Title
Teacher Perceptions of Middle School Students Meeting English Language Arts Literacy Standards
Date of Award
9-1-2017
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctorate of Education, Ed.D.
College
College of Education
Department
Education
First Advisor
Donna Graham, Ph.D
Second Advisor
Meg Boice, Ph.D.
Third Advisor
Jean Swenk, Ph.D.
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore teachers’ perceptions of middle school students meeting English Language Arts standards. Guided by the theories of Vygotsky (1978), which are founded in the cognitive, communicative, and developmental ideologies, this study examined how educators perceived instructional supports, teacher expectations, the student and teacher relationship, and teacher morale to impact achievement. This study revealed that middle school English Language Arts educators perceived that instructional supports, teacher expectations, the student and teacher relationship, and teacher morale do impact students meeting English Language Arts Standards. However, educators perceive that if combined, the components of each have the potential to make a greater positive impact on student achievement. Twelve English Language Arts teachers participated in the study. These teachers completed a questionnaire and participated in an interview with the researcher. Observational field notes also were recorded during the study by the researcher. The questionnaires, interviews, and field notes were coded using Excel and NVivo software. The documents were used to determine the educators’ perceptions of students meeting English Language Arts standards. The results indicated that teachers perceive a positive correlation between students meeting English Language Arts standards and instructional supports, teacher expectations, teacher morale, and the student and teacher relationship.