Using a transactional framework, this study explored social relationships in the classroom as mediators of the association between ethnic-racial identity and academic outcomes. Participants were 101 5th graders of diverse backgrounds who completed computer-based questionnaires about their friendships, ethnic-racial identity, and academic engagement. Teachers reported on closeness and conflict in the student-teacher relationship. Relationships in the expected direction were evident between the public regard and centrality dimensions of ethnic-racial identity and social relationships as well as with academic outcomes. Further, path analyses revealed that the relationship between the public regard and cognitive engagement was mediated by student-teacher closeness. Gender differences were evident for pathways to grades; such that for boys’ public regard was indirectly related to their language arts grades through cognitive engagement. The current study highlighted the varied effects of ethnic-racial identity and classroom relationships’ on academic outcomes particularly for boys.

Thesis advisor: Curt Dudley-Marling / This qualitative dissertation, informed by sociocultural theory (Gee, 1996; Vygotsky, 1978), examines how a fourth grade teacher and his students learned to participate in Shared Inquiry, a discussion practice where students learn how to build an evidential argument, including a claim that is supported by evidence and justified by a warrant (Toulmin, 1969). Students also learn how to weigh the merits of opposing arguments and how to modify their initial opinions as evidence demands. Over the course of ten weeks, the fourth grade teacher implemented Shared Inquiry as part of the Junior Great Books (JGB) program, offered as a supplement to a district mandated reading program. The teacher was observed while using the JGB program and while providing instruction through the mandated reading program. He participated in action research (Stringer, 2007) to examine how to make Shared Inquiry most successful. This dissertation describes how the teacher's action research enabled his students to become successful with Shared Inquiry, after they initially struggled with the practice. Over time, they learned a new way of engaging, not only with literature, but also with fellow classmates. This dissertation also describes how the fourth grade students learned a different set of literacy practices through the mandated reading program. The argument is made that Shared Inquiry has the potential to be a far more substantively engaging (Nystrand, 2006; Nystrand & Gamoran, 1991, 1997) literacy practice compared to the mandated reading program. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

The following study compared the use of the MotivAider as a self-monitoring tactile device between an elementary age student with ADHD and his teacher to increase ontask behavior. The design of this study was an alternating treatments design, which helped to determine the more effective condition. The results of this study indicated that the use of the MotivAider by the student was more effective than the use of the device by the teacher.

As the student body in the United States continues to become more diverse, it is critically important to understand the factors that influence African American and Latinx students’ engagement, including what they bring to the classroom, and their perceptions of what is occurring in the classroom. During early adolescence, youth are making meaning and internalizing the proximal influences their classrooms have on their sense of self and subsequent academic outcomes. Among school variables, teaching quality accounts for some amount of variation in student achievement. This dissertation project explored whether there were gender differences among 205 middle school students’ perceptions of classroom practices. The study also assessed whether differences in boys’ and girls’ perceptions of classroom practices had different influences on their self-systems (e.g., components of ethnic-racial identity and social efficacy with teacher), and classroom engagement. Study results suggest that boys and girls rate similar exposure to social-emotional classroom practices from their teachers, however invariance tests demonstrate these practices have different meanings for boys and girls. In addition, results indicate that exposure to social-emotional classroom practices is affirming for components of boys’ ethnic-racial identity, such as their racial centrality, public regard, and private regard, which in turn predicted higher classroom engagement. Whereas for girls, classroom practices only affirmed their private regard which in turn predicted higher classroom engagement. Social efficacy with one’s teacher did not mediate the association between classroom practices and classroom engagement as previously hypothesized for neither girls nor boys. This study also found that girls’ grade level was an important covariate in the model, which implies there are important developmental considerations in the dynamic relationship between the classroom context and students’ self-systems. Findings from this study suggest some important implications for policy and curricula development around teacher training and teaching practices that enhance academic and social outcomes for students of color. In particular, practices that encourage collaboration and sharing of ideas and knowledge among African and Latinx students are both developmentally, and culturally responsive for students’ sense of self and engagement in class.

Many students with mild disabilities display off-task behaviors during academic content classes. The off-task behaviors can negatively impact their academic progress. In primarily clinical settings, specific interventions derived from the theory of sensory integration have been shown to increase on-task behaviors in students with mild disabilities. Using a single subject A-B-A-B withdrawal design, the researcher investigated the effects of hand fidgets on on-task behaviors demonstrated by a middle school student with mild disabilities who typically displayed off-task behaviors when participating in an inclusive, academic content class (language arts). Social validity was assessed to evaluate student and teacher perceptions regarding the intervention. During baseline and withdrawal (A phases) participants followed their typical classroom routine and were not exposed to the intervention - hand fidgets. During the intervention (B phases) participants were provided with a hand fidget for use during the class period. Results indicated substantial increases in the percentage of on-task behaviors demonstrated by the participant, when presented with the opportunity to use a hand fidget, during activities in which listening to a lecture was the primary task expectation. Social validity findings indicated that both the students and classroom teacher preferred the use of hand fidgets to the condition of no hand fidget present. This study provides preliminary support for the use of hand fidgets to increase on-task behaviors by students with mild disabilities who present tendencies for off-task behaviors during classroom lecture situations.

