Education Commons^™

Surgency Characteristics Relating To Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder And Autism Spectrum Disorders In Boys With Fxs, Marjorie Lee Grefer

Theses and Dissertations

Children with fragile X syndrome (FXS) are at high risk for developing a range of behavioral disorders, including Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, very few studies have investigated the comorbid profile of FXS and ADHD and the possible dissociation from the FXS and ASD profile. The present study examined the relationship of childhood temperament characteristics of the Surgency facet (activity level, impulsivity, approach, shyness, and smiling and laughter) and the severity of ADHD and ASD features at two measurement time points in childhood, preschool (ages 3-4) and at school entry (ages 5-6). The study consisted …

Generational Differences In Motivation To Attend College, John Michael Cote

Theses and Dissertations

The National Center for Education Statistics recently released a report indicating that the amount of full-time students attending college has increased by 45 percent over the past ten years. While many reasons assist in explaining this increase in college attendance, this study explored the differences in motivations for attending college amongst generations. This quantitative study used secondary data collected by the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Freshman survey to explore the differences in reasons for attending college amongst the Baby Boomer, Generation X, and Millennial generations and predict reasons that may be important to future generations of college students. These …

An Examination Of Middle School Counselors' Comfort With Technology, Patricia Christina Roddy

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the differences in comfort with technology in middle school counselors in South Carolina. The researcher’s goal was to determine the effects of years of experience, technology training, gender, and age on middle school counselors’ comfort with technology.

After a review of literature, it was determined that this study was warranted to determine middle school counselors’ comfort with technology. As technology progresses, it is critical that school counselors are appropriately trained to utilize technology in their work. Their comfort levels with technology should be as strong as their ability to use a …

Perceptions Of Elementary School Principals: Turning High Poverty Elementary Schools In South Carolina Into High-Performing Elementary Schools, Katie Wall Barber

Theses and Dissertations

There is no question that economic deprivation has an adverse impact on student achievement. In the United States, the gaps in achievement among poor and advantaged students are substantial. Through multiple studies, the United States Department of Education (2006) indicated results that "clearly demonstrated that poverty adversely affected student achievement." Closing the achievement gap and achieving success for all students presents a challenge for schools, particularly those located in high-poverty areas (Brock & Groth, 2003). Current research illustrates that some schools, often referred to as high-performing, high-poverty schools, have led their low-income student populations to high levels of achievement, matching …

The Relationship Of South Carolina Teachers' Work-Related Stress With Years Of Experience, Feelings And Coping Strategy, Michelle Munnell

Theses and Dissertations

Background. Stress has been found to affect workers in various occupations, and teaching appears particularly stressful. Work-Related Stress (WRS) affects teachers and people with whom they interact. Previous research suggests WRS may be related to characteristics including teaching experience, feelings, and coping strategy. Objective. The purpose of this study was to investigate further the relationship of teacher stress, while expanding the investigation in several areas: utilizing a different geographic population, broadening the focus to generic WRS, and including teachers with less experience. Current model builds on Kyriacou and Sutcliffe's (1978) and Tolbert's (2007) teacher stress models. This study examined relationships …

Response To Intervention: An Interpretive Case Study Of Educators' Perspectives On The Roles Of School Culture, Personal Beliefs, And Program Knowledge On Implementation., Beverly Adhiambo Ochieng-Sande

Theses and Dissertations

In education today there is a heightened emphasis on teacher accountability for improving student outcomes. The law requires that in order for a student to qualify as a student with a disability, the child's IEP team must ensure that the child's problem is not due to poor instructional programming. Therefore, the general education teacher is encouraged to use research-based interventions and a systematic method of data collection and progress monitoring, so he or she can determine whether a child qualifies for the referral stage of the special education identification process. Response to intervention (RTI) is a systematic multi-tiered process of …

Lessons In Success: A Multi-Campus Study Of Factors Influencing Academic Accomplishment Among High-Achieving African American Students At Private Liberal Arts Colleges, Ryan Andrew Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the academic experiences of highly successful African-American male graduates of small, private liberal arts colleges using a qualitative approach. Fourteen highly successful alumni from selective, private colleges were purposefully selected for the study, including seven African-American males and seven white males. In semi-structured interviews, participants retrospectively described positive experiences they associated with their academic success in college. The study observed the importance of the small college in creating a deep sense of connection across the campus, empowering students to take risks that helped them succeed academically. This research also explored the idea …

Identifying And Encouraging Math In Children's Out-Of-School Activities In The Rural Lowcountry Of South Carolina, Sherry Carillon Hyatt

