Digital Commons Network^™

The Development And Validation Of A Mentoring Program For The Cook County School District, Torrance D. Choates

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The problem under investigation was the current mentoring program in the Cook County School District in Georgia. The mentoring program was not providing support and guidance to student teachers, beginning teachers, and colleagues in establishing peer-coaching relationships. At present, mentorship is left up to each school-based administrator. The concern was that there was not enough consistency in relation to a true systemwide mentoring program in the Cook County School District. Within the project, 7 questions were addressed: (a) status of mentor and teacher induction program within Cook County School District, (b) attrition rates for new teachers in the district, (c) …

The Development Of A Community Of Practice For The Academic Senate At Contra Costa College With Plans For Evaluation, Saul P. Jones

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

Currently the Academic Senate at Contra Costa College does not have a recognized formal mechanism to preserve its knowledge capital, or cultivate the growth of prospective and current Academic Senate members. The purpose of the project was to develop a community of practice for the Academic Senate at Contra Costa College along with plans for its evaluation. The community of practice was designed to support faculty in sharing and evolving their governance practices and would allow faculty to virtually visit and consult one another through the use of a link in the Academic Senate’s World Wide Web page. The community …

A Proactive Approach To Middle School Discipline: An Eighth Grade Social Studies Class, Terry Mcmullen

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

Students were frequently removed from class or school for discipline, with the consequence that they would fall behind or fail. This applied dissertation was designed to improve the way educators address school discipline. Removal of students from class or school would be less frequently used, resulting in better student performance.

The writer implemented six proactive strategies to reduce the rate of students being removed from class or school for discipline (a) A structured classroom discipline plan and log to keep all stakeholders aware of the students disciplinary status, (b) A Conflict Resolution class pertaining to violence and anger management, (c) …

Development And Validation Of An Off-Campus Master Of Social Work Program, Michelle E. Alvarez

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The purposes of this project were to design and implement an educational and occupational needs assessment and a review of existing accredited off-campus Master of Social Work (MSW) programs and to design an off-campus MSW program that would meet current and future demand for the program. The research questions for this project addressed what constituted a good needs assessment, whether students would be willing to enroll in a distance education program, how Council on Social Work Education standards applied to this program model, how the program should be staffed, what other resources were needed for this program, what should be …

The Development Of An Advisory Board Retreat For Criminal Justice Executives With A Plan For Implementation And Evaluation, Arthur C. Amann

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The applied dissertation problem was that criminal justice executives did not have the education necessary to be effective concerning the use of collaborative advisory boards. Therefore, the purpose of this intervention was educating criminal justice executives using a retreat setting on subject matter such as systems thinking, change theory, strategic planning, and the importance of collaboration.

Six research questions addressed in this report were: (a) What are the criteria for an effective criminal justice executive retreat? (b) What is an appropriate and valid curriculum for a criminal justice advisory board retreat? (c) What is the best delivery system for the …

Improving Lee-Hamilton Elementary Third Grade Reading Scores On The Missouri Assessment Program, Gwendolyn Wilson Diggs

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This study served as a tool to increase third grade scores in communication arts on the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) standardized test. Teachers focused on providing rigorous content material and implementing strategies to improve student performance on the MAP. Interventions included using test study material, after-school tutoring, Computer Assisted Technology (CAT), and school-wide programs.

Even though a different group of third graders are administered the MAP each year, a comparison of Lee- Hamilton’s third grade student’s MAP scores in communication arts over a two year period indicated a decline in student performance. Further analysis of the student data revealed that …

Development Of A Mentoring Program For Nursing Students At Tennessee State University With Plans For Implementation And Evaluation, Beverly M. Brown

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The nursing students’ attrition rate and the nursing course examination failures at Tennessee State University were the foci of the problem that was investigated in this research project. The purpose of this applied research project was to develop a mentoring program for nursing students at Tennessee State University with plans for implementation and evaluation.

The methodologies used in this study were research, development, and evaluation to determine their needs in order. The procedures included a thorough review of the literature. The formative and summative committees provided input at all stages of the research and the development of the program. An …

Blocks For Tots: Constructing A Language Environment Through Play, Cynthia R. Graham

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to increase the vocabulary size and frequency of spontaneous child-to-child speech of children 24 to 36 months in a countywide Early Head Start Program. Additionally, this applied dissertation was designed to increase the number of children 24 to 36 months exhibiting age appropriate language skills as assessed by the Early Learning Accomplishment Profile (Early Lap). Research indicates that the context in which children learn and interact influences the frequency with which they use spoken language to communicate with each other.

