M.Ed. (Educational Linguistics) / The construct of this study consists of the perceptions and experiences of the teachers and students of initial reading at Sizwile School for the Deaf in urban South Africa. This investigation focuses on a Sub B class, in which Sign Language is the means of communication. The research design is exploratory and descriptive as it aims to explore, describe and clarify the children's apprehension of reading. This could yield new knowledge which is rooted in a specific and complex context. The process is conducted by means of a case study (monographic study) design which includes mostly qualitative methods for data collection. The rationale for this study is that respondents' personal (ernic) views, obtained from a "bottom-up" research mode could bring more light to the body of knowledge of deaf education in South Africa. Insufficient rigorous research, the lack of educational policy, lack of more input in South African curriculum for the deaf and limited cohesive instructional theory in South African deaf education motivated the researcher to initiate this investigation. The rationale of this stidy thus circulated from the theoretical and physical context of deaf education in South Africa, as well as the researcher's personal experiential knowledge as a teacher in the only school for the deaf around Soweto (a Black Township). The research question in this inquiry has been conceptualised in a maze of conflicting opinions and practices regarding the education of the deaf and the teaching of initial reading. The experiences, activities and perceptions of a single class within a school for the deaf was explored and described argumentatively in the light of contemporary theories on language, learning, reading and deaf education. Perspectives on learning to read are discussed in order to contextualise the individual's learning to read. Also included are theories of language and of learning, presented to provide a backdrop against which the practices in deaf education will be discussed. Language is subsequently discussed as medium of communication in the education process, with a closer focus on instruction in the first language (Sign Language) of the deaf child. The other part of the conceptual framework covers reading across the curriculum. The theoretical framework is presented as support structure for the research construct and also to problematise the research question (problem) from complementary angles.

This qualitative study was conducted in a large north Texas school district. The subjects were four elementary teachers who had previously attended a summer aerospace education workshop. The researcher observed in each classroom during science instruction and other areas where aerospace concepts might be taught to determine material usage, practices, and perceptions associated with teaching aerospace. The teachers' lesson planbooks, textbooks, and supplementary materials were also examined by the researcher. Interviews were conducted with each teacher's principal and the district science coordinator to determine their effects on the practices and perceptions of the subjects.

The expectation of graduating nurses today is to be knowledgeable and responsive to rapidly changing technology in the health care environment. Although federal mandates, Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations, and nursing program accreditation initiatives are pushing an "informatics" healthcare agenda by promoting the implementation of electronic health record (EHR) systems by 2014 in all healthcare facilities, very few US nursing schools provide students with access and training in, EHR systems. In addition, nursing faculty may not have a clear understanding of healthcare informatics; the use of information and technology to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and support decision-making. Nursing education must address faculty issues related to this innovative paradigm in order to keep pace and participate as co-creators of relevant informatics technology curriculum that prepares graduates for real life workforce. Understanding the challenges, concerns, and successes in implementing informatics may help nurse educators as they develop curriculum and teach in this environment. This case study explores and describes, with nursing faculty of a small liberal arts college, faculty knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) as they participate in an action research framed curriculum development program for informatics academic EHR (AEHR) integration. The research question:What is the experience of nursing educators and nursing faculty members involved in the integration of an AEHR project framed in the Learning by Developing model at a small liberal arts college school of nursing? Significant insights as participants in the study influenced nurse educators' ideas regarding collaborative curricular design, meaningful assignments, and the importance of feedback.

