Voices of striving elementary readers: an exploration of the enhancement of struggling reader research through portraiture methodology

This investigation was conducted to determine the value of using self-reports to elicit participant views of their reading struggles and to explore the potential benefits of using portraiture methodology as a means for illuminating the goodness inherent to struggling reader experiences in school. Three fourth grade participants were purposefully selected from one public and two charter elementary schools. Approximately three hours of interviews and 20 hours of observations were completed to collect data from each student over a 20 week period. With the participating students\u27 teachers, approximately two hours of interview data were collected. Artifact gathering and the researcher journal were also used to collect data. The central stories of participants were represented through narratives, found poetry, and participant created poetry. Benefits for using portraiture to understand reading issues and answers to the issues faced by struggling readers are revealed

The Impact and Influence Mentoring has on African-American Leaders in Nonprofits

This dissertation in transformational leadership demonstrates and characterizes research that support minority leaders seeking leadership roles within the nonprofit sector across New York state. This study gathered and learned varied perspectives and experiences of mentor relationships by interviewing people of color, primarily mature, African-American leaders from nonprofit organizations in New York state. The primary goal of this study was to determine trends and test the assumption whether mentor relationships would affect and influence African-Americans seeking executive level nonprofit leadership. The phenomenological design used for this study included face-to-face interviews and demographic surveys from individuals who participated in the study. This study contributes to the study of transformational leadership in that it provides future leaders lived experiences of how mentor relationships encouraged, motivated, and build other leaders over time. Results of the study show that mentor relationships have a significant impact and influence on job attainment, continued growth and development in the workplace, and changes the narrative for people of color, namely African-Americans

The Impact and Influence Mentoring has on African-American Leaders in Nonprofits

This dissertation in transformational leadership demonstrates and characterizes research that support minority leaders seeking leadership roles within the nonprofit sector across New York state. This study gathered and learned varied perspectives and experiences of mentor relationships by interviewing people of color, primarily mature, African-American leaders from nonprofit organizations in New York state. The primary goal of this study was to determine trends and test the assumption whether mentor relationships would affect and influence African-Americans seeking executive level nonprofit leadership. The phenomenological design used for this study included face-to-face interviews and demographic surveys from individuals who participated in the study. This study contributes to the study of transformational leadership in that it provides future leaders lived experiences of how mentor relationships encouraged, motivated, and build other leaders over time. Results of the study show that mentor relationships have a significant impact and influence on job attainment, continued growth and development in the workplace, and changes the narrative for people of color, namely African-Americans

WHAT IS THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION ON STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN LEARNING?

WHAT IS THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION ON STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN LEARNING? The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of differentiated instruction on student engagement in learning. This mixed method study inspected the effectiveness of assigning different learning strategies to students according to their academic ability. One class received different assignments that addressed student’s specific learning needs while the other class received common assignments. Attendance, achievement, and behavior data were also collected from this study to determine the overall effectiveness of differentiated instruction. This study was conducted in a middle school located in Georgia. Both classes were regular education English Language Arts classes. One class was given differentiated instructions while the other continued working on standard assignments. In addition to receiving differentiated assignments, the classes were observed, students were given a survey to complete, and teachers were interviewed. This study was conducted over an eight-week period. The findings of this study indicated that the students who received differentiated instruction significantly gained achievement. According to the data, the 2nd Period class (receiving differentiated instruction) outperformed the 3rd-period class (receiving no differentiated instruction). In terms of class attendance and student learning behavior, there were no notable differences in the findings

Teacher Perceptions on How to Best Support Student Well-Being in Elementary Classrooms

Abstract Elementary schools should be adept at assisting students in meeting their mental health need, such as, providing a non-violence approach to conflict resolution; strengthening the students’ relationships with their family members and friends; taking responsibility for their education and future; creating a stronger positive image; handling tough times more effectively; and setting and achieving their goals in life. The purpose of this Q methodology was to explore what teacher perspectives are on how to best support student well-being in the elementary school classroom. Specifically, this study examined what factors emerged when faculty in a large urban school district in Northeast Florida were asked to model their perceptions about student well-being via a Q sort. This study serves as a foundation for further research into perceptions from teachers about the how to best support student well-being in elementary schools. Results of this study may affect positive social change by leading to increased mental health services in elementary schools. Keywords: Well-Being. Mental Health, PTSD, EBD, DSM-V, IDEI