Children in the experimental group interacted socially while engaged in self-directed constructive play in an …

Increasing Parental In-Home Schoolwork Assistance For Elementary School Children, Pedro Suarez Jr.

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to provide parents with more knowledge and better resources in order to assist their children with schoolwork at home. At an elementary school, a lack of parental cooperation and support was impeding their children's achievement and behavior. Students who had low academic achievement usually had parents who were uneducated, non-English speakers, or who were too busy to attend school-related workshops. There were also difficulties in getting teachers acculturated to a parental involvement program.

The writer developed workshops and strategies aimed at helping parents educate their children as well as themselves. The workshops were also designed …

Improving The Adjustment Of Francophone African Youth Attending North American Public Schools, Joseph Tshibangu

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to gain better understanding of the adjustment process among Francophone African youth and to discuss ways in which this process may be improved.

The methodology that was used included dialogue with Francophone African youths, focus group discussions, workshops with youths and schoolteachers, conference calls, personal meetings, and comments on evaluation sheets. The findings confirmed the findings in the reviewed literature that immigrant youths experience a great many stresses that threaten their health and adjustment.

Generalization of the findings to other African populations must be done with caution because of the limitations of the study: small …

Decreasing Out-Of-School Suspensions Among African American Students In Grades 6 Through 8 Using A Positive, Accelerated Discipline Modeldecreasing Out-Of-School Suspensions Among African American Students In Grades 6 Through 8 Using A Positive, Accelerated Discipline Model, Gwendolyn E. Hudson

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This research study involved the implementation of Youths Experiencing Success (YES), a positive, accelerated discipline model for reducing out-of-school suspensions that was created by the researcher. The target population for this study included all students in Grades 6 through 8 in a middle school in South Carolina where 99% of the students were African American. The study was conceived as a result of documented evidence of widespread out-of-school suspensions. Archival data from the 2001-2002 school year provided evidence for this study. In addition, qualitative data were collected from teacher surveys. Possible causes of the excessive number of out-of-school suspensions included …

Ready To Learn: A Program To Address Kindergarten Failure On Reading Readiness, Kenneth M. Wheeler

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied research project was designed to increase the mastery of reading readiness skills of low-performing kindergarten students who were identified on the Initial Readiness Assessment Test that is administered after the 1st month of school. The kindergarten reading/language arts curriculum was not meeting the needs of students with deficiencies in reading readiness.

Fifteen students were selected to participate in intervention strategies to improve their mastery of reading readiness skills. To meet the diverse needs of the students, the writer selected an emergent literacy approach to remediation and incorporated the use of a computer-managed reading program. Ongoing meetings held with …

A Technology-Assisted Constructivist Instructional Model: Improving The Math Achievement Of Seventh-Grade, At-Risk Students, Emma L. Blankenship

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

During the fall semester of 2002, 30% of the students at Henderson Middle School (HMS) in Jackson, Georgia were identified as being at risk of school failure. This identification was made based on the fact that these 270 students had failed 2 or more subjects. Also, 82% of these students had failed math. HMS leaders and educators, despite years of HMS being reported as a low-performing school on the Georgia Public Report Card, had failed to give adequate attention to the development of instructional strategies that promoted academic success for at-risk students.

In April 2003, 20 6th-grade students were selected …

The Effect Of Assistive Technology Staff Development On Improving Reading Of Intermediate Grade Students With Learning Disabilities, Verna R. Benjamin-Lambert

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

A 3-year review of Pow Elementary School’s test scores showed that there was a decline in reading scores on standardized tests. The IOWA test results in 2000 and the Stanford 9 and the Georgia Criterion Competency Test results in 2001 and 2002 showed a decline in reading comprehension. The decline in test results among students with learning disabilities was even more significant. A 2-year comparison of test score results on the Georgia Criterion Competency Test of students with reading disabilities in Grades 3, 4, and 5 showed that 76% did not meet state standards in school year 2001 and 100% …

Improving An Alternative-To-Suspension Program To Reduce The Number Of Seventh-Grade Students’ Classroom Referrals, Timothy J. Butts

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

At Pines Middle School (PMS), seventh-grade student referrals for disruptive behavior were the highest of all three grades. This applied dissertation focused on reducing the seventh-grade referrals by improving the Pines Alternative-to-Student-Suspension (PASS) program.

