<p> This study addressed the marginalization of elementary physical education and professional practice. This project applied proven surveys, scales, and qualitative processes; observations, interviews, and focus groups to measure and understand how physical educators can counter the impressions of stakeholders regarding the subject as inconsequential. Also, the research explained and recognized some cultural procedures in elementary physical education that promoted and inhibited proper student outcomes. The main settings for this study took place in two rural schools in small school systems. In addition, information was obtained through social media venues. The findings along with the literature review established the subject is marginalized; however, PE teachers can influence and combat the issues.</p>

<p> Social-emotional learning has gained much leverage in education reform discussions, but little research has been done on the effectiveness of SEL programs in rural classroom settings. This thesis studies the outcomes of one SEL curriculum, Project Happiness, in a rural project-based learning school, Teton Valley Community School. Additionally, this thesis aims to identify teaching practices that promote students&rsquo; SEL competencies. The data was collected in a split third and fourth grade classroom over a nine-week period from April 2015 to June 2015. The program led to student growth in social and emotional competencies, specifically self-awareness and self-management. Limitations of the study and implications for further research are discussed. </p><p>

<p> Due in part to increasing state standards that require engineering in K-12 curricula and the Next Generation Science Standards&rsquo; incorporation of engineering outcomes, inclusion of engineering into elementary classrooms is on the rise. Teacher development and experiences in learning about and implementing engineering have been studied, but elementary students&rsquo; experiences when learning about engineering have not been explored.</p><p> The purpose of this study is to address the question: How do elementary students&rsquo; knowledge of, attitudes toward, and overall conceptions of engineering evolve over three years of engineering instruction?</p><p> This study follows seven elementary school students through three years of engineering instruction from second through fourth grade. During each year of the study, students took part in one complete Engineering is Elementary unit, preparatory engineering lessons discussing engineering and technology, and optional additional engineering design activities. Data was collected at the beginning and end of each school year, including a semi-structured interview, a Draw an Engineer Task, the Engineering Identity Development Scale, and a Student Knowledge Test. This data was used to build descriptive case studies for each individual student, addressing the research question at the beginning and end of each school year. A cross-case analysis compares findings across all seven students to further explore the research question.</p><p> Through the engineering intervention, students were expected to learn that engineers design technology. For a complete understanding, students needed to know that technology is any object, process, or system that is man-made in order to solve a problem. They also needed to understand engineering as a technical design process where the outcome is the complete plan for a product or process, not necessarily the product or process itself. All of the students in the study described engineering as design and nearly all of the students correctly described technology as man-made, useful items at some point during the study. Three of the seven students described engineering as design of technology with a correct description of technology by their third year. Students had positive attitudes toward engineering, however many did not recognize some of the activities as engineering, attributing them to science instead. Overall, students were not interested in pursuing engineering as a primary career option though they enjoyed the in-class engineering activities. Students&rsquo; conceptions of engineers and engineering evolved from na&iuml;ve representations including mechanics and laborers to designers during the study. The patterns and rates of change differed between students; some quickly understood engineering as design and retained this understanding, while others slowly or partially developed an understanding of engineering as design.</p><p> The findings of this study have implications for practice and future research. Educators need to be prepared for strongly-held misconceptions regarding engineering and technology and be explicit when presenting engineering, especially when it is presented in a science context. Elementary students are able to understand engineering as design, however not all students fully grasped this concept. Future research is needed to explore how students understand technology, how elementary students understand design at their developmental level, and what long-term impact a foundation of engineering in elementary grades provides. </p>

<p> This study examined the social and cultural capital aspects of bicultural identity on student engagement for elementary students in dual immersion classes. The current definition for a dual immersion program states that students will gain bilingual, biliteracy and bicultural skills. While current research has examined the extent to which students gain bilingual and biliteracy skills in dual immersion programs, little exists on the third aspect of the triad, biculturalism. The research in this study examines the extent to which biculturalism exists within the dual immersion classroom and how it influences student engagement. Using the narrative inquiry approach, the researcher listened to the authentic voices of the participants and conveyed their story. Nvivo software was used as a tool to code and analyze emerging themes related to bicultural identity and student engagement. The researcher conducted semi structured conversational interviews with a preselected interview pool of elementary students, parents, dual immersion teachers and administrators. The findings from the research suggest strong ties between behavioral and emotional engagement with the development of a bicultural identity. Participants explained in detail how communication, trusting relationships and social networks impact the achievement as well as the identity of the students. Implications and recommendations for future research and practice are discussed.</p>

<p> <b>Purpose.</b> The purpose of this quantitative study, consistent with the original study by Bell (2006), was to examine the relationships between spirituality and job satisfaction among elementary school teachers.</p><p> <b>Methodology.</b> The Spirituality Assessment Scale (SAS; Howden, 1992) was used to determine the spirituality scores and the level of spirituality among teachers. The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) short form (Weiss, Dawis, England, &amp; Lofquist, 1967) was used to determine intrinsic satisfaction and general satisfaction. The general satisfaction and spirituality scores were compared to determine if a relationship exists between job satisfaction and spirituality. Demographic variables of age, educational level, grade level taught, and numbers of years teaching were used to determine additional relationships between spirituality and job satisfaction among teachers. </p><p> Findings and Conclusions. A moderate significant positive correlation was found between spirituality and general job satisfaction. Similarly, a higher significant positive correlation was found between spirituality and intrinsic job satisfaction. These findings seem to confirm the idea that spirituality is closely related to general job satisfaction levels for elementary school teachers. No significant differences where noted on the spirituality measure or the general job satisfaction scale on any of the demographic aspects of the participant sample.</p><p> Recommendations. Future research should utilize this study to examine whether a strong sense of spirituality among educational leaders correlates to teacher job satisfaction. Studies should also examine where high levels of spirituality among teachers would positively impact the academic performance of their students. Researchers may also wish to consider the following question: Why did the correlation between spirituality and job satisfaction have a moderate significant relationship, and yet the overall job satisfaction scores of this group indicate low levels of general job satisfaction?</p>

