Reading is one of the primary goals of the early elementary grades. When students start to struggle with this complex skill, educators and parents search for solutions to rectify quickly mounting gaps before a child falls too far behind. In the State of Oklahoma, lawmakers have passed a law requiring mandatory 3rd grade retention for students who do not pass the state reading test. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the perceptions of stakeholders who had experienced implementation of mandated student retention in early childhood. The study is informed by Bourdieu's cultural capital theory of social distinctions, Bloom's taxonomy theory, and Festinger's social comparison theory. Seventeen participants, including 2 parents, 8 teachers, and 7 administrators, took part in face-to-face interviews and focus groups to provide data on 3rd graders in 4 schools in an Oklahoma district. Responses from interviews and focus groups were audiorecorded, transcribed, and coded for themes. Nine themes emerged from data analysis. These themes reflected participants' concern for the potential damage to students' self-esteem, an increase in dropout rates, and that the 3rd grade is too late for retention. On the positive side, participants indicated mandatory retention permitted retention that had been previously refused, and provides time for maturity, as well as the opportunity for success for struggling students. However, study participants also opined that mandatory retention created new challenges for students, teachers, and schools. Findings guided the development of a policy recommendation to create social change within the participating district, empowering educators to help parents better understand this law and prepare their children for the 3rd grade assessment by outlining a plan for early identification and creating programs for struggling students.

The low test scores on third graders' Illinois State Assessment Test (ISAT) is a concern in the Allgood Elementary School community. Thirty percent of third graders are retained because they do not meet the standard on the ISAT. A technology-assisted reading program, Study Island, was implemented to increase reading proficiency. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was an improvement in standardized test performance after the implementation of Study Island for the academic school years 2009-2012. Dewey's theory of experience provided the theoretical framework for the study because when students are engaged in hands on experience in education it reflects a meaningful learning experience. A correlational study was conducted to examine whether the computer-based program had an effect on student reading performance on the ISAT. The sample consisted of students in two third-grade classrooms (N = 305) enrolled during these years. Archived ISAT scores were used to compare student performance. A one-way ANOVA determined whether statistically significant differences existed in the mean scores of students who did and did not use the Study Island reading program. The results show, ISAT scores were significantly higher only after the second year of implementation of the program. The findings, presented in a white paper, can promote social change by helping school officials make informed decisions on implementing Study Island, ultimately to improve reading outcomes for students and help them become critical thinkers in society.

Third grade teachers participated in a study that examined the ways teachers learn new skills for reading instruction and transfer their learning into the classroom on a daily basis. A review of literature included identification of a purpose for teacher learning, how teacher self-perception influenced use of new knowledge and teacher skills, and improved reading achievement. The teachers discussed challenges and barriers for their learning and implementation of new learning, which included reflection of how each has evolved as a reading teacher. Teachers expressed interests for new learning in reading instruction and self-awareness necessary for improvement in their practice.

This thesis presents the contribution to research that my doctoral education led to. My starting point was a large scale qualitative research project (here after called the VR-project) which reviewed the implementation of national tests in the third grade on the subject of mathematics. The VR-project investigated how the test affected the pupils with a special focus on pupils in need of special support. An urge to look further into issues concerning the support, the pupil in need and the test was revealed in he initial VR-project. These issues therefore constitutes the problem area of this thesis. The VR-project studied a total of 22 classrooms in two different municipalities' during 2010- 2012. The methodology used for this project was inspired by ethnography and discourse analysis. The raw data consisted of test instructions, video observations of the actual test subjects, interviews from teachers and pupils about the test, the support that was given throughout the testing as well as the observations and interviews of the pupils requiring special assistance. Activated discourses and positions of the participants were demarcated. The results revealed that a traditional testing discourse, a caring discourse and a competitive discourse are activated during the tests. The testing discourse is stable and traditional. Much of what was shown and said in classrooms, routines and rules regarding the test were repeated in all the schools and in all the classrooms. The discourse on support is affected by ambiguity, which is revealed especially when issues of pupils’ equity is put against the tests equality. This is connected to the teachers restricted agency to give support due to the teacher position as a test taker. The positions in need that are available to students are not the same in pupils, teachers and steering documents. The situation is especially troublesome for pupils that do not manage Swedish good enough to take the test and for pupils in need of special support. Some of the conclusions from this thesis is that the national test format: Disciplines not only the pupil, but also the teacher, the classroom and the school at large. Results indicate that the test: Activates a focus on achievementLeads attention away from learning Activates issues of accountability Influences pupils and teachers with stakes involved Besides evaluating knowledge, the test disciplines not only the pupil, but also the teacher, the classroom and the school at large. Discussing the national test as an arena for equity might be a way towards attaining equality in education for all pupils. / Nationella prov i matematik – vad gör testandet med eleverna?

