Education Commons^™

The Use Of Behavioral Agreements By Senior Student Affairs Officers And Counseling Center Directors To Manage Student Mental Health Concerns And Minimize Threatening Behavior, Douglas A. Geiger

Dissertations

This qualitative investigation examines the use of behavioral agreements by Senior Student Affairs Officers and Counseling Center Directors to manage student mental health concerns and minimize behavior that poses threats to campus communities. Six pairs of Senior Student Affairs Officers and Counseling Center Directors at the same institution were interviewed for this study. In addition, documents concerning mental health and threat assessment policy and protocols are also examined and discussed. An expanded theory of practice known as Student Intervention Facilitators is presented as an option to mandated psychotherapy.

Illinois Secondary Principals' Perceptions And Expectations Concerning Students Who Use African American Vernacular English In An Academic Setting, Garrard Overton Mcclendon

Dissertations

This study investigates principals’ individual and aggregate perceptions of and expectations for students who use African American Vernacular English. Using the African American English Teacher Attitude Scale (AAETAS), the study seeks to describe the relationship between principals’ demographic characteristics and their perceptions of African American Vernacular English. The study uses raw scores from the AAETAS instrument created by Hoover, McNair-Knox, Lewis and Politzer (1997) and codes the principals’ perceptions of AAVE in a histogram. Principals’ demographic information was gathered on the following categories: race, gender, home language, county location, childhood hometown community, age, years in education, years as a teacher, …

Unto Perfect Manhood: An Instrumental Case Study Of Leadership Formation In An African American Boys High School, Daniel Ivan Mackinney

Dissertations

This qualitative study investigates the influence of single-sex education on leadership formation at an all boys, urban Catholic high school where a majority of the students come from disadvantaged backgrounds. The researcher has found an association between graduation from a single-sex school and leadership attainment. In order to understand what it is about a single-sex education that might nurture leadership development the author completed an instrumental case study of the school seeking to identify those elements that might nurture leadership formation.

The theoretical framework for this study is based on the research of Wolf-Wendel (1998) who relies on institutional characteristics …

The Roles And Responsibilities Of The Principal As Perceived By Illinois K-8 Principals Who Belong To Generation X, Keith Westman

Dissertations

The roles and responsibilities of the school principal have changed throughout the years, and, with that, the face of the principalship has changed, too. The average age of principals in the United States is 57 with a significant portion of those individuals retiring within the next ten years (United States Department of Labor, 2008). As these principals retire, the qualities and characteristics of the next generation of principals must be identified. However, it may not be as easy to fill these vacancies as it once was. Within the context of the research that has been done on Generation X, the …

The Development Of And Relationship Between Elgin U-46'S Teacher Appraisal System And Mentor Program: 1998-2010, Joseph William Schumacher

Dissertations

This study investigated the historical development of Elgin School District U-46's teacher appraisal system and teacher mentor program during the years of 1998-2010. In 1998 a formal mentor program was implemented for the first time in district history. Shortly thereafter, district and union leadership agreed to revamp the twenty-five-year-old appraisal system. The study aimed to explore how district and union leadership prepared for, adopted, and implemented appraisal and mentoring during this time period through the framework of Thomas Sergiovanni's (1992) sources of authority for leadership.

The research questions of this study focused on five topics: the historical development of the …

Perceptions Of Care: Self Reflections Of Women Teachers Of African Descent Who Teach In Urban Settings, Elizabeth A. Abioro

Dissertations

Discussions and debates about the educational system in the United States continue to center on curriculum and school reform. However, many children in America's public schools suffer from existing "life hazards" including social isolation, poverty, neglect, drug abuse, violence, school failure, and the breakdown of traditional family values and nurturing. This qualitative study focused on 10 African American female teachers and their perceptions of caring in the classroom and themselves as caring teachers. It is important to collect and share the experiences of African American females and how they define and practice care in their classrooms. Understanding teachers' perceptions of …

The Strawberry Grows Under The Nettle: How An Integrated Performance-Based Approach To The Teaching Of Shakespeare At The Secondary Level Affects Critical Thinking Skills As Measured By The California Critical Thinking Skills Test, Brent T. Strom

Dissertations

Though Shakespeare remains the most taught author in American secondary school curriculum, and though there is growing evidence to suggest that the best practice for teaching the Bard is through a performance-based approach, there has been no empirical evidence to support one methodology over another.

This study utilized the California Critical Thinking Skills Test to measure the growth in critical thinking skills that students obtained through a traditional `seat-bound' versus a `performance-based' approach to the teaching of Shakespeare at the secondary level. Its purpose was to determine whether there would be a statistically significant difference between the two.