Something to Say: Success Principles for Afterschool Arts Programs From Urban Youth and Other Experts

Engagement in the arts can help youth in myriad ways: as a vehicle for self expression, acquiring skills, and developing focus and teamwork. Unfortunately, with the develine of arts education in public schools, few urban, low-income young people have high-quality engaging art experiences at school. Alternatives outside of school, such as private lessons or arts camps, are typically limited to children of families with the resources and savvy to get access to them. What narrow arts experiences low-income youth have are often dull arts and crafts projects where they are instructed to follow a prototype, rather than create something from their own imagination. Consequently, many urban, low-income youth grow up without even a cursory understanding of what high-quality arts programs are like, or what benefits may accrue from participation. Even when there is awareness or interest in out-of-school time (OST) arts programs, many young people choose other activities for a variety of reasons. Further, community groups often report a steep drop-off in teen OST engagement and participation. That finding points to the importance of captivating young people's interest prior to the teen years when, as tweens, they are more willing to try new OST experiences. This report attempts to answer the following questions: How can urban, low-income tweens and teens gain equal access to high quality arts experiences? Is there a model of practices that could provide a blueprint for community based organizations to emulate, so that proven approaches could be deployed in more places, more often? Is there a way to approach the analysis of these problems that respects and honors the young people as consumers who make informed choices? and how do the insights of what tweens and teens want align with what other experts say they need

Child Welfare Professionals’ Perspectives on Managing Dually Involved African American Female Youth

Dually involved are youth who have experienced some type of child abuse (physical, emotional, sexual, and/or neglect) and have engaged in delinquency. This study was conducted to understand child welfare professionals’ experiences and perspectives of the out-of-home placement decision-making process for dually involved African American female youth and impacts to the developmental process of this population. In this qualitative study, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory was used to identify the developmental levels of these disruptions and served as the theoretical framework. In this research, data were collected through semistructured interviews with 11 child welfare professionals from public and private child welfare agencies in the southern region of the state of Illinois. All participants were child welfare professionals with experience in making out-of-home placement decisions for dually involved Black girls. Thematic analysis approaches were used to identify themes and subthemes from the data. The findings identified several themes related to placement decisions, stability and disruptions, including barriers (e.g., school disruptions) and disruptions to development (e.g., bias, stereotype), and systemic barriers (e.g., lack of resources). Distinct themes were also identified related to the placement decisions, placement stability and development. Child welfare professionals also described multiple types of barriers that impacted the decision-making process. The findings of this study have potential implications for positive social change by providing child welfare policy makers with data and recommendations to improve the out-of-home placement decision-making processes and to improve system outcomes for dually involved youth

From darkness to light: an exploration of self-discovery and healing through collaborative recovery expressive writing

This participatory action research project was developed to explore the participants’ experiences during a collaborative recovery expressive writing (CREW) workshop while in long-term treatment from substance use disorders (SUDs). This workshop featured the primary components of the James W. Pennebaker model, but adapted the technique to create a safe environment for the participants to share their writings. This qualitative study conducted at Recovery Point West Virginia began by exploring how ten women sharing their emotions within a supportive environment used collaborative writing to continue their recovery journey through self-discovery and healing. Following the CREW workshop, the project continued with focus group sessions and interviews to gather a deeper understanding of the participants’ experiences during the workshop and determine other valuable factors beneficial to SUD recovery. The observations and interviews were interpreted in relation to the oretical literature focusing on social learning, cognitive behavioral and person-centered theories.Several themes emerged from the data such as sharing emotions, freedom to share, trust, comfortable, connectedness, positive social interactions and self-discovery. This particular model of expressive writing introduces new opportunities that could enhance SUD treatment through collaborative recovery. This collaboration allows individuals to interact in a group setting, which could present an opportunity for recovery support and provide feedback for motivation. This adaptation of a well-established expressive writing technique illustrates how the power of writing can also help illuminate the emotional healing necessary during recovery

Fetal alcohol syndrome: guidelines for referral and diagnosis

National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities in coordination with National Task Force on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect (American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, March of Dimes National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome)."July 2004, (2nd printing, August 2004), (3rd printing, May 2005)."Includes bibliographical references (p. 39-48)