<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> 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 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>

<p> This qualitative, phenomenological study explored the teacher perceived barriers of using mobile devices in the K-5 classroom. Research confirms teachers face various types of variables and become reluctant to use technology within their curriculum driven lessons. This study sought to understand what teachers perceive as barriers, and how the perceived barriers interfere with the daily instruction through mobile devices in all subject areas. The problem guiding the study was based on the fact that teachers are given mobile devices, but do not fully integrate them into the classroom instruction. The study used a purposive sample of 12 elementary teachers. The findings from the study were derived from interviews using open-ended questions and an observation. Both were used to gather data based on the lived experiences of the participants. The data was analyzed and the following themes were discovered: Time constraints, management issues, inadequate number of devices, professional development/training concerns, and lack of knowledge. These findings may provide school leaders with specific areas to address, possibly reduce, or eliminate the barriers that cause teachers to limit their use of mobile devices.</p>

<p> Trends throughout my graduate research in education include educational transformation, critical pedagogy and cross-cultural, globally oriented competencies for educators. These threads have woven their way into my lens on the world, prompting questions about educational and curricular policy and reform, particularly challenging the ubiquitous Euro-centric platform from which most schools in the United States operate. In June and July of 2012, sponsored by the United States-Colombian Fulbright commission, 16 educators had the professional development opportunity to study in Mexico and Colombia, all with the charge to develop authentic multicultural curricula for the benefit of students and teachers in the United States. Through documentation of the Fulbright-Hays 2012 participants' reflections, the study addresses the scope of the Seminar's transformative impact on teachers and subsequently students, supporting its relevancy as a government social-service program. The study examines the larger impact of the Fulbright-Hays Seminar on educators' pedagogical and philosophic orientations to their work in the classroom. This research may be utilized internally by the Fulbright-Hays commission for evidence of transformational experiences starting with seminar participants and, ideally, filtering down to students of diverse demographics. The development of culturally representative and responsive curricula is a pressing area of need in the United States, both in public and private spheres. Work in this field could contribute to social change and equity-driven reform within the educational sphere: pedagogically, methodologically, and philosophically. The study analyzes the development of teachers with increased cultural competencies, understanding of cultures outside their own culture (and yet often represented in their classrooms), therefore being poised to create more inclusive, anti-biased atmospheres for their students.</p>