For this thesis, I developed a curriculum for high school art students using centers for small group instruction that helped them develop skills and knowledge in creating art. The type of small group instruction that I implemented is centered based and includes a teacher facilitated component, an interactive activity, and a project done in a small group at their desks. The groups were broken down in levels of ability, skill, and the extra time needed for students to complete their work. By developing this type of curriculum for the Visual Art 1 course, the goal of small group instruction in the art classroom is to support student understanding of the artistic process through successful experiences.

abstract: Chi and Wylie’s (2014) Interactive Constructive Active Passive Framework (ICAP) was used as the foundation of a teacher led intervention using small group instruction with manipulatives during mathematics instruction to provide developmentally appropriate instruction to kindergarten students in a rigorous academic program. This action research mixed-methods study was conducted in a full-day self-contained kindergarten classroom to ascertain the effects of this mathematics instruction method on students’ levels of engagement and attitudes. Over the course of six months, twenty mathematics lessons were recorded to gather data for the study. Quantitative data included measuring time-on-task, teacher behaviors ICAP level, student behaviors ICAP level, as well as a Student Attitude Survey that was conducted at the conclusion of the study. The Student Attitude Survey was presented in a modified Likert Scale format due to the age and reading ability of the participants. Qualitative data was gathered in the form of lesson transcripts. Twenty-two students and one classroom teacher participated in the study. Students ranged in age from five to six years old, and eleven participants (50%) were male. The results of the study showed that the use of small group hands-on instruction in mathematics had a positive effect on student engagement based on students’ time-on-task during the activity, as well as positive student attitudes toward mathematics as indicated on the Student Attitude Survey. Lesson transcripts and both teacher and student ICAP rubrics provided further support for the innovation. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2019

Large numbers of children in the United States are not functioning at adequate levels of literacy. Students who have weak reading proficiency skills are identified as at-risk; failure to acquire competency early in their schooling adversely affects performance in all academic fields and limits their potential for achievement in life. There is an extensive knowledge base about the skills and strategies children must learn in order to read well. Effective fluency and comprehension strategies need to be taught to help students become powerful, active readers who are in control of their learning. This study evaluated a structured classroom model for delivery of small group reading instruction called the Intermediate Extended Literacy Routine (IELR). The IELR is a model for delivery of explicit reading instruction that incorporates fluency instruction with the intent to provide a bridge between word recognition and comprehension. This study examined the effects of the IELR on the achievement of third graders designated as struggling readers. A repeated single subject experimental design was used. Thirteen students in two classrooms at the same west-central Florida school were given the IELR 4 days a week for 8 weeks. The IELR incorporated explicit strategy instruction and was delivered in the form of focused mini-lessons that targeted specific reading strategies the researcher identified as lacking in the subjects. Assessments of performance were made with timed readings, running records, narrative retellings, and the school district's reading comprehension common assessment tool. Results are presented in tabular and graphic form for analysis. The IELR had a positive effect on reading rate (measured in words read per minute), reading accuracy and increased instructional level assessments: students who received the IELR maintained or increased their instructional level on running record assessments and showed evidence of increased reading rate on timed readings. Reading comprehension, measured by narrative retellings, did not improve for most students over the course of the study. Recommendations for future research include the use of a control group; oral (rather than written) retelling measures to assess comprehension, and a longer duration of IELR application to gauge its effectiveness.

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Thesis (M.A.T.) -- School for International Training, 2006 / Advisor -- Patrick Moran Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-140).

This study identified the practices and procedures of instruction that is being implemented by group counseling instructors at CACREP-accredited institutions. A survey questionnaire developed by the researcher was used to gather data from 160 CACREP-accredited counseling units across the United States. The survey was designed to collect input from group instructors on how the didactic, practicum, and experiential components of the master's level group course are being implemented. Three assumptions were made in conducting this study: 1.) The majority of master's level group instructors will report that they use a didactic component in preparing students to become effective group leaders, 2.) The majority of master's level group instructors will report that they use an experiential component in preparing students to become effective group leaders, and 3.) The majority of master's level group instructors will report that they use a practicum component in preparing students to become effective group leaders. The survey questionnaire and, consequently, the results were divided into the respective sections of didactic, experiential, and practicum. The results indicated that each of these components were utilized in the instruction of master's level group courses.

