The problem addressed in this study is that Native American and Hispanic English language learners (ELLs) in a rural Mississippi school district are not performing at the same level as non-ELLs. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate the perceived causes of ELL failure and low academic performance on district and state assessments and in general education classes. Guided by Vygotsky's theory of development, which supports teachers and students remaining active in the learning process, research questions focused on what instructional practices general education teachers use to provide instruction for Spanish/Choctaw-speaking ELLs. General education teachers' use of professional learning communities (PLCs), instructional and assessment practices, knowledge of ELLs' instructional needs, and perceptions of professional development (PD) were examined. The purposeful sample for surveys included 33 Kindergarten through12 general education teachers who met the criteria of having the experience of providing instruction to ELLs. Teacher participants completed an online anonymous survey through SurveyMonkey. Six English Language Arts (ELA) teachers and 1 administrator participated in face-to-face interviews. The responses were open coded then analyzed using NVivo 11. Seven themes emerged from the data: differentiation is critical for ELL instruction, assessment should drive instruction, ELLs benefit from evidence based instructional strategies, PLCs support general education teachers, PD is inadequate to support ELLs and teacher needs, PD is needed on ELLs background, and administrators' support PLCs for ELLs' instruction. A 5-day PD project was designed and positive social change promoted by providing staff with evidence based ELL instructional support, resulting in improved ELL learning and achievement.

This study was undertaken to examine the educational development (ED) needs of higher education (HE) faculty who have English language learners (ELLs) in their mainstream courses but do not have specialized training in teaching such students. A quantitative approach was used to explore the impact of any existing ED and areas that might need improvement. This study, guided by andragogy, examined the pedagogical needs of these HE faculty. A cross-sectional analysis of online survey data using a multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) and multiple analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) examined the ED needs and available resources of faculty with respect to their institutions and demographics. With N = 66, statistically significant results were found for the faculty's self-perceived responsibility to teach academic skills to their ELLs based upon teaching experience; and language skills based upon ethnicity. Significant results were observed for self-perceived needs related to addressing the academic needs of their ELLs based upon ethnicity; and language skills for gender, home language, where they grew up, and experience living abroad. The institutional context yielded significant results for the self-perceived responsibilities to teach academic skills based upon their ELL students' full-time study status; however, nonsignificant results were found for the impact of existing ED on the needs and feelings of responsibility for addressing the academic and language skills of their ELLs. This study contributes to positive social change by adding evidence-based information on the needs and feelings of responsibility of HE faculty working with ELLs. The results may have broader implications for improving and expanding ED for HE faculty by providing insights into their curriculum, instruction, and assessment needs.

The dissertation, with a collected papers approach, focused on evaluating the implementation of MI curriculum in high school Biology I classes in south Florida. The dissertation included the development and validation of the Biology Identity and Persistence Survey (BIPS), the connection of instructors’ teaching practices with students’ biology identities, evolution identities, and career aspirations, and the connection of instructors’ teaching practice with students’ conceptual understanding in evolution. In the first part of the dissertation study, the BIPS was validated through expert review and student cognitive interviews for its face and content validity. Confirmatory factor analysis addressed the construct validity of the final version of the BIPS, after removing four problematic items. The Cronbach’s alpha and test-retest reliability analysis indicated that the BIPS was a reliable instrument in terms of its internal reliability and stability. In the second part of the dissertation study, the comparison between the MI and non-MI classes indicated that there was no detectable significant difference between the MI classes and non-MI classes in students’ development of biology identities and evolution identities, and shifts in career aspirations. Using the analysis of the MI and non-MI instructors’ teaching practices, it was suggested that the use of intentional lack of inquiry closure, seeding, small-group collaboration, whole-class discussion, and Socratic questioning might contribute to students’ biology/evolution identity development. In the third part of the dissertation study, the Evolution Concept Inventory was demonstrated as an invalid and unreliable research instrument. Qualitative analysis of instructors’ teaching practices suggested that interactions between MI instructional materials and MI pedagogical techniques, including student-centered teaching, small-group collaboration, student-student interaction, whole-class discussion, and Socratic questioning, might contribute to students’ gain of conceptual understanding in evolution. On the basis of the research findings, this dissertation provided suggestions for high school biology MI instructors and high school biology MI workshops.

