This content analysis study examined 36 plant-centered childrens science picture books that have a plot and characters published from 1950 to present. Botanical subject matter and learning opportunities offered by these books were analyzed, along with the range and frequency of the National Science Education Standards-consistent and age-appropriate plant science concepts and principles. The science graphics, artistic innovations, and story plot of these books were also examined. Rubrics and research-based recommendations were developed to offer parents, teachers, and librarians assistance in identifying, evaluating, and using such books to help children of ages 4-8 learn about plants and enjoy plant science. This genre of childrens literature was identified and selected primarily through extensive research at four major, nationally recognized childrens literature collections: The Kerlan Collection, The de Grummond Collection, The Center for Childrens Books, and The Central Childrens Room at the Donnell Library. This study determined that there was a substantial increase in the number of books written in this genre of childrens literature from 1990 to 2000. Botanical subject-matter knowledge and learning opportunities offered by these books include biodiversity of plants; characteristics of plants; life cycles of plants; economic botany, ecology, and ethnobotany. The range and frequency of National Standards-consistent and age-appropriate plant science concepts and principles identified within these books, in part, though not exclusively, included the emergent categories of the process of photosynthesis; basic needs of plants; plant structures; external signals affecting plant growth; environmental stress to plants; biodiversity of plants; plants as animal habitats; and common uses of plants. With regard to plant science graphics, 13 books were identified as presenting some type of science graphic, beyond simple illustrations. The most frequently used graphics were cutaways, sequence diagrams, and zoom graphics. The findings relative to story plot and characters revealed that the majority of story plots involved a problem followed by a solution, rather than merely a series of events. The main character(s) of these stories were most often Caucasians (44%), followed by plants (28%), Hispanics (11%), animals personified (8%), African Americans (6%), and indigenous peoples (3%). Most often the stories took place in rural settings.

Texts are contextualized¡Xtied to times, tied to places, and tied to the people who live in those times and places. This dissertation is based on a study of writing and identity set at Catholic High School in Pointe Coupee, Louisiana. For their senior English class, the six young women participating in the study produced a number of pieces of writing of various types, contrasting in genre, length, content, and register. These kinds of writing represent varying discourse practices, and it was within these practices that the young women positioned themselves or were positioned by influences in their social context. The genres produced by the young women in my study were, for the most part, associated with the familiar school genre, the essay, which is common in English classes and in academic discourse. Essay types were the analytical literary essay, the problem-solution essay (or argument), the process essay, the descriptive essay, and the informative report. The genres also included creative writing, comprising stories and fables for all as well as poetry for some individuals. There were two kinds of writing explicitly addressing experiences and events in individuals' lives: personal narratives, which are a common form in school, and autobiographies, which are less common. One student wrote meditations. In addition, students kept journals, but these had few similarities to journals that people keep in the world outside of school. The inquiry revealed convergence as well as tension among various positions associated with gender, race, class, place, and religion and also showed evidence of recurring themes and conflicts in writers¡¦ bodies of work. Also apparent, through the analyses, was an influence from genre, writers assuming a particular position when writing in a particular genre and not in others. In addition, there was some evidence of intertextual historyodirect connections of texts with prior texts a writer had written. Most interestingly, the various writings showed the students to be dealing with future ¡§possibilities¡¨ as well as present and past ¡§realities¡¨ in their own lives, not only in writing that is considered to be focused on the self, such as personal narrative, autobiography, and poetry, but also in writing that is not considered to be self-focused, such as literary essays. To summarize, the study shows the multiplicity and flexibility of writing identity even in bodies of work produced for school.

The purpose of this study is to write the life history of a black woman educator is order to enhance our understandings of educational activism and social change in the Deep South. African American educators have been marginalized and under represented in their communities despite the roles they have played in ameliorating educational inequalities. The life history of seventy-year-old Clara Byrd Glaspers activism as a black woman educator is one example. Life history, as a method of research, reveals an individuals life experiences from their perspective and provides the appropriate methodology to explore the following research questions: In the context of activism, what do we learn from Claras story about the process of social change?; what does it mean to be a black woman educator activist fighting for educational equality?; what are the motivating factors that sparked Clara Glaspers fight for educational equality?; what strategies did Clara Glasper use to meet the challenges she encountered in a segregated society? These questions are answered through a combination of life history interviews and an examination of historical documents connected with the longest running desegregation lawsuit in the history of the United States, forty-seven-year-old <u>Clifford Eugene Davis, et al. v. East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, et al.</u>(Mathews & Jarvis, 1997). The fifteen recorded interviews approximately two hours in length were conducted from July 2000 to December 2002. The interviews were edited into a first person narrative spanning Clara Glaspers entire life. An introduction providing a context begins each chapter. Next, Claras first person narrative becomes the body of each chapter. Reflections follow the narrative at the end of each chapter where my voice is heard. This research concludes that unlike other black women educator activists, Clara Glaspers activism for social change went through three stages: awareness, advocacy, and full-time activism. Embedded in her life story, three themes emerge that necessitate a rethinking of their implications for the field of education: activism, educational equality, and racism. Lastly, this life history is important to the field of education because it raises serious questions about how African Americans continue to be marginalized.

