Secondary Education Commons^™

Spatial Mapping With Polaroid Post-Its, Angela C. Dittmar, Katie Claiborne

Arts-Based Collaborative instructional materials

No abstract provided.

Improving Seventh Grade Mathematics Achievement Using Differentiated Instructional Strategies, Melanie C. Bush

Education Theses and Dissertations

The Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice conducted a comprehensive assessment of differentiated instruction implemented within a school district in East Texas, focusing on its impact on student achievement in mathematics. The initial evaluation was followed by a subsequent improvement iteration that concentrated on the specific differentiated instructional strategies of formative assessment and small group instruction, supported by job-embedded professional learning, and their effects on student performance. Both iterations employed a mixed-methods case study design utilizing an embedded experimental model with a one-phase approach. The study’s methodology allowed for a robust analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data, providing a comprehensive …

It Takes A Community: One Nwp Site's Approach To Establishing And Sustaining A Writing Community, H. Michelle Kreamer

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

In this article, one National Writing Project (NWP) site director details the process for establishing and nurturing a writing community that extends beyond school walls. This article details various events that have helped the site to grow and sustain a local writing community and includes recommendations for adapting these ideas for a variety of contexts and audiences.

Critical Media Literacy: Taking Steps To Understand And Implement (In First-Year Composition Courses), Kevin Shank, Lara Searcy

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This article considers ways to advance critical media literacy (CML) in English language arts spaces, particularly first-year composition. Due to the growing need for critical media literacy, authors outline two steps — first, taking steps toward understanding CML and second, sharing resources to help educators integrate more critical media literacy into the field of English language arts. The authors created and share a Media Text Complexity Rationale (https://bit.ly/MediaTextComplexityRationale) that can guide educators in text selection, along with three other related resources to help teachers understand and implement CML during instructional design.

The Embedded Scaffolded Writing Mini-Course (Teswmc): An Approach To Improve Teacher Candidates’ Writing Skills And Attitudes, Vicky Giouroukakis Ph.D., Laurie Bocca

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

High-quality academic writing is critical to student success in graduate-level education courses and professional advancement in our field. The Embedded Scaffolded Writing Mini-Course (TESWMC) was designed to both improve teacher candidates’ skills in writing critically and effectively and to positively influence teacher candidates’ attitudes towards writing. The 7-week mini-course was taught by the teacher educator/researcher as a “push-in” into a semester-long graduate Education course. The mini-course also served as a pilot study to determine its efficacy. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed. Data revealed that teacher candidates reported that their writing skills and attitudes towards writing improved. …

Native American Higher Education Students’ Perspectives Of Preparation And Encouragement Received Prior To College Entrance, David Edward Marshall

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed through this study was that Native American students in the area surrounding a local university participated in higher education at low levels. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore local Native American college student perspectives about becoming a college student, including their individual experiences and recommendations for increasing future Native American college participation. The conceptual framework for the study included Tinto’s model of student integration and Bandura’s social learning theory. Three research questions were addressed regarding Native American college student perspectives on becoming a college student; the experiences, programs, and support that led to …

Impact Of Differentiation On Long-Term Emergent Bilingual Outcomes, Tara Cargill

Education Theses and Dissertations

The No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 and the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015 mandated reforms for English Learners in K–12 schools across the nation. This led to a focus on language development and instruction for emergent bilinguals. This dissertation uses the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle to implement interventions for long-term emergent bilinguals in general education classes. The study aims to refine the cycle and impact system changes for improvement. Emergent bilinguals are identified through state-approved English language proficiency exams. Students scoring less than proficient are labeled as limited English proficient/emergent bilingual and offered English as a Second Language …

The Influence Of Misconceptions On Pedagogical Choices Of Secondary Science Teachers: An Embedded Case Study, Tracey Beyer

Dissertations

This case study, using phenomenography within science disciplines, examines how educators' experiences with misconceptions affect teaching methods in high school physics, chemistry, and biology. Based on constructivist and interpretive theories it highlights that personal experiences shape learning and involve continuously reconstructing knowledge. The shared misconceptions of 13 educators across science disciplines reveal how those experiences influenced both their content knowledge and instructional practices. The findings indicate that educators who openly acknowledge and learn from their past experiences with misconceptions are better equipped to recognize and address gaps in understanding, an asset to furthering student learning. This research highlights the importance …

