<p> With changing academic standards, more rigorous state assessments, growing diversity among student populations, decreased school funding, and high achievement expectations from the state and federal government, teachers have a very challenging and demanding job. Fully aware of these high expectations from the education community, school leaders and teachers continue to explore strategies that will improve the quality of classroom instruction and help increase achievement for all students. </p><p> This study was conducted in a large urban K-12 school district in the southwestern United States with a district enrollment of approximately 63,000 students. The study employed a multi-method, correlational, descriptive, non-experimental research design. Quantitative data were collected through teacher completion of a professional learning community (PLC) questionnaire and the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) math assessment. The Professional Learning Communities Assessment-Revised (PLCA-R) questionnaire enabled teachers to report the extent to which they engage in practices known to support the development of a well-functioning PLC. In addition, qualitative data were collected through individual teacher interviews. </p><p> This study determined the correlation between grade-level team overall implementation of PLCs measured by teacher completion of the PLCA-R questionnaire and student achievement of fourth-grade students measured by the AIMS math assessment. The study also determined the correlation between the individual dimensions of PLC implementation by grade-level teams measured by teacher completion of the PLCA-R questionnaire and student achievement of fourth-grade students measured by the AIMS math assessment. The individual dimensions of PLCs included shared and supportive leadership, shared values and vision, collective learning and application, shared personal practice, supportive conditions-relationships, and supportive conditions-structures. </p><p> A Pearson product-moment analysis found no significant correlation between grade-level team implementation of PLCs, overall or by dimension, and fourth-grade student achievement measured by AIMS math percent passing scores and median growth percentiles. Although no significant correlation was found, qualitative data from the in-depth individual teacher interviews resulted in several themes related to PLCs and student achievement. Teachers spoke passionately about knowledge of student performance, quality of instruction, support for collaboration, and shared leadership and how those factors relate to improved teaching and increased student learning. </p><p> The results of this study may help other leaders and educators understand more completely the relationship between the dimensions of PLCs and student achievement. Furthermore, the study provides implications for practice that may enhance teacher collaboration with a focus on improved instructional practices and high levels of learning for all students.</p>

<p> The following is a doctoral dissertation that studied administrators', teachers', and parents' perceptions and attitudes related to an early childhood center/preschool accreditation experience. A qualitative case study of one preschool center focused on the influence that the decision to pursue accreditation and implement the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) self-study process had on administrators, teachers, and parents. Interviews with administrators, teachers, and parents explored (a) issues that motivated the pursuit of NAEYC accreditation; (b) the NAEYC guidelines and their experience of the self-study and quality-improvement process; and (c) their perception of outcomes following accreditation. Current NAEYC guidelines are based on key child development theories and research, and require programs to integrate Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) in school curricula and staff training. It was necessary to explore how these NAEYC recommendations regarding DAP were interpreted during the quality-improvement and accreditation process. Key themes and issues around the accreditation experience were revealed through analyses of qualitative data. This case study of NAEYC accreditation illuminated factors in the decision to pursue accreditation and implement quality improvements leading to NAEYC accreditation. This case may serve as a model of a successful accreditation process to encourage early childhood centers to undertake quality improvements and pursue national NAEYC accreditation.</p>

<p> The academic achievement gap between African American and Caucasian students continues to be a major concern for policymakers and educators. This gap started to shrink in the 1970s and 1980s with integration, but the 1990s showed the achievement gap was on the rise again. The characteristics of the neighborhoods where children live and attend school have a great impact on their academic performances. This research study examined the relationship between poverty, community violence and the academic performance of elementary school age children, especially African American students. Seventy-eight public elementary schools were randomly chosen in Los Angeles County that had at least 10% African American students who completed the reading achievement test in each primary grade level (2-5 grade levels) in April 2012. The results showed that poverty and community violence had a significant negative impact on reading achievement test scores for African American students. Furthermore, the impact of community violence was twice that of poverty on academic performance. On the other hand, Caucasian students&rsquo; test scores were significantly impacted by poverty and not community violence. One explanation for this difference was that African American students experienced twice as much community violence in their neighborhoods as compared to Caucasian students. Since educators cannot change neighborhood characteristics, they need to focus on developing educational models that mitigate the impact of community violence and trauma on African American students.</p>

A total of 84 students from a lower economic area, aged 8 to 14, were interviewed about their understanding of decimal fractions. Results showed that most students could give a context in which they saw decimal fractions outside of school. The vast majority could draw a diagram of how a cake or field could be divided equally among 10 or 100 people. However, few students under 14 could give either decimal fraction symbols or common fraction symbols to represent these divisions. Less than half of the students at ages 10, 11 and 12 could visualize what might come between 0 and 1. About half of the students aged 11 and 12 could indicate what 0.1 or 0.01 meant. It was inferred that difficulty in relating these symbols to referents might be an important source of difficulty in understanding decimal fractions. Therefore, these interviews were followed by an intervention study that examined if working with contextualized decimal fractions aided understanding of these numbers when they were presented without context. Half of a group of 16 similar students, aged 11 and 12, were asked to solve problems in which numbers that incorporated decimal fractions were contextualized, and the other half were asked to solve similar problems given in purely numerical form. Students worked in pairs, on problems which incorporated common misconceptions. The group who worked on contextualized problems gained significantly more understanding than did the group that worked on purely numerical problems, as measured by the difference between pretest and posttest scores. Transcripts of the students' discussions were analysed for the effect of prior learning, aspects of peer collaboration that appeared to be beneficial to learning, and the effect of cognitive conflict. The students who gained most from collaboration were not too distant in initial expertise, showed a degree of social equity, and worked on contextualized problems. Much of students' learning appeared to result from needing to reconsider their views following a conflict between their expectations and the results of operating on a calculator or in writing, or hearing an alternative view. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

A total of 84 students from a lower economic area, aged 8 to 14, were interviewed about their understanding of decimal fractions. Results showed that most students could give a context in which they saw decimal fractions outside of school. The vast majority could draw a diagram of how a cake or field could be divided equally among 10 or 100 people. However, few students under 14 could give either decimal fraction symbols or common fraction symbols to represent these divisions. Less than half of the students at ages 10, 11 and 12 could visualize what might come between 0 and 1. About half of the students aged 11 and 12 could indicate what 0.1 or 0.01 meant. It was inferred that difficulty in relating these symbols to referents might be an important source of difficulty in understanding decimal fractions. Therefore, these interviews were followed by an intervention study that examined if working with contextualized decimal fractions aided understanding of these numbers when they were presented without context. Half of a group of 16 similar students, aged 11 and 12, were asked to solve problems in which numbers that incorporated decimal fractions were contextualized, and the other half were asked to solve similar problems given in purely numerical form. Students worked in pairs, on problems which incorporated common misconceptions. The group who worked on contextualized problems gained significantly more understanding than did the group that worked on purely numerical problems, as measured by the difference between pretest and posttest scores. Transcripts of the students' discussions were analysed for the effect of prior learning, aspects of peer collaboration that appeared to be beneficial to learning, and the effect of cognitive conflict. The students who gained most from collaboration were not too distant in initial expertise, showed a degree of social equity, and worked on contextualized problems. Much of students' learning appeared to result from needing to reconsider their views following a conflict between their expectations and the results of operating on a calculator or in writing, or hearing an alternative view. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

A total of 84 students from a lower economic area, aged 8 to 14, were interviewed about their understanding of decimal fractions. Results showed that most students could give a context in which they saw decimal fractions outside of school. The vast majority could draw a diagram of how a cake or field could be divided equally among 10 or 100 people. However, few students under 14 could give either decimal fraction symbols or common fraction symbols to represent these divisions. Less than half of the students at ages 10, 11 and 12 could visualize what might come between 0 and 1. About half of the students aged 11 and 12 could indicate what 0.1 or 0.01 meant. It was inferred that difficulty in relating these symbols to referents might be an important source of difficulty in understanding decimal fractions. Therefore, these interviews were followed by an intervention study that examined if working with contextualized decimal fractions aided understanding of these numbers when they were presented without context. Half of a group of 16 similar students, aged 11 and 12, were asked to solve problems in which numbers that incorporated decimal fractions were contextualized, and the other half were asked to solve similar problems given in purely numerical form. Students worked in pairs, on problems which incorporated common misconceptions. The group who worked on contextualized problems gained significantly more understanding than did the group that worked on purely numerical problems, as measured by the difference between pretest and posttest scores. Transcripts of the students' discussions were analysed for the effect of prior learning, aspects of peer collaboration that appeared to be beneficial to learning, and the effect of cognitive conflict. The students who gained most from collaboration were not too distant in initial expertise, showed a degree of social equity, and worked on contextualized problems. Much of students' learning appeared to result from needing to reconsider their views following a conflict between their expectations and the results of operating on a calculator or in writing, or hearing an alternative view. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

A total of 84 students from a lower economic area, aged 8 to 14, were interviewed about their understanding of decimal fractions. Results showed that most students could give a context in which they saw decimal fractions outside of school. The vast majority could draw a diagram of how a cake or field could be divided equally among 10 or 100 people. However, few students under 14 could give either decimal fraction symbols or common fraction symbols to represent these divisions. Less than half of the students at ages 10, 11 and 12 could visualize what might come between 0 and 1. About half of the students aged 11 and 12 could indicate what 0.1 or 0.01 meant. It was inferred that difficulty in relating these symbols to referents might be an important source of difficulty in understanding decimal fractions. Therefore, these interviews were followed by an intervention study that examined if working with contextualized decimal fractions aided understanding of these numbers when they were presented without context. Half of a group of 16 similar students, aged 11 and 12, were asked to solve problems in which numbers that incorporated decimal fractions were contextualized, and the other half were asked to solve similar problems given in purely numerical form. Students worked in pairs, on problems which incorporated common misconceptions. The group who worked on contextualized problems gained significantly more understanding than did the group that worked on purely numerical problems, as measured by the difference between pretest and posttest scores. Transcripts of the students' discussions were analysed for the effect of prior learning, aspects of peer collaboration that appeared to be beneficial to learning, and the effect of cognitive conflict. The students who gained most from collaboration were not too distant in initial expertise, showed a degree of social equity, and worked on contextualized problems. Much of students' learning appeared to result from needing to reconsider their views following a conflict between their expectations and the results of operating on a calculator or in writing, or hearing an alternative view. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

While researchers in the developed world have focused on the benefits of incorporating engaging forms of ICT (such as games) into education, comparatively little research has been done on the impact of ICT in no-access regions. This thesis is an attempt to fill that research void. It does so by proposing an engaging ICT model that was developed for, and tested in, a low-access region of Mexico.

While researchers in the developed world have focused on the benefits of incorporating engaging forms of ICT (such as games) into education, comparatively little research has been done on the impact of ICT in no-access regions. This thesis is an attempt to fill that research void. It does so by proposing an engaging ICT model that was developed for, and tested in, a low-access region of Mexico.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Michigan / Includes bibliographical references.