 in a north Queensland girls’ Catholic college.

A Model For How Students Choose Or Reject Subjects At School And What It Means For Science, Tracey-Ann Palmer

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

There has been concern expressed by educators, researchers and policymakers that too few students are choosing science in their final years of school. Science study at school has been linked to the supply of a scientifically skilled and literate workforce necessary for Australia’s prosperity into the 21st century. This study breaks new ground in exploring how students choose subjects for their final years of school and applying this to the choice of science. Specific strategies are suggested to encourage students to continue studying science at the time subjects are chosen.

Teaching And Assessing The General Capabilities In A Secondary School Context, Loren Clarke, Melissa Hughes

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Education researchers, policymakers and private enterprise agree that, in addition to content knowledge, students in the 21st century need to acquire particular skills to equip them for active citizenship in the modern world. This is a real challenge for teachers today: how do they teach and assess the skills needed to live and work in the 21st century? This paper will explore the development of Eltham High School’s focus on teaching and assessment of collaboration, problem-solving, and critical thinking over the past seven years. It will explore the development of the assessment program, its connection to the school and state …

The Science Behind The Art Of Teaching: Evaluation As Inspiration, Michele Bruniges Am

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

Teachers across Australia inspire students to love learning. Our best teachers are constantly evaluating their impact on learning outcomes and adapting their practice – balancing the art and science of teaching. As we move rapidly towards the third decade of the 21st century, there is more pressure than ever for all teachers to deliver both deep discipline knowledge and the skills students need to survive and thrive in the workplace of the future. We need to use technology and data to support teachers to maximise learning outcomes for their students. This has to be done in a way that helps …

Innovation In Education: Renewed Perspectives Through Writer’S Conferences, Literary Theory, Supplements To The Western Literary Canon, And Representations Of Fiction Through Film, Elizabeth Dubois

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

Education requires constant reevaluation and reflection, and this portfolio is Elizabeth DuBois’s final portfolio for a Master’s of Arts in English that demonstrates reflection and reevaluation of secondary English education. It includes a framing narrative that establishes the significance of the writing projects included within the portfolio. The four revised pieces demonstrate renewed perspectives regarding education. Education requires constant reevaluation and reflection. This portfolio demonstrates that process of reflecting on pedagogy and reevaluating it in order to best serve students. Writer’s conferences, literary theory, multicultural literature, and film representations of fiction are all aspects of high school pedagogy that I …

21st Century Skills: Realising The Potential Of The Australian Curriculum, Robert Randall

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (Melbourne Declaration) (MCEETYA, 2008) proposed that the Australian Curriculum (and state or territory and local curriculum) develop: a solid foundation in knowledge, understanding, skills and values on which further learning and adult life can be built; deep knowledge, understanding, skills and values that will enable advanced learning and an ability to create new ideas and translate them into practical applications; and general capabilities that underpin flexible and analytical thinking, a capacity to work with others and an ability to move across subject disciplines to develop new expertise. The Australian Curriculum, approved …

Educational Reform – Scottish Style!, David Leng

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

The government in Scotland has made education their defining mission, setting out a clear framework for improvement based on four key aims as articulated in the National Improvement Framework (2015). One improvement driver is Assessing Children’s Progress. This new approach to assessment has been developed to integrate curriculum, assessment (particularly classroom assessment) and pedagogy. Teacher professional judgement has been central to this, and national initiatives have focused on supporting and strengthening it. In this context, the Scottish National Standardised Assessments (SNSA) was launched in 2017, and is a national assessment tool to support improvement in classroom practice while still providing …

Acer Research Conference Proceedings (2019), Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

In a rapidly changing world, there is widespread agreement that students require new levels of skill in collaborating, communicating, thinking critically, innovating, solving problems and applying what is learnt in new contexts, underpinned by values and dispositions that include a commitment to social inclusion, responsible citizenship and respect for human rights. So how do we best prepare young people and equip them to survive and thrive in the unpredictable world of the future? Research Conference 2019 will profile research around innovative ways of conceptualising, developing and assessing this broader range of priorities for student learning and development in the 21st …

Aligning Prisms Plus With Ngss And Physics Education Research, Juliana Huegerich, Lawrence Escalada

Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium

Since the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) have been adopted by Iowa, the changing expectations for high school physics students means that preexisting curricula like PRISMS PLUS need to be brought into alignment with the NGSS. Before revising PRISMS PLUS, other aligned curricula were consulted, as well as many sources of physics education research. A revised PRISMS PLUS template aligned with the NGSS and physics education research was made, which can be applied to each of the learning cycles in PRISMS PLUS. One learning cycle was revised in full, as an example.

