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Master's Thesis (Action Research Report)

The Impact of Weekly Math Tests and Strategy Instruction on Math Fluency

Available from: St. Catherine University

Action research

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Abstract/Notes: A significant number of students enter the Elementary II years (Grades 4-6) without basic math fact fluency skills. This means teachers feel they need to revisit these skills and re-teach. This study tackles this concern by exploring the question of whether weekly math fact tests paired with teaching math strategies and individual goal-setting will have an effect on children’s ability to recall basic math facts accurately and efficiently. The study was performed in an Elementary I public Montessori classroom for grades one through three. The classroom community consisted of 25 students with varying strengths and abilities. Nine of the 25 students have Individual Education Plans or are in the process of Special Education referrals. The strategies were taught throughout the project and weekly fact tests were administered to students. I discovered that these two practices combined increased math fluency and confidence in my students.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2014

Doctoral Dissertation

Ways in Which Teachers Structure Reading Instruction for Bilingual Students with Disabilities

Available from: University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

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Language: English

Published: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2015

Doctoral Dissertation

Montessori Guide Decision-Making: How Elementary Montessori Guides Made Instructional Decisions

Available from: University of Texas at Austin Digital Repository

Lower elementary, Montessori method of education

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Abstract/Notes: Teacher decision-making is referred to as the fundamental responsibility of teachers. All teachers are asked to make decisions on a daily basis in their classrooms. For decades researchers have collected data on teacher decision-making in hopes to understand how teachers make decisions and why. Interestingly, most researchers collect data on teacher decision-making only in public school classrooms. The purpose of this study was to collect teacher decision-making data in a nearly unexplored classroom environment, the lower elementary Montessori classroom. The objective of this study was to examine what characteristics operated in the decision-making of two lower elementary Montessori guides. The hypothesis was lower elementary Montessori guides may have more opportunities to understand and approach care and culturally responsive teaching given the Montessori environment seeks to develop the whole child. In order to explore lower elementary Montessori guide decision-making I chose to perform a qualitative case study design. First, I gathered information about the school. Second, I collected data on the two lower elementary Montessori guides in this study. Once data was collected I reviewed the data for emerging themes. Then, I asked the question how was care and cultural responsiveness understood and approached in the decision-making of these two lower elementary Montessori guides.The findings of this study revealed three (3) main influences on the decision-making of lower elementary Montessori guides at River Montessori: (1) Association Montessori Internationale Training (AMI); (2) school ideology; and (3) guide improvisation based on student observation. Care and cultural responsiveness was understood and approached by both lower elementary Montessori guides in this study. However, the enactments of cultural responsiveness fell short of normative understandings of culturally responsive teaching (Gay, 2000; 2002).

Language: English

Published: Austin, Texas, 2013

Article

Public Instruction and Education; Guatemala

Available from: HathiTrust

Publication: Bulletin of the Pan American Union, vol. 58, no. 6

Pages: 630-631

Americas, Central America, Guatemala, Latin America and the Caribbean, Montessori method of education

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Abstract/Notes: Specifically see pg. 631: "The school supply section furnished all the equipment necessary to the national schools, Montessori kindergarten material being imported."

Language: English

ISSN: 2332-9424

Doctoral Dissertation (Ph.D.)

The Effects of High-Stakes Testing on Secondary Language Arts Curriculum and Instruction

Available from: ProQuest - Dissertations and Theses

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Abstract/Notes: High-stakes testing has become mandatory since the reauthorization of the Elementary Secondary Educational Act, 2001 with its No Child Left Behind (NCLB) provisions. Beginning with the 2005-06 school year, students in grades K-8 must be tested yearly in reading and math. Students in secondary schools must be tested once in reading and math. Student scores at all grade levels are then used as part of the formula for determining whether or not a school retains its accreditation or is placed on a "needs improvement" list. Being identified as "needs improvement" for three consecutive years carries an assortment of serious consequences for schools. As a result of these high-stakes tests, secondary language arts teachers are expected to prepare students for state reading assessments. Studies have investigated the effects high-stakes testing has on elementary and secondary curriculum and instruction but have not focused specifically on secondary language arts teachers. Therefore, this study focuses on the effects high-stakes testing is having on secondary language arts' curriculum and instruction. Six high school junior English teachers from a Midwestern state were surveyed and interviewed. Five of the teachers also participated in a focus group discussion. From this data several common themes emerged including a narrowing of their curricula and a loss of instructional time to test preparation and the actual administration of the tests. In addition, teachers expressed feelings of inadequacy about their knowledge of effective pedagogy for improving adolescent reading skills. From this study it becomes clear that secondary language arts teachers need more information on best practices for working with adolescents and improving adolescent reading skills while incorporating the state reading standards and maintaining a meaningful curriculum and engaging instructional strategies. Administrators and state departments of education need to consider ways to provide useful in-services on reading for secondary teachers. In addition, university teacher education programs need to prepare future teachers and offer teachers who are currently in the classroom assistance in developing effective strategies for teaching reading skills to adolescents which will keep the students engaged.