The aim of this study was to examine how a group of teachers in the same primary school work with fiction read-alouds in the Swedish teaching. The collected material was analysed by using Langer’s (2005) theory about imagination worlds. Two questions were then formulated to answer the purpose of the study: How do the teachers plan their fiction read-alouds in Swedish teaching? and How do the teachers describe the implementation of their read-alouds? The result shows that all of the teachers plan their fiction read-alouds with different types of preparation. This preparation includes: choosing the right book, which the teachers claim is dependent on several factors such as the students’ knowledge level or interests; reading the book before the read-aloud; and introducing the book in an interesting way during the read-aloud, which creates a pre-understanding of the content. Lastly, the teachers revealed that a large part of their planning work consists of creating post-reading tasks which are primarily aimed at developing students’ writing. The result also shows that the teachers have distinct rules for the implementation of their read-alouds. These rules help the teachers create favourable conditions for engaging students in the world of fiction. During read-alouds, the teachers embody the text through the use of their voices and body language. The importance of conversation during the read-aloud, with the primary purpose of helping students understand the content of the story, was also emphasized. The teachers also claim that conversation also gives their students a chance to think out loud and to reflect on the reading, thus gaining the opportunity to share each other’s thoughts.

The aim of this essay is to describe how students in third grade speak about writing. I want to investigate what ideas and awareness children has about writing. I want to compare the results from third grade with pre-school children. I also want to find out how it is in other countries and over time. To achieve the aim, have four questions been formulated: What is writing for children in third grade? What similarities and differences are there with children in other countries? Has there been any change regarding children´s conceptions of writing compared with a 1985 study? Has there been any development in children´s conceptions of writing between pre-school and third grade? The study is based on interviews with ten students in third grade to get answers for the aim of this study. The questions for the interview are from a previous study The Mind is Not a Black Box: Children´s Ideas about the writing Process where Nora Scheuer, Montserrat de la Cruz, Juan Ignacio Pozo, Maria Faustina Huarte and Graciela Sola (2006) used four questions with picture cards. Each card represents a child in the writing process (anticipating, writing, revising, rereading). The results showed that students in third grade have come further in their development and have a more complex knowledge of what writing is than pre-school children. The students in third grade can describe which cognitive processes they process when they write. The results also showed that students have been formed by the formal teaching. They describe writing based on the criteria’s school puts on them. Students in third grade want to develop a fully spoken text that meets the language requirements that school or adults place on them. The Portuguese children speak about a concern about cursive witch Swedish children don´t do. This is probably because cursive is not a requirement in the Swedish curriculum.

O objetivo desse trabalho à apresentar explanaÃÃes e estratÃgias de resoluÃÃo das equaÃÃes algÃbricas do primeiro, segundo e terceiro graus, uma vez que o ensino relativo à resoluÃÃes dessas equaÃÃes tem se restringido praticamente a apresentaÃÃo da fÃrmula resolutiva e as relaÃÃes entre seus coeficientes e suas raÃzes. Desta maneira procuramos demonstrar e atà mesmo justificar todas as formas apresentadas para se resolver equaÃÃes atà o terceiro grau atravÃs de mÃtodos puramente algÃbricos ou geomÃtricos, como tambÃm, exemplificar todos os mÃtodos que foram exibidos no intuito de satisfazer as expectativas dos leitores, por isso, o texto foi produzido em uma linguagem simples, acessÃvel à professores e alunos. Nesse contexto, espera-se que essa proposta de trabalho estimule os professores de MatemÃtica do Ensino BÃsico a realizarem essa abordagem diferenciada das equaÃÃes algÃbricas em questÃo, pois acredita-se que com essa abordagem ocorram reflexos positivos no processo de ensino e aprendizagem das equaÃÃes e da MatemÃtica. / The aim of this paper is to present explanations and solving strategies of algebraic equations of the first, second and third degrees, since the relative teaching on the resolutions of these equations has been restricted practically the presentation of solving formula and the relationships between its coefficients and its roots. In this way we try to demonstrate and even justify all forms presented to solve equations to the third degree by purely algebraic or geometric methods, but also exemplify all methods that were displayed in order to meet the expectations of readers, so the text was produced in simple language, accessible to teachers and students. In this context, it is expected that this work proposal stimulate the mathematics teachers of Basic Education to perform this differentiated approach to algebraic equations in question, since it is believed that with this approach occur positive reflexes in the teaching and learning of equations and of Mathematics.

