Date of Award
5-2025
Degree Type
Doctoral Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Education
Committee Chair
David G. Title, Ed.D.
2nd Reader
Victoria A. Osborne-Leute, Ph.D., LMSW
3rd Reader
Michael McGuire
Abstract
This mixed methods Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice (ISDiP) explored the impact of strengthening educators’ use of metacognitive instructional and assessment practices on lesson planning and delivery to support the academic achievement of juvenile-justice involved youth (JJ youth) in a Juvenile Detention Center School (JDC). During an eight-week intervention, the teaching staff of the JDC participated in professional development (PD) sessions, individual coaching, and classroom observations. The resulting data included exit slips following PD sessions, researcher field notes, the metacognitive observation support rubric, and feedback from a focus group. The results indicate that the JDC educators strengthened their capacity to plan lessons to incorporate metacognitive practices by writing student-facing learning targets using “I” statements. Educators intentionally planned lessons to demonstrate metacognitive skills by identifying which learning skills to model and showcasing the Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluating metacognitive element Skill steps. Educators credited their changes in lesson planning to their enhanced capacity to predict and meet student needs, develop effective lessons, and emphasize student learning. Educators preferred the metacognitive elements of Modeling, Prompting, and Monitoring in classroom use, and identified metacognitive practices as a strategy to deepen student learning, add value to learning, improve student motivation, and build student self-awareness. Last, most educators identified the support provided by coaching as a primary lever for strengthening their capacity; some educators reported that the combination of coaching and professional development provided the individualized support and knowledge necessary to improve their understanding and use of metacognitive practices.
Recommended Citation
Kennedy, M.G. (2025). Strengthening educators' metacognitive instructional and assessment practices to support the academic achievement of juvenile justice-involved youth [Doctoral dissertation, Sacred Heart University]. https://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/edd/48/
Creative Commons License
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Comments
Presented to the Faculty of Sacred Heart University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education, Sacred Heart University