Elementary Education and Teaching Commons^™

The Good Teacher: A Qualitative Analysis Of Perceptions Of Asian American Parents, Mariam Zia Qureshi

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This research study examined the general question "What do Asian American parents believe to be important characteristics of an effective elementary teacher?" In order to investigate this question, the researcher used a qualitative research design employing a semi-structured interview which probed into the personal perceptions voiced by a sample of twelve Asian American parents on the characteristics of good teachers. The twelve Asian American parents who participated in this study were from nine different Asian countries covering the three main regions defined as Asian according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Far East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian sub-continent. Also, …

Science Informational Trade Books: An Exploration Of Text-Based Practices And Interactions In A First-Grade Classroom, Virginia Anne Schreier

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although scholars have long advocated the use of informational texts in the primary grades, gaps and inconsistencies in research have produced conflicting reports on how teachers used these texts in the primary curriculum, and how primary students dealt with them during instruction and on their own (e.g., Saul & Dieckman, 2005). Thus, to add to research on informational texts in the primary grades, the purpose of this study was to examine: (a) a first-grade teacher's use of science informational trade books (SITBs) in her classroom, (b) the ways students responded to her instruction, and (c) how students interacted with these …

Attitude Toward Digital And Print-Based Reading: A Survey For Elementary Students, Diedre D. Allen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to create a valid and reliable survey to measure third through fifth grade students' attitudes toward reading across three mediums: print, e-reader, and Internet. The theoretical framework pulls from self-determination theory and affective models to guide the development of a survey intended for use with intermediate elementary students. The Attitude Toward Reading Survey (ATRS) was developed and field-tested, revised, and field-tested again. Data analysis included confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha reliability, and cumulative logit modeling. The results indicate the survey is a reliable and valid tool for teachers to use. The ATRS …

Practitioner Inquiry: Exploring Quality In Beginning Teacher Researchers' Work, Connie Dilucchio, Heather Leaman

Early & Middle Grades Education Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

An Inquiry Approach To Reading Instruction: A Case Study Of The Relationship Between Instruction And Motivation, Tammy Turri-Scodeller

Dissertations

This research is a qualitative case study analysis of the experiences of five fifth grade students who were involved in a classroom, action research project. The purpose of this action research was to measure the impact of this method of instruction on reading motivation of the fifth grade class as a whole. From the action research project, five, individual, student cases were purposefully sampled for further in-depth analysis. The objective of the individual student case study analysis was to explain how the behaviors of five students with a low level of reading achievement, activity, and motivation changed, or did not …

Inquiry-Based Instruction In The Social Studies: Successes And Challenges, Crystal Maree Beshears

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' perceptions, understanding, and use of inquiry-based instruction in the Social studies, to assess the impact of inquiry-based units on instruction, to detail implementation successes and challenges reported by teachers when implementing inquiry-based instruction, and to provide recommendations for future efforts. Teachers' perceptions of teaching and learning, particularly their beliefs about inquiry-based instruction, changed during the study. Throughout the study, teachers' perceptions and beliefs about teaching Social studies had an impact on how they planned, implemented and reflected on inquiry-based instruction. Many of the teachers changed their perceptions and began regularly teaching …

Interactive Bulletin Boards That Support Writing, Julie Patterson

Articles

Great writing instruction = student created bulletin boards. Here are some ideas.

Authentic Assessment : An Approach To Enhance And Assess Students’ Learning, Sher Azim

Professional Development Centre, Chitral

This paper underscores the process of using Authentic Assessment (AA) not only as a tool to assess learning but also as an approach to enhance learning in a school in the context of Pakistan. Data was collected through classroom observations, conducting interviews, analyzing relevant documents and maintaining person reflective diary. Findings indicate that AA helped in enhancing students’ learning such as knowledge about the noise pollution, planning, developing interview questions, interviewing people, preparing posters, giving presentation and responding to audience question. The study also revealed that in AA the student’s role changed from a passive test taker to an active …

Darya Dino K Daryan : Promoting A Optimistic Learning Milieu In The Primary School, Yasmin Sultana Memon, Sardar Khalid Mahmood

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Traditionally, girls in most government schools remain inactive in the classroom and are shy to speak and express their views. They have been given very few chances to be recognized or to participate actively in the classroom. This tendency seems to be changing in one girls’ primary school situated in an urban part of district. Most of the students belongs to the poor and lower middle class families. Few years ago, their school was in a poor physical and learning condition, but when the current head teacher was hired, she tackled the problems of the school’s including physical condition. As …

The Value Based Professional Development For Teachers’ Attitude, Behavior And Enhanced Professionalism : A School Based Intervention Through A Whole School Improvement Program (Wsip), Khush Funer Murtaza, Abida Begum, Sharifullah Baig

Professional Development Centre, Gilgit

This paper highlights the strategies and approaches employed to bring about positive changes in the attitude and behavior of the teachers and enhance their sense of professionalism in a girl’s high school of Gilgit Baltistan Pakistan. In addition to that, it illuminates the successes, challenges and the influence of these strategies and approaches on the overall school environment. These interventions were part of the one year long whole school improvement program(WSIP) exercised by PDCN in the academic year 2009-10 of the particular school. The strategies started with vision building, team building and task delegation, distributing the leadership and teacher empowerment, …

