Secondary Education Commons^™

Infographic: Vet In Schools, Jo Earp

Teacher infographics

Annual data on school students in Australia undertaking vocational education and training (VET) as part of their Senior Secondary Certificate of Education has been released by NCVER. Today’s infographic looks at the headline figures, qualification levels and the most popular training packages for 2019.

The Effectiveness Of A Proposed Learner- Centered Program On Jordanian Efl Learners, Abdulrahman Abu Jaleel

Al Jinan الجنان

This study aimed at investigating the effect of a proposed learner- centered instructional program on Jordanian EFL tenth grade students’ achievement. The population of the study consisted of (374) tenth grade students in Jordanian public schools in Bani Kenaneh Directorate of Education in the academic year 2012/2013. The sample of the study consisted of (80) male and female students. The findings of the study showed that there were statistically significant differences in the students’ achievement at (α = 0.05) in favor of the experimental groups. The results also showed that there were significant differences due to gender at (α = …

Truly, Madly, Deeply: Adverbs And Ells, Kristin Lems

Faculty Publications

In this issue’s column focusing on adverbs and English language learners, columnist Kristin Lems explores some of the basic but not-so-obvious features about adverbs that readers and writers need to learn in order to take advantage of these powerful levers of language. The odds are very good that your native English speakers will also benefit from this information—and you might learn a thing or two as well.

Method Of Joints: Theory And Practice Of Designing, Building, And Testing Trusses, Andrew J. Hughes, Chris Merrill

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

The authors of this article, like many of us, are proponents of engineering education but are also proponents of shop skills, craftsmanship, technological literacy, and the tacit knowledge and skills developed through applying sound theories during practical hands-on learning. The authors believe that engineering is an important aspect of our discipline, but so are the application of thinking, tool skills, measurement, geometric construction, manufacturing, instrumentation, testing and analysis, mathematical and scientific theories, and many other hands-on, minds-on skillsets that all need to maintain association with our discipline. As the authors are proponents for engineering education that is done well, they …

Cultivating Intrinsic Motivation In The Family And Consumer Science Classroom, Jordan Meland

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

The purpose of this action research project was to examine the effects of intrinsic motivation strategies in the Family and Consumer Science classroom. Data was collected that examined pretest and posttest results of high school students in grades 9-12. The data gathered determined that there was a positive effect of the implemented intrinsic motivation strategies on the learners in General Foods, but it is unclear which strategy is more efficient than the others. Research shows that students struggle to stay motivated in middle school and high school. Creating opportunities for students to build intrinsic motivation may increase quality of work. …

An Investigation Of How Environmental Science Textbooks Link Human Environmental Impact To Ecology And Daily Life, Yael Wyner, Rob Desalle

Publications and Research

Making direct connections between humanity and the environment is of ever-increasing importance in the context of today’s environmental crisis. We used qualitative content analysis of precollege- and college-level introductory environmental science textbook case studies to study how they portray humanity’s link to the environment. We assessed case studies for how specific and data rich they are and for how they link together daily life, human impact, and ecological interactions. We found that, for many textbooks, case study stories were vaguely drawn and included few data. We also found that, for all textbooks, case studies almost always described human impacts without …

Esc 433 / 533: Teaching World History In Middle And High School, Sherry L. Deckman

Open Educational Resources

This course is designed to introduce students to the methods of teaching world history to urban middle and high school students. This course will help prepare candidates to become effective social studies educators capable of teaching students the content knowledge, the intellectual skills, and the civic values necessary for fulfilling the responsibilities of citizenship in a participatory democracy. Special attention is given to effective teaching strategies and to addressing the individual and cultural diversity of all learners. We will examine methods for teaching world history and developing curriculum in an urban classroom.

This syllabus was designed to be zero-cost for …

Pisa 2018: Reporting Australia’S Results. Volume Ii Student And School Characteristics: Data Tables [Excel] [Data Set], Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Catherine Underwood, Marina Schmid

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Australia

The Zipped Excel file provides the data in tabular format that was used to prepare the figures presented in the report: PISA 2018: Reporting Australia’s Results. Volume II Student and School Characteristics. The data covers the constructs reported in the report.

