Education Commons^™

Why American Parents Choose Homeschooling, Kimberly Mcfall

Elementary & Secondary Education Faculty Research

This study explored factors that impact parents’ decisions to homeschool their children and examined the relationship between selected demographic factors and families that homeschool using an online survey snowball sample. Past research has focused on four main constructs: religious reasons, school safety, academic instruction, and a child’s special needs. This study elaborated on these four constructs and expanded to include other reasons parents might homeschool such as a need for family time, family travel, distance to school, financial reasons, or wanting to take a nontraditional approach to student learning. Findings suggest that academic instruction, family time and the desire to …

Information Literacy Assessment: Keep It Simple, Keep It Going, Larry Sheret, John A. Steele

Librarian Research

Is it possible to administer an information literacy assessment in only a few classes that would provide essential, adequate, data from semester to semester? In a college with a student body of about 2,000, would it be possible to obtain actionable assessment results if only 150 to 200 students were assessed each semester?

This article is the result of the creation and implementation of the information literacy assessment that was launched in the fall of 2009 by Savage Library at Western State College of Colorado (WSC). WSC changed its name to Western State Colorado University on August 1, 2012. The …

Adult Learner Considerations In Admissions And Enrollment, Tammy R. Johnson, Sonja G. Cantrell

Admissions Faculty Research

As national focus on retention and student success increases, many states and institutions are looking for ways to increase the number of students who ultimately earn degrees. Many are realizing that the non-traditional adult student population is a historically untapped demographic that can provide almost instant, positive changes in graduation rates. This group is often considered low-hanging fruit and can be targeted to quickly complete unfinished degrees. This is especially true for institutions that have a large number of non-completers with high numbers of earned hours. Many non-returners have 90 or more earned hours and simply need some encouragement and …

Principals’ Sense Of Efficacy And Cultural Factors In Rural West Virginia Schools, Louis Watts, Cynthia Kolsun, Vicky Cline, Leatha Williams

Leadership Studies Faculty Research

Some studies of rural education in the United States suggest there are unique features of rural communities that affect schooling and student outcomes. Appalachia has been a special interest of many studies. Chenoweth and Galliher (2004) measured the influence of three cultural factors associated with Appalachia on the college aspirations of rural West Virginia high school students: (1) localism, a sense of connection to the land, (2) historicism, the sense of understanding one’s place in the family and region where born, and (3) familism, the tendency to maintain close family ties geographically and interpersonally. A key influence in creating effective …

Cohesion, Instructional Time And Reading Performance At Mugc Summer Enrichment Program, Sandra S. Stroebel, Brenda S. Harvey, Stephen L. O’Keefe

School Psychology Faculty Research

As schools attempt to improve the services to struggling readers, teacher are encouraged to work collaboratively to enhance instruction. Studies are needed to examine the effects of teaming on student performance. The purpose of this study was to determine if team cohesion or instructional time at Marshall University Graduate College Summer Enrichment Program (MUGCSEP) would be correlated with measures of reading performance for students who attended the program. Statistical analyses yielded a statistically significant correlation between cohesion, instructional time and reading performance during the 2006 program. While in 2007, instructional time was not significantly correlated, cohesion results yielded a mildly …

Factors That Influence The Academic Performance Of Ncaa Division I Athletes, B. David Ridpath Edd, John Kiger Red, Jennifer Y. Mak Phd, Teresa R. Eagle Edd, Greg Letter Phd

Management Faculty Research

Several academic and non-academic factors can influence the academic performance of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletes. Researchers have attempted to determine what non-academic variables might help to explain the college academic performance of college athletes. The non-cognitive variables of a strong support person or role model, involvement in the community, and positive self-concept positively predicted college academic performance. If influential role models do not care how the college athlete performs academically, the college athlete’s academics will suffer.

