Education Commons^™

Teenagers’ Reasons For Listening To Music And The Students’ Perception Of The Effects Of Listening When Completing School Assignments, Jennifer Adriano, Thomas Dipaola

K-12 Education

Music is a significant part of our lives. People listen to music on the radio at home and in their car; they watch music videos on television or hand held technology; they buy CDs or download music; and they attend concerts. People also hear music in stores, restaurants, sporting events, and doctors’ offices (Schellenberg, Peretz, & Vieillard, 2008). Music is very important to many adolescents and they spend a considerable amount of their time listening to music. One study with N = 2,465 adolescents ages 13 and 14 found that participants listened to music for an average of 2.45 hours …

Knowledge And Understanding Of The 21st Century Skills Through Educator Externships: Programs In Southern New England, Lizann R. Gibson, Gary G. Gray

K-12 Education

This study utilized the body of knowledge that exists on emergent workforce development issues, the characteristics of the Millennial generation as they relate to the increasingly high drop-outs rates and the globalization of the workplace, the need for 21st Century Skills to be incorporated into the K-12 curriculum, and an authentic professional development experience for teachers, the educator externship.

The Educator Externship experience is a statistically viable method of authentic professional development to help teachers provide the educational experience that their students, the Millennial generation, are demanding.

The data from this study statistically showed that the Educator Externship Experience as …

Academic Integration Of Doctoral Students: Applying Tinto’S Model, Felice D. Billups

Higher Education

Doctoral students comprise a unique population with special needs and concerns. While considerable research has investigated graduate student satisfaction and retention (Brandes, 2006; Golde, 1998; Tinto, 1987), much of the research views graduate students as extensions of undergraduates in terms of their motivations and needs.

Diversity Education And Student Perceptions Of Campus Climate, Bethany Zemba, Felice D. Billups

Higher Education

The term diversity refers to demographic variables such as race, religion, gender, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, age, education, and geographic origin (Rynes & Rosen, 2006). Diversity can also include work group affiliation, life-style, career history, and cognitive style (Pendry, Driscoll, & Field, 2007). The demographic diversity found in the United States population can provide opportunities to embrace new customs and expand traditional roles. However, it may also create challenges as people struggle to find common ground in communities composed of individuals and groups with varied backgrounds and values (Rodriguez, 1998; Trauth, Johnson, Morgan, Huang, & Quesenberry, 2007).

Rapidly changing …

The Relationship Of Self-Efficacy With Gpa, Attendance, And College Student Retention, Stephen P. Becker, Robert K. Gable

Higher Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between self-efficacy or belief in one’s capability (Bandura 1977b, 1986, 1993, 1997) and first-term GPA, attendance, and retention using a modified version of the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) (Schwarzer, 1992, 1993, 2005; Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1993).

The study “College” is part of one of the world’s largest for-profit career education organizations. At the College, 100% of the students commute to classes and live in the metropolitan area. A large percentage of students live in difficult urban neighborhoods and grow up with low family income, abuse, gang violence, drugs, health problems, …

Does A Co-Learner Delivery Model In Professional Development Affect Teachers’ Self-Efficacy In Teaching Mathematics, John J. Ribeiro, Denise Demagistris

Teacher Education

A mixed method study is reported examining teacher efficacy regarding professional development in mathematics instruction for two groups of teachers: in building with peers (N=17) and MAT student co-learners in the classroom (N=14). An end-of-course survey, focus group interviews and pre-post data for the Teacher Self Efficacy Scale were used to investigate:1. What is the difference in teachers’ efficacy regarding mathematics instruction based on the professional development delivery system they experienced? 2. What are teachers’ perceptions of their professional development with peers conducted onsite in district compared with professional development with peers and preservice teachers at a university setting? Descriptive …

Expectations For Career And Social Support By Mentors And Mentees Participating In Formal Elementary And Secondary School Mentoring Programs, Monique Jacob, Robert K. Gable

Teacher Education

Teacher shortages are a nationwide concern, attributable primarily to high attrition rates among new teachers (Ingersoll, 2003; Ingersoll & Kralik, 2004; Ingersol & Smith, 2004). Ingersoll and Kralik (2004) claimed that an estimated 50% of new teachers left the profession within their first 5 years. Reasons for leaving include: isolating and non-supportive teaching environments, poor working conditions and overwhelming teaching assignments (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2005). To support beginning teachers, Rhode Island passed legislation requiring districts to develop a mentoring process (Law 16-7.1-2 Accountability for Student Performance). One variable measuring mentoring success is how closely participants’ expectations for the relationship …

Self-Efficacy And Post-Secondary First-Term Student Achievement, Stephen P. Becker, Robert K. Gable

Higher Education

Generalized self-efficacy is the overall belief in one’s ability and Specific self-efficacy is task related. The study examined the extent and manner in which self-efficacy explains variation in first-term GPA. The General Self-Efficacy Scale was adapted and used with a sample of N = 194 students (34% male and 66% female) enrolled in a for-profit career education urban college. The data from two factors derived using an exploratory factor analysis, General self-efficacy and Specific self-efficacy, had alpha reliabilities of .73 and .75, respectively. General self-efficacy was correlated r = .18 with GPA and multiple regression analysis demonstrated that General incremented …

Surviving A Doctoral Program: Student Perspectives Of Support Services, Felice D. Billups, Stacey L. Kite

Higher Education

The purpose of this study is to investigate student perspectives on factors that impede and assist in the completion of an Ed.D. program. Students at a small university in the northeast currently enrolled in their courses, as well as those enrolled in their dissertation phase, were included in this study.