Pisa 2018: Reporting Australia’S Results. Volume Ii Student And School Characteristics, Sue Thomson, Lisa De Bortoli, Catherine Underwood, Marina Schmid

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Australia

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international study that measures the knowledge and skills of 15-year-old students and how prepared they are to use these to meet real-life opportunities and challenges. Volume II is an examination of Australia’s PISA results in relation to student and school background characteristics, and how these are related to student performance. Each chapter focuses on different indicators that cover the school community, the school learning environment, students’ attitudes and beliefs, and the role teachers play in shaping students’ learning. Together, the different indicators of student and school life provide an illustration of …

Solving Concurrent And Nonconcurrent Coplanar Force Systems: Balancing Theory And Practice In The Technology And Engineering Education Classroom, Andrew J. Hughes, Chris Merrill

Educational Leadership & Technology Faculty Publications

The basic concepts inherent to statics, including unbalanced and balanced forces and instability and stability of physical systems, have traditionally been covered in middle and high school physical science courses (Physical Science as indicated in Next Generation Science Standards). Yet, these concepts are covered using a physical science approach that has minor but significant differences in terminology, structure, and focus when compared with an engineering approach. Since a robust understanding of statics is considered an essential component for most engineering disciplines, Technology and Engineering Education’s (T&EE) implementation of statics with an engineering approach could promote students’ ability to transfer learning …

Earning And Learning Research Project: Report To The Department For Education, South Australia, Julie Mcmillan, Shani Sniedze, Rachel Felgate, Petra Lietz

Vocational, adult and professional education research

The aim of the Earning and Learning Research Partnership was to explore the reasons why a substantial proportion of successive cohorts of students in South Australia had not completed the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) or were identified as potential non-completers. The project officially commenced in September 2019 and was completed in August 2020.The research particularly aimed to capture the student voice behind young people’s earning and learning pathway choices, specifically identifying: why students in Years 10, 11, or 12 leave school without a documented “valid” reason (leavers); and why some Year 12 students remain enrolled in high school …

“It Was Time For Us To Take A Stand”: An Ethnic Studies Classroom And The Power Of Student Voice, Jorge F. Rodriguez, Carah Reed, Karen Garcia

Education Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"In this chapter, we invite you to join us—a high school graduate, an Ethnic Studies teacher, and a university ally—as we reflect on a story of student mobilization for change. Some of us will share firsthand narratives while others, such as the university ally, will contribute an interpretive analysis. We all grew up in the region where our story takes place. This affords us a personal understanding of the cultural and political dynamics described in our story. To protect identities, we use pseudonyms for students and teachers."

A Spiritual Vision For Catholic Educator Prep In A Time Of Disruption: A Reflective Essay, Angela T. Moret, Ronald R. O'Dwyer S.J.

Journal of Catholic Education

This essay reflects on the spiritual lessons learned as a Catholic graduate-level teacher prep program guided novice teachers through the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. We observed the importance of articulating a clear spiritual vision rooted in scripture, history, and personal experience. The guiding spiritual lens has been the Emmaus story which helps us look to the past and to the future as we form and support early-career educators in Catholic schools.

“But Aren’T We Extinct?”: Inhabited Reform And Instructional Visibility In An Open Space School Forty Years Later, Jeremy T. Murphy

Education Department Faculty Scholarship

The 1960s open space school removed partitions between classrooms in part to alleviate teacher isolation. The model was long ago deemed a failure. Years later, teachers in surviving open space facilities continue to navigate the reform. Despite wide dismissal of the model, components of teachers’ work that open space schools sought to normalize (collaboration, informality, proximity) are increasingly valued for improving teachers’ professional communities. In addition “open” designs are resurfacing in new school models. Picking up where earlier scholars left off, this article elevates perspectives of teachers working in a surviving open space school today using a conceptual framework of …

The Relationship Between The Next Generation Content Area Reading Professional Development Program On The Effectiveness Of Teaching Literacy Strategies In High School Biology Classes, Tia Pridgen Brown

Dissertations

The need for effective content area reading teachers have continued to increase since the introduction of one public school districts’ Content Area Reading Professional Development (CAR-PD) in 2006. In 2011, modifications were made to improve the program, and it became known as the Next Generation Content Area Reading Professional Development (NGCAR-PD). The purpose of this program evaluation is to investigate the relationship between NGCAR-PD certified Biology teachers and their ability to implement reading strategies with science content effectively. The context of this inquiry is a mid-sized public school district that has implemented the program since 2006 at the middle and …

