Search Results

open access

Measuring Teaching Effectiveness Using Value-Added and Observation Rubric Scores

Description: This mixed-methods study examined the extent to which teacher performance and student performance measures correlated, and to understand which specific practices of mathematics teachers in Grades 3-5 related to student performance. Research was conducted at five elementary schools in a large, urban north Texas school district. Data sources included component scores and recorded evidence from observation rubrics, interviews with campus administrators, and value-added modeling (VAM) student growt… more
Date: December 2014
Creator: McKenzie, Andrew
open access

Do Minutes Matter? Connecting Tardiness to Academic Achievement

Description: Within the scope of all that is expected to be accomplished in education, what difference does a tardy make? This study was designed to examine the significance of tardiness, as it relates to student achievement, as measured by the results of the state math test. It also investigated the generation of change by the campus administrator to improve punctuality, with a new method of enforcing the tardy policy with the use of an electronic data system. This study used archived data from the one h… more
Date: August 2014
Creator: Taylor, Tresa S.
open access

Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Responsibilities in Teaching Social Emotional Skills: a Case Study

Description: This study investigated the beliefs of teachers at a particular elementary campus in North Texas during its first year of implementation of a social emotional curriculum regarding teaching social emotional skills and the influence of those beliefs on their classroom practices. The study drew from the works of Dewey and Bandura in the development of a framework for teacher decision making. A case study design incorporating multiple cases within the case study utilized a mixed-methods approach fo… more
Date: August 2014
Creator: Madueke, Nkechi A.
open access

A Multiple Case Study of Two African American Female Administrators in High Achieving Elementary Schools

Description: African American female principals typically lead low socioeconomic elementary schools. Administrators in predominately urban schools are familiar with the needs of minority students. Although Title I funds are provided from the national government via local educational agencies (LEAs), this money is normally not enough to keep up with technology integration and programs of more affluent schools. Therefore, African American female administrators rely on culture to develop meaningful relationsh… more
Date: August 2014
Creator: Taylor, LaBotta
open access

Beliefs of Mathematics Pre-service Teachers About Project-based Learning

Description: This study explored the beliefs of pre-service secondary mathematics teachers about project-based learning (PBL), as they encountered a project-based learning high school where they implemented a project-based unit of instruction. A qualitative study was conducted with one undergraduate cohort in a higher education science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) national initiative that has 40 U.S. replication sites. Using teaching philosophy statements and focus group discussions, t… more
Date: August 2014
Creator: Watson, Cindy Gay
open access

An Investigation Into the Relationships Between the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge of University Teacher Education Faculty and Their Age, Rank, and Gender

Description: The purpose of this study was to determine what relationships exist between the age, rank, and gender of university faculty in teacher education and their technological pedagogical content knowledge. The survey instrument used was the Survey of Teacher Educators’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) which is an adaptation of the Survey of Preservice Teachers’ Knowledge of Teaching and Technology developed by Schmidt. A total of 347 public Texas university teacher education facult… more
Date: August 2013
Creator: Hamilton, Christina
open access

A Vygotskian Analysis of Preservice Teachers’ Conceptions of Dissolving and Density

Description: The purpose of this study was to examine the content knowledge of 64 elementary preservice teachers for the concepts of dissolving and density. Vygotsky’s (1987) theory of concept development was used as a framework to categorize concepts and misconceptions resulting from evidences of preservice teacher knowledge including pre/post concept maps, writing artifacts, pre/post face-to-face interviews, examination results, and drawings. Statistical significances were found for pre- and post-concep… more
Date: May 2014
Creator: Shaker elJishi, Ziad
open access

Examining the Relationship Between Persistence in Attendance in an Afterschool Program and an Early Warning Index for Dropout

Description: School districts constantly struggle to find solutions to address the high school dropout problem. Literature supports the need to identify and intervene with these students earlier and in more systemic ways. The purpose of this study was to conduct a longitudinal examination of the relationship between sustained afterschool participation and the host district’s early warning index (EWI) associated with school dropout. Data included 65,341 students participating in an urban school district’s… more
Date: May 2014
Creator: King, Teresa C.
open access

