Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

A Pilot Study: The Effects Of Mentoring On At-Risk African American, Ninth Grade Male Students, Tira C. Brockman

Dissertations

A pilot study on the effects of mentoring on ninth-grade at-risk African American males was completed with 25 students. This study was conducted during one calendar school year. The purpose was to use mentoring as an added intervention in support of some struggling students, males in particular, who were at-risk of dropping out of school before graduation. This study was meaningful, because these students were consistently failing, and the school was looking for innovative ways to academically encourage these at-risk students. The study was conducted at a ninth grade academy directly linked to the high school, in an urban city. …

A Mixed-Method Case Study Of Growth Mindset, Grit, And Reading Scores In A Midwest Public Elementary School, Christina Wilson

Dissertations

This study examined a possible relationship between grit, growth mindset, and reading scores. The study also examined the influence of grit and growth mindset on closing the achievement gap. Reading was an essential skill all students needed to achieve in order to be successful in school and life. Historically, schools implemented numerous academic interventions to ensure all students were proficient readers and to close achievement gaps in reading, yet the gaps continued to exist. The literature on noncognitive skills such as grit and growth mindset indicated teaching students these skills would increase academic achievement. The study collected teacher frequency of …

A Delphi Study Of The Understanding Of The Definition Of Student Success In California Community Colleges And Its Impact On Practice, Susan Topham

Dissertations

With the signing of Senate Bill 1456, the Student Success Act of 2012, California state legislation has mandated that California Community Colleges deliver services that will increase the probability of student persistence and completion. There is a need for the Instruction and Student Services sides of the house to come together in a collaborative manner to address and resolve this challenge and therefore bridge the gap between these two divisions.

Research has demonstrated that Instructional Services and Student Services in California Community Colleges work in silos when it comes to addressing the challenge of student success. The purpose of this …

The Role Of Technology In Personalized Learning And The Effect On Student Achievement, Allison Jean Pilley

Dissertations

Personalized learning is not a new concept and can be traced back to the 1700s, but it has become increasingly popular in today’s schools (Bray & McClaskey, 2015). With the high rate of technology introduction into classrooms, the implementation of personalized learning has become easier as instruction shifts from teacher-led to student-centered (Grant & Bayse, 2014). The purpose of this study was to identify the role of technology in personalized learning and to determine if the implementation of the pedagogy had an effect on student achievement scores. Elementary classroom teachers and elementary principals served as the participants for this study, …

Stakeholders’ Perceptions And Practice Of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy In A Private School, Elizabeth Maria Franklin

Dissertations

Many culturally responsive theorists support culturally responsive pedagogy for closing the achievement gap in the rapidly changing demographics of America’s education system. The purpose of this case study was to examine stakeholders’ perceptions and practice of culturally responsive pedagogy in St. Andrew Academy (pseudonym), a Catholic NativityMiguel school located in a Midwest metropolitan area. The goals were: (a) to examine middle school teachers’ and the principal’s perceptions of culturally responsive pedagogy and extent of culturally responsive teaching implemented in the school, (b) to examine how parents perceived culturally responsive caring relationships with teachers and the principal, and (c) to examine …

Alternative School Leadership Transformation: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation Of Outcomes, Justin Fears

Dissertations

This study was a documentation and assessment of Beta Academy Alternative School’s (pseudonym) transition to a newly introduced educational model/ leadership paradigm and examination of student educational outcomes, resulting from the leadership change. As a first year administrator, the researcher undertook the task of transforming an underperforming alternative education program by targeting areas of identified deficiency and/or concern (graduation rates, attendance, and discipline). In this study, the researcher executed a mixed-method evaluation of the new educational model in an effort to determine contributions to success, potential barriers to change, and the characteristics associated with both, as well as the quantitative …

A Mixed-Method Investigation Of Teacher Fidelity, Implementation Of Cooperative Learning, And Academic Achievement In A Midwest Public Elementary School Setting, Elizabeth C. Dubray-Allen

