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Educational Psychology

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Education, Administration

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Full-Text Articles in Education

Online Attrition At A Community College In Rural Appalachia: A Phenomenological Approach, Victoria Sue Ratliff Aug 2013

Online Attrition At A Community College In Rural Appalachia: A Phenomenological Approach, Victoria Sue Ratliff

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The education attainment level of residents in rural Appalachia has consistently ranked below the remaining populous of the United States. Although distance education initiatives have attempted to bridge the disparities between rural Appalachia and the rest of the nation, online community college students in this region are likely to drop out or fail their classes. To understand the phenomenon of online attrition in rural Appalachia, a phenomenological study was conducted to determine what students experienced from the time they chose to enroll in online classes through the point of failure or withdrawal from their courses. This triangulated study utilized surveys, …


Bullying Prevalence In Mississippi: A Comparison Of Urban And Rural Schools, Valarie Mccaskill Jun 2013

Bullying Prevalence In Mississippi: A Comparison Of Urban And Rural Schools, Valarie Mccaskill

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examines the prevalence of bullying in urban and rural schools in Mississippi. Students at eight middle schools completed the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire to identify bullies and bully victims. The results of the study showed that approximately 50% of students in both urban and rural schools were identified as being bullied once or more during the current school term. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of bullying at urban and rural schools based on students who attended the eight middle schools who participated in the study. However, there was a significant difference in the prevalence of bullying …


The Relationship Between Principal's Emotional Intelligence Quotient, School Culture, And Student Achievement, Jeff Noe Nov 2012

The Relationship Between Principal's Emotional Intelligence Quotient, School Culture, And Student Achievement, Jeff Noe

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between secondary school principal's emotional intelligence quotient, school culture, and student achievement. Partial correlation was conducted to examine the degree of relationships between principal's emotional intelligence quotient and school culture controlling for the effect of student achievement, and between principal's emotional intelligence quotient and student achievement controlling for school culture. Multiple regression analysis was utilized to examine the combined effect of principal's emotional intelligence quotient and school culture on student achievement. The study population consisted of secondary school principals and teachers within Virginia Department of Education's Region VII. Quantitative data …


School Board Members And The Underrepresentation Of Women In The Superintendency: A Case Study, Cherri S. Barker Nov 2012

School Board Members And The Underrepresentation Of Women In The Superintendency: A Case Study, Cherri S. Barker

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The general purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how personal attitudes, values and beliefs of individual board members, and the culture of the community affect hiring decisions for the position of superintendent in rural West Texas as it relates to the underrepresentation of women in this position. Local school boards are responsible for selecting and hiring the superintendent of schools. Although most educators are women, women continue to be underrepresented in the superintendency. The research design of the study utilized a qualitative multi-site, multi-subject case study of 15 former school board members in eight rural West Texas school …


Single-Sex Education Versus Coeducation In North Georgia Public Middle Schools, Catherine Blake Oct 2012

Single-Sex Education Versus Coeducation In North Georgia Public Middle Schools, Catherine Blake

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The U.S. Department of Education is giving more liberties to school districts to offer single-sex schools in order to adequately serve the needs of students. The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to test the theory of students' performances based on their educational environment by comparing students who received instruction in a single gender classroom in a public middle school compared to students who received instruction in a mixed gender classroom in a public middle school. The achievement test, Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency Test, was used with each site school. There were two years of data collected with the …


The Effect Of Implementing School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions And Supports On Student Misbehavior In A Large Urban High School, John Power Oct 2012

The Effect Of Implementing School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions And Supports On Student Misbehavior In A Large Urban High School, John Power

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the effect that implementing School-wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) had on student misbehavior as determined by Office Discipline Referrals, chronic student misbehavior, In School and Out of School Suspensions assignments, and student tardy referrals in a large urban high school. School-wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports is a systematic, proactive, preventive, research-based approach that has shown to reduce student misbehavior when implemented with fidelity. The study focused on the Primary Prevention Tier of SWPBIS to prevent and reduce student misbehavior. The study attempted to answer the question is School-wide …


A Phenomenological Investigation Of The Origination And Manifestation Of The Cyberbully/Cyberbullying Victim Relationship From The Perspective Of Cyberbullying Victims, Michael Boyd Jul 2012

A Phenomenological Investigation Of The Origination And Manifestation Of The Cyberbully/Cyberbullying Victim Relationship From The Perspective Of Cyberbullying Victims, Michael Boyd

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Cyberbullying has gained a considerable amount of media attention in recent years (Kowalski, Limber, & Agatston, 2008). However, little is known about the details of cyberbully/cyberbullying victim relationships within the lived experience of victims. This phenomenological study investigated the origination and manifestation of the cyberbully/cyberbullying victim relationship. The study is phenomenological in order to examine the origination of the cyberbully/cyberbullying victim relationship and how the relationship is manifested in the lived experience of participants who were cyberbullying victims. The study examines the impact of the cyberbully/cyberbullying victim relationship from the theoretical perspective of Vygotsky's (1986) sociocultural learning theory and Maslow's …


Self-Efficacy And Classroom Management: A Correlation Study Regarding The Factors That Influence Classroom Management, Stephanie Hicks Jun 2012

Self-Efficacy And Classroom Management: A Correlation Study Regarding The Factors That Influence Classroom Management, Stephanie Hicks

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Classroom management has proved to be a plaguing aspect of the teaching and learning process over the past century. This single skill has heavily contributed to teacher stress and burnout (Gordon, 2002;Jepson & Forrest, 2006), teacher turnover (Ritter & Hancock, 2007; Rosas & West, 2009), overall teacher self-efficacy (Caprara, Barbaranelli, Borgogni, & Steca, 2003; Edwards, Green, & Lyons, 2002), student achievement and teacher performance in the classroom (Edwards et al., 2002; Milner, 2002; Poulou, 2007), and is commonly a major concern of principals regarding new teachers (Principal Perspectives, 2004; Williams, 1976). The purpose of the study was to determine if …


School Change: Adolescents Transitioning From Conventional Schooling To Home-Based Online Education, Harvey Klamm May 2012

School Change: Adolescents Transitioning From Conventional Schooling To Home-Based Online Education, Harvey Klamm

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This hermeneutic phenomenological research explored the lived experiences of six recently graduated adolescents to extrapolate the valued essence of their transitional encounters in changing from conventional school to home-based online schooling. The homeschool research shifted the emphasis from the outcome-based academic achievement studies prevalent during the past 20 years to a focus on internal and external factors impacting student learning within this technological instructional process. Findings produced from analysis and interpretation of reflective adolescent lived experiences revealed rich truth regarding the internal emotions, environmental adaptations, academic ramifications, and social adaptations encountered when changing from conventional schooling to home-based online school. …


Examining Factors That Predict School Psychologists' Perceptions Of The Response To Intervention Process, Terry Bullock Apr 2012

Examining Factors That Predict School Psychologists' Perceptions Of The Response To Intervention Process, Terry Bullock

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

With increasing emphasis on accountability measures and widespread focus on implementation of Response to Intervention (RtI) procedures in schools, it is critical to examine the impact these changes have on the role of practitioners involved in the process. This correlational study examined the factors of school psychologists' involvement in RtI, degree level, and years of experience to determine which of these best predict school psychologists' perceptions of the RtI process. Using information from the literature regarding RtI, the researcher's experience working as a school psychologist and with RtI, and review of a previous survey that examined RtI, an instrument was …


The Effect Different Synchronous Computer Mediums Have On Distance Education Graduate Students' Sense Of Community And Feelings Of Loneliness, Lorene Heuvelman-Hutchinson Apr 2012

The Effect Different Synchronous Computer Mediums Have On Distance Education Graduate Students' Sense Of Community And Feelings Of Loneliness, Lorene Heuvelman-Hutchinson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Because distance education is such a rapidly developing educational venue, knowing what factors impact success must be known. Loneliness and sense of connectedness, or community, are issues facing graduate distance education students. These issues may influence retention. The theoretical framework of a Community of Practice assisted in understanding the development of community using computer-mediated communication (CMC) systems. The research questions answered included whether the type of synchronous CMC used (text- or video-based) could impact loneliness and community from a distance. An experimental design (randomized subjects, control group, posttest only) was used with distance education graduate students to address the research …


The Effects Of Participation In Athletics On Academic Performance Among High School Sophomores And Juniors, Lee Sitkowski Jul 2008

The Effects Of Participation In Athletics On Academic Performance Among High School Sophomores And Juniors, Lee Sitkowski

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Athletics and academic performance has been studied at length over the years in the literature. Despite the mostly university level research conducted, no consensus has been reached regarding the impact of athletic participation on academic performance at the high school level. As a result, the relationship between the in season and out of season school academic performance of high school sophomores and juniors in one high school was investigated in this study. It was determined that there was a significant relationship that existed between academic performance, measured by GPA, and athletic participation. Through an analysis of 249 high school sophomore …