Building Capacity Of Teacher Educators To Implement Action Research : Feasibility Of A Local Model, Nahid Parween Anwar

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

In the area of in-service professional development programmes, action research is considered to be a tool for generating practical knowledge and bringing improvement in practices. Teacher could use action research as a process for professional learning, and to improve classroom practices, where students could be one of the beneficiaries. However, the task is challenging in a developing country like Pakistan, where the concept of classroom research is not well recognized. Therefore, responding to the demands of the changing world and knowing the significance of action research, AKU-IED had offered Action Research course to two cohort of participant under Strengthening Teacher …

A Study Of Primary School Teachers’ Professional Development Programme : The Translation Of Theory Into Practice In Schools, Tajuddin, Mohammad Khan

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Professional development programmes are criticized for not meeting the practical needs of teachers and teachers are blamed for going to their comfort zones despite their participations in professional development programmes. This qualitative case study explored effectiveness of the program of primary education certificate course looking into participant teachers’ new knowledge, skills and attitude gained from the programme and the implementation of their new learning into their respective classrooms. Nine teachers and 27 students participated in the study. Data was collected through semi-structured and open-ended interviews, classroom observations, documents analysis and focused group discussions with students.

The study reports a shift …

The Role Perceptions Of Deos In Pakistan : Toothless Tigers Or Selfless Servants?, Jan-E-Alam Khaki, Zubeda Bana, Mir Afzal Tajik, Qamar Safdar

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The study of educational leadership and management in Pakistan is relatively a new territory – a road less travelled. This is truer when it comes to the study of District Education Officials’ (DEOs) ways of managing education. These officials actually bridge the government higher functionaries and policies in terms of policy implementation, monitoring and supervision of the schools in their respective districts. These officials theoretically should exercise significant control over the functioning of schools in their jurisdiction. Though on paper they have heavy responsibilities but actually they have limited arena to exercise; their power due largely to complex web of …

Strengthening The Professional Development For Teachers At Uc-Trc Level – A Hub For Teachers Professional Development, Rakhshinda Meher

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Professional development is a continuous improvement process, on job training and support needed to improve teaching, it encompasses the processes that educators engage in to initially prepare themselves, continuously update themselves, and review and reflect on their own performance. The experiences suggest that continuing professional development is needed to reinforce learning and support educational change process. This paper encompass on strengthening the professional development for teachers at Union Council Tehsil Resource Center (UC-TRCs). Teacher Mentors, developed by AKU-IED, STEP Project initiated the Cluster-based Mentoring Programme (CBMP) and also providing teachers follow-up support through Schools visits. Teachers professionally support each other, …

Parental Perceptions Of School Quality : Contesting The Notion Of Quality, Dilshad Ashraf

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

No abstract provided.

Excellent Teaching: A Collective Case Study Of Outstanding Elementary Mathematics Teachers' Teaching Of Mathematics, Michael J. Gay

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This qualitative collective case study explored the mathematical teaching of three excellent elementary teachers who were nominated by experts in mathematics and mathematics educational organizations, agencies and universities. I examined what excellent elementary mathematics teachers know and do in their practice of teaching. The study depicts detailed verbatim interactions between the teachers and students during actual teaching episodes to give the reader naturalistic examples of the explanation patterns and questioning strategies that these excellent teachers used to further students’ understandings of mathematical concepts and procedures. Analyses of the pedagogical strategies, including the interactive exploratory problem solving format these teachers used, …

I Don't Know You, But I Hate You: Building Better Relationships Through Literature And Writing, Brandon Warren

Articles

Brandon Warren explains how he has used books to transform his classroom community.

Parental Perceptions Of A Summer Esl Parent Institute: A Retrospective Case Study, John Scott Cascone

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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“There’S No Big Book On How To Care”: Primary Pre-Service Teachers’ Experiences Of Caring, Hellen Kemp, Andrea Reupert

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study investigated primary, pre-service teachers' experiences regarding their caring role, and the barriers they face when caring for students. Thirteen Australian primary pre-service teachers were individually interviewed. Within a qualitative framework, transcripts were thematically analysed, alongside member checks. While results indicated highly individualised notions of care, common themes included difficulties in navigating the caring teacher role, the caring student-teacher relationship and gaps in training around notions of care. A continuum of care was identified, mediated by student and teacher factors as well as school location. This continuum provides a framework within which pre-service teachers might explore boundary issues.

Assessing A Young Writer’S Story, Julie Patterson

Articles

Now that's a story! Find out what this 1st grader is doing well and what our writer-in-residence would teach next.

