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Full-Text Articles in Education
Online Attrition At A Community College In Rural Appalachia: A Phenomenological Approach, Victoria Sue Ratliff
Online Attrition At A Community College In Rural Appalachia: A Phenomenological Approach, Victoria Sue Ratliff
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The education attainment level of residents in rural Appalachia has consistently ranked below the remaining populous of the United States. Although distance education initiatives have attempted to bridge the disparities between rural Appalachia and the rest of the nation, online community college students in this region are likely to drop out or fail their classes. To understand the phenomenon of online attrition in rural Appalachia, a phenomenological study was conducted to determine what students experienced from the time they chose to enroll in online classes through the point of failure or withdrawal from their courses. This triangulated study utilized surveys, …
A Phenomenological Investigation Into The Self-Efficacy Beliefs Of Teachers Who Have Persisted In The Teaching Profession, Shana Market Norton
A Phenomenological Investigation Into The Self-Efficacy Beliefs Of Teachers Who Have Persisted In The Teaching Profession, Shana Market Norton
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
This phenomenological study investigated the lived experiences of 12 secondary school teachers from public secondary schools in northern Georgia regarding their feelings about self-efficacy and why they have persisted in the teaching profession. The research questions centered around their perceptions on how self-efficacy influences the academic achievement of their students, on what personality characteristics they feel teachers add to their positive or negative self-esteem in teaching, and on what factors they identify as influencing their professional self-efficacy in teaching. Teacher self-efficacy, the belief in oneself to succeed at completing a task, is a key factor in retaining teachers. Four data …
Evaluating The Effectiveness Of An Intervention Mathematics Class For Low Achieving Middle School Students In Northwest Georgia, Johnnie Coats
Evaluating The Effectiveness Of An Intervention Mathematics Class For Low Achieving Middle School Students In Northwest Georgia, Johnnie Coats
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
High-stakes testing has become crucial in public education, requiring students to meet increasingly higher standards, regardless of their ability levels. This causal-comparative study sought to determine the effectiveness of an intervention mathematics course in the middle school setting for at-risk, sixth grade students. The Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) math scores of 143 at-risk students enrolled in a remediation mathematics course were compared to scores from a control population of 143 at-risk students who did not participate in the class. Math scores from the 2008 administration of the CRCT test were used as covariates, and comparisons were made using …
The Effect Of Single Gender Instruction On Eighth Grade Students' Mathematics Achievement, David Hammel
The Effect Of Single Gender Instruction On Eighth Grade Students' Mathematics Achievement, David Hammel
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
n the research study, this investigator utilized a non-experimental, causal-comparative design (ex post facto) with archival data to determine the real impact single gender instruction had on eighth grade students' mathematics achievement. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively analyze the benefits of single gender mathematics instruction for eighth grade male and female students, when compared against traditional coeducational instruction. Specifically, the researcher compared students instructed in single gender eighth grade mathematics classes with students taught in traditional coeducational classes by analyzing fall vs. spring Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) computerized mathematics test score means. Additionally, honors vs. non-honors …
Comparing Traditional Period And Semester Block In High School Mathematics: Effect On Algebra I End-Of-Course Assessment, Chad Wallace
Comparing Traditional Period And Semester Block In High School Mathematics: Effect On Algebra I End-Of-Course Assessment, Chad Wallace
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
School systems continue to explore different ways to improve student achievement to meet the high expectations of preparing our students for a global community and market. For many years, educators have explored the use of time as an avenue for change to improve student scores on state end-of-course assessments. The purpose of this causal comparative study is to explore student achievement in a modified block format with students receiving instruction on either a semester block or a traditional period where clock hours for students are the same. This study will examine student achievement for males and females. The Virginia Standards …
An Examination Of The Effects Of Intrusive Advising And Support Services On Academically At-Risk Students, Earl Jones
An Examination Of The Effects Of Intrusive Advising And Support Services On Academically At-Risk Students, Earl Jones
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