In this observational study the researcher examined the Academic Engagement of deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH) students in a co-enrollment setting. Academic Engagement refers to attention, class participation, and time-on-task. Co-Enrollment is a model of group inclusion that provides D/HH students with access to a D/HH peer group as well as access to the general education curriculum. D/HH students typically lag behind their hearing peers in achievement, due in part to difficulties with accessing the general education curriculum both in special schools for the Deaf or self-contained classrooms, as well as in traditional inclusive settings. One way to know if a student has actually had access to, rather than mere exposure to the curriculum is to determine if he has attended to the instruction and participated in the instructional activities. Co-enrollment programming holds promise for addressing the problems with access that D/HH students typically experience in other educational placements; therefore the researcher hypothesized that in this unique setting D/HH students would demonstrate levels of Academic Engagement equal to their hearing peers. The researcher further hypothesized that there would be a relationship between Academic Engagement and the classroom environment, and that this relationship would be similar for D/HH and hearing students. Using a correlational research design, these hypotheses were tested by conducting repeated observations with use of the Mainstream Version of the Code for Instructional Structure and Student Academic Response (MS-CISSAR) for measuring Academic Engagement. Results indicated that D/HH students in a co-enrollment setting were as Academically Engaged as their hearing peers; however they were less engaged in active forms of Academic Engagement (i.e., Academic Responding) than their hearing peers. Associations were found between aspects of Classroom Ecology, such as the size of Instructional Grouping, and the degree of Academic Engagement for both D/HH and hearing students. The associations between Academic Engagement and Classroom Ecology were similar for D/HH and hearing students; however some differences were found as well. The implications of these results are discussed and suggestions are made for future research.

I developed and tested a model of relationships between primary caregiver ethnic identity and religiosity, primary caregiver experiences of discrimination stress, parent-child relationships, adolescent ethnic identity and religiosity, and their impact over time on adolescent academic orientation and positive future outlook. The sample consisted of youth and their families participating in an ongoing family centered intervention trial in a northwest metropolitan area. The theoretical frameworks that guided this study were Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, sociocultural theory, social identity theory, and critical race theory. The hypotheses regarding the relationships between key variables and supported by the aforementioned theoretical frameworks were evaluated using analysis of variance techniques and structural equation modeling. Study findings suggest that parental identity and cultural socialization influence adolescent religiosity and ethnic identity in early adolescence. Primary caregivers' sense of ethnic identity and religiosity directly impact cultural socialization of their children, which in turn influences adolescent identity development. The parent-child relationship plays a predominant role in positive youth outcomes (i.e., academic orientation and positive future outlook) above and beyond adolescent ethnic identity and religiosity considerations. Implications of the present study for both research and practice are discussed.

abstract: Sexual risk taking is prevalent in adolescence, particularly among Latino teens, and can have serious consequences in the form of contraction of STIs, HIV, and increased risk of unintended pregnancy. Family contexts characterized by conflict and lack of support are antecedents of adolescent sexual risk taking, but evidence elucidating the mechanisms underlying this association is lacking. The current study sought to test two potential pathways to sexual risk taking within the framework of social developmental theory, among a sample of 189 Mexican origin adolescents and their caregivers interviewed in the 7th, 8th, and 12th grades. Structural equation modeling was utilized to examine pathways from 7th grade family risk to age of sexual initiation, number of lifetime sexual partners, and condom nonuse reported in the 12th grade. Deviant peer affiliations and academic engagement at 8th grade were tested as mediators of this relationship for boys and girls. Results confirm the importance of the family context, with family risk exerting direct effects on the number of lifetime sexual partners for both genders, and on age of sexual initiation for females only. Deviant peer affiliations serve as a mediator of family risk for males, but not females. When included in a model alongside deviant peers, academic engagement does not play the hypothesized mediating role between family risk and any of the sexual risk outcomes. Future research ought to consider additional mediators that better account for the relation between family risk and sexual risk taking among females. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Psychology 2012

The Caught Being Good Game (CBGG), a variation of Good Behavior Game, is an interdependent group contingency, which focuses on giving students points for engaging in appropriate, rule-following behavior. The present study aimed to expand the literature on CBGG by targeting students in general education classrooms and comparing the impact of student-chosen versus teacher-chosen contingency criteria on disruptive behavior and academic engagement. Four students who were at-risk for developing emotional disorders in two general elementary classrooms were targeted in the study. A multiple-baseline across participants design with an embedded alternating treatments design was used to evaluate the outcomes of the CBGG. Results indicated that the CBGG intervention resulted in decreasing disruptive behavior and increasing academic engagement for all four students although data demonstrated limited experimental control. Moderate differences in improvement in classroom behavior were observed when comparing teacher-chosen and student-chosen contingency criteria; however, the teacher-chosen criteria condition led to overall lower levels of disruptive behavior and higher levels of academic engagement. Social validity assessments indicated that both the teachers and the students found the intervention to be acceptable.

The purpose of this study was to further examine the impact of a teacher-preferred group contingency on class-wide behavior in three general elementary education classrooms when it is used with data-based decision making by classroom teachers. A multiple baseline design across classrooms was used to examine the changes in class-wide disruptive behavior, academic engagement, and academic performance in targeted academic time periods. Data indicated that implementation of the group contingency preferred by the teachers in conjunction with data-based decision making resulted in decreases in disruptive behavior and increases in academic engagement and academic performance across classrooms. In addition, improvement in class-wide behavior was maintained at 1-week follow-up.