Education Commons^™

Organizing A Grassroots Math Literacy Campaign: The Launching Of The Young People’S Project In Los Angeles, Michael Jacob Farber

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to delve into the emerging awareness of the social factors that contribute to the teaching and learning of mathematics by documenting the experiences of Math Literacy Workers in the Young People’s Project, as it formed its Los Angeles Chapter. Twelve high school students, three college students and one program coordinator participated in this research study.

This research study focused on a series of math literacy workshops conducted as part of an after-school program at Roosevelt Elementary School. Built upon the legacy of the Mississippi Freedom Riders, the Young People’s Project has developed an engaging …

The Impact Of Treatment Intensity On A Parent And Child Therapy Program, Jennifer Carrasco

Dissertations (1934 -)

Behavior problems are prevalent in toddlers and preschoolers and can cause significant distress for caregivers and adversely affect young children's development. Research has shown that participation in Parent-Child Therapy (PCT) programs significantly reduces childhood behavior problems while increasing positive parent and child behaviors. Yet past research has not attended to the role of treatment intensity on program effectiveness, and the question of whether greater doses of treatment are associated with stronger outcomes in PCT programs has yet to be explored. The present study investigated the impact of treatment intensity on outcomes in a treatment program for low-income children age five …

Therapist Self-Disclosure With Adolescents: A Consensual Qualitative Research Study, Jacquelyn Julie Smith

Dissertations (1934 -)

Surprisingly little empirical attention has focused on therapist self-disclosure as an intervention with youth. Given the dearth of research in this area and the rising interest in evidenced-based practice, this study hoped to provide a deeper understanding of the effective use of therapist self-disclosure with adolescents. Twelve master's- and doctoral-level child therapists were interviewed regarding their use of therapist self-disclosure with adolescent clients. Participants largely felt that it was important to use therapist self-disclosure carefully and for the benefit of the client. Most participants had some level of training on therapist self-disclosure and felt that the intervention can be beneficial. …

School Resource Officers In Missouri Public Schools: School Safety And Academic Success, John W. Link

Dissertations

This study was designed to explore the relationship between the presence of a school resource officer and a safe school climate, as well as, increased student achievement. Additionally, the perceptions of public school superintendents regarding the impact of school resource officers on safe school climate and academic success were investigated using the Correlates of Effective Schools as a framework. The research was divided into sections to observe two sets of data. Section I included an examination of Missouri school districts with a student population of 2,000 or less, comparing 20 schools with school resource officers to 20 schools without school …

Doctrina, Fides, Gubernatio: Messmer High School From 1926-2001, Rebecca A. Lorentz

Dissertations (1934 -)

In 1926, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee dissertationed its first Diocesan high school, hoping thereby to provide Milwaukee's north side with its own Catholic school. By 1984 the Archdiocese claimed that the combination of declining enrollment and rising operating costs left it no option other than permanently closing Messmer. In response, a small group of parents and community members aided by private philanthropy managed to redissertation the school shortly thereafter as an independent Catholic school. This reemergence suggested a compelling portrait of the meaning given to a school, even as ethnic, religious, and racial boundaries shifted.

Modern studies tend to regard …

The Clinical Utility Of The Conners' Continuous Performance Test In The Evaluation Of Youth With Conduct Disorder, Stephanie Raszkiewicz

Dissertations (1934 -)

The purpose of this study was to investigate neuropsychological factors related to performance on the Conners' Continuous Performance Test, Second Edition (CPT-II) among youth who met criteria for Conduct Disorder when compared to a control group of youth who did not meet criteria for Conduct Disorder (CD). The CPT-II is an instrument commonly used to assess for the presence of ADHD. Since research has shown a strong co-occurrence of CD with ADHD, with some authors reporting it to be as high as 90%, it was important to examine how a group of youth with CD would perform on this instrument …

A Phenomenological Study Of Children's Experiences While Families Receive Services From A Homeless Agency, Sonya Lorelle

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Children who experience homelessness have an increased risk for negative outcomes in several developmental areas (Bucker, 2008). While there are numerous programs that hope to mediate these and other risks by offering services to families experiencing homelessness, there is a paucity of research that addresses how children's psychosocial needs are being addressed in existing programs (Gewirtz, Hart-Shegos, & Medhanie, 2008). In addition, there is also a lack of research which represents the children's and parents' perspectives and experiences in supportive housing programs, such as transitional and permanent supportive housing, or in-home case management programs. With this phenomenological qualitative study, I …

Critical Components Of Community College Enrollment Management Planning, Karen Hart Bucher

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Enrollment management has become a common practice at four-year institutions, but has not been extensively explored at community colleges. As students have more educational options available to them, community colleges have begun to explore ways to grow their enrollment, improve student retention and increase graduation rates. This study explored the critical components necessary for implementing a successful enrollment management initiative at three community colleges across the U.S.

