Elementary Education and Teaching Commons^™

Three Steps To Create A Designated Eld Curriculum Aligned To Academic Content, Melanie Wolf-Greenberg, Tracey Horvath, Eugenia F. Krimmel

Journal of English Learner Education

One of the top five factors influencing student achievement is the development of a curriculum that ensures all students have an equal opportunity to learn (Marzano, 2003). Many schools today do not have a comprehensive plan for the education of English Learners (ELs) blended or aligned to the mainstream content classroom. The authors have developed a process to create a designated English Language Development (ELD) curriculum which uses content area academic standards as its foundation. The benefits of a designated ELD curriculum reach beyond the individual ELD specialist’s lesson planning. School administrators and key stakeholders in the community will be …

The Impacts Of Cooperative Learning In Classrooms On Student Social Skills, Joseph Larson

Master's Theses

This mixed-methods action research study investigates potential effects of cooperative learning strategies on observed and self-reported student social skills in a fourth grade classroom. Baseline data is collected at a time when the classroom is predominantly whole-group and is then compared to ensuing data collected during and after cooperative learning interventions. Opportunities for students to work in interdependent partnerships and small groups ramps up gradually and culminates in a 3-week period which includes 3 different jigsaw-style lesson activities. Data suggests that students who are unaccustomed to working with peers may struggle to exhibit required social skills that make cooperative learning …

Use Of Encouragement In The Classroom To Help Students Succeed [2022], Erin Fieldhouse

Master's Theses

This case study is based on a one student study that used a mixed methods approach seeing the effects of encouragement in the classroom and how it might help a student socially and emotionally. Data was collected throughout a 12-week period based around the findings of field notes and a survey that was implemented into the classroom. Preliminary findings are inconclusive based on students having more difficulties that affect them in different ways. This paper will provided [sic] information about how to use encouragement in the classroom.

Teachers are always trying to find new methods to help their students. …

The Influence Of Short-Term Goal Setting On Student Performance And Motivation, Amber Lefever

Master's Theses

Student goal setting is one powerful tool that can influence students' attitudes and achievements. This mixed-methods study examines the effects of short-term goal setting on the performance and motivation of students in a fifth-grade classroom. Students set weekly goals and tracked their performance through daily self-reflection. The goal-setting intervention provided students an opportunity to gain success through intrinsic rewards and strengthen their self-efficacy skills. Data were collected and analyzed over a three-week time frame. This presentation provides details on the effectiveness of goal setting in the classroom and procedures for structuring goal-setting interventions for upper elementary students.

Social Emotional Learning In An Elementary School, Abigail Cook

Master's Theses

This action-research study used a mixed-methods approach to help determine and observe the benefits of social emotional journaling in the classroom, specifically its impact on a students ability to recognize their personal emotions and self-concept. Data was collected both quantitively [sic] and qualitatively in a fifth-grade classroom to note the changes before implementing social emotional learning and after implementing it. This study discusses the term “social emotional learning” and provides a discussion on the impact of journaling for the students and any other implications observed. Although the results are mostly positive, the research discovered during the study concluded …

Curiosity, Motivation, Autonomy, And Lifelong Learning In Education And The United States Marine Corps, Cynthia Malmquist

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

Curiosity, intrinsic motivation, and autonomy-supportive teaching all promote lifelong learning in both the classroom and Marine Corps. Humans are all born with curiosity. Children inherently practice forms of intrinsic motivation. Most would agree that they do not like being micromanaged - they enjoy a sense of freedom when completing tasks. Despite this, many students learn in a controlling environment and many Marines work under controlling leaders. Though a large amount of time is spent on learning through the first 18 years of life, lifelong learning does not come naturally and is not commonly practiced. The research and ideas discussed below …

From The Editors..., Todd Pagano

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

The Wheels On The Bus Go Round And Round: Rethinking The St. Louis Busing Program, Tango Walker, Ketosha Harris

Dissertations

This autoethnography shares our personal experiences and counter-narratives in the St. Louis busing program. Through our mission we expound on experiences and real-life situations as seen through our lens as a student and a mother in the St. Louis busing program. Critical race theory (CRT) was used as an essential framework allowing us to focus on the following four tenets: counter-stories, permanence of racism, whiteness as property, interest convergence. (Anderson, et al., 2017). Critical race theory (CRT) is the framework in social sciences that examines society and culture as it relates to categorization of race, law and power (Lynn & …

