Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Narratives Of Adolescent Students: The Integration Of Health And Learning Through Application Of Nursing Theory, Marjean Huber

Dissertations

Problem. There are few resources to show educators how to help students improve learning by improving health and mental well-being. There is a lack of integration in the literature in terms of how practitioners can reach these students in order to help them learn effectively and develop into successful, productive adults with meaningful lives. This study has three major sections. First, I examine my experiences within education to determine what values, truths, and principles mold my practice. Second, I identify my teaching practice in relationship to nursing theory integrating it with learning theory, thus highlighting the relationship between the health …

Job Satisfaction And Its Relationship To Organizational And Religious Commitment Among Workers At Northern Caribbean University, Donna Brown

Dissertations

Problem. Recruiting teachers and motivating them to stay in their jobs present a challenge to educational institutions in Jamaica. Given the importance of workers' satisfaction to the health of an organization and the link between job satisfactionand turnover rate, then an examination of job satisfaction at Northern Caribbean University (NCU) is a priority. Based on this background, the primary focus of this study was to investigate job satisfaction and its relationship to organizational and religious commitment among workers at NCU.

Method. This study utilized a quantitative, descriptive research design. A survey questionnaire was sent to all full-time administrators …

Use Of Evaluation Findings In Michigan’S 21St Century Community Learning Center Programs, Wendy L. Tackett

Dissertations

There is a lack of empirical evidence demonstrating the use of evaluation findings within grant programs such as the 21st Century Community Learning Centers programs (CCLCs). This study was designed using Michigan's federally-funded CCLCs to meet the following purposes: to explore the use of evaluation findings; to determine the relationship of the use of evaluation findings by local school administrators to the employment of an internal or external evaluator; to identify evaluator qualifications connected to evaluation use; and to determine whether there are relationships between the Program Evaluation Standards (Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation, 1994) utility domains and …

Instructional Implications Of The Michigan Educational Assessment Program As An Accountability Instrument, Daniel J. Applegate

Dissertations

Problem. In Michigan, early elementary school teachers are held accountable for instructional decisions they made based on the number of children who pass the state standardized reading test, the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP). Although state officials claim the MEAP can inform instruction, no data are regularly collected to describe reading instructional practices or the relationship between current practices and the percentage of students who pass the MEAP.

Method. Using a survey instrument, this study measured the amount of instructional time Kindergarten through Grade 4 teachers reported that they devoted to the development of 19 different components or activities within …

Teacher Perceptions Of Internet-Based Distance Education In Adventist Colleges And Universities : A Mixed-Methods Study, Susan B. Smith

Dissertations

Problem. An examination of Internet-based distance education (IBDE) is important in order to maintain the delivery of quality higher education and to encourage the systemic adoption of policies and practices that promote excellence in IBDE. The quality of online distance education will increasingly become the standard by which students choose a program as their educational options have multiplied with the dramatic growth in distance education.

Method. This was a sequential exploratory mixed-methods study o f the perceptions of teachers on IBDE. It was conducted collaboratively with Pamela Cress who examined administrator perceptions. Data were collected for both studies from teachers …

Teachers' And Students' Perceptions Of Seventh- And Eighth-Grade Science Education In A Selected Seventh-Day Adventist Union Conference, Marcel Andre Sargeant

Dissertations

Problem. Science education has long been a great concern in the United States, where less than one-third of the students perform at or above the proficient level. The purpose of this study was to investigate the status of the science program in a selected Union Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist school system. Specifically, this study investigated the perceptions of teachers and students regarding the extent to which the science program meets the criteria of the National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st century and to what extent these criteria are related to academic performance as indicated by …

Have Charter Schools Materialized Their Promise A Contrast Between Rhetoric And Reality, Mary Kay Kempker-Vandriel

Dissertations

Charter schools are a growing force in American education. Parents are demanding a choice in their child's public education. Are charter schools better than traditional public schools? Have charter schools kept their promise?

