The purpose of this study was to identify an effective strategy to increase English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency in middle schools. This study assessed the outcome of classroom looping in an urban middle school. Vygotsky's theory of social development was the theoretical framework of this study. Two research questions explored statistical differences between scale and number correct scores on the standardized ELA Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP). Classroom settings (looping and traditional) served as independent variables, and ELA TCAP assessments were used as the dependent variable. This study included a random sample of 188 students (94 looping and 94 traditional) in a West Tennessee middle school. Mann-Whitney U tests were conducted to obtain mean scale and number correct scores on 2011-2013 ELA TCAP assessments. Findings indicated no statistically significant differences in performance between groups, with small effect sizes. Mean scale and number correct scores also indicated below proficient levels for all years tested in both groups. Findings suggested a need for the middle school studied to analyze current practices possibly attributing to current ELA TCAP proficiency as a solution. Continuous school improvement was presented as a strategy of utilizing multiple data sources to monitor and adjust school practices to improve student proficiency. A white paper was chosen as a project due to its intent to provide a short, concise explanation of an unfamiliar concept to administrators. The presented project has the potential of leading to positive social change by providing administrators with an ongoing system of monitoring and adjusting school wide instructional practices to meet the needs of all students being served.

Students who receive special education services in resource classroom settings often engage in low levels of on-task behavior during independent work time. Given the independent work demands in middle school classrooms, it is crucial for students who receive services in a resource classroom to engage in high levels of on-task behavior. The researchers examined the effects of activity schedules on on-task behavior, on-schedule behavior, and percentage of work problems correct in four middle school students receiving special education services in a resource math classroom. Results of the study demonstrate that on-task and on-schedule behavior increased for all participants following the implementation of the activity schedule in both math and language arts classroom settings. Both students and teachers indicated that they liked the intervention and the activity schedule improved on-task behavior. Results of this study extend the use of activity schedules to a novel setting and participant population.

Collaboration is one of the most significant components of inclusive education, according to professional literature. The purpose of this study was to understand the perceptions of intervention specialists in terms of collaboration with general education teachers in elementary school inclusive classrooms and administrative support of collaboration. The collaboration and the community of practice theories were used for the conceptual framework in this study to understand how collaboration is an ongoing interaction between people to achieve a common goal. Research questions were designed to understand the perceptions of intervention specialists who work in inclusive classrooms regarding collaboration and administrative support by documenting their experiences through interviews. In this basic qualitative study, 9 intervention specialists were interviewed. Interview data were analyzed using thematic coding. The results of this study indicated that each participant was a part of a weekly collaboration meeting with teachers, an administrator, and an instructional coach. Most participants reported that they had to complete a 5-step form, and it was not a good source of time because it did not directly focus on students' needs. Most participants also reported that they did not receive training in college or professional development at work on how to collaborate or work in inclusive classroom settings. Participants reported that their administrators were supportive, but some classroom teachers were not. The implications of social change for this study include insight on the importance of collaboration in inclusive classrooms and insight on how administrators can create training programs for the collaboration of all teachers who work in inclusive classrooms.

Approximately 5 to 14% of school age children are affected by mathematics learning disabilities. With the implementation of inclusion, many of these children are now being educated in the regular education class- room setting and may require additional support to be successful in algebra. Therefore, teachers need to know what interventions are available to them to facilitate the algebraic learning of students with mathemat- ics learning disabilities. This systematic literature review aims to identify, and critically analyze, interventions that could be used when teaching algebra to these students. The five included articles focused on interven- tions that can be used in algebra, specifically when solving equations. In the analysis of the five studies two types of interventions emerged: the concrete-representational-abstract model and graphic organizers. The concrete-representational-abstract model seems to show it can be used successfully in a variety of scenarios involving solving equations. The use of graphic organizers also seems to be helpful when teaching higher- level algebra content that may be difficult to represent concretely. This review discovered many practical implications for teachers. Namely, that the concrete-representational-abstract model of intervention is easy to implement, effective over short periods of time and appears to positively influence the achievement of all students in an inclusive classroom setting. The graphic organizer showed similar results in that it is easy to implement and appears to improve all students’ learning. This review provided a good starting point for teachers to identify interventions that could be useful in algebra; however, more research still needs to be done. Future research is suggested in inclusive classroom settings where the general education teacher is the instructor and also on higher-level algebra concepts.