Theses and Dissertations

Research shows that children of different backgrounds and cultures learn and perform differently in mathematics despite similar intelligence levels and mathematics instruction (Alvarez & Bali, 2004). Ethnomathematics strives to explore and explain such phenomena in terms of the complex role culture plays in one's background experiences and perceptions that influence cognition and how school is experienced (Ascher, 1991; Barton, 1996; Bishop, 1994; D'Ambrosio, 1994). The importance of recognizing and utilizing the mathematical concepts imbedded in students' everyday activities is stressed in the field of ethnomathematics (Ascher, 1991; Bishop, 1994; Presmeg, 1998). In order to relate students' out-of-school experiences to content …

Impact Of The Child Development Program On Reading Achievement Of Kindergarten Through Eighth Grade Students In An Urban School District, Tai Elizabeth Lynch

Theses and Dissertations

Educational leaders are charged with making informed decisions regarding various aspects of schooling that affect the overall achievement of students. Numerous legislative ideas, funding initiatives, programming standards, and practicing guidelines for early childhood education programs have been introduced (Buyssee & Wesley, 2006). Early care and education have become significant components of social policy due to the increase in the number of individuals in the workplace and the increasing roles of government in education and reform, as well as the continued concern for school readiness and achievement (Urban Institute, 2009). Americans often state that children are “our most precious natural resource” …

Environments Of Excellence: Two Literate Homes And Teachers' Perspectives, Tracy Swinton Bailey

Theses and Dissertations

African American children and other children of Color and children living in low-income areas are not performing at the same academic level as their European American counterparts. Some educators have blamed those children and their families for their failure. However, studies show that teaching and learning is happening in all familial settings, and that environments of excellence where the characteristics, conditions, dispositions and practices support student academic success are being established and maintained in all communities, including low-income African American communities. Disregard for this fact has led to a challenge for marginalized children and a widening of the gap between …

The Teaching Of Reading, Writing And Language In A Clinical Speech And Language Setting: A Blended Therapy Intervention Approach, Kerrie Allen Ammons

Theses and Dissertations

With a growing body of research that supports a link between language and literacy, governing bodies in the field of speech and language pathology have recognized the need to reconsider the role of speech-language pathologists in addressing the emergent literacy needs of preschoolers who struggle with literacy and language concepts. This study contributes to the research on speech and language pathology's clinical approaches by researching a blended approach to therapy using individualized language needs with embedded emergent literacy practices to expand not only the expressive and receptive language repertoire but also the emergent literacy learning of language-delayed preschool children receiving …

The Effects Of Attentional Focus Cues And Feedback On Motor Skill Learning In Children, Melanie Elizabeth Perreault

Theses and Dissertations

Considerable research over the past decade has produced overwhelming evidence to support the motor learning advantage associated with an external focus of attention. Despite this robust finding, very few studies have investigated attentional focus effects with children. This is surprising given that considerable information processing differences exist between children and adults that have the potential to influence motor performance and learning. Therefore, two studies were conducted to determine the effect of attentional focus cues and feedback on motor learning in children. In the first study, 42 children ages 9 to 11 were recruited from an afterschool program and randomly assigned …

A Teacher's Perceptions Of Inquiry: Where Inquiry Experiences, Beliefs And Practice Intersect, Michelle Avila Vanderburg

Theses and Dissertations

Linda Darling-Hammond (2008), a member of President Obama's education transition team, published a collection of chapters, each written by prominent researchers in the field of education. Throughout this compilation, the idea of using inquiry in the classroom was heralded again and again. Darling-Hammond argued for the "implementation of inquiry-based curriculum that engages children in extended, constructive work, often in collaborative groups, and subsequently demands a good deal of self-regulated inquiry" (p. 13). Significant in Darling-Hammond's message was that educators need to provide students with experiences that allow them to become inquirers who can construct their own knowledge. However, while the …

School Psychologist Leadership In Rti Implementation: Administrators' View Of School Psychologists As A Resource In Rti, Allison Rice

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the leadership role of school psychologists in Response to Intervention (RTI) implementation, as well as school psychologists' usefulness to principals in successful implementation of RTI. The researcher asserts, that through the fulfillment of certain roles, school leaders recognize the benefit of involving school psychologists in RTI implementation. The study asks the following questions: 1) To what extent are the specific leadership characteristics associated with school psychologists' roles related to the level of RTI implementation being exemplified? 2) To what extent are the specified school leadership characteristics present in school psychologists in Dorchester …

Investigating Relationships Between Academic Achievement And After School Programs In A High School Environment, Aaron Duke Fulmer

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate if participation in an academically focused after school program could be linked with improved academic achievement as measured by a standardized test. A quantitative experimental design was utilized to explore the topic. The scale scores of participants in an academically focused after school program were compared to non participants to determine if there was a statistical difference between the groups. Additionally, the attendance level of participants in the academically focused after school program was correlated with their scale score on a standardized test in order to the relationship.

