Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur lärare i F-3 kan undervisa för att stödja elever med låga prestationer i matematik. Utifrån syftet konkretiserades en frågeställning för att göra studien undersökningsbar: Hur kan lärare undervisa för att hjälpa elever i allmänna matematiksvårigheter? Metoden som valdes för att undersöka denna fråga var en systematisk litteraturstudie. Sökning av relevant litteratur har skett genom olika databaser, litteraturen har granskats och analyserats för att sedan sammanställas till ett resultat. Resultatet visar en varierande bild på hur lärare ska arbeta för att stödja elever i allmänna matematiksvårigheter. Strategiundervisning bör vara en central roll i undervisningen. Beroende på elevers individuella förutsättningar bör antingen läraren styra inlärningen av strategier eller låta elever utveckla en flexibilitet i sin egen strategiutveckling. Resultatet visar på vikten av att läraren bör ha matematiska samtal med eleverna och användning av teknologiska spel i undervisningen visades även vara positivt för elever i låga prestationer i matematik. Slutsatserna av denna studie är att lärare måste erfara elevers individuella förutsättningar för att kunna stödja dem på bästa sätt där matematiska samtal och strategiutbildning ska vara en central roll i matematikundervisningen.

Sensory integration based paediatric occupational therapists working in schools commonly function with a dual role of providing the child with therapy to assist the child to function optimally as well as act as consultants in assisting teachers to develop strategies to help promote the classroom performance of students with sensory processing difficulties. A single-group pre test post test quasi-experimental research design was used in this pilot study on a convenient sample of 11 participants to explore the effects before and after exposure to the intervention of a sensory diet on the in-seat behaviours of the child and determine whether the desirable sensory input is effective in improving the performance of children with sensory processing difficulties during a handwriting lesson. The behaviours showing the highest trend of improvement in the hypothesized direction included less distractibility and trend of work ethos related behaviours (not giving up easily and completing the task; being less impulsive, not working too fast, better planning; better able to initiate and carry tasks out independently). Trends of various in-seat behaviours (restless, overactive and fidgety, disorganized on self and in his work, difficulty in getting down to his work, slow to complete a task) to regress in the hypothesized direction were also noted. Descriptive and statistical analysis was performed to examine trends in changes of pre- and post-intervention behavioural scores. The data were also analysed using Poisson’s regression to the normal distribution to calculate p values (using a chisquared distribution) to compare the number of observations in a period of time intervals. Implications of the results of the study for therapists working with students with sensory processing difficulties and their teachers are discussed.

The research described in this report was undertaken with four teachers of English as Home Language in two different secondary schools in Johannesburg. The researcher’s purpose was twofold: (i) to uncover the attitudes of selected grade nine teachers to the English Home Language curriculum statement for grade nine; (ii) to establish how, if at all, the Revised National Curriculum Statement featured in the teachers’ construction of the subject English as home language. The data for this case study consisted of individual teacher interviews, notes from observations in the classroom of each teacher and artefacts such as teachers’ term plans and examples of learners’ texts. Findings from an analysis of this data indicate varied understandings of and attitudes towards this curriculum statement. These have translated into equally varied implementation of the curriculum. Analysis of the teachers’ interviews gave little indication of the rich and varied learning activities that they planned and implemented. In this case study, the difference between how teachers talked about the new curriculum and how they enacted it in their classroom practice was marked.

Thesis advisor: Andrew Hargreaves / In 2006, Singapore introduced the Teach Less Learn More (TLLM) movement to continue the systemic changes introduced under the Thinking Schools Learning Nation vision. A curricular initiative, TLLM had implications for classroom assessments, calling on teachers to focus on the process of learning, and to use more formative and qualitative assessing. This dissertation examined the extent to which Singapore teachers' classroom assessment practices are aligned to the policy. It adopted mixed methods research to study teachers' assessment practices. Data culled from the Teacher Questionnaire used in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study provided the national pattern of assessment practices. Classroom practices were based on assessments contributed by eight teachers and from their interview comments. Classroom assessment practices were examined quantitatively using the Authentic Intellectual Work criteria (Newmann and Associates, 1996), and interpreted qualitatively using constructivist assessment (Shepard, 2000). The findings suggest there was incremental change in the teachers' assessment practices. At the national and classroom levels, three patterns of assessment practices--change, variety, and persistence--emerged. Of the three, the pattern of persistence was the most dominant, indicating that most teachers continued to use assessment practices that the policy was discouraging. The prevalence of the pattern of persistence meant that teachers were more likely to focus on achievement rather than on learning. At the classroom level, the result of such assessment practices was that teachers did not always present students with challenging tasks. There was a range of practices among the eight teachers. The extent to which the teachers' practices were aligned to the policy is the result of a complex interaction of policy, school, and classroom factors. Based on these findings, this dissertation suggests that to bring about fundamental change in classroom assessment practices, there needs to be greater macro policy coherence, a larger student role in the classroom, and more assessment leadership from principals. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

