Thesis (MA) -- AUT University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. Also held in print ( viii, 135 leaves ; 30 cm.) in the Archive at the City Campus (T 428.0071 HAR)

Thesis (D.Ed.) in Counselor Education--University of Maine, 2009. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-110).

<p> Response to intervention (RtI) has created a need to shift from the excluded special education model to a more inclusive model creating a need for increased communication and collaboration when students are exposed to instruction in multiple settings. The basic qualitative research design was used to explore the types and level of communication and collaboration that exists among educators who work with at-risk students through the RtI model in a single South Carolina school district. The study included six teachers and six interventionists, who participated in focus group discussions, classroom observations, and individual personal interviews, and four administrators who participated in individual interviews. The findings of this study indicated, for the most part, that educators held positive attitudes in their role within the organization and his or her ability to communicate and collaborate to effectively provide sound instruction for struggling learners. All participants were aware that the need for collaboration and the need to share information were everyone&rsquo;s responsibility and a necessary part of supporting each student. The findings suggest that administrators felt structures were in place for communication and collaboration to exist among educators, however no suggestion of a common planning time within the daily schedule nor examples from teachers or interventionists in true collaborative roles were evident. Moreover, interventionists were best able to describe examples of true collaborative efforts they had initiated with teachers to coordinate skills or concepts they were teaching in their classrooms. The findings show, the interventionists hope for a change in the current policy in most schools, which excludes the interventionists from data team meetings and RtI meetings where next steps in the child&rsquo;s education plan are formulated and decided.</p>

<p> This study examined the effects of a self-regulation strategy, self-talk, on the improvement of executive function. Executive functions are a set of cognitive processes that underlie goal-directed behavior. These processes guide, direct, and manage thinking, emotional responses, and behavior. High executive function has been correlated with academic achievement. Early childhood teachers play an important role in helping young children learn to regulate thinking and behavior. This mixed-design experimental study demonstrated the ease of including self-talk in the daily curriculum through the use of children's literature. The 53 participants were third-graders in an elementary school setting. The Teacher Form of the Delis Rating of Executive Function (D-REF) measured executive function as pre- and posttest for the control and experimental groups. A 2 x 2 split-plot ANOVA calculated the effects of the group assigned and executive function. Students in the experimental group were interviewed following the intervention to obtain student perceptions of self-talk and its impact on learning. Results indicated that students in the self-talk classes showed significant improvement in executive function skills. The findings offer useful insight to the benefits of self-talk in the elementary school setting.</p>

<p> The relationship between teacher-assigned standards-based grades and teacher-assigned traditional grades and student achievement on the Missouri Assessment Program was examined for all students of the sample. The 120 participants for this study were third graders during the 2012-2013 school year transitioned to fourth grade during the 2013-2014 school year. The students were enrolled in Elementary School A in rural Missouri. One hundred twenty students&rsquo; permanent traditional and standards-based grade cards and Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) scores provided the data to determine the relationship between teacher assigned standards-based grade cards or teacher-assigned traditional grade cards and student achievement. The findings of this study provide strong suggestions for school districts considering a standards-based grading and reporting system in response to the recent transition away from traditional grading practices. The results of this study showed a significant relationship between teacher-assigned standards-based grades and student achievement on the MAP in the content areas of English Language Arts and Mathematics. The results of the study suggest standards-based grade reporting offers precise information concerning student learning that can be used as a measure of student achievement.</p>

<p> This particularistic qualitative case study design examined reading strategies, approaches, and resources teachers of ELL students in kindergarten through third grade use to support reading development and promote the home to school connection regarding literacy proficiency. The purpose of this study was to examine strategies, resources, and approaches used to support home-to-school partnerships focused on reading development of K-3 ELLs in the X Public School District. Data analysis resulted in six emergent themes consisting of 22 teacher interviews. The first finding in this study that was revealed through teacher interviews identified guided reading, visual aides, reader&rsquo;s theater, and modeling/oral reading fluency as strategies that contribute to ELLs reading proficiency. In the second finding, teachers identified inviting parents to volunteer in the classroom, sending home a reading log that helps track the students&rsquo; reading at home, and inviting parent participation in extracurricular activities as approaches to encourage partnerships regarding reading development of ELLs. The results of this study provided recommendations for educational leaders to provide teachers specific professional development to encourage parent participation to focus on increasing students&rsquo; reading development that is tailored to the students&rsquo; and caregivers&rsquo; language needs. For future research, it is recommended that the study be replicated using different school districts to determine if similar findings were consistent across different districts.</p>