Assessment Of General Education Of Doctoral Students Matriculating In An Educational Leadership Program In A Southern New England University, Martin Sivula Ph.D., Thomas D. Sepe, Ph.D.

Higher Education

Higher education usually reserves talk of “general education” to the undergraduate experience. When entering graduate schools, graduate students have dissimilar and diverse undergraduate experiences in general education. Some graduate students have benefit of a solidly constructed undergraduate curriculum, while others have experienced broad distribution or no requirements whatsoever. Demography, language, and their disciplinary curriculum serve to divide them. Interdisciplinary programs have students usually study within the confines of two or more disciplines, and still they would be studying and researching within their disciplinary structures. Even bi-lingual and multi-lingual students still act within their linguistic structures. Stimpson (2002) created a term …

Anxiety And Depression As Comorbid Factors In Drinking Behaviors Of Undergraduate College Students Attending An Urban Private University In The Northeastern United States, Charles J. Vohs, Robert K. Gable, Cynthia V.L. Ward, Ronald L. Martel, Joseph Barresi, Dameian Slocumb

Higher Education

High-risk drinking is the number one public health concern on college campuses (Berkowitz, 2003; Kapner, 2003; Wechsler, 2002). To date, high-risk drinking prevention programs have met with limited success (Kapner, 2003).

This study examined differences among four drinking behavior groups: non-drinkers [(ND), (n = 128)], low-risk drinkers [(LRD), (n = 252)], high-risk drinkers [(HRD), (n = 272)], and frequent high-risk drinkers [(FHRD), (n = 290)] with respect to anxiety and depression for male (n = 457) and female (n = 485) undergraduates (N = 942) attending an urban private university in the northeastern United States; and, the perceptions of two …

Relationship Among Essential Leadership Preparation Practices And Leader, School, And Student Outcomes In K-8 Schools, Donna Braun, Robert K. Gable, Stacey L. Kite

K-12 Education

A questionnaire was administered to school principals (N=88). The questionnaire data, along with student data, were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression to investigate the relationships among leadership preparation practices, self rated leader behavior, the school learning environment, and student achievement. After controlling for demographic variables, the amount of variance explained was incremented a statistically significant degree between: preparation practices and leader behaviors ( R2 = 5%); preparation practices and student achievement ( R2 = 5%); preparation practices and leaders’ instructional knowledge ( R2 = 6%); and leaders’ instructional knowledge and instructional practices in schools ( R2 = 5%).

Relationship Among Essential Leadership Preparation Practices And Leader, School, And Student Outcomes In K-8 Schools, Donna Braun, Robert K. Gable, Stacey L. Kite

K-12 Education

No abstract provided.

Relationship Among Essential Leadership Preparation Practices And Leader, School, And Student Outcomes In K-8 Schools, Donna Braun, Robert K. Gable, Stacey L. Kite

Teacher Education

A questionnaire was administered to school principals (N=88). The questionnaire data, along with student data, were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression to investigate the relationships among leadership preparation practices, self rated leader behavior, the school learning environment, and student achievement. After controlling for demographic variables, the amount of variance explained was incremented a statistically significant degree between: preparation practices and leader behaviors (R2 = 5%); preparation practices and student achievement (R2 = 5%); preparation practices and leaders’ instructional knowledge (R2 = 6%); and leaders’ instructional knowledge and instructional practices in schools (R2 = 5%).

Measuring College Student Satisfaction: A Multi-Year Study Of The Factors Leading To Persistence, Felice D. Billups

Higher Education

How satisfied are students with their college experience? Do they receive the academic and social benefits they expect when they enroll? At what point do they decide that their institutional choice is a “fit” or not? Numerous researchers have investigated these questions for decades (Astin, 1977; Noel, 1978; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Peters, 1988; Tinto, 1987). In the end, most researchers agree that highly satisfied students are more likely to remain in, and ultimately, graduate from college. One of the ways that colleges measure student satisfaction is through the administration of student satisfaction surveys. Satisfaction survey programs emerged in the …

Strategic Planning: Is It Worth The Effort? The Superintendent’S Perspective, Ralph Jasparro

Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Obesity, Educational Attainment, And State Economic Welfare, Martin W. Sivula Ph.D.

Higher Education

For the first time in history, estimates of the overweight people in the world rival estimates of those malnourished. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2002) ranked obesity among the top 10 risks to human health worldwide. In the early 1960s, nearly half of the Americans were overweight and 13% were obese. Today some 64% of U.S. adults are overweight and 30.5% are obese. Even more alarming, twice as many U.S. children are overweight than were twenty years ago, a 66% increase. Non-communicable diseases impose a heavy economic burden on already strained health systems. Health is a key determinant of development …