The researcher aimed in this study to answer the research question: how is frustration expressed by the child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in middle childhood within the classroom setting? The goal of the study was therefore to explore the expression of frustration in the child with ADHD in middle childhood within the classroom setting. The research population consisted of all children in middle childhood years who had been diagnosed with ADHD and were attending either Arthur Matthews or Montrose Primary Schools. The sampling method was purposive as subjects with these specific attributes were utilized. The extent of the investigation was limited to the observations of 20 children. The exploratory design was used in order to complete the empirical study. A checklist was used for the purpose of gathering data. This data was quantitative information on frustration expressed by children with ADHD in middle childhood, as observed by the researcher. Research results indicate that frustration plays a large role in the school life of a child diagnosed with ADHD. The findings also show that the child with ADHD directs much of his/her frustration towards him/herself. The research findings indicate that frustration that is not dealt with at an early stage will develop into aggression. In order to assist a child in dealing with his/her frustration, it is recommended that the child be taught coping mechanisms which assist him/her in ventilating frustration in a socially acceptable way. Further research into the effective implementation of teaching coping mechanisms to children in middle childhood with ADHD within the classroom setting is recommended. / Dissertation (MSD (Play Therapy))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

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The overall aim of the present study is to investigate how teachers deal with linguistic and cultural otherness in the French foreign language classroom at upper secondary school level in Sweden. The foreign language classroom is seen as a cultural meeting place where images of otherness are natural elements. In this respect, otherness should be regarded as one cultural aspect among others implying human as well as language phenomena. Analyzing the way in which the teachers in the study mediate this otherness to their students is expected to contribute to the pedagogical debate on intercultural understanding in language teaching and learning.   The study is based on empirical data consisting of video recorded observations in three different classrooms. One class (class A) is treated as primary data where two activities are especially focused, namely working with texts and working with grammar. The verbal interaction from these activities has been transcribed and analyzed qualitatively.   The first step of analysis concerns the learning aims which are transmitted to the students in the teacher’s introduction to the two activities. The second step deals with the teacher’s procedures to involve the students in the construction of knowledge which focuses on linguistic and cultural otherness.   Finally, a comparative perspective is adopted. On the one hand, the two different activities are compared with each other, while on the other hand, the findings from class A are compared with class B and C. From a dialogical point of view, the way in which the classroom setting and the teachers’ acting can favour intercultural understanding is discussed.   The results of the analyses highlight the fact that teachers seem to pay more attention to linguistic otherness than to cultural otherness. Furthermore, the study shows that the foreign language classroom has a dialogical potential when it comes to human relations and discourse. More attention could be paid to these aspects of teaching in order to pave the way for better intercultural understanding. The teachers in the present study seem to favour dialogical relationships in the classroom and neglect discursive issues in the situation. Our conclusion is that the way in which teachers deal with otherness is tradition-bound. Texts, for instance, even those with an obvious intercultural content, are treated as pre-texts for studying linguistic phenomena. Cultural phenomena, when dealt with, are limited to a product paradigm and are transmitted without reflection and with no apparent awareness of any intercultural understanding.

The overall aim of the present study is to investigate how teachers deal with linguistic and cultural otherness in the French foreign language classroom at upper secondary school level in Sweden. The foreign language classroom is seen as a cultural meeting place where images of otherness are natural elements. In this respect, otherness should be regarded as one cultural aspect among others implying human as well as language phenomena. Analyzing the way in which the teachers in the study mediate this otherness to their students is expected to contribute to the pedagogical debate on intercultural understanding in language teaching and learning.   The study is based on empirical data consisting of video recorded observations in three different classrooms. One class (class A) is treated as primary data where two activities are especially focused, namely working with texts and working with grammar. The verbal interaction from these activities has been transcribed and analyzed qualitatively. The first step of analysis concerns the learning aims which are transmitted to the students in the teacher’s introduction to the two activities. The second step deals with the teacher’s procedures to involve the students in the construction of knowledge which focuses on linguistic and cultural otherness. Finally, a comparative perspective is adopted. On the one hand, the two different activities are compared with each other, while on the other hand, the findings from class A are compared with class B and C. From a dialogical point of view, the way in which the classroom setting and the teachers’ acting can favour intercultural understanding is discussed. The results of the analyses highlight the fact that teachers seem to pay more attention to linguistic otherness than to cultural otherness. Furthermore, the study shows that the foreign language classroom has a dialogical potential when it comes to human relations and discourse. More attention could be paid to these aspects of teaching in order to pave the way for better intercultural understanding. The teachers in the present study seem to favour dialogical relationships in the classroom and neglect discursive issues in the situation. Our conclusion is that the way in which teachers deal with otherness is tradition-bound. Texts, for instance, even those with an obvious intercultural content, are treated as pre-texts for studying linguistic phenomena. Cultural phenomena, when dealt with, are limited to a product paradigm and are transmitted without reflection and with no apparent awareness of any intercultural understanding.

Department of Advanced Nursing Science / MCur