The Evaluation Of The Jostens Renaissance Incentive Program And The Impact It Has On Students At A Southwest Florida High School, Saneik Buchanan

Dissertations

As state requirements for academic achievement continue to become more rigorous, school administrators and counselors strive to create positive school environments. Therefore, administrators and counselors must find creative incentive programs tailored to meet the needs of respective school settings, such as the Jostens Renaissance incentive program. The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of the Jostens Renaissance education incentive program at one Title I high school in Southwest Florida by studying the relationship among students’ GPAs, attendance, and disciplinary issues before participation in the program. The evaluation was a quantitative, quasi-experimental design that utilized pre-existing data of …

Middle School Algebra As A College And Career Readiness Indicator, Carrie M. Renfroe

Dissertations

A goal of historic and current educational policy in American public schools has been to increase middle school student completion of Algebra I. The purpose of this study was to investigate equitable strategies for mathematics acceleration of diverse populations of middle school students. The context of this inquiry was a mid-sized school district that offers accelerated mathematics pathways to select middle school students throughout the district. My study demonstrated outcomes that align with current college and career readiness literature and support school-wide implementation of the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) system.

The Relationship Among Children Born With A Congenital Heart Defect, Effects Of General Anesthesia, And Special Academic Needs, Lorilynn Bowie

Dissertations

Abstract

I initiated this study due to experience in the public education system in one state in the United States. I noted a lack of understanding among educators on how to meet the educational needs of children born with a congenital heart defect (CHD) who had undergone general anesthesia related to their CHD. A lack of communication between the medical sector and the educational world led to extensive delays in children receiving the educational support they needed to be successful academically. There were two primary exploratory questions that drove my study: 1.) Is there a relationship between children born with …

Reflections On The Eating Of Bologna Sandwiches: A Memoir, Benjamin M. Raphael

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Reflections on the Eating of Bologna Sandwiches is a memoir project intended to give light to my experiences teaching in a small public school located in the South Bronx. These experiences are directed to a general “second” person who takes the form of “you” and is intended to act as a general stand-in for the student population of this school, similar to the “you” used by James Baldwin in his seminal work “My Dungeon Shook”. This “you” is meant to breakdown the wall between the reader and the student population, allowing one to occupy another and in the process develop …

Usu Stars! Gear Up: Fall 2018 To Spring 2019, Erik Dickamore, Amanda M. Hagman, Doug Reiter, Jim Dorward, Mitchell Colver

Publications

Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) is a federally funded program designed to prepared secondary students for college. USU has received several of these competitive grants to work with middle and high school students throughout Utah. This analysis explores how GEAR Up students utilized services. Use patterns were regressed on college enrollment. METHODS: Latent profile analysis (LPA) is a powerful tool for uncovering common response patterns across multiple continuous variables. Following the LPA, the common response patterns were regressed on post-secondary enrollment. FINDINGS: The latent profile analysis exposed 4 well-defined use patterns across the GEAR UP …

Exploring Cold War Religious Persecution Using The Rank-Order Approach, Jeffrey M. Byford, Brian K. Horn, John Grant, Cort Casey, Sherrie Hopper

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This lesson explores religious persecution in East Germany. Students must decide plausible actions to take against the Protestant Church to diminish power. Acting as a member of The East German Secret Police, students, evaluate, rank, and justify decisions to minimalize Christianity in an atheist society.

Facilitating Experiential Learning Experiences Through A Class Pioneer Day, Ronald Vaughan Morris

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Students experience a reenactment of life on the frontier created by the interaction of their teachers and community volunteers. Students in elementary social studies learn content, skills, values, and dispositions through engaging in experiential learning. The classroom environment is described through a case study of one classroom of fourth grade students with an experienced teacher with deep roots in the community. Teachers develop skills in negotiation with volunteers to accomplish tasks that support student learning. Descriptions of student and teacher preparations in addition to budgetary constraints describe how to replicate the experience. Examples and assessments are provided as well as …

Researching The U.S. Role In Foreign Politics With The Bricker Amendement, Jeremiah Clabough

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

The United States has always been conflicted about its role in international affairs. There are many historical examples where these divergent beliefs can be examined. One ideal topic students can research to analyze Americans’ conflicting beliefs about the country’s role in international affairs is the Bricker Amendment. In this article, I explore how activities about the Bricker Amendment allow high school students to examine different perspectives about the U.S. role in international affairs. The steps and resources needed to implement the activity in my article are provided.

