Digital Commons Network^™

Effects Of At-Home Reading Activities And Parental Involvement On Classroom Reading Scores: Focus On The Middle School Level, Linetta Carter

Dissertations

This dissertation was written collaboratively by Cynthia Warren, Linetta Carter, and George Edwards with the exception of chapter 4 which is the individual effort of the aforementioned researchers. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of athome reading activities and parental involvement on classroom reading scores with the focus on the middle school level. A total of 150 students from two inner city schools and one suburban school were chosen for the multi-method research. Students’ reading scores were evaluated and their parents were interviewed. A collaborative study involving three investigators was conducted to determine if there was …

Contextual Factors That Influence The Achievement Of Australia’S Indigenous Students: Results From Pisa 2000–2006, Lisa De Bortoli, Sue Thomson

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Australia

Results from international programs that assess the skills and knowledge of young people have indicated that Australia’s Indigenous students perform at a significantly lower level than non- Indigenous students. An in-depth comparison of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students’ performance on the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) across three cycles is provided in an accompanying volume to this report, while the current report provides an understanding of how various aspects of students’ background and psychological constructs relate to each other and to student performance. Chapters 2 through 5 each focus on a different group of potential influences on the performance of …

Effects Of At-Home Reading Activities And Parental Involvement On Classroom Reading Scores: Focus On The Elementary School Level, Cynthia Warren

Dissertations

This dissertation was written collaboratively by Cynthia Warren, Linetta Carter, and George Edwards with the exception of chapter 4 which is the individual effort of the aforementioned researchers. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of athome reading activities and parental involvement on classroom reading scores with a focus on the elementary level. A total of 150 students from two inner city schools and one suburban school were chosen for the multi-method research. Students’ reading scores were evaluated, and their parents were interviewed. A collaborative study involving three investigators was conducted to determine if there was a …

Transformative Pedagogy In Conversation: The Role Of Instructor Interventions In Peer Feedback For Speech Outline Development, Michael J. Stasio

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This study investigated the efficacy of written and oral peer feedback used as an instructional strategy to support student learning in speech outline development. One hundred seven students from a California Community College participated in a mixed-methods evaluative quasi-experimental study conducted in a two-fold process with both quantitative and qualitative measures. Existing literature on peer-centered learning has various gaps. These include four areas of uncertainty: implementation interventions, trust, self-perceived benefits, and contexts. Overall perceived learning benefits and four specific instructor intervention variables were measured in this study: (1) creation of a safe space for collaboration, (2) student training on the …

An Examination Of Core Course Admission Deficiencies And Their Impact On Six-Year Graduation Rates For Transfer Students At The University Of Nebraska–Lincoln, David S. Belieu

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to examine the six-year graduation rate of transfer students who enter the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a deficiency in a core course admission requirement. The study explored the odds of a transfer student graduating in a six-year period if he/she were admitted with a deficiency. Specifically, the study examined graduation rates for transfer students who entered UNL with a core course deficiency in mathematics and foreign language. The study also examined graduated transfer students admitted with one or more core course deficiencies GPAs versus graduated transfer students who were admitted without a deficiency. After …

High-Stakes Testing And Its Relationship To Stress Levels Of Secondary Teachers, Sonya Colman Christian

Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between high-stakes testing and the stress levels of secondary teachers in Jackson’s Jackson Public School District. The independent variables of age, gender, subject taught, teaching experience, degree and school level were used to determine the differences of the various groups. A survey was piloted and used to determine teachers’ levels of stress. There was not a statistically significant difference between the stress levels of teachers who teach subjects that are measured by high-stakes testing and those who do not. There also was not a statistically significant difference between the stress levels of veteran teachers and …

Elementary Teachers’ Perceptions Of Grade Retention, Latrice Shontae Richardson

Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to examine elementary teachers’ perceptions of grade retention. Additionally, the study observed demographic data that explored the differences in elementary teachers’ perceptions by (a) geographical location, (b) years of experience, (c) grade level assignments, (d) age, (e) level of education, (f) ethnicity, and (g) influences on perceptions.

The participants included 164 elementary teachers from five rural (northern) and five suburban (southern) regions of Mississippi. Since teachers play such a huge role in the classroom, they also play a vital role in grade retention. Teacher decisions can create a successful educational experience for a …

A Comparison Of Course Completion, Satisfaction, Achievement, And Performance Among Non-Profit Professionals Who Complete Andragogical Or Pedagogical Online Learning Modules On Grant Writing, Joe Bernard Bradley Jr.