The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic inquiry into the lives of six early childhood administrators. The researcher investigated stories these early childhood administrators told about their lived experiences and searched for patterns that emerged from the stories suggesting career paths, personal characteristics, and administrative styles. The sample was obtained from a purposive/criterion sampling of the population. Six early childhood administrators were chosen based on their representation as a strong administrator who had experience with working with young children and families. Data was collected through three interview sessions. The minimum time for each interview session was one (1) hour. An interview protocol was used in order to assure that each interviewee was asked the same questions by the interviewer. Each interviewee was made aware of the studys purpose, procedures, and informed of their right to deny being involved in the study. Participants were interviewed and interview transcripts, audiocassettes, and other documents were used for concrete, contextual biographical materials. Participants were asked to review the profile of their career, personal characteristics, and administrative styles developed by the researcher. This study has provided insight into six early childhood administrators career pathways, personal characteristics, administrative styles, and the uniqueness of their early childhood programs. This research expanded the early childhood literature by focusing on the administrator as the gatekeeper to quality, which included a structural component, process component, people component, and cultural component. Each early childhood administrator was interviewed and asked questions about each component in relation to one other and to the external environment. Each administrator arrived at her role through a different route. However, each one had an education in child development and early childhood education. The personal characteristics and administrative styles shared by all the administrators included: concern for children and families, high expectations, value of trust, respect, sense of professionalism, belief in teamwork, nurturing the nurturer, and high demands.

Women are not included in high school history text books in a meaningful way, thus students are only learning about half of the experiences that shaped our nation. The ways in which history is represented as part of the social studies curriculum in secondary schools must be reconsidered. A history text that does not represent the experiences of women in a meaningful way does not provide a means for young women to "locate themselves in time," or meet many of the other standards of the National Council for the Social Studies. If young women and men are going to develop an understanding of who they are and how they are connected to the past, it is imperative that they first gain an understanding of women's experiences historically, so that they may then begin to understand the lives they live today. Young women, as well as young men, respond to the world from a very personal perspective, and if they are to be able to see how they are connected to the past, where their historical roots lie, and how they fit into the larger human story across time, then it is necessary that the various experiences of women throughout time be made available to them in the history classrooms. In this paper, I explore women's roles during the American Revolution, the Civil War, and World War I as case studies to illustrate that 1) in each of these three major events in history, women are traditionally not seen as playing roles worthy of mention in major texts on the subject, 2) that women did in fact have varied and important roles during these events, 3) that there is historical evidence of women's roles through biographies, memoirs, diaries, and other surviving material, and 4) that having an understanding about the roles that women played impacts the ways in which the events are viewed. Women have been a force in shaping the history of the United States in countless ways, and their experiences both complicate and enrich one's understanding of American history.

The purpose of this study was to identify elements present in effective literacy instruction, i.e., those elements that fostered reading, speaking, listening, thinking, writing, and metacognitive skills. By examining variables that promoted literacy acquisition and achievement, a detailed account resulted which described classroom practice as related to teacher beliefs, strategies, materials, and classroom climate. The primary method of qualitative analysis used for this study was the Developmental Research Sequence (DRS) Method (Spradley, 1980). Two classrooms with exemplary teachers were studied extensively. Data collection involved the use of primary sources (interviews, observations, and student and teacher work) and secondary sources (records, databases, etc.). Fieldwork included note taking and audio and video recording. The cyclic model involved asking questions, making descriptive observations, collecting and analyzing data and using analysis to form new questions. Research led to the uncovering of themes present in effective literacy instruction. The study concluded with an ethnographic case study that postulates possible scenarios pertaining to instructional strategies, teacher personal beliefs, materials, and classroom climate. The findings from this study can assist reading teachers in development and implementation of effective instruction. Reading specialists and administrators will find the results useful in developing professional growth activities for teachers of reading. This study expands the existing literature on effective literacy instruction and allows the everyday practitioner to learn from these examples of success.

