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- Creator:
- McCullough, Sarah England
- Description:
- A strong volunteer program can be a valuable resource to every school. If a school is not utilizing such a program, the students, as well as their families, are under a great disadvantage. This project answers the question of how schools can advance their volunteer programs in order to utilize volunteers effectively. It also looks at the value in volunteering and what constitutes volunteering. To answer these questions, the author decided to investigate current volunteering trends in schools. The main theoretical foundations of this project come from Funds of Knowledge as well as School, Family, Community Partnerships. The author created a volunteer handbook that combines the best practices of these two concepts to create a complete volunteer program for kindergarten through fifth grade schools in the United States. Volunteering has positive impacts on not only student’s academic progress, but also their behavior. In implementing a volunteer program where families and community members use their valuable skills and talents to enhance student learning, volunteers also feel positive toward the school and education. This affirmative response is of increasing importance in today’s changing political climate.
- Resource Type:
- Project
- Campus Tesim:
- San Marcos
- Department:
- Education
- Creator:
- Maurer, Chelsea
- Description:
- With inclusion becoming more popular among school districts for students with disabilities, these students are often not included in extracurricular competitive sports. Many physical education (PE) coaches report not feeling adequately prepared to coach a student with a disability in their program. There are also many coaches that have less than favorable attitudes towards inclusion because of a negative past experience. Education specialists are also included in this training to learn what role they should take in including a student with a disability in an extracurricular competitive sport. Students with disabilities miss out on the experiences that typical students benefit from because of adult attitudes and limitations put upon this population. The purpose of this project is to train coaches of competitive sports on how to include these students and how to work with the education specialist on site to provide equitable experiences for all students and reduce the negative experiences that lead to teachers and coaches to have unfavorable attitudes towards inclusion practices.
- Resource Type:
- Project
- Campus Tesim:
- San Marcos
- Department:
- Education
- Creator:
- Safaralian, Leila
- Description:
- Many students aspire to continue their educational journey, but far too many enter college without the basic content knowledge, skills, or habits of mind needed to succeed. Research on college readiness indicates the significant role mathematics achievement plays in attaining a college degree and advancing professionally. This dissertation study provides a broad examination of college readiness in mathematics among entering college students. Specifically, in an effort to improve access to college-level mathematics courses for underrepresented students, it examines the meaning and significance of an existing program to help students transition to college. The Mathematics Success program at Oceanview Community College provides enrichment instruction in mathematics for the purpose of improving placement test scores and enabling students to take a shorter path to transfer-level mathematics courses. This qualitative study utilized design-based case study methodology to investigate whether the Mathematics Success program was effective in helping students improve their mathematics placement scores and, if so, why this might occur. The researcher found that classroom tutors, tutoring services, supplemental practices, and the Math Anxiety workshop were the most valuable aspects of the program to help students succeed in the mathematics placement test. The quantitative results of this study showed that there is no relation between the time since the last mathematics class and students’ scores on the post-test. Also, there was a strong positive relationship between the post-assessment scores and pre-assessment results. Implications for social justice and leadership in higher education institutions are also discussed.
- Resource Type:
- Dissertation
- Campus Tesim:
- San Marcos
- Department:
- Education
- Creator:
- O'Reilly, Katie
- Description:
- Parents’ engagement within their child’s education is an important factor for student success. Actively participating within the school and home increases student achievement. Primarily focusing on an elementary level school, this study analyzed parent engagement and participation within their child’s school and how it correlates to student achievement and success. This study utilized a quantitative research approach to understand parent engagement within schools and the home. The purpose of this study was to analyze parent engagement within their child’s education, specifically in the school while also looking at the amount of engagement within the home and if it correlates to student achievement. Findings collected from a survey were broken down and displayed using statistical data. This data illustrated and emphasized the amount of engagement and participation that was taking place within the school and the home. Findings suggest that parents are actively participating when they can but are often limited due to working or having other children within the home. The overall implications of this study point towards more effective communication and a more flexible volunteer schedule for utilization of parents at events and in the classrooms.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Marcos
- Department:
- Education
- Creator:
- Daley, Ben
- Description:
- Preparing more students for success in college, career, and civic life is of critical importance, particularly for traditionally underserved students. Improvement science represents promising ideas and practices for how to achieve greater outcomes for students, particularly at scale. In this dissertation, two projects were undertaken related to college, career, and civic readiness, one to reduce chronic absenteeism and the other to increase Cal Grant award rates. Using improvement science methodology, chronic absenteeism was reduced by up to 85% across three schools and Cal Grant award rates increased from 35% to 46% across five high schools. These projects were written up according to guidelines for reporting on improvement projects taken from healthcare.