This study is significant …

A Veterinary Science Initiative: An Analysis Of Impact And Future Directions For Humane Education And Collaborative Partnerships, Brittany Watson Tisa

Theses and Dissertations

Humane education research is limited in its scope and structure and this has led to its inability to find a place in standard curriculum. As resources become scarcer for school districts and shelters, proving efficacy of programs is essential for successful partnerships and program achievements. VSI: Veterinary Science Initiative is a program developed by the education team at the Charleston Animal Society as a model for cooperative education between shelters, veterinarians, and other private organizations to collaborate with local school districts, while also conducting research about how this curriculum benefits student knowledge, organizational awareness, and community engagement.

An Analysis Of The Current Use And Future Intentions To Use Mobile Learning Strategies Among Full-Time Community College Faculty, Stephanie Denise Frazier

Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study examined how full-time community college faculty members in southern states use mobile learning (m-Learning) strategies as tools for student engagement. Specifically, research questions were designed to measure the current use of six key m-Learning strategies: augmented reality, file/resource sharing, gaming/simulation, reference/research applications, social media, and text messaging. This study also probed into faculty attitudes and beliefs in four areas: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions. Statistical analyses were conducted to determine existing relationships between these four determinants and the intentions of faculty members to use m-Learning strategies in the forthcoming academic year. Additionally, research …

El Círculo Familiar Bilingüe De Libros / The Bilingual Family Book Club: Creating Translanguaging Spaces With Latin@ Picture Books, Kelli Edenfield Criss

Theses and Dissertations

The study employed a bilingual family book club framework to group parents and children together during bilingual literature discussion and response. Employing a qualitative design and constant comparative analysis, the researcher examined what happened when a bi-monthly bilingual family book club, involving seven emergent bilingual children, their parents, and a researcher/facilitator, was initiated and sustained over a five month period. The study's context was a Florida panhandle elementary school's media center and a public library branch. Through analysis of book club session and interview transcripts, the researcher discovered that students and parents employed their repertoires of linguistic and cultural practices. …

An Analysis Of Achievement Between Single Gender Education And Coeducational Models In Select Middle Schools In South Carolina, Roy Lee Givins Jr

Theses and Dissertations

he purpose of this study was to examine the effect of single gender education on the overall academic achievement of students in reading and mathematics. Four research questions, focused on math and reading assessment scores, were developed to guide the study. The research was focused on the results of the Measures of Academic Progress assessments administered to students each academic year. The population of student scores selected to be studied were those of seventh grade students in two middle schools in the Upstate of South Carolina. The reason for studying this grade level was due to the fact that it …

Perspectives On Transitioning To The Assistant Principalship Among Peers: A Qualitative Study Of Six New School Administrators, Everette Hix Workman

Theses and Dissertations

The role of the assistant principal in the public schools is under studied and undervalued. As the largest group of school administrators and as future principals in training, the assistant principals' socialization process begs understanding. This study questions the transition from teacher to assistant principal, accounting for the setting and context of the move into school administration. Through a qualitative, in-depth phenomenological interview study of six assistant principals in their first years as public school administrators, this study focuses on their lived experiences with the transition. The theoretical framework constructed to examine the lived experiences of these six recently transitioned …

The Effects Of Ability Grouping On Gifted & Talented Third, Fourth, And Fifth Grade Students In Selected South Carolina Public School Districts, Tammy Tara White

Theses and Dissertations

This is a quantitative research study using archival data to focus on the achievement of Gifted & Talented students in two South Carolina public school districts. The researcher used an open cohort comparative research design for this study. This study attempted to find if differences in student performance existed between students labeled as Gifted & Talented in South Carolina based on their model for instruction. The researcher used their Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (PASS) test scores in English Language Arts (ELA) and math achievement scores and compared them to the students' placement in special class model Gifted & Talented …

The Financial Nexus Of College Choice And Persistence At For-Profit Institutions, Benjamin James Bryan

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined student persistence to attainment at for-profit institutions of higher education using the financial choice-persistence nexus theoretical framework (St. John, Paulsen, & Starkey, 1996). Nexus theory predicts that when students' experiences are not consistent with expectations, students perceive that their implicit contract with the institution has been violated and may choose to leave. This phenomenon has not previously been studied in the for-profit sector. This study examined how students' expectations of college, related to their choice of institution, subsequently impact their persistence decisions at for-profit schools, and how students' expectations affect the way that financial influences such as …

Major Adjustment: Students' Transition Experiences Leaving Selective Undergraduate Degree Programs, Helen Mulhern Halasz

Theses and Dissertations

This multi-campus, qualitative study investigated how undergraduate students previously enrolled in selective majors described coping resources utilized during the transition of leaving their previous major and selecting a new academic degree program. The study also examined which resources students identified as most valuable, and coping resources most influential in their retention decisions. Research about students in selective degree programs has been absent for the last 20 years, and previous research studies have not given voice to the experiences of students in transition between majors. The conceptual underpinning of this study was the 4 S System (Goodman, Schlossberg, and Anderson, 2006), …

