Matching Items (8)
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- All Subjects: Academic Achievement
- Creators: Appleton, Nicholas
- Creators: Sloane, Finbarr
- Resource Type: Text
Description
The research indicated effective mathematics teaching to be more complex than assuming the best predictor of student achievement in mathematics is the mathematical content knowledge of a teacher. This dissertation took a novel approach to addressing the idea of what it means to examine how a teacher's knowledge of mathematics impacts student achievement in elementary schools. Using a multiple case study design, the researcher investigated teacher knowledge as a function of the Mathematics Teaching Cycle (NCTM, 2007). Three cases (of two teachers each) were selected using a compilation of Learning Mathematics for Teaching (LMT) measures (LMT, 2006) and Developing Mathematical Ideas (DMI) measures (Higgins, Bell, Wilson, McCoach, & Oh, 2007; Bell, Wilson, Higgins, & McCoach, 2010) and student scores on the Arizona Assessment Collaborative (AzAC). The cases included teachers with: a) high knowledge & low student achievement v low knowledge & high student achievement, b) high knowledge & average achievement v low knowledge & average achievement, c) average knowledge & high achievement v average knowledge & low achievement, d) two teachers with average achievement & very high student achievement. In the end, my data suggested that MKT was only partially utilized across the contrasting teacher cases during the planning process, the delivery of mathematics instruction, and subsequent reflection. Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching was utilized differently by teachers with high student gains than those with low student gains. Because of this insight, I also found that MKT was not uniformly predictive of student gains across my cases, nor was it predictive of the quality of instruction provided to students in these classrooms.
ContributorsBurke, Margaret Kathleen (Author) / Middleton, James A. (Thesis advisor) / Sloane, Finbarr (Thesis advisor) / Battey, Daniel S (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of a context-based teaching approach (STS) versus a more traditional textbook approach on the attitudes and achievement of community college chemistry students. In studying attitudes toward chemistry within this study, I used a 30-item Likert scale in order to study the importance of chemistry in students' lives, the importance of chemistry, the difficulty of chemistry, interest in chemistry, and the usefulness of chemistry for their future career. Though the STS approach students had higher attitude post scores, there was no significant difference between the STS and textbook students' attitude post scores. It was noted that females had higher postattitude scores in the STS group, while males had higher postattitude scores in the textbook group. With regard to postachievement, I noted that males had higher scores in both groups. A correlation existed between postattitude and postachievement in the STS classroom. In summary, while an association between attitude and achievement was found in the STS classroom, teaching approach or sex was not found to influence attitudes, while sex was also not found to influence achievement. These results, overall, suggest that attitudes are not expected to change on the basis of either teaching approach or gender, and that techniques other than changing the teaching approach would need to be used in order to improve the attitudes of students. Qualitative analysis of an online discussion activity on Energy revealed that STS students were able to apply aspects of chemistry in decision making related to socioscientific issues. Additional analysis of interview and written responses provided insight regarding attitudes toward chemistry, with respect to topics of applicability of chemistry to life, difficulties with chemistry, teaching approach for chemistry, and the intent for enrolling in additional chemistry courses. In addition, the surveys of female students brought out subcategories with regard to emotional and professional characteristics of a good teacher, under the category of characteristics of teaching approach. With respect to the category of course experience, subcategories of useful knowledge to solve real-life problems and knowledge for future career were revealed. The differences between the control group females and STS group females with respect to these characteristics was striking and threw insight into how teacher behavior and teaching approach shape student attitudes to chemistry in case of female students.