Creating Time For Research At Marshall University, Deanna Mader, Chong W. Kim

Management Faculty Research

Creating time for research is important, yet difficult. Creating large blocks of dedicated research time is nearly impossible. It is critical, therefore, that the institution encourages all levels to work in a coordinated effort to assist faculty in accessing those precious minutes and smaller blocks of time. At the departmental level the Management and Marketing Division conducts a Research and Teaching (R&T) Forum six to eight times per academic year. The forum allows the division’s 28 faculty members to brainstorm, find areas of similar interests, combine research efforts, and present a “test run” before submission to a journal or conference. …

Poor Rural Neighborhoods And Early School Achievement, Teresa R. Eagle, Robert Bickel, Cynthia Smith

Leadership Studies Faculty Research

School consolidation and the search for economies of scale are threatening to render the neighborhood school obsolete. Nevertheless, students and their families do live in neighborhoods. Consequently, education researchers have asked if there are neighborhood-based advantages and disadvantages which influence student achievement. Research has yielded conflicting results. This may be due to failure to properly define and measure neighborhood, acknowledging variation in its nature from place to place. We use ethnographic material to help operationalize the concept neighborhood for use in quantitative research on two very poor, rural counties in West Virginia. We then do a contextual analysis to gauge …

An Overview Of Recreation And Parks Professional Preparation Programs In Higher Education, Jennifer Y. Mak

Management Faculty Research

The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of recreation and parks professional preparation programs in higher education. This paper will (a) help to understand the framework of recreation and parks professional preparation programs, (b) discuss the factors which influence the professional preparation outcomes, and (c) help to identify future research needs. The discussion is based on the framework for studying professional preparation programs by Stack, et al. (1986). The key element of the framework for studying recreation and parks professional preparation programs is the recreation and parks professional preparation environment which was the product of external, internal …

Top-Down, Routinized Reform In Low-Income, Rural Schools: Nsf's Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative, Robert Bickel, Terry Tomasek, Teresa Hardman Eagle

Leadership Studies Faculty Research

Since 1991, the National Science Foundation has funded fifty-nine state, urban, and rural systemic initiatives. The purpose of the initiatives is to promote achievement in math, science, and technology among all students, and to encourage schools and communities to secure the resources needed to maintain such outcomes. The Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI) is a six-state consortium which focuses these efforts on low-income, rural schools. The primary means of accomplishing ARSI's aims is a one-day-one-school site visit, called a Program Improvement Review, done by an ARSI math or science expert. The centrally important Program Improvement Reviews, however, seem to be …

A Study Of School Disturbance In The United States: A Twentieth Century Perspective, Part One, Gordon A. Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Research

In 1989, President George Bush. and the Nation's fifty governors, held a historic education summit that culminated in the adoption of six National Education Goals. These six broad goals were intended to serve as a framework for future reform efforts. The sixth goal of the United States' National Educational Goals states:

By the year 2000, every school in America will be free of drugs and violence and will offer a disciplined environment conducive to learning. The stated objectives are: Every school will implement a firm and fair policy on use, possession, and distribution of drugs and alcohol. Parents, businesses, and …

A Study Of School Disturbance In The United States: A Twentieth Century Perspective, Part Two, Gordon A. Crews

Criminal Justice Faculty Research

In 1989, President George Bush. and the Nation's fifty governors, held a historic education summit that culminated in the adoption of six National Education Goals. These six broad goals were intended to serve as a framework for future reform efforts. The sixth goal of the United States' National Educational Goals states:

By the year 2000, every school in America will be free of drugs and violence and will offer a disciplined environment conducive to learning. The stated objectives are: Every school will implement a firm and fair policy on use, possession, and distribution of drugs and alcohol. Parents, businesses, and …

19800617: Academic Affairs, 1968-1980, Academic Affairs

Guides to University Archives

These items include materials from the office of Academic Affairs at Marshall University from 1968-1980. Items were received in 1980 and include notable materials from Faculty Personnel Committee, Commencement and Honorary Degrees Committee, Physical Facilities & Planning Committee, Student Conduct and Welfare Committee, University Council, and Public Relations and Publications Committee. This is not an exhaustive list. Please download the finding aid for a full list of contents.