Education Commons^™

A Historical Perspective Of Testing And Assessment Including The Impact Of Summative And Formative Assessment On Student Achievement, Carole Sanger Brink

Dissertations

In 2007, Georgia developed a comprehensive framework to define what students need to know. One component of this framework emphasizes the use of both formative and summative assessments as part of an integral and specific component of the teachers' performance evaluation. Georgia administers the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) to every elementary student in Grades 1 though 8. Before 2008, the state tested eighth-grade students on a quality core curriculum. In 2008, the state began testing students on a Georgia Performance Standard curriculum. A direct comparison of the curriculum change should have contained items to test both curriculums. However, this was …

The Relationship Between Special Education Teachers' Perceptions Of Principal Leadership Behaviors And The Achievement Of Students With Disabilities, Margaret Elizabeth Constantino

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine special education teacher perceptions of principals’ instructional leadership behaviors and students’ academic achievement on the Georgia Comprehensive Criterion-Referenced Tests. The researcher sought to determine if a relationship between specific instructional leadership practices in the areas of setting direction, influencing others, and redesigning the organization as performed by the principal and as perceived by their teachers is related to the achievement of special education subgroups in English/Language Arts and Mathematics. Special educators from elementary schools, identified by the principals, were surveyed to measure the extent to which they perceived their principal exhibited specific …

The Effect Of Teacher Retention On Student Achievement In Third Grade Reading/Language Arts, Kathy Bang Sellers

Dissertations

The United States government has placed emphasis on the placement of highly qualified teachers within each classroom through the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. This becomes more difficult when teachers become frustrated for various reasons and leave the profession of teaching before gaining the necessary experience to positively impact student achievement.

The purpose of the study was to examine the possible relationship between teacher retention, teachers staying within the teaching profession, and the effect it has on student achievement. The study is based on individual teachers' class summary reports from the 2007-2008, 2008-2009, and 2009-2010 …

Leadership Practices That Promote Increased Student Achievement In Secondary Schools, Billy Ray Jones

Dissertations

The purpose of the following study was to determine the degree to which the perceptions of teachers and school level administrators may differ, and the effects of these perceptions on student achievement as measured at the school level by the school’s accountability score reported in the form of the Quality Distribution Index (QDI). This index ranges from 0 to 300 and is used in the state of Mississippi to assign schools to one of seven accountability labels. Schools may be classified as one of the following depending on their QDI score: star, high performing, successful, academic watch, at risk of …

Elementary Students’ Perceptions Of Teachers: Factors That Influence Achievement, Susan Hladky

Dissertations

This quantitative study a) examined third grade students’ perceptions of teachers in relation to care, respect, help, and motivation to succeed; b) examined relationships among achievement, gender, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity and students’ perceptions of their teachers, and c) identified the relationship of students’ perceptions as they relate to higher levels of achievement. The research question that formed the basis of this study was: What is the relationship among student achievement, gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and third grade students’ perceptions of their teachers? A correlational research design was used to identify relationships among students’ perceptions of teachers, gender, socioeconomic status, …

The Relationship Between Inquiry-Based Science Instruction And Student Achievement, Michael Louis Suarez

Dissertations

Teaching science through inquiry has become a focus of recent educational reform in Mississippi and other states. Based on the Constructivist learning theory, inquiry instruction can take many forms, but generally follows the scientific method by requiring students to learn concepts through experimentation and real-world, hands-on experiences.

This dissertation examines the relationship between the amounts of time spent using inquiry-based science instruction and student achievement as measured by the Mississippi State Science Assessment. The study also identifies teacher perceptions of inquiry and the amount of professional development received by participants on using inquiry-based instructional techniques. Finally, this study identifies factors …

Is There A Relationship Between Positive Behavior Supports And Student Achievement?, Todd Edward Boucher

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a relationship exists between a school’s behavior program and student achievement. This study explored the many facets of school behavior plans from across the state of Mississippi and compared the responses of high school principals to the schools’ U.S. history standardized test scores.

School discipline has become an issue that schools find themselves dealing with on a daily basis. While school discipline issues are not new to the educational arena, the way in which some schools are handling them is changing. Some of the changes are as a result of changes …

The Relationship Between Situational Leadership And Student Achievement, Hope Owens Beaver

Dissertations

The study of leadership has been one of great interest for many years and many leadership theories have since surfaced. Bolman and Deal’s (1991) situational leadership theory places leadership styles into four unique frames and suggests that the most effective leaders are able to utilize the most appropriate leadership frame that a situation might require. This study investigates these situational leadership frames which are structural, political, human resource, and symbolic and the relationship they may have with student achievement based on school performance labels given by the Mississippi State Department of Education.

The study was conducted in two months and …

How Do Teacher Qualifications Impact Student Achievement In Relation To The Achievement Model Established By The Mississippi Department Of Education?, Timothy Darren Holland

Dissertations

The following study was conducted in a six-county geographical region and involved teachers from various high schools that taught classes which were involved in the subject area testing program. Each participant taught one of the four state-mandated subject area classes that are tested to determine achievement levels and accreditation ratings for each high school.

The focus of the study was to collect information from each teacher regarding the qualifications they held during the 2009-2010 school year and to compare those qualifications with the mean scale score for each teacher’s subject area classes. The researcher focused on five separate teacher qualifications …