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

Imagining The Possible: Reflections On Teaching A Writing Methods Course For Pre-Service Undergraduate Secondary English/Language Arts Teachers, Emily S. Meixner

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

What's possible in a teaching writing methods class? In this essay, the author provides a descriptive portrait of the undergraduate secondary writing methods course she teaches, focusing on five specific learning outcomes: teacher writing identities, knowledge of writer's craft, grammatical awareness and an understanding of linguistic justice/injustice, writing workshop methodology, and genre-based unit and lesson planning. Course readings, assignments, and work samples are included.

Humanizing The Teaching Of Writing By Centering The Writer, Naitnaphit Limlamai

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

In this work, the author explains how she prepared preservice secondary teachers to consider themselves as writers and to teach writing in more humanizing ways. She first describes how preservice teachers were guided to cultivate identities as writers and broaden ideas of “writing.” With new knowledge about themselves as they developed writerly identities, they surfaced and unpacked existing ideas about learning how to write and built knowledge about teaching writing, creating teaching artifacts like unit and lesson plans, interacting with local adolescent writers in pen pal letters, and participating in simulated feedback sessions with adolescent writers. Asking preservice teachers to …

Teaching Writing As A Metacognitive Process, Heather Fox

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

In a writing methods course for future K-12 educators, preservice teachers examine the intersections of their experiences as writers, students, and future teachers through three interdependent projects. Completed between Fall 2019 and Spring 2022, this empirical study (n=138) includes Elementary Education, Middle Education, and (Secondary) English Teaching majors and focuses on the first project, Writing Memory, to examine how teaching writing as a metacognitive process facilitates preservice teachers’ understanding of how they and their future students developed, and are continuing to develop, as writers. The project analyzes students’ reflections on how they select and arrange previously written text to …

Variations On A Writing Methods Course: Two English Educators Across Four Decades, Amber Jensen, Deborah Dean

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This article draws on the intersecting autoethnographies of two writing methods instructors over the course of nearly 40 years as undergraduate students, secondary English teachers, and English educators to map the evolution of the undergraduate writing methods course at Brigham Young University (BYU). It identifies five foundational principles that have shaped the course curriculum, learning activities, and assessment, integrating artifacts and student examples to demonstrate the way they enact these principles with the preservice teachers in their classes. The authors conclude by identifying revisions and future directions for the course in its coming years.

On Writing Teacher Education, The Writing ‘Methods’ Course, And The Evolution Of A Community, Jonathan E. Bush, Erinn Bentley

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

Remote Learning - The Future Of Education: Effective Instructional Strategies Used By Parent Educators And Recommendations For Building Capacity, Raelene Ferguson Haugen

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed methods Delphi study was to identify the remote learning instructional strategies used by expert Southern California parent educators for implementing the anticipatory set, modeling, checking for understanding, and guided practice elements of Madeline Cheek Hunter’s Instructional Theory Into Practice (ITIP) framework. The study sought to identify how expert Southern California parent educators rated the effectiveness of the remote learning instructional strategies in the aforementioned elements of Hunter’s ITIP framework. Additionally, the purpose was to generate recommendations from expert Southern California parent educators to build capacity in the identified effective instructional strategies.

Methodology: The classical …

Educators’ Perceptions Of Middle Level Education In A State Without A Middle Level Teacher Credential, Ben Seipel, Rong-Ji Chen, Erika B. Daniels, Acacia M. Warren, Roxanne Greitz Miller

Education Faculty Articles and Research

The Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) presents a framework of middle level education and defines five essential attributes and 18 characteristics of successful middle schools (Bishop & Harrison, 2021). Young adolescents’ unique cognitive, moral, socio-emotional, and identity development is at the center of this framework. Several empirical studies suggest that middle school teachers with specialized preparation performed better in many key areas than their counterparts with elementary or secondary licensure (Mertens et al., 2005; Ochanji et al., 2016). Despite researchers’ calls for specialized preparation of middle grades teachers. California does not offer a middle level teacher credential. The purpose …