Parenting professionals play a key role in helping parents have a positive influence on their children, which is why it is important to ensure that professionals have and use research-based information and materials. Using data from 96 parenting professionals from Utah and Missouri, who completed a 4-hour Strong Parents, Stable Children training, we examined the effects (at 2-months post training) of reflective reminder emails on parenting professionals’ utilization and learning transfer of training materials. Results from independent samples t tests show that participants who received “booster” emails at 1-week and 1-month post training shared some information and some materials with parents more frequently, and spent more time reviewing training materials and making further notes than did a control group. Implications for improving training implementation for parenting professionals are discussed.

Cooking skills are important but declining, with significant health, social, cultural, political, economic, and environmental implications. Food and cooking education can begin to address some of the negative effects of the cooking skills decline. This thesis makes the case for cooking classes in the education system, especially in higher education. The paper begins with a history of cooking education and skills, outlines the implications of the decline in skills, and discusses the potential for cooking education in higher education. The second part consists of a course syllabus, designed for Pomona College. The third section includes a discussion of the implementation of this course at Pomona College specifically, including a description of the course creation process, challenges, available resources, and recommendations for future action.

This study focused on how teachers' planning and teaching methods changed after they acquired more confidence in applying differentiated strategies in their instructional units. Teachers were given a questionnaire about their skills, qualifications and teaching beliefs comparing teaching general education students and gifted education students within the typical classroom setting. Then teachers received several professional development opportunities within the school year exposing them to different forms of differentiation. Time was given between trainings so that teachers would have ample time to integrate what they learned into their planning and instructional design. At the end of the study, teachers were given another questionnaire, similar to the first one, where they had to rank themselves on skills, education, and teaching methods for general education students and gifted students after the professional development. Comparisons between the two questionnaires showed that teachers were more confident in how to meet individual students' needs through differentiation after the trainings than before the study. In fact, before the study, 50% of teachers reported that the needs of gifted students are not being met in the general classroom setting; but, after the study, that number dropped to only 6%. Because teachers felt more confident in their abilities to teach gifted students in the traditional classrooms, the students' needs were addressed.

As the human population increases, it becomes increasingly more important for society to understand the impact of humans on the environment. Preserving fixed resources by engaging in sustainable practices is necessary to ensure those resources are available for future generations. Since the early 1960s, policy makers and educators alike have sought to ensure that students graduate environmentally literate. Previous research has identified a multitude of barriers that limit classroom teacher’s ability to integrate environmental education into their curriculum. The purpose of this study was to investigate how teachers overcome those barriers that restrict the integration of action based environmental education into the public school classroom. This was a three case study of public high school teachers. Data were gathered for this qualitative study through observations, interviews, and the collection of documents. Constant comparative method was utilized to analyze data. The researcher conducted a within-case analysis for each case and a cross-case analysis as well. Through the use of coding, the researcher identified patterns and themes across cases. Barriers identified by participants included resources, time, and risk. The primary factors uncovered by this study, which potentially affect teacher efficacy, are personal and educational background, the availability of mentors, and support of outside agencies. The implications for policy makers and institutions of higher education that can be drawn from this study are that, through the course of teacher undergraduate and graduate education, teachers should be provided with field experiences in the area of environmental education. In addition to providing field experiences, finding ways to link teachers to outside environmentally focused agencies and mentors increases teacher efficacy by providing support and resources.