Two research questions addressed (a) strategies to improve the program, and (b) outcome data for PASS participant treatment and nonparticipant control groups. A total of 216 respondents participated, 54 students and 54 parents each in the treatment and control groups. All parents completed the Homework Problem Checklist (HPC), and treatment parents and students completed the PASS Effectiveness Survey (PES). Student strategies included mentoring; lectures, discussions, role …

The Development Of A Human Resources Plan At The Alabama School Of Fine Arts, April Lufkin Miller

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to develop a human resources plan for the Alabama School of Fine Arts. Presently, the school does not have a unified plan which addresses the major areas of human resources: hiring, evaluation and retention. While the school did have some procedures in place dealing with the wide topic of human resources, it was not regarded as a particularly significant field.

In the past year ASFA has become an independent school system. This new status presents the opportunity to create and implement policies and procedures which will enable the school to select, rate and reward its …

An Evaluation Of Effectiveness Of The New Educator Training Program In The Charlotte County, Florida School System, Michael L. Desjardins

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The purpose of this applied dissertation was to evaluate the effectiveness of the New Educator Training Program offered to first-year teachers in the Charlotte County School System in order to determine if it is effective in meeting the needs of the teachers participating in the program.

The research questions were(a) What are the critical components that comprise an effective New Educator Training Program?, (b) Do beginning teachers and mentors in the New Educator Training Program effectively understand and demonstrate the Desirable Effective Qualities as outlined in the Charlotte County New Educator Training Manual?, (c) Does it appear that the New …

Utilizing Gendered Education In Middle School Language Arts Classes, Elizabeth Tharp Jones

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

When the Indiana state-mandated test scores were released in January 2002, Switzerland County Middle School students ranked in the bottom one third of the state in language arts. The administrators and teachers looked closely at the results of the state-mandated test. The rate of retention by gender was also tracked over a 3-year period. As the standardized test scores and retention data were reviewed, it was apparent that middle school boys were less successful in language arts and reading than girls in the same class. In order to address the problem in a manageable situation, the sixth-grade data were selected. …

Developing The Behavioral And Instructional Qualities Of An Effective Interactive Television Educator, M. Elizabeth Klein

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This study examines the implementation of distance education over a compressed video system in a public school district. It explores the progression of distance education initiatives developed by the school district, beginning with instructional television, to the present system that is capable of delivering two-way interactive video-conferencing to eight high schools over a wide area network. Properly implemented, this videoconferencing system should result in an expanded curriculum at the smaller high schools, and a greater variety of learning opportunities for students at all the high schools in the district.

Research identified the instructional practices that distinguish an effective interactive television …

The Effect Of Parental Involvement And Classroom Management On Discipline Referrals, Alnita B. Harrison

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The purpose of this project was to determine the effect of parental involvement on discipline referrals. Evidence of these changes was based on data collected and analyzed from parental involvement surveys, discipline-tracking sheets, parent contact logs, parent conference forms, and discipline data collected from the AS-400 Database. Based on a previous survey conducted during the 2001-2002 school year, teachers identified lack of parental involvement as a major concern regarding the school’s discipline policy.

This project also focused on the effect of classroom management on discipline referrals. A total of 36 parental involvement surveys were given to 7th-grade, 8th-grade, and summer …

The Impact Of Parental Partnerships And Mentoring On At-Risk Students, Wayne E. Riesen

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The study was based upon the declining graduation rate and increasing at-risk population at Richmond-Burton Community High School. Research indicated that students who fail begin to experience a lack of self-esteem. The loss of self-image often leads to a sense of helplessness, giving up, and dropping out. Potential identified causes in the study included lack of support systems at school and little or no support from the home. Poor attendance was also identified as a secondary cause.

The interventions selected were twofold and designed to implement support systems in both the school setting and the home. A faculty-student mentoring program …

Improving Student Performance By Aligning The Curriculum To State Standards, Ernestine E. Kirby

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The purpose of this applied dissertation was to align the curriculum at the elementary level to state standards that were being assessed by the state of Georgia. The curriculum was not aligned to state standards at Golden Isles Elementary School. Results from the Spring 2002 Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT; Georgia Department of Education, 2002) showed that 52 (35%) of 148 fourth-grade students did not meet standards in math, 39 (26%) did not meet standards in language arts, and 24 (16%) did not meet standards in reading.

