Education Commons^™

Is There A Relationship Between Ninth Grade Transitional Programs And At-Risk Student Achievement?, Susan Marie Stoddard

Dissertations

Transition into the ninth grade has long been a critical juncture for students as they make the move to a larger environment with less personal support and a more rigorous academic challenge. In an effort to help make the move from middle-to-high-school transition as smooth as possible, school districts are using Ninth Grade Academies, or innovative transitional strategies designed to address the key factors contributing to students dropping out: poor academic achievement, disengagement, and poor attendance. The purpose of the study was to determine if a statistically significant relationship existed between the type of ninth grade transitional program and at-risk …

The Relationship Between Perceptions Of School Climate And Student Achievement In Schools That Use Jostens' Renaissance Programs, Amy Yarborough Coyne

Dissertations

Each school has unique attributes and a personality that gives the school a distinct climate. Psychological qualities that schools possess might include trust, collaboration, cooperation, teaching attributes, expectations, community involvement, and engagement (Rhodes, Camic, Milburn, & Lowe, 2009). Given information regarding school climate, relationship needs, and motivation, the purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of teachers involved in change and improvement processes and to determine whether academic change was related to the use of programs such as Jostens’ Renaissance.

The participants of this study consisted of 242 faculty and staff from five public schools from three separate …

Influence Of Teacher Qualifications, Experience, Instructional Methods, And Professional Development On Student Achievement On The Mississippi Writing Assessment In Grades Four And Seven, Stacy Kihneman Garcia

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if teacher qualifications, experience, instructional methods, and professional development influenced student achievement on the Mississippi Writing Assessment in grades four and seven. The study was conducted in the three coastal counties of southern Mississippi. Participants were fourth or seventh grade teachers who taught in one of the eight school districts that were included in the study.

Participants were asked to provide information regarding their qualifications, amount of classroom experience, preferred instructional methods, and feelings on professional development. Also requested from each teacher was his/her classroom average on the Mississippi Writing Assessment from …

An Examination Of Mississippi Public School Teachers' Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of Their Professional Development Experiences In Raising Student Achievement, Daniel Martin Rushing

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to provide insight into the elements needed to produce a high quality professional development program for teachers. The researcher sought to determine possible factors that had a significant relationship to Mississippi public school teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of their professional development experiences in raising student achievement. Furthermore, the researcher wanted to identify possible inequities with professional development opportunities for teachers in Mississippi. It is the hope of the researcher to highlight the characteristics of effective professional learning defined by research that would kindle a desire in classroom teachers to advance their skill levels …

A Study Of The Effects Of Charter Schools On Achievement, Attendance And Selected Mitigating Factors In A Midwestern State’S Small Urban School Districts, Frederick C. Clarke

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether students attending urban charter schools did better, or worse, than students attending traditional public schools, over a five-year time period, in a Midwestern state. Thirty-one urban school districts affiliated with a Midwestern Urban Education Association, and corresponding charter schools, located within these Midwestern school districts, were selected to participate in this study.

This study utilized a quasi-experimental research design and was supported by the earlier research of Dr. Gary Miron and Dr. Jerry Horn from Western Michigan University (Miron & Horn, 2000; Miron & Horn, 2002; Miron, 2005) and Dr. Scott …

Implications Of The No Child Left Behind Legislation On Career And Technical Education, Thomas Kyle Wallace

Dissertations

The passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation in 2001 brought about a multitude of education reform policies for education institutions that made the future of Career and Technical Education’s (CTE) role in secondary educations unclear. These mandates forced educational leaders to emphasize student enrollment in tracks that prepare them for post-secondary educational opportunities that require a stronger background in academic courses. The standards-based mandates required by NCLB legislation make promotion of CTE courses more difficult because these courses are primarily elective courses and have caused educational agencies to look at what CTE programs provide in terms of meeting …

A Study Of The Relationship Between Nonverbal Kindergarten Ability And Third-Grade Reading Achievement, Aaron John Wills

Dissertations

Increased scrutiny of educational proficiency targets has intensified the urgency for educators to identify measurements that indicate students’ likelihood of eventual achievement in reading. This regression analysis explored the relationship between nonverbal ability in kindergarten as measured by the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT) and eventual third-grade achievement in reading and writing as measured by the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP). Naglieri and Ronning (2000) found a range of correlational r values from .49 to .56 when comparing NNAT results to results from the Stanford Achievement Test 9 (SAT-9) in reading when tested concurrently at various grade levels. The present research …