Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Richard Snyder
Committee Member
Dennis Triplett
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
change implementation, curriculum adaptation, curriculum alignment, curriculum implementation, curriculum standards alignment, effective instructional strategies, elementary education, fourth-grade students, Georgia, Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT), Georgia Department of Education, Golden Isles Elementary School, instructional strategies, language arts achievement, mathematics achievement, peer collaboration, professional development, QuESt Tools for Transformation, reading achievement, school improvement, state standards, teacher collaboration, test data analysis, time-efficient meetings, Tools for Transformation, writing strategies
Abstract
The purpose of this applied dissertation was to align the curriculum at the elementary level to state standards that were being assessed by the state of Georgia. The curriculum was not aligned to state standards at Golden Isles Elementary School. Results from the Spring 2002 Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT; Georgia Department of Education, 2002) showed that 52 (35%) of 148 fourth-grade students did not meet standards in math, 39 (26%) did not meet standards in language arts, and 24 (16%) did not meet standards in reading.
This applied dissertation describes how the curriculum was aligned at Golden Isles Elementary School and how it was implemented. According to analysis of historical data, no professional development had been planned or implemented to demonstrate the processes for curriculum alignment, peer collaboration, implementation of effective instructional strategies to improve math and reading, test-data analysis, or methodology for conducting effective, time-efficient meetings.
Interventions that were implemented included curriculum alignment to state-assessed standards for math; professional development in the process of aligning the curriculum to state standards; six components of an effective math lesson; reading and writing strategies; peer collaboration; and methodology for conducting effective, time-efficient meetings. Quality Educational Systems' (QuESt) Tools for Transformation was the intervention model used to implement strategies. These intervention strategies involved administrators and teachers at Golden Isles Elementary School. The success of the interventions was determined through observations, lesson plans, interviews, surveys, and analysis of test data.
This applied dissertation decreased the number and percentage of fourth-grade students who did not meet standards in reading, language arts, and math on the Georgia CRCT (Georgia Department of Education, 2003). Results from the Spring 2003 CRCT showed that 30 (19%) of 158 fourth-grade students did not meet standards in math, 26 (17%) did not meet standards in language arts, and 19 (12%) did not meet standards in reading.