Perceptions Of Out-Of-School Reading Motivation For Female Middle School Students, Danielle Porch

Dissertations

Literacy engagement and motivation to read is lacking in middle school reading classrooms. Educators struggle with the challenge of motivating students to read and actively engage with text both inside and outside of school. Research indicates that female and male middle school students have unique characteristics and habits as readers. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the perspectives of female middle school students regarding their out-of-school recreational reading time, their attitudes towards reading, and their reading habits. The themes derived from this study indicated the students’ desires to have their reading instruction personalized and have their reading …

School Related Criminal Acts, Interpersonal Problems, And Classroom Behaviors As A Function Of The Proportion Of Black Students And Black Teachers, Leanne Zaire

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

This study’s purpose was to investigate school-level behavioral outcomes in relation to the proportion of Black teachers and students in U.S. schools. Negative school outcome and academic achievement gaps are well-documented. However, many of these studies utilized small, localized populations; my research used national data and focused on the problem behaviors in school. Drawing from Critical Race Theory, I hypothesized that a greater proportion of Black teachers would reduce school student problems and negative behaviors (e.g., student verbal abuse of teachers, widespread disorder in classrooms). After receiving a restricted-use license, I utilized data from 25,818 schools from the National Teacher …

Faculty Perspectives On Online Teaching In Higher Education: A Qualitative Approach To Understand Faculty Members’ Challenges And Experiences, Felix O. Quayson

Journal of Research Initiatives

This study explored faculty members' perspectives on online teaching in higher education and described, analyzed, and interpreted faculty members challenges and experiences of teaching online courses. Participants were twelve (12) faculty members who have taught online courses or currently teach online courses. Data was collected from 60-minutes semi-structured interview sessions, 78 open-ended questions, three research driving questions, background questionnaire, and personal artifacts from faculty members. Five major themes with subthemes, 15 code categories, and code co-occurrences emerged from the data collection, field notes, memos, and data analysis. However, not all of the code categories were replicated by all of the …

English Teachers' Opinions On Challenges Face In Teaching English As Foreign Language: The Case Of Jalalabad Selected Secondary Schools, Fahim Rahimi, Hangama Samadi

Journal of Research Initiatives

One important goal of teaching is to achieve learning outcomes. It has been observed in universities that many students have different levels of English language proficiency. However, they study in the same English courses at the school level. The main objective of this study is to learn the challenges that exist in teaching the English language as a foreign language in secondary schools that affect the English proficiency of students. In addition, ways in which these challenges will be overcome is reviewed. The data collection tools were questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to collect data from English language teachers in selected …

Esl Teachers And School Leaders Perspectives: Culturally Relevant Pedagogy In Elementary And Middle Grades Social Studies, Matthew John Wynne, Landon Hadley

Journal of Research Initiatives

The American public education system is undergoing significant changes. This is in regard to what students should be learning and how teachers should deliver quality instruction. English language learners (ELLs) are a group that demands time, attention, and special consideration. This is due to their increasing population in public schools and their low academic performance when compared to their native English-speaking students (Samson & Collins, 2012). English language learners are one of the fastest-growing student populations in the United States, with over 4.6 million students as of 2015 (McFarland et al., 2017). This qualitative study with a narrative inquiry approach …

Does The Mathematics Self-Concept Explain The Gender-Gap In Advanced Mathematics Achievement Among Us Secondary School Students?, Asitha Kodippili, Deepthika C. Senaratne

Journal of Research Initiatives

This study examines the role of self-concept regarding mathematical ability in explaining the gender gap in advanced mathematics performance of US high school students. The study is based on data generated from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 1995 – 2015), a large-scale project which investigated the relationship between self-concept in mathematics and mathematical achievement. In the US, secondary school males in advanced mathematics classes consistently show a statistically significant higher mathematics self-concept than females. Male students also consistently have significantly higher mathematical achievement scores than females. However, by controlling for the mathematics self-concept, we found that this …