The Educational Achievement Gap As A Social Justice Issue For Teacher Educators, Rachel M. B. Collopy, Connie L. Bowman, David A. Taylor

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

The educational achievement gap is a critical social justice issue. Catholic and Marianist conceptions of social justice in particular call people to work with others in their spheres of life to transform institutions in order to further human rights while promoting the common good. Drawing on key elements of Catholic teaching on social justice, we argue that the achievement gap constitutes a social injustice. We then offer a case illustrating collaboration between university-based teacher educators and school faculty to address the achievement gap through transforming the institutions of school and of teacher preparation. The Dayton Early College Academy (DECA), founded …

Enhancing Instruction For English Learners In Response To Intervention Systems: The Pluss Model, Amanda K. Sanford, Julie Esparza Brown, Maranda Turner

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper proposes a model of effective instruction and intervention for English Learners (ELs) within a Response to Intervention (RTI) framework. First, we review literature on effective instruction for ELs and how RTI can address the needs of these students. Then, we describe the PLUSS model, which integrates research on effective instruction for ELs, tiered models of support, and teacher practices. The model includes the following elements: Pre-teaching critical vocabulary; Language modeling and opportunities to use academic language; Using visuals and graphic organizers; Systematic and explicit instruction; and Strategic use of native language and teaching for transfer. Finally, we provide …

Great Supplies For Your Primary Grade Writing Workshop, Libby Duggan

Articles

The right supplies can help you launch a writing workshop and establish the kind of habits and practices that will make the workshop easy to manage all year long. You may even want to stock up before the back-to-school sales end. Here are the "must-have" supplies I have used in my primary grade workshop.

5 Things Writing Workshop Teachers Want Parents To Know, Libby Duggan

Articles

When I was teaching, I wanted parents to know how to support the work that we were doing in the classroom. Perhaps most importantly, I wanted to be sure that what students were told about their writing at home was consistent with what I taught in the classroom. So with that in mind, I've assembled an article that you can share with families: "5 Things Writing Workshop Teachers Want Parents to Know."

Kit And Dick Schmoker Reading Center- By The Numbers, Guy Trainin, Amanda Hall, Britney Tonniges

Research and Evaluation in Education, Technology, Art, and Design

This is an infographic showing the activity at the UNL Reading Center since it's inception.

Self-Management Of Classroom Transitions For Students With Attention Disorders, Colleen Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to ascertain if students with ADHD in an inclusive classroom who display off-task behaviors, particularly during transitioning between instructional activities, can effectively utilize a self-monitoring plan to decrease these behaviors. In order for the rapidly growing number of special education students to integrate successfully and smoothly within the general education learning environment, certain inappropriate behaviors should be eliminated, if possible, or at least decreased through self-awareness and direct self-management. Punitive consequences are not always an effective means of eradicating certain types of behaviors. Three middle school students with ADHD participated in the study using …

The Effects Of Positive Behavioral Interventions And Support On Student Discipline Referrals And Attendance, Gregory E. Ross

Dissertations

As school districts work to utilize instructional time, student behavior is often a huge hindrance to maximizing instruction. In 2001 while at the University of Oregon, Horner and Sugai created Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS), now utilized in over 7,000 schools throughout the country (Sugai & Horner, 2002). This program is provided to schools throughout Kentucky through a federal grant extended to the Kentucky Center for Instructional Discipline (KYCID).

This study analyzed PBIS in an elementary school in southwest Kentucky, McNabb Elementary, to measure the effect of PBIS on student discipline referrals and attendance. Referrals were evaluated from 2006-2012, …

Student-Teacher Interactions For Bringing Out Student Ideas About Energy, Benedikt W. Harrer, Michael Wittmann, Rachel Scherr

Faculty Publications

Modern middle school science curricula use group activities to help students express their thinking and enable them to work together like scientists. We are studying rural 8th grade science classrooms using materials on energy. Even after spending several months with the same curriculum on other physics topics, students' engagement in group activities seems to be restricted to creating lists of words that are associated with energy. Though research suggests that children have rich and potentially valuable ideas about energy, our students don't seem to spontaneously use and express their ideas in the classroom. Only within or after certain interactions with …

Turkish Pre-Service Teachers` Perceived Self-Efficacy Beliefs And Knowledge About Using Expository Text As An Instructional Tool In Their Future Classroom Settings, Kasim Yildirim, Seyit Ates

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The aim of this research was to examine Turkish pre-service teachers` knowledge and perceived self-efficacy beliefs toward using expository text as an instructional tool in their future classroom settings. The research sample were 346 pre-service teachers who studied in different teacher preparation programs which included elementary classroom and middle content classrooms (for example, science, social studies and Turkish language arts) teaching professions. A teacher efficacy inventory and a knowledge test about using expository text were developed and administered to the pre-service teachers in a public university in Turkey. The research findings showed that there was a small but positive correlation …

Implications Of The No Child Left Behind Legislation On Career And Technical Education, Thomas Kyle Wallace

Dissertations

The passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation in 2001 brought about a multitude of education reform policies for education institutions that made the future of Career and Technical Education’s (CTE) role in secondary educations unclear. These mandates forced educational leaders to emphasize student enrollment in tracks that prepare them for post-secondary educational opportunities that require a stronger background in academic courses. The standards-based mandates required by NCLB legislation make promotion of CTE courses more difficult because these courses are primarily elective courses and have caused educational agencies to look at what CTE programs provide in terms of meeting …