The purpose of this research was to test a strategy which uses music-related concepts to teach math. A quasi-experimental study of two high school remedial geometry sections was conducted during a review lesson of ratio, proportion, and cross multiplication. A pretest was given to both groups. Then, Group A received normal textbook instruction while Group B received the treatment, Get the Math in Music, which is an online activity involving proportional reasoning in a music-related context. Afterwards, a posttest was given to both groups. Pretest and posttest scores were used to compare gains in subject knowledge between the groups. Then a second evaluation of the treatment was conducted. Group A received the treatment and took a post-posttest. Score gains for Group A before and after receiving the treatment were compared. After these tests, all participants took a survey to determine if their appreciation of math grew as a result of the treatment. Finally, interviews were conducted to provide better understanding of the results. The research questions of this study were: to what extent does the integration of Get the Math in Music improve students' academic performance in a remedial geometry review of ratio, proportion, and cross multiplication, and to what extent does participation in the Get the Math activity improve students' attitudes towards math? My hypotheses were that students would perform significantly better on a subject knowledge test after receiving the treatment, and that all students would have a more positive attitude towards math after receiving the treatment. Quantitative results did not triangulate to support or refute these hypotheses. Greater improvement from pretest to posttest was statistically correlated with Group B, which was the group first receiving the treatment. But later, between posttest and post-posttest Group A did not show statistically significant greater gains after receiving the treatment. Surveys results showed that students did not necessarily like math any more after the treatment. Interviews revealed that several of these students were apathetic to geometry in particular, if not to math in general. The case of one student's improvement suggested that positive teacher-student relationships are more effective than any particular method to increase academic performance and student engagement. Survey results were consistent with earlier psychological studies claiming teenagers care about music. Additional studies in the future on the merits of using music to teach high school math would be useful. Claims that proportional reasoning is challenging were supported. It would be beneficial to evaluate the treatment in an Algebra or Pre-Algebra setting when students first study proportions.

This case study documented a staff development program which was the major component of a public school/university partnership between Portland State University and the Lake Oswego School District, a suburb of Portland, Oregon. A select group of 34 Lake Oswego teachers and 4 administrators participated in the Joint Ventures in Instructional Leadership Program which included classes in learning and instructional theory, techniques of peer sharing, instructional strategies and models of teaching, and approaches to the teaching of higher order thinking skills. The program included 7 full days and 4 evenings of instructional training which occurred throughout the 1986-87 school year. The purpose of the study was to examine the professional growth process of teachers participating in the Joint Ventures Program and determine what effects the program had on instructional decision making and teaching practices. The study provides a full description of the program including: its background; assumptions, goals, and objectives; the selection process and characteristics of teacher participants; the planning process; and the program's content and activities. In addition, the study addresses the following questions: How did teachers perceive their professional growth experience? Did participation in the program bring about any changes in how teachers made instructional decisions? What skills and strategies, acquired through program participation, did teachers use and incorporate into their normal repertoire of teaching practices? Participant observation was the primary method of data collection used in this study. Other data collection techniques including interviews, questionnaires, video tapes, and documentation were also employed to provide multiple sources of evidence, thereby increasing construct validity of the study. These observational data were integrated and assembled into a chronological, narrative record of events, resulting in a descriptive account of the staff development process as experienced by Joint Ventures Program participants. The results of this case study indicated that the Joint Ventures Program was effective in promoting desired changes in teachers' approaches to instructional decision making and classroom practices. Several factors were found to influence these changes including a norm of collegiality, School District support, and an ongoing planning process based on participant feedback. The workshop instructor, teacher training activities, and program scheduling also affected the outcomes of the program. Joint Ventures Program participants viewed their overall professional growth experience in a very positive light.

Thesis (MEd (Curriculum Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / The research was done in a period of curriculum transformation and reform in South Africa, a period during which teachers attended many interventions by service providers other than the education department to sharpen their skills. In this study, I investigate teacher professional development and professional development programmes using two case studies, MTN-SUNSTEP (Mobile Telecommunications Network – Stellenbosch University Schools Technology in Electronics Programme) and SWAP (Schools Water Project). These INSET programmes were intended to assist with the improvement of science teaching in terms of the new curricula suggested for the country. The study proceeds by way of two case studies within an interpretive paradigm. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the two programmes based on the criteria developed through a literature review and to understand and give meaning to the process of teacher professional development that might have occurred in the programmes. This process is framed by my research question, “can resource kits enable professional development in science teaching”. Data was collected at various stages by way of field notes, questionnaires, interviews and observations at workshops. Teachers generally found the processes useful but do indicate dissatisfaction with certain areas of the programmes. Issues that emerged from the study were that teacher development processes need to be organized over a long period, the development of teacher networks needs to be nurtured, and support at school level was essential to ensure implementation. An important insight was that the research, once again, emphasized a key aspect of effective teacher development programmes. Effective programmes require a team consisting of three agents that bring their own expertise to the process namely, teachers, district officials and university staff. This team has to take into account the factors that ensure effective teacher professional development and should occur within the parameters of accepted professional development practices and learning support materials play an important role in supporting this process.