Thesis advisor: Eric Dearing / Increasing evidence indicates that exposure to poverty in early childhood may undermine neural growth that is critical to developing executive functions (EF) and, in turn, emotional and behavioral regulation (Blair et al. 2011; Kim et al., 2013; Raver et al., 2013). There is, however, also increasing evidence indicating that high-quality Early Childhood Education (ECE) (a) buffers children from risks associated with early exposure to poverty and (b) supports healthy socio-emotional development (Bierman et al., 2008; Raver, 2002; Yoshikawa et al., 2013). One line of this intervention work has focused on two-generation programs that pair high-quality ECE with supports for parents that are designed to improve parenting and the home environment. Although evidence on two-generation programs is mixed (Grindal et al., 2016; Neville et al., 2013), it is clear that much of the risk of poverty is relayed to children through their homes, and parenting is among the most critical influences on child emotional and behavioral self-regulation in infancy and early childhood (Bradley & Corwyn, 2004; Calkins & Johnson, 1998; Calkins et al., 1998). The present study builds on existing theoretical and empirical prior work indicating that children’s EF skills are important precursors to emotional and behavioral regulation that may be best promoted when addressed in both classroom and home contexts. Specifically, the present study uses a randomized design to evaluate the effects of classroom-based activities that target children’s executive functioning and the value added by training parents to better support their children’s EFs. Children were evaluated pre- and post-intervention on EF skills and prosocial and adaptive problem-solving behavior. In general, few significant effects of either the child training or the added parent component were evident. These findings are discussed with special attention to the fact that fidelity of implementation of the classroom and parent trainings was low, with less than half of teachers incorporating games at least once a week and only 13 percent of parents attending the trainings. In addition, implications for future empirical work as well as policy and practice are discussed with special attention given to further inquiry into the malleability of EF. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

Mathematics education studies have shown that part of learning mathematics is learning its language. The language of mathematics is said to include specialised terms and ordinary language terms that have contextual meanings in mathematics. Considering the fact that learners in South Africa are performing poorly in mathematics in the international comparative studies, e.g. TIMSS, there was a need to investigate how teachers facilitate second language learners’ access to the meaning of mathematical terms in multilingual classrooms in South Africa. This study investigated a teacher’s practices in the facilitation of learner access to mathematical terminology in a Grade 11 multilingual class in a township school in Vosloorus, South Africa. The study employed a qualitative approach in investigating Discourse practices that the teacher used to define mathematical terms to second language learners in a multilingual classroom. Direct classroom observations and a teacher interview were the main data gathering methods. The main findings were that the teacher used a combination of interactive practices that involved group work, telling, individual student interactions and initiation, response and evaluation methods. Among definition teaching strategies used were the textbook procedural definition and the textbook descriptive definitions. The chalkboard and the textbook were the main artefacts of the Definition Discourse. The study concludes that the Definition Discourse of the multilingual classroom is a process that involves not only the definition of terms but also an integration of teaching methods and interactive practices where definitions of mathematical terms can be taught even through the eliciting of procedural methods of working out mathematical problems.

Inclusive education policies in South Africa aim to reduce the barriers to learning of learners with learning disabilities (LDs).(1) Occupational therapists play an important role in identifying these barriers and collaborating with the educators to implement environmental modifications (EMs) in the classroom to enhance the academic performance of learners. This study aims to explore the use of as well as the effectiveness of EMs in grade two classrooms of learners with special education needs (LSEN) schools in the greater Johannesburg area. Eight semi structured interviews were conducted. The qualitative data was analysed using priori categories based on a framework provided by Mulligan(2). A wide variety of EMs were identified by the participants, indicating the effectiveness of the modifications used. In conclusion the EMs were more concisely divided into three categories, namely behavioural modifications, physical modifications and modifications to the delivery of the curriculum, demonstrating a diverse interrelationships between the categories. Keywords: Occupational therapy, learning disabilities, environmental modifications, classroom environment, LSEN schools.