Dissertations

In this mixed-methods study, the researcher investigated teacher fidelity of implementation with cooperative learning structures, according to the Kagan Framework, related to students’ academic achievement and perceptions of cooperative learning. An analysis of the variations in teacher implementation of cooperative learning structures utilizing the Kagan Framework, based on the fidelity checklists, was completed during the study. In addition, the researcher examined the differences in mean achievement scores during baseline (i.e., traditional teaching practices) and intervention (i.e., cooperative learning structures) weeks, a correlation of relevant data points, and a discussion of teacher interviews, surveys, checklists, observations, and student surveys. To investigate …

Mitigating The Effects Of Test Anxiety Through A Relaxation Technique Called Sensory Activation, Marylynne Abbott

Dissertations

Test anxiety is a phenomenon which has been researched for decades. Student performance, goal attainment, and personal lives are all negatively affected by the multiple factors of test anxiety. This quantitative study was designed to determine if a particular relaxation technique, called sensory activation, could mitigate the symptoms and effects of test anxiety. The Test and Anxiety Examination Measure, developed by Brooks, Alshafei, and Taylor (2015), was used to measure test anxiety levels before and after implementation of the sensory activation relaxation technique. Two research questions guided the study using not only the overall test anxiety score from the Test …

Culturally Relevant Education For Rural Schools: Creating Relevancy In Rural America, Joshua J. Anderson

Dissertations

In this dissertation, I investigate the ways in which culturally relevant pedagogy is conceptualized and implemented by two secondary English Language Arts educators in one school district with a strong sense of rural identity. Culturally relevant pedagogy is considered by many professionals in the field of education to be an effective philosophy to inform instructional practices for narrowing the achievement gap of historically marginalized groups (Cummins, 1990; Gay, 2000; Ladson-Billings, 1994, 2000). A careful review of the literature on culturally relevant pedagogy reveals the discourse surrounding culturally relevant pedagogy has largely been dominated by urban voices (Cochran-Smith, 2003; Esposito & …

An Analysis Of Evaluation Practices Of Two Training Programs In The Healthcare Sector Using The New World Kirkpatrick Model, Michelle Woodhouse

Dissertations

The American Customer Satisfaction Index Report in 2015 indicated that service quality in the healthcare sector has declined even though the demand for healthcare service is rising. Companies invest billions of dollars annually to develop and implement customer service training programs; however, although companies evaluate their programs in order to continuously improve customer satisfaction, service quality is still on the decline. This may be because the evaluation process is neither formal nor comprehensive. Although the literature indicates that companies carry out evaluations, little is known about the actual evaluation process that is utilized to evaluate training programs, the levels at …

Correlates And Effects Of Data-Informed Decision-Making: An Empirical Examination Of The Loose Coupling Theory Using A National Data Set, Xingyuan Gao

Dissertations

The notion of schools as “loosely-coupled” organizations has been widely discussed in the research literature. Many argue that the loose coupling is either a protective mechanism for schools to buffer external pressure or a barrier to implementing new reforms. Against the backdrop of standards-based reform and accountability policies in the last 15 years, which focus on tightening the system as the way to improve K-12 schools, I conducted three related studies to empirically test the loose coupling theory by applying two-level hierarchical linear models to nationally representative data in the US.

In the first study I evaluated the loose coupling …

A Comparison Of Teacher Perceptions Of Students’ Abilities And Students’ Self-Reported Technological Abilities, Karalin Sanders

Dissertations

This study focused on the perceptions of students and teachers regarding the use of instructional technology in the classroom. Participants in this study were from three school districts with student populations between 500-1,000 students in the southwest region of Missouri. Students were given a survey to determine a self-assessment of their own abilities to use certain technologies for learning purposes. Their teachers were given a correlated survey; however, teachers were asked to assess their students’ abilities to use certain technologies for learning purposes. A Mann-Whitney U test was conducted on the results of the surveys to determine if there was …

Educators’ Perceptions Of Student Mobility During The Intermediate Elementary Grades In Two Rural Counties In Missouri, Landon S. Gray

Dissertations

Student mobility is “students moving from one school to another for reasons other than being promoted to the next school level” (Rumberger, 2002, p. 1). In this qualitative study, the researcher detailed how student mobility impacted four rural intermediate elementary schools in two select counties in southwest Missouri. Four principals, four counselors, and four classroom teachers were interviewed to learn how high student mobility impacted these participants, mobile and non-mobile students, and schools overall. There has been ample research on student mobility in the primary grades and in high school, but very little research exists dealing with intermediate elementary students. …

