<p>A key component of effective early childhood programs is collaborative relationships between schools, families, and the community (Fiese, Eckert, & Spagnola, 2005). One of these early childhood programs, Head Start, stands out among the others in its efforts to work with children, families, and communities to promote parental involvement. Some families whose children enroll in Head Start continue involvement throughout the elementary years, and others do not. What is not known is parent perceptions of school factors that sustained parent involvement throughout the elementary years. This study uses purposeful sampling techniques to concentrate on a sample of past Head Start parents whose children have progressed into both early elementary and elementary school. Data were collected from Head Start and non-Head Start parents (both involved and uninvolved) from grades K-5. Additionally, administrators from the Head Start program, the Early Childhood campus, and the Elementary campus were interviewed in this study to identify perceptions of the influence of Head Start on sustained parental involvement. Findings suggest that school factors, such as a welcoming environment, leadership efforts to promote involvement, and communication with parents about how to be involved as the child progresses in grade level, encourage sustained involvement. This study provides researchers, school leaders, and parents with understandings for sustained parental involvement. This study supports findings in current research on the ongoing need to recognize school and leadership factors that can both enhance and discourage parent efforts for involvement.

<p> The purpose of this study was to delve into the literacy instructional strategies of selected high-performing K-2 teachers in a Clark County, Nevada school district. The study assessed the efficacy of teachers using five core literacy components: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension for student achievement. High performing teachers were defined as consistently demonstrating student performance gains of 25% in at least one of the five core literacy components over a 3-year period. The research question for this study was: What instructional strategies are used by selected high-performing K-2 teachers who work with diverse populations that have demonstrated a minimum gain of 25% in reading as measured by AIMSweb to develop (a) phonemic awareness, (b) phonics, (c) fluency, (d) vocabulary, and (e) comprehension? </p><p> The study used a qualitative method of data collection and analysis through in-depth teacher interviews, classroom observations, and district-wide data analysis. Interviews were open-ended and observations involved six teachers during their classroom literacy instructional time. Checklists were used to facilitate data collection during observations. Classroom pictures, teachers&rsquo; lesson plans, and AIMSweb data were used to support results. </p><p> The findings revealed that the most successful literacy strategies for teaching the five components of literacy were: phonemic awareness (word manipulation, word play, and word sort), phonics (word study, sound/spelling, and decoding/encoding), fluency (choral reading, repeated timed reading, partner/student-adult reading, and reading connected text with corrective feedback), vocabulary (explicit instruction on word meaning/independent word learning, direct instruction on new vocabulary, and context clues), and comprehension (predicting, inferring, making connections, using graphic organizers, and activating/building on prior knowledge). In addition, study conclusions revealed that the most successful strategies for teaching K-2 literacy included teacher collaboration and planning; strategic use of individual, small, and whole grouping; and integrating technology. </p><p> Several recommendations emerged from the study. Teachers need to be given ongoing professional development and resources for teaching the five component specific literacy strategies. Time needs to consistently be allotted for teachers to collaborate and plan for literacy instruction. Exploring diverse student populations, and their literacy acquisition needs, is vital to the education of youth. Placing emphasis on differentiated instruction, study replication, and analyzing literacy strategies and acquisition practices using varied methodologies will improve educational outcomes.</p><p>

