A COMPARISON OF THE EFFECT OF SINGLE-SEX VERSUS MIXED-SEX CLASSES ON MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Carol E. Thom, Ed.D.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of single-sex versus mixedsex classes on middle school student achievement. It was a case study of Stonewall Jackson Middle School in Charleston, West Virginia, an inner-city school with approximately 600 students, of which 30% were minority (mostly black), 30% were special needs, and 70% were classified low socio-economic status (SES). Student WESTEST (West Virginia Educational Standards Test) scores in reading/language arts and math were collected and compared from the school years 2003-2004 and 2004-2005.
Each student’s scores from the first year were compared to that same student’s scores from the second year. Each student in the first year (2003-2004) was in mixed-sex classes and each student in the second year (2004-2005) was in single-sex classes. Two hundred seventy nine matched pairs of scores were compared. An alpha level of .05 was set as the criterion for the level of significance. A paired-samples T-test was used to determine whether the difference between the means was statistically significant. Student groups studied were male/female; black/white; low/high SES; and general education/special education. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine whether there were differences between groups. A .01 level of significance was found for both reading/language arts and math between mixed-sex and single-sex classes. No significance was found for the between group improvement scores. Results of this study provide support for using single-sex classes to improve the academic achievement of middle school students.

STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHER SUPPORT: EFFECT ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Michael D. O’Shea

The primary purpose of this study was to add empirical validity to Starratt’s (2004) model of the ethics of responsibility, authenticity, and presence. This qualitative study, through a collective case study methodology, sought to operationalize Starratt’s model by seeking the actual presence of this model in the interactions and support among three teachers and six students in one northwest Ohio high school. Of particular interest is the effect the application of these ethics has on student perceptions of teacher support, student engagement, and student academic performance. More specifically, the purpose of this study was to explore student perceptions of teacher support among lower performing students and higher performing students and teachers’ perceptions of providing support to their students. Important questions that must be answered are whether high-performing students differ from low-performing students in their perceptions of teacher support and how teacher perceptions of delivering support to their students compare to student perceptions of teacher support. A synthesis of the data identified five common components of teacher support. Both high-performing and low-performing students identified supportive teachers as those teachers who (1) provide additional help outside normal classroom hours, (2) maintain high behavioral and academic standards, (3) provide relevant lessons tied to real world applications, (4) get involved in students’ personal lives, especially when personal issues jeopardize academic achievement or overall well being, and (5) present lessons that are designed to take into account individual learning styles or unique circumstances. Taken in the context of their inter-dependent relationship with the ethics of responsibility, authenticity, and presence, a clear paradigm emerged that provides meaningful support for students and, ultimately, enhanced student academic performance.
Three high school teachers from one northwest Ohio school were selected on a nonrandom, purposive basis. Two students were selected on a stratified-random basis from each teacher’s classroom for a total of six student participants. The first grouping consisted of those students with a grade point average of 3.0 or above; the second grouping consisted of students with grade point averages of 2.0 or below. All averages were based on a 4.0 scale. One student was drawn, at random, from each grouping for each teacher—totaling two students per teacher.
This study explored the interactions between teachers and students within the classroom with particular attention given to the strategies utilized by teachers to engage, support, and encourage their students in a learning environment consistent with Starratt’s (2004) model of the ethics of responsibility, authenticity, and presence. Similar attention was given to the students with respect to their perceptions of support provided by their teachers.
The study is significant in its exploration of the necessary, mutual, and meaningful connections made between teachers and students in an era of district and educator accountability and high numbers of students at risk of failure and dropout.

LEARNING BY TEACHING AGENTS

By
Thomas Katzlberger

The overall goal in this thesis was to develop an intelligent learning environment that adopted an explanatory and constructivist learning approach, and helped students learn and improve their problem solving activities in the mathematical domain on distance-rate-time problems. The learning environment implemented for this thesis combines the STAR-Legacy cycle str ucture (Schwartz, Lin et al. 1999), variants of Smart Tools (Owens et al. 1995), and Adventure Player (Crews et al. 1997) into a single learning environment that implements a learning by teaching approach. Smart Tools provided the interactive representations that users create for problem solving based on their knowledge or understanding of domain concepts. Adventure Player provided a problem-solving environment with planning and simulation tools for developing and verifying solutions to complex problems. Adventure Player was linked to the Rescue at Boones Meadow episode of the Adventures of Jasper Woodbury series that adopted an anchored instruction approach for teaching and learning (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt 1997). The outer cycle structure into which all of the above tools were embedded was adapted from the STAR-Legacy system to provide a structured sequence of increasingly difficult problems. Each cycle in our learning environment draws problems from a global anchoring context, organizes learning activities, and arranges formative and summative feedback during learning. We extended this environment with software agents that could be taught, to pursue the goal to improve motivation and the ability to transfer beyond the set of problems that students were taught to solve.

