Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching Commons^™

A Case Study Of Secondary Students' Perspectives On Standards-Based Grading And The Development Of 21st Century Learner Attributes, Michelle Blackley

Dissertations

Implementation of standards-based grading (SBG) practices can be a high benefit, low-cost initiative that directly impacts student achievement and growth. This case study aimed to determine if the theoretical value of SBG outlined in research aligns to the students’ perspectives of its value on academic learning, growth and development of 21^st century skills. Secondary students were interviewed and responses were organized into three themes: development of 21st century learner attributes, strengths of SBG and areas to improve. Results revealed that SBG supports individualized learning pace, development of a growth mindset, emotional well-being, student to teacher collaboration and 21^{st …}

Promoting Play-Based Learning Strategies In The Upper Elementary And Lower Middle School Classroom, Michelle L. Randall

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This white paper is framed by an understanding of the proposed influence play has on the process of supporting children’s developmental needs while simultaneously strengthening their ability to receive and recall academic content. The white paper is driven by a self-motivated desire to reimagine the ways in which teachers deliver and review content at the upper elementary and lower middle school level. By upper elementary, I am referring to the 4^th and 5^th grade classroom. By lower middle school, I am referring to the 6^th grade classroom.

The past decade of research regarding play-based pedagogy and play-based …

Student Voice And Choice: Factors Influencing Student Participation In Secondary Arts Classes In An Urban Public School District, Alan D. Lambert Ed. D.

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

The purpose of this study was to capture the student voice regarding the value, importance, and relevance of visual and performing arts education in public schools. The host institution for the study was an urban school district in the southern central United States serving 75,000 students, with 55% students identified as Hispanic, and 52% of students experiencing poverty. Graduating seniors responded via questionnaires with forced choice and open-ended items regarding several topics, including what they do in their free time, how they perceive the value of arts classes at school, access to arts classes and the match of their interests …

Student Motivation And Engagement In The Middle School Math Classroom: How Can Teachers Respond?, Sarah Janae Mcglothlin

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

This study investigated the factors that contribute to and take away from middle school students’ active and meaningful participation in math class. The study also sought to gather students’ opinions and ideas for how their teachers could better engage and motivate them in the middle school math classroom setting. Using surveys, student interviews, and a teacher focus group, the researcher gathered and coded data via the constant comparative method and identified the major themes of intrinsic motivators, extrinsic motivators, distractions, and impacts of COVID-19 as key factors. The study also generated the concepts of teacher assistance, lesson style and activities, …

Examining The Effect Of Social Emotional Learning On Student Perceptions Of The Safety And Comfortability In The Theatre Classroom, Emily Wooten

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

This study examined the effects of social emotional learning (SEL) on student perceptions of safety and comfortability in the theatre classroom. The researcher implemented SEL lessons using a morning meeting/class meeting format. Data was collected using a pre-survey, field notes, and focus group interviews. Data was analyzed using the constant comparative method to look for recurring themes to use for poetic transcription. Four primary codes, entitled “Will You Please Join Us?,” “Friend or Foe?,” “Climbing the Mountain of Anxiety,” and “The Love of Theatre” were used to create their own unique poem demonstrating the thoughts and emotions of the students …

A Sociocultural Analysis Of Book-Length Works Mentioned In The English Journal, 2010-2020, Elizabeth Price

Curriculum and Instruction Undergraduate Honors Theses

Between 2010 and 2020, the book-length works mentioned in the English Journal were recorded in order to assess societal and professional trends reflected in the uptake of these books in pedagogical articles. The data shows a continued heavy presence of canonical literature, particularly Shakespearean plays, as well as an increase in diverse perspectives, a higher respect for new genres such as Young Adult Literature and the Graphic Novel in the classroom, and a pushback on two popular novels, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Educators’ Adolescent Experiences And Their Implementation Of Positive Behavioral Interventions And Supports, Je Quila D. Broussard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) is a framework comprised of several tiers to address students’ emotions and academics. Although educators utilize PBIS in their classroom management, they encounter barriers that hinder implementation. The purpose of the study was to discover, through qualitative interviews, how educators’ adolescent experiences with behavior/classroom management and the positive and negative consequences they experienced in school influenced their values and beliefs about classroom management and their implementation of the PBIS framework in middle schools in Texas. Bandura’s social cognitive theory provided the theoretical framework used to craft the research questions. The central research question examined …

Effect Of 100% Virtual Learning Modality On Middle Level Learners, Madison Stanton

KU Inspires! Undergraduate Research Day

Teachers and students have been incorporating technology into instructional practices for quite some time. Technology has multiple benefits. However, concerns have been developing due to the increase in technology. While these concerns were being explored, the COVID-19 pandemic hit causing schools to move quickly to 100% virtual learning. Our investigation sought to identify the effects of 100% virtual learning modality on middle level students from their teachers' perspectives. Findings will be shared and solutions discussed.