ContributorsPerkins, Gita (Author) / Baker, Dale R. (Thesis advisor) / Sloane, Finbarr (Committee member) / Marsh, Josephine P (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Career and technical education was founded on the common practice of apprenticeships integrated into the public schools at the beginning of the 20th century as manual arts, which continued to evolve into a culture and practice of its own as vocational education, and into what is now career and technical education,with an evolving focus on college and career readiness. This study sought to collect and compare the perceptions of superintendents, principals, assistant principals, and deans who were affiliated with ten Northeastern Arizona high schools, which were members of Northern Arizona Vocational Institute of Technology (NAVIT) to seven similar sized high schools in rural Arizona, which were not affiliated with NAVIT. The NAVIT schools were members of the Joint Technological Educational District. The member schools were required by intergovernmental agreement to operate their career and technical education programs by specific guidelines and curriculum.This study also compared the combined average academic achievement of the 2011 CTE concentrators of the NAVIT high schools, the non-NAVIT high schools, and all Arizona statewide CTE concentrators. Both NAVIT and non-NAVIT administrators were administered a survey, designed to measure perceptions of college/postsecondary preparation, career guidance and counseling,academic tracking, and curriculum. Results revealed that both NAVIT and non-NAVIT administrators were supportive of career and technical education, but for different reasons. The NAVIT administrators tended to view students in career and technical education programs as more mainstream, with college opportunities. The non-NAVIT administrators supported career and technical education as a system of programs that offered students opportunities for success, whether college bound or not. A significant number of NAVIT and non-NAVIT administrators opted for no opinion responses for several potentially controversial survey questions, which suggested discomfort with the topics. The academic achievement of the NAVIT, non-NAVIT, and statewide CTE concentrators as measured by the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards pass rates were marginal between groupings. The statewide average was highest, followed by NAVIT, and non-NAVIT. Recommendations for further research include conducting personal interviews of administrators to better assess leaders' perceptions of career and technical education and their influences on the academic and postsecondary career successes of students.
ContributorsHaussman, Charles E (Author) / Spencer, Dee Ann (Thesis advisor) / Appleton, Nicholas (Committee member) / Mckinnon, Jeri (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
ABSTRACT Native American students from the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community have attended Stapley Junior High, one of 13 junior high schools in the Mesa Unified School District, since its doors opened in the fall of 1994. Over the years a variety of instructional practices have been used in an effort to improve academic outcomes for these students, who have posed a challenge to traditional educational methods. Interviews were conducted with eight educational professionals, including teachers, administrators, and a tutor who worked with these students on a daily basis. They each responded to the same series of questions, providing their insights based on first-hand interactions and knowledge. The interviews revealed factors that influenced student academic success, including caring, trust, communication, tutoring, and administrative support. Factors posing challenges to student success were identified as attendance, parental support, and gangs and drugs. In-school influences were arts and sports, friendship, inclusion, and behavior. Out-of-school influences were home and family, the concept of time, and educational considerations. The conclusion is that this is a complex problem, fueled by the proximity of the reservation to a major metropolitan area, the gang culture that is prevalent in the Salt River community, poverty, attendance issues, and the impact of parental involvement and support. The things that made a difference at Stapley Jr. High included staff who demonstrated caring by establishing trust and getting to know students on a personal level, teachers who were consistent and held students to a high standard, and teachers who were flexible with regard to time.
ContributorsWilliams, Sidney (Author) / Appleton, Nicholas (Thesis advisor) / Duplissis, Mark (Committee member) / Spencer, Dee (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The primary purpose of this study is to examine the effect of knowledge for teaching mathematics and teaching practice on student mathematics achievement growth. Thirty two teachers and 299 fourth grade students in three elementary schools from one school district in urban area participated in the study. Most of them are Hispanic in origin and about forty percent is English Language Learners (ELLs). The two level Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) was used to investigate repeated measures of teaching practice measured by Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) instrument. Also, linear regression and a multiple regression to examine the relationship between teacher knowledge measured by Learning for Mathematics Teaching (LMT) and Developing Mathematical Ideas (DMI) items and teaching practice were employed. In addition, a three level HLM was employed to analyze repeated measures of student mathematics achievement measured by Arizona Assessment Consortium (AzAC) instruments. Results showed that overall teaching practice did not change weekly although teachers' emotional support for their students improved by week. Furthermore, a statistically significant relationship between teacher knowledge and teaching practice was not found. In terms of student learning, ELLs have significantly lower initial status in mathematics achievement than non-ELLs, as were growth rates for these two groups. Lastly, teaching practice significantly predicted students' monthly mathematics achievement growth but teacher knowledge did not. The findings suggest that school systems and education policy makers need to provide teachers with the chance to reflect on their teaching and change it within themselves in order to better support student mathematics learning.