Relationship Between Principal Change And Influence Styles: Is There An Impact On Teacher Retention?, Leslie J. Howder

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between principal leadership styles, specifically change and influence styles, and teacher retention in the Low-Country region of South Carolina. Utilizing the Change Style Indicator and Influence Style Indicator, the researcher surveyed 25 principals from Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester 2 School Districts. The results were analyzed and compared to teacher retention rates from South Carolina State School Report Cards. Three relationships were analyzed: 1) correlation between change styles and influence styles, 2) correlation between change styles and teacher retention and 3) correlation between influence styles and teacher retention. …

Public Education In A 'Religious State': South Carolina Responds To Engel V. Vitale (1962), Abington V. Schempp (1963), And Murray V. Curlett (1963), Jessica Kathleen Sweeney

Theses and Dissertations

Since its inception in the mid-1800s, public education has been one of the most contested arenas in American life. Among the battles fought in this domain, none have been more heated than the appropriate role of religion in the public schools. From the 1844 Philadelphia Bible Riots, to the 1925 debate over Darwinism and Creationism, to recent skirmishes regarding the Pledge of Allegiance, these and other disputes have been the subject of considerable scholarship. In South Carolina, however, one controversy regarding the intersection of religion and public education has received little attention, namely the trio of harshly criticized Supreme Court …

An Assessment Of Instructional Coaching: Results Of A Survey Of Selected School Districts In South Carolina, Heather Clayton Gordon

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine teachers' perceptions of instructional coaching. Four research-based instructional coaching best practices were identified for the development of a survey. The four instructional coaching best practices were: collaborating with teachers to address school-wide instructional concerns and practices, collaboratively planning with a teacher to identify when and how an instructional intervention might be implemented, modeling instructional practices in teachers' classrooms, and observing teachers and providing teachers with feedback. Data were collected through the researcher constructed Teachers' Perceptions of Instructional Coaching survey. Elementary teachers in four school districts in the Upstate of South Carolina participated …

I Hope It Rains So My Corn And Your Okra Grows: A Case Study Of A Kindergarten Teacher's Language Use In Expanding Children's Language Repetoires, Linda D. Mook

Theses and Dissertations

The continuing disparity of academic success, commonly referred to as the achievement gap, the gap between economically disadvantaged subgroups and their more economically advantaged peers, is the greatest problem we face in the United States today (Slavin & Madden, 2006). In this dissertation, I studied in-depth the complexity of a quality teacher and her program at the kindergarten level, I focused my study on three areas, realizing that each of these areas is very complex. Although they overlap, they also have their own unique subtopics within the larger topic. The three areas of study are: oral language development, teacher/child interactions, …

An Intervention To Increase Staff Promotion Of Healthy Eating And Physical Activity In Out-Of-School-Time-Programs, Robert Glenn Weaver

Theses and Dissertations

Frontline-staff are critical to achieving standards related to child physical activity and nutrition (PAaN) in out-of-school-time-programs (OSTP). Recent standards call upon staff to demonstrate behaviors related to PAaN. Currently, no instrument exists to measure these behaviors. Further, while there have been several studies to increase children's PAaN in OSTPs, no studies have targeted staff behaviors and then measured the associated changes in staff behaviors. Therefore, this research project encompasses four studies.

The first study fills the gap between policy mandates and staff behaviors by describing the development of the System for Observing Staff Promotion of Activity and Nutrition (SOSPAN) in …

School Counselors' Perceptions Of Their Role In Assisting Students With College Preparedness, Tabatha Mcallister

Theses and Dissertations

Access to quality precollege counseling is a crucial component of students' post-secondary educational planning. High school counselors provide educational planning and guidance to students which make them a valuable commodity to obtain information for students contemplating their postsecondary options (Hoyt, 2001). School counselors are situated as the focal point for students and their parents to obtain the information needed for academic and financial college preparedness. The research problem was ascertaining a descriptive definition of the elements that comprise the roles of the school counselor in student post-secondary preparedness. As well as determining if there are factors that enhance or inhibit …

Building Resiliency: Supporting Elementary School Students Through Parental Bereavement, Sandra Kerr Ray

Theses and Dissertations

This study employed qualitative methods to learn what understandings, practices, and interventions were used by educators from one elementary school to support bereaved children in the classroom and as members of a school community. Educators reported uncertainty about how children grieve, how to talk with children about a deceased parent, how to talk with the bereaved child’s peers about parental death, and how to balance the bereaved child’s emotional and academic needs. Educators were also uncertain about how to recognize and intervene when a parental death was remote in time and the child’s grief response was attenuated (e.g., anxiety, disengagement, …