<p> Many students who receive Response to Intervention (RTI) Tier II support at an elementary school on the east coast of the United States seldom reach grade level expectations based on end of year assessments. Parents of students who receive RTI Tier II instruction often do not take advantage of the opportunities for involvement at the elementary school. The purpose of this qualitative research was to investigate the perceptions of 34 parents who receive RTI Tier II instructional services about what inspires them to become involved in their child&rsquo;s education at home and at school. This study investigated the opportunities for involvement, recommendations for enhancing opportunities, and how existing opportunities for family involvement meet the needs of families. This study was guided by Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler&rsquo;s model of parent involvement, which states that parent involvement influences student outcomes. Epstein&rsquo;s framework defines 6 types of parent involvement and Vygotsky&rsquo;s theory states that learning is a social activity. A case study approach identified 4 themes: (a) parents preferred to communicate electronically; (b) parents were interested in getting expert advice on specific topics; (c) parents were able to identify problems with the current parent involvement opportunities and provide suggestions on how to make them better; (d) parents perceived community to be made up of the school, the parents, and the town. A policy recommendation was created based on the findings for the school to better assist parents in engaging with their child&rsquo;s learning. The policy includes home visits, weekly progress updates, parent training programs, electronic communication, and a public library-school partnership. This project study promotes positive social change by increasing family engagement at the school ultimately improving academic achievement.</p>

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

This study set out to investigate those factors important for social acceptability among groups of Primary schoolchildren of ten and eleven years. An attempt was made to relate theoretical opinions about popular and unpopular children to actual choice behaviour and reputations of classmates. Additional information about self and ideal self was obtained in order to demonstrate that person perception takes place in a coherent framework of baseline values. Results supported the suggestion that acceptable and unacceptable peers are Judged and described in a manner congruent with expressed opinions. 'Types' of popular child could be tentatively described - the Good Scholar, the Good Fellow, the Good Looker. Unpopular children tended to represent the reverse of these types. A more detailed examination of the sociometric patterns of popular, unpopular and intermediate children revealed differences in choice behaviour. A popular child characteristically expresses more choices and has one or more close reciprocal friendships. Within a mixed group, a popular child has more contacts with the opposite sex. This study confirmed the virtual 'sex cleavage' typical of this age group in terms of spontaneous choice behaviour, but reputations are related to rejections and attributions of behavioural characteristics from both sexes and it was concluded that the mixed group is best treated as a single unit. It was concluded that within the classroom situation approved children are those whose attitudes and behaviour towards teachers, classmates and schoolwork enhance the harmonious functioning and prestige of the group. Hence the boundaries between acceptability, friendship and popularity are not strictly drawn for this age group.

<p> Of the many narratives to which educators subscribe, one of the most prevalent for the past three decades is the idea that students&rsquo; success is strongly predicated on their ability to read on grade level by the end of third grade. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of half-day versus full-day kindergarten on students&rsquo; growth in reading achievement by the end of their kindergarten year. In addition, the study sought to look at the same group of students and growth in reading achievement and their ability to achieve grade-level reading by the end of third grade. In this quantitative study, students (N = 295) from a school district in suburban Chicago, Illinois, were tested to determine what growth, if any, could be seen within their kindergarten year of study. Additionally, student test results were analyzed for each successive year of schooling through third grade to determine if there were any specific variables that contribute to predicting achievement growth or overall achievement by the end of third grade. </p><p> Results of the study indicated that full-day kindergarten provides greater benefit to a student&rsquo;s overall achievement. Specifically, students who were coded as receiving free or reduced lunch support maintained a high rate of achievement in the full-day kindergarten program. In the regression analysis, the element that made the greatest contribution toward kindergarten achievement growth was not having an Individual Education Plan. Additionally, reading achievement growth was made in each grade level, with the most significant growth noted in the second grade year. </p><p> Finally, when students from each kindergarten schedule were compared to the end of year targets for reading on grade level by the end of third grade, students in the half-day program were found to have made the greatest gains. However, the selection of students for the full-day kindergarten program was comprised of students who were considered &ldquo;at risk&rdquo; and not comprised of a cross section of students with varied abilities.</p>

<p> Since No Child Left Behind was introduced, kindergarten through 12th-grade educators have seen a dramatic increase in accountability, rigor of standards, and responsibilities in the classroom (New America Foundation, 2015). In order to meet the increased demands of federal education regulations in second through fourth grades, many administrators are looking for alternative methods to ensure student success (Gewertz, 2014). Departmentalization is one of the alternative methods being used (Jacobs, 2014). Educators believe departmentalization results in many benefits (Chan &amp; Jarman, 2004); however, historical research has contradicted this view (American Association of School Administrators, 1965). With the demands of today&rsquo;s standards for education, the connection, if any, between student success and departmentalization must be determined. This study was designed to determine if there is a statistically significant difference in student success metrics between students in second through fourth grades in traditional classrooms versus students in departmentalized classrooms. In this study, student success metrics included raw scores on norm-referenced tests, percentile scores on norm-referenced tests, and grade-level averages on norm-referenced tests. These student success metrics are used in Arkansas to determine federal and state funding eligibility (New America Foundation, 2015). The statistical tests used in this study yielded inconsistent results as to a statistical difference between traditional classroom environments and departmentalized classroom environments in second through fourth grades. Factors other than classroom environment, such as teacher training, principal leadership, technology, and parent involvement, may have had an effect on student achievement (Buabeng-Andoh, 2012; Sebastian &amp; Allensworth, 2012). </p>