A Ninth Grade English Language Arts Supplemental Curriculum That Integrates Language and Content Instruction for English Language Learners Using a Co-Taught Model

The research question addressed in this capstone project is: How can ninth grade English Language Arts curriculum be designed to integrate language and content instruction to support academic English proficiency for English Learners using a co-teaching model? The paper provides an in-depth literature review on both academic language development and co-teaching. Topics of this paper are: long-term English language learners (LTELs) in the mainstream, academic and language standards, content instructional models for secondary English language learners which includes co-teaching practices and building academic language. Following this paper, a supplemental curriculum for ninth grade English language arts was created in order to fuse content and language instruction. This supplemental curriculum was designed to better meet the needs of English learners in a mainstream co-taught classroom. Included in the project are one unit of supplemental curriculum; lesson templates with content and language objectives, key vocabulary, scaffolds and supports; instructional materials; and finally, co-teaching models that can be used effectively between ELA and EL teachers serving LTELs

The Impact of Universal Learning Strategies on Teacher Burnout in a Project-Based-Learning Secondary School

This study addresses the question: how do universal learning strategies impact teacher burnout at a project-based-learning secondary school? Interventions against teacher burnout frequently emphasize psychological strategies such as mindfulness exercises and cognitive-behavioral therapy despite inconsistent evidence that these practices have a significant impact on measurable burnout. This study presents an alternative and explores the impact of pedagogical practice on teacher burnout. Recent studies suggest that decreased workload and increased teacher/student autonomy lead to decreased levels of burnout; as a result, this study measures the impact of universal learning, a low-workload, high-autonomy pedagogy most prominently studied in the work of political theorist Jacques Rancière. Universal learning suggests that teachers would be more effective if, instead of deferring to expertise, they take a position of “ignorance” and utilize a questions-based approach to support their students in self-led learning. In 2022-23, 10 educators at a project-based-learning secondary school participated in a mixed-methods study in which they practiced universal learning strategies and recorded their experience of burnout over the course of nine weeks. Though the study found no quantitative correlation between pedagogical strategy and burnout, closing interviews suggested that universal learning is a beneficial intervention for educators with higher burnout scores. The interviews suggested that reactive teaching strategies that focus on in-the-moment practices (such as internet searches and seeking out expert colleagues) correspond to higher burnout scores, while teaching practices that emphasize student-led learning, open-ended questions, and prep work correspond to lower burnout scores. Though frequent use of universal learning strategies were not linked to low burnout scores, teachers with higher burnout scores found universal learning strategies to be more useful than their less-burned out colleagues; these educators explicitly discussed the efficacy of universal learning strategies as an intervention against increased burnout. The study also discusses limitations, implications for teachers, and recommendations for further research with regard to universal learning and its relationship with burnout

Animal Assisted Environmental Education Program Design: The Environmental Learning Farm

Research has shown that by including animals in therapeutic and educational experiences progress can be made in improving the quality of our education and the quality of our lives. This project focused on filling a gap seen in Minnesota’s environmental education programs. There are many environmental learning centers in Minnesota and many different animal assisted therapy programs focusing on physical, mental and emotional health, but there is not a program that is dedicated to bringing our domesticated animals into the curriculum in environmental education. The Environmental Learning Farm is an theoretical and experimental project that could bridge the gap that exists in environmental education in Minnesota. It can give the opportunities for the agriculture community to open its doors to the public to learn about what farmers do and why they do it, what keeps them from making more environmentally friendly choices in their agriculture practices, and what would they need in order to change their practices. The program designed specifically for this project is called Horses, Humans and Health. The objective of Horses, Humans and Health is to open the community to the idea that our domesticated animals can have positive and negative impacts on our environment, and how we as humans that control their environment can improve it not only for our animals but ourselves and the rest of the species that occupy the area. It also provides experiences for the participants to learn more about horses’ health and behaviors, learn how to communicate with another species and understand the significance behind the bond of horses and humans. The program has the goal of not only teaching humans about horses, but also about natural curiosity, animals-human connections, compassion for the entire environment, and confidence in affecting change. The goal of the Environmental Learning Farm is to provide opportunities for the local community to understand that environmental science and education can take place anywhere on earth and not just in a nature preserve or a forested area with little human influence. The Environmental Learning Farm is a business plan to bridge a gap of agriculture practices and environmental education

PreK–12 Black Administrators’ Narratives in Urban School Districts

The purpose of this qualitative research was to understand what inspired and motivated Black leaders to join, stay, and thrive in public education in the United States, and how they can help bring structural and transformative changes in PreK–12 public education. This study centered on Black PreK–12 Administrators’ narratives working in urban school settings. For this project, I created a short background survey and conducted a thirty-minute interview per participant. This framework allowed ten Black preK-12 school administrators to narrate and reflect on a spectrum of challenges that they faced as well as their remarkable achievements in their roles. Referring to Black principals’ effective leadership among all, particularly Black learners, Bass (2020) stated that “to meet the needs of all their students, these leaders address structural inequality by enacting equity-minded initiatives that reduce opportunity gaps and manifest as caring practices” (p. 358). For generations, Black leaders have played a critical role in fighting systemic inequity in the United States public school system as instructional leaders and advocates on behalf of marginalized student populations. Bailes and Guthery (2020) stated that “only 20 percent of all principals nationwide are nonwhite, . . . there is a distinct mismatch between the demography of school leaders and that of teachers, the largest pool of principals. There are major inequalities within the country’s school leadership hierarchies\u27\u27 (para 4). The fact that PreK–12 public schools in this nation, especially in urban settings, are composed mostly of non-White students underscored the need to narrow the current leadership opportunity gap. Participants in this study reported the profound isolation that they experienced due to structural White supremacy. The Black leaders recommended that to close the leadership opportunity gap between Black PreK–12 leaders and their White counterparts, two major actions need to take place. First, increase the pipeline from which Black school leaders are selected by raising the number of Black licensed staff, particularly teachers. Second, educational organizations that train teachers and administrators in the state where this research has been conducted must collaborate with policymakers to create organizational-led networking opportunities for potential Black school leaders

