Fractions are an essential skill for students to master, and one students struggling in mathematics face particular difficulty with (National Mathematics Advisory Panel, 2008; Mazzocco & Devlin, 2008). This study employed the multi-probe multiple baseline design to examine the effectiveness of the concrete-representational-abstract (CRA) approach and explicit teaching practices to teach fraction equivalence to students struggling in mathematics. The study was conducted across four students, and replicated simultaneously across four more. The CRA approach included concrete aids such as fraction circles and fraction strips, representations such as pictures of fraction circles and polygons, and algorithms. Explicit teaching involved following a model-lead-test sequence and included an advanced organizer, corrective feedback and cumulative reviews. Results of this study indicated that the intervention program was effective to improve students‟ performances in fraction equivalence tasks. In particular, the use of vii representations was seen to impact performance and concrete aids alone may not be sufficient to improve performance. With regards types of representational and concrete aids employed, results of this study tended to favor the use of linear versus circular aids. Results indicated that students whose performances tend to vary may not benefit to the same extent as those who have stable profiles. Students who demonstrate variable profiles may require additional practice to master skills being taught. This study also examined transfer of skills to word problems and, results demonstrated that the CRA and explicit teaching approaches were beneficial in helping aiding transfer. Several aspects of the program may have contributed to aiding transfer including, minimal exposure to word problems during intervention, drawing connections between representations and abstract information, and incorporating the fair sharing understanding or quotient interpretation of fractions. This program concluded that students were able to maintain performances over time, and that representations in particular appeared to aid conceptual understanding and promote maintenance of skills. / text

This case study examined how a team of middle school teachers from different subject areas collaboratively planned interdisciplinary experiences for their students. Using fieldwork research methods, including long-term participant-observation, interviewing and document analysis, the study explored how team members planned interdisciplinary experiences. Data were analyzed through a process of searching for patterns, coding and comparison, utilizing the Hackman and Oldham (1980) model of group effectiveness as a heuristic for understanding the group processes. The results of this study raise questions about the preeminence of the "interdisciplinary thematic unit" in middle school rhetoric. The team developed a conception of interdisciplinary that progressed through phases of elusion and inclusion to allusion. Team members chose not to create any tightly-structured interdisciplinary thematic units, and they did not follow any established planning processes designed for creating such units; rather, they dialogued about their subject areas in ways that allowed them to make ongoing connections between subjects. Through their dialogues, team members gained insight into both their own subject areas and connections among subject areas. The Interdisciplinary Judgment Matrix was developed as a means of understanding team members' decision-making in determining whether to plan interdisciplinary experiences. This matrix presents the teachers' decision-making as a process of judging the relevance of potential interdisciplinary experiences both to the established curriculum and to the subject specialists’ criteria for what students ought to derive from a course. The matrix argues that team members do not merely follow a curriculum guide or textbook, but make professional judgments balancing the demands of the curriculum with subject specialists' assumptions and concerns. The study has implications for both practitioners and researchers. Middle school team members need to be given time to develop a conception of interdisciplinarity that fits with their understanding of the purposes of teaming. Also, rather than implementing pre-packaged interdisciplinary thematic units, such teams should be encouraged to dialogue about their subject areas in order to make meaningful and ongoing connections for their students. Rather than adhering to a set of steps for creating interdisciplinary thematic units, middle school teams must learn to discuss the substance of their teaching with one another. Such discussion promises professional growth through everyday occupational conditions. Based on the findings of this study, researchers might profitably investigate the role of unit planning as the common focus of collaborative planning. The study also suggests research into the effectiveness of pre-established planning models as compared to the dialoguing the study recommends. Finally, the study raises a research question about the interplay of collaborative groups with the larger culture of the school.

This study is an exploratory case study on one middle school's attempt at the alleviation of a number of problem areas through the implementation of the closed campus approach to scheduling. This work outlines a 2 year qualitative and quantitative case study that allowed the researcher a genuine opportunity to examine a radical departure from the normal mode of educational delivery provided to this age group. It was felt that a case study of the well-grounded theory of the closed campus model of scheduling would be beneficial to others interested in possible vehicles for school improvement. A discussion of the condition of the sample school the year prior to the implementation of the closed campus is included as well as an account of both the logistical and physical steps taken by the sample school in implementing the closed campus. The study suggest that the closed campus approach did appear to improve a variety of student and staff factors shown by research to be related to a safe and orderly learning environment and important learning outcomes, as compared to conditions observed during the previous year under the traditional, open campus approach. These variables included incidents of late arrival by students, student suspensions, student behaviour problems, physical altercations, verbal abuse of staff by students, verbal abuse of students by students, subject related behavioural concerns, student absenteeism and staff absenteeism. Although the quantitative comparisons included in this study show directional trends, they do not reflect a casual relationship. It is hoped that readers of this study will be able to generalize its findings to other situations they may find appropriate. / xii, 140 leaves ; 28 cm.

