Education Commons^™

Measurement Of Online Student Engagement: Utilization Of Continuous Online Student Behaviors As Items In A Partial Credit Rasch Model, Elizabeth Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Student engagement has been shown to be essential to the development of research-based best practices for K-12 education. It has been defined and measured in numerous ways. The purpose of this research study was to develop a measure of online student engagement for grades 3 through 8 using a partial credit Rasch model and validate the measure using confirmatory factor analysis. The dataset for this research study comprised approximately 20,000 online students in grades 3 through 8 from five different online schools. Two random samples of 10,000 students each were drawn for the measure development process and the validation of …

A Collective Case Study: Student Voice And The Implications For Partnership, Activism And Leadership, Brian Eric Duwe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative, collective case study was to explore urban high school student and teacher perceptions of student voice, specifically in the areas of partnership, activism and leadership. This study addresses the Civic Opportunity Gap, which impacts urban youth and the disjuncture between the civic ideals of the United States and their day-to-day experiences within the civic institutions that shape their lives. This study was designed to examine the following three questions: What opportunities exist within the urban high school setting for partnership, activism and leadership? What are the perceived barriers that influence opportunities for partnership, activism …

Middle School Noncognitive Development In A Sample Of Hispanic/Latino Youth, Jill E. Mcvey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the development of noncognitive skills in a sample of 4,769 Hispanic/Latino students as they went through middle school and the first year of high school using ACT Engage 6-9, an assessment designed to predict student outcomes by measuring students' behaviors and psychosocial attributes. The scales of Academic Discipline, Relationships with School Personnel, and Thinking before Acting were examined longitudinally through HLM analysis. The factors of gender and several indices of academic achievement were used to predict differences in students' starting scores and growth over time.

All factors related to academic achievement were significantly related to differences in …

The Relationship Between Teacher Cultural Competency And Student Engagement, Erin Nicole Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory study investigated teachers' cultural competency and their students' engagement within international high schools located in Hong Kong. Cultural competency is defined as a combination of knowledge about cultural groups as well as attitudes towards and skills for dealing with cultural diversity (Betancourt, 2003). The literature indicates that cultural competency will continue to play an increasingly important role in the professional work place as culturally diverse people become more interdependent. When examining the classroom experience, cultural competency equates to a teacher's ability to successfully instruct and engage culturally different students.

The students in this study reported over 30 different …

The Relationship Between Middle School Students' Perceptions Of Physical Activity, Student Engagement, And Academic Achievement, Jeremy D. Moretti

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Physical activity is important, and many adolescents are not meeting the recommendation that youth participate in at least 60 minutes of physical activity most days of the week (CDC, 2011). Physical inactivity among middle school students is on the rise and may be a contributing factor to a decline in academic performance. Prior research has focused primarily on bodily health; however, growing evidence supports the benefits of physical activity for academic achievement (Chomitz et al., 2009). This study examined the relationship between middle school students' perceptions of physical activity and student engagement they relate to academic achievement among 179 middle …

Student Engagement Differences By Ethnicity And Scale For Ninth Grade Students, Melissa Mcfarland Fattor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Differences on three subscales of student engagement were compared across ethnic groups and by subscale. The ninth grade is often considered a vital juncture that indicates success or failure to graduate high school. When a student goes through a transition he or she often experiences some type of change in student engagement levels and may experience adverse effects in the form of academic, social, and psychological challenges. Researchers of the National Research Council (2004) believe that the engagement process (the successful interaction between the individual and the educational context) is considered a means toward alleviating unsuccessful student outcomes. Therefore, this …