7 Hands-On Strategies For Struggling Readers, Elise Murray, Stacey Murray

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

Struggling readers are found in almost every classroom across the world. With differing learning styles and abilities, teachers are encouraged now, more than ever, to be innovative when teaching foundational reading strategies. Within this article, readers are provided with a literature review of research and educational literature that discusses how multisensory, hands-on activities promote engagement and active learning for all students. The recommended seven hands-on learning strategies that can promote learning and support for struggling readers during literacy instruction include Build the Words, Feel the Words, Whole Body Letters, Five Finger Retell, Sight Word BINGO, …

De Bono's Six Hats Thinking Strategy For All Content Areas, Jamie Mahoney, Lynn Patterson, Carol Hall

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

Problem-solving and collaboration require people to compromise, negotiate, and brainstorm to understand, create, manage, judge, and be intuitive and remain positive and calm while working as a team to address problems. Teachers can teach students to collaborate and problem-solve in any content area using de Bono's Six Thinking Hats Strategy. Using de Bono's strategy, university students in this study explored learning hats and ways to apply learning hat properties to collaborate and problem solve in group activities. Researchers employed a mixed-method study enlisting both general education and special education pre-service undergraduate and in-service graduate teachers to discover personal thinking hat …

Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions And Knowledge Of Response To Intervention/Multitiered Systems Of Support, Alexandra J. Taylor, Tommy Wells, Amy E. Lein

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

There has been considerable research that establishes the need to improve teachers’ knowledge of and ability to effectively implement response to intervention (RtI)/multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), and there is a scarcity of research examining interventions addressing these concerns. In a mixed methods study, we examined the perceptions and knowledge of the RtI/MTSS frameworks of undergraduate preservice teaching candidates enrolled in a dual certification program at a small, private Catholic university in Kentucky, before and after participating in a semester-long, experiential learning project. The project involved monitoring both the reading and mathematics progress of struggling elementary or middle school-aged students …

Teaching With The Genius In Mind: Enacting Literacy As A Civil Right, Katie Glupker, Pam Gower, Angela Knight

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

Because literacy is a civil right, educators are responsible for designing and implementing literacy education that is designed with the excellence of all students in mind. In order to learn about ways to ensure that literary practices are equitable for all students, the authors joined an educators’ book club to read Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy by Gholdy Muhammad. Muhammad describes the Black literary societies of the past and challenges educators of today to enhance classrooms by upholding equity and excellence through a five-layered framework: Identity, Skills, Intellect, Criticality, and Joy.

We studied Muhammad’s …

Journeying Toward Liberation: Creating Civic Utopias Through Restorative Literacies, Rae L. Oviatt, Megan Mcelwee, Owen Farney

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

In this article, we forward three narratives from educators whose lived experiences moving from underrepresented youth to queer educators support the necessity of furthering representation for historically marginalized youth across classroom spaces. We begin with situating our argument in response to current policies that would seek to silence historically marginalized voices, histories, literacies, and thereby inhibit a more just social and civic future. Our narratives provide three varied perspectives of lived experiences as youth moving toward our current status as queer educators. Finally, we seek to call in other educators to engage advocacy and resources to support this work in …

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 …

Writing Instruction In The Middle Grades: A Cross-Cultural Inquiry Of Teacher Perceptions And Practices In South Korea And The United States, Carrie Eunyoung Hong, Geon-Ah Choi

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

Despite its importance in promoting student academic achievement and career development, writing pedagogy has received little emphasis in research and professional development efforts. The purpose of this study was to examine teacher perceptions and practices of writing in the middle grades from a cross-cultural perspective. 16 middle-grade teachers from South Korea and one state within the United States were recruited for a semi-structured interview. Transcripts of the interview responses were analyzed, using a constant comparison method. The findings showed that teachers’ instructional practices in writing were contextualized with their personal and professional knowledge and experiences. Country specific patterns were found …