- Resource Type:
- Dissertation
- Campus Tesim:
- San Marcos
- Department:
- Education
- Creator:
- Banks, Leticia
- Description:
- Current English language teaching research in Mexico has shown that junior high school students are not learning English and that English teachers lack linguistic and pedagogical skills to teach the language. Research has evidenced system-wide factors contributing to low learning outcomes such as teacher shortage, poor working conditions, limited teaching resources, inadequate school support, and misaligned professional development. However, little has been said about initial teacher preparation. Therefore, this research sought to understand how English teachers in junior high schools in Mexico viewed their initial preparation program and whether the realities of practice in their specific teaching context match that preparation. The study drew on questionnaire data of junior high school English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in three different regions of Mexico—northern, central, and southern states, from urban, suburban, and rural classrooms, including three different junior high school modalities. The aim was to understand how initial teacher preparation equipped teachers with language knowledge, teaching knowledge, and contextual knowledge for their practice. This study argues that initial teacher preparation, although a critical component for success in the classroom, has been largely treated in the periphery. This treatment may have resulted in weak initial preparation of English teachers. This study presented both qualitative and quantitative evidence about the realities English teachers faced in their current practice as they attempted to implement the new National English Program in basic education. Some realities seemed to have been ignored and/or inadequately addressed during initial teacher preparation. Therefore, the evidence presented sought to inform English teachers, school administrators, and policy makers about the situation in the trenches. The study also sought to contribute to the current conversation about the direction and content of initial English teacher preparation programs in view of the diverse teaching contexts in the country.
- Resource Type:
- Dissertation
- Campus Tesim:
- San Marcos
- Department:
- Education
- Creator:
- Ocampo, Roxanne
- Description:
- Undermatching refers to college ready students who select and enroll in colleges with selectivity levels significantly lower than their academic profile, resulting in attending a non-competitive college, a two-year college, or foregoing applying to college altogether. The current research trend examining the topic of Undermatching focuses on studies of low-income students in aggregate, ignoring the fastest growing racial/ethnic student demographic: Latinxs. Latinx students, as a subgroup, undermatch at the highest rate compared to all subgroups within the demographic of low-income, first generation students. While the majority of high-performing, low-income, Latinx students Undermatch, there is a small percentage of students from this demographic who avert undermatching and in fact properly match to selective colleges. This phenomenological study explored the behaviors, practices, and experiences, of 30 Mexican-American college sophomores (15 females and 15 males) whose demographic consisted of first-generation status, low-income, immigrant parents, English Learners, who earned admission to a highly selective college. This research study draws upon several theoretical frameworks to guide understanding of the ways in which this targeted demographic has the greatest potential to undermatch including Critical Race Theory, Cultural & Social Capital Theory, and Academic Invulnerability Theory. The study explores various environmental, psychological, and institutional factors, with emphasis on digital technology resources that impacted or influenced the college choice process of this target demographic. This study contributes to our understanding of the challenges, successful practices, and interventions that influenced and impacted participant’s pathway to a selective college. The purposeful sample was comprised of students who recently graduated from public high school in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Texas. The qualitative methodology consisted of individual, semi-structured interviews, and a Qualtrics Survey.