In the study regular public schools and charter schools were compared along five dimensions: (a) opportunity for learning and access to quality education, (b) innovative teaching methods and participative management, (c) teacher job satisfaction, (d) parent involvement, and (e) school accountability. Existing data from the 1999/2000 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) were analyzed with primarily chi-square tests and one t-test. These analyses provided results in relation to …

Career Planning Needs Of Students, Carol Nowakowski

Dissertations

This study examines the perceived needs of college students in relationship to sex, employment, and academic rank. Specifically, factors that suggest the changing student population in higher education and the impact such changes have on providing career counseling services to meet student needs are presented. In addition, the differences between sex, employment status, and academic rank in relationship to perceived career planning needs is presented based on a review of literature. Results of a survey to students attending Davenport University (formerly known as Davenport College) during the winter 1995 semester are summarized in terms of perceived career planning needs based …

A Case Analysis Of Three Middle-School Boys Who Have Down Syndrome And Have Been In Regular Education Classes Since Preschool, Eileen Frances Luddy

Dissertations

This study investigated the experiences of three middle-school boys who have Down syndrome and have always attended regular education classes.

Despite the existence of policies and initiatives in support of inclusive education, research on the implementation of inclusive practices in middle schools is sparse.

This study is organized in nine chapters. A review of literature revealed that significant research conducted during the past decade supports the practice of including students with disabilities in regular education and the benefits of inclusion outweigh the benefits of separate instruction.

A case study approach investigated the phenomenon covering contextual conditions surrounding the experiences of …

The Relationship Between Demographic And Attitudinal Characteristics Of Primary-School Teachers And Implementation Of The Continuous Assessment Program In Swaziland, Hibajene Monga Shandomo

Dissertations

Problem. The purposes of this study were to determine the extent to which primary school teachers were implementing the Continuous Assessment Program (CAP) and to examine personal and institutional factors that may be related to the implementation of the program.

Method. A questionnaire designed to measure degree of implementation and attitude toward the Continuous Assessment Program was administered to a stratified random sample of 600 Grade 1 to Grade 7 teachers from 54 schools. Personnel from the National Curriculum Center (NCC) delivered and collected the questionnaires from each school. Completed questionnaires were then forwarded to the researcher. Data were coded …

Effects Of Software Use On The Preparation Of The Individualized Education Programs (Iep’S), Nancy Ann Beukema

Dissertations

Special educators are required to process paperwork mandated by federal regulations for students with special needs. The Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1997 (IDEA ’97, Public Law 105-17) requires the evaluation of students with special needs occur as frequently as their non-disabled peers. An annual review is also mandated for each student’s individualized educational program (IEP), in order to reevaluate the future goals and objectives of the IEPs. A student identified as needing special education services is one who needs specially designed instruction and this instruction must meet the specific individual needs of that student. IDEA ‘97 mandates the need …

A Systems Approach To Designing An Internship Model That Benefits The Sponsoring Organization, Peter-Cornelius Dams

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Educational Development Plans Motivation To Learn, And Attitudes And Behaviors Toward Learning Among Eighth Graders, Mary Alice Schultz-Krajenta

Dissertations

Educational Development Plans (EDP) have been utilized by school students to structure their curricular programs to meet their high school educational outcomes and to align their curriculum with their desired adult roles. The focus of this study was to examine the effects of EDPs on motivation, attitudes and behaviors towards learning.

A total of 342 eighth-grade students participated in this research which utilized a quantitative and a qualitative approach. The quantitative study used existing data obtained from a small Midwest school district. There were 151 students in the treatment group and 191 students in the control group. Scores from the …

The Effectiveness Of The High-School Academic Program In Preparing Graduates For Post-Secondary Education As Perceived By Alumni From Four Seventh-Day Adventist Senior High Schools In Canada, Janice P. Maitland

Dissertations

Problem. Questions have been raised regarding the preparation of high-school students for postsecondary studies. This study was designed to measure the effectiveness of the high-school academic program in preparing graduates for postsecondary education as perceived by alumni from four Seventh-day Adventist senior high schools in Canada.

Method. Respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement for each of 18 statements on a Likert-type (survey) instrument, strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5), measured against a scale—I-2.5, minimally effective; 2.51-3.5, moderately effective; and 3.51-5, highly effective. Mean scores and standard deviation scores were calculated to answer the first research question. …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of School Culture In Relation To Job Satisfaction And Commitment, Mayda Bahamonde-Gunnell

Dissertations

The concepts of culture and climate have been investigated in the corporate world and have been found to relate to increased job satisfaction and commitment. Schools can also benefit from such findings. In the school setting there are a number of studies that have been conducted relating school culture and climate to student achievement, but few have investigated the relationship of school climate and culture to job commitment and satisfaction.

