In Florida, we often read or hear on the news about the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) and how it is negatively affecting our students, parents and schools. The number of standards, benchmarks, and grade level expectations teachers are required to teach students to prepare them for taking the FCA T often seems unmanageable and overwhelming. Additionally, traditional methods of teaching are oftentimes at odds with current research on brain-based learning, multiple intelligences, literature-based instruction, and integrated and thematic curriculum planning. Is there a way to combine all the best teaching practices from current research into one basic, cohesive model of teaching that not only fulfills the requirements of the Florida Sunshine State Standards and prepares students for the FCA T, but is also a workable product that can be implemented in the real world of teaching? This project creates one such teaching model referred to as a Standards-based, Eclectic, Elaborated, and Synergistic Yearlong Theme Cycle (SEES Cycle). In addition to the prototype SEES Cycle and its accompanying yearlong science roadmap, this project also introduces SEES Cycle teaching menus which are designed to provide teachers with a valuable resource in long-range planning and for daily, "subject integration" lesson planning. Exclusive to this project is the Multiple Intelligences Teaching Menu which links specific Florida Sunshine State Standards to certain multiple intelligences activities. Furthermore, this project presents the research substantiation that could move the SEES Cycle teaching model, science roadmap, and accompanying teaching menus from a theoretical framework to one of practical application.

ABSTRACT Aldous Huxley stated that "Every man who knows how to read has in his power to magnify himself, to multiply the ways in which he exists, to make his life full , significant and interesting." For young students learning to read and expand their minds, there is no better time than the present to gain a love of reading. Yet, so many students expend the energy to learn how to read, only to choose never pick up a book. This study serves to show one characteristic of reading: aliteracy. From the mouth of a fifth grade student, aliteracy is "when you spend a lot of time learning how to read, but you just never take the time to do it." After first conducting focus groups with fifth grade students at a public elementary school, the researcher focused on three distinctly different students who posed diverse sides of aliteracy. By conducting interviews with these students, a better understanding of aliteracy can be achieved. Through this understanding, positive changes in our schools and our reading programs can hopefully be achieved.

This study investigated the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) English Language Arts (ELA) scores of proficient third-grade students and explored trends in achievement or decline on the FSA in fourth grade. Further, this study explored the relationship of school environment to academic outcomes of Black and Hispanic fourth-grade public school students in terms of FSA ELA scores from third to fourth grade. This study used multiple statistical analyses on pre-existing de-identified data to explore learning gains by race/ethnicity. By focusing on and studying only one school district, this study provides conclusive results connecting learning gains and ethnicity in specific instances, but not in others. Recommendations were made for modification of the study design, future applications of these findings, and continued research in the various stages of academic achievement of the target student populations, in addition to identifying discrete factors or combinations of factors that best support all students' learning gains.

To be economically competitive, U.S. citizens must be mathematically competent (Wang et al., 2010). However, students in the United States have consistently underperformed those in other industrialized nations in mathematics (Program for International Student Assessment [PISA], 2018), which threatens the economic health of the nation (Achieve, 2013; Auguste et al., 2009; Harbour et al., 2018; Mickelson et al., 2013). Federal education reform was implemented and failed to improve the mathematics achievement of U.S. pupils (Cheong Cheng, 2020). Researchers have found links between teacher knowledge and student achievement; however, factors mediate this relationship (Hatisauri & Erbas, 2017). As a result, non-significant and inconsistent research findings are common. The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to build an understanding of the meaning elementary mathematics educators with average mathematical knowledge for teaching in high-density Black schools (EMEs) ascribe to their instructional reasoning. The EMEs participated in an interview or focus group to explore their lived experiences and understand the essence of their instructional reasoning. The EME participating in this research accredited their instructional reasoning to their schemata for teaching and learning. The EMEs held schemata for how students learned mathematics, the availability or lack of resources available to teach mathematics, their knowledge of mathematics content progressions, and their understanding of students' knowledge. The EME schemata for teaching and learning must be understood to deepen the conceptualization of mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) and inform policymakers to enhance federal and state mandates and stakeholders interested in teacher development and training.