An Examination of Mathematics Teachers’ Use of Student Data in Relationship to Student Academic Performance

Description: Among educational researchers, important questions are being asked about how to improve mathematics instruction for elementary students. This study, conducted in a north Texas public school with 294 third- through fifth-grade students, ten teachers and three coaches, examined the relationship between students’ achievement in mathematics and the mathematics teaching and coaching instruction they received. Student achievement was measured by the Computer Adaptive Instrument (CAT), which is admini… more
Date: December 2013
Creator: Hartmann, Lillian Ann
open access

The Validation of a Short-cycle Formative Assessment Observation Protocol for Science and Mathematics Instruction

Description: Over the years, teachers, administrators, and policy makers have been concerned with optimizing learning for all students. The No Child Left Behind Act put an emphasis on summative assessments, which measure what students have learned. In contrast, formative assessment has been shown in many studies to improve student achievement and motivation because it is applied while students are learning. The purpose of this study was to investigate, for middle and high school mathematics and science ins… more
Date: December 2013
Creator: Heitz, Layne
open access

Funds of Knowledge in a Hispanic Household: a Case Study of Family Experiences, Values, and Connections to Education

Description: Traditionally, the field of education has often adopted a negative perspective in their views of minority families’ contributions to the educational progress of their children. However, research embodying the theoretical framework of ‘funds of knowledge’ attempts to counter that model through its assertion that all families possess extensive bodies of knowledge that have developed through social, historical, and cultural contexts. Teachers carry out studies of familial funds of knowledge in o… more
Date: December 2013
Creator: Feild, Kelly A.
open access

A Study of the Effects of Technology Training on Teacher Productivity and Empowerment

Description: This study was supported by the Texas Education Agency and initiated by a consortium composed of Apple Computer, the University of North Texas, and the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District, one of the six schools involved with the Columbus Project. The problem in this descriptive study is to determine if training teachers to use application, management, and instructional software on the Macintosh computer will increase their productivity. The sample of teachers involved with the stu… more
Date: December 1990
Creator: Stubbs, Luisa B. (Luisa Belluomini)
open access

The Effect of Teacher Training in the Use of Computer Graphing Software on the Achievement of Algebra II Students

Description: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of carefully designed teacher training in the use of the computer to teach graphing skills associated with Algebra II conic sections. Three areas were studied: the teachers' attitude toward mathematics, and the effect on students' achievement in the area of graphing skills.
Date: August 1991
Creator: Loop, Sallie Bell Jackson
open access

Teachers' Perceptions of their Enculturation Process

Description: The purpose of this study was to construct portrayals of teachers7 work conceptions in various career stages from the stories they told and the metaphors they used to describe the ways in which teachers learned about their work. Specifically, the study included preservice teachers, first-year teachers, third-year teachers, and teachers with more than four years of teaching experience at the elementary and secondary school levels. Thirty-five elementary and secondary school teachers from the Nor… more
Date: August 1990
Creator: Van Derveer Naylor, Sharon L. (Sharon Lynne)
open access

The Effects of Computer Assisted Instruction on the Development of Reading and Language Skills

Description: This research investigates the effects of a planned program of computer assisted instruction on reading and language development of fourth grade students. The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of microcomputer usage in supplemental reading and language instruction. Fifty-one matched pairs of fourth graders completed the one school year study. A t test for related samples was used to analyze the data. Multiple linear regression was used to allow a more detailed review of th… more
Date: August 1985
Creator: Coomes, Pat
open access

A Study of the Influences Upon Pre-Service Teachers' Pre-Planning, Lesson Planning, and Bases for Interactive Decision Making During Lesson Implementation