To determine the critical components at community colleges, a case study was conducted. Each case was evaluated individually and then the three cases were compared with each other to determine thematic similarities and …

Factors That Influence Faculty Intentions To Support The Community College Baccalaureate, Lori Kielty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An increasing number of community colleges in the United States are becoming baccalaureate-granting institutions. Proponents of the community college baccalaureate (CCB) argue that the CCB provides students with access to higher education, while others argue the CCB will compromise the community college's core values.

The purpose of this study is to explore faculty members' intention to support the CCB transition. Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior provides the theoretical framework for the study. The theory assumes that changes in behavior are intentional and, therefore, can be planned. This theory posits that attitudes, subjective (social) norms, and perceived behavioral control predict intentions …

The Dream Is Alive: A Study Of Selected African American Males' Success At Rowan University, Cory Boone

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to better understand why African American males struggle to obtain a four-year college degree. A secondary purpose was to analyze the Black male college students' perceptions of success in college and the roles educational leaders played in their attendance and achievement in college. This study also looked at the behavior of the African American males in college. Purposive sampling was used to select participants. Selection criteria included male, African American undergraduate and graduate students attending Rowan University during the 2009/2010 academic year who were student leaders, and doing well in the classroom. Also, selected …

Guided Notes In The Pre-Algebra Mathematics Classroom, Lynn C. Morris

Theses and Graduate Projects

Students who attend an 8^th grade mathematics class in the middle school at my district and who are not placed in an accelerated class, are placed in Book 3 of MathThematics (Billstein & Williamson, 2002, p. 393-466). I have introduced guided notes for the pre-algebra classroom in an effort to increase 8^th graders' classroom participation and engagement and to improve content mastery of Pre-Algebra. This study was an effort to understand if the guided notes increase student's level of Pre-Algebra mastery in my classroom. I wanted to find out if guided notes increased participation and engagement compared to …

The Predictive Relationship Between Temperament, School Adjustment, And Academic Achievement: A 2-Year Longitudinal Study Of Children At-Risk, Maha Al-Hendawi

Theses and Dissertations

Individual differences in temperament can be a risk or a protective factor for a child, especially for children at-risk who possess single or multiple risk factors that may interfere with their educational success and affect their healthy development and their life-long outcomes. This research study examined the concurrent and longitudinal relationships between temperament, school adjustment, and academic achievement in children at-risk. Seventy-seven children, ages five to 11 years, were reassessed two years after an initial study. Their teachers completed the Temperament Assessment Battery for Children (TABC), the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC), and reported on the children's academic achievement. …

How Do First Graders Define A Family?, Kelly Ann Mcgrail

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study was to determine how first grade students define a family. Qualitative research was used as the methodology for this inquiry. The participants were thirteen first grade inclusion students in a school that is located in Southern New Jersey. An instructional unit depicting various family constellations was implemented along with authentic discussions, a student survey, an interactive bulletin board, a classroom library containing family books, and writing prompts contained in My Family Journal. The data collected and analyzed was from student discussion, the subjects' work, direct observation of pupils, the instructional unit, and a teacher research …

Student Motivation: The Impact Intrinsic Motivation And Extrinsic Rewards Have On Elementary Students, Renee Tybus

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to determine what happens when intrinsically motivating strategies and an extrinsic reward program are implemented in a fifth-grade inclusion classroom. The intrinsic strategies of enthusiasm, incorporating student choice into the lessons, and cooperative learning groups were used to help teach students during their literacy block. Additionally, an extrinsic reward program was put into effect once the three strategies had already been conducted. Qualitative inquiry strategies such as student motivation surveys, teacher observation checklists, focus group discussions, student written feedback, and observations recorded in my own teacher research journal, were all used to facilitate …

The Group Selection Questionnaire: Discriminant Outcomes And Effectiveness, Jeffrey Lee Elder

Theses and Dissertations

The Group Selection Questionnaire (GSQ; Cox et al., 2004) is a measure that has been developed to facilitate clinical decisions about a client's readiness for group psychotherapy. The GSQ has demonstrated an ability to predict which clients will experience a reduction in distress through the use of group psychotherapy. This dissertation examines the Group Selection Questionnaire's ability to measure client characteristics that predict the client's ability to benefit from receiving group psychotherapy compared to the ability to benefit from receiving another form of treatment, such as individual or a combination of individual and group psychotherapy, as measured by improved scores …

