The purpose of this study was to determine how trauma-informed approaches in an urban elementary school art room can foster empowerment in students who have been exposed to trauma and have developed Emotional and/or Behavioral Disorders. I implemented a pedagogy focused on promoting empowerment through art making, then collected data on the…

Now, more so than in the past, children have been deprived of the opportunity to learn and exercise effective interpersonal communication skills. Interpersonal communication skills, for elementary students, are important in the development of a student's ability to self-advocate. The purpose of this study is to identify techniques in which…

Adult onset, type2 diabetes affects Latino families at a higher rate than other ethnicities and negatively impacting their quality of life, ability to financially succeed, and ultimately impacting our overall economy. Multiple resources are available in the country to help people learn how to prevent, control, and manage diabetes. However, the…

Our action research project report provided students with social skills training to effectively handle bullying situations in the fourth grade. Our study involved 70 fourth-grade students and began Monday, January 14, 2008 and concluded Friday, May 2, 2008. The behaviors documented from the fourth grade students were name calling, exclusion,…

Reading is the foundation for literacy and comprehension is the foundation for education. Many learning disabled students struggle to understand what they have read and many instructional approaches in small group settings focus on decoding rather than on comprehension. Employing a dual strategic approach to facilitate comprehension enables…

This study was designed to increase student empowerment through the use of formative assessment. The targeted population consisted of first and fifth grade students in the same school. Evidence for the existence of the problem included teacher observation, students' lack of knowledge and skills to complete classroom assignments, and low test…

This study examined: (1) the current level and quality of participation by students with disabilities in the Individualized Education Program (IEP)/transition planning process and annual meetings; (2) the extent to which teachers expect and enable special education students to participate in that process; and (3) factors that may foster or…

This action research project evaluated a program to improve student motivation, attendance rate, percent of homework returned, and student academic growth. The targeted population was a seventh-grade class in a middle school in north central Illinois. The problem of inadequate student motivation was documented by means of attendance rates,…

Engaging students seriously in their own academic learning is a persistent difficulty for teachers. The goal of this action research project was to actively involve elementary school students in their learning. The program was implemented at three elementary schools in northern Illinois serving multicultural populations; special education…