The Impacts Of Authentic Learning On Student Outcomes, Evan Sheppard, Cameron Conner

Dissertations

This dissertation explores the evolving American education system, emphasizing the role of authentic learning in bridging the gap between schooling and employment, especially in the context of the modern post-pandemic student. Authentic learning, characterized by hands-on activities and real-world applications, is posited as a solution to the skilled labor shortage impacting the economy. This study delves into the history and current practices of authentic learning, examining various programs and strategies implemented in educational settings. Utilizing a phenomenological approach, qualitative data was collected through interviews with recent high school graduates to assess the impact of authentic learning on their post-secondary trajectories. …

Empowering Female Voices In The Ela Classroom, Jacqueline Gurliaccio Vance

Dissertations

This study aims to understand how women’s voices can be empowered in a high school English Language Arts (ELA) class. Through the use of female authors and female protagonists in the classroom texts, this study seeks to understand if implementing female-driven texts enhances female students’ literary experiences, empowers the personal identities of female students, and shapes female students’ perspectives of themselves and their peers. This case study includes female students in twelfth grade AP Literature class.

Embracing Social-Emotional Learning And Nurturing Character: A Systematic Review Of Intersectional-Eq Strategies For Educational Leaders, Leticia G. Candelaria-Archuleta

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

The COVID-19 pandemic expanded education beyond traditional academics, highlighting the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) and character education (CE) for positive youth outcomes. This study examined the role of educational leadership in implementing SEL and CE in schools through a term coined Intersectional-EQ. This study centered on a cutting-edge approach using grey literature, specifically doctoral dissertations, to capture current trends in unprecedented times. A systematic review through Covidence, guided by PRISMA and PICO frameworks, was conducted. Findings highlight the impact of leadership on SEL and CE through an intersectional lens. Future work is aimed to support holistic student growth by …

Scaling Work-Based Learning: Quality Criteria For Continuous Improvement And Equity, Dania Ibrahim, Heather Penczak, Emily Won

Practitioner Toolkits and Resources

No abstract provided.

Quality Criteria For College And Career Pathways Implementation, Laura Monteagudo, Emily Rusca, Liam Lawson

Practitioner Toolkits and Resources

No abstract provided.

A Micro-Internship Model For Engaging High School Students: A Pilot Of The Illinois Math Badging Initiative, Dania Ibrahim

Practitioner Toolkits and Resources

No abstract provided.

Critical Scoping Review Of Critical Consciousness As A Framework For Precollege Engineering Education, Devon Riter, James Holly Jr.

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

Engineering’s promise to build a better world has been realized differently across the United States, often with lines of social identity determining who becomes an engineer, who benefits from engineering innovations, and who suffers devastating consequences. Many educational scholars have argued that engineering inequities are in part due to deep inequities in precollege engineering education, including the failure to enact pedagogies in which engineering educational spaces can help students recognize oppression and act toward liberation. In this critical scoping review we searched five databases to identify 72 relevant peer-reviewed articles for review. Our findings indicate that research on critical consciousness …

Putting Together The Pieces Of Effective Instruction: The Role Of Structured Literacy, Carrie Tholstrup

Advanced Education Programs Faculty Publications

Following the instructional methods of structured literacy is not entirely different from jigsaw puzzle assembly. The author reflects on similarities between effective literacy instruction and experiences assembling jigsaw puzzles. Both involve sequential, cumulative instruction; varying levels of explicitinstruction; and assessment. Motivation, engagement, executive function skills, and strategy use play important parts as well.