"Ms. Cowhey, I have a text to world connection!"-Gabriella, first grader, is a critical ethnographic account of a highly successful and nationally visible white teacher, and her first grade students who named themselves the Peace Class during the autumn of 2002 when the United States declared war on Iraq. The study examines the teacher's use of critical pedagogy as it relates to Freirian concepts of dialogue and revolution, and her use of critical intertextuality as I call it, and the academic achievement and agency of her students. The teacher, who is the main participant of this study, is committed to issues of equity and academic excellence. She is engaged in an interest convergence that promotes success for the teacher, her students, and the larger school community. Ms. Cowhey is an excellent white multicultural educator and ally. This critical ethnography includes findings from data collected over a full school year of research. The teacher featured in this study retained her students as they looped from first to second grade, providing a rare opportunity for further research. It is a hopeful study with implications for teacher preparation programs, professional development and white teachers who want to gain the understanding and skills needed to respond to a changing demographic landscape and who are committed to social justice issues in education.

THIS STUDY INVESTIGATED THE EFFECTS OF THE TEACHER'S USE OF GUIDED INQUIRY IN A FIFTH GRADE SCIENCE CLASSROOM. INQUIRY IS SUPPORTED BY THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL(2000), AND INDICATES THAT ALL STUDENTS SHOULD DEVELOP THE ABILITIES NECESSARY TO DO SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY AND DEVELOP UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY (P.21). THIS STUDY WAS A QUALITATIVE ACTION RESEARCH DESIGN, FOCUSING ON SEVENTEEN STUDENTS AND THEIR RESPONSES TO A GUIDED INQUIRY METHOD OF SCIENCE INSTRUCTION ON MATTER, ENERGY AND MOTION, AND EARTH AND SPACE. AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS' PERFORMANCE AND STUDENTS' ATTITUDES ABOUT SCIENCE IN THE CLASSROOM WAS CONDUCTED ABOUT EACH UNIT OF INSTRUCTION. THE 5-E MODEL OF GUIDED INQUIRY WAS USED TO ELICIT MEANINGFUL UNDERSTANDINGS WHILE COMPLETING THE UNITS OF MATTER, ENERGY AND MOTION, AND EARTH AND SPACE. STUDENTS WORKED IN COOPERATIVE GROUPS TO SUPPORT LAB ACTIVITIES, WHICH REQUIRED EACH MEMBER TO PARTICIPATE IN THE INVESTIGATIONS, PROJECTS, AND PRESENTATIONS. STUDENTS KEPT JOURNALS, RECORDED THEIR FINDINGS, AND WROTE RESPONSES ABOUT THEIR FINDINGS AND FEELINGS ON THE ACTIVITIES IN WHICH THEY WERE ENGAGED. STUDENTS' ATTITUDES WERE AFFECTED POSITIVELY BY THE USE OF GUIDED INQUIRY IN LEARNING SCIENCE. STUDENTS' PERFORMANCE FOR LAB ACTIVITIES WAS ALSO POSITIVE AND WAS SUPPORTED BY STUDENTS' RESPONSES IN JOURNALS, TEACHER OBSERVATIONS, AND PERFORMANCE TASKS. THIS STUDY SUPPORTS GUIDED INQUIRY IN THE SCIENCE CLASSROOM FOR IMPROVING STUDENTS' ATTIDUES AND STUDENTS' PERFORMANCE DURING CLASSROOM ACTIVITES.