Language: English

Published: Lawrence, Kansas, 2005

A Pre-Reading Program for Kindergartens Based Upon Piagetian and Montessorian Models for Instruction: A Descriptive Study of Its Installation and Implementation

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Language: English

Published: New York, 1975

Doctoral Dissertation (Ph.D.)

Literacy Outcomes of Montessori-Trained Students Under Alternative Instructional Conditions

Available from: ProQuest - Dissertations and Theses

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Abstract/Notes: The purpose of the study was to investigate differences in literacy outcomes of Montessori-trained students under alternative instructional conditions in first grade. As a method of instruction, Montessori has not been adequately researched in the area of literacy to verify its efficacy in educating students. Previous studies compared Montessori students to non-Montessori students; therefore, the findings were open to the criticism that private school students enjoyed an a priori advantage over their public school counterparts. In this study, all participants had Montessori preschool experience. Roughly half the subjects chose public school and half chose to continue at Montessori for first grade. Sociofunctional linguistics, educational psychology, and Montessori's writing on education provided theoretical underpinnings for the study. A mixed research design was employed. Qualitative observations were conducted over a period of a calendar year. Quantitative measures were taken in a pretest/posttest format on five different literacy measures. Qualitative results show the core theme of the classroom was child-centeredness. This assertion was supported by five separate categories that emerged from observation. Quantitative results indicate that Montessori-trained students in alternative instructional conditions fared better on literacy measures than their counterparts who remained at Montessori for first grade. These results, along with methodological innovations for using literate register cohesion and genre analysis in literacy research, contribute to the educational research base in literacy studies.

Language: English

Published: West Lafayette, Indiana, 2005

Conference Paper

The Application of Student Portfolios in Primary/Intermediate and Self-Contained/Multi-Age Team Classroom Environments: Implications for Instruction, Learning, and Assessment

Available from: ERIC

Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association

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Abstract/Notes: Portfolios have gained wide acceptance as a learning and assessment tool. Yet, little research has been reported on the practices of teachers who are actually using portfolios within their classrooms and how those practices are moderated by contextual variables. This research examined the instructional, learning, and assessment roles of student portfolios, and explored, from the perspective of the classroom teacher, variations in portfolio applications associated with teaching level (primary versus intermediate) and classroom environment (self-contained versus multiage/teaming). Teachers for kindergarten through grade 5 in 3 elementary schools (n=314) completed a survey questionnaire regarding the instructional and assessment uses to which portfolios are put within their classrooms. To further examine patterns of portfolio use, a subset of 44 teachers was interviewed to explore teacher perceptions about the impact of student portfolios on themselves and their students. Results suggest that these teachers make deliberate decisions regarding uses of their students' portfolios, decisions that appear heavily impacted by the maturity or skill level of the child, the purposes of the application, and the classroom environment within which the application occurs. They also depend on whether the portfolio product is in a formative state (working portfolio) or final state (performance portfolio). (Contains 7 tables and 14 references.) (Author/SLD)

Language: English

Published: Montreal, Canada, Apr 19-24, 1994

Article

A Musical Montessori: The Remarkable Method of Instruction in Music Invented by Mlle. Chassevant of the Geneva Conservatoire

Available from: HathiTrust

Publication: World's Work (London), vol. 23, no. 134

Pages: 156-174

Montessori method of education, Music - Instruction and study, Music education

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Language: English

Article

Instructional Leadership Practices by Montessori Administrators

Publication: The National Montessori Reporter, vol. 20, no. 4

Pages: 16–18

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Language: English

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