<p> The impact of poverty on one rural elementary school&rsquo;s student achievement was measured based on formative and summative assessment data. Student assessment data were examined to determine if strong relationships can be linked between students living in poverty and academic achievement. Additionally, parental perceptions were addressed as to whether or not parents are engaged in their child&rsquo;s education, and if so, does this engagement impact student achievement. The topic was chosen for the relevancy of determining students&rsquo; instructional needs and how best to move the elementary in a positive direction academically. The socio-economic levels of families in the area studied are unlikely to change for the better; however, the level of student academic achievement can change for the better. Presently, elementary schools with high poverty rates and high academic achievement do exist, as described in specific detail in this paper. The data from this study indicated some students currently living in poverty are capable of achieving on a high academic level. The data from this study also showed all students who performed below proficiency within the research sample were also living in poverty. This quantitative study involved examination of how students living in poverty and students not living in poverty achieved academically. Details are provided on how schools with high numbers of students living in poverty can be academically successful.</p>

<p> The focus of this research is in the area of Response to Intervention (RTI) and its effect on academic achievement in elementary schools in rural Missouri. In light of the regulations within the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 and its accountability requirements for schools, this study is important and timely in order to provide valuable examples of effective RTI processes. The research approach adopted in this dissertation was a quantitative approach; therefore, quantitative analysis was utilized during a statistical comparison of elementary schools in Missouri and a review of information from a survey distributed to elementary principals in Missouri. The findings from this research were statistically significant in relation to improved academic achievement after the implementation of RTI processes. The goal of school administrators and teachers is to implement strategies to meet the educational needs of students. The RTI processes may serve as a viable strategy for this goal to be achieved.</p>

<p> For low-income minority and marginalized communities, American democracy&rsquo;s educational mission remains unfulfilled. Student voices have provided insight into ways that schools disserve and serve students and how schools can improve in promoting academic achievement; however, academically successful low-income students&rsquo; voices&mdash;particularly those at the elementary school level&mdash;are largely excluded from the literature. Providing a platform for student voices, this qualitative, intrinsic critical case study explored six high achieving low-income students&rsquo; views of their academic success and how that success was achieved. Participants were six fifthgrade students, their parents, and teacher, in a school-wide Title I urban public school. Data were collected over a 12-week period through individual interviews, observation, participation, and semiformal conversations. Using an immersive pattern analysis, four main categories emerged from the student interview data: student beliefs about their role; classroom structures; teacher practices; and family support. The study found four principal success factors: a dynamic effortdriven view of success and intelligence; a rigorous dialogic classroom that prioritized student voice, critical thinking, collaboration, and social imagination; an accountable classroom culture viii of high expectations and mastery learning; and the richly diverse experiences and teachings of parents and families as valuable funds of knowledge. Implications and recommendations are included for policy, practice, and future research.</p>

<p> Recently, a great deal of interest has been generated around the role of principal and its effectiveness, especially its impact on improving teacher instruction and student learning. Waters, Marzano, and McNulty (2003) concluded that one quarter of all &ldquo;school effects&rdquo; on achievement can be attributed to principals. While there is general agreement on the principal&rsquo;s importance and affect, do we understand how principals have adapted to changes in schools with reduced resources and increased learning needs of students? How have principals made decisions in an environment where resources have been reduced over time? Given the stories of retired principals from high poverty elementary schools, the purpose of this narrative inquiry is to understand how principals made sense of their experience when having to respond to decreasing resources and the need for increased student achievement. Participants in the study included retired principals from high poverty elementary schools who were employed during the time period extending from 2008 through 2014. Findings from the study make sense of the meanings elementary principals have constructed and attached to the phenomena of decision-making in times of financial reduction in order to help other principals who have been challenged by similar circumstances. Three categories of leadership styles and seven skill areas emerged in the study. Principals made use of these styles and skills in their responses to the crisis.</p>