<p> Full inclusion of a student with disabilities in the general education setting has the potential to positively influence both students with special needs as well as their typical developing peers. One strategy to aide in this effort is the use of an ability awareness program to increase understanding and relatability amongst all students. This study will look at the effectiveness of an ability awareness program to evoke change in the attitudes of elementary school children towards their peers with disabilities. </p><p> The study consists of second grade students (<i>n</i> = 46), third grade students (<i>n</i> = 15), and observations of first through third grade students with autism (<i>n</i> = 8). Students' attitudes were measured through the use of an attitudinal questionnaire before and after the program. Qualitative data was collected through observation to document the frequency and duration of interactions between general education students and students with autism.</p>

<p> Reading is an essential skill taught during elementary academic years. The Sunny Day School District recognized the need of locating a reading program tailored to effectively meeting the instructional needs of students. A preliminary question was, "how do we increase the reading achievement of all our students?" In response to this instructional concern, the Sunny Day School District decided to implement the Missouri Reading Initiative (MRI), a state program created to assist teachers with scientifically research based reading instructional strategies. This study addressed the problem of a lack of a program evaluation for the MRI program as implemented within the elementary schools of the Sunny Day School District. </p><p> Qualitative and quantitative approaches added depth and authenticity to the data collection process and the intention was to triangulate the data in order to obtain a holistic picture of the MRI program in one school district. Design features were inclusive of the following study elements: administrative interviews, surveys, classroom observations, and MAP Scale Scores. Statistical tools used to analyze the MAP Scale Scores comprised of two <i>z</i>-tests for proportions calculated to find differences in opinions and an ANOVA to find any variances between MAP Scale Scores of grades 3-5 during the years of this research study. </p><p> An alignment of the research questions, observations, and surveys to the interview questions was completed then linked with the literature. Interviews and observations revealed valuable details of the implementation process of the MRI program. Emerging themes added data about the implementation processes and were reflective of management and classroom facilitation. Survey results did suggest MRI was beneficial for assisting teachers with research based instructional strategies. Two <i>z</i> tests for proportions of the survey results were in the critical range causing the rejection of the null hypotheses. An ANOVA of the MAP scores did not show a significant change in any one year over the five-year period. Before deciding on implementing an extensive reading program similar to MRI, other districts carefully consider the evaluation methods of teachers. Factors not considered in this study, such as evaluative measures (cognitive coaching versus traditional methods), may yield different program implementation results.</p>

<p> Reading instruction at the K-2 grade levels is of utmost importance for a student's education. The foundational skills acquired during this time period will serve a student throughout their life. Elementary teachers often feel unprepared for the demands of the struggling, proficient and advanced readers within their classrooms. The professional development offered to teachers has often been one day workshops where depth of content is not attained. Through this action science research, onsite professional development utilizing a coaching model was provided to K-2 teachers in a rural elementary school setting. This intervention lasted for three months and explored the <i> Continuum of Literacy Learning</i> by Fountas &amp; Pinnell (2007) and utilized the <i>Benchmark Assessment</i> system by Fountas and Pinnell (2007) for identifying reading levels while implementing Guided Reading. The teachers' sense of self efficacy included a modest increase in utilizing a variety of instructional strategies to better meet the various needs of the students but also revealed areas for additional professional development in the future.</p>