The purpose of the study was to measure student attitudes toward Clay Middle School and selected components of the school in South Bend, Indiana, and to compare the results of student achievement, attendance, and dropout rate from the two years prior to the implementation of the intermediate school program with the results of student achievement, attendance, and dropout rate three years following the implementation of the intermediate school program. The study was limited to include all students in grades 7-9 in the Clay attendance district from 1970-75 and to a sample of all Clay Middle School certified staff members with school-wide responsibility.Two questionnaires, together with computer scored standardized tests, computer-generated attendance data, and a tally form for recording dropouts were used to collect the data. The first questionnaire was administered to the sample of Clay Middle School staff and was used to establish the credibility of the Clay Middle School program as a middle school. The second questionnaire was administered to Clay Middle School students in grades 7-9 from 1972-75 to collect data on attitudes toward school. The standardized tests were the Cooperative School and College Ability Tests and the Sequential Tests of Educational Progress from Educational Testing Service and were administered to seventh and ninth grade students in the Clay attendance district to evaluate any change in student achievement. The attendance data and ninth grade dropout data were collected for all students in grades 7-9 from the Clay attendance district from 1970-75 and were used to determine any change in student attendance and ninth grade student dropout rate.The data collected throughout the study indicated:The following basic middle school principles were implemented to a high degree in the Clay middle School program: student services, exploratory and enrichment programs, continuous progress, auxiliary staffing, team teaching, use of multimedia, and physical experiences. The following basic middle school principles were implemented to a low degree in the Clay Middle School program: student security factors, flexible schedule, intramural activity, and planned gradualism.Most students held positive attitudes toward the open concept intermediate school program as implemented at Clay Middle School.Almost all of the Clay Middle School students were able to become well-adjusted and effectively oriented toward Clay Middle School.Most Clay Middle School students considered the course offerings at Clay Middle School adequate.A sizeable minority of Clay Middle School students was dissatisfied in regard to certain aspects of the courses offered in the open classroom areas and suggested more teacher involvement in student learning problems.Nearly one-half of the Clay Middle School students considered the faculty and staff at Clay Middle School unresponsive and unavailable.A majority of the Clay Middle School students had an overall positive feeling toward the school. The physical layout of the Clay Middle School building was serviceable to the basic needs of students.The changes in student achievement as measured by the standardized tests at Clay Middle School from two years prior to the implementation of the intermediate school program to three years following the implementation of the intermediate school program were minor and could not be attributed to the Clay Middle School Program.The changes in student attendance in the Clay attendance district from two years prior to the implementation of the intermediate school program to three years following the implementation of the intermediate school program were minor and could not be attributed to the Clay Middle School program.12. The percentage of ninth grade dropouts in the Clay attendance district decreased as a result of the ninth grade being a part of the intermediate school unit.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-137). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-137). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-102).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Kansas State University, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-82).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 2001. / Title from title page screen, viewed April 4, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Paul Baker (Chair), Dianne Ashby, Deborah Curtis, Susan Lenski, Glenn Schlichting. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 214-219) and abstract. Also available in print.

This case study examined how a team of middle school teachers from different subject areas collaboratively planned interdisciplinary experiences for their students. Using fieldwork research methods, including long-term participant-observation, interviewing and document analysis, the study explored how team members planned interdisciplinary experiences. Data were analyzed through a process of searching for patterns, coding and comparison, utilizing the Hackman and Oldham (1980) model of group effectiveness as a heuristic for understanding the group processes. The results of this study raise questions about the preeminence of the "interdisciplinary thematic unit" in middle school rhetoric. The team developed a conception of interdisciplinary that progressed through phases of elusion and inclusion to allusion. Team members chose not to create any tightly-structured interdisciplinary thematic units, and they did not follow any established planning processes designed for creating such units; rather, they dialogued about their subject areas in ways that allowed them to make ongoing connections between subjects. Through their dialogues, team members gained insight into both their own subject areas and connections among subject areas. The Interdisciplinary Judgment Matrix was developed as a means of understanding team members' decision-making in determining whether to plan interdisciplinary experiences. This matrix presents the teachers' decision-making as a process of judging the relevance of potential interdisciplinary experiences both to the established curriculum and to the subject specialists’ criteria for what students ought to derive from a course. The matrix argues that team members do not merely follow a curriculum guide or textbook, but make professional judgments balancing the demands of the curriculum with subject specialists' assumptions and concerns. The study has implications for both practitioners and researchers. Middle school team members need to be given time to develop a conception of interdisciplinarity that fits with their understanding of the purposes of teaming. Also, rather than implementing pre-packaged interdisciplinary thematic units, such teams should be encouraged to dialogue about their subject areas in order to make meaningful and ongoing connections for their students. Rather than adhering to a set of steps for creating interdisciplinary thematic units, middle school teams must learn to discuss the substance of their teaching with one another. Such discussion promises professional growth through everyday occupational conditions. Based on the findings of this study, researchers might profitably investigate the role of unit planning as the common focus of collaborative planning. The study also suggests research into the effectiveness of pre-established planning models as compared to the dialoguing the study recommends. Finally, the study raises a research question about the interplay of collaborative groups with the larger culture of the school. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate