Education Commons^™

Student Success Programming, College Academic Achievement Scores, And Retention Rates, Leslie D. Merritt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Student success programming was created to help students transition to the college environment and coursework. While many university-created programs are geared to all students, federally-funded programs and some university-created programs aim to specifically help students from marginalized populations. With Spady’s (1970) and Tinto’s (1975) theories guiding the conceptual framework, this study examined the relationship between participation in student success programs as it related to grade point averages and retention rates. Additional focus was placed on Black and Pell-eligible participants of student success programming. The study was conducted using archival data from two mid-size, public, four-year institutions of higher education. One …

Weightlifting, Performing Arts Electives, And Academic Achievement: A Comparison In An East Tennessee High School, Lana Page

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant relationship between the academic achievement as measured by ACT English, math, and composite scores of students who took 6 or more credits of weightlifting, 6 or more credits of performing arts, or no elective focus in an East Tennessee high school serving grades 9-12 from the graduating classes of 2010 through 2014. The independent variables were the elective focus groups students took during high school and race and ethnicity. The dependent variables were ACT English, math, and composite scores. A series of one-way analyses of variances (ANOVAs) …

Reading Achievement In A Large Urban School District : An Analysis Of The Effects Of Four Reading Programs On The Reading Growth Of Four Reading Ability Groups., Deborah Patrice Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Reading underachievement among adolescent students, specifically in urban areas, has been well documented in the literature. This unfortunate reality may point to two problems in America. Many schools possess neither the skill to prepare students for college and career nor possess the capacity to prepare them for a workforce that is becoming more and more high tech and in need of literate workers. Some schools are at a loss when it comes to teaching students to think of literacy as a critical tool for self-advocacy and identity development. Sociocultural perspectives on literacy view reading as an activity that develops as …

Addressing The Achievement Gap And Disproportionality Through The Use Of Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices, Angela Griner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Culturally responsive teaching practices in schools and classrooms have been shown to be an effective means of addressing the achievement gap, as well as the disproportionate representation of racially, culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse students in programs serving students with special needs. While there has been a recent influx in research discussing these issues, teachers and school staff lack clear examples and tools for best practices that will aid them in addressing the achievement gap and disproportionality effectively within their schools. Conducted in three phases, this research provides a framework for developing, implementing, and evaluating a culturally responsive tool for …

The Longitudinal Factor Structure Of Parent Involvement And Its Impact On Academic Achievement: Findings From The Ecls-K Dataset, Hui-Fang Chen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The critical role of parent involvement has been endorsed by educators and educational policy in the United States. However, various definitions and approaches to assess parent involvement have yielded inconsistent conclusions regarding the impact of parent involvement on child development and failed to provide foundations for practitioners. These contradictory findings, at least in part, reflected that parent involvement is a multidimensional construct which should be captured by many behaviors and activities as well as the limitations of using classical test theory to develop/identify items to assess parent involvement.

This study conducted both CTT and IRT to identify optimal items for …

An Analysis Of Data Collected From The 2007-2008 Tennessee State Report Card And The Variables Related To Science Test Results., Julia Lorie Lamons

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) Achievement reading scores, school district per-pupil expenditures, school size, percentage of students qualifying for free and reduced-priced meals, and attendance were related to science TCAP test scores from the 2007-2008 school year. The data were gathered from an analysis of mean standardized test scores in reading and science of 8^th graders in 67 school systems comprising 181 schools located throughout Tennessee. One hundred eighty-one schools configured grades 6 through 8 were used in this study. Only 177 schools had reported attendance available on the Tennessee …

Student Transfer: The Effect Of Timing On Academic Achievement, Michael D. Wing

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

America’s population is highly mobile. Some students move between school years, during the summer months, while others transfer after the school year has begun. Classrooms throughout the United States are likely to have students moving-in and transferring-out at any point; mobility occurs before, during, and after the school year begins. Research indicates that mobility has an effect on academic achievement. The major purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the timing of student transfer on academic achievement. Students who transferred Early (during the summer) and students who transferred Late (during the school year) were compared to those …

Strategies To Ease The Negative Effects Of Mobility On Academic Achievement., D.Kaye Reed Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mobility, the movement of students from school to school, affects students, classrooms, schools, and systems. Extensive research has been conducted on the relationship between mobility and student academics. Although the research has not determined mobility is the cause of lower academic scores, it is certainly a contributing factor. Most students with high mobility rates also have difficulty in math, reading, or language. Teachers of classrooms with these students tend to "flatten" the curriculum by reviewing more than usual. Long-range planning for these students can be difficult. Schools and systems may plan programs for students who have moved on by the …