Beyond the Buzzwords: A Framework of Inclusive Excellence for Leader Hiring and Training at The Experiment in International Living

“Beyond the Buzzwords” examines practices in group leader hiring and training at The Experiment in International Living (The Experiment) through a lens of equity, diversity, and inclusion, focusing primarily on racial identity and whiteness. As members of the diverse Generation Z, Experiment students experience myriad manifestations of social identity, amplified by the context of their host countries. Their adult group leaders, who historically are majority white female, are the stewards of their educational experience, responsible for mitigating identity-related incidents while supporting all students’ learning and growth. Drawing upon principles of experiential and transformative learning, social justice education, student identity development, white fragility, and the nuance of identity abroad, Beyond the Buzzwords comprises recommendations for The Experiment to implement throughout the entirety of group leaders’ experience with the organization. Striving for inclusive excellence as it pertains to leaders both at The Experiment and in the field of international education, the framework centers on three core areas of focus: access (diversity of the leader cohort), awareness (critical identity self-reflection), and action (equitable and inclusive practices)

High School Teacher and Librarian Perspectives Regarding Teaching Digital Media Skills

The problem addressed in this qualitative project study was the inconsistency in media literacy instruction provided by high school teachers and librarians when teaching students how to curate and create digital media. With the increase in technology and social media platforms in the 21st century, educators are expected to instruct students in the use of these new literacies. However, many are ill-prepared to teach media literacy. The study was grounded in the conceptual framework of critical media literacy pedagogy and research questions were designed to reflect teachers’ perspectives about and use of elements of critical media literacy pedagogy. A purposeful sampling procedure was used to identify those teachers of English and librarians who had taught at the high school level for at least 1 year in the partner district. Interviews with 10 high school English teachers and one librarian were conducted using a basic inquiry research design. Data analysis involved 2 cycles of coding, a priori coding and axial coding, followed by theme development. The findings from this study reflected 3 themes that indicated a lack of specific curriculum, district policy, and support for the teaching of media literacy. The resulting project based on elements of these themes was a curriculum plan that spans Grades 9–12. The plan is comprised of unit and lesson plans that apply research-based pedagogy and scaffolded technology skills, which can be implemented in conjunction with the current district curriculum. This curriculum will inform best practices for teaching media literacy which will impact the school culture as teachers implement it and affect the local community by providing students the media literacy tools to be positive social change agents

Factors That Greatly Influence Student Learning in Science Laboratories Remelioration and Inclusive Strategies to Create a Positive, Lasting Impact

This capstone project will consist of modifying Living Environment labs used by teachers in the Greece Central School District. Modification of these labs will reflect current research in science education including Web-based learning, the use of modeling, the impact of various lab styles, and various sociocultural factors. Students will be provided a higher quality laboratory experience which will yield higher academic achievement and understanding of science concepts. Increased academic achievement will further result in credit accrual for students in the Living Environment course and students meeting the minimum laboratory requirement for the Regents exam

Scaffolding literacy knowledge within a one -on -one tutoring situation: An ethnographic study

The primary purpose of this study was to explore and describe the culture of tutoring to determine if America Reads Challenge (ARC) tutors were able to provide elementary school tutees with scaffolded literacy learning experiences. Three main educational theories formed the framework for this study: sociocultural theory of cognitive development, scaffolding, and activity theory. Relevant research related to the efficacy of tutoring programs also was included. The overarching research design was an ethnographic methodology that included the collection of video tape, followed up with informal interviews to substantiate the findings with the two tutoring dyads; Subsequently, the data was analyzed, categorized, and described in a narrative format. Significant verbal interactions were placed on etic grids for more in-depth analysis. Similarities and differences across and within the tutoring dyads were identified and discussed; Eight literacy strategy domains were constructed and remained stable across the tutoring dyads. Both tutors demonstrated an ability to provide their tutees with scaffolded literacy learning experiences, increasing and decreasing the amount of instructional support as needed; Based on the findings, it is recommended that literacy tutors participate in thorough and ongoing training in the eight strategy domains identified in this study. Also, tutors need explicit instruction geared towards providing tutees with appropriately scaffolded learning experiences. While the findings of this study cannot be generalized to all situational contexts, other literacy tutoring programs may benefit from learning how university literacy tutors deliver instruction to needy students

