Education Commons^™

The Relationship Between Motivational Interventions And Task-Oriented And Ego-Oriented Learners, Carolyn S. Dale

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Background: The current high stakes standardized testing mandate, wherein school funding and other resources depend on successful student test performance, makes student motivation especially important. This study seeks to examine factors affecting K-5 teachers’ ability to recognize different types of student motivation behaviors and identify corresponding interventions. The study focuses on an aspect of motivation known as goal orientation, which has been found to manifest in two basic types: ego orientation and task orientation.

Purpose: The study assesses the relationship between elementary teachers’ goal orientations and their teaching environment, and their ability to recognize ego- and task-oriented behaviors and interventions. …

Not Just The Playground: Adult Bullying In The K-12 Workplace, Cynthia J. Kleinheksel

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This non-experimental, explanatory, quantitative research study surveyed K-12 educators and other K-12 school employees to gather data about negative school workplace climate using the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R). Through the NAQ-R and other demographic survey questions, the researcher studied the prevalence and characteristics of adult-on-adult bullying in the K-12 workplace. Categories of Emotional Intimidation, Workplace Intimidation, and Physical Intimidation were identified and regressions were completed to analyze results against a study by Einarsen, Hoel, and Notelaers (2009). Using R. J. Bies's four categories of interactional justice, the characteristics of adult bullying in the K-12 workplace were identified and analyzed to …

A Case Study Of High School Students Affected By School Closure, Elizabeth Wolkowicz

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Recent charter school closures in a Southeastern Michigan community have created an influx of displaced students from communities where families are not provided systematic support to make the unexpected transition. The study utilized focus group and individual interviews to collect data from high school students who have experienced their charter high school closing and have transitioned into a single charter high school. Data analyses were done concurrently with data collection, and the first- and second-level codes were presented in matrix displays. Four themes emerged from the interviews of these participants. These themes were: sense of belonging, fear of the unknown, …

Between The Classroom And The Field: An Examination Of The Experiences Of Black Male Football Student-Athletes, Jeff I. Porter

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study is concerned with the fact that numerous Black student-athletes that play football at Division 1 predominantly White institutions (PWIs) are graduating at the lowest rates of all student and student-athlete groups on college campuses nationwide. An intercollegiate athletics system acts as the commercial arm of the university and is designed to ensure the sustainability and viability of football by creating contradictory athletic and academic pressures that the student-athletes must navigate. Despite the intentional obstacles that Black student athletes encounter, there are many that do graduate from their institution and transition into a professional career. Therefore, the guiding research …

A Study Of The Factors Involved And The Strategies Employed By Michigan School Districts In Developing Deficit Elimination Plans, Sue C. Carnell

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to study the factors that contribute to financial deficits, examine the strategies used to reduce deficits, and explore the barriers that may prohibit the reduction of financial deficits. As part of legislative mandates, school superintendents are faced with creating a deficit elimination plan to reduce the financial deficits facing their districts. In 2013, the State of Michigan began to shut down financially challenged districts for the first time. School districts labeled as “deficit districts” struggled to remove the designation assigned to them. Fifty-eight traditional Michigan public school districts with financial deficits between school years …

Contradictions And Control: Michigan Elementary Teachers' Lived Experiences Of Legislated Teacher Evaluation, Kathryn N. Coffey

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The Michigan Teacher Quality and Tenure Reform bill was signed into law in July 2011. The law mandated specific requirements for annual performance evaluation of all teachers and prohibited teacher evaluation as a subject of collective bargaining. The purpose of this phenomenological, collective case study was to describe the lived experiences of Michigan elementary teachers in traditional public schools as they experienced the phenomenon of having their performance evaluated under this state-legislated teacher evaluation policy, to understand the meanings they ascribed to the phenomenon, and to synthesize those meanings to describe the essences of that experience.

Using semi-structured in-depth phenomenological …

Laying The Foundation: An Investigation Of Bachelor's Degree Attainment Rates Of Early College High School Graduates, Ellen Lea Fischer

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This quantitative study explored the post-secondary success of the graduating classes of 2010 and 2011 from one early college high school in Washtenaw County, Michigan. The Early College Alliance (ECA) program is located on the campus of Eastern Michigan University (EMU), a public four-year university. It is a consortium program providing a unique and supported dual enrollment opportunity to high school students. After mastering both the academic and socioemotional skills required for success in college, ECA students earn up to 60 undergraduate credits at EMU and graduate from high school with both a high school diploma and a significant head …

