The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of participation in a Computer-Assisted instructional program (CAI) on fourth grade student attitudes and achievement in reading and mathematics. This study, based on Campbell and Stanley's quasiexperimental design 10, utilized Diascriptive Reading software for the CAI mathematics group and Milliken Math Sequences software for the CAI mathematics group and was completed by 242 students. The time span between pretests and posttests was seven months. Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, Level 10, Form 7/8 was used for achievement testing and Estes Attitude Scale was used for attitude testing. Analysis of covariance was used to determine significance at the .05 level. The findings for this study were: 1. Reading Comprehension posttest scores were significantly higher for the control group than for the reading experimental group; 2. Reading Comprehension posttest scores were not significantly higher for boys than for girls within the reading experimental group; 3. Total math posttest scores were significantly higher for the mathematics experimental group than for the control group; 4. Concepts and Computation math subsets posttest scores were significantly higher for the mathematics experimental group than for the control group. There were no significant differences between the posttest scores of the two groups for the Math Problem Solving subset; 5. Total Math posttest scores were not significantly different for boys than for girls within the mathematics experimental group; 6. Attitude toward reading posttest scores were significantly higher for the reading experimental group than for the control group; 7. Attitude toward reading posttest scores were not significantly different for the boys than for girls within the reading experimental group; 8. Attitude toward mathematics posttest scores were significantly higher for the mathematics experimental group than for the control group; 9. Attitude toward mathematics posttest scores were significantly higher for girls than for boys within the mathematics experimental group.

This study investigated relationships involving peer acceptance, mathematics achievement, and birth order among 74 fifth-grade students. The children were administered a standardized achievement test and a sociometric measurement in one sitting. They were then listed in rank order on the basis of number of choices received for each of two areas-- Social- and Work-acceptance. A comparison of High and Low Social- and Work-acceptance groups in terms of mean mathematics-achievement scores indicated a significant positive interaction between peer acceptance and mathematics achievement. No significant difference was evidenced between mean mathematics-achievement scores of males and females. As expected, birth order was not shown to interact significantly with Social- or Work-acceptance for either sex. Results indicate the importance of utilizing various techniques such as sociometrically determined work groups and seating arrangements in order to improve the peer climate of the classroom.

Since its introduction in the 1980's, student engagement has been a popular topic in educational research. In the beginning, engagement was thought of as a simple construct; however, it is now believed that student engagement involves four separate, but equally important components (Appleton, 2012; Christenson, Reschly, Appleton, Berman, Spanjers, & Varro, 2008). The components of academic, behavioral, affective and cognitive engagement are each vital to the ongoing educational success of students, and ideally, these would remain high throughout all of the years that students are in school. Unfortunately, research shows that most students' engagement levels continuously decrease from elementary school until high school graduation (or dropout), with the biggest drops occurring when students transition to middle school and high school (Alexander, Entwisle, & Horsey, 1997; Dunleavy & Milton, 2008; Finn, Pannozzo, & Voelkl, 1995; Lopez, 2011; Roeser, Strobel, & Quihuis, 2002; Skinner et al., 2009). Much of the research is currently being done at the middle and high school level to try and re-engage students in their learning (Appleton, 2012; Appleton, Christenson, Kim & Reschley, 2006; Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004). This research study, however, looked at the implications of engagement data collection with fourth grade students. This mixed-methods study had two main goals. The first goal of the study was to determine the benefits of providing teachers with a systematic approach to collecting and following data on students' affective and cognitive engagement levels over time. The second goal of the study was to begin to explore interventions that appeared to increase fourth grade students' affective and cognitive engagement levels. The data analysis showed that students consistently reported lower engagement scores in the areas of teacher and peer relationships at school. It was also found that teachers did not report using student engagement data to make whole class interventions, but teachers did report the desire to track individual student's engagement scores in order to implement individualized interventions, when needed. Three additional findings, as well as suggestions for future research, are also presented. In the end, the study concludes with a more broad view on how this research can be used to impact the field of education. The ideas of teacher awareness, power in schools, and the need to create safe and caring classrooms that include students in the decision making process are all discussed as important components needed to engage students. Final suggestions have also been given for both teachers and administrators on how best to increase student engagement in the school or school district where they are working.

M.Ed. / Eleven official languages are distinguished in South Africa. Although multilingualism is characteristic of the South African society, it is still a relatively new phenomenon in South African public schools. For the teacher it offers a multilingual classroom - a great challenge on account of the unfamiliar phenomenon. Many demands are made on the teacher's skills in order to accompany pupils whose home language may differ from the medium of education. Most teachers do not, however, possess the necessary skills and they apply a "hit-and-miss" method in order to accompany these pupils adequately. This presents a special challenge, particularly to the grade one teacher, since grade one pupils are expected to express their needs in words. The grade one teacher is therefore self-reliant in accompanying these pupils without receiving any educational accompaniment herself. Hence the teacher finds herself in an educational situation which is dangerously unfamiliar. From the perspective of educational psychology, this educational situation is regarded as hampering to both the child and the teacher. The educational psychologist consequently faces a special challenge to intervene in an effort to ensure that the accompanying process between teacher and pupils goes smoothly. This study aims to explore and describe how the grade one teacher experiences multilingualism and to establish guidelines for the educational psychologist for the accompaniment of grade one teachers in multilingual classrooms. An explorative, descriptive, contextual and qualitative study was carried out with a view p obtain insight and understanding in respect of the grade one teacher and how she experiences multilingualism. The phenomenological interviewing method was used to collect data. The interviews were audiotaped and then transcribed. The sample population consisted of four grade one teachers who were specifically selected for the purpose of the study. The data were processed according to Tesch's method and the services of an independent coder were obtained. The results of the interviews are organised in main categories. These categories are: : i) multilingualism as straneous for the teacher; ii) multilingualism hinders the effective flow of activities in the classroom; and iii) a creative problem solving attitude. Guidelines for the accompaniment of teachers in a multilingual grade one class by the educational psychology are discussed according to the above three categories. This classification was interdependent because, when one aspects is dealt with, another is essentially affected. For this reason, the educational psychologist's accompaniment of the grade one teacher should follow a holistic approach which addresses all three aspects. Finally, it is clear that multilingualism in the grade one class has many facets. In general, it appears that the grade one teacher experiences many constraints and that the educational psychologist can provide meaningful accompaniment.

This investigation compared achievement of boys and girls in second grade who were seven years old in June, July, and August of 1983 to the boys and girls in second grade who were eight years old in September, October, and November of 1983. The students were tested using the Iowa Test of Basic Skills using the following areas: reading, total math, and composite scores. The study also looked at the correlation of sex and age of students who had been retained in first grade. A comparison of teacher grades to standardized test scores and ability grouping was also presented. One way analysis of variance was applied to the test results. A chi square test of independence was conducted on students retained in the first grade to determine if interaction between sex and age was indicated. Older children scored higher in all three areas measured, while girls scored higher in reading. This may seem contradictory, but is not. Age was significant beyond the .05 level, while sex was significant beyond the .001 level. This difference is explained by the extremes in means for younger boys and older girls. Since first grade curriculum emphasizes reading, this gave girls a definite advantage over boys. Boys, however, scored significantly higher in math. The results indicate a need for restructuring curriculum to meet the needs of boys and girls. Younger boys in second grade scored the lowest in all areas tested, except math. These scores would have been even more significant if the boys who were not promoted to second grade could have been included in the second grade testing. These findings indicate that total developmental age is the most important factor when considering admission for school. A closer look should be taken at the requirements for school entrance. The factors that must be considered are chronological age, mental age, physical maturity, emotional and social maturity, behavior age, and sex.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisors: Dr. Pamela Sissi Carroll, Dr. Susan N. Wood, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Middle and Secondary Education. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 16, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

This current study explored the reading strategies that emerged through the case studies of five sixth-grade students as they read Internet websites. Data was collected from student surveys, field notes, and transcripts of three separate Internet sessions that required participants to think aloud about the reading process as they explored web sites to answer questions. Despite the varying reading abilities of the subjects, upper elementary children use traditional as well as additional reading strategies when they read online articles. Using grounded theory, four reading strategy themes emerged consistently from three different reading sessions: determining importance (DI), matching skills (MS), monitoring understanding (MU), and navigating (N). Through this study, the researcher hoped to provide another snapshot of how the typical students in the upper elementary might read Internet resources which would ultimately allow classroom teachers to focus on the development of those strategies. / Department of Elementary Education

Mémoire (M.A.)--Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 1990. / Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU

Mémoire (M.Ed.)--Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 1997. / Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2004. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-138). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.