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The subject of the dissertation was chosen as a result of observing a need to provide the college saxophone major in the first or second year of study with a reference text focusing primarily on problem solving. Sources exist describing accepted fundamentals of saxophone performance; however, these noticeably omit solutions to a vast number of problems which inevitably arise for some students during their course of study. It was the aim of the dissertation to fill this void by offering practical solutions to a breadth of performance problems encountered during private studio and class saxophone teaching experience at Ball State University.Solutions to performance problems were formulated through the development of original and learned techniques and procedures, and by synthesizing applicable pedagogical information by other saxophonists and instrumentalists whenever possible. The resultant compilation of knowledge gleaned through personal experience, experimentation, and research of other disseminated information has produced a unique and comprehensive problem-solving reference for saxophone.The format of the dissertation is designed for easy reference. Causes of performance problems are systematically arranged under the following categories: mouthpiece, reed, ligature, instrument, and player. A solution follows each performance problem cited, which generally consists of a corrective physical or mechanical adjustment, a rehearsal technique, or some other course of action required to correct the problem. Subjects addressed include: (1) mouthpiece--designs, defects, selection; (2) reed--designs, conditioning, positioning, deficiency and defect adjustments; (3) ligature--designs, placement, tension; (4) instrument--mechanical adjustments, altissimo vent key adjustment, defective neck, dents; (5) player-tone production, technical problems, air control, tonguing, vibrato.The final chapter functions as a checklist when the cause of a problem is uncertain. Under four categories of performance-problem. symptoms (poor tone quality, intonation problems, response problems, squeaking), the reader may isolate the specific problem by symptom, then refer to the main body of the dissertation for the solution to the fundamental problem. Conclusions follow each topic.The text should contribute to the library of the saxophone instructor and the graduate assistant as a problem-solving reference manual for students. Woodwind instructors required to teach saxophone without extensive performance experience on the instrument should find the text to be a helpful teaching aid as well.

This thesis describes the procedure employed in writing and testing programed instruction on the subject of biosystematics. It briefly discusses similar studies that have been done with programed and other self-instructional materials. A review of the literature provides evidence that there is a need for such instructional materials in our modern schools.The thesis then describes the procedure that the writers followed in the writing, testing, and revising of the programed text, Principles of Biosystematics. Recorded in the appendices are the testing data which include the students# pre- and posttest scores and the item-analysis of the examinations used to test the first and second drafts of the program. These data were used to determine what parts of the program seemed weak or poorly developed, Such segments of the program were modified before being incorporated in the final draft of the programed textbook which, along with the accompanying teacher's manual, is also located in the appendices.

The United Arab Emirates promotes English as the Medium of Instruction (hereafter referred to as EMI) at tertiary level, which results in many ‘content’ subjects being taught via English. Many institutions employ native English speaking teachers, referred to as either NESTs or NS, for language classes and insist that content teachers operate through this second or other language (L2), to the detriment of ‘non-native’ English speaking teachers in terms of recruitment, and also to the detriment of the students who must study their major subjects via a foreign language. NS teachers are expected to enforce a monolingual classroom environment where English is compulsory and use of the students’ first language is penalised. The U.A.E. is also engaged in spreading this monolingual culture to primary and secondary schools. This mixed methodology study evaluates faculty and management perceptions of the English medium status quo and current concerns within the TEFL/ TESOL profession. As well as surveying faculty opinions via a quantitative questionnaire and then a qualitative appraisal of written comments, interviews with senior management aided a critical appraisal of so-called ‘common-sense’ (Tollefson, 2002) policies and assumptions. The quantitative stage indicated discrepancies between different groups of faculty and the qualitative analysis of written comments and interview data allowed for some, often contradictory, themes to emerge. It will be suggested that many faculty were unconvinced that monolingual classroom environments were efficacious. EMI was challenged on the grounds that studying through another language adds to the learner’s cognitive burden (Troudi, 2009) and makes mastery of content subjects more difficult and contingent upon the student’s language skills. The management interviewees conceded these issues but felt that Content and Language Integrated Learning in English was vital for students who must function in an increasingly globalised market place. Little thought was given to what this might mean for the status of Arabic. It was recommended that Arabic should be reinstated as the medium of content instruction, that English be taught as a foreign language only, and that the way in which English is taught should be critically overhauled to make best use of the diverse skills of NESTs and NNESTs alike. It was also suggested that countries such as the U.A.E. are more likely to achieve the modernity they seek by following a model where the L1 is the language of instruction, while English fulfils its parallel role as a foreign language and international lingua-franca.

<p> This study examined a possible relationship between grit, growth mindset, and reading scores. The study also examined the influence of grit and growth mindset on closing the achievement gap. Reading was an essential skill all students needed to achieve in order to be successful in school and life. Historically, schools implemented numerous academic interventions to ensure all students were proficient readers and to close achievement gaps in reading, yet the gaps continued to exist. The literature on non-cognitive skills such as grit and growth mindset indicated teaching students these skills would increase academic achievement.</p><p> The study collected teacher frequency of instruction of the concepts of grit and growth mindset along with anecdotal teacher information regarding instruction of the concepts. The information was utilized to determine if a relationship existed between teacher instruction on grit and growth mindset and student grit and growth mindset scores. The results of the study indicated no relationship existed between teacher instruction on grit and growth mindset and student grit and growth mindset scores. However, the study did provide useful information regarding how teachers taught the concepts which possibly explained why no relationship existed and provided insight for improvements in the area of instruction.</p><p> The results of the study also revealed no relationship existed between student grit and growth mindset scores and reading scores. The scope of the study was limited; the researcher recommended additional studies be pursued to investigate the relationship between grit, growth mindset, and reading scores further.</p>

