<p> This research utilized an interpretive, multiple-case design to explore how fourth- and fifth-grade charter school students with high-incidence disabilities experienced instruction to participate in their annual IEP meetings and how they described their experiences of their meetings. Using student interviews, observations of the instruction and IEP meetings, review of instructional materials, and researcher-developed tools for students to self-record data, the study focused on <i>students'</i> perceptions of their experiences. Specifically, this research examined factors that motivated students to participate in their IEP meetings and factors that supported and impeded their participation. </p><p> A review of the literature revealed a wide gap around research on preparation of elementary students to participate in their IEP meetings. Much of the research on how best to involve students with disabilities in their educational programming has focused on student development and training in the context of transition planning, specifically with regards to self-determination skills (e.g., problem-solving, goal-setting, self-regulation). However, researchers have suggested that students in elementary grades may require adult support and monitoring, as well as contextual practice opportunities, in order to build self-efficacy in using these skills. </p><p> Results from the research are presented separately for each student and finally compared and contrasted across students. Findings were (a) students were primarily motivated to participate in their meetings out of a need to develop competence and mastery in their academic pursuits and (b) they perceived their teachers and mothers as critical supports in their efforts. Factors found to support and impede students' participation related to: accessibility of language and content, teachers' expectations for the students' participation, level of autonomy support students received, the extent to which students perceived their voices were validated, and the extent to which students' participation focused on strengths versus deficits. </p><p> The discussion provides an analysis of motivational, support, and impediment factors through a theoretical lens that integrates self-determination theory and self-efficacy theory. The discourse highlights the importance of autonomy support to enhanced student competence and ultimately to students' more active participation in their IEP meetings. Recommendations for future research, policy, and practice are provided.</p>

<p> Committed elementary teachers of science and engineering, members of a professional learning community called Collaborative Conversations in STEM, were studied to elicit their perceptions of experiences that influenced their commitment to, and their pedagogical content knowledge of, STEM teaching and learning. The hermeneutic phenomenological interviews enabled the teachers to express their beliefs in their own words. Data analysis employed a theoretical framework that investigated teacher epistemology and knowledge in light of their experiences. Findings revealed a web of lifelong experiences unique to each individual, and evidential of the committed elementary scientist-teachers&rsquo; present day values, teaching epistemology, lifelong learning, and emotional and intellectual engagement. Scientist-teachers are individuals whose teaching and learning characteristics reflect those of scientists and engineers.</p><p> Evidence indicated that no single transformative learning experience resulted in those elementary teachers&rsquo; commitment to STEM teaching and learning, but recent professional development activities were influential. Formal K-16 STEM learning was not uniformly or positively influential to the teachers&rsquo; commitment to, or knowledge of, STEM.</p><p> Findings suggest that ongoing professional development for STEM teaching and learning can influence elementary teachers to become committed to actively teaching STEM. The Collaborative Conversations in STEM provided intellectual and emotional engagement that empowered the teachers to provide STEM teaching and learning for their students and their colleagues overcoming impediments encountered in a literacy-focused curriculum. Elementary teachers actively committed to teaching science and engineering can undergo further transformation and emerge as leaders.</p>

No description available.

Elementary school students are confronted with a variety of everyday challenges ranging from comprehension obstacles to interpersonal conflict. Learning to cope effectively with moments of tension is an important part of a child's education because adaptation to stress is likely to influence academic and developmental success. However, empirical gaps exist with respect to stress and coping. There is a general lack of research concerned with stress and coping in educational settings, and what has been published focuses on adolescent and adult populations rather than children. Additionally, the majority of research addresses major life stress (e.g., traumatic events) rather than the everyday stress that students encounter at school. This dissertation is an effort to address these concerns. Comprised of three studies, the project examines the stress that students in middle childhood (grades 3-5) commonly experience at school, how students cope with stress at school, and what educators might do to help students develop adaptive coping strategies. Results illustrate the daily school stress in students, need for students to learn how to manage academic and peer problems, and role of the teacher in coping development. Concluding thoughts and a research agenda for future work are included.

<p> The purpose of this case study was to examine the School-Wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) impact on five selected student performance factors. A literature review revealed there have been many SWPBS research studies regarding traditional public schools. However, there have not been any published empirical SWPBS studies involving K-12 alternative public schools. Addressing this gap in the literature a Midwestern K-12 alternative public school involving 1,164 students was studied 2007&ndash;08 through 2010&ndash;11. Data were collected through several school information systems including School Administration Student Information System (SASI), School-Wide Information System (SWIS), and Power School. The independent variable SWPBS was investigated regarding its impact on the five dependent variables academic achievement, attendance, office discipline referrals, dropout rate, and persistence to graduation. Frequencies and percentages of each variable were analyzed using the Chi-square &ldquo;goodness of fit&rdquo; test (field, 2009).</p><p> Previous studies at traditional public schools reported SWPBS positively impacted the five student performance factors, however this case study did not yield any significant findings at the K-12 alternative public school. Specifically, there were no significant differences between the first year when there was no SWPBS and the fourth year when SWPBS was fully implemented. These outcomes raised more questions than answers. (a) Do the students at K-12 alternative public schools require a different threetiered level system as compared to those in the traditional public schools? (b) Does the process of advancing from one level to another take a longer time for these students? (c) Does professional development need to focus more on how to provide SWPBS strategies to at-risk and special needs students at K-12 alternative public schools? (d) Does the plan of gradually working through the SWPBS initial stages to full implementation take more years for the K-12 alternative public schools to achieve?</p><p> Since there are no empirical studies for K-12 alternative public schools to use as guides, future research is essential to answers these questions. The findings and conclusions of this case study will guide building level and school district leaders as they continue the quest for programs and strategies to enhance positive student behavior and academic success. Implications are addressed and recommendations made for further research. The dissertation findings will also add to the gap in the literature and provide a springboard for future research regarding SWPBS effects at alternative public schools. </p>