Organizational culture, employee job satisfaction, an d employee commitment are all variables that must be measured in order to investigate how culture affects the organization. In this study, teachers’ perceptions …

Educational Brain Research As Compared With E.G. White's Counsels To Educators, Linda Bryant Caviness

Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this study was threefold: to review current, education-relevant brain research; to review the educational writings of Ellen G. White for major emerging themes/principles; and to compare these findings for similarities and differences.

Method and Results. Using an inductive process, the synthesis and comparison revealed 15 themes from brain research and 12 principles from White's writings from the middle 1800s and early 1900s.

Comparison of the two lists revealed alignment on eight themes/principles, nonalignment on three themes/principles, and partial-alignment on seven themes/principles.

Aligned themes/principles included: body and mind function as one; exercise and movement are vital …

An Assessment Of Home And Classroom Literacy Environments And The Emergent Literacy Development Of Kindergarten Students In Two Southwestern Michigan School Districts, Magdalene Tobias

Dissertations

Problem. In some school districts, low literacy proficiency is a problem of tremendous proportion. Assessing whether a solid foundation is being laid is more important than focusing our efforts at remediation in the later years. This study aimed at investigating the illiteracy problem at the "root" level. The purpose of the study was to determine the characteristics of the home and classroom literacy environments and the development of print, writing, and story concepts of kindergartners in two selected school districts. It also explored whether there was a difference in the performance of students from morning, afternoon, alternate whole-day, and …

An Analysis Of Nine K-12 School Districts That Have Established Membership With The Coalition Of Essential Schools, Shari A. Peters Kitchen

Dissertations

In the late 1970s, Ted Sizer, professor of education at Brown University, and a team of researchers traveled the country visiting dozens of secondary schools. The purpose of these visits was to understand the American high school by observing it firsthand. Sizer reported his findings in 1984 in Horace's Compromise: The Dilemma of the American High School.

In response to the compromises raised in Horace's Compromise, 12 schools volunteered to become the Coalition of Essential Schools. The Coalition rests on a set of nine Common Principles, which include intellectual rigor, simple and universal goals, personalized school, graduation by exhibitions …

Critical Thinking In Associate Degree Nursing Education, Nancy Tucker

Dissertations

Problem. This study sought to investigate the level of critical thinking (CT) of the associate degree in nursing (ADN) students and the relationship of CT and clinical judgment (CJ) with selected pre-admission and exit variables.

Method. A convenience sample of 112 ADN students (79 generic, 33 non-traditional) at a small, private liberal arts college on the West Coast participated in this exploratory study. The California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) was used to measure the level of CT, and CJ was measured using the Clinical Decision Making in Nursing Scale (CDMNS). Differences between the generic and non-traditional groups were explored …

Technology Partnership Curriculum Initiative: A Descriptive Case Study Of Its History, Development, And Implementation, Ingrid Wright-Jones

Dissertations

Problem

Curricular reform has a pathetic history. Curriculum documents, some of the major tools of reformers, have had a minor effect on transforming education because the power of pedagogy has been ignored (Cuban, 1993). Teachers in the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) system voiced similar concerns about curriculum documents. Additionally, they felt that their 2-4-day in-service training did not adequately prepare them to implement curricular changes. This initiative, aimed at restructuring both the content and process of teaching, was to be implemented in a distance-learning pilot project in eight one-teacher schools.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to: (1) define the …

The Effects Of Writing Assignments On Second-Semester Calculus Students' Understanding Of The Limit Concept, Melanie A. Wahlberg

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of writing assignments on second-semester calculus students’ understanding of the limit concept, using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The study involved two sections of second semester calculus (n = 37, 34) at Western Michigan University during the fall semester of 1997.

The treatment group completed six writing tasks focusing on the mathematical concept of limit. These conceptually-oriented writing assignments replaced some of the problem sets that the instructor would have normally assigned. The control group did not engage in writing tasks but handed in problem sets more frequently than the …

Implications Of Changing To 4 By 4 Semester Block Scheduling For Secondary Students With Learning Disabilities, Sandra Kay Wayne

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of changing from a traditional schedule to a block schedule on selected school-related behaviors and measures of secondary students with learning disabilities and their regular education teachers. Areas of impact that were addressed included school performance measures of student success rates, attendance rates, and discipline referrals as well as affective measures of levels of students' active engagement in learning activities, the variety of teaching and learning modes used, and the amount of individualized teacher attention given to students.

The research population consisted of six high schools in south and central …

Employability Skills In The Undergraduate Business Curriculum And Job Market Preparedness : Perceptions Of Faculty And Final-Year Students In Five Tertiary Institutions, Patrick Antonio Williams

Dissertations

Problem

For several decades educators, researchers, and employers have expressed concern about the quality of business graduates that are entering the workplace as entry-level professionals. The major concern of these stakeholders is that many students who are leaving tertiary institutions lack the necessary employability skills needed for career success. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate if undergraduate schools of business are adequately preparing their students for the workplace through the incorporation of employability skills throughout the curriculum. To achieve this purpose, the study measured the perceptions of both final-year undergraduate business students and their professors to determine …

The Effects Of A Cooperative Learning Environment On Attitudes, Social Skills, And Processing Of Baccalaureate Nursing Students, Mary J. Cairy

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a deliberate, planned cooperative learning environment on the attitudes, social skills, and processing of baccalaureate nursing students. A convenience sample of 43 students (Registered Nurses) randomly assigned to one of eight cooperative learning groups were the subjects for this study. Cooperative learning was used as a teaching methodology for the entire class of 15 weeks duration. The study sought to answer the following questions: (a) What effect does a deliberate, planned cooperative learning environment have on the attitudes of BSN (Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing) students toward group work? …

The Status Of Middle Level Schools In Berrien County, Michigan Following Michigan Public Act 25, Judith A. Burns

Dissertations

Michigan Public Act 25 of 1990 mandated public school reform. One of 4 components of Public Act 25 is the development of a 3 to 5 year School Improvement Plan (SIP). The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine middle level school improvement in Berrien County, Michigan, for evidence that developmentally appropriate middle level education is promoted.

This 2-part investigation involved analyzing SIPs submitted for 1992-93 school year using a content analysis format and interviews with each building principal or designee. The content analysis format was developed by Sweeney and Cooper in 1992 to analyze SIPs of Wayne County, …

An Assessment Of The Characteristics Of Catholic School Boards In The State Of Michigan, Frank C. Wippel

Dissertations

This study describes the nature and development of Catholic school boards, reports the characteristics of Michigan Catholic school boards, and investigates relationships between involvement in key board functions (establishing mission, long-range planning, budget monitoring, policy development, and marketing) and selection processes, governance postures, and training. The findings indicate a relationship between key board function involvement, election process, consultative governance posture, and training. Survey methodology and design was used to obtain the data for the study. Board presidents and school administrators from all 358 Catholic schools in the state were invited to participate. A 9 6 % response rate was obtained. …

Attitudes Of Black Secondary School Teachers Toward School Guidance In The Potchefstroom Area, South Africa, Elias H. Masibi

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Level Of Management Support Behaviors And The Effect On Participation Rates In Corporate Fitness Programs, Diane Braatz

Dissertations

Survey methods were used to evaluate the relationship between the nature and degree of management support provided to corporate fitness programs and employees' participation rates in those programs. A questionnaire requesting information about demographics, participation rates, and supportive management practices in the areas of coaching, modeling, and reinforcing, was sent to representatives of 400 companies. Completed questionnaires representing 157 organizations were returned. Across all respondents, the mean reported level of employee participation in fitness programs was 20.7%; the range was 2 to 67%. The level of employee participation was positively related to the total level of management support (i.e., combined …

Teachers' Perception Of Instructional Leadership And Student Achievement, David Anspaugh

Dissertations

The focus of this study was to investigate the teachers' perceptions of the principal's leadership behaviors and how the achievement level of the students was affected. Three middle schools representing the Prairie View Public Schools were used in the study. These middle schools were Sparta Middle School, High Plain Middle School, and Middleville Middle School.

A staff survey was given to the 33 teachers in each of the buildings. The survey dealt with 18 leadership behaviors of the principal. The teachers were asked to rate the behaviors as to their importance to them and if the behaviors existed. The survey …

Classroom Personalities Of Effective Teachers Within A Technical College Setting, Fred Manley

Dissertations

This study used student ratings to examine relationships between instructor personality and teaching effectiveness for technical college faculty. Research was specifically conducted to address three questions: (1) what personality traits are associated with effective teaching, (2) do the personality profiles of effective teachers differ by academic area, and (3) are there personality dimensions that distinguish above average from below-average instructors.

Students enrolled in classes taught by instructors randomly selected from the accounting, computer information systems, marketing, and office occupations departments at five Wisconsin technical colleges rated their instructors on 29 personality traits and 18 teaching behaviors. Pearson product-moment correlations were …