Applying Active Learning Strategy To The Teaching Of History Within A Multigenerational Community College Classroom, Zachary John Zweigle

Dissertations

Community colleges nationwide struggle with retention and completion of students. The role of two-year institutions is further complicated by the multigenerational diversity of learners. Community college instructors should be prepared to educate students ranging from the traditional-age digital native to a life-long learner 80 or more years in age. Creating a learning environment inclusive of generational learners is central to the mission of the community college. This quantitative study was grounded in two theoretical frameworks. First, Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive learning theory provided an understanding for student learning in the social environment. Second, Schön’s (1973) organizational learning theory provided an …

Building An Evaluation Model Of Academic Advising’S Impact On Progression, Persistence, And Retention Within University Settings, Abhik Roy

Dissertations

Academic advising is at a point in its maturation as a field of study where anecdotal evidence is no longer sufficient to inform the measure of effectiveness. As the area becomes more research-based, advising’s measurable impact should be based on an evaluative framework; no such structure currently exists. In this study, three methods were used to investigate this problem and ultimately to create a model and checklist. Firstly, a descriptive study was used to examine if there is an understanding of what evaluation is within the advising community, one where assessment has been the dominant practice. Secondly, a quasi-experimental design …

The Implementation Of Systematic Promotion And Retention Procedures And Its Impact On District-Wide Practices In Elementary Schools, Roger Anthony Le Blanc

Dissertations

Student retention has been consequential to students through an assortment of disparaging labels derived from the retention process. It served to marginalize the academic status of those students considered for retention through such practices as ability tracking, inferior labeling, and other discriminatory measures, as they moved through their respective academic journeys. And while both research current to the time of this writing and past research continued to be overwhelming in its stance that such policies and procedures were filled with negative unintended consequences, there was still little or no effort to abate such practices (Allensworth, 2004). This research explored whether …

The Federal School Improvement Grant: Telling The Story Through Quantitative Outcomes, Gregg B. Dionne

Dissertations

Student success and the mitigation of achievement gaps has been a focus of the federal government since passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) is the latest in federal policy inducements to address this.

To tell the story of SIG implementation in one Midwestern state, data was collected from two groups of SIG-eligible schools, one group which received SIG funding and the other group which did not. Data was collected over multiple years and included mathematics and reading outcomes as well as graduation, dropout, and attendance rates. Data was obtained for …

The Effects Of Consistent Observation And Feedback On Teacher Practice And Motivation To Refine Instruction, Scott I. Nasatir

Dissertations

This evaluation of a pilot program investigates the effects consistent observation and feedback had on teacher practice and motivation to refine instruction. An observation-feedback loop was initiated at a high school in a large Midwestern urban school district where teachers received bi-weekly observations and were provided with instantaneous feedback. Current research has shown that teacher evaluation, if utilized appropriately and with fidelity, can be a strong lever to improve instructional practices. While the advantages are vast, few schools and districts alike are also enacting measures to roll out a companion model that has “coaching” attributes embedded to support educators entrenched …

Systematic Implementation Of Full-Day Kindergarten In A Large Suburban School District: A Change Leadership Plan, Brad Edward Carter Mr

Dissertations

The purpose of this change plan document is to provide a rationale and structure for shifting from half- to full-day kindergarten. Patricia Clark’s (2009) synthesis of multiple research studies on full-day kindergarten outlines the reoccurring findings that implementation of full-day kindergarten prevents long term academic struggles for students. Closing the achievement gaps when at its smallest, which is early in the educational career of a student, ensures long term academic, social, and emotional success.