Teachers’ Lived Experiences And Perspectives Of School-Wide Positive Behavior Support Plans, Susanna J. Brice

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The purpose of this case study was to examine how teachers from Title 1 elementary schools implemented school-wide positive behavior plans in Northeast Florida. This qualitative study was founded on the theory of planned behavior (TPB). According to TPB, an individual’s behavior can be predicted by attitude and purposes for the behavior. The research participants were six Title 1 elementary school teachers with whom semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather the data. Themes that emerged were professional development, consistency, teacher buy-in, administrative support, and the effectiveness of the plan. Participants indicated the importance of continued support through check-ins, collaborations, professional …

Exploring The Perceptions Of Faculty And Staff Regarding The Impact A Facility Dog Has On Elementary Students’ Learning Environment, Katherine T. Race

All Theses And Dissertations

Over the past decade there has been a drastic increase in students’ reporting and exhibiting feelings of overwhelming anxiety, depression, anger, and disengagement in the school setting (Relevette, 2020). To better appreciate these increases, one must first grasp the notion that two-thirds of school-aged students are experiencing toxic-stress, also known as long-term stress, on a daily basis. Toxic stress has been directly related to the halting of brain development in children (Rossen, 2020).

These experiences, often referred to as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), are various traumatic events children have been victims of, or directly exposed to, during their first seventeen …

Teacher Use And Perceptions Of Writing Practices In West Virginia: Policy And Leadership Implications, Margaret Luma

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

National standardized test scores indicate West Virginia students perform below the national average in writing achievement, yet little research has been conducted to investigate how writing is being taught. Gaining understanding of the instructional strategies West Virginia teachers use to teach writing may provide insight for educational leaders about how to better support and prepare teachers for the complex task of teaching writing. Identifying challenges and barriers to implementing evidence-based practices may provide areas of focus for school and policy improvements as they relate to writing expectations. This study investigated the practices and perceptions of fourth-grade teachers in West Virginia …

See Me, Hear Me, Teach Me: Addressing Equity, Diversity, And Student Engagement Through Culturally Responsive Teaching, Diana Diiorio

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

This Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice aimed to investigate how teachers' cultural backgrounds and potential cultural biases were manifested in their teaching and determine the degree to which student engagement is impacted as a result of teachers' proficiency in the use of Cultural-linguistic Responsiveness (CLR). Additionally, this study aims to intervene in the problem of practice (lack of use of Cultural-linguistic Responsiveness strategies) through assessment of the impact of training to increase Cultural-linguistic Responsiveness strategies. By utilizing a convergent mixed-method approach, this study follows a team of devoted school community members as they planned, implemented, studied, and reflected on the …

Making A Difference Through Sustained In-Service Teacher Training, Abha Gupta, Guang Lea Lee

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This study is based on collaboration between a school and a university on professional development training of 4th and 5th grade elementary school teachers in a southeastern state in the USA. The study was three-pronged and focused on teacher knowledge, pedagogy, and student achievement. We examined how the building of teacher capacity affected the performance of underachieving students in math and literacy. Underachieving students were targeted with specific strategies, projects, problems solving stories, self-reflection, and higher-level thinking questions. Student performance was measured for literacy achievement, with quantitative and qualitative measures used for data collection purposes. Students showed progress over previous …

Are High Levels Of Educator Bias Associated With The Disproportionate Discipline Of Black Students?, Melissa Ann Ramos

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Data on school discipline inequities have shown disproportionate numbers of Black students suspended and expelled compared to their non-Black counterparts. Despite the implementation of evidence-based solutions such as positive behavior supports and intervention, educator professional development, and restorative practices aimed at closing the racial discipline gap, little to no change has occurred. Critical Race Theory is used as a lens for viewing racial hierarchies as a socially constructed tool to oppress people of color. This oppression can be seen in various aspects of society and in education, especially in school discipline. It is fueled by biases, both implicit and explicit. …

Writing: The Lost Literacy… Found!, Tahlya Stevenson

Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Literacy

According to the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP, 2012), writing proficiency across the country has been stagnant for the past generation. This “writing crisis” has the potential to impact job preparedness, reading development, and the future of our nation’s students. Additionally, teachers are ill-prepared with the knowledge and time to best teach writing. The purpose of this study was to identify best practices in elementary narrative writing and to explore the effectiveness of implementation in a grade 2 classroom. Experts agree that process writing, use of mentor text, explicit instruction in text structure, and peer feedback increase student writing …