This research study compared the effects of the intrusive form of developmental academic advising (IDAA) and the influence of additional academic support services on the mean cumulative Grade Point Averages (GPAs) of 4 randomly assembled groups of academically at-risk college students during 2 separate semesters. Academically at-risk students are defined as those students whose cumulative GPAs are below academic good standing at a university. The mean cumulative GPA of each student group was averaged prior to the beginning and at the end of the Spring 2012 and Fall 2012 semesters, respectively. All of these students were enrolled in a private …
Impact Of Looping On Middle School Science Standardized Achievement Tests, Tammy Barger
Impact Of Looping On Middle School Science Standardized Achievement Tests, Tammy Barger
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
Looping may be defined as a teacher remaining with a group of students for multiple academic years. In this quantitative study, looping was examined as a factor on science achievement. State-wide eighth grade school level 2010 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) data were used. By responding to a mailing, school administrators indicated if 2010 eighth grade students had or had not been looped. The schools' percentage of advanced and proficient Science PSSA data were used to determine if the independent variable had a significant impact on science achievement. The results of the independent t-test analysis suggest that looping does …
More Than Just A Good Book: Employing U.S. Department Of Education Guidelines To Teach Character Education Using Literature, Suzy Besson-Martilotta
More Than Just A Good Book: Employing U.S. Department Of Education Guidelines To Teach Character Education Using Literature, Suzy Besson-Martilotta
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The purpose of this research study, which was conducted as a qualitative content analysis, was to discover to what extent children's literature from a popular anthology could be used to teach the tenets of character education according to U.S. Department of Education (2005) guidelines in a pre-Kindergarten through second grade setting. A team of participant-coders, which consisted of experienced early childhood educators, evaluated and analyzed each of the 44 complete books contained in the 320 page anthology, The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury: Celebrated Picture Books and Stories to Read Aloud (Schulman, 2005), in order to investigate opportunities to explore …
A Collective Case Study Of The Perceptions And Implementation Of Self Advocacy From Four Educators Of Students With Disabilities, Heather Heap
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
This qualitative study identified four educators' perceptions and their implementation of teaching advocacy to students with disabilities within a public secondary educational setting. Federal mandates, such as Public Law 94-142, requested educators including administrators, counselors, special educators, and general educators to help facilitate self advocacy skills in the public educational setting. Using observations, comprehensive interviews, and available documentation, this collective case study identified four educators' experiences (an administrator, a counselor, a special educator, and a general educator) in developing student self advocacy as it pertains to the educators' perceived role in working with students with disabilities. This study identified their …
The Relationship Between The Amounts Of Time Spent In One School During Early Field Experiences And Student Teacher Performance, James Gregory
The Relationship Between The Amounts Of Time Spent In One School During Early Field Experiences And Student Teacher Performance, James Gregory
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
This quantitative non-experimental correlational study was designed to investigate the correlation between the amount of time a teacher candidate spent during their early field experiences at one school location and performance ratings on their student teacher evaluation sheet. The rating scale was based on the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) Standards. The purpose of the study was to determine if there is a difference in the level of teacher candidates' performance as outlined by the INTASC standards for secondary students in relationship to the number of hours of early field experience spent at one school location. All …
A Phenomenology Of Academic Support In Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Homes Of At-Risk Students, David Barber
A Phenomenology Of Academic Support In Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Homes Of At-Risk Students, David Barber
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
I examined the home environment and the amount of academic support non-English speaking parents are able to provide for their English Language Learner (ELL) children in the United States school system. In particular, the focus is on the families of children who struggle academically in the state of Georgia, where non-English speaking children are mainstreamed into regular education classrooms with limited support. Although there has been a great deal of research on how ELLs learn and what type of program can be used to best facilitate mastery of academics as they are learning the English language, the focal point of …
The Relationship Between Principal's Emotional Intelligence Quotient, School Culture, And Student Achievement, Jeff Noe