How Do Teacher Perceptions And Biases Affect Or Influence Student Behavior, Benjamin K. Keohane

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

The purpose of this research project and professional development series is to shed light on the influence and effect that teacher biases, perceptions, and interactions have on student behavior. Often, teachers become apprehensive when exceptional students attend their class. This notion is amplified if the student is accompanied with a behavior intervention plan or a disability that manifests as externalizing behavior. In many cases, teachers report a lack of proper training in behavior mitigation strategies that extend beyond common, general education practices. If schools are to promote an inclusive environment, all teachers require the background knowledge to properly implement and …

Leading Participatory Action Research For Teacher Agency, Kimberly Hellerich

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

Participatory Action Research (PAR) can benefit teachers and students. Based on student-led PAR projects utilized within the author's secondary classroom, student researchers provided instructional strategy recommendations based on student researchers' analysis of peers' survey responses. Yet without a transformative leadership approach, allowing for teacher agency and empowerment, PAR projects will not be successfully implemented. The author describes a set of teacher and leader dispositions that are expected to allow PAR projects to be successful.

Why Researchers Need To Hear Practitioners’ Voices: A Call To Action, Donna Zerr, David Wolff, Carissa Gober

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

This article encourages educators to embrace their role as researchers and contribute to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. It highlights how everyday classroom experiences can lead to meaningful inquiry, and it urges practitioners to share their findings through self-study and scholarly writing. By making their work public, educators not only validate their experiences but also help expand collective knowledge and improve practice across the field. The article serves as both a guide and an inspirational call for educators to let their voices be heard.

A Review Of Secondary Technology Education Teacher Needs In Virginia, M. Kathleen Ferguson

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Technology education teachers can have varied pre-service training experiences, thus their needs for classroom support may vary greatly. Perkins V requires evidence-based research to justify the use of funding for professional development. This researcher sought to support Virginia’s secondary technology education teachers, professional organizations, and the Virginia Department of Education’s Technology Education Specialist by providing research to determine professional development needs. This three-phase qualitative study used a survey, documents review, and focus groups to triangulate data to provide information about the research questions. The research questions focused on teachers’ educational background, technology program goals, and issues specific to secondary technology …

Bridging Words And Worlds: Innovative Writing Strategies For Adolescent Multilingual Learners, Robert A. Griffin

Journal of English Learner Education

This paper presents culturally responsive writing prompts, peer collaboration and language exchange, and multimodal writing experiences as three strategies to enhance adolescent multilingual learners’ English writing skills while leveraging their linguistic and cultural diversity. Culturally responsive writing prompts connect students’ personal experiences with academic tasks to enhance engagement and authenticity in writing. Peer collaboration, language exchange, and peer review foster a supportive learning community and improve writing skills through shared linguistic and cultural knowledge. Multimodal writing experiences broaden students’ expressive capabilities beyond traditional text by utilizing visual, digital, and oral modes of communication. Technology and AI integration in writing instruction …

African Union’S Youth Education Challenge: A Critical Review Of Agenda 2063, Ruth V. Akumbu, Jennifer Jukanovich

The Scholarship Without Borders Journal

It is no easy feat for the African Union to mobilize 55 countries of various political, tribal, and economic demographics, yet the problem remains that nearly 34 million children are out of school, and the continent is not graduating the secondary students needed for the 1.25-billion-member workforce expected by 2050 (ISS Africa, 2017). The paper aims to assess African Union strategies and make recommendations for member countries to utilize to solve educational challenges facing the continent’s growing population and market. We assess the educational challenge and contributing factors followed by suggesting four strategic directions, grounded in Agenda 2063, that the …

Good In Theory, Difficult In Practice: An Examination Of Secondary Algebra Teachers’ Views About Rti, Joseph Lauchstaedt, James P. Concannon

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

Research about response to intervention (RtI) programs has primarily focused on the elementary level, and there is a noticeable lack of research specific to secondary mathematics RtI programs. As such, the focus of this qualitative study was secondary algebra teachers’ perceptions and self-efficacy for the implementation of RtI. Research participants consisted of eight secondary algebra teachers that had implemented RtI programs and had at least five years of teaching experience. A semi-structured interview protocol was utilized to discuss the types of interventions they utilized, perceptions of the implementation, beliefs in their ability to effectively implement RtI, along with their view …

Redefining Culture And Climate In The Alternative Setting: Dumping Grounds Or Where Students Are Found?, Joan Louise Barbagiovanni

Theses and Dissertations

This autoethnographic study aims to answer the following questions: How can a school leader design a culturally sensitive, inclusive alternative education program? What type of systemic change does an alternative school leader believe to be most effective in supporting students in attaining a high school diploma and a solid postsecondary plan to become productive members of society? What characteristics of culture and climate are most critical in an alternative school setting? The study focused on 4 years and tells how a school leader successfully changed the school culture and climate to best serve students and staff in the alternative school …