School reform is an often heard term within the Bush administration. Since the signing of his No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), President George W. Bush set out to make certain our teachers are highly qualified and that our children perform better in school. From the Holmes Group (1986) to present-day mandates from The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), university-school partnerships are becoming part of preservice teacher education as well as school reform. This study describes a pilot university-school partnership, focusing on teacher candidates, inservice teachers, and P-5 students. Employing qualitative and quantitative analysis (Gall, Borg, & Gall, 1996; Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998), and case-study research (Yin, 1994), this work studied a first-time, three-year pilot effort toward the formation of a university-wide-elementary school partnership program. This study examined the impact the partnership had on P-5 student achievement, the education of teacher candidates, and on current teacher professional development. The three tiers of this study are reported here in an effort to support existing research on professional development school partnerships while adding to a growing area of research on school reform. The case study was carried out to provide the College of Education with data on its first university-school partnership. Furthermore, the researcher hopes these findings will provide insight and encouragement for others as they create their own university-school partnerships.

The purpose of this study was to determine the written language skills of middle and high school students who were attending alternative programs in Southern California. The participants of this study were 114 students who were identified and served under Delinquency Prevention Program (DPP) and 83 students who were identified and served under Court Ordered Probation (COP). The Test of Written Language -3 (TOWL-3) (Hammill & Larsen, 1996) was administered to the participants in order to obtain written language measures. In addition, this study investigated whether any relationships exists between written language skills, academic measures and selected demographic characteristics of the participants. The descriptive findings of this study indicated a descriptive profile of participants enrolled in alternative programs: a majority of the participants were males; Hispanics and a large number of them were English Language Learners. In addition, the majority of the participants in group DPP were new to the program while the number of the participants who were re-enrolled was higher in group COP. Although, the findings of this study revealed no significant difference among groups on written language measures the majority of the participants in both groups performed far below the norms for their age. A moderate association was found between participants written language and reading measures (r=.30) which was significant at 0.01 level and written language and math performance(r=40) at 0.05 level for participants in group DPP. Findings of multiple regression analysis revealed some gender, ethnicity, language designation, group (DPP or COP) influence on participants written language and academic achievement measures.

This thesis is, in large part, the story of the authors transformation from a teacher/researcher who studies others to one who studies himself. It is a story that unfolds against the backdrop of his experiences as a teacher, student, and researcher conducting qualitative research into issues of education in Louisiana and Mexico during the three-year period from the spring of 2001 to the spring of 2004a tumultuous time in American history by any measure. At the heart of this thesis lies the decision to adopt a research approach that is more personal and open-ended than purposeful and intentional. It is an approach that employs narrative as a means of identifying issues for further exploration. The end result is that the researcher himself, as much as anything or anyone else, is the subject of the research. Each of the five chapters of the thesis is divided into two parts: the first narrative, the second critical. The critical portion of each chapter addresses an issue that has arisen, directly or indirectly, in the accompanying narrative. The following issues are considered: relations between the United States and Mexico, the paradoxes of non-traditional research of the type presented by the thesis, current trends in education reform, public political discourse in the aftermath of 9/11, and the role of the teacher in loco parentis. Pertinent issues from post-colonial studies, including neo-colonialism, binarism, the Other/other, and othering, are addressed throughout. The paper closes with a discussion of professional self-formation wherein insights from all of the preceding chapters are brought to bear on a consideration of the teacher as a figure that has been marginalized, or othered.

Sfard and Thompson (1994) state that what matters most is that educators develop ways of thinking, teaching, and learning mathematics. This study introduced constructive habituation, a new strategy developed to aid both students and teachers in the thinking, teaching, and learning of mathematics. Constructive habituation attempts to unite constructivist teaching methods aimed at supporting students conceptual understanding of content and habituationist teaching method aimed at establishing routine responses to routine tasks. This study is exploratory in nature, designed to investigate if constructive habituation is a more effective means than a traditional teaching method in helping students reach process-object reification as evidenced by higher levels of student achievement. The study primarily addressed introductory function concepts and symmetry and transformations of functions. The subjects were university students enrolled in a precalculus I course. The results indicated that constructive habituation was not a more effective means in helping students reach process-object reification than a traditional teaching method. No significant differences were found for any of the variables examined. However, some promising practical results were revealed. The students taught using the experimental method averaged more than nine points higher than the students taught using a more traditional teaching method on an examination that evaluated their understandings of the relationship between changes made to the graph of a function and changes made to its formula. Explanations on why constructive habituation may not have reached its intended goal are given. A discussion is presented of the developmental stage at which constructive habituation may become an effective pedagogical method. Study also includes a brief history of the major pedagogical movements over the last half century and the psychological perspectives that influenced each.