Relationship Of Self-Efficacy Beliefs Of Urban Public School Students To Performance On A High-Stakes Mathematics Test, Kolajo Akinbiyi Afolabi

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of self-efficacy for Enlisting Social Resources, Self-Regulatory Efficacy, self-efficacy for Self-Regulated Learning, and self-efficacy for Academic Achievement (Bandura's Children's Self-Efficacy Scale, 2006) of urban public school students to performance on the high stakes Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) math test. A survey questionnaire was administered to eighty three participants and the data, analyzed using linear regression, conformed to the assumptions of Independence, Linearity, Normality, and Homoscedasticity. Self-Regulatory Efficacy, Academic Achievement, and Socio-economic Status were statistically significant bivariate predictors of performance on MCAS math test. Self-Regulatory Efficacy was the only consistent …

Factors Influencing Transition And Persistence In The First Year For Community College Students With Disabilities, Lori A. Corcoran

Open Access Dissertations

Community colleges have always played a crucial role in providing access to college, especially for students with disabilities. At the same time the rate of completion is exceptionally low for this particular population (Belch, 2004). In order to improve persistence and achievement measurably, colleges may seek clues in successful transitions by students with disabilities. This project presents a qualitative research study to illuminate factors that contribute to semester-by-semester success of community college students with disabilities during their first year. A conceptual model of successful transitional processes was developed from theoretical constructs reported in the literature and was expanded by data …

Creating Classroom Relationships That Allow Students To Feel Known, Kent Alan Divoll

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to use grounded theory and case study methodology to identify and describe the ways that an upper elementary school teacher makes students feel known and respected for who they are by creating a relationship-driven classroom community. Analyzing how a teacher uses a relationship-driven classroom community has the potential to improve upon existing classroom community models. Data were collected from a teacher questionnaire, student questionnaire, samples of student work, document collection, two formal interviews with ten students, two formal interviews the teacher, and descriptive field notes from observations. Results indicated creating teacher-student relationships that …

Teachers' Resistance: Japanese Teachers Stories From The 1960s, Reiko Kato

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to listen to teachers' stories and reconstruct their classrooms in the midst of the global upheaval of people's movements in the 1960s-70s through teachers' narratives. The primary research questions are: How did social movements in the 1960s-1970s influence their teaching practices? What was their intention and how did they carry out their daily teaching practice? In the educational research field, narrative inquirers explore teachers' stories, their life experiences and teaching practices, in order to understand how teachers view the world. I collected stories, through in-depth interviews, of ten Japanese teachers who taught in Japanese …

Working Together: The Role Of Collaborations In Promoting The Use Of Academic Technologies In Higher Education, Kate Hudson

Open Access Dissertations

Through the centuries, institutions of higher education, and the people who labor in those institutions, have helped countless millions to learn--to stretch their boundaries, to think creatively, to find joy in discovery, and to create new knowledge that benefits the world in a myriad of ways. Yet while the knowledge produced through our educational process has transformed the world, the process of teaching and learning within these institutions has remained largely unexplored and unchanged over the centuries (Bass, 2009; Duderstadt, Atkins, & Van Houweling, 2002; Woolsey, 2008). In recent years, the advent and rapid development of information technology has provided …

Joy And Happiness In Education And Spirituality: Teachings Of Imam, Sheikh Iskender Ali Mihr, Ibrahim Taner Okatan

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to bring more clarification to the concepts of spirituality and happiness, their meaning, attainability, and position in the field of Multicultural Education. In general, people think they will find joy and happiness if they graduate from a post-secondary educational institution with an undergraduate or graduate degree, find a good work environment, position, salary, living standards, status, etc. Yet, in the real world there may be a different way to find genuine happiness and joy which is fair, simple, easy and equal for all human beings even those who cannot afford higher levels of education. …

Using Item Mapping To Evaluate Alignment Between Curriculum And Assessment, Leah Tepelunde Kaira

Open Access Dissertations

There is growing interest in alignment between state's standards and test content partly due to accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. Among other problems, current alignment methods almost entirely rely on subjective judgment to assess curriculum-assessment alignment. In addition none of the current alignment models accounts for student actual performance on the assessment and there are no consistent criteria for assessing alignment across the various models. Due to these problems, alignment results employing different models cannot be compared. This study applied item mapping to student response data for the Massachusetts Adult Proficiency Test (MAPT) …

Item Parameter Drift As An Indication Of Differential Opportunity To Learn: An Exploration Of Item Flagging Methods & Accurate Classification Of Examinees, Tia M. Sukin