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to research strategies of successful afterschool programs and their effectiveness in promoting student achievement and closing achievement gaps. Many afterschool programs have boasted of their ability to improve student achievement. Some students who participated in afterschool programs have shown an increase of improved academic performance. However, studies have indicated that students are still performing below grade level on national and state curriculum standards. Data have shown that fifth graders across the state ofGeorgiaare struggling in math, social studies, and science. Effective academic afterschool programs may have assisted struggling students in raising their Criterion Reference Competency Tests (CRCT) scores. Afterschool programs have the ability to help students socially, emotionally, culturally, behaviorally and academically. The variables addressed in the study are (a) program effectiveness, (b) student motivation, (c) parental involvement, (d) successful program structure, (e) student attendance, (f) student involvement/ socialization, (g) climate of the program, and (h) student expectations. Data were gathered using observations, face-to-face teacher interviews, document analysis, teacher questionnaires, and student questionnaires. The sample was 24 (18 students from school A and 6 students from school B) fifth grade students in two select afterschool programs whose CRCT data were compared to students in the same school but do they did not attend the afterschool program. The comparison group was 18 fifth grade students from school A and 15 fifth grade students from school B. The CRCT test data revealed how well students may perform on standardized tests even if they do not attend the afterschool program. Although CRCT test data were used to help determine the effectiveness of the afterschool program in improving academic achievement in fifth grade students, there may be other factors that contributed to student success. The fifth grade students were selected because they are mandated to takeGeorgia’s standardized CRCT. In mostGeorgiacounties, if students do not pass all parts of the CRCT, they will not be able to move on to the next grade level. The results revealed that students in the study enjoyed attending the afterschool programs. After review of the CRCT data, it was determined that most of the study participants and the non-study participants mostly met or exceeded in reading and math. School A had an adequate study group of 15 students. School B only had four students’ CRCT test scores. Two students in school B scored below grade level in math. The study also revealed that there may be other factors as to why students perform well on the CRCT.

In engineering technology and other scientific-based education, lab-based courses play a crucial role (Ma & Nickerson, 2006). Even though laboratory experience in student learning is crucial, it faces some problems. Due to insufficient laboratory conditions that lead to overcrowding and inability to view demonstrations, the effectiveness of hands on experience declines (Tiwari & Singh, 2011; Tuysuz, 2010). Considering the limitations that constrain lab experience, investigating and implementing alternatives to enhance pedagogical laboratory based learning becomes inevitable. This study investigates multimedia enhanced pedagogical teaching methods for delivering laboratory instruction to students. The purpose of this study was to improve pedagogical laboratory based learning. First, this study implemented a multimedia enhanced pedagogical laboratory based instructional method. Second, this study evaluated the impact of multimedia enhanced instructional method on student learning outcomes to assess improvement in pedagogical laboratory based learning. To evaluate the impact of multimedia enhanced instructional method on student learning outcomes, a student population was subjected to 1) traditional laboratory lecture and 2) video lecture. This study used two different assessment techniques to evaluate the instructional methods 1) surveys and 2) quizzes. The use of these different assessment techniques achieved two purposes. First, the surveys allowed the study to receive students’ evaluation on the lecture in order to compare the two types of instructional methods. Second, the quizzes allowed measuring the students’ understanding of the demonstrations in order to evaluate the impact of multimedia enhanced instructional method on pedagogical laboratory based learning. Survey results revealed that based on overall evaluations, students prefer traditional lectures in comparison to video lectures in terms of level of interest and engagement. Furthermore, quiz results revealed that multimedia enhanced instructional methods do not have an impact on pedagogical laboratory based learning.

Research on whole-school bullying programs shows some effectiveness in creating awareness and a reduction in overall bullying with vigilant supervision. Roleplaying games repeatedly taught to students help them deal with bullying in specific situations, but all these interventions leave a great deal to be desired when conditions are not in line with the training, most of which most are not (Smith, Schneider, Smith, & Ananiadou, 2004). In addition, student perceptions can differ from the staff and administration. A wide gap exists between how students, parents, teachers, and administrators perceive bullying. Students remain confused and flounder in the moment when they feel bullied, while bystanders are statistically shown to be scared and even help the bully in many cases (Mishna, Pepler, & Wiener, 2006). This study examines research from the past 10 years on the effectiveness of whole-school programs. Two main criteria include: (1) A comprehensive “macro” comparison study of research leading to a “micro” examination of specific school research, and (2) an examination of the importance of recognizing perception and creating interventions that any student can utilize no matter their level of fear. In addition, an introduction and an explanation of the ideas and concepts of the I’m Gonna Write That Down program are included.