ContributorsKim, Seong Hee (Author) / Sloane, Finbarr (Thesis advisor) / Middleton, James (Committee member) / Flores, Alfinio (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has had significant ramifications across public education. Due to reporting mandates, schools and districts are being held publicly accountable for the academic performance and progress of all students. Since implementation of the law, much attention has been focused on the "achievement gap," that is, any differences in performance between groups of students. Students associated with the achievement gap typically come from certain demographics: minorities, low-income families, students with disabilities, and students with limited English proficiency (English Language Learners). The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of using curriculum-based measures (CBMs) on math achievement, particularly ELL students. Eight elementary schools in northwestern New Mexico, divided into two groups (control and experimental) of four schools each, used the same state-approved, core math curriculum, were compared using a quasi-experimental research design. In addition to the regular core curricular materials, the experimental schools were provided with weekly CBMs, containing sample questions developed from the state's performance standards. Each weekly CBM included at least one question from each of the five broad math strands: number and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and data and probability. Fourth (N = 283) and fifth grade (N = 294) students who had continuous enrollment for the duration of the experiment served as subjects. Successive regular administrations of the New Mexico Standards Based Assessment math subtest served as the pre- and posttest measures. Analysis of covariance tests, with the pretest as the covariate, revealed no significant treatment effects for either the fourth or fifth grade students through the use of CBMs as a supplement to the core math curriculum. The significant effects, supported by previous research, were the school and, especially, the teacher for both grades. In this study, the effects of the classroom teacher were of more importance to student achievement than either the school a child attended or what curriculum program or process a given school employed.
ContributorsBickert, George (Author) / Humphreys, Jere T (Thesis advisor) / Appleton, Nicholas (Committee member) / Spencer, Dee Ann (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Expectation for college attendance in the United States continues to rise as more jobs require degrees. This study aims to determine how parental expectations affect high school students in their decision to attend college. By examining parental expectations that were placed on current college students prior to and during the application period, we can determine the positive and negative outcomes of these expectations as well as the atmosphere they are creating. To test the hypothesis, an online survey was distributed to current ASU and Barrett, Honors College students regarding their experience with college applications and their parents' influence on their collegiate attendance. A qualitative analysis of the data was conducted in tandem with an analysis of several case studies to determine the results. These data show that parental expectations are having a significant impact on the enrollment of high school students in college programs. With parents placing these expectations on their children, collegiate enrollment will continue to increase. Further studies will be necessary to determine the specific influences these expectations are placing on students.
ContributorsScheller, Sara Matheson (Co-author) / Johnson, Benjamin (Co-author) / Kappes, Janelle (Thesis director) / Fairbanks, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Expectation for college attendance in the United States continues to rise as more jobs require degrees. This study aims to determine how parental expectations affect high school students in their decision to attend college. By examining parental expectations that were placed on current college students prior to and during the application period, we can determine the positive and negative outcomes of these expectations as well as the atmosphere they are creating. To test the hypothesis, an online survey was distributed to current ASU and Barrett, Honors College students regarding their experience with college applications and their parents' influence on their collegiate attendance. A qualitative analysis of the data was conducted in tandem with an analysis of several case studies to determine the results. These data show that parental expectations are having a significant impact on the enrollment of high school students in college programs. With parents placing these expectations on their children, collegiate enrollment will continue to increase. Further studies will be necessary to determine the specific influences these expectations are placing on students.
ContributorsJohnson, Benjamin Howard (Co-author) / Scheller, Sara (Co-author) / Kappes, Janelle (Thesis director) / Fairbanks, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05