Thesis advisor: Penny Hauser-Cram / This dissertation utilized data from the Early Intervention Collaborative Study (EICS), a longitudinal study of children with developmental disabilities (DD) and their families (Hauser-Cram, Warfield, Shonkoff, & Krauss, 2001). The sample for this dissertation consisted of 170 children with DD, their parents, and their teachers. During home visits at ages 2 and 3, mothers and fathers reported on indicators of the home and family environment, and interactions between children and their mothers were observed. At ages 3, 5, 8, 10, and 15, teachers reported on children's levels of classroom-based adaptive functioning. Multilevel modeling was used to examine children's trajectories of classroom-based adaptive functioning. Indicators of the early childhood home and family environment were explored as predictors of these trajectories. The following research questions were addressed: (1) What are the trajectories of classroom-based adaptive functioning among children with DD from ages 3 to 15? (2) Are levels of adaptive functioning in the classroom stable over time, between the ages of 3 and 15? (3) Is there variability in rates of change in adaptive functioning over time, with some children developing more rapidly than others? (4) Do characteristics of the early childhood home and family longitudinally predict children's adaptive functioning in the classroom at age 3 and from ages 3 to15? (5) Which domains of classroom adaptive functioning are predicted by characteristics of the home and family? Results indicated that children's classroom-based adaptive functioning raw scores increase over time. In each domain of adaptive functioning (socialization, communication, and daily living skills) there was significant variability in initial status and rate of change. As hypothesized, quality of early childhood mother-child interaction was predictive of adaptive functioning, with higher quality mother-child interaction associated with more positive functioning. Contrary to hypotheses, the number of negative life events experienced by the family during early childhood was also positively related to classroom adaptive functioning, with more events related to higher levels of functioning. Overall, the findings indicated the influence of the early childhood home and family environment on classroom-based adaptive functioning over time. Policy implications and areas for future research are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

Thesis advisor: Laura M. O'Dwyer / This mixed-methods study analyses data from interviews with 29 principals in four school districts, to describe patterns in the principals’ values concerning high-quality mathematics instruction and in the aspects of instruction they noticed when observing short videos of elementary school mathematics classes. Principals valued many aspects of instruction, including elements of general pedagogy, teachers interacting with content and students, content-related pedagogy, students interacting with content, and evidence of student outcomes. As a group, principals noticed the same types of instructional elements that they valued, as well as other, less-commonly-valued elements. Hierarchical linear models were used to compare ratings given to teachers by their principals on three aspects of instructional effectiveness, to scores from video- and student-test-score-based measures of corresponding constructs. Mathematical Quality of Instruction, Classroom Assessment System™ and value-added scores each accounted for unique portions of variance in teachers’ scores on a composite principal rating scale, showing that the underlying “high-quality mathematics” construct measured by principals had some elements in common with each of the other three constructs. However, substantial variance remained unaccounted for, suggesting that principals’ concept of high-quality mathematics also comprises elements not measured by any of the other three instruments. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation.

Thesis advisor: Jacqueline Lerner / Understanding the family and school factors that lead to Latino children's social competence in the United States is a critical issue for the school success of our expanding Latino population. Using a Latino subsample of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (N = 3,072), this study examined socioeconomic status, home language, and parental stress in relation to parenting behaviors as predictors of kindergarten children's social skills in the classroom. Spanish instruction in the classroom was investigated as a moderator of the relationship between parental stress and parenting behaviors. Using regression analyses, it was found that higher socioeconomic levels were associated with greater levels of parental warmth and structured rules and routines in the family. Spanish as home language was related to lower levels of harsher forms of discipline. Both marital stress and parenting stress were predictive of harsher forms of discipline and decreased structured rules and routines in the family. Marital stress alone was related to decreased levels of parental warmth. Parenting behaviors were predictive of kindergarten children's social skills. Harsher forms of discipline were related to decreases in children's self-control and interpersonal skills. Increased levels of family rules and routines were positively related to children's self-control and interpersonal skills. Evidence was found for the mediational role of parenting behaviors to children's social skills. Discipline mediated the relationship between marital stress and children's self-control and interpersonal skills. Discipline also mediated the relationship of parenting stress to children's interpersonal skills. Finally, structured rules and routines in the family mediated the relationship of marital stress to interpersonal skills. Support was found for Spanish instruction in the classroom as a moderator for the relationship of parenting stress to negative parenting behaviors. Spanish in the classroom was associated with higher levels of parental warmth and lower levels of harsh discipline, in spite of parenting stress. This result highlights the importance of providing Spanish language resources in our school systems to promote Latino children's social competence. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology.