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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Education

2009

Marshall University

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Status Of Violence Prevention In West Virginia Elementary Schools : A Case Study, Kristal Gayle Pentasuglia-Filipek Jan 2009

The Status Of Violence Prevention In West Virginia Elementary Schools : A Case Study, Kristal Gayle Pentasuglia-Filipek

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

While there is no absolute deterrent of school violence, West Virginia has taken definitive steps to try to ensure safety in our public schools. Since the launch of the Safe School initiative in 1995, training for principals, teachers and school personnel on crisis intervention and management plans have been ongoing. Students have undergone training in programs such as Peer Mediation, Natural Helpers, Life Skills, Bullying Prevention, Positive Behavior Support (PBS), and Respect to Protect. In addition, encouragement, mandating and providing funds for school safety and violence/crime prevention and intervention programs have been enacted legislatively. With the school security hardware, safety …

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Dynamic Indicators Of Basic Early Literacy Skills (Dibels): A Comparison Of Scoring Systems, Ashley E. Barr Jan 2009

Dynamic Indicators Of Basic Early Literacy Skills (Dibels): A Comparison Of Scoring Systems, Ashley E. Barr

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to compare scoring systems of the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, commonly known as DIBELS. Currently, there are two systems for scoring the DIBELS assessments. The first system is a paper and pencil approach and the second system is electronic and utilizes a handheld palm-pilot. This study determined whether the electronically scored DIBELS produces the same scores as the hand-scored DIBELS. It was hypothesized that the electronically scored DIBELS will yield significantly different scores than the hand-scored DIBELS. Median scores obtained from the electronic palm-pilot were compared to median scores obtained from …

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Analysis Of Factors Influencing West Virginia Secondary Biology And Science Teacher Attrition Rates, Seth Perry Jan 2009

Analysis Of Factors Influencing West Virginia Secondary Biology And Science Teacher Attrition Rates, Seth Perry

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The high rate of attrition for beginning teachers has been blamed on many factors. Nationally these include low pay, urban versus rural school settings, age, with younger teachers leaving sooner, and other variables making a complex problem with no clear component responsible for the loss of teachers. This study examined the self reported variables that contribute to high school teachers in West Virginia leaving their profession. An electronic survey instrument was distributed to current secondary teachers across the state. Teachers were asked to respond to questions related to professional satisfaction, perceived value from students and parents, administrative support, content versus …

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Teacher Burnout: Special Education Versus Regular Education, Amanda Roach Jan 2009

Teacher Burnout: Special Education Versus Regular Education, Amanda Roach

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Teacher burnout is a serious problem in education today. Studies have been conducted on teacher burnout and the effect it has on regular education and special education teachers. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship of teacher burnout between regular education and special education teachers. One-hundred-and-two surveys were distributed to kindergarten through 12th grade teachers in two school districts in Ohio. Thirty-two surveys were randomly chosen for the study. Regular education teachers had higher scores on the Teacher Burnout Scale than special education teachers. There was no difference concerning job satisfaction between regular or special education teachers. …

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Grant Writing Handbook For Our Lady Of Fatima Parish School, Tracy Severson Jan 2009

Grant Writing Handbook For Our Lady Of Fatima Parish School, Tracy Severson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This manual is an applied thesis written for Our Lady of Fatima Parish School, a small Catholic school located in Huntington, West Virginia. Its purpose is to introduce novice grant writers to the terms and processes associated with grant writing for this particular parochial school. The manual guides the fledgling writer through church and school history, ideas and strategies to develop the grant, grant writing and the post-submission process. Only examples from submitted church grants are referenced and all address Our Lady of Fatima needs and mission statement. The handbook is intended as a springboard for grant writing in the …

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Attitude Change Of Educators Utilizing Best Practices In Education, Sonya Christian Jan 2009

Attitude Change Of Educators Utilizing Best Practices In Education, Sonya Christian

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

It is purported that educator attitudes are highly important in many areas of education. This study examined if educator attitude change occurred as a result of teaching in a six-week summer school enrichment program that implements research-supported best practices in education. Participants were predominantly white female education students enrolled in a graduate school in West Virginia. Sixty-seven of them responded to a pre-post Likert-type survey developed by professors at the institution. Data was collected over two summers. Analysis of the data included bar graph comparisons and a Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks Test (p<0.05). The conclusions from this study yielded changes in educator attitudes on three questions in the survey. Implications for future study in this area are discussed.

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High Stakes Testing Effects On Graduation Rates, Karen Gail Cummings Jan 2009

High Stakes Testing Effects On Graduation Rates, Karen Gail Cummings

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

With the inception of No Child Left Behind many states are now requiring students to pass a statewide exam in order to be promoted to the next grade or to graduate from high school. Opponents of these tests argue that high stakes testing decreases graduation rates among these students. They also argue that the tests are biased and unfair for minority students, students of low socioeconomic status, and students with disabilities who often fail the tests. The graduation rates for twenty-nine Appalachian counties in Ohio, a state that requires students to pass the Ohio Graduation Test in order to graduate, …

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Differences In Scores Derived From Age-Based Norms Versus Grade-Based Norms On The Kaufman Test Of Educational Achievement, Second Edition And Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, Second Edition, Carla Donahue Jan 2009

Differences In Scores Derived From Age-Based Norms Versus Grade-Based Norms On The Kaufman Test Of Educational Achievement, Second Edition And Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, Second Edition, Carla Donahue

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Traditionally, standardized achievement measures have provided only age-based norms for deriving standard scores from obtained raw scores. In recent years, publications of normreferenced achievement test have begun to include norms based on grade level. With the addition of grade-based norms, test manuals and interpretation guides have not included clear guidelines indicating when it is advisable to use one type of norm over the other. The purpose of this study was to examine the differences between standard scores obtained using age- and grade-based norms, using the same raw score, for students in the appropriate grade for their age, students who are …

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