- Resource Type:
- Dissertation
- Campus Tesim:
- San Marcos
- Department:
- Education
- Creator:
- Le, Loc-Ha
- Description:
- Inspired by numerous studies of advantages on piano interventional education, the purpose of this study is to investigate the benefits of piano interventional education with support of the research on neuroplasticity. Using personal interviews, surveys, and Certificate of Merit evaluation conducted by Music Teachers’ Association of California, this study investigated the impact of a piano intervention on students’ cognition, self-regulation, and problem solving. It seems that the piano interventional education serves as play. Equally, play has a power to transform the joy of recreational activity into self-regulated behavior. Moreover, the joyful environment of the interventional piano learning serves as a stimulating environment. Piano Sight-Reading (PSR) or Piano Repertoire-Implementing (PRI) practice could impact the visualization and enhances the spatial thinking related to problem-solving skill for a piano student. Self-regulation, cognitive performance, and problem-solving mindset may offer a promising tool for a piano student to also be successful in other academic disciplines.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Marcos
- Department:
- Education
- Creator:
- Escobar-Molina, Juana
- Description:
- As educational technology advances, primary grade teachers are now implementing various mediums of technology to support their curriculum and instruction. In this study, an elementary school has designed a Weebly math website to use as an online learning community to support their common core math planning and curriculum. The website is meant to be used as a living document and providing coaching tools for new teachers. This website narrates teachers’ collaboration as they plan, share, design and implement their lessons within the classrooms. The process, lessons, materials, differentiations, photos and videos are posted for each lesson. Teachers can modify, change and add information as they move along the placing plans. Teachers can provide reflective notes on their lessons. This project analyses and reflects on how this platform meets the professional needs of learning community of teachers at an elementary school. The goals of the project is to support day-to-day planning with pre-planned paced units and support classroom instruction by sharing best practices as teachers deliver the math lessons. Ultimately, the goal is to improve students’ learning and classroom teaching practices. The future goals is to effectively maintain the math website and add more technology support for teachers and students.
- Resource Type:
- Project
- Campus Tesim:
- San Marcos
- Department:
- Education
- Creator:
- Downing, Brienne
- Description:
- Special education teachers are in high demand and greatly needed to meet the needs of the growing population of students qualified for special education services under the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004. The increasing attrition rates of special education teachers are a social justice issue that needs attention. The demands and pressures that special education teachers face need to be closely examined and addressed to ensure equal access to education for the population of students receiving special education services. The literature review analyzes and discusses the need to identify the severity and impact of special education teacher attrition rates and the use of a resilience construct to help increase the retention of teachers. This phenomenological research study examines the research and findings of implemented and needed interventions to help mitigate the issue. This study examines a conceptual framework of special education teacher resiliency by look at four major areas: (1) why special education teachers enter the field, (2) non-workplace contexts, (3) workplace contexts (e.g. collegial support, administrative support, other supports), and (4) personal resiliency attributes. This study posits these four elements influence teacher resiliency and satisfaction/intention to stay or leave the field of special education. A resilience scale to pre-screen participants and a semi-structured interview was employed to gather data. Participants guided the findings of this study and inform educational leaders and policy makers on special education teacher resiliency factors that promote retention. These findings included being able to experience and learn of student growth and accomplishments, having a personal connection to special education and individuals with disabilities, a sense of fulfillment, and relationships with parents, colleagues, and students; balance and boundaries participants sought personal self-care through individual exercise and travel, and social networking through team exercise and sports, community service and involvement, and connecting with family and friends; administrative support through emotional, instrumental, appraisal, and informational supports; staying student centered and focused upon student potential, the verbal and physical actions of administrators, and collegial relationships; and having a sense of purpose.
- Resource Type:
- Dissertation
- Campus Tesim:
- San Marcos
- Department:
- Education