The Design, Development and Evaluation of a Problem-Based Learning Module: Implications for Teaching Digital Technology Skills to Middle School Students

Liesl Michele Combs

With the call for a change in the way students are prepared to meet the demands of the 21st century, new teaching methods are under investigation. Problem-based learning is one such method believed to encourage the skills students need to succeed. The purpose of this study is to outline the implications for using this approach to teach digital technology skills. Through this developmental study, a learning module was designed and developed for instruction in an eighth grade technology class. The research study also included an expert review and evaluation of the module through implementation in a middle school in southern New Jersey. The findings are presented and implications include the need for a shift in several aspects of education; a shift in how students are taught, a shift in the role teachers assume through this approach, and a shift in how teachers are trained to implement this teaching approach. Finally, recommendations are made for instructional designers seeking to develop a model for instruction in a problem-based learning environment.

EFFECTIVE TEACHER COMMUNICATION SKILLS AND TEACHER QUALITY

By
Kevin John Loy, B.S., M.S., M.A.

 

As we move into the Twenty-First Century the education profession and politicians continue to grapple with the expectation of better or higher test scores from society. The National Council of Teachers in Mathematics (NCTM) considers communication so important that they list it as one of the principles of the NCTM Principles and Standards for the School Mathematics (NCTM, 2000).
The overarching strategy of this research is to gain an understanding of the relationship between communication skills and student achievement. It is conjectured that there is a relationship between the ability of an individual to effectively communicate their thought or idea and the success that individual will meet in the classroom as an instructor. The theoretical framework is based in the social constructivist theory of learning of Lev Vygotsky. The literature showed that effective communication is important in the learning theory of social constructivism. The literature also showed that the ability to communicate and the ability to pose questions are important attributes of an effective teacher. A survey of one school district’s fourth grade teachers was conducted and the student achievement scores of their students were tied to their respective teacher’s response. The instrument was developed by Plumeus to measure the communication skills across several sub-scales to include listening, and ability to deliver a concept or idea. This instrument was modified for this research as the sub-scales were initially dependent. Three models were developed from these sub-scales and demographic variables. About two-thirds of the teachers that responded have earned an advanced degree. The research found that teachers with less experience scored somewhat higher on reported communication skills than those teachers with more years of service. The research also found no difference between female and male teachers for self-reported communication skills. The ability to get the message across was significant in explaining the variances for the dependent variable citizenship. Also possessing an advanced degree added about 9 points to the mean student achievement score for citizenship. As for other variables not addressed in the research questions, it appears that female teachers add about 11 points to the mean student achievement scores for Science. Finally the sub-scale that was comparable between the large population of the company and the sub-scale that was significant in explaining the variance of the citizenship achievement scores was bility toget the message across. This was the one sub-scale that was connected to the larger population and the teacher population plus it was significant for the teacher population in explaining variance.

E-Learning Technologies and Its Application in Higher Education: A Descriptive Comparison of Germany, United Kingdom and United States

by

Martin Kwadwo Gyambrah

There is a general agreement that we have entered the information economy, that higher education is a critical element in this knowledge society. This has placed a new demand on its teaching and research functions, with growing emphasis on lifelong learning and more flexible forms of higher education delivery. Notwithstanding, there is also a widespread scepticism as to whether educational systems will be able to overcome their traditional inertia and respond to the challenge of the knowledge-based revolution.
Currently the prominence of ICT and other external influencing factors; economic, social, cultural and the changing role of governmental policy are driving the inner life of the higher education sector. In that respect many higher educational institutions are turning to e-learning technologies for improving the quality of learning by means of access to resources, services, long
distance collaborations and exchanges. However this transition has been characterized by a mixed sense of optimism, skeptism and a lack of “adequate benchmarks”. It is within this background that this explorative study sought to carry out a descriptive comparison between Germany, UK and the USA with the objective of identifying the current trends, establishing tendencies of differences or similarities and identifying future trends (next 5 years) across the three countries. This is directed at synthesising “best practices” which could facilitate international knowledge transfer and the future development of e-learning. In pursuance of these aims the study employed the use of both quantitative and qualitative data sources. In obtaining the quantitative data, national and international reports that detail out the activities of e-learning in higher educational institutions across the three countries were reviewed and relevant data filtered. Further explanations, clarifications as well as predictions of future trends were sought through expert interviews (n=30 experts). The findings indicate that: 1) The three countries did not exhibit much differences in terms of policy however they exhibited differences in terms of strategy and tactics in e-learning. 2) The three countries exhibited differences in terms of the prevalent e-learning technologies used as well as the application of such technologies. 3) In terms of didactical approaches and orientation to either local or international markets the three countries exhibited differences iv) In terms of impact and limiting factors the three countries exhibited differences in scale and proportion though qualitative impact was difficult to estimate. 5) In terms of future trends or scenarios different projections were made across the three countries. The implications of the findings are discussed and recommendations offered for further research.

UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION STUDENTS’ LEADERSHIP UNDERSTANDINGS

By
A.J. (Jim) Propp

The purpose of this study was to explore and represent students’ leadership understandings that emerged from discussions of their past and current leadership experiences in everyday life, their school experiences, and their college level contexts.
In this study I used a multiple method (QUAL + QUAL) research design and the data were analyzed within principles of grounded theory drawn from Strauss and Corbin’s (1998) grounded theory approach. Individual and focus group interviews were the main data collection methods used in this study: individual interviews with fifteen undergraduate education students and six focus group sessions (held in succession) generated the data.
As the leadership understandings held by the students unfolded, four broad themes became prominent. The first theme, the ubiquity of relationships, emerged from the students’ discussions of collaboration, context, power, and vision. Highlighted in these conversations was their perspective that, with respect to leadership, relationships are everything. The second theme included the students’ understanding that self-esteem and self-actualization were important aspects of effective and energizing leadership. Third, and perhaps more informative, was the manner in which the students articulated their leadership understandings. One of the biggest findings to come out of the study was the students’ tendency to speak in dualities in order to process, conceptualize, and articulate their leadership understandings. Additionally, the students’ sensemaking reflected the important role language and framing played in articulating their leadership understandings. Their perspective that small things (positive and negative) had momentum and led to ramifications emerged as the fourth broad theme. In my quest to understand this phenomenon, I developed the concept of leadership throw as the
metaphor that conveyed the students’ understanding of small things having big ramifications.
Implications for theory, research, and policy arose from the students’ beliefs that leadership was collaborative, interactive, and featured the harnessing of individuals’ skills for the betterment of communities. In view of what was learned about the students’ use of language, framing, and leadership throw, their leadership synthesis has implications for an enhanced pre-service teacher preparation program suggesting greater congruence with the lived realities of K-12 schools.
In conclusion, it became apparent that the students’ leadership understandings were part content, part process, and part articulation. Remarkably, I came into this research looking for the students’ denotative leadership understandings and came away from the study with a clearer understanding of language and framing, leadership throw, and the implications of these concepts powerful argument this makes for nurturing student voice and the capability for expression and framing at all levels of leadership, organizational life, and community relations.

EXPLORING TEACHERS’ BELIEFS THROUGH COLLABORATIVE JOURNALING: A QUALITATIVE CASE STUDY OF JAPANESE PRESERVICE TEACHERS’ TRANSFORMATIVE DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES IN AN EFL TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM

Toshinobu Nagamine

 

This qualitative case study was implemented to describe, interpret, and document preservice EFL teachers’ learning processes through collaborative journaling and gained awareness for all participants (including myself as a participant-observer). Four preservice EFL teachers in Japan (two males and two females) participated in the study. At the time of the investigation, they were all undergraduate students studying in an EFL teacher education program at a Japanese university. To investigate their learning processes, a prime focus was placed on the participants’ beliefs about language learning and teaching. Thus, this study was to understand what it meant for the participants to learn how to teach through collaborative journaling in the setting studied and what it possibly meant for them to change (or not to change) their beliefs during the term of the investigation. The data collection was done over a nine-month period that covered the participants’ practicum. This study consisted of three research phases: pre-practicum phase, mid-practicum phase, and post-practicum phase. In the pre-practicum phase, I entered the participants’ community and asked the participants to form a collaborative-learning group and keep a collaborative journal. As a participant-observer, I kept the journal together and discussed what we had written in bi-weekly meetings. I used the collaborative journal for two purposes: (a) to collect the 

phase, mid-practicum phase, and post-practicum phase. In the pre-practicum phase, I entered the participants’ community and asked the participants to form a collaborative-learning group and keep a collaborative journal. As a participant-observer, I kept the journal together and discussed what we had written in bi-weekly meetings. I used the collaborative journal for two purposes: (a) to collect the