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare the outcomes among staff members of nonprofit social service agencies who participated in or completed an andragogicallyfacilitated or a pedagogically-conducted online learning module on foundation grant writing. The efficacy of andragogical methods is unknown and often debated due to scarce empirical research on the topic. Though most prior empirical studies revealed no significant differences in outcomes between the two methods, this is the first study of its kind to address each of the assumptions of andragogy in an online non-formal learning environment. Effectiveness was measured based on participants’ self-reported reaction to learning …

School Size And Student Academic Achievement In Idaho High Schools, Barbara J. James

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not a relationship existed between school size and student academic performance in Idaho high schools. This study used the mathematics portion of the Idaho Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) taken by all 10^th grade students in the spring of 2009 to compare academic achievement in students in small schools and students in large schools. Mean scores for proficient and advanced students were calculated and categorized into five school size classifications. For instance, 91% of all Boise High School (BHS) 10^th grade students demonstrated proficiency in mathematics on the ISATs. …

Effects Of At-Home Reading Activities And Parental Involvement On Classroom Communication Arts Assessments: Focus On The High School Level, George Edwards

Dissertations

This dissertation was written collaboratively by Cynthia Warren, Linetta Carter, and George Edwards with the exception of chapter 4 which is the individual effort of the aforementioned researchers. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of athome reading activities and parental involvement on classroom communication arts assessments with a focus on the high school level. A total of 150 students from two inner city schools and one suburban middle school were chosen for the multi-method research. Students’ reading scores were evaluated and their parents were interviewed. A collaborative study involving three investigators was conducted to determine if …

Interaction, Internet Self-Efficacy, And Self-Regulated Learning As Predictors Of Student Satisfaction In Distance Education Courses, Yu-Chun Kuo

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Online learning research is largely devoted to comparisons of the learning gains between face-to-face and distance students. While student learning is important, comparatively little is known about student satisfaction when engaged in online learning and what contributes to or promotes student satisfaction. Emerging research suggests there are a few strong predictors of student satisfaction, and other predictors that may or may not predict student satisfaction. None of the existing research examines predictors together, or statistically controls for course differences. This study examines the influence of various factors on student satisfaction including three types of interaction, Internet self-efficacy, and self-regulated learning. …

The Use Of Multiple Intelligence Concepts With Middle School Students And Future Academic Achievement, Christa Fountain Glenn

Dissertations

This quantitative quasi-experimental study examined the variables of student’s grade point averages when Multiple Intelligences were introduced and implemented in a study in 2007. To examine this information, in 2007 a study was conducted of 115 eighth grade students from a single grade school in the southern United States. At the conclusion of the study in 2007, it was the researchers’ belief that students may possibly utilize the Multiple Intelligences in their upcoming years as high school students, therefore, the study continued and the academic achievement by way of grade point averages of 94 of the original students now ending …

A Study To Determine The Influence Of Student Status And Gender On The Learning Styles Of Freshmen Students, Ali J. Morris

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to compare the learning styles, as defined by David A. Kolb, of traditional freshmen students and non-traditional freshmen students to determine if there is a significant difference between them. The researcher also collected data to determine if there is a correlation between learning styles for gender and traditional/non-traditional student status.

Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory (LSI) was used as the survey instrument and was administered to all students in the sample. The stratified random sample population consisted of 550 students selected from the freshmen class and provided to the researcher by the Office of Institutional …

Generational Affiliation As A Component Of Culture: Focus Group Perspectives Of Three Generational Cohorts, Elisabeth Anne Nesbit

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the multicultural elements related to generational affiliation. Much of current generational literature is anecdotal and does not empirically explore the culture of each generation. A constructivist ground theory approach was applied to the study of three generational cohorts (Baby Boomers, Generation Xers, and Millennials) using focus groups to (a) explore the values, beliefs, and worldview inherent to each generation, and (b) extend theory on multiculturalism Data from nine focus groups, three for each generational cohort, were analyzed for key themes within each generational cohort. Results indicated that, in keeping with the American …

Wku Scholar, Pamela Napier, Editor-In-Chief

WKU Scholar

No abstract provided.