<p>This is a quantitative research project utilizing secondary data. Reading Recovery and Leveled Literacy Intervention are two early literacy interventions based on a whole language and phonetic approach to reading instruction. For the purposes of this study, the end-of-first-grade benchmark is a Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) 18 and the end-of-second-grade benchmark is a DRA 30. This study utilizes descriptive analyses, ANOVA, and ANCOVA analyses of variance, and regression analyses to determine which programs bring tier 3, non-special education readers to grade level status at the conclusion of first grade. Reading Recovery successfully brings first-grade students to grade level status (p = .002), and 47.1% of students who participated in this intervention met the end-of-first-grade benchmark. Overall, their mean end-of-kindergarten DRA score was a text level 3, and their mean end-of-first-grade DRA score was a text level 16. For students who participated in Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI), 35.3% met the end-of-first-grade benchmark. Overall, their mean end-of-kindergarten DRA score was a text level 3, and their mean end-of-first-grade DRA score was a text level 14. LLI was not found to be statistically significant (p = .607). For students who participated in both Reading Recovery and Leveled Literacy Intervention, 30.1% met the end-of-first-grade benchmark. Overall, their mean end-of-kindergarten DRA score was a text level 3, and their mean end-of-first-grade DRA score was a text level 14. The combination RR and LLI group was not found to be statistically significant (p = .877). </p><p> According to this study, for students who participate in either Reading Recovery or Leveled Literacy Intervention, a child&rsquo;s gender (ANOVA p = .000, ANCOVA p = .000), and ethnicity (ANOVA Black p = .214, Other p = .067; ANCOVA Black p = .765, Other p = .556) is not a significant predictor of their end-of-first-grade DRA level. Depending upon the analysis conducted, a child&rsquo;s free or reduced lunch rate (ANOVA p = .005, ANCOVA p = .283) is a significant predictor of their end-of-first grade DRA level <i>F</i>(2,1) = 5.416, p = .005 with an R² value of .033 and an error of 612. As anticipated, a child&rsquo;s initial kindergarten DRA level remains the most significant predictor of their end-of-first-grade DRA level (ANOVA p = .000, ANCOVA p = .000). The lowest scoring students in kindergarten tend to also be the lower scoring students at the end of first and second grades. The second greatest predictor for children who do not participate in Reading Recovery or Leveled Literacy Intervention is the child&rsquo;s free or reduced lunch rate (p = .005). However, when an ANCOVA analysis of variance analyzed only students with a complete data set, kindergarten through second grade, a child&rsquo;s lunch rate (p = .283) was shown not to be a significant predictor of end-of-first-grade DRA reading level. Additionally, a child&rsquo;s lunch rate is not shown to be a significant predictor of a child&rsquo;s text growth gain. </p><p> The study follows students who met the end-of-first-grade DRA 18 benchmark into second grade to ascertain if the students are able to maintain their grade level status. For students who participated in Reading Recovery and met the end-of-first-grade benchmark, 58.7% also met the end-of-second-grade benchmark. Their mean end-of-second-grade DRA score was a text level 30. For students who participated in Leveled Literacy Intervention and met the end-of-first-grade benchmark, 62.8% also met the end-of-second-grade benchmark. Their mean end-of-second-grade DRA score was a text level 30. For students who participated in both Reading Recovery and Leveled Literacy Intervention and met the end-of-first-grade benchmark, 53.8% also met the end-of-second-grade benchmark. Their mean end-of-second-grade DRA score was a text level 28. </p><p> Finally, the study utilized a regression analysis to determine if there is a difference in reading achievement growth based upon a student&rsquo;s participation in Reading Recovery or Leveled Literacy Intervention. All analyses were controlled for initial DRA level, gender, ethnicity, and free or reduced lunch rate. The results found that while both programs appear to be moving students towards grade level status, Reading Recovery&rsquo;s results are significant (p = .002), LLI&rsquo;s results are not significant (p = .607), and the combination group of both RR and LLI are not significant (p = .877). According to this one year study, for students who participated in Reading Recovery or Leveled Literacy Intervention as first graders, once a child learns how to read, the variables&mdash;initial DRA level, gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status&mdash;do not affect a child&rsquo;s continued reading achievement. </p>

<p> To address the daunting challenges we face as a global community, we need people who can see the world beyond an "either-or" dualistic perspective. This dissertation presumes such a dualistic perspective has been especially damaging to the twice-exceptional (2e) or gifted and learning disabled (Gifted and LD or GLD) children of the world, children who are growing up like I did, gifted and learning disabled. These children have so much potential to see the world as connected and to teach us to honor diversity and complementarity. Yet the Western educational paradigm typically thinks of these children as broken and in need of fixing. Twice-exceptional children often find themselves separated, provided remedial programs, medicated, and made to feel broken or just ignored as they can appear average. If 2e children are noticed at all, educators usually focus on 2e children's disabilities rather than on their gifts. If the pattern of medication and behavioral modification intervention causes these children to underperform or drop out of the educational system altogether, we have lost valuable members of society who can help us solve complex challenges. </p><p> I propose adding an Indigenous framework to the multi-tiered classroom to help move toward a more holistic approach for developing 2e children and honoring their gifts, regardless of the gifts the children bring to the classroom. With the introduction of traditional Indigenous approaches to education, mindsets can evolve allowing for a rethinking of educational structures. This borderland experience takes place at the intersection of Indigenous and Western worldviews. Just as cultures collide at their borders, so do worldviews. New un-envisioned cultures and possibilities emerge at these borderlands. By Indigenizing schools, classrooms, and curriculum, we can educate children with a more dialogic, holistic, culturally and historically sensitive, and connected approach to learning. Creating such an Indigenous context for schools can prevent the lifelong damage, which often comes from a mechanistic approach to education for 2e and learning disabled (LD) children. This autoethnography "imagines" how my own life's journey might have been different had the Indigenous perspectives been operational in the educational system within which I grew up.</p>

<p> Garden-based environmental education addresses ecological literacy in the context of schoolyard gardens. This study seeks to elucidate the topics and factors that influence student engagement while learning in these schoolyard spaces, through a mixed-methods case study at a San Francisco public elementary school. Data were collected from student work, student interviews, teacher interviews, and educator observations of the garden-based environmental education class. From the data, many themes were identified such as describing student engagement, topics that were particularly engaging, and engaged and disengaged behaviors. Student work and educator observations supported that lessons with a focus on food or animals were particularly engaging for students. The hands-on components of lessons, alignment with state standards, and the schoolyard garden space itself were also found to support student engagement in this study. Though previous research does not address engaging topics in garden-based environmental education, some studies support the engaging nature of hands-on activities, specifically in science contexts. It is my hope that this research informs garden-based environmental education practices, and continues to add to the number of studies regarding it.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-06, Section: A, page: 2330. Adviser: Susan Noffke. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-142) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--The University of Arizona, 2007. / (UMI)AAI3259923. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-04, Section: A, page: 1391. Adviser: James A. Carson.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-05, Section: A, page: 1734. Adviser: Janet S. Gaffney. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 309-331) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thèses (Ph.D.)--Université de Sherbrooke (Canada), 2003. / Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 20 juin 2006). Publié aussi en version papier.