Description: The primary objective of this study was to describe the influences upon pre-service elementary teachers' preplanning, lesson planning, and bases for interactive decision making during their lesson implementation. Six female volunteer pre-service elementary teachers from the teacher preparation program at the University of North Texas planned and taught three separate lessons in one of the following content areas-social studies, language arts, mathematics, science, and safety, at six different s… more
Date: May 1990
Creator: Chang, Tony Hong-Jee
open access

Central Office Administrators' Perceptions of the Professional Learning Community Process

Description: This study provides a qualitative interpretation of the work done by central office administrators in a school district in Texas as they supported and built capacity for the professional learning community (PLC) process over a five year time period. Literature by PLC scholars, especially R. DuFour, R.B. DuFour, Eaker, Hord, Hipp, Huffman, and Olivier, informed development of the study. In a school district of 19,000 students and 2,000 staff members, ten central office administrators were interv… more
Date: August 2013
Creator: Pruitt, Mary E.
open access

An Exploration of Teachers' Adoption of the Bring Your Own Technology Program

Description: The purpose of this study was to explore teachers' concerns, use, and actual practices in their adoption of the bring your own technology (BYOT) initiative. Twelve secondary teachers in a private school setting participated in this study. The participants represented all content areas including reading, math, science, and electives. The private school was in its third year of implementing BYOT. This case study incorporated multiple methods to collect data to gain a better understanding of t… more
Date: August 2013
Creator: Cardoza, Yanet
open access

Factors Related to Teacher Retention: the Lived Experiences of Four Teachers in an Urban, Hard-to-staff High School

Description: Retaining quality teachers is critical to the success of America's schools. How to retain quality teachers, especially in high needs schools, is a question of fervent debate among educational researchers, policy makers, administrators, parents, and students. This study examines the issue of teacher retention from an emic perspective, focused on understanding the perspective of those closest to the retention decision, teachers in hard-to-staff schools. This study examines the lived experiences … more
Date: August 2013
Creator: Julian, Chris
open access

Motion Versus Non-Motion in Interactive Video Lessons in High School Physical Science

Description: The most important question addresed in this study was whether there is any difference in student learning between a motion group and a non-motion group. The interactive video courseware is currently a part of the curriculum in this district. It was used in its original form with the contrast group. For the experimental group one unit of the courseware was modified to remove the motion video and replace it with photorealistic graphics that served as the non-motion part of the study. Covariates … more
Date: May 1992
Creator: Speers, Jimmy D. (Jimmy Dale)
open access

Implementation of the Middle School Concept: a Profile of Perceived Effects

Description: This study addressed the perceptions of teachers, parents, and students in a suburban middle school about the effects of implementation of the middle school concept on instruction, peer group interaction, teacher attitudes and practices, and school culture. A qualitative approach was used for this study. Interview questions were developed to determine perceptions about effects in the areas identified in the research questions. Interviews were conducted with selected teachers, parents, and stude… more
Date: December 1994
Creator: Hartin, Gail Bantle
open access

The Relationship between Level of Implementation of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' Curriculum and Evaluation Standards and 5th Grade Louisiana Educational Assessment Program Math Scores

Description: This study examined the relationship between levels of implementation of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' Curriculum and Evaluation Standards and 5th Grade Louisiana Educational Assessment Program Math Scores with the effects of race of students accounted for. Secondary areas of interest were the relationship between LEAP mathematics scores with the effects of race of students accounted for and the teacher characteristics of years experience and educational attainment and of the… more
Date: August 1996
Creator: Jones, Gregory A. (Gregory Alan), 1960-
open access

The Effects of Writing-to-learn Tasks on Achievement and Attitude in Mathematics

Description: The problem of this study was to determine the effects of implementing writing-to-learn tasks in mathematics instruction on fourth grade students' achievement and attitude toward mathematics. Also addressed in this study is whether or not achievement and attitude measures of female students and low achieving students are effected by the use of writing in mathematics.
Date: May 1994
Creator: Millican, Beverly Robinson
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