Criteria Of Nonacademic Characteristics Used To Evaluate And Retain Community Counseling Students, Dr. Jill D. Duba, Susan B. Paez, Aaron Kindsvatter

Counseling & Student Affairs Faculty Publications

The authors investigated ways in which selected 2001 standards of the Councii for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, namely, retention and evaluation criteria relative to nonacademic characteristics, are addressed within Community Counseling master's-degree programs. Results from this survey research study illustrated various retention criteria that are used to evaluate students in various community counseling programs across the country.

Parent Information Nights: An Elementary School Principal’S Search To Increase Parent Input And Affect The Learning-At-Home Environment, Stan Ponder

Dissertations

Although the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires schools to create initiatives to increase parental involvement, the development, implementation, and effectiveness of these initiatives are left to the individual schools and their leadership teams. This qualitative study focused on a program designed to increase parental involvement and education to affect the learning-at-home environment as it relates to student learning. By using an action research model, parents of students in a small, rural elementary school in the Midwestern United States attended two cycles of meetings designed to increase awareness of educational concerns. These meetings were conducted with the desire …

The Development Of Curriculum-Based Measurement Local Norms In The Area Of Written Expression, Elizabeth Anne Youngman

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This project used Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) in the area of Written Expression to establish district norms for Bowling Green City Schools. CBM uses brief fluency measures as indicators of students' academic performance. With the use of CBM, it is possible to identify students who are considered to be at-risk for educational performance. AIMSweb probes were used to assess 1,565 first through fifth grade students from five elementary schools within the Bowling Green Independent School District. Performance was scored using the three most common scoring indices: Total Words Written (TWW), Words Spelled Correctly (WSC), and Correct Word Sequence (CWS). Data collected …

The New Rules Of For Measuring Teacher Quality: Lessons Learned From The Assessment Experts, Brent M. Duckor

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Factors Affecting School District Performance Scores In Louisiana, Ronnie Harrison

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between District Performance Scores (DPS) in Louisiana and (a) socio-economic status of students, (b) academic achievement using average ACT scores, (c) percentage of certified teachers, (d) district class size, (e) per pupil expenditure, and (f) percentage of minority students in determining why a district is considered low performing or high performing. The study investigated 68 school districts in Louisiana during the 2007-2008 school year.

The study noted significant differences in two of the six variables that may have an influence on the district performance score for the lower performing and …

Nefdc Exchange, Volume 22, Number 1, Spring 2010, New England Faculty Development Consortium

New England Faculty Development Consortium Exchange

Contents

Message from the President: Where would you be - Tom Thibodeau, New England Institute of Technology

From the editors -

Spring 2010 Conference, Friday, May 21, 2010, Westford, Massachusetts, United States; theme: Teaching for Learning; keynotes speaker: D. Christian Jernstedt, Dartmouth College, "How Learning Changes Brains"

A Book and Readings List for Thinking about the Human Mind - G. Christian Jernstedt, Dartmouth College

Embracing the Intimidating: Assessing Student Learning in a Non-major Online Science Course - Kristine Larsen, Central Connecticut State University

Save the date! 2010 Fall Conference, November 19, 2010, Westford, Massachusetts, United States; theme: Better Teaching, Better …

The Impact Of Teaching Presence In Intensive Online Courses On Perceived Learning And Sense Of Community: A Mixed Methods Study, Elizabeth Laves

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This mixed methods concurrent triangulation design study was predicated upon two models that advocated a connection between teaching presence and perceived learning: the Community of Inquiry Model of Online Learning developed by Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000); and the Online Interaction Learning Model by Benbunan-Fich, Hiltz, and Harasim (2005). The objective was to learn how teaching presence impacted students’ perceptions of learning and sense of community in intensive online distance education courses developed and taught by instructors at a regional comprehensive university.