The Economics Of Artificial Intelligence: A Primer For Social Studies Educators, Scott Wolla

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This paper provides a framework for understanding the economic effects of automation and artificial intelligence (AI). First, it reviews how physical capital interacts with labor in the context of automation and AI. Next, it discusses recent advances in AI and potential economic outcomes such as job market polarization and income inequality. It then describes the role education has played in previous economic transitions and the role it will likely play as technology advances. Finally, the paper identifies key economic concepts and teaching resources that social studies educators can integrate into their instruction to help students understand the economic effects of …

Developing Social Justice Skills Through Community Service-Learning In High School Social Studies, Sharehann T. Lucman

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Social studies teachers are presented with the challenging yet rewarding task of cultivating in their students' principles and competencies essential for democratic and social-justice-oriented citizenship. Inspired and guided by literature on social justice education and community service-learning, this study suggests that social studies teachers ought to consider integrating teaching methods that are experiential, participatory, and critical in nature. An example of such a method is community service-learning. As illustrated in this study, community service-learning activities afford students the unique opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills on social justice in authentic social situations.

Using a descriptive and textual analysis approach, …

Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions Of The “Public Displays Of History” Debate, Benjamin R. Wellenreiter, Monica Noraian

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

We examined how the preservice history and social science teachers (n=84) with whom we worked conceptualized debates regarding Public Displays of History (PDH) such as monuments and building names. Participants described PDH as important venues for learning history but viewed them as incomplete, often biased, sources of information. When determining whether removal or alteration is appropriate, the preservice teachers stressed comparison of the PDH to current societal norms, original overt and tacit intent of the creators of the PDH, the actions or deeds of the subject through a historical accuracy lens, and whether removal changes understanding of the subject of …

Exploring Teacher-Parent Communication: A Qualitative Analysis Of Secondary Early Career Educators' Experiences, Kama J. Konda-Varilek

Doctorate in Education

Teacher-parent communication (TPC) is considered a professional responsibility for all teachers, yet it is most often associated with teachers of elementary-aged students; comparatively less is known about how secondary teachers communicate with parents or how they learn to do so. The qualitative study conducted in May 2020 used semi-structured interviews to examine how South Dakota secondary early career educators (ECEs) learned to communicate with parents and their experiences with TPC. The research questions focused on the definition of effective TPC, experiences from teacher preparation programs (TPPs) with TPC, experiences from in-service years and TPC, recommendations for preparing secondary ECEs for …

L'Enracinement Et L'Ouverture: A Relevant Global Citizenship Education In Senegal, Alanna Margaret Ross

Capstone Collection

As the international community strives to work together to respond to globalization implications in education, global citizenship education (GCE) has become more prominent in the educational agenda of the international community. While much literature has critiqued GCE’s potential neo-imperialist effects in postcolonial context, there have been very few studies that have sought out the voices of key stakeholders, such as students, parents, teachers, and school leaders. A total of nineteen school leaders, teachers, parents, and students were interviewed to examine whether they found global citizenship education relevant to students in Senegal. The study found that global citizenship education was perceived …

Exploring Relationships Of Positive Reading Attitudes In Secondary English Classrooms, Lorin Blackburn Thierfelder

Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative research study was to explore teacher perceptions of secondary student reading attitudes across Missouri. The study was conducted to examine the variables of student engagement, Young Adult Literature, and reading attitude. A conceptual framework was established based upon the work of Layne (2009) and Schoenbach (2012). Secondary English teachers face the daunting task of teaching students not only reading comprehension but also reading engagement (Gallagher, 2009; Layne, 2009). Demographic information and survey responses were collected to determine teachers’ perspectives on student engagement, Young Adult Literature, and reading attitudes in high school English classrooms. Some of …

Impact Of Person-Environment-Occupation Model Training On Teacher Transition Problem-Solving, Taylor Dreste

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, there is currently no universal framework or model that is applied to the transition planning process for students with disabilities, other than the transition mandates set forth by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004). This often results in educators picking transition plan goals and interventions from a “bank”, without taking into account the “whole child.” The following study examines the effect of the Person-Environment-Occupation (PEO) model, pioneered by Law et al. (1996), on a teacher’s ability to consider personal, environmental, and occupational variables when planning for post-secondary employment for students with disabilities. Furthermore, this …