544 research outputs found
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Levels of Preschool Experiences Related to Success in Kindergarten
No full textThis study is to determine if preschool aids in children’s readiness for kindergarten. It was conducted at the G.D. Cushing School in Wilton, Maine. The participants were kindergarten parents, teachers, and students. It was determined that parents found preschool to be beneficial in the transition to kindergarten, both academically and socially. Kindergarten teachers reported many differences between children who attended preschool and children who did not. A teacher questionnaire provided inconclusive results as to whether children who lack preschool require additional support when compared to children who had preschool. While preschool has many benefits, further research should be conducted
The Value of a Professional Learning Community Model in Improving Primary Students Reading Achievement and Teachers Interest in Data Driven Decision Making
No full textFirst grade literacy data at Dirigo Elementary School in Peru, Maine, shows a dramatic decline in reading achievement over the past five years. Through research on literacy and the Professional Learning Communities (PLC), we have created a team of invested educators to teach reading utilizing the PLC model. The team examined the effects on student literacy achievement using the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA). Our research showed 57% of students made the midyear benchmark. This is an increase of 23% from the previous year. We have determined that the PLC model is a positive addition to our literacy instruction
The Impact of a Teacher Staying with the Same Students for Multiple Years – “Looping.”
No full textLooping is the pedagogical practice of a teacher moving to the next grade level with their students. This study investigated academic growth of looped students compared with matched non-looped students in reading and math: grades kindergarten/first, reading data from the TERRA NOVA; grades five/six, reading and math data from the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA). Perceptions of looping were gained from surveys of students (22), parents (22), and teachers (4). Findings reveal 95% of participants reported positive perceptions. Academic growth was shown as non-significant in reading. Math growth in looped fifth/sixth graders was significant. The discovered themes are discussed and also connection of looping to compliance of the No Child Left Behind Act
The Benefits of Spanish as a Modern Language: A Case Study that Identifies the Benefits of Early Exposure to a World Language
No full textThis research project examines the effects of early exposure to Spanish from grades 3 through 8 in the Jay School District in Jay, Maine. Although this project examined assessments of a very small number of individuals, making it difficult to draw many clear conclusions, it does shed some light on potential areas for further study
American pragmatism and poetic practice : crosscurrents from Emerson to Susan Howe
No full textWittgenstein wrote that philosophy ought really to be written only as a form of poetry. American poetry has long engaged questions about subject and object, self and environment, reality and imagination, real and ideal that have dominated the Western philosophical tradition since the Enlightenment. Kristen Case\u27s book argues that American poets from Emerson to Susan Howe have responded to the central problems of Western philosophy by performing, in language, the continually shifting relation between mind and world. Pragmatism, recognizing the futility of philosophy\u27s attempt to fix the mind/world relation, announces the insights that these poets enact. Pursuing the flights of pragmatist thinking into poetry and poetics, Case traces an epistemology that emerges from American writing, including that of Emerson, Marianne Moore, William James, and Charles Olson. Here mind and world are understood as inseparable, and the human being is regarded as, in Thoreau\u27s terms, part and parcel of Nature. Case presents a new picture of twentieth-century American poetry that disrupts our sense of the schools and lineages of modern and postmodern poetics, arguing that literary history is most accurately figured as a living field rather than a line. This book will be of particular interest to scholars and students of pragmatism, transcendentalism, and twentieth-century American poetry. Kristen Case is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Maine at Farmington.https://scholarworks.umf.maine.edu/publications/1011/thumbnail.jp
Teacher Efficacy and Content Literacy Strategies: Implications for Sustained Professional Development in High School
No full textThe connection between a public secondary school Literacy Initiative and student achievement, as well as a connection between the Literacy Initiative and individual and collective teacher efficacy was investigated. The results of the study indicated that the Literacy Initiative did not have a significant impact on the critical reading section of the SAT for junior cohorts over three years. Additionally, there is a correlation (not a causation) between the Literacy Initiative and SAT math scores for the same cohorts. The Literacy Initiative did have a positive impact on teacher efficacy as indicated in teacher surveys and interviews
The Gender Gap between Boys and Girls Achievement: A Look at Boys’ Perceptions and Their Experiences in Reading at the Elementary and High School Level
No full textHow boys were performing academically in the area of literacy, how they perceived themselves as learners, and how they viewed teachers with whom they worked. The study included boys in Western Maine at the elementary and secondary levels. Boys at both levels perceived themselves as competent readers, which was a discrepancy when the standardized test scores were reviewed. Boys at both levels indicated they wanted to learn in a caring, active, and respectful classroom. Educators need to look for ways to engage boys in literacy learning that provides choice, independence, and respectful feedback
Open Educational Resources: Leveraging the Opportunity of Laptops for Open Education in Maine
No full textThe Maine laptop initiative provides learners with the hardware and software needed to access OER (open educational resources). To meet learning standards teachers must identify and share these resources in an organized way. A group of educators from k‐12 schools identified existing open educational resources that meet curricular goals. For OER to grow in Maine schools, professional development, sustainability, funding, copyright, and quality control need to be considered
The effectiveness of After School Programs for Rural, White Elementary Students in Maine
No full textResearch has shown that after school program attendance may be effective in improving academic and social skills in urban and minority populations but is this true for rural white elementary students as well? A comparison of two after school programs, in Maine, was conducted using multiple standardized data sources, report cards and teacher perception information. Results suggested that there was a minimal benefit for math achievement, in one school. In both schools, there were no benefits for reading, motivation and social skills for after school attending participants