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (1989) has identified problem solving as a major goal of school mathematics. Arithmetic word problem solving is difficult for children. The primary cause of this difficulty is not computational, as once believed, but representational. Children have difficulty understanding and representing the information in the problem. The purpose of this study is to design, implement, and evaluate a constructivist instructional approach to help children be successful arithmetic word problem solvers. It is a three week meaning-based approach to problem writing implemented by the teacher in a third grade classroom in a college laboratory school. The approach has children working collaboratively to author their own word problems. Children write math "stories" based on their everyday experiences. The children then write different types of math stories, along the lines of the typology similar to that proposed by Riley, Greeno, & Heller (1983). Children next explore how these math stories can be turned into problems by deriving the many questions that can be asked from any one story, making it into several problems. Subsequent instruction introduces the idea of multi-step, multi-type story problems. The instructional approach is guided by the important underpinnings in constructivist theory of the need for discourse, collaboration, and knowledge construction. This dissertation is an empirical study, qualitative and descriptive in nature. My field notes, videotapes, and audiotapes of each day's session, and the children's oral and written work provide the raw data for the study. The schematic knowledge necessary to understand arithmetic word problems and Riley, Greeno, and Heller's word problem typology (1983) serve as the theoretical frameworks for the analysis of the data. The data show that children construct the schematic knowledge necessary to understand word problem structure across problem types, knowledge they did not have at the outset of the study. The stories and problems the children create collaboratively and the questions and discussions the children and the teacher pursue together in the spirit of mathematical discourse demonstrate that this approach holds promise as a basis for robust, meaning-based instruction in arithmetic word problem solving.

This qualitative case study focuses on the development of an interdisciplinary program in a Massachusetts urban elementary school over a fourteen month period as it moved from a teacher-directed approach to a student-directed one. An underlying assumption in this study is that integration of the arts supports learning. The interdisciplinary approach employs collaboration of teachers from different disciplines. The researcher in this study is also the art specialist. This study is a teacher's story viewed through a researcher's lens. One question which intrigued this researcher is: Who should choose the interdisciplinary connections, topics, and related arts projects--teachers or students? The naturalistic methodology of qualitative research utilized in this study included data collected through a researcher's journal, participant observer field notes, formal and informal interviews, researcher-made survey questionnaires, videotapes, and student projects. The study examined three focuses: different approach styles, effect of collaborating teachers' role on the learning environment, and factors affecting students' choices when deciding topics and interdisciplinary connections for projects. One conclusion drawn from data revealed that the development of the program was unique to each collaborating team. Although seven approach styles unfolded, the same style used with some teams developed differently. Factors included prior experiences, comfort level, constant reflection and feedback. Concerns inhibiting development included time to plan and scheduling limitations. The effect of the collaborating teachers' role on the learning environment disclosed both interpersonal and intrapersonal characteristics. Collaborating teachers experienced leader, assistant, co-leader, and facilitator roles. Teachers were flexible and adaptable in each role although, at times, the roles felt uncomfortable. The program's development influenced personal teaching strategies and styles, and fostered companionship among members. One concern to emerge was the learning environment itself. It appeared that the location (classroom or art room) effected the choices and effort students put into their projects. Another conclusion drawn from this study is that students should have a voice in the process of learning. Grade four students favored choices in the decision making process and experiences which involved movement or manipulation of materials. These conclusions support elements of brain-based learning and learning through the arts.

Organized to share the perspective of the classroom teacher, this study represents an investigation of looping, an educational plan in which the same teacher and students remain together as an instructional unit for a minimum of two years. Offered as an alternative to traditional grade organization and standard progression through the grades, looping is explored as an option for restructuring to better serve American students. The premise behind this plan is that the teacher will come to know his/her students as learners better over time; a knowledge that will improve the teaching/learning dynamic within the classroom. As looping is more prevalent at the elementary level, the participants in this study are elementary classroom teachers with experience in looping. Using a mixed-methods design, the study involved two parallel phases: focused interviews of teachers from four local communities and a geographically wider sampling of teachers through distribution of a questionnaire. Potential participants were selected through a snowball technique. Secondary means of data collection involved on-site observations and examination of related school documents. From the interviews, common themes emerged regarding many issues related to the implementation of looping. These views of classroom teachers were upheld by questionnaire responses. As reported by teachers, major findings of this study include the following: Looping builds a strong sense of a community of learners. The home-school link is strengthened. Students who loop show numerous gains within the affective domain, with additional benefit to those identified as being at-risk, and with a lessening of "summer anxiety." Teachers found that time was saved in transitioning between grades, allowing for increased time-on-task and opportunities to expand the curriculum. Research conclusion: Based on the perceptions of teachers in this study, looping holds significant promise as a program of persistence in group to offer a reasonable alternative for reorganizing elementary schools to maximize the teaching/learning dynamic.