How Do Preservice Teachers Learn To Teach Integrated Computational Thinking?: Evidence From Planning, Enactment, And Reflection, Rachael Dektor, Samuel Severance, Kip Téllez

Journal of Computer Science Integration

This study examines pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) beliefs and understandings about computational thinking (CT) integration and lesson implementation over time. Utilizing a design-based research approach, 3 PSTs led the co-design of integrated CT lessons with support from researchers and enacted these CT integrated lessons with K-5 students. All PSTs participated in a whole-group CT workshop and engaged in one-on-one lesson design sessions with a researcher. We utilized a grounded theory approach to qualitatively analyze pre-surveys, semi-structured interviews, and video data of three PSTs enacting their lessons. We found that PSTs’ initial beliefs about CT instruction – including the importance of it …

Improving Cohesion Between General Education And Special Education Departments, Jacob Haugmo

Graduate Teacher Education

Cohesion between general education and special education departments is the idea of blending and aligning instructional methods and approaches regardless of educational discipline. This paper was written to examine how this cohesion can be improved. Educational leaders must improve cohesion between general education and special education departments to support the academic achievement and success of all students in schools. Through qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods studies, methods to improve this cohesion were researched. The research provided insight on how general education and special education teachers feel about collaboration and how collaborative efforts can be utilized to improve cohesion. These collaborative …

The Perception Of The Implementation Of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy To Support Black Male Students In Mathematics – A Case Study, Chiquita Granville

Dissertations

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy is a method of education that promotes an inclusive and empowered learning environment by acknowledging and valuing students varied cultural origins. CRP is especially important for tackling the ongoing achievement discrepancies encountered by high school Black Male students in the context of mathematics instruction. This abstract emphasizes the value of culturally sensitive instruction in enhancing black male students' mathematics learning results and experiences.

This research will examine the difficulties faced by Black male students in Mathematics classes, including prejudice, a lack of cultural representation in the curriculum, and a lack of relevance between the subject matter and …

The Impact Of Texas High School Teachers' Perceptions Of Culture On Their Intent To Stay Or Leave From Their Position, Abigail Crawford, Lesley F. Leach, Ron Rhone, Juanita Reyes

School Leadership Review

ABSTRACT

Teacher attrition has been an issue in education for decades, however, post-pandemic, the problem has grown exponentially. Teachers at the high school campus are often particularly difficult to replace because of their specialized areas. Yearly faculty surveys often ask teachers to share their perceptions of their campus, including but not limited to, faculty relationships, administrative decisions, student discipline, and learning and assessment. While teachers’ perceptions of these areas of campus life might be positive or negative, do any of these areas motivate a teacher to leave or to stay? The purpose of this research is to investigate high school …

Perspectives Of College Students With Disabilities Regarding Their High School Transition Experience: Notes For High School Transition Planning, Lindsay Hartzler, Kitty Dong, Andrew Johnson Kliethermes, Kaitlyn Sandheinrich, Mark Wheatley

Dissertations

Students with disabilities face many challenges as they transition to postsecondary education. These students are often unprepared for the rigor of postsecondary academics; they often lack self-efficacy skills and have limited awareness of postsecondary supports or cannot successfully access them. This study aims to give voice to college students with disabilities to inform practices of high school personnel involved with transition and higher education professionals supporting them. Using Kohler’s Transition Taxonomy 2.0 (2016), researchers sought to study the perspectives of eleven college students on their high school transition experiences in the areas of academic preparedness, self-advocacy skills, and experiences with …

Enhancing Student Engagement: Exploring The Participating, Investing, And Driving Pathways Of A Continuum Framework, Bryan Matera

Essays in Education

This article examines three levels of student engagement on a specified continuum and includes actionable strategies that can be implemented by practitioners in the field of Education. The writing highlights the three necessary components that lead to increased student engagement and lands on the work of a specific framework to progress this research forward. As students become increasingly involved in their learning experiences and engagement opportunities, students will tend to climb the student engagement continuum toward a more active role in their own learning.