A Metaevaluation Of The Commission On Fire Accreditation International Accreditation Process, Stacy A. French

Dissertations

Fire and emergency services throughout the country are being required by local governmental authorities to provide efficient and effective services. In 1996, the International City-County Management Association (ICMA) and the International Association of Fire Chief (IAFC) executed a master trust agreement that established the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) to award accreditation to those fire and emergency services that demonstrated efficiency and effectiveness in the services provided. As of this study, no documented research had been published that challenged the current CFAI Accreditation process to ensure the highest level of accountability and usefulness for both the public and fire …

Fifth Grade Teachers’ Knowledge About Reading Instruction And Its Effects On Classroom Literacy Practices And Reading Achievement, Susan M. Dirnbeck

Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to discover the effectiveness of then-current teaching practices in fifth grade classrooms and to determine whether any of the strategies or practices observed yielded higher student achievement results than others. The researcher observed and recorded evidence of the use of the most effective practices, as identified by the Writing and Reading Observation Tool (WROT). Teachers’ scores obtained on the WROT were compared to the percentage of students reading at a proficient level, as measured by the Scholastic Reading Assessment. If high scores on the WROT indicated the use of effective teaching practices, then …

The Impact Of Educational Backgrounds On Academic Success At A Private Work College In The Midwest, Abbey Nicole Vogt

Dissertations

More families in the United States are beginning to choose private or homeschool education for children instead of a public school education (Hanna, 2011); therefore, college administrators must begin to evaluate each student’s educational background in order to help all students achieve academic success at the college level. The purpose of this study was to determine differences in multi-year college academic performance among public, private, and homeschool graduates who attended a private work college in the Midwest. The variables analyzed consisted of students’ final high school GPAs and ACT test scores, college cumulative GPAs and work point average (WPA) scores, …

An International Quantitative Comparative Content Analysis Of Reading Curriculum Using A 21st Century Framework, Tameka Tammy Moore

Dissertations

Research in the area of 21st century learning suggested the American public education system lacked educational preparation for students to compete in a global/connection economy. The United States performed lower than other nations on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 reading performance. However, the United States had a higher number of 21st century skills and knowledge embedded in the curriculum. The 21st century skills, referred to as the 4Cs (collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking) served as the foundation of this research. Moreover, while the United Sates performance on the PISA was no match to other developed nations; …

A Qualitative Study Of Workplace Perceptions By Postpartum Women, Chelsey K. Taylor

Dissertations

Working mothers face the challenge of balancing multiple roles while adhering to or rejecting the societal norms associated with those roles. The unique perceptions of the effects motherhood places on the working mother can shed light on the current and best practices in providing support for working women transitioning into working mothers. The purpose of this study was to identify and evaluate workplace and relationship perceptions of postpartum women employed in higher education. A qualitative, case study approach was developed and framed with three theoretical perspectives: the theory of work adjustment, role theory, and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. To complete …

The Use Of Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve Analysis For Academic Progress And Degree Completion, Joshua William Schutts

Dissertations

College student retention and graduation are important to students, institutions, and the community. Institutions must commit to understanding why students persist and depart in order to address student success. As a result, institutions and governmental entities have increased the emphasis they place on using data to improve student success and degree completion. An abundance of research suggests that background factors (such as high school GPA and ACT score) combined with environmental factors (such as one’s major and first semester GPA) are predictive of student success. However, the literature has yet to explore the value of ROC curve analysis as a …

Dual Enrollment Efficacy On College Readiness As Perceived By High School Dual Enrollment Teachers And Counselors In South Alabama, Shulanda Stallworth Franks

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of Dual Enrollment teachers and high school counselors to compare and determine whether there are significant differences between their perceptions of college readiness among DE participants in South Alabama. Data was analyzed and presented based on its relevance to effectiveness. This study is relevant because scholars are unclear about the effects of DE on college readiness.

This research was designed to close some of the gaps in the literature and help education stakeholders to identify effective mechanisms to continue to develop and promote the Dual Enrollment program. This study examined …

The Effectiveness Of Digital Leadership At K-12 Schools In Mississippi Regarding Communication And Collaboration During Ccrs Implementation, Lin Zhong

Dissertations

Successful CCRS implementation requires educators to communicate and collaborate at the local, state, and national level. Technology plays an important role in successful CCRS implementation. This study aims to investigate how digital leadership improves communication and collaboration at K-12 schools in Mississippi regarding implementation of CCRS as well as the effectiveness of different ways of supporting communication and collaboration regarding CCRS implementation. Mixed-method was chosen to investigate the research questions. Ten public school principals from two school districts were interviewed and observed at qualitative stage and two hundred fifty-four public schools teachers participated in the survey at quantitative stage. Interviews …

Employee Participation In A College Based Wellness Program: Leader Support, Incentives, Job Satisfaction, Absenteeism