Browsing by Subject "Secondary Education"
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Item The Effect of Implementing the Orton-Gillingham Approach to Reading on the Decoding Abilities of Struggling Eighth and Tenth Grade Readers(2019-05-14) Taylor, Caroline; Masters of EducationThe purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the Orton-Gillingham approach to reading on eighth and tenth grade decoding abilities. This was a two-group quasi-experimental study that used students who were not randomly selected. Each class contained three students. The study used the results of the Woodcock Johnson Test of Achievement IV: Letter-Word Identification subtest measurement tool. Results of the statistical analysis indicated that the null hypothesis that intervention would have no effect on the students’ reading levels could not be rejected at the customary level of statistical significance. Further analysis using effect sizes, however, indicated that there was a strong treatment effect. Not rejecting the null hypothesis, therefore, was due to the small sample size rather than trivial treatment effects. If the study were replicated with larger samples, the null hypothesis would most likely be rejected at typical p-levels.Item Mainstream Teachers' Perspectives on Secondary English Learner Engagement in Inclusive Classrooms: Communities of Practice(2021-12-17) Gull, Katherine; Hood College Education Department; Hood College Doctoral Program in Organizational LeadershipPublic school systems across the United States face the challenge of effectively educating high school immigrant students who are learning English. In many states, high school English Learner (EL) students are aging out, dropping out, and are not achieving academic success. In the large school system site of this study, the research-based practice was for EL students to be placed in general education or mainstream courses. Mainstreaming was followed as an equitable practice which allowed EL students to simultaneously acquire English and required credits towards graduation. Wanting to explore how general education teachers experienced mainstreaming of their EL students, this qualitative study examined perspectives about EL student inclusion, their sense of efficacy, impact on workload, obstacles, and successes. This study was grounded in learning as a Community of Practice, or according to Wenger (2015), a group of people with a shared passion who learn through interaction, and integrated key second language acquisition theory. The classroom is a learning community where a sense of belonging facilitates interaction through input, output, and feedback. Belonging to the learning Community of Practice builds identity and makes meaning, all critical elements in EL student success. The study involved comparing survey data on the perception of EL students in mainstream classrooms, interview data from mainstream teachers assigned EL students, and EL student engagement data based on class attendance. Data analysis revealed a cycle of learning mainstream teachers experienced when working with EL students; it consisted of five elements, Discovery, Emotional Reaction, Solutions Search, Observation, and Reflection/Learning. The identification and understanding of the cycle of behaviors that occurred in the classroom will enable administrators and system leaders to adjust and effectively support teachers during different stages of learning, increasing EL student access to the classroom Community of Practice. This study justifies support for teachers through professional learning about working with EL students. This study also highlighted the need for policy changes such as requiring pre-service teacher training on how to effectively teach English Learner students.Item Mindfulness Practices to Improve Stress Management and Motivation in the Secondary Classroom(2020-05) Owens, Rachael; Masters of EducationThe purpose of this study was to gain insight about how mindfulness practices and information sessions about stress and stress management affected self-reported stress and motivation levels of adolescent high school students. This study was intended to provide insight into how participants responded to stress management practices such as mindful meditation incorporated into their everyday life. As anticipated, the student participants reported high levels of everyday stress due to various factors such as school work, communication with peers, and planning for college. The majority of students found the mindful meditation practices helpful and realized a correlation between stress and motivation levels but did not see a long-term trend of being less stressed overall. The treatment group for the study consisted of 22 student participants enrolled in the elective Psychology of the Individual, who participated in three mental health seminars and mindful meditation every other day for three weeks. The control group included 19 students who were also enrolled in the elective Psychology of the Individual with the researcher as their teacher. The null hypothesis was retained as students in the treatment group did not report being significantly less stressed and more motivated than students in the control group after the intervention. However, observations and some student-reported feedback suggested the intervention was informative and further investigation of the correlation between stress and motivation are warranted, especially given today’s turbulent environment.Item Process Differentiation for Academically Diverse High School Classrooms(2018-05-07) Malesh, Sarah; Masters of EducationThis study evaluated the effects of process differentiation on student literary analysis performance in a standard level 11th grade English class. Differentiation aims to help students of all ability levels succeed in diverse, inclusive classrooms. Process differentiation focuses on manipulating the “processing” part of a lesson, the part where students are learning new information, to help differentiate instruction for students. Literary analysis is a popular writing assessment for high school English students due to its use in standardized assessments, like PARCC. Literary analysis requires students to read multiple texts and compare their themes through a written prompt. The students in the experimental group of this study (n = 23) had differentiated process instruction based on ability level, whereas the students in the control group (n = 27) had non-differentiated process instruction when reading two texts. Results of pretesting indicated that the groups did not differ significantly in their ability to conduct literary analysis prior to the intervention. On a posttest literary analysis assessment based off of the two texts, the mean score of the experimental group (Mean = 6.04, SD = 0.88) was significantly higher than that of the control group (Mean = 5.07, SD = 1.00) [t(48) = 3.62, p = 001]. This provides evidence that process differentiation is an effective instructional strategy. Implications, threats to validity, and ideas for future research are discussed.Item Using Student Feedback as a Tool to Improve Instructional Strategies(2019-12-13) Crawford, Chynna; Masters of EducationThis study focuses on the effects of repeated student evaluations of teacher’s effectiveness and its impact on improving instructional strategies in a secondary classroom. The secondary classroom is often a challenging environment for all teachers. Teachers in secondary education are always looking for innovative ways to engage students in to the lesson. Many teachers find it difficult to implement instructional strategies every student will find engaging. This is especially true for students with significant behavior problems within the classroom environment. Teachers are continuously looking for feedback on their instruction to improve their practice in order to create an effective learning environment. So why not help teachers improve their instructional strategies utilizing the audience they serve daily? What if students provided teachers with feedback on how to improve and create engaging strategies? The first section of this literature review defines feedback and explains its importance in relation to students and their academic achievement. The second section focuses on the effects of student feedback on instructional practices within a learning environment. The final section discusses possible interventions to improve instructional support in a secondary classroom derived from student feedback.