Every Student Succeeds Act Title I and III Grant Spending and Equity Work in Minnesota

George, S.G.K. Every Student Succeeds Act Title I and III Grant Spending and Equity Work in Minnesota (2023) The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was introduced as part of President Johnson’s array of suggested civil rights and antipoverty reforms in 1965. ESEA funding was intended to be a supplemental funding source to provide more equitable conditions for all learners in the United States. The last two re-authorizations of the ESEA, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), have entrenched a focus on student achievement as determined by performance on standardized tests. This research had two parts. First, financial data from 67 Minnesota school districts were collected and analyzed to see how districts were spending their ESEA Title I and Title III grant awards during the 2018-2019 school year. Second, qualitative data from 16 districts’ ESSA Title I and Title III grant applications and state-required World’s Best Workforce documentation were coded and analyzed to determine which strategies school leaders reported using to close academic achievement gaps that existed in their disaggregated data. The financial data showed that within Minnesota most ESSA Title I grant expenditures fund teacher positions, and ESSA Title III grant expenditures fund paraprofessional positions. The findings in the qualitative data suggested that school districts considered data-related work and differentiated instruction most frequently as their strategies to address systemic inequity. This finding suggests that school leaders may be invested in analyzing data and supplying academic interventions instead of seeking anti-racist and culturally affirming strategies to address systemic inequities for minoritized populations of learners

Early Career Language Educators Experience Joy and Purpose in the Creation of Multilingual Classroom Ecologies

The goal of this phenomenological study was to intensely analyze and interpret the experiences of a select sample of early career language teachers as they reflected on their languaging interactions with their learners. To answer the research question: How do early career language teachers experience the creation of multilingual classroom ecologies?, four individuals participated by collectively providing 14 interviews, submitting 13 bi-weekly journals, and sharing 17 self-selected semiotic images over a two month time period. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, 1996) was then employed using a double hermeneutic to uncover themes in each case by elucidating descriptions and then cohesively analyzing all sets of data. Findings included that each teacher experienced reported translanguaging moments as joy, purposeful connection, and the analysis of ecological factors. Subsequent major learnings included the following regarding the early career language teacher experience: 1) they felt joy when they were able to use or help students to use multilanguaging, 2) they associated the use of multiple languages as a way of supporting connections with and for students holistically, academically, culturally, and linguistically, and 3) they were both conscious of and conscientious with multiple facets of their ecological experience related to language use. The dissertation concludes with a call for further exploration of the experiences of language educators to forward our shared understandings of translinguistic practices within a multilingual educational context

To What Extent Do 3- to -6-Year-Olds Demonstrate Connection to Nature at a Montessori School in the Upper Midwest

Yates, N. (2023). To What Extent Do 3- to -6-Year-Olds Demonstrate Connection to Nature at a Montessori School in the Upper Midwest. Young children are born into a world today with a drastically changing environmental climate. When young people develop an emotional attachment and sense of identity with nature, they may be more likely to behave in less destructive ways towards the planet and possibly live with a sense of responsibility and respect for nature. This mixed method study aimed to measure to what extent 3- to 6-year-olds demonstrated environmental sensitivity, awareness, and preferences at a nature-based Montessori school in the upper Midwest and asked if age was an influencing variable. Young children’s connection to nature in these categories was determined using a modified age-appropriate psychological games testing tool, field observations of the types of nature features and activities the children experienced indoors and outdoors, and interviews with the two lead teachers. Results indicated that this cohort of children demonstrated a moderate to strong connection to nature in all three categories. Age was an influencing variable measuring environmental sensitivity and some aspects of environmental awareness, but not environmental preferences regarding where to play or not. This study adds to the body of work conducted in early childhood education, environmental education, early childhood environmental education for sustainability, and Montessori education. (197 words) Keywords: early childhood environmental education, early childhood education, environmental education, connection to nature, nature-based education, Montessori, biophilia, games testin

Third Sector Organizations in Iceland: Size, Scope, and Scale

This study seeks to contribute missing data to existing studies on the comparative nature of global third sector economies. Iceland, a modern, high-income, high-service society on the cusp of the Arctic Circle has not been included in these studies while the other four Nordic countries have all been analyzed. This study aims to map over 12,000 registered third sector organizations in Iceland to demonstrate the type and level of public-facing organized activity in the country. The quantitative research design relied heavily on the concept and inspiration of the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project and proved that Iceland was indeed a part of the “global associational revolution.