Subjects were …

Visitors Pass: The Story Of A Group Of Pakistani Immigrant Students At Sawyer High School, Melissa Gersh Fischer

Dissertations

New immigrant populations are shaped in significant ways by globalization. The phenomenon of transnationalism has changed the localized sense of "home" and "local cultures" on a global scale. In fact, "Globalization lies at the core of current sociocultural experiences, especially in processes of identity construction, communal practices, subject positioning, and agency" (Santiago-Irizarry, 2008). This ethnographic study focuses on the question of how agency and institutional structures, in a global society, impact the lived experiences of Pakistani immigrant students at an urban public high school. A review of literature on identity formation, globalization, and institutional structures is essential to answering this …

Curriculum Reform In Post-Soviet Armenia: Balancing Local And Global Contexts In Armenian Secondary Schools, Shelley Marie Terzian

Dissertations

Structured according to the conceptual frameworks of nationalism and globalization, this study examined relationships between and among the Armenian Ministry of Education, the World Bank, the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation -Armenia, and Armenian secondary school teachers and principals from 1991 to the present. Each group played a central role, developing and implementing the Armenian National Curriculum and State Standard for Secondary Education throughout the education system.

Using Laurence Neuman's inductive approach to open, axial, and final coding, this qualitative case study investigated the global and national groups that produced the Armenian National Curriculum (the Curriculum) and the State Standard …

A Comparative Study Of Year-Round And Traditional Calendar Schools In Chicago, Andrea Therese Winkelmann

Dissertations

Restructuring the school calendar has been investigated by school districts as a possible way to increase student achievement in order to meet the standards of higher accountability. In order for districts to make sound and informed decisions about year-round schools and to evaluate the effectiveness of calendar differences; educators and administrators need to review the research on this subject. However, the research on year-round schools (YRS) can be misleading, biased, and inconclusive. While increased student achievement would arguably be of importance when researching YRS; demonstrating and reporting student achievement can be challenging.

This study will investigate the academic achievement in …

Student Access To Advanced Placement (Ap) Coursework: Principals' Beliefs And Practices, Steve Wood

Dissertations

Advanced Placement® (AP®) courses provide high school students an opportunity to be exposed to the rigors of college while they are still in high school. Since school policies play a role in the opportunities for students to pursue these courses, educational leaders must be aware of the ways in which their personal beliefs and school practices influence the course-taking patterns in their students.

This study investigated the relationship between principals' personal beliefs and perceptions of school practices, and the opportunities for students to successfully complete rigorous Advanced Placement coursework. The study utilized a questionnaire distributed to eight-eight principals of schools …

A Meta-Analysis Of Interventions To Improve Social Competence In Early Childhood, Adam Steven Kennedy

Dissertations

Early childhood represents a critical period for development of the social behaviors and language that make social competence possible. Demonstrating social competence and positive peer relationships before reaching kindergarten may enhance school functioning and early achievement once children enter the school setting (Costin & Jones, 1992; Gresham & Reschly, 1987; Ladd, 1990). Unfortunately, many children fail to naturally or adequately develop these important skills, heightening risk for future problems due to disability and factors such as poverty, abuse, and engagement with child welfare agencies (Guralnick & Groom, 1987; Fantuzzo et al., 1988; Mueller & Silverman, 1989; Campbell, 1990; Kopp, Baker, …

The Intersection Of Positive Psychology And Teachers' Dispositional Fitness: A Delphi Study, Maria Elizabeth Stimpson

Dissertations

U.S. educators of the 21st century have witnessed renewed attention given to the importance of teacher dispositions as a component of the requisite tripartite of knowledge, skills, and dispositions. In this Delphi study, two previously unaligned constructs, positive psychology and teacher dispositions, were synthesized for the purpose of: a) identifying the most compelling teacher dispositions that infuse positive psychology into positive classroom communities, and b) suggesting observable behaviors that are indicative of teachers' dispositional fitness in positive classroom communities.

Using the Positive Teacher Disposition Index (PTDI), a panel of educators, consisting of classroom teachers, university faculty, and educational administrators selected …

Towards Evidence-Based Practices In Mathematics Instruction: Investigating The Impact Of Writing On Student Ability To Solve Mathematics Problems, Shaalein Carroll Lopez

Dissertations

Achievement in mathematics education for students in elementary school through college has lagged behind that of other students internationally. As a result, enhancing mathematics achievement for students in the United States of America has long been a priority. Best practices in teaching across all grades emphasize using instructional methods that have been validated through research, though a review of the literature demonstrates a lack of such substantiated practices in mathematics education. This dissertation attempts to contribute to the field of research-based practices in mathematics education by measuring the effects of an instructional practice long used in mathematics classrooms in grades …

