In this dissertation, I report results from a study that investigated the impact of students' engagement in a series of tasks in an introductory proof course that was designed to stimulate their learning of reading strategies to support their comprehension of mathematics proofs. Specifically, I investigated the impact of the design of five…

Kindergarten teachers must balance the competing interests of meeting grade level standards, including teaching students to be literate, and integrating developmentally appropriate practices. Students need to have opportunities to read, write, listen, and speak; however, a didactic, teacher-centered approach is not in the best interest of young…

This study investigated classroom interaction in three novice-level Chinese language classrooms at middle and high schools in the US in the spring of 2021. Due to school responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, the participating teachers had shifted from teaching in a face-to-face, in-person classroom to fully online and partially online, hybrid…

Computers infiltrate almost every aspect of our lives, including our homes and cars. For work, education, or personal fulfillment, computing has increased dramatically. The need for an educated workforce is expanding as technology devices become smaller, faster, and more powerful. We can teach students how to use math, logic, and computational…

This qualitative case study explored the use of Readers Theater through the experiences of emergent bilingual students in a first-grade bilingual classroom. Readers Theater is a strategy that has produced great results in helping the development of literacy in reading fluency, motivation, and comprehension. The research regarding the use of…

With little research as guidance, it is difficult for educators to know how to prepare to lead systems of professional learning at the district level. In this phenomenological study, the sensemaking framework was used to understand the experiences, knowledge, and beliefs of those who hold district-level leadership roles with responsibility for…

This study investigates the role of prior knowledge in supporting Japanese foreign language (FL) learners' L2 higher order thinking skills. Scholars recognize prior knowledge integration as the critical stage where learning occurs (Anderson et al., 2001; Britton, 1994; Kintsch, 1988, 1998), and consider it an untapped resource in the FL classroom…

I conducted 2 experiments in which I tested the effects of a reader immersion procedure on the technical reading comprehension responses to print stimuli for 4 kindergarten students and 3 first grade students. The participants selected for this study textually responded to words at a rate of 80 words correct per minute with 0 incorrect words per…

Researchers have suggested that teachers use a specialized type of knowledge specifically attributed to the work of teaching. One aspect of this specific type of knowledge is the ability to analyze children's work. With continued emphasis on a teacher's ability to analyze their students' thought processes, teacher candidates will need to develop…

Reading aloud (read-aloud) is quickly progressing as a useful strategy on the middle school level, yet research has not adequately caught up with is use with special populations such as middle school students and English language learners (ELLs). The purpose of this study was to add to the limited research on the read-aloud instructional strategy…

Teachers at a Title I elementary school in South Carolina implemented the scripted Reading Mastery© program (RMP) to improve students' comprehension. Comprehension scores did not increase, despite teachers receiving RMP professional development (PD) prior to implementing the program. Administrators were unaware if the teachers were adequately…

The research literature concerning traditionally aged college mathematics students' who require remediation, in beginning Algebra topics, states that these students lack confidence in their mathematical skills, have experienced failure and frustration in the past, have low self confidence issues with respect to mathematics and often lack…

This study sought to determine if participation in a home education learning program would impact the perceived levels of parental self-efficacy of parents/caregivers who participate in the completion of home-learning assignments and increase their levels of home-learning involvement practices. Also, the study examined the relationship between the…