Perceptions Of Classroom Management Coaching At District A Independent School District, Ashley L. Brittain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study addressed teacher retention and research-to-practice gaps in the literature related to classroom management coaching and what types of teacher support are the best and why. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions of teachers, campus administrators, and campus intervention coaches regarding District A Independent School District’s campus intervention coach model. This study attempted to understand better the perceptions of how the campus intervention coach model influences teachers’ decisions to remain in the profession; how teachers, campus administrators, and campus intervention coaches perceive the campus intervention coach model’s effectiveness in reducing the percentage of …

Supporting Students With An Autism Spectrum Disorder In Engineering: K-12 And Beyond, Jennifer L. Kouo, Alexis Hahn, Sarah Morton, Jay Gregorio

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Individuals with disabilities, including individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. With the importance of STEM skills in future employment and other disciplines, effective instructional strategies must be identified to enhance early and sustained access to STEM for students with ASD. However, the literature identifying effective STEM-specific supports and practices for this population of students is sparse and regarding engineering, there are no empirical studies that focus on teaching engineering skills to students with ASD. Therefore, the article aims to provide an overview of the available literature on the perspectives …

The Intersection Of School-Based Leadership Practices And School Grades In The State Of Florida, Wendelynn A. Mcpherson

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The purpose of this non-experimental, quantitative study was to examine to what degree 12 self-reported leadership behaviors were associated with and predictive of school grades in the state of Florida. The study participant sample was exclusively comprised of educational leaders from elementary schools located in Florida. In this descriptive study, elementary principals were surveyed to determine the frequency of leadership behaviors (independent variable) and school grades (dependent variable). Two research questions and hypotheses were posed to address the study’s research problem. Research question one utilized a simple linear regression to assess the predictive variable of the overall leadership practices for …

Establishing Trauma-Informed Practices Within The Early Learning Environment, Daria M. Castor

Selected Honors Theses

Nearly half of US children have experienced one or more types of serious trauma with rates continually increasing. Early childhood educators get a first-hand encounter with childhood trauma as it affects the learning and behavior of young students. Young children process their trauma differently whether that be through behavioral issues or a withdrawn demeanor. Building strong, positive relationships with students and creating a safe learning environment are practical methods used by educators when working with traumatized young learners, however there is much more to be done to best meet the needs of these students. This thesis emphasizes the detrimental effects …

An Artificial Intelligence Tool For Accessible Science Education, Jacob D. Watters, April Hill Dr., Melissa Weinrich Dr., Cary Supalo, Feng Jiang Dr.

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

One of the most important issues in accessible science education is creating a laboratory workspace accessible to blind students or students with visual impairments (VI). Although these students are often provided access to the science lectures, they are usually denied full participation in hands-on laboratory work. Current solutions to this problem focus on providing special accommodations such as asking sighted lab partners to complete the hands-on work. Although the accessibility of laboratory devices in modern science education has been improved in recent years, students with VI often remain passive learners. In this work, we developed a new artificial intelligence tool, …

Making Scientific And Technical Materials Pervasively Accessible, Jason J.G. White

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

In this paper, the question is explored of what policies, standards and practices are desirable to ensure that hardware, software and publications in the sciences and associated disciplines are created from the outset to be accessible to people with disabilities. Insight into this question can be obtained by considering the unique accessibility challenges that these materials pose, including complexities of notation, language, and graphical representation.

Having analyzed what sets this problem apart from broader issues of accessibility, the advantages and limitations of current international standards are reviewed, and contemporary developments in standards and policies are considered from a strategic perspective. …

The Perceptions Of Teachers Of Students With Visual Impairments On Students With Visual Impairments And Graphing: How To Teach, Ashley N. Nashleanas Ph.D.

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Many gaps exist in what is known around teaching students with visual impairments (SVI) about how to use graphs (Rosenblum et al., 2018; Rosenblum & Herzberg, 2015; Zebehazy & Wilton, 2014a;2014b;2014c). When teachers first experience a student with a visual impairment, some of the questions that come to mind are: How can I be sure this student understands what I am saying about these graphs I show on the board? Will this student be able to keep up? The study herein, based on findings from Author (2018), serves as a guide for teachers to consider in the case that SVI …

A Study Of Elementary Teachers' Data Driven Decision-Making Practices And School Performance, Julianne K. Kotcho

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The notion of using data to inform educational decisions is not novel; in fact, teachers and school leaders have used data in various forms and for a variety of reasons for decades. However, challenges remain with the timely availability of data, accessibility to the data, and teachers’ understanding of how these data can be transformed into action that impacts instructional decisions. Without appropriate professional development, support, and leadership, teachers may struggle to use data to make sound decisions and take action in their classrooms.