A Study Of The Effect Of School Management Upon 4th And 8th Grade Math And Reading Results In Relation To Market Driven Theory, Reginald Kirkland

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

There are several types of organizations that propose to educate students living within a large urban city in southeastern Michigan. These organizations manage portfolios of schools and differ in a variety of ways. Some of them are for-profit corporations, and others are nonprofit. There is a portfolio of schools directly managed by the traditional public school system, and yet another managed by a state agency. In addition to the aforementioned, there are several that are empowered by state law to authorize charter schools to founding boards of directors, who who in turn contract with management companies or attempt to manage …

Crossing Jordan: An Exploration Of Academic Optimism In The Schooling Experiences Of Low-Income African American Female Students And Their Perceptions Of Their Academic Lives, Cristal Nichols

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative dissertation study explored the construct of academic optimism and its manifestation in the schooling lives of low-income, African American females who have obtained post-secondary educational status. The study also examined the facilitators and barriers the participants have encountered on their academic journeys towards the attainment of a fouryear college degree. The construct of academic optimism has previously been applied to schools and educators. This research explored the construct of academic optimism as it related to students, in this instance, low-income, African American female college students. The research study also explored what factors contributed to low-income, African American women’s …

Applying Distributed And Transformational Leadership Theories To Increase Opportunities For Women In Senior Educational Leadership In Saudi Arabia, Refah Aldawsari

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

In Saudi Arabia, the lack of representation of women in senior educational leadership is a problem that continues to plague the quality of K–12 educations in girls’ schools in the nation. In this paper, I will address the likely causes and outcomes of this issue and will suggest strategies for change that focus on the implementation of distributed and transformational theories of leadership to encourage renovation in Saudi girls’ school curricula. This paper also analyzes and compares some aspects of the Saudi boys’ and girls’ K–12 curriculum and conducts a survey that will present current opinions of the roles women …

An Examination Of Student-Support Team Practices In One Urban Elementary Public-School Academy: A Model Of Intervention, Sherall Elaine Wade

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Under the federal laws, No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2001) and Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA, 2004), school districts throughout the United States must provide struggling students with intervention strategies prior to diagnosis and placement into special-education programs (National Center on Educational Outcomes 2006). In 2004 Congress made many changes to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and from it Response to Intervention (RTI) became one of the most notable terms (Hale 2008). RTI is conceptualized as a multi-tiered service delivery model, which includes primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of support. The focus of the first tier is intervention at …

Self-Efficacy And Instructional Leadership: Does Mentoring Make A Difference?, Julie Diane Helber

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The responsibility of principals has shifted significantly over the past few decades. During 1960s and 1970s school leaders were expected to be organizers and managers of schools and to serve as buffers to the organization to protect a weak technical core. Standards-based reform, beginning in the 1980s, was in direct conflict with this mindset. Instead of protecting a weak technical core, school leaders had to focus on instruction guided by standards and demonstrate alignment to such standards. Today, there is an increased attention on academic achievement and accountability in schools (Leithwood, Jantzi, & Steinbach, 1999). Principals are being held responsible …

Career-Technical Students In Baccalaureate Programs: Predictors Of The Intent To Persist And Satisfaction With Educational Pathways, Julie Uranis

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This research explores the intersections of descriptive attributes, expectations, and influences (independent variables) and the degree to which they predict the intent to persist and satisfaction (dependent variables) of students enrolled in career-technical programs at four-year institutions. Little research exists for this population, and nothing based on the theoretical frameworks of Bean and Metzner (1985) and Lent, Brown and Hackett (1994). Expecting a significant relationship among several factors contributing to the intent to persist for career-technical students in degree programs, this research explores predictors for persistence in this population. This research revealed that there are simpler relationships among the variables …

Making Youth Matter: Exclusion And Its Impact On The School Lives Of African-American Students, Celeste L. Hawkins

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative dissertation study explored how exclusion and marginalization in schools impact the lives of low-income African-American students. The study focused on the perspectives of youth attending both middle and high schools in Michigan, and investigated how students who have experienced forms of exclusion in their K–12 schooling viewed their educational experiences. In addition to the voices of youth, the perspectives of parents, social workers, and coaches were presented and analyzed. Key themes that emerged from the study were lack of care, lack of belonging, disrupted education, debilitating discipline, the need for language diversity, and persistence and resilience. These themes …

Scientifically Based Reading Research Strategies In The Preschool Classroom: An Investigation Into Quality Early Childhood Reading Practices And Literacy Acquisition In One Northern Michigan Early Reading First Program, Yvonne Donohoe Mccool

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

A growing body of research has emerged to support the concept of providing early childhood education as a quality investment for our children, unlocking early potential and creating lasting impacts related to school success and beyond. Several landmark studies indicated that a quality education targeted at our youngest learners has the ability to yield impressive returns academically, economically, and socially. Early childhood education is credited with reducing costs associated with educational remediation, retention, and special education services. More important, early childhood education is associated with the prevention of early learning difficulties and overall improved education outcomes.