Denna studie syftar till att undersöka hur problemlösningsuppgifter i läromedel som är vanliga i svensk skola bidrar till elevers matematiska utveckling inom området problemlösning. Ett analysverktyg har konstruerats och använts till att genomföra en analys av problemlösningsuppgifterna i de båda läroböckerna. Slutsatser som framkommit är att läraren i mer eller mindre grad måste kompensera så att uppgifterna uppfyller alla kriterier och att lärare måste vara särskilt uppmärksamma på att ge elever möjligheter att implementera och att tillägna sig problemlösningsstrategier samt utmanas att reflektera och verifiera sina lösningar. / This study aims to investigate how problem-solving tasks in educational books that are common I Swedish schools contribute to student’s development in mathematics in the area of problem-solving. A framework has been created and used to conduct an analysis of the problem-solving tasks in two educational books. The conclusions are that the teacher more or less needs to compensate for some aspects of the problem-solving tasks and that the teacher has to be extra careful to make sure that the students will appropriate problem-solving strategies and reflect upon and verify their solutions.

Although early mathematics instruction is predictive of future mathematics achievement, the effects of STEM-based mathematics instruction on mathematics gains in elementary school have been largely unexplored. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether mathematics scores from third grade student state-mandated standardized mathematics test differ between students who were enrolled in STEM schools and students who were enrolled in non-STEM schools in the largest school district located in a Southwestern state in the United States. Polya's problem-solving heuristics formed the theoretical framework because of their relevance to concepts on the third grade mathematics test. Two research questions focused on intraindividual changes and interindividual changes over time in standardized mathematics test scores of third grade students who were enrolled in 18 STEM and 18 non-STEM schools. Analyses included growth curve modeling and a one-way random effect ANOVA to determine individual growth trajectories of mathematics test scores from individual schools over time from 2012 through 2017. The results indicated that there were no intraindividual differences in growth over time within schools, and there were interindividual changes in growth over time between schools, but the changes could not be explained by the independent variables, STEM and non-STEM schools. Findings were not consistent with the literature, which indicated early STEM-based mathematics instruction is more beneficial than traditional instruction. This study offers implications for positive social change by demonstrating equivalent results of STEM to non-STEM instruction, which may encourage more hands-on, inquiry-based learning for all children.

In teachers’ duty it is significant to create good conditions for student to become included. The schools value work is therefore not only important but shall permeate the whole education. This study, focus on value work during reading aloud, from books in grade three, primary school, with a norm-critical perspective.  To enable this, I have done a survey to map which books the teachers used for reading aloud in connection to value work. Then a norm-critical discourse analysis of the main character in the most popular books where done. The survey indicates that teachers work with value questions during aloud reading of books.  The discourse analysis show that norms and values were similar. The study implicates, the significant of wise and well-founded choices of books for value work, that enable all student to identify themselves with the main characters in the books. The result shows that the most popular books are not that multifaceted. The characters in these books do not represent the diversity in classroom.   The discourse analyse clarifies the implicit and explicit norms and values the books supports. A teacher can work with figure of thought, literal norm-critique, in book talks with the students. / En viktig del av lärares uppdrag är att skapa goda förutsättningar, för att eleverna ska känna sig inkluderade. Skolans värdegrundsarbete är därför avgörande och något som ska genomsyra all undervisning. Studien fokuserar på högläsning i årskurs 3, där arbetet fokuserar på värdegrundsfrågor ur ett normkritiskt perspektiv. Jag har använt en survey för att kartlägga vilka böcker som lärare använder för högläsning i samband med värdegrundsarbetet. En norm-kritisk diskursanalys, av huvudkaraktärerna, i de två populäraste böckerna, genomfördes. Surveystudien indikerade att nästan alla lärare i studien arbetade med värdegrundsfrågor i samband med högläsningen. Studien resulterade i två böcker inom fantasygenren, där liknande normer och värderingar synliggörs genom diskursanalysen. Slutsatsen visar hur väsentligt det är att lärare gör kloka och välgrundade urval av högläsningsböcker, för att alla elever ska kunna identifiera sig med huvudkaraktärerna i böckerna. De populäraste böckerna, är inte tillräckligt mångfacetterade, för att motsvara den mångfald som finns i klassrummen idag. Skolans värdegrundsarbete kan, om lärare metodiskt väljer ut böcker, utvecklas så att eleverna kan reflektera över karaktärernas handlande och de normer som återfinns i böckerna. Diskursanalysen synliggör implicita och explicita värderingar som böckerna förmedlar. Tillsammans med eleverna, kan lärare, arbeta med tankefiguren litterär normkritik, i boksamtalen.