Education Commons^™

The Importance Of Collaboration Between Parents And School In Special Education: Perceptions From The Field, Heather Renee Griffin

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Each student receiving special education services in the public school system, roughly 6.4 million students, has an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that is mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA). IDEA dictates that a team of people familiar with the student, including the parents, should create the IEP. Unfortunately, research indicates that many parents believe their participation is not welcome. While only a small percentage of parents may actually be dissatisfied with the IEP process, the cost of dissatisfaction is high, further stretching already limited resources that could be better used in the classroom.

The …

The Impact Of Student Support Services On Academic Success At A Select Historically Black College And University, Andrea Marie Cummings

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine and examine the impact of student support services (SSS) on academic success at a historically black college. The study was grounded in the theoretical framework of Astin’s Input-Environment-Outcome Model (IEO), Scholssberg’s theory of marginality, holistic theory , facilitation theory, and the theory of sensory simulation (Dunn, 2002; Anderson et. al., 2011; Dennick, 2014 and Pritchard, 2013)

A mixed method approach was used to quantify and explicate triangulated data, which included the N-LSSI survey, archival data, and focus group interviews. The N-LSSI survey used a 7-point Likert Scale, and students from The College …

No Teacher Left Behind: An Exploration Of The Current Teacher Performance Evaluation System In Florida, Tara C. Haley

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The use of standardized test scores to hold schools, students, and teachers accountable for their performance has been at the heart of education reform efforts throughout the United States for years. Recent reform efforts have been especially focused on including the standardized testing performance of students into the overall evaluation of teacher effectiveness. In several states throughout the country, including Florida, results from teacher performance evaluations are being used to inform professional development, tenure, retention, termination, and compensation decisions.

The purpose of this study was to explore the teacher performance evaluation system initiated in Florida in 2011 as perceived by …

Beyond High School Readiness In The 21st Century: A Multi-Case Study Of The Perspectives Of African American High School Students In Accelerated Learning Programs And Their Experiences Of Success In Terms Of Efficacy, Ethnicity, And Future Aspirations, Phyllis Findley Pearson

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Secondary Education reform efforts have focused on perpetual achievement gaps for more than a decade, highlighting the essence of state level standardized test scores in reading and math, among diverse student groups in relation to their white peers. The reauthorization of ESEA (2013), is a reform effort described as the Student Success Act, whereby the expectation of student success is described in terms of all students graduating from high school, both college and career ready. The concept of no child left behind remains at the base of the law, which designates federal funds for education programs designed to ensure equal …

Parental Involvement In The College-Going Process: A Q Methodology Study, Glori White Peters

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explored parent perspectives about their participation in a federal TRIO pre-college program. Specifically, parents were asked to identify the program elements that encouraged and supported their participation in the college-going process of their child in a TRIO pre-college program. Forty parents of low-income, first generation TRIO students were purposefully selected for this study because they had participated in the parent component and because their child had enrolled in college within a year of high school graduation.

Q methodology was used for this study because it is designed to address the subjective first person viewpoint. In this Q study, …

Facility Matters: The Perception Of Academic Deans Regarding The Role Of Facilities In Higher Education, Wallace Harris

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine how academic deans perceived the characteristics of facility built environment and its impact on learning in higher education. Q methodology was used as the means to explore the subjective opinions of academic deans within the State of Florida regarding the facility built environment’s impact on learning in higher education. For this Q study, the concourse statements were the result of communications taken from the subject literature and participant responses to this study’s online concourse questionnaire. The resulting 32 item Q sample was sorted online by 43 academic deans, associate and assistant deans. …

Learning Strategies And Leadership Behaviors Of Small Business Leaders In Northeast Florida, Terikay Rumancik

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The intent of this study was to examine the leadership behaviors and learning strategies of Successful Small Business Leaders (SSBLs) in Northeast Florida. Information gathered during this study may help current and future small business owners develop, maintain, and make their organizations more productive through the use of the learning strategies and leadership behaviors employed by SSBLs. Through a two-prong approach, the study examined both leadership and learning. The study addressed the following two questions: 1) What learning strategies are used most by successful small business leaders? and 2) What leadership behaviors are exhibited most by successful small business leaders? …