Keywords: Technology, Middle School, Perspectives, COVID-19, Virtual Learning, KU BEARS.

Connecting Confidence To College Mathematics And High School Ability Tracks, Kaleb Wourms

Honors Projects

Ability tracking within mathematics education is commonplace in American high schools. Some feel that students’ ability tracks act as a predictor for their success in university mathematics. Research has shown that many factors, such as socioeconomic status and more, have substantial effects on student success. The purpose of this study was to further investigate variables related to success in university mathematics. Confidence in mathematics is one factor in student performance that is particularly under-researched. This research investigated the relationship between ability tracking in high school mathematics, student confidence level, and performance in university mathematics. Data was gathered via a survey. …

Teaching And Integrating Women’S Studies Into The Classroom: Perspectives Of Elementary Teachers, Thomas Lucey

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Women’s studies represent an underappreciated aspect of elementary education. Whether or how classrooms and their resources portray, present, and value women role-models informs both boys and girls about what passes for acceptable communication, treatment, and conduct towards women. Indeed, the extent to which and the basis that a young citizenry is taught to appreciate others informs the nature of the conversations engaged.

This paper describes the results of a research study that interpreted elementary teachers’ perspectives of women’s studies in elementary settings. The online survey was administered as part of the registration for two workshops that prepared teachers in the …

Designing A Tool And Cooperative Learning: A Macos Inspired Activity, Jeffrey Byford, Jennifer Cordero, Alisha Milam, Kate Chambers, Presley Shilling

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This simulation activity presents how elements of Man: A Course of Study (MACOS) can be implemented into the social studies classroom. Inspired by the Tool-Making Activity found in MACOS, this modified simulation activity prompts students to design an instrument to peel an orange as they discuss life and daily tasks related to the Great Plains settlement.

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 & …

Lesson Plan Template For Clinical Practice, Teaching Performance Assessment, And In-Service Teaching, Karen Escalante

Teacher Education and Technology Faculty Publications

Becoming an effective teacher takes time, preparation, purposeful planning and deep knowledge of your students and the content / curriculum. Purposeful lesson planning supports you in your development as an educator and it works to ensure PK-12 students are being taught to think and engage with the content area, with the ultimate goal of transferring that knowledge to global understandings and patterns.

Music Is The Intervention: The Intersections Of Music As A Therapeutic Activity In At-Risk Youth, Gladys H. Gonzalez Landaverde

Senior Honors Theses

Across the United States, public schools face many discrepancies in the quality and caliber of education that a student can expect to receive. While schools try to address the vast needs of students, many children and adolescents are unfortunately faced with choosing between prioritizing their education and the circumstances faced outside of the school day. The discrepancies in schooling range from the quality in the commonly accepted core curriculum like English and mathematics to the opportunities offered outside of traditional academia like music. Unfortunately, at-risk students are unlikely to have access to music education in the same ease as their …

An Analysis Of Early Career Educator Experiences And The Impact Of Teacher Recruitment Initiatives, Induction Programs, And Retention Efforts In One School District, John Liddon Pope

Dissertations

The K-12 public education system faces a teacher shortage dilemma of unprecedented proportions. At the onset of the school year, out-of-field teachers, underqualified teachers, or long-term substitutes often fill instructional vacancies, causing many students to begin the school year with uncertainty. Recruiting, training, and retaining highly qualified teachers is critical to student success. The purpose of this study was to analyze early career educator experiences and the impact of teacher recruitment initiatives, induction programs, and retention efforts in one school district, explore common practices in recruitment, induction, and retention in other school districts, and develop strategies and actions to mitigate …

Taking Time To B.R.E.A.T.H.E.: Strategies For Strengthening Staff And Student Well-Being, Joelle Hood

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

When students and staff experience chronic stress, it negatively impacts their motivation, performance, and wellbeing, Participants in this engaging workshop will walk away with simple research-based practices from the fields of Mindfulness and Positive Psychology, that they can utilize with both themselves and students to reduce stress and anxiety, improve attention and performance, and strengthen overall physical and psychological well-being.