On the foundation of …

Principals' Decision Making In Discipline Policy Implementation: The Lutheran Schools' Perspective, Katherine Jane Brandon

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This quantitative study examines the relationship of philosophical beliefs of administrators of Lutheran schools and the influence of those beliefs on discipline decision-making styles, job satisfaction, and other factors. The study patterns the survey work from William Perry (1999) and other theorists regarding philosophy and ethics. A theoretical framework postulates a positive relationship of objectivist philosophy with directed decision-making style and interpretivist philosophy with participative decision-making style.

The administrators from two Lutheran education organization’s listserves, through invitation, participated in the qualitative online survey. The investigation uses path analysis, factor analysis, and regressions to explore survey and descriptive data. Some contextual …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Personal/Professional Experiences And Training Of School Psychologists And Their Attitudes Toward The Education Of Gifted Students, Angela Louise Spaniolo-Depouw

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

A resurgence of interest in gifted students and gifted education highlights the importance of examining attitudes of school psychologists related to the identification and programming for gifted students. This study explored the relationships between professional experiences, personal experiences, demographics, and previous training and the attitudes of school psychologists toward gifted students and gifted education.

A sample of 125 state-certified school psychologists in Michigan participated in a two-part, web-based survey, which provided descriptive data and measured attitudes toward gifted students and their education. Data were analyzed using a combination of descriptive and inferential statistics.

Seven findings were notable in this study: …

School Leadership Skill Development, Richard Arthur Weigel

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between what is currently understood about skills for school leadership and the need for a greater understanding of those skills. The importance of developing leadership skills to improve school performance and effectiveness is great. In the field of school leadership, most leaders enter their roles without an understanding of the skills needed to be effective.

There is a societal desire to improve the performance of children in schools, and that improvement relies on skill development for school leaders. Skill development for school leaders begins with skill recognition. The lack of …

Women's Access To The Superintendency: Pathways From The Elementary Ranks, Julie Marie Powell

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to describe the experiences of six women superintendents who began their careers as elementary principals. The central question was: What can we learn from the lived experience of women who came from a background as elementary educators and advanced to the superintendency in a variety of district contexts within Michigan’s traditional public school system?

The research design was a qualitative, interpretive, multiple case study approach using the data collection method of interviewing. Two conceptual frameworks – expectations states theory and feminist poststructuralism – provided the context for this research. Portraits of each of the …

The Motivating Factors Of Secondary School Assistant Principals In Southeast Michigan And Their Impact On Job Mobility, David M. Schmittou

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Recent research identified two broad categories of motivation, extrinsic and intrinsic. These two forms of personal motivation play a large role in determining individuals‟ level of job satisfaction. By affording a level of perceived empowerment, the environment of the workplace is a contributing factor toward encouraging or discouraging individual satisfaction.

This study demonstrates the relationships that exist between personal motivation needs, workplace empowerment, and the attempted job mobility or stability of assistant principals, a select group of public school administrators.

Prior studies have argued that when an individual possesses both high levels of personal intrinsic motivation needs and high levels …

African American Women Superintendents: Their Point Of Exit, Minta Maxine Downing

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Only recently have scholars paid attention to the African American woman superintendent who is an anomaly in this powerful leadership position in public education. Additionally, only a few academicians have asked why talented African American women who successfully obtain the superintendency exit the position so quickly. The primary purpose of this phenomenological focused qualitative study was to identify and document the experiences contributing to the decisions of selected former African American women superintendents to exit, voluntarily or involuntarily, their public school superintendencies and not to seek another one, choosing instead to pursue other positions, either in education or in a …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Servant-Leadership Behavior Of The Elementary School Principal, School Climate And Student Achievement As Measured By The 4th Grade Mathematics And Reading Michigan Educational Assessment Program, Ryan L. Cunningham