In the quantitative phase online surveys collected relevant data from participating students (N = 397) and selected instructional …

Comparing Academic Achievement Of African-American Males Who Do And Do Not Participate In High School Athletics, Thomas Victor Montgomery, Iii

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study was conducted to investigate the impact on academic achievement that high school athletics had on African-American male students who participated in high school athletics against African-American male students who did not participate in high school athletics during the 2008-2009 school year. The results were measured by grade point averages (GPAs) and surveys developed by the researcher. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not African-American males that participated in high school athletics showed higher academic achievement than African-American males that did not participate in high school athletics. The study also assessed attitudes about the relation …

¿Aprendemos Juntos? Guiando Educación Comunitaria En Oaxaca, Raisa Slutsky-Moore

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project seeks to describe how the educators of the “Secundarias Comunitarias Indígenas” (“Comunitarian Indigenous Secondary Schools”) in Oaxaca, Mexico foster independent, motivated learning in their classes and which of these characteristics should or can be replicated at the high school level at the Bachillerato Integral Comunitario (BIC) #26 of San Andres Solaga, which was recently founded with intention of providing continuity to the graduates of secundarias comunitarias through the use of an existing educational model. I begin discussing the investigation by describing the three educators of the secundaria in San Andres Solaga, where the majority of my research was …

Noncognitive Predictors Of Academic Performance And Persistence In Horizontal And Vertical Transfer Students By Academic Level, Christopher A. Davis

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

College students increasingly are transferring among institutions of higher education in pursuit of their educational goals. The existing research on transfer students, however, does not adequately explore the unique characteristics of this heterogeneous population. The literature on transfer students suggests that transfer students are at-risk for experiencing academic difficulty and attrition. Research indicates that degree attainment is associated with the success of the student and their parents. Furthermore, attrition negatively impacts higher education finances, so colleges and universities that focus on helping students be successful and persist to graduation maintain revenue streams.

Many studies have focused on cognitive measures of …

Effectiveness Of The Combat Operational Stress Control Training Program: Expectations Of The U.S. Marine Corps, Marek M. Sipko

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the U.S. Marine Corps combat operational stress preventive training program to determine whether the program meets the training effectiveness criteria of the Marine Corps. This evaluation entailed both qualitative and quantitative inquiries to answer the subject matter research questions.

The participants consisted of active duty and reserve Marines on active duty. For the purposes of the quantitative analysis, the researcher obtained a random sample of 480 Marines. Additionally, the researcher obtained a purposefully stratified qualitative sample of 12 active duty Marines consisting of four junior non-commissioned Marines, four staff non-commissioned officers, and four commissioned …

Misconstruals Or More? The Interactions Of Orbit Diagrams And Explanations Of The Seasons, Victor R. Lee

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper examines a “misconstrual hypothesis” regarding diagrams of the Earth’s orbit around the sun and how middle school students explain the cause of the seasons. Drawing from 24 semi-structured interviews, I present qualitative analyses of students’ explanations of why temperatures vary in summer and winter and how those are influenced by the elliptical shape of perspective drawings of the Earth’s orbit, common to many science textbooks. The results of the analysis suggest that diagram interpretation does not necessarily follow what has been often predicted in the literature and that conceptualizations can shift quite rapidly as different diagram features are …

Validation Of The Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument: An Application Of The Korean Version, Yun Seok Choi, Minhee Seo, David Scott, Jeffrey J. Martin

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) based on the Competing Values Framework (CVF). More specially, cultural equivalence between the Korean version and the original English version of the OCAI was evaluated using 39 bilingual Koreans. Next, a field test was conducted to examine scale reliability and construct validity of the Korean version of the OCAI using 133 organizational members from the Korean Professional Baseball League (KPBL). The findings indicate that the Korean version was successfully translated, items maintained the same meaning of the original …

Improving Delivery Of Instruction Through Peer Coaching, James John Buckwalter

All Graduate Projects

Peer coaching models were studied to see if they improved teachers' delivery of instruction, and if they had a significant impact on student achievement. The research showed that peer coaching programs were successful when they were tied to a school's overall vision and mission, led by a strong principal, and kept separate from evaluation. Peer coaching was found to increase the accurate use of skills that teachers learned through professional development; however there was no evidence to show that peer coaching alone significantly effects student achievement.

Evaluation Of 6 + 1 Trait Writing And The Professional Development Training Used To Implement The Program, Bruce E. Werkmeister

Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the 6 + 1 Trait Writing program on student achievement and to explore the teacher perceived effectiveness of the 6 + 1 Trait Writing program on student achievement. This study concentrated on student achievement, as determined by the Missouri Assessment Program test, and the teachers’ perception of the impact 6 + 1 Trait Writing had on the curriculum. The study also focused on the perceived effectiveness of the 6 + 1 Trait Writing professional development opportunities provided to teachers as determined by surveys and roundtable discussions. The 2007, …