Teacher Perceptions Of Self-Efficacy Before And After Engaging In Hevruta Or Psychodrama-Based Online Workshops, Merav Berger

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

Teacher self-efficacy is a construct that continues to be extensively researched. With the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, the learning environment has shifted dramatically and has had an impact on Jewish educators’ sense of efficacy. This study examined the pre- and post-test scores for self-efficacy of Jewish educators who engaged in either an online psychodrama-based professional development workshop, a hevruta-based workshop, or an integrated session using both psychodrama and hevruta study. The participants were 28 Jewish educators from around the United States who were split into one of six groups. Two psychodrama-based groups and two integrated groups met online for …

Fostering Students' Critical Consciousness As Decolonizing Practice Within An Ethnic Studies Framework, Fatima Hansia

Education | Master's Theses

This research explored how teachers were teaching critical consciousness as decolonizing pedagogy within Tolteka R. Cuauhtin’s Ethnic Studies Framework (Cuauhtin, 2019b) at an alternative education high school. Critical consciousness—an expansive term developed by Paolo Freire in the 1960s—advocates for a problem-posing approach to education that includes essential elements of praxis (reflection and action), development of holistic humanity, critical examination of the processes of violence and power, and social-justice oriented self-empowerment among students that leads to actionable community change (Freire, 2005). Even though the conceptualization of Ethnic Studies as a theoretical framework is strong, there is a lack of existing studies …

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 …

Trauma Healing With The Neurosequential Model Of Therapy And Bal-A-Vis-X, Becky Johnston

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Stigma related to childhood trauma is shifting with the help of advancements in the understanding of neurobiology and interventions that are proving to be effective for healing. There are immense costs and consequences for survivors of childhood trauma and their loved ones that were not so long ago considered irrelevant and the notion that kids bounce back from adversity was previously popular in the psychological community (Perry & Szalavitz, 2017). The broad strokes of Dr. Bruce Perry’s clinical intervention model, The Neurosequential Model of Therapy (NMT) describes a trauma-sensitive, sequential approach to changing the stress response within mental health counseling. …

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 …

Supporting English Language Learners: Preparing Content Area Teachers To Promote Academic Achievement Among Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Learner Populations., Molly K. Roesler

Masters Projects

Teachers throughout the United States continue to be ill-prepared to support the evergrowing English Language Learner (ELL) population. ELLs often experience less academic achievement than their non-ELL peers. One factor in this academic gap is the amount of preparation content area teachers receive. Content area teachers are not sufficiently prepared to teach ELLs because of the lack of training they receive in Second Language Acquisition theories and strategies. This project examines what the research has identified as negative factors that result in lack of teacher preparation, and how to address these factors. Additionally, the project examines what the research highlights …

The Effects Of Incorporating Kinesthetic Learning On Learning Outcomes And On-Task Behavior, Katherine Sauro

Master's Theses

This action research study used a mixed methods design to examine the effects of kinesthetic learning on student learning outcomes, and on task behavior in a sixth-grade social studies classroom. Data was collected during a three-week period. The treatment group was presented with kinesthetic lessons, purposeful movement, and brain breaks. The control group remained stationary during their lessons. Findings suggested an increase in both on-task behavior, and learning outcomes. In addition to examining learning outcomes and on task behavior, student's perceptions were also considered through the students’ completion of weekly surveys. These surveys suggested that providing movement to students positively …

Exploring The Benefits Of Peer Tutoring On Elementary Students' Academic Outcomes, Jacqueline Gardner

Master's Theses

This action research study was created to determine if students’ motivation plays an important role in their academic outcomes in a sixth-grade classroom. Peer tutoring was implemented as an intervention throughout a six-week duration to promote students’ intrinsic motivation and to identify any associated student academic outcomes. Preliminary findings showed that students liked to connect with academic content, and they liked to work with their peers. This presentation will provide information about the positive effects of students having or gaining intrinsic motivation, and it will have recommendations about different classroom tools that can have a positive impact on elementary students’ …