<p> This mixed-methods study included an in-depth look at the perceptions of first-grade teachers in southwest Missouri to gain insight into the knowledge, understanding, and perceptions of teachers when considering reading achievement and how it relates to Reading Recovery, student engagement, professional development, and socioeconomic status. A second piece to the study included a quantitative examination of the correlation between reading achievement and attendance. Focus groups were formed and an 11-question interview was conducted to gather insight into the perceptions of first-grade teachers across five different counties. Additionally, reading data and attendance from 249 students in those schools were used to determine if a correlation exists between reading achievement and student attendance. After completion of all focus groups, it was evident many commonalities exist among first-grade teachers across multiple districts. Most teachers find value in Reading Recovery, understand the importance of student engagement, see the disadvantages of those students who arrive from lower socioeconomic status families, and value professional development. Reading and attendance data revealed students with attendance greater than 94% have improved reading achievement over those with attendance below 94%. The results of this study can provide insight for administrators and district leaders when considering appropriate professional development in the area of reading achievement.</p>

<p> Delays in the development of early literacy skills are associated with a wrath of negative educational outcomes and so addressing such delays is one of the most pressing challenges in education. This study examines the effectiveness of the Orton-Gillingham (OG) Method, a multisensory reading program where instruction utilizes two or more senses simultaneously. Originally developed in the 1930s as a program for dyslexic students, OG has seen continual use since its creation and is endorsed by the American Dyslexic Foundation and the International Dyslexic Foundation. Over the past two decades OG has increasingly been incorporated into general education settings in the primary grades as a reading intervention for struggling readers regardless of whether they have dyslexia. However, there is a dearth of research demonstrating its causal effect as a reading intervention for children with dyslexia or who are experiencing reading delays for other reasons. Two quasi-experimental methods, Regression Discontinuity Design and Nonequivalent Comparison Group Design with propensity scores, are used to test the efficacy of an OG-based, general education reading intervention on a sample of over 700 kindergarten and first grade students who are experiencing reading delays from a large district in California. The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) assessments were used to assign students to the intervention and measure their end-of-year reading outcomes. The results of both analyses revealed no effect for students enrolled in the intervention in either kindergarten or first grade. Within the year that students received the intervention, a small but non-significant gain on end-of-year DIBELS composite scores was found. Long-term outcomes showed that over half of the students in the intervention were still not meeting reading targets by the end of second grade. Moreover, while the treatment effect was found to vary significantly across classrooms and across schools, no available measures classroom or school characteristics where associated with that variation. These findings suggest that certain applications of the OG methodologies may not be effective in general education settings.</p>

<p> No Child Left Behind (NCLB) along with the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA) have provided students with the opportunity to receive remedial services without having to be referred for diagnostic testing through a process referred to as Response to Intervention (RtI). While this process can prove to be beneficial for the student, the extra work that is being placed on teachers can cause teachers to form a negative perception of this process. In addition to the extra work, there is little research to support RtI in the secondary schools. Secondary school administrators are trying to implement RtI programs that were designed for self-contained elementary schools into a secondary setting and the results have not been favorable. This study aims to measure middle school teachers&rsquo; self-perceptions of RTI and how these perceptions affect their implementation of RtI with fidelity. </p>

<p> This dissertation reports design-based research that determined the characteristics of an effective intervention to improve adolescent historical argumentative writing. This study involved 89 diverse 11th grade students, including approximately 50% Hispanic students and 12% students with disabilities. It compared a treatment that taught students to write warrants using historical thinking to explain how evidence supports a claim, and a comparison treatment that taught students to find and evaluate evidence for particular claims and sides. Both groups read a text set about the controversy surrounding the explosion of the battleship U.S.S. Maine at the start of the Spanish-American War. The intervention was designed to improve student ability to 1) select effective warrants reflecting different types of historical thinking, 2) generate their own warrants when given a claim and evidence, and 3) write more effective warrants in their own argumentative essays. When the most reliable study measures were combined and analyzed using MANOVA, there was a significant overall treatment effect. Follow up ANOVAs indicated a statistically significant effect for selecting warrants, but not writing warrants. The mean difference was greatest in items reflecting corroboration, a heuristic that requires reading several documents and giving more weight to evidence found in common across accounts. Both conditions struggled to differentiate between more and less effective warrants. These findings matter because historical argumentative writing involves advanced literacy skills similar to those needed for online reading and engaged citizenship. Based on these findings, the intervention was refined to include additional scaffolding for collecting evidence across texts and explicit instruction in differentiating between more and less effective warrants. The findings were used to develop a theory of teaching argumentative writing to inform work in similar contexts. This theory emphasizes backwards planning of units centered around a historical controversy from the writing students will do at unit&rsquo;s end. It emphasizes the importance of teachers reading historical texts closely themselves and identifying where students can use historical thinking heuristics to warrant claims about the historical controversy. Through this approach, students build understanding of content and disciplinary literacy skills simultaneously through reading, reasoning, and writing across texts. </p>