<p> This mixed methods study investigated teacher, parent, and school leader perceptions of the impact of parent communications and expectation on teacher practices, focusing specifically on four categories: grading, communication, instructional, and curriculum practices. Quantitative data were collected through online surveys from 25 teachers in second through fifth grades, as well as 96 parents of second through fifth-graders, in five private Jewish day schools located in the Southeastern United States. Qualitative data were collected from ten teachers, ten parents, and three school leaders who provided interviews, where they elaborated on the nature of parental communications and expectations at their own schools and their perceptions of their impact on teacher practices.</p><p> The findings indicated that parent communications take place with high frequency, and are initiated fairly evenly between parents and teachers. Parents and teachers differ on their perceptions of negativity of communications, with teachers reporting more negative communications than parents. A t-test was conducted on the survey items that corresponded with the four categories to compare parent and teacher responses. There were some statistically significant differences in the perceptions of parents and teachers of the impact of particular types of parent communications on teacher practices in private Jewish day schools. These included requests for reviews of a child's grade or a grade change, as well as requests for changes in the content of homework. However, the qualitative data overwhelmingly indicated that parents and teachers have similar perceptions of the impact of parents communications and expectations. They felt that parents occasionally request certain changes, but that these changes have minimal impact in the classroom, outside of isolated, individual events. The school leaders who participated in the study agreed that, for the most part, the day-to-day practices of teachers were not greatly impacted by parent communications.</p>

<p> Who are talented and gifted (TAG) students and how do we meet their unique needs in the elementary school setting? The body of literature clearly articulates the unique intellectual, social and emotional needs and characteristics of TAG students. Additionally, the literature supports the implementation of differentiated teaching strategies and affective curriculum to help meet these unique needs. This descriptive phenomenological study allowed gifted children, in fifth grade from a Pacific Northwest suburban elementary school, to share their lived experiences through reflective narratives and art. The data collected generated a central theme of Friends and general themes of Awareness, Feelings, Learning, and TAG Programming. Experiences that included friends were, by far, the most commonly shared; however, the participants also shared stories of wanting to be challenged and how they appreciated teachers who were more creative in curriculum delivery. Delisle (2012), Jessiman (2001) and Bergmark (2008) assert that in order to make progress in school reform and/or improvement we need to listen to our consumers and by consumers they are referring to our students. This study captures the gifted child's experience in elementary school and allows their voice to be heard.</p>

<p>Researchers have connected student achievement to teacher collaboration; however, there is a paucity of studies conducted on how teachers use identified advantages and disadvantages of cross grade level collaboration to improve collegial interactions to achieve better student performance, professional development, teacher effectiveness, and job satisfaction. The purpose of this case study was to investigate how rural southeast Georgia elementary school teachers use identified advantages and disadvantages of cross grade level collaboration to improve collegial interactions. The theory of collegial coaching provided the conceptual framework for this study. The research questions focused on improving teacher effectiveness and student learning via collaborative dialogue. Data were collected via interviews, observations, and archival records from 14 teachers and administrators (maximum variation used) and analyzed for overarching emergent and dominant themes, patterns, issues, topics, ideas, relationships, cases, cross-cases, and concepts. Hatch&rsquo;s typological analysis was employed to decipher the data. Ethnograph v6.0 and QDA Miner 4.0 were used to code the data for triangulation. Quality control and validation were achieved through triangulation and member-checking. The findings illustrated the merits of ongoing collaboration and effective collegial interaction for teaching and learning. They also highlighted the potential of meaningful discussion in achieving effective collegial interaction. This study can lead to positive social change by providing teachers, administrators, and collaboration facilitators 2 models that can be used as guides for planning quality collegial interaction opportunities and in justifying time to collaborate across grades. </p>

<p> The purpose of this case study was to research the use of technology in a fourth grade elementary school classroom, to understand educational methods that promote the cultivation of 'new literacy' and the effective knowledge and use of Interactive White Boards. Data were collected through in-classroom participant observation and field notes in addition to a semi-structured qualitative interview with the classroom teacher. The research results align with the current literature on the use of Interactive White Boards and 'new literacy' highlighting practices promoting or altering classroom interactions and barriers that must be overcome to educate students effectively in a digital age. This study contributes to current literature regarding 'new literacy' in modern classrooms and how to integrate these practices. Research in this field benefits teachers and students affected by ever-advancing technology and the social dynamics in a classroom that may be altered by new and future tools.</p>

<p> Since the 1970s, a continuous decline in the number of males entering into the teaching profession has resulted in significant underrepresentation of male teachers in public schools, especially in elementary schools. The problem is applications to elementary school positions by females far outnumber applications by males. This qualitative phenomenological study was designed to identify potential male elementary school teachers&rsquo; perceptions of teaching in the primary grades and how the perceptions are influenced. Nine male veteran teachers and 11 male nonveteran teachers participated in the study. All data were collected with in-depth interviews using open-ended questions. Six relevant themes pertaining to attracting and retaining male teachers in elementary teaching emerged during data processing, including the decision to teach, stereotypical expectations about elementary teaching, the importance of money, reducing barriers for male teachers, the benefits of teaching, and technological teaching orientations. Exploration of the emergent themes on an individual basis provides information for school leaders that will help refine recruiting practices and allow leaders to target potential male elementary teachers more effectively.</p>