The effect of intensively using web-based resources on the performance and attitude of high school biology students

Includes bibliographical references

Digital Game-Based Learning and the Mathematics Achievement of Gifted Students

The purpose of this quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group study was to determine the presence of a statistically significant difference in the mathematics achievement of gifted learners when utilizing digital game-based learning (DGBL) for supplemental mathematics instruction when compared to gifted learners not utilizing DGBL. This study compared the Student Growth Percentile (SGP) of 105 sixth-grade gifted participants from two public middle schools as measured by the Renaissance Learning STAR Math Test. The participants took a pretest, completed 540 minutes of supplemental mathematics instruction over a nine-week period, and took a posttest. Participants were randomly selected for the treatment group who utilized a variety of DGBL activities, or participants were randomly selected for the control group who utilized traditional, paper-based mathematics activities. Independent-samples t-tests were used to analyze the SGP between the participants utilizing DGBL and participants not utilizing DGBL, males utilizing DGBL and males not utilizing DGBL, and females utilizing DGBL and females not utilizing DGBL. The importance of this study is to provide educators with knowledge about enhanced instructional technology practices above the prescribed curriculum that may facilitate levels of student achievement for gifted students. No statistical differences in the SGP were found between the treatment group and the control group. Recommendations for further research include the use of specific DGBL games to reduce variations in quality from one publisher to the next, the inclusion of participants from diverse geographic regions, ethnicities, and socioeconomic levels, and data collection over a sustained period of time

Effects of Collaboration Between Speech-Language Pathologists and Third-Grade Teachers on Student Vocabulary Outcomes

A persistent literacy crisis continues to be reflected in international (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2013), national (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2015), and local literacy outcome data. Educators, including speech-language pathologists (SLPs), are called upon to collaborate to support students who struggle with academic language/literacy. However, few studies have operationally defined collaboration and investigated the effects of collaboration on student achievement. As a result, there is insufficient guidance for educators about ways to design, implement, and assess the effectiveness of collaboration models, defined in terms of their effects on student outcomes. There were two main objectives of this research. The first objective was to investigate whether literacy partnerships between SLPs and third-grade general education teachers, who used a systematic collaboration protocol, yielded better vocabulary outcomes for students than teachers instructing without collaborating with SLPs. The second objective of the study was to examine collaborators\u27 progress toward adopting the collaboration protocol. The quasi-experimental design involved a collaboration treatment condition (n = 2 collaborative pairs; n = 34 students) and a comparison condition (n = 2 non-collaboration teachers; n = 34 students). In both conditions, similar versions of a specific vocabulary technique were implemented over seven weeks. Students\u27 vocabulary knowledge was measured at pretest and posttest using three researcher-created vocabulary assessments adapted from previous measures in vocabulary research. A two-factor split-plot analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed a statistically significant interaction effect on the Words-in-Context measure. The significant effect from pretest to posttest within the entire matched group changed as a result of condition; the group mean increase in the students\u27 scores from pretest to posttest was higher in the collaboration condition than the comparison condition. Additional key findings were: (a) a statistically significant increase in group mean scores from pretest to posttest on all three measures within the entire matched group (n = 68) and (b) non-significant interactions between the collaboration and comparison groups on two of the vocabulary measures (Synonyms and Non-Examples). When Cohen\u27s d effect sizes were calculated within each condition, there were large effects for all three tasks in the collaboration condition. In the comparison condition, there were large effects for the Synonyms task, and medium effects for the Words-in-Context and Non-Example tasks. The findings of this study also revealed that collaborators achieved high fidelity of the collaboration protocol within a seven-week collaboration segment. Collaborators demonstrated Routine use of a specific collaboration protocol according to the tools of the Concerns Based Adoption Model (Hall & Hord, 2015); however, they expressed concerns around managing the task demands of the collaboration protocol. Taken as a whole, these findings are promising. Collaboration between SLPs and third-grade general education teachers using a systematic collaboration protocol with a specific vocabulary technique resulted in student vocabulary gains; on one measure, the gains were significantly larger than those made by students in classrooms where teachers did not collaborate with SLPs. The findings have potential to inform a research and practice agenda for SLPs and other educators in schools. Clinical implications and specific research directions are discussed

Southeastern Librarian 71(2) Summer 2023 (Full Issue)

Complete issue of The Southeastern Librarian Volume 71 Number