Is Your School An A.S.S.E.T.?: Focusing On School Mental Health And Equitable Instruction, Emily Meeks Focused Minds Education Group, Taneesha Thomas

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

This workshop provides Educators classroom resources that can be used within existing curriculum frameworks to enhance the mental health literacy of both students and teachers.

The session suggests strategies to implement strategic, systemic and sustainable changes which promote academic growth, resiliency and wellness.

Special Education Teacher Burnout: Examining The Role Of Educator Preparation Programs In Prevention, Brittany L. Straub

Dissertations

Teacher burnout is increasingly problematic, especially for special education teachers who have a unique set of job responsibilities. Survey and interview data was used in this phenomenological study to examine how the educator preparation program (EPP) experience and self-authorship journey of early career special education teachers impact their potential to experience burnout. Data findings regarding level of self-perceived burnout, recollections of being or not being taught stress management and coping strategies in their EPPs, recollections of the self-authorship journey, and intentions for remaining in the career are shared in this dissertation. The essence of this phenomenon can be summed up …

Accessibility And Usage Of School Library Materials And Facilities By Social Studies Teachers In Sapele Metropolis, Sunday Obro

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study examined the accessibility and usage of school library materials and facilities by Social Studies teachers in Sapele metropolis. One hundred and four (104) social studies teachers were the selected study sample using the purposive sampling method. Two (2) instruments were employed for the gathering of data. They are an observation checklist and a questionnaire. The data gathered were analysed using mean. The study revealed that most library materials and facilities were not accessible. In addition, it was discovered that non-print media were lacking. However, textbooks and print assets and materials were accessible. Also, the study exposed that poor …

In The Middle Of Appalachia: Balancing Teacher Talk With Student Discourse, Ronald V. Morris, Denise Shockley, Sonya Davis

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Appalachian students co-constructed knowledge with their teacher while examining a non-fiction book about Thanksgiving. Fifth grade students used an informational trade book to promote student discourse while using text-based evidence. Students learned about Native Americans and Pilgrims as they engaged in student discourse balanced with teacher talk. Students used an inquiry arc that involved questioning texts and examining sources, and inquiry helped students to investigate narrative text as a source of data. Students used inquiry to enhance their metacognition about historical events. Students exercised agency as they recounted family history and their heritage as part of their memory. Remembering was …

Formative Assessment To Help Students Decode, Process, And Evaluate Social Studies Information, Cory Callahan

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Here the author explores formative assessment within a context of research-based social studies instructional approaches. While the notions of inquiry, alternative assessment, disciplinary thinking and interpretation, and using visual documents as powerful resources each provide an important element of conceptual structure, this article purposefully concentrates on the process of constructive evaluation. The author posits a wise-practice routine for developing formative assessment practices that cohere with criteria-based assessment and its tendency to describe what students did well, what they could have done differently to improve their recent academic performance, and, importantly, how they can improve subsequent academic performance. The article also …

History Or Heritage? An Analysis Of Ghana’S Primary School History Curriculum, Charles Adabo Oppong

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Abstract

At a time that history has gained its place in Ghana’s basic school curriculum, considerable differences of opinion arise, not about the subject’s significance in the school curriculum but concerning the legitimacy of the subject title - that is, whether or not the subject should be referenced ‘History of Ghana’ or ‘Heritage of Ghana’. The different opinions reflect Lowenthal’s (1998) observation that history and heritage are separate disciplines. However, the two subjects are often used interchangeably (Mermion, 2012) and “are habitually confused with each other” (Lowenthal 1998, p. x). While expert academics may be at ease with the distinctions …

The 6e Instructional Model In The Mathematics Classroom, Danielle K. Deutsch

Honors Projects

The focus of this action research study is to compare the 6E instructional model to a traditional instructional model in the mathematics classroom. Literature shows that the 5E model has a significant positive impact on subject mastery, knowledge permanence, and students’ attitude and interest toward the content. Further, the 6E model is shown to allow for easy implementation of tiered differentiation strategies so that all students’ needs are met. Two classes of seventh grade students received instruction on the same content, with one class receiving 6E instruction and the other receiving traditional, lecture-demonstration style instruction. Results showed that the 6E …

Trauma-Informed Educational Practices In The Middle School Classroom During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Loralynne Yost

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

This collective case study used a mixed methods approach to examine how Trauma-Informed Educational Practices (TIEP) manifest in the middle school classroom. This study is important due to the trauma students experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Teacher participants had district training in trauma-informed practices prior to this study.