Syftet med detta arbete var att få ökad förståelse för hur åtta specifika instrumentallärare utnyttjar möjligheterna och hanterar utmaningarna under lektioner i grupp och enskilt i cello- och blockflöjtsundervisning. Vi intervjuade åtta lärare (fyra cellolärare, tre blockflöjtslärare och en brasslärare) för att undersöka hur de uppfattade grupp- och enskild undervisning samt möjligheter och utmaningar med dessa undervisningsformer. Resultatet visar på att det är enklare att få en personlig kontakt under den enskilda lektionen och att lektionsinnehållet blir mer individuellt anpassat. Fokus på tekniken ses dock som både positivt och negativt. Relationen mellan läraren och eleven under den enskilda lektionen kan lätt bli osymmetrisk varför lärare bör försöka ”bjuda in” eleven att vara mer delaktig i diskussioner och planering. Samtliga lärare i vår studie ser gruppdynamikens möjligheter och de säger att det är enklare att leka när man har mer än en elev åt gången. Flera lärare i studien ser värdet i att barn utmanar, undervisar och påverkar varandra. Alla intervjuade lärare vill helst ha både enskild och grupp-/ensembleundervisning med varje elev. Både enskild och gruppundervisning har i vår studie visat sig ha specifika egenskaper och lärarna i studien försöker utnyttja dessa till sin och elevens fördel. Vi tycker oss se att grupplektionens negativa sidor i stort kan vägas upp av den enskilda lektionens positiva sidor och omvänt. De kompletterar varandra. Det är dock upp till varje enskild lärare att utnyttja möjligheterna och hantera utmaningarna med båda lektionsformerna. / The purpose of this study is to gain a greater understanding in how eight particular instrumental teachers utilize the potential, and deal with the challenges during group and individual instruction for the cello and recorder. Eight teachers were interviewed (four cello teachers, three recorder teachers, and one brass teacher), as part of an examination as to how they consider group and individual instruction, and the potential and challenges associated with these methods of instruction. The results indicate that individual lessons facilitate personal contact, in addition to being more suited to the individual. The focus on technique is viewed as being both positive and negative. The relation between teacher and student during the individual lesson is often asymmetrical, but by encouraging the student to participate more actively, this may be mitigated. All the teachers participating in the study acknowledge the potential of group instruction, adding that it is easier to have fun when there is more than one student being taught. Several teachers also mentioned the importance of children challenging, teaching and influencing one another. All of the teachers interviewed would prefer to teach each student both individually, and as part of a group. According to the study, both individual and group instruction offer specific qualities which are used by the teachers to the benefit of themselves and the students. The negative aspects of group instruction are balanced by the positive effects of individual instruction – and vice versa. In effect, these two methods supplement each other. Ultimately, it is the teacher who must decide how best to utilize the potential, and deal with the challenges associated with both methods of instruction.

The purpose of this study is to develop a fourteen-week program for teaching beginning music reading through rhythmic and pitch notation to pre-school children in piano classes. The historical background for the study discusses man's learning abilities in the group process in music education with the particular reference to class piano and its development and publications by leading authorities concerning class piano and rhythmic training in the classroom. The second chapter contains analyses and summaries of five selected texts pertinent to the study. The findings of research of the five selected texts serve as the groundwork for the development of the program which is contained in the third chapter.

Teachers and administrators in a Title I elementary school in a southeastern state are concerned that there has been a trend over the past 3 years of declining standardized assessment scores in mathematics for students in Grades 3, 4, and 5. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore teachers' perceptions of practices, and professional development (PD) for differentiating mathematics instruction. This study was grounded in the conceptual framework of Vygotsky's zone of proximal development and Tomlinson's differentiated instruction (DI). Purposeful sampling was used to select 8 teachers and 1 mathematics coach, who worked with students in Grades 3, 4, and 5 at the target school. Data were collected through interviews and classrooms observations with participants. Open coding and thematic analysis were used to identify emergent themes from the data. The key findings were that, while some teachers attempted to differentiate mathematics instruction for struggling students, the participants felt they needed more PD related to specific strategies for differentiation and more planning time to collaborate with other educators in order to implement differentiated instruction effectively for all students. In response to these findings, a PD project was created for teachers in Grades 3, 4, and 5 to involve them in construction of a variety of strategies for planning and implementing differentiated instruction in mathematics. Positive social change might occur when teachers feel supported by the district to schedule ongoing opportunities to collaboratively plan and implement effective differentiated mathematics instruction to advance students' mathematics achievement in the local Title I school.