Integrating children's literature and mathematics is a popular strategy used by many teachers to meet the Standards for mathematics education as outlined by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). At this time literature on integrating math and literature focuses on books, lesson ideas and students' responses. What led teachers to decide to integrate these two subjects, and an articulated theoretical grounding for this strategy, is largely absent in current literature. The purpose of this study is to answer the following questions: How does a teacher come to implement integrating children's literature and mathematics as a strategy for designing mathematics instruction? and Is integrating children's literature and mathematics a teaching strategy that is constructivist and/or brain compatible? Constructivist theory informs us that individuals construct and co-construct knowledge; each of us builds or creates knowledge from our experiences. What we learn is directly related to what we experience and the interplay between old and new experiences; how we make meaning. Brain-based learning theory weaves together knowledge of how the human brain functions and the design of learning experiences that are brain compatible. I chose these two theories in particular to identify connection between practice and theory and because they are widely recognized by educators as grounding for effective educational practice. To answer the two research questions, I designed two case studies. Each case study focuses on a veteran elementary school teacher in the process of integrating children's literature and mathematics as a strategy for designing mathematics instruction. Primary sources of data for the case studies are interviews with the teachers about their decision-making process, and the observation and analysis of integrated math and literature lessons for theoretical grounding. Based on the data collected I found that the two teachers who participated in this study each came to integrate children's literature and mathematics through participation in professional development. The integrated children's literature and math lessons I observed and analyzed met the theoretical criteria for constructivism and brain compatible learning. Use of children's literature and the teachers' lesson design are key aspects of theoretically grounding lessons that integrate children's literature and mathematics.

The purpose of this study is to determine how elementary principals are evaluated and the extent to which evaluation is considered a means for assisting elementary school principals to improve student learning. The four major research questions guiding this study are: What evaluation procedures do selected public schools use to evaluate the effectiveness of elementary school principals? What similarities and differences in procedures do selected school systems use to evaluate the effectiveness of elementary school principals? What ways do teachers in selected public schools use to evaluate elementary school principals? How are evaluations of elementary school principals in selected public schools used to improve student learning? The review of research and literature undertaken for this study described contemporary principal evaluation procedures and examined the role of parents, students, and teachers in the evaluation of elementary school principals. Data were gathered about principal evaluation procedures in interviews with fourteen public elementary school principals in demographically diverse schools in the state of Massachusetts. A content analysis of the principal evaluation procedures found in the data was conducted to determine whether school districts have documented principal evaluation procedures, the characteristics of the evaluation procedures that school districts are utilizing, the participants included in the evaluation of principals, and the procedures/similarities and differences in the evaluation procedures. This study analyzed the performance indicators included on principal evaluations and how they contributed to improving student learning. The data gathered in this research found that the participating principals supported the linkage of their evaluation to the improvement of student learning. Further, this research indicated that the participating principals were knowledgeable of their school district's principal evaluation procedures and tat some school districts in Massachusetts are lacking documented principal evaluation procedures. Finally, this study proposes recommendations that may be useful to principal preparation programs and to assist school districts in strengthening principal evaluation procedures for improving student learning.

