Education Commons^™

Community Social Disorganization Theory Applied To Adolescent Academic Achievement, Spencer Ross Baker

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Over the years, the public education system has been transformed by outside political and societal forces to provide an equal opportunity for all students. Investigations of the public education system were not consistent and yielded divergent results on how to improve adolescent academic achievement. These divergent results were caused by different operationalizations of variables, data analytical procedures that possibly provided biased parameter estimates, and a failure to use a comprehensive theory. Although these results were inconsistent, the latest transformation of the public education system currently involves holding schools, administrators, parents, and students accountable for learning.

The measurement of success in …

Predicting Academic Success Of Entering Freshmen At An Urban University Through The Assessment Of Oral And Written Language Competency, Karen D. Cobbs

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

In Moores and Klas' (1989) definitive study on college student retention, postsecondary administrators ranked the maintenance of student enrollment second in importance on a list of twenty critical issues facing higher education. Of particular relevance to college administrators has been the retention and graduation of African-American college students (D. B. Hawkins, 1994; Western Reserve, 1991).

Researchers, in considering the overall problem of student attrition, particularly, among African-Americans, have explored such questions as these: Which students are dropping out (Sherman, Giles and Green, 1994; Robinson, 1992)? Why do they discontinue their studies (Austin, 1982; Bohr et al., 1995; Kraft, 1992; Tinto, …

Causal Attribution And Dimension Differences Between Sixth-Grade Urban Middle School Students Who Pass And Students Who Fail Reading On The Virginia Literacy Passport Test, Elsie Perry Daniels

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Attribution theory, which focuses on student beliefs about why they succeed or fail, was investigated with 220 sixth grade students who were required to pass the Virginia Literacy Passport test. Part I of this study investigated the reliability and validity of Causal Dimension Scale II (McAuley et al., 1992) when it is used with a sixth grade preadolescent population. Part II investigated student attributions for performance outcomes on the reading portion of the Virginia Literacy Passport test. This study researched the hypothesis that middle school students who passed the Virginia Literacy Passport Test (LPT) reading test would attribute their successful …

The Measurement Of Mood Variation Over Time And Its Relation To Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy In Young Adolescents, William Thomas Pinkston

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Variation in mood states over time and the relationship between mood states and career decision making self-efficacy in young adolescents were investigated using the Profile of Mood States (POMS), the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List - Revised (MAACL-R), the Rotter's IE locus of control test, and the Career Planning Confidence Scale (CPCS). These tests were administered twice a week for six weeks. A correlational analysis was performed. The results showed a higher correlation between mood state measures as the subjects' moods varied over time than between either mood measure and locus of control which did not covary with either of …

An Evaluation Of The Norfolk Interagency Consortium's Community-Based System Of Care For At-Risk Youth, Melody Bingman Wilt

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The primary purpose of this research was to design and to implement an evaluation model for the Norfolk Interagency Consortium (NIC). The research design employed in this study focused on four areas of investigation: program clarification, processes and activities, outcomes, and cost. The study utilized qualitative and quantitative methods and procedures.

The program clarification stage of the research served as a pre-evaluative phase. An evaluability assessment was incorporated to define and clarify the NIC'S program components and goals, and determine which goals were evaluable. Data regarding the target population also were collected.

The processes and activities investigation used a survey …

A Model For Assessing The Quality Of Learning In Distance Education, George C. Lassetter Iii

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The factors contributing to the quality of learning in distance education were investigated. These factors were used to develop an empirically based model for the assessment of the quality of learning in distance education. The affective, cognitive, and conative domains of learning and the ethical domain of distance education were defined and used as the theoretical foundation for a search of distance education studies and evaluations that identified over 150 variables that potentially affected quality of learning. A Delphi technique was used to validate the variables and construct a survey instrument. Surveys were distributed to 3 groups totaling 523 students …

Building A Consensus For The Development Of National Standards In History, Mary Vassilikou Bicouvaris

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

This research project examines the process used by the National History Standards Project to build consensus for the development of national standards for teaching history in America's schools.

Since the publication of A Nation At Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform by the National Commission of Excellence in Education in 1983, the American educational community has been in the grips of a reform movement. The aim of this movement is to examine where we have been and where we are going as a nation and to redefine what we believe in and what we believe is important to teach our …

A Responsive Evaluation In Two Hampton Roads Museums: The Development Of A Performance Assessment System For Museum Volunteers, Joan Fishman Hecht

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The purpose of this study is to evaluate volunteer performance in two Hampton Roads museums. The research question was: How can managers of museum volunteer services evaluate volunteer performance? The research design was a naturalistic, responsive, utilization-focused evaluation in response to the research question. The data was collected with a systematic examination of volunteer performance activities using techniques of in-depth interviews, participant observations, a questionnaire, documents and records. The data was analyzed by categorizing, sorting and characterizing the categories, conducting member checks, and prioritizing the data. Triangulation was used to verify the collected information. This study determined important traits, performance …

A Comparison Of The Academic Achievement Of Urban Second-Grade Pupils With Different Forms Of Public Preschool Experience, Elva Williams Hunt

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Assessment of the potential value of the preschool experience has prompted urban educators to consider the advantages of preschool service delivery by the public schools. Urban policy makers ponder whether or not advocacy for preschool education should include advocacy of the provider. This study addressed the provision of preschool service for students from urban low-income families.

The grade placement of students born in three consecutive years was observed to determine their progress during the first three years of public schooling. Students were categorized with regard to their participation in preschool: some had attended a public school system preschool, First Step; …

The Identification Of Gifted Children At The Kindergarten And First-Grade Level In An Urban And Rural Population, Flora Carter Roberts

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

This study examined the nomination procedures and assessment instruments employed in the gifted programs in ten urban and four rural southeastern Virginia school divisions. The procedures and instruments were examined in relation to the proportionate number of black and white children nominated for and determined eligible for the gifted program at kindergarten and grade one. The odds-ratio, a measure of association, was the primary data analysis technique employed.

In urban divisions in which K-1 membership was reported as white, black, other, white children were four times as likely to be a member of the gifted program at the end of …

The Influence Of Brain Hemisphericity On The Composing Process Of Twelfth Graders, Reinholdine Breien-Pierson

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Despite the popularization of the concept of brain hemispheric dominance, little serious research has been done in the area of the role of brain hemisphericity in learning and thought. The purpose of this case study was to explore the role of hemisphericity in the area of student composition to test the theory that the composing process and writing of student papers differs relative to the students' hemispheric dominance. A second area of investigation was to test the theory that teachers value papers written by students who share their hemispheric dominance.

The subjects, eight twelfth graders and four (English) teacher evaluators, …

Parent Participation In The Educational Process And Student Achievement, Linda Worrell Deans

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The purpose of this study was to determine the level of parental involvement between parent and child as well as between parent and school. After the level of parent participation was established, the data set was used to determine whether a relationship exists between the level of parental involvement and student achievement at selected secondary urban schools. The selected secondary schools include two different school divisions.

The study employed five approaches: (1) a descriptive analysis of the variables of parental interaction with the child as it relates to a personal, affective level; a monitoring level; and a social level; as …

An Inquiry Into The Influence Of Expressive Writing Practice On The Transactional Writing Abilities Of Selected Fourth Grade Students, Maureen Elliott Hook

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The study is an inquiry into the influence of expressive writing practice on the transactional writing abilities of selected fourth grade students. It is based on the ideas of James Britton, an English theoretician concerned with writing. The study was formulated to investigate how the process of writing occurs. Writing research is at an early stage, and this study will expand the knowledge of the field.

The study consisted of a treatment group receiving intensive practice with expressive writing over the course of one semester while the control group did not. A posttest was administered which involved the students having …

Research To Develop A Consensus Self-Evaluation Model Of National Norms Of Excellence For Alternating Cooperative Education Programs At Four-Year Colleges And Universities, Constance F. Brothers

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The research described in this dissertation was conducted in response to an expressed need for the development of national norms of excellence for cooperative education programs in the United States in 1980. In academic year 1981-1982 a Delphi technique was used with 12 cooperative education experts, who identified 155 cooperative education program norms of excellence specifically for four-year alternating cooperative education programs.

In academic year 1982-1983, the 155 norms identified were transposed into a 90-item self-evaluation questionnaire which was field tested and sampled at 14 colleges and universities with alternating cooperative education programs in the United States. Of 900 college …