This applied dissertation describes how the curriculum was aligned at Golden Isles …

Ninth-Grade Reading Support Program: An Intervention To Improve Student Achievement, Lavetta B. Henderson

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to determine whether a reading support program for 9th-grade students was implemented in a school that served children of military parents and whether the reading support program was an effective strategy for improving achievement. The school designated literacy as its instructional focus for the 2002-2003 school year. In this study, a sample of 10 9th-grade students who attended a school that served children of military parents was asked to participate in a reading support program. This program incorporated the Read 180 program (Hasselbring, 1999), and it had a class size of 7 students. The program …

Improving Mathematics Achievement Of At-Risk Students In Grade 5, Stephanie R. Pasley

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The problem of mathematics underachievement seemed to be especially severe for at-risk students in Grade 5 at the school of this researcher. There were many causes that lead to students’ deficient academic achievement in this subject: (a) the students’ lack of motivation for learning mathematics; (b) peer relations of students; (c) the lack of pedagogical skills; and (d) the insufficient promotions of parental involvement. There was a great need for motivational strategies to be infused into the curriculum if these students were to be brought to educational or mathematical resilience.

A multitude of solution strategies to improve the mathematics achievement …

The Effects Of Collaborative Planning On Teaching And Learning Of Information Literacy Skills, Suzanne Mize

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This investigation was conducted with 100 5th-grade students, 1 library media specialist, and 4 5th-grade teachers in order to determine whether collaboration between the media specialist and 2 classroom teachers caused an increase in information literacy scores in the 2 classes of 5th-grade students (50 students) over the information literacy scores of the control group of 2 5th-grade classes (50 students).

The media specialist collaborated with 2 5th-grade teachers, creating an integrated unit and combining an existing subject unit with a technological approach. The media specialist acted as a facilitator and consultant, assisting the teachers and the 2 experimental classes …

The Development And Validation Of A Best Practices Guide For English Speakers Of Other Languages, Carmen J. Balgobin

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

English Language Learners (ELLs) are defined as those “who come from a non-English language background, and whose language skills limit their ability to function successfully in an all English classroom” (C. Beckett & P. Haley, 2000, p. 102). The problem is that ELL students at Maynard Evans High School are not academically prepared to graduate from high school in a timely manner. The social adjustment and language academic acquisition processes for ELL students require the emotional and cognitive preparedness from teachers and administrators to deal with the challenging issues presented by this new group of students efficiently and effectively. The …

Developing And Implementing Initiatives To Enhance School Readiness For At-Risk Kindergarten Students, Diane Price Fleming

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation focused on school readiness initiatives for incoming, at-risk kindergarten students in a rural elementary school of about 650 students. During the previous 4 years (1997-2001), approximately 47.45% of the incoming kindergarten students scored at moderate to high risk of school failure on the Early Prevention of School Failure (EPSF) pretest.

The writer planned, developed, and implemented solution strategies to increase the school readiness of incoming, at-risk kindergarten students. The intervention included 3 components: (a) a reading-to-students initiative by parents and guardians at home on a regular basis for 4 months prior to the beginning of school, (b) …

Increasing The Retention Rate Of First-Year Teachers, Juanessa D. Shipman

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to provide an on-site mentor to first-year teachers in an elementary school. This school system was faced with a teacher shortage; in fact, the nation faced a national teacher shortage. Studies proved that both urban and rural areas have the hardest time recruiting and maintaining effective teachers. They usually hired whoever was available because the need was so great. The goal was to support new teachers in this setting so that they would not leave the profession.

The researcher served as an on-site teacher mentor for 6 first-year teachers. The on-site mentor coached and supported …

Improving Test Scores Through A Language Arts, Mathematics, And Test-Taking Program, George M. Marzotto Jr

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The topics researched in this applied dissertation were the language arts, mathematics, and test-taking remediation program effects on the Indiana State Test for Educational Progress (ISTEP) and Graduation Qualifying Exam (GQE).

An analysis of the past 4 years of ISTEP and GQE scores indicated a need for a remediation program that focused on study skills with the emphasis on test-taking skills and in the areas of language arts and mathematics to aid the 10thgrade students in passing the GQE exam. The study skill plan consisted of a comprehensive study of 4 basic study skills and 8 organizational skills to enhance …

Development Of A Counseling Services Resource Web Site With Plans For Implementation And Evaluation, Diana L. Mccullough

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

At Irvine Valley College (IVC), student services counselors lacked proficiency in technology and a common online resource. Thus, counselors could not provide students with timely, accurate information. This project developed (a) a Counselors’ Resource Extensive Web Site (CREWS), (b) a Web site implementation plan, and (c) a Web site evaluation plan.

Five research questions addressed (a) appropriate content for the CREWS, (b) CREWS Web site design criteria, (c) training needed by counselors, (d) a CREWS implementation plan, (e) a CREWS evaluation plan. Development, research, and evaluation methodologies were used in 22 procedures. These comprised literature reviews, analysis of sister colleges’ …