Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Keywords
academic achievement, academic performance, anecdotal notations, behavioral disabilities, behavioral incidences, behavioral interventions, behaviors, brain compatible strategies, brain research, classroom environment, classroom environments, cognitive processing deficits, discipline referrals, educational strategies, emotional and behavioral disabilities, environmental factors, fear of failure, knowledge transfer, learner, learning, learning disabilities, learning strategies, methodologies, observations, percentile points, presentation strategies, progress reports, reading, reading comprehension, reading measures, reading scores, specific learning disabilities, standardized reading measures, standardized tests, students, user friendly environment
Abstract
This applied dissertation was designed to provide data on the usage of brain compatible strategies in the classroom and how it compounds academic achievement and the number of behavioral incidences. Students with specific learning disabilities were scoring below grade level in areas of reading on standardized tests and those with emotional and behavioral disabilities had a high incidence of discipline referrals along with poor academic performance. Students with specific learning disabilities have been identified with cognitive processing deficits that affect the reading and comprehension of the written word. Students with emotional and behavioral disabilities have been identified with behaviors that not only affect academic performance in the classroom, but in the general population. Classroom environments were unfriendly and not conducive to learning. Students were unable to retain and transfer knowledge to the application stage of learning.
The writer created a classroom environment that was user friendly and conducive to learning. She applied learning techniques and strategies that were compatible with her knowledge of brain research. The writer made a comparison of mid-term progress reports, nine-week report cards, and standardized reading measures along with behavioral interventions. She included anecdotal notations, observations and educational strategies that are more conducive to the learner.
An analysis of the data revealed that students were referred for discipline less often. The classroom environment was challenging yet the fear of failure was alleviated. The mean reading scores on a standardized test rose by 4.1%. The overall mean academic scores on nine week report cards remained within a few percentile points throughout the project. Reflecting the change in methodologies, environmental factors and presentation strategies impacted these students with disabilities.