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between secondary school principal's emotional intelligence quotient, school culture, and student achievement. Partial correlation was conducted to examine the degree of relationships between principal's emotional intelligence quotient and school culture controlling for the effect of student achievement, and between principal's emotional intelligence quotient and student achievement controlling for school culture. Multiple regression analysis was utilized to examine the combined effect of principal's emotional intelligence quotient and school culture on student achievement. The study population consisted of secondary school principals and teachers within Virginia Department of Education's Region VII. Quantitative data …
Single-Sex Education Versus Coeducation In North Georgia Public Middle Schools, Catherine Blake
Single-Sex Education Versus Coeducation In North Georgia Public Middle Schools, Catherine Blake
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The U.S. Department of Education is giving more liberties to school districts to offer single-sex schools in order to adequately serve the needs of students. The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to test the theory of students' performances based on their educational environment by comparing students who received instruction in a single gender classroom in a public middle school compared to students who received instruction in a mixed gender classroom in a public middle school. The achievement test, Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency Test, was used with each site school. There were two years of data collected with the …
The Effect Of Implementing School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions And Supports On Student Misbehavior In A Large Urban High School, John Power
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the effect that implementing School-wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) had on student misbehavior as determined by Office Discipline Referrals, chronic student misbehavior, In School and Out of School Suspensions assignments, and student tardy referrals in a large urban high school. School-wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports is a systematic, proactive, preventive, research-based approach that has shown to reduce student misbehavior when implemented with fidelity. The study focused on the Primary Prevention Tier of SWPBIS to prevent and reduce student misbehavior. The study attempted to answer the question is School-wide …
Relationship Of A Nutrition Intervention Class For Middle School Students On Nutrition Knowledge And Attitudes, Kathy Hood
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
A pre-test post-test nonequivalent group design was utilized to investigate the role nutrition education has on a student's choice to eat healthy foods. The Nutrition Essentials: Teaching Tools for Healthy Choices nutrition module was used to teach clinically based nutrition. The research used rural Georgia seventh and eighth grade students' to evaluate the effects of nutrition education on the students' nutrition knowledge and attitudes using the SPAN student questionnaire. MANOVA was used to determine if changes occurred between the control and experimental groups. Results of the study showed that the short term study did not improve student nutrition knowledge or …
A Phenomenological Study Of Motivations, Experiences And Reflections As Related To Teacher Training And Development In Tanzania, Melinda Ingiaimo
A Phenomenological Study Of Motivations, Experiences And Reflections As Related To Teacher Training And Development In Tanzania, Melinda Ingiaimo
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
In third world countries where education often takes a back seat to survival, teachers struggle to prepare themselves to shape the destiny and future of the upcoming generation. This study examined the phenomena of Tanzanian teacher preparation with special emphasis on the motivating factors, common experiences and reflections of participants concerning their preparation process for teaching in a government funded school. This study inquired into the immediate teaching environment and the ongoing teacher development processes. Fifteen Tanzanian teachers were purposefully chosen for this study and data was gathered utilizing a semi-structured interview, a survey and a focus group. The teacher …
Effective Science Teaching In A High Poverty Middle School, Georgette Meyer
Effective Science Teaching In A High Poverty Middle School, Georgette Meyer
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
This qualitative case study described the characteristics of science teachers in a high poverty urban middle school whose 2010 scores on South Carolina's Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (PASS) ranked second in the state. Data was obtained through classroom observations, open-ended interviews, school documents, and photographs taken inside the school from ten participants, who were seven science teachers, a science coach, and two administrators. Findings revealed a school culture that pursued warm and caring relationships with students while communicating high expectations for achievement, strong central leadership who communicated their vision and continuously checked for its implementation through informal conversations, frequent …
School Change: Adolescents Transitioning From Conventional Schooling To Home-Based Online Education, Harvey Klamm
School Change: Adolescents Transitioning From Conventional Schooling To Home-Based Online Education, Harvey Klamm
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
This hermeneutic phenomenological research explored the lived experiences of six recently graduated adolescents to extrapolate the valued essence of their transitional encounters in changing from conventional school to home-based online schooling. The homeschool research shifted the emphasis from the outcome-based academic achievement studies prevalent during the past 20 years to a focus on internal and external factors impacting student learning within this technological instructional process. Findings produced from analysis and interpretation of reflective adolescent lived experiences revealed rich truth regarding the internal emotions, environmental adaptations, academic ramifications, and social adaptations encountered when changing from conventional schooling to home-based online school. …
A Comparison Of A Gifted Education Program Among Eighth Grade Gifted Students At A Georgia Junior High School, Jerry Clark Harden
A Comparison Of A Gifted Education Program Among Eighth Grade Gifted Students At A Georgia Junior High School, Jerry Clark Harden
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships that may exist among mean scores on the math and reading portions of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) of eighth grade gifted students of different gender, race, and socioeconomic status. Significant changes have been made to Georgia's gifted identification procedures over the last few decades to lessen the underrepresentation of minorities and students of low socioeconomic status. However, issues still exist in the referral process, the identification process, and the performance of gifted students. Although the referral process and identification procedures have been and continue to be researched, …
Florida Charter Schools: The Effects Of Types And Socioeconomic Status On Academic Achievement, Reginald Thompson
Florida Charter Schools: The Effects Of Types And Socioeconomic Status On Academic Achievement, Reginald Thompson
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was established in 2002 with the primary goal of closing the achievement gap between low socioeconomic students and their more advantaged peers. Charter schools are a part of NCLB's school choice policy and are intended to be a form of intervention to close the achievement gap. Much research has been conducted to measure charter school student achievement compared to regular public schools. But little has been done in distinguishing the differences between charter schools and their impact on student achievement. This quantitative study identifies the different types of public charter schools in Florida using Carpenter's …
Examining Factors That Predict School Psychologists' Perceptions Of The Response To Intervention Process, Terry Bullock
Examining Factors That Predict School Psychologists' Perceptions Of The Response To Intervention Process, Terry Bullock
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
With increasing emphasis on accountability measures and widespread focus on implementation of Response to Intervention (RtI) procedures in schools, it is critical to examine the impact these changes have on the role of practitioners involved in the process. This correlational study examined the factors of school psychologists' involvement in RtI, degree level, and years of experience to determine which of these best predict school psychologists' perceptions of the RtI process. Using information from the literature regarding RtI, the researcher's experience working as a school psychologist and with RtI, and review of a previous survey that examined RtI, an instrument was …
A Quantitative Examination Of The Educational Technology Characteristics Of Ohio Schools And Their Blue Ribbon Status, Dean Goon
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The purpose of this study was to analyze data from Ohio schools and the frequency of use of educational technology, a teacher's comfort level using technology, and a teacher's beliefs about the effect of educational technology on teaching and learning based upon the school's Blue Ribbon award status. The study used an ex-post facto, quantitative comparative research design. The variables examined originated from an archival data set: the Ohio Biennial Educational Technology Assessment: 2011 (BETA 10-11). The research questions examined the differences between Blue Ribbon and Non-Blue Ribbon schools based on educational technology use, a teachers' comfort level with technology, …
A Phenomenological Study Of Teacher And Administrator Experiences In The Analysis And Interpretation Of Student Assessment Data, Matthew Ross
Doctoral Dissertations and Projects
The purpose of this qualitative empirical phenomenological study was to examine the experience of analyzing and interpreting student assessment data from the perspective of both teachers and administrators in order to identify: (a) those aspects of the experiences which are similar or dissimilar among the two groups, (b) the priorities and influences which affect those experiences, and (c) the most critical issues expressed by the participants. Ten teachers and five administrators participated in three in-depth individual interviews, online reflective journaling, and follow-on focus group interviews. This study revealed that the experiences of teachers and administrators can be characterized and described …