INNOVATION IN TEACHER EDUCATION: FACULTY MEMBERS’ AND ASSESSMENT COORDINATORS’ PERCEPTIONS OF ELECTRONIC ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS

by
Dustin Michael Hebert

Electronic assessment systems (EASs) have proliferated teacher education programs in postsecondary education. Mostly, these systems facilitate candidate and program assessment through technologymediated
procedures, allowing for greater efficiency and accuracy in data collection and analysis. If implemented successfully, the work of individuals associated with teacher education programs from faculty members to assessment coordinators and beyond has the potential to benefit from utilizing the system for coursebased and programmatic assessment, both of which are criteria for the accreditation of teacher education programs by
the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).
This qualitative study explores the perceptions of faculty and assessment coordinators at three institutions of higher education as they relate to three different EASs. Such research is absent from current literature. However, limited research on EASs does exist, and this study contributes to that research within the context of teacher education programs and the innovation diffusion theoretical framework. To accomplish that, the research questions are addressed through the use of informal conversational and interview guide protocols, both suggested by Patton (2002), with the participants. Data analysis reflects the constant comparative method of qualitative data analysis (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), and the results of that analysis are presented in questionandanswer case study and crosscase analysis formats. These reporting methods present comprehensive results through thick descriptions (Patton, 2002) and discussions of crosscase themes, respectively. Results of this study lead the researcher to conclude that EASs are significant in teacher education programs, and the results reveal that the critical issues regarding EAS adoption relate to (1) technology mandates by NCATE, (2) the issues of change and innovation diffusion as they relate to individuals and organizations, and (3) the standardization effect of EASs on assessment.

OVERVIEW OF INDONESIAN ISLAMIC EDUCATION A Social, Historical and Political Perspective

by
Rusydy Zakaria

The aim of this study is to examine how the historical genealogy of Islamic educational tradition, particularly the tradition of teaching and learning, has contributed to the development of Islamic education in Indonesia. By drawing together in an analytic way a historically based description of the social and political circumstances surrounding Indonesian Islamic education, the study discusses some significant issues concerning the religious base, knowledge base, structural form, and the pedagogical approach of Indonesian Islamic education, all of which are important to the development of a modern form of Islamic education.
The argument of the thesis is that the existing values of the Islamic tradition in education, particularly evident in Madrasah schools, provide a valuable basis for further developing and reconstructing an effective Islamic education system in Indonesia. However, there is also a strong need to construct an Islamic education curriculum in Indonesia that can meet the challenge posed by the circumstances generally understood as ‘modernity’. The quality of teaching and learning in the Madrasah are very much influenced by the quality of the wider Islamic education programme. Any change in the curriculum of Islamic education will thus have significant effects on the quality of the Madrasah schools in Indonesia. This thesis will thus conclude by suggesting some implications for further development of Islamic education that arise from the study.
This is a qualitative study using an historical genealogical approach to discover, understand and analyze the challenges currently facing Islamic education In Indonesia. The techniques for collecting data involved, primarily, a critical reading of historical and contemporary policy documents. Primary and secondary sources were also collected, studied and subjected to a critical reading in the production of this account of Indonesian Islamic education.

AN ANALYSIS OF THE REPRESENTATIONAL PATTERNS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS RECEIVING SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES IN SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN SOUTH TEXAS

by
DIANA LINN CONTRERAS

This study examined the representational patterns of English language learners receiving special education services in school districts in South Texas. Additionally, this study identified school district characteristics that were related to the probability that an English language learner might be placed in special education programs. Data were collected from the Texas Education Agency’s Performance-Based Monitoring Analysis System 2004-2005 and Academic Excellence Indicator System for the 2003-2004 school year. Composition indices, risk indices, and relative risk ratios were calculated and reported for each of the school districts in Education Service Centers I (Edinburg), II (Corpus Christi), and XX (San Antonio) in the State of Texas (N=110). Pearson productmoment correlation coefficients were calculated to determine the direction and strength of the relationship among odds ratios and school district characteristics. These characteristics included total student enrollment, percentage of poor/underserved students, percentage of Latino students, percentage of English language learners, percentage of Latino teachers, and percentage of students in bilingual/English as a second language programs. Results indicated that English language learners in school districts in South Texas were more than twice as likely as their non-English language learner counterparts to receive special education services. Additionally, inverse relationships were documented for odds ratios equal to or greater than 2.00 and the school district characteristics of percentage of poor/underserved students, percentage of Latino students, percentage of English language learners, percentage of Latino teachers, and percentage of students in bilingual/English as a second language programs. It was concluded that there was an overrepresentation of English language learners receiving special education services in 77% (N=85) of the school districts in South Texas