Through observations, life history research, and qualitative data analysis, this study seeks to answer the question: Who and what influences elementary school teachers to ultimately use or not use art in their current classroom practice? This study examines the personal histories of nine elementary school general education teachers in the United States and Japan. Through reflections upon life history, pre and post teacher education this study investigates what influences the use of the arts in teaching practice and what influences the recognition of the arts as a vehicle for learning in a cross cultural context. In order to have a deeper understanding of this study investigated what ultimately contributed to the shaping of trajectory and developing these beliefs which influence self-efficacy in the arts before entering into a teacher education program. It is with this self- efficacy already in place that teacher education programs make a mark on pre-service teachers' beliefs about arts integration, which ultimately leads to a new teacher's decision whether or not to practice using an arts integrative approach to teaching. This is a Cross-Cultural Comparative Ethnography. Using phenomenological based interviews and observations. The data was analyzed through a recursive analytic process which included both a deductive and an inductive approach. The study found four central concepts which reoccurred across the data sets. They are influences, self- efficacy, teacher education, and agency. The findings make explicit the similarities and differences across two cultures of how teacher's education, teacher's practice, and student learning are all influenced by the recognition of the arts within academic content areas.

National efforts to reform public schools in the last few decades have focused mainly on tests and mandates, rather than teacher quality, and have been generally unsuccessful. What teachers know and can do directly impact what students learn. Unfortunately at a time when the student population is growing, and good teachers are most needed, young teachers are leaving the profession because of problems they encounter. To keep promising new teachers in the profession, we need to identify the problems and provide the support that will help them succeed. This study investigated the instructional, curricular, classroom management and collegial problems new teachers encounter. It also explored what new and experienced teachers consider important characteristics of a mentoring program intended to help new teachers teach effectively. The sample included 158 new and experienced teachers in eight elementary school districts in Western Massachusetts. The resulting data provided evidence that new teachers experience difficulties in many aspects of teaching during their first year. Classroom management presented the most difficulty followed by curricular, instructional, and collegial issues. Experienced teachers also reported similar problems. With both new and experienced teachers, however, the extent to which individual teachers experienced these problems varied. The mentoring components chosen by new and experienced teachers related closely to the problems identified. Based on the data, guidelines for a mentoring program to meet the flexible needs of new teachers were presented. Four recommendations for further research were advanced: replication studies to extend the generalizability of this investigation; inquiry into additional teacher competencies to be included in teacher preparation programs; an investigation into the preparation of experienced teachers for mentoring; and an exploration of induction practices that should be integrated into wider school reform efforts. The effective mentoring of new teachers is an important step toward teacher quality and ultimately student achievement. When we enhance the capacity of teachers to explore and develop effective solutions to their students' individual learning difficulties, we improve schools in the most fundamental way, increasing the chances for both students and teachers to succeed.

American state boards of education are calling for public schools to follow state educational “standards,” and for students to be tested against these standards periodically. We hear a cry from our political leaders to rewrite school mission statements to include discrete academic skills rather than goals supporting our students in becoming lifelong learners with skills in cooperation and problem solving. It is an important time to provide compelling descriptions of alternative educational models. This study provides one such description. Price Farm School was housed in an eighteenth century farmhouse in rural New Hampshire. With a commitment to “starting from scratch,” emphasizing the homemade, handmade or homegrown, the school's teachers provided an experiential education for up to twenty first through sixth grade students each year. To guide my research I attended to the following set of questions: What was Price Farm School's ethos, culture, climate? What were its guiding beliefs (philosophical foundations)? How did it emerge or evolve? What was its educative value? To address these questions, I analyzed data from a variety of sources including interviews with former students, teachers, interns and parents, student progress reports, students' journals, students' schoolwork, newsletters written by teachers to the school community, teachers' memos, and photographs taken of the children at school. I studied the data systematically to discover emergent themes and analyzed the pedagogical priorities and values implied by the themes. A review of the literature outlining the history of progressive education, constructivist learning theory, and brain-based educational learning principles served as the backdrop for my discussion of the philosophical underpinnings of this model. The themes most strongly represented in the data included a commitment to curriculum which was dependent upon the resources offered naturally by the seasons, and curriculum initiated in response to the interests, needs and development of the students. Information about teachers acting as coaches or facilitators in informal student-teacher relationships which were based on a balance between intimacy and trust, permeated the data. In an atmosphere of relaxed alertness, students at Price Farm School acquired the skills to become both academic and civic leaders in their subsequent schools.