Teacher participants took an initial survey to capture their conceptualization and perceived usage of the TIEP in the classroom. Teachers then used TIEP in their classrooms for two weeks. Teachers kept a checklist of which of the TIEP they used each day and commented on the context for the use of the …

Beating The Odds: High-Growth Schools Based On The Act Aspire Examinations, Serving Low-Income Communities, Charlene A. Reid, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

This section highlights high-growth schools across Arkansas based on the ACT Aspire examinations in Math and English Language Arts (ELA) for the 2020-2021 academic year. For these awards, we consider schools where at least 66% of the student body is eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (FRL).

High-poverty schools are ranked by school level (Elementary, Middle, or High) based on Overall Growth (Math and ELA combined), as well as for growth in each content area independently. High-poverty schools are also ranked within each region of the state. Tables include the region in which the school is located, the number of …

Project-Based Pedagogy: The Client's Perspective, Wayne Aho, Wendy Cagle, Jon Marvel, Michael Smith, Edward Wright

International Journal for Business Education

Project-based experiential business education seeks to provide students with lessons that are meaningful, practical, and enduring. While previous research has sought to understand how students and faculty members react to such educational experiences, it is also important to understand the perceptions of the business clients who engage with programs employing project-based education. The aim of this study was to better understand the experiences of business clients with whom students engaged as part of an undergraduate business capstone course. Two hundred fifty-three previous clients were surveyed with a 22.4% response rate. Responses were subjected to content analysis to cluster replies into …

Signature Pedagogy For Entrepreneurship Education: An Emerging Perspective, Ashley Gess, Eleonora Brivio, Gianluca De Leo

International Journal for Business Education

Entrepreneurial ways of thinking and doing intersect with the knowledge and skills that a global citizen needs to thrive. There is a robust body of scholarship that identifies core entrepreneurial skills however there is a dearth of evidence addressing how to successfully teach entrepreneurship. Using the lens of experiential learning, this qualitative study examines the surface, deep, and implicit structures of professional entrepreneurial culture toward revealing a meaningful, authentic pedagogical approach for entrepreneurship education. In order to achieve this outcome, researchers utilized a semi-structured comparable multiple-case study design to engage 19 incubated entrepreneurs in focus group interviews. A replication strategy …

Focus, Drive, And Motivation In Secondary School Populations, Lakeshia Cook

Dissertations

This study, Focus, Drive, and Motivation in Secondary Populations, addresses the topic of middle and high school student motivation to succeed in school. The aim was to discover what motivates and inspires student success. In this study, I delved into issues of low levels of student motivation, drive, and focus and the relative effect of these issues on school performance. The central purpose of this research was to find ways to foster greater levels of student focus, drive, and motivation during their middle and high school experience. The context of the study was a medium-sized charter middle school and a …

Cultivating Financial Literacy Through Secondary School Economics Education: Access To Powerful Knowledge, Emanuel Mizzi

International Journal for Business Education

‘Powerful knowledge’ is disciplinary knowledge that when learned, empowers students to make decisions in a way that will influence their lives in a positive way (Young, 2008). In this paper, the researcher employs this construct to explore the financial literacy education arising from studying secondary school economics. It emerges from the author’s research aimed at exploring teaching and learning in secondary school Maltese economics classrooms. The underlying conceptual framework for this study is critical realism. The study design consisted of interviewing and observing 14 economics teachers, together with four focus groups interviews with students. Data were analyzed by employing thematic …

Promoting Employer Desired Competencies Through A Multiphased "Workgroup" Project, Ashly Smith

International Journal for Business Education

Employers and business leaders have long been advocating for the importance of career readiness skills like critical thinking/problem solving, information literacy, teamwork/collaboration, professionalism/work ethic, and oral/written communication (NACE, 2019; Partnership, 2008). While faculty and students see value in projects that develop these skills, such projects can be some of the most challenging to incorporate effectively into business courses (Chapman et al., 2010; Detmering & Johnson, 2012; Lee et al., 2016; Marks & O’Connor, 2013). This article reports on a multi-phase group project that aims to strengthen a selection of these employer-desired skills while ameliorating student concerns about the research process …