This quantitative correlation study examined elementary school teachers’ levels of readiness regarding data-driven decision-making (DDDM) practices …

Inclusion, Engagement, And Nearpod: Providing A Digital Alternative To Traditional Instruction, Kristina Buttrey

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

Unfortunately, the onset of Covid-19 and the ensuing pandemic led to a shift in the structure of classrooms across all levels of the educational spectrum. The resulting move to more social distancing methods, including a combination of face-to-face and online formats, led to a need for innovative uses of technology. In this article, Nearpod is explored as an alternative way to present information while increasing engagement and inclusivity in the classroom. Research studies and reviews are scrutinized on the use of Nearpod as tool for teachers and pre-service teachers in K-12.

Using Transcendental Phenomenology To Explore Elementary Teachers’ Experiences With Struggling Readers During The Social Restrictions Precipitated By The Covid-19 Pandemic, Wyann C. Stanton

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study provides a window into the experiences of elementary teachers with their struggling readers during the largest world-wide interruption to education that has ever been seen. This study gives insight to educational leaders and educators as they assist their struggling readers in rebounding from the disruption to school caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and as they work to improve the quality of schooling for struggling readers. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there had been a growing body of educational literature in pandemic-related information, practice, and research. Yet, there was a need to bring to light the phenomenon of …

An Evaluation Of One School's Reading Program To Support Struggling Readers Through The Use Of Data, Gabrielle Jones

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of one school’s reading intervention program, and its impact on struggling readers reading performance. Participants in this study included administrators, Grades 3 through 5instructional staff that directly impact student learning in reading through reading instruction. I collected survey data and analyzed it to determine teachers’ ability to instruct struggling readers with high expectations for student learning. As a result, this evaluation exhibit teachers require more quality planning time to prepare effective reading intervention lessons that includes strategies attained from strategically designed professional development structured to increase students’ reading ability. …

'Training' The Body Politic: Essays On The School Reform Orthodoxy, Jahan Naghshineh

Education (PhD) Dissertations

These essays represent my attempt to grapple with fundamental questions about what I see as the upside-down nature of educational reforms in American society. Why is there a never-ending crisis in America’s public schools? What does it mean when the educational specter from different periods of history is discredited and yet the specter keeps being recycled decade after decade? For example, elites propagated crisis narratives to galvanize support for the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation at the turn of the century. Countless researchers then documented the adverse impacts of NCLB on America’s schools and yet that literature never led …

K-12 Economically Disadvantaged Students, Poverty, And Education: Ecological Narratives Of Successful Raised-In-Poverty, Texas Educators, Rebecca N. Morris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research study aimed to understand how successful Texas educators who grew up in poverty understood and improved the educational experience of economically disadvantaged students. This study utilized a structural ecological theory and three theories of social relationships (Social Identity, Standpoint, and Cultural Capital). This phenomenological and qualitative study used a cross-sectional, descriptive, online case study design rooted in narrative nonfiction. Virtual interviews with six successful Texas educators that grew up in poverty were conducted. A narrative method of analysis was utilized to generate codes then organize them into themes, and to construct and compare the narrative findings. The results …

A Case Study In The Use Of Mentorships In Academic Instructional Coach Development., Matt Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Academic instructional coaches have long been used to support teacher development and student learning. As a recent position in the education field, there is little information regarding the development of staff in this role. This study sought to better understand how academic instructional coaches are mentored and developed within challenging school contexts. The theoretical framework for this research is guided by the social constructivism epistemology. In alignment with this framework, a collective case study was utilized to better understand the relationship between the principal and the academic instructional coach. Exploring this relationship emphasized how principals support academic instructional coach growth. …

Remote Learning And Third-Grade Reading Performance In A 1:1 District, Amanda Milhorn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore a possible relationship between remote learning with 1:1 devices and reading performance for third graders in a school district in Tennessee by comparing differences between universal screener reading data from fall 2020 and universal screener reading data from both fall 2018 and fall 2019. Star Reading universal screener Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE) data from fall 2018, fall 2019, and fall 2020 from three elementary schools were used for the study.

Results indicated that the third-grade students’ fall 2020 Star Reading universal screener NCEs were significantly lower than their fall 2018 first …