Proactive Disciplinary Consequences In Three Illinois High Schools, Sara Golomb

Dissertations

Disciplinary codes of conduct guide administrators when determining the consequences for student misconduct. The codes of conduct commonly found in schools rely on exclusionary measures that have been associated with negative student outcomes and controversy but little is being done to provide positive model for these written policies. Schools need to reconsider their disciplinary practices and begin to incorporate positive strategies into their policies. The goal of this study was to provide an examination of the factors necessary to sustain a positive approach to discipline. Unfortunately, the preliminary information was insufficient. Suggestions are made to continue the exploration of philosophies …

Exploring The Use Of Suspension In High School Codes Of Conduct For Mild, Moderate, And Severe Behaviors, Amy Beth Horwitz

Dissertations

The purpose of this investigation is to describe the outcomes of a multi-state study of written discipline policies in a high school setting. This study examines discipline codes of conduct and analyzes the content for behaviors ranging in severity (mild, moderate, and severe) while specifically examining the use of suspension as a punitive measure. Publicly available written discipline policies (n=120) were drawn from state board of education web-sites in six states (Illinois, Iowa, Georgia, Texas, New York, Oregon). The Analysis of Discipline Codes Rating System (ADCR-R) was used as a tool to analyze the behaviors. The frequency of school responses …

Immigrant Stories: Generation 1.5 Mexican American Students And English Language Learning In An Illinois Community College, Thomas Lloyd Hansen

Dissertations

The number of recent immigrants to the United States has increased dramatically in the last few years, and more of these immigrants are members of a group often designated as "Generation 1.5" students. These immigrant students were born in another country, came to the United States at the age of 13 or older, and graduated from high school in this country. This qualitative research study occurs within two Illinois community colleges that require some students to enroll in courses below regular English Composition I as indicated by one or more placement tests. These courses are English as a Second Language …

The Role Of Institutional Relations With Alumni Major Donors In Evangelical Higher Education, Brian Gardner

Dissertations

American higher education has never been more expensive. Its continued excellence and accessibility depends even more today on charitable subsidy. As previous beneficiaries of that charitable subsidy, alumni are the most logical benefactor of its sustenance. The relatively few alumni who can give most generously make the difference in the success of any fund raising effort. Understanding the motivation of alumni major gift prospects to give such gifts is therefore critical to securing them.

This study seeks to understand 1) the strategies and processes institutions employ in engaging alumni major donors, 2) the motivations of these donors to give or …

The Impact Of Tracking On Student Achievement: A Multilevel Growth Model, Carrie Christine Livingston

Dissertations

Tracking is the process of sorting students into different curriculum tracks, such as academic, general or vocational, based on student's abilities, interests, and needs. Ability grouping pertains to academic subjects and is the process of placing students with similar skills and abilities into levels, such as an honors level course or a regular level course. This study defines a track as the course level in which a student is enrolled within an academic subject, such as remedial, regular, or honors. The purpose of this research study is to further explore the relationship between academic tracks and student achievement and to …

An Historical Analysis Of The Chicago Public Schools Desegregation Consent Decree (1980 - 2006): Establishing Its Relationship With The Brown V. Board Case Of 1954 And The Implications Of Its Implementation On Educational Leadership, Shawn L. Jackson

Dissertations

This study provides an historical analysis of the Chicago Public School Desegregation Consent Decree, while illustrating its relationship with the Brown v. Board of 1954. It provides and analysis of the mission and objectives of all three versions of the Consent Decree which include: The Original Consent Decree 1980, The Modified Consent Decree 2004, and The Second Amended Decree 2006. The study also provides an account of the Brown v. Board case of 1954, defining the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as the conduits between the landmark case and the Chicago …

Mid-Childhood Immigrant Perspectives On Achieving College Success, Mark John Litwicki

Dissertations

This study extends what is known about the experience of mid-childhood immigration. Fifteen participants, college students who immigrated to the U.S. from Latin America between the ages of 8 and 16 and who had completed at least a semester of transferable college-level coursework, provided their narratives by way of an open-ended interview focusing primarily on academic performance and achievement. Interviews were conducted using a life story methodology which seeks to maximize participant control over responses. Participants recounted their experiences from arrival through school completion and at college, and described which variables - circumstances, characteristics, behaviors, attitudes, events - they perceived …

Turmoil, Tirades And Transformation: The Wars For The National History Standards 1991-2004, Phyllis Margaret Henry

Dissertations

This document presents a research project in the format of an historical narrative that chronicles the issues, process of consensus, and the impact of the National History Standards Project (NHSP) on local policies and curricula in history education. The influence of the voluntary national history standards movement is chronicled with the local development of social science standards-based curricula with the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and the Chicago Public Schools (CPS).