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine what relationship exists between the servant-leadership behavior of the elementary school principal, school climate, and student achievement. Data were collected through the use of two survey instruments. The (Revised) Servant-Leadership Profile: 360 (SLP-R: 360), developed by Page and Wong (2000), was used to assess principals’ perceptions of their servant-leadership behavior. To assess teachers’ perceptions of the health of the school climate, the Organizational Health Inventory for Elementary (OHI-RE), developed by Hoy, Tarter, and Kottkamp (1991), was used. The SLP-R: 360 was utilized as a self-perceived leadership style inventory, and the OHI-RE was …

Dissatisfaction Theory And Superintendent Turnover: An Exception To The Rule, Richard Perry

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The cycle of change and superintendent replacement in a public school district was documented and later named Dissatisfaction Theory by Iannaccone and Lutz (1970). Since then there have been multiple studies that have further documented failed relationships between the values of the community, the school board, and the superintendent. The research has demonstrated that dissatisfied voters replace school board members who in turn replace the superintendent with someone who will reflect the ideology and policies desired by the community.

The purposes of this study were to a) Better understand the dynamics of the position of superintendent, b) Inform superintendents, school …

Entry Of New Members Into One Student Affairs Professional Association Serving Student Affairs Professionals, Christopher Lewis

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of seven new members of one professional association serving student affairs professionals. The study was a qualitative case study and examined the experiences of seven association members. The researcher collected data through face-to-face interviews, document analysis, and participant observation. The study began with face-to-face interviews of all seven participants. Following the interviews, participants were asked to complete a Critical Incident Form. The researcher spent time in the studied association, acting as a participant observer. Finally, the researcher analyzed a number of documents from the association. The data identified six …

Third Grade Standardized Tests As Indicators And Estimates Of Future Performance On The Act, Greg Wieman

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between 3^rd grade standardized test scores and ACT Composite scores in high school. A second purpose of the study was to determine the consistency of rank within a cohort from 3^rd grade to high school as measured by standardized tests. Data consisted of standardized test scores from three Michigan public school districts analyzed as distinct cohorts. Correlations were determined using various factors from three different commonly used 3^rd grade standardized tests and ACT Composite scores. Multiple regressions of 3rd grade test factors were generated to yield the …

Student Prosocial Behavior In Selected Elementary Classroom, Janet L. Fisher

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Evolution Of Catholic Schools In The Diocese Of Grand Rapids, Michigan: A Case Study, Bernard T. Stanko

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This longitudinal case study examined the origins, growth, and development of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The purpose of this study was to understand how the Catholic schools evolved over time.

Four eras between 1833 and 2005 were investigated and described. Each era corresponds with changes to the physical size of the Diocese of Grand Rapids. These periods also correspond to sociological events that were also occurring. Data on Catholic schools were collected for each era. A conceptual framework was applied that considered the institutional environment in which the schools were founded and the task environment …

Cultural Resilience--A Currency Of Social Capital: Counteracting Student Marginalization In Two Urban--Suburban High Schools, Marci A. Erby

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative research study began as an exploration of the central qualities of the lived experience of students in two urban-suburban high schools where, as an outcome of rapid demographic change, White students now represent the nontraditional racial minority and Black students represent the racial majority. Semistructured interviews, the primary method of data collection, were conducted with students who had graduated from the high schools under study and with adults who had significant ties to the district. Student informants, in particular, shared high school experiences of marginalization that included silence, rendered invisibility, stereotyping, and bias owing in large part to …

The Effects Of The Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program On Reading Fluency And Comprehension Of At-Risk First-Graders, Andrea R. Van Der Laan

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this research study was to determine the impact of the Lindamood-Bell Phoneme Sequencing Program on phonemic awareness, reading fluency, and comprehension of at-risk first graders in one southwestern Michigan school district.

In the first phase of this research, baseline data in phonemic awareness and fluency scores were collected from two different first-grade classrooms to determine which students would be chosen for the study. The final study included 32 students, 16 from the experimental school and 16 from the control school. Both schools had similar demographic populations. In the second phase of the study, data were collected …

Student Achievement As A Function Of Class Size And Pupil-Teacher Ratio, Robert T. Becker

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Background: The degree to which class size is able to produce positive, enduring effects on student achievement has been and continues to be vigorously debated. Comparative studies have clouded the issue with imprecise use of the terms class size (CS) and pupil-teacher ratio (PTR), making it difficult to draw clear conclusions regarding the effects of class size on student achievement.

Purpose: To assess differences, if any, in achievement between students attending classes where the class-size is approximately n = 17 and students attending classes where the class-size is approximately n = 25 and the pupil-teacher ratio is approximately …