Open Access Dissertations

The presence of outlying anchor items is an issue faced by many testing agencies. The decision to retain or remove an item is a difficult one, especially when the content representation of the anchor set becomes questionable by item removal decisions. Additionally, the reason for the aberrancy is not always clear, and if the performance of the item has changed due to improvements in instruction, then removing the anchor item may not be appropriate and might produce misleading conclusions about the proficiency of the examinees. This study is conducted in two parts consisting of both a simulation and empirical data …

A Program Evaluation Of The Building Construction Of Bellevue Elementary School For The Bellevue Public Schools, Matthew Blomenkamp

Student Work

The purpose of this study was the identification of data to be used in creating a process to be employed in future construction in the Bellevue Public School District. Use of a process will enable the district to become more efficient, effective, and financially responsible in future construction projects.

Causes Of Nonattendance And Its Effect On Student Achievement At The High School Level, Kelly D. Bracht

Dissertations

Many high schools in America have issues with student nonattendance. The researcher designed this mixed methods study to determine the affect of nonattendance on student achievement and to ascertain whether home-related factors or school-related factors were more significant causes of nonattendance. Both the high school in this study and other similar schools may use the results to develop effective nonattendance intervention programs. The researcher used cluster sampling to determine the sample population. She then collected attendance data (the number of absences each student had during one semester) and achievement data (each student’s Grade Point Average during that same semester) about …

A Comparison Of The Career And Technical Education Programs In A Us Community College And A Chinese Institution, Harry Hou

Dissertations

This research study explores and compares the career and technical education programs offered in a US community college and the vocational/career and technology education programs offered in a comparable Chinese postsecondary institution. The study sought to find positive transferable characteristics of the career and technical education programs in each country, which could be shared by similar institutions in China and the US.

Under the impact of globalization, international cooperation and collaboration between institutions and programs becomes more and more important, particularly considering there are many shared problems and thus the potential for shared solutions. This research offers insights and information …

What Do Primary School Principals From The Yamaji Region Or Mid West Education District Say About Their School's Bullying Prevention And Management Guidelines And Practices And How They Support The Strengths And Needs Of Aboriginal Students And Their Families?, Dionne Paki

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background: Australia‟s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are over represented in poor health and education outcomes. Little is known about the bullying experiences of Aboriginal school age children and young people. This Master's study aimed to investigate the policies and practises school principals use for bullying prevention and management in primary schools located in the Yamaji region or Midwest Education District of Western Australia.
This study was conducted in conjunction with the Child Health Promotion Research Centre‟s Solid Kids, Solid Schools project. Solid Kids, Solid Schools is a four-year study that aimed to contextualise the bullying experiences of Yamaji school-age …

Transitions To A New Museum: An Examination Of The Factors That Lead Museums Toward Education As An Institution Priority, Tanya Tobias-Tomis

MALS Final Projects, 1995-2019

This essay discusses how changes to state and federal funding, increasing competition from non-museum arts organizations and a desire to strengthen, build and diversify audiences encouraged museums to position education as an institutional priority. These factors combined with an intensifying frustration about a lack of professional standards and growing criticism of the field, encouraged museum educators to develop and adopt new, more effective ways of engaging audiences. This essay also explores how and why museums universally adopted Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) to better position themselves to compete for participation and funding. This essay concludes with several suggestions, or a plan, …

A Study Of The Impact Of Late Night Programming On Student Involvement At Rowan University, Brian Milsted

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate student attitudes toward Rowan After Hours (RAH) and to determine the program's impact on student involvement. There were 365 respondents during the Spring 2010 semester. All respondents had attended at least one night of Rowan After Hours. A survey was used to gather attitudes toward various aspects of the campus late night program: Operations, Food Service, Activities, Professional Staff, and the Sense of Community. Students were given an opportunity to list what they like most and least about the program. Established research indicates a strong connection between students who socialize and higher …

Perceptions Of State-Funded, School District-Based Principal Preparation Programs In Virginia 2004-2006, Kathryn Kirk

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed methods case study described and analyzed the 2004-2006 district-based principal preparation programs in Virginia. This dissertation explored goals stated in proposals for funding as well as program director and program completer perceptions of goals, content, processes, and outcomes for the 10 principal preparation programs that stemmed from the Commission to Review, Study, and Reform Educational Leadership. Data collection employed three phases: Phase I focused on the 10 grant proposals; Phase II involved semistructured interview questions centered on perceptions of nine participating program directors; Phase III investigated perceptions of 75 program completers who responded to a web-based survey. Data …