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The main objective of this study was to determine the effects of an intervention programme on the reading levels of ten grade two learners. A case study was used as research method. The research group of five boys and five girls between the ages of 7 and 8 years were Grade 2 learners at a Boland primary school. These learners did not meet the Assessment Standards for reading and looking (LO3: 3, 4) The research process consisted of a pre evaluation phase, the intervention and a post evaluation phase. The learner’s reading levels were determined during the evaluation phases. The observation during the intervention was coded and recorded. The group was taught during a period of 10 weeks, 3 times a week for 30 minutes at a time. Ananlysis of data showed improvement of reading levels with regards to fluency, speed, accuracy analysis and self correction. The study thus shows that the intervention was effective for improving reading levels. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die hoofdoel van die studie was om die invloed van ‘n intervensie op tien graad 2- leerders se leespeil te bepaal. ‘n Gevallestudie is as navorsingsmetode gebruik. Die navorsingsgroep, bestaande uit vyf seuns en vyf dogters tussen sewe en agt jaar oud, was almal in graad 2 aan ‘n Bolandse laerskool. Die leerders het nie voldoen aan die Nasionale Assesseringstandaarde vir lees en kyk (LU3: 3.4) nie. Die navorsing het uit twee evalueringsfases en ‘n intervensieprogram bestaan. Tydens die evalueringsfases is die leespeil van die leerders voor en na die intervensie bepaal. Tydens die intervensie is waarneming gedoen en met behulp van ‘n koderingstelsel aangeteken. Die navorsingsgroep is oor ‘n periode van tien weke drie keer per week vir 30 minute aan ‘n program blootgestel. Die data-analise het ‘n verbetering getoon ten opsigte van vlotheid, spoed, akkuraatheid, analise en selfkorrigering. Die studie het dus aangetoon dat die intervensie die leespeil van die tien leerders verbeter het.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

This was a qualitative study that used the procedures of case study design while incorporating ethnographic techniques of interviewing and non-participant observation in classrooms with six selected students, six teachers, and eight interviews of selected administrators and staff members in one middle school in a large Texas urban school district. The purpose of this study was to understand the educational experiences and perceptions of selected immigrant students and their mainstream teachers. Following the method of case study design, the educational experiences of English Language Learner (ELL) students were examined in the naturally occurring context of the school and the classroom. Because the goal of case studies is to understand a given phenomenon from the perceptions of the participants (referred to as “emic” perspective) all participants were interviewed in-depth in order to understand their unique perceptions. The study took place during a five-month period in the spring of 2002. Data were analyzed concurrently during data collection and were framed by Geneva Gay's (2000) characteristics of culturally responsive teaching. The findings and interpretation of data are divided into three parts that encompass the results of the five research questions that guided this study. Part one presents the teachers' perceptions and addresses the themes that arose from research questions one and two: what are teachers' perceptions of the academic problems facing (ELL) students as they enter the mainstream classroom? What instructional practices do regular teachers use to meet the academic needs of students? Part two presents the students' perceptions and addresses the findings from research questions three and four: what are (ELL) students' perceptions of the academic challenges facing them in the mainstream classroom? What are the ELL students' perceptions of the instructional practices used by mainstream teachers to meet their academic needs? Part three addresses the fifth research question that guided this study: What administrative policies and procedures are in place in the school and district to meet the educational needs of ELL students?

Closing the achievement gap has been a national conversation for several decades and a priority for educators and researchers. By looking closely at one school which is showing exceptional success with closing the achievement gap for low income students and English language learners, this study seeks to understand how school personnel and parents view after-school activities and ways in which those activities may be impacting students who are making significant gains in spite of the achievement gap. After-school activities have been shown to bring many positive outcomes for students. That said, there is much that we do not yet know about what takes place at the intersection of schools and after-school activities. To maximize after-school opportunities for disadvantaged students and use or redirect existing resources most effectively, we need to ask and understand how schools perceive their role vis-à-vis after-school activities. We also need to explore how school personnel and parents perceive access and barriers to participation in after-school activities. Using secondary data from a large on-going study, this case study asks how one school understands engagement with after-school providers to bolster those students who may have the most to gain from such enrichment in the form of the many opportunities after-school resources can offer. This study will contribute to our understanding of how after-school resources can support success for low income and English language learners.