This dissertation is a case study that utilizes multiple sources of research such as archival primary sources, oral history interviews and participant observations to corroborate the evidence. The …

Building Level Principals As Change Agents In A Response To Intervention Reform Initiative, Kristen Elizabeth Ninni

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of the principal in a systems change effort. Utilizing Response to Intervention (RtI) as a means of studying principals as change agents, this researcher examined the principals' ability to implement and sustain a reform effort such as RtI as perceived by the principal, problem solving team, and teachers. This study examined how the perceptions influenced the change process and the extent to which the principal demonstrated characteristics of change such as knowledge of change, self-efficacy or their belief in their ability to make changes, and skills of change as supported …

Examining The Relationship Among Reading Curriculum-Based Measures, Level Of Language Proficiency, And State Accountability Test Scores With Middle School Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners, Nicole Osterman Stokes

Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to examine the predictive ability of oral reading fluency (R-CBM) on a sixth grade high-stakes assessment with ELL and non- ELL students, as well as determine the average rate of growth on R-CBM and how that relates to level of English Proficiency. The participants in the current study included 350 sixth grade students from a middle school located in west Phoenix, AZ. Ninety of the 350 students were English Language Learners at varying levels of language proficiency in English. Archival data was used for the study. Each participant completed R-CBM three times throughout …

Internet Advocacy Support For Families Of Children With Emotional Difficulties, Maureen Elizabeth Curtin

Dissertations

Archival data from a survey of parents of children with emotional difficulties who are members of a specific online support group are examined to determine to what degree, if any, those parents are using internet resources to access sources of information for

advocacy. Twelve specific variables were collapsed into four sources of importance: Legal, School, Personal and Online sources that served as the dependent variables. Demographic data were collected and parent income was collapsed into three variables: Upper, Middle and Lower. Parent level of education was collapsed into three categories: College degree and above, Some college, and High school and …

The Impact Of Intrusive Advising On Academic Self Efficacy Beliefs In First-Year Students In Higher Education, Lauren Kemner Miller

Dissertations

First-year retention rates have seen minimal gains as high numbers of first-year students are leaving college due to insufficient academic skills and inability to adjust to the academic and social life of college. Programs that provide strategies to improve the transition from high school to college and that help develop skills to facilitate academic success are needed. This study presents a mixed method approach to examine intrusive academic advising and the impact of this program on first-year students enrolled at a four-year, private institution. Semi-structured interviews and the College Self Efficacy Inventory were utilized to gather the data.

First-year students …

Resurrecting The Past, Constructing The Future: A Historical Investigation On The Formation Of A Greek National Identity In Schools, 1834-1913, Theodore G. Zervas

Dissertations

This dissertation research combines archival data and historical methods and analyzes how schooling and education in Greece between 1834 and 1913 sought to shape a Greek national identity. The goal of this project is to present a historical analysis, that has thus far been absent from scholarship on the subject, and to convey how the adoption of a common national history in Greece, with roots to ancient Greece, assisted in the shaping of a Greek national identity. The timeframe this project examines is significant because it covers an important portion of Modern Greek history. The beginning of the modern state …

Internalizing Mental Health Disorders: Examining The Connection Between Children's Symptoms And Parent Involvement And Autonomy Support., Anne Walsh

Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the connection between parent involvement and autonomy support, as well as the combined construct of autonomy supportive parent involvement, with internalized mental health symptoms. A secondary purpose of this study is to determine how certain parent demographics relate to attitudes and behaviors towards both parent involvement and autonomy support. Similarly, this study seeks to examine how certain how student demographics relate to internalized mental health symptoms.

The participants in this study were parents with one or more children in grades K-8 at three different schools in the suburbs of a large …

Pedagogy And Primary Sources: Outcomes Of The Library Of Congress' Professional Development Program, Teaching With Primary Sources At Loyola, Michelle Fry

Dissertations

Until recently, few K-12 teachers outside of social studies have integrated primary sources in classroom instruction. Integrating primary sources in educational practice does require an uncommon pedagogical understanding. Addressing this K-12 educator need is the Library of Congress. Recently, the Library implemented a national educator professional development program, Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS).

The TPS program operates at multiple universities and colleges, including Loyola University Chicago. This program aims to educate K-12 educators of all subject-areas to integrate online, digitized primary sources into classroom practices. This study addressed questions related to the outcomes of teacher participants' classroom practices after completing …

An Historical Analysis Of The Chicago Public Schools Policy On The Requirements For The Selection Of Principals, 1983-2008, Siobhan Marie Cafferty

Dissertations

This historical analysis provided an opportunity to appreciate Chicago's course in

the national school reform landscape. This study helped to understand the effects school

reform efforts had on school leadership policy in Chicago. It verified a roster of

superintendents in Chicago during 1983-2008, established a chronology of school reform

events and assembled an inventory of reform policies, theories and directives that

potentially may create the capacity to instruct and inform future initiatives, perspective

and debate on the issue of principal preparation at the local level. The analysis of change

in local policy echoed and identified national educational trends in this …