Civic Knowledge And Expected Civic Engagement Among Lower-Secondary Students, Wolfram Schulz, Julian Fraillon

Civics and Citizenship Assessment

Based on survey data from the latest implementation of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS 2016), this paper explores the associations between students’ civic knowledge, their disposition to and involvement in civic engagement within the school and community context, and their willingness to engage in future civic activities as adults. The multivariate analyses also include factors related to resources for engagement, variables reflecting the psychological disposition towards engagement, and network-related variables in order to explain variation in expected electoral and active political participation. The results show that civic knowledge is related in different ways to expectations of future …

A First-Year Teacher’S Implementation Of Short-Cycle Formative Assessment Through The Use Of A Classroom Response System And Flexible Grouping, Adrienne Irving Dumas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As teachers, we are tasked with ensuring that our students are equipped with the skills necessary to not only perform with proficiency on local, state and national assessments, but also to provide our students with opportunities to develop confidence and competence as learners of mathematics through meaningful, challenging and worthwhile activities. As such, many teachers have turned to technology and cooperative groups as staples in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to understand how one first-year teacher implemented what she was taught in her undergraduate coursework in teaching two specific units of instruction in two sections of high …

Racial Conflict In Early Utah: Mormon, Native American And Federal Relations, Raelyn M. Embleton

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This website is for teachers to gain information and sources about Utah history during the early territorial period, specifically relating to conflicts between Mormon settlers, Native Americans, and federal officials. The content and site were designed with the C3 curriculum in mind, as such, at the bottom of this page you can find a downloadable Inquiry Design Model Blueprint. As you teach students this information, the compelling question to have students focus on is: “Does culture and the interaction of cultures shape the development of place?” Each event highlighted on this website is related to the other and demonstrates how …

Minding The Gap: A Grounded Theory Exploration Of Transition From Secondary School To Community College For Students Identified With Autism, Douglas Highlen

Education (PhD) Dissertations

This qualitative research study aims to facilitate a better understanding of the process of transition from secondary school to community college for students identified with autism. Previous research indicates that though most students identified with autism report that they have strong intentions of pursuing a postsecondary education, comparatively few achieve this goal. Prior research on transition has focused on strategies utilized by secondary schools to facilitate success for students identified with autism or postsecondary institutional approaches utilized once a student has arrived at the school. This bifurcated approach has resulted in a gap in the research in that virtually no …

Career Pathway Orientation Courses And Their Influences On Student Career Decision Making, Daniel Weidner

Dissertations

High schools must create skill- and decision-making experiences to support student college and career readiness and effective transitions to careers. However, traditional career education models have lacked effectiveness. This study examines a career pathway model that includes career orientation courses focused on developing career awareness and advising, confirming and challenging student’s career decision-making. Surveys and interviews were used to identify impacts these courses had on student career choice and the influence different aspects of the orientation course had on their decision-making. From this, best practices were identified, changes to the model were proposed and modifications to policy were developed to …

The Importance Of Practice: Learning To Teach Student-Centered Labs With Confidence, Linda Nix

Dissertations

This quantitative research study examined the relationship between science teachers’ science education experiences (high school, undergraduate science courses, teacher education program science methods courses, in-service teaching, and professional development) regarding exposure to student-centered labs and science teacher self-efficacy in teaching student-centered labs. This research study also examined the relationship between science teachers’ opportunity to practice teaching student-centered labs during their science teacher experiences (teacher education program science methods course, in-service teaching, and professional development) and science teaching self-efficacy in teaching student-centered labs as they relate to the social constructivist and experiential learning theories.

A modified version of the Science Teaching …

Ensuring A Holistic And Quality Education For Every Child: A Phenomenological Inquiry Of Principals’ Transformational Leadership, Elijah Granger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have not fully examined how school leaders impact the teaching and learning environment when working toward generating students’ academic success. Balyer (2012) called for more work on understanding the transformational leadership behaviors that create conditions conducive to generating student achievement within educational accountability. Therefore, the purpose of this phenomenological inquiry is to explore the lived experiences of principals and their perceptions concerning the state accountability system and how it may impact their transformational efforts in ensuring a holistic and quality education for every child. The phenomenological inquiry will yield the opportunity to compare administrators’ in-depth perceptions of the accountability …

Christian Teachers’ Experiences Motivating High School Students In The Pacific Northwest: A Transcendental Phenomenology, Michael Anthony Rickman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative transcendental phenomenological study sought to describe experiences of Christian high school teachers motivating students in the Pacific Northwest to be autonomous learners, competent in skills and achievements, and relationally balanced within a Christian environment. The literature indicates two phenomena exist. First, student motivation decreases as they progress; and second, a gap exists in the literature related to Christian schoolteachers’ experiences motivating students. The research question is “How do Christian high school teachers describe their experiences motivating students to be autonomous, competent, and relational?” Purposeful sampling produced nine participants from Christian high schools in the Pacific …

High Achieving Hispanic And Black High School Students' Experiences In Ap And Honors Courses: A Phenomenology, Kristy Simpson-Alvarez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand high-achieving Hispanic and Black high school students’ experiences with honors and advanced placement (AP) courses in a Georgia private high school. The participants for this study were 11 high-achieving Hispanic and Black high school students as defined by a 3.0 or higher, grade point average (GPA) and enrollment in at least one advanced placement or honors course. Focus group interviews, individual participant interviews, and student journals were used as data collection methods. Data analysis followed van Kaam’s method—horizontalization, reduction and elimination, clustering and thematizing the invariant constituents, final identification of …

Lessons From The 1800s: Creating The Miss Porter's School Digital Archive, Deborah Smith

Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies

College preparatory (“prep”) schools have their roots in the New England region of the United States; many predate the nation's most illustrious colleges and universities. The archives at these schools contain items of importance to American history in the 1800s. However, few schools have trained archivists managing their physical collections and even fewer have created digital archives to increase access. Founded in 1848, Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut was one of the first independent schools devoted to the education of young women. This article reviews the creation of the Porter's digital archive in 2018 and examines issues specific to …

A Guide To How Your Child Learns: Understanding The Brain From Infancy To Young Adulthood, By D. P. Sortino, Jessica Platt

LWLC Faculty Research

In the first of three books in his Brain Smart series, David P. Sortino emphasizes the importance of honoring “miraculous differences in abilities and learning styles” (p. xvii). He illustrates his point with an example of a fifth grade science teacher who brought a live bat to school in order to teach a lesson on species. Introducing a live mammal instead of instructing students to group animals based on their similarities on paper, the teacher stimulated students’ limbic system (hippocampus), which resulted in a higher level of cognition for students in her class. This example captures the essence of A …

An Analysis Of High School Students' Self-Efficacy In Second Language Acquisition Through Digital Language Lab Learning: Exploring New Pathways To Proficiency, Lorna A. Fairess

Theses and Dissertations

Students are often faced with barriers acquiring a second language due to various factors such as language anxiety, learning differences, and a lack of speaking time with the language. The purposes of this qualitative study were to: a) determine students' perceptions of the effectiveness of a digital language lab on their self-efficacy in second language acquisition at the secondary level, and b) discern teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of the lab as well as recommendations for best practices in teacher training and implementation. Twenty-seven Italian and Spanish students and 12 world language teachers from two fairly rural high schools in …

Reducing Suspension Rates In Camden, New Jersey, Christina Fleming

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have found that being suspended is a strong indicator that a student will eventually drop out. Students who drop out are much more likely to end up in prison, becoming part of the "school to prison pipeline." This study will look to answer the question "Are Charter schools addressing the School to Prison Pipeline?" Camden, NJ, a city riddled with poverty, high crime rates, and high rates of incarceration is now a city with an all but dismantled public school system. Can Charter schools be the answer?

Researchers have gathered enough evidence to support various solutions including but are …