Past research shows that feelings toward aesthetic reading, or reading for enjoyment, are down across the nation, even in those pursuing a degree in elementary education (Applegate & Applegate, 2004; National Endowment for the Arts , 2004). As reading rates drop, it becomes even more imperative that our future educators have a passion for reading, and are able to intrinsically motivate their students (McKool & Gespass, 2009; Nathanson, Pruslow & Levitt, 2008). The recommended practices for breaking the cycle of aliteracy are to deemphasize textbook driven lectures (Krashen, 1993; Nathanson et al., 2008; Sardo-Brown & Beeghly, 1996), enable text self-selection (Applegate & Applegate, 2004; 2014; Cardarelli, 1992; Krashen 1993; McKool & Gespass, 2009; Nathanson et al., 2008), include reflective journals (Nathanson et al., 2008), encourage open discussion (Applegate & Applegate, 2004; 2014; Krashen, 1993; McKool & Gespass, 2009; Nathanson et al., 2008; Sardo-Brown & Beeghly, 1996), provide opportunities to reflect on students' own personal views of literacy (Gomez, 2005), and incorporate "well-planned instructional experiences to allow students to experience what it feels like to be enthusiastic about reading" (Applegate & Applegate, 2004; Applegate et al., 2014; Gomez, 2005; Krashen, 1993; McKool & Gespass, 2009; Morrison, Jacobs, & Swinyard, 1999; Nathanson et al., 2008; Powell-Brown, 2003; Ruddell, 1995; Sardo-Brown & Beeghly, 1996). The intent of this thesis is to explore if a positive shift in the perceptions and motivations of pre-service elementary education teachers can occur through enrollment in a course on Literature for Children. Literature for Children, LAE 3414, is a required course for those pursuing a degree in elementary education at the University of Central Florida. The course's design follows the recommended practices for teaching a love of literature. This study tracked the perceptions and motivations of pre-service teachers enrolled in two class sections of this course over the fall 2014 semester, in order to see if a positive change in their feelings toward aesthetic reading occurred, and to what extent their enrollment in this course on Children's Literature affected this change. At the beginning of the semester, out of a total of 63 participants for the pre-survey, 68.3% reported that they felt enthusiastic toward reading, while 31.7% reported that they felt unenthusiastic. By the end of the course, out of 54 post-survey participants, 87% of participants reported that they felt enthusiastic toward reading, while 13% reported that they felt unenthusiastic. Both class sections surveyed experienced a positive shift in their perceptions and motivations toward aesthetic reading, as a result of enrollment and participation in this course.

This study explores parents' views on the importance of free play when it pertains to what their children do after school. By studying this information, teachers, childcare providers, and administrators can use these perceptions in an attempt to discover why children are no longer engaging in unstructured play as frequently as they once were. Through the responses of 59 parents who participate in a large afterschool program, this study revealed that although 81% of parents ranked free play as valued in their own childhoods, free play ranked low in terms of parents' acknowledgement of play in after school programs of their own children. Future research might focus on how best to inform parents of the benefits of unstructured play and how to effectively incorporate unstructured or free play into the daily schedule of after school programs.

Children’s literature plays a critical role in shaping how children view themselves and the world around them. This is especially true in regards to outgroups such as the transgender and gender nonconforming communities. Transgender individuals have been gaining increased visibility in the past few years. The misconceptions surrounding these topics are not exclusively found outside the classroom. Title IX was expanded to include gender identity as recently as 2014. Yet, much confusion and apprehension is present when discussing the topic of transgender and gender nonconformity, especially in the elementary school classroom. To address these misconceptions, inclusion of these outgroups into culturally inclusive curriculum is critical. With the power that children’s literature has on empathy, attitudes, and comprehension, classroom libraries should consider including transgender and gender nonconforming titles into teacher resources and classroom libraries. Many positives can come from the power of children’s literature, but there also lies the chance to fall into new and/or unique pitfalls that affect the elementary classroom, such as gender stereotyping. Therefore, this thesis analyzed transgender and gender nonconforming titles for elementary classrooms for trends and themes. 30 titles total were analyzed with 21 being selected to represent the ideals found in transgender and gender nonconforming children’s literature.

Mandates on reading and math achievement in elementary education in rural Georgia have led to a decline in writing proficiency as the subject becomes increasingly neglected. At the same time, schools strive to increase parental involvement programs. Consequently, there is a need for more research on the impact of parental involvement on student writing proficiency. Accordingly, this qualitative case study examined the impact of Family Message Journals (FMJ) and parent participation on teaching writing across the curriculum. Participants included 6 third-graders and their parents. Students wrote in journals 4 days per week across the 4 months of the study, and parents provided parallel responses each night. Student entries were examined and coded by academic subject and the 4 domains of the Georgia Writing Assessment Rubric to document students' growth in specific writing skills; parental responses were coded according to the type of response. Inductive analysis was used to analyze and interpret structured interview data to document emergent themes and search for patterns of meaning. All FMJ data were triangulated in a data source matrix with interviews of parents and students to explore linkages across sources. Findings revealed that (a) using FMJ increased students' writing ability, (b) teaching writing across the curriculum provided time for writing instruction, (c) comprehension was enhanced in subject content areas, and (d) parents felt more informed and appreciated. This study will prove beneficial for educators desiring to include writing without compromising time in currently mandated content areas, and also for parents who want to be informed, involved, and empowered. Teachers using FMJ can initiate social change by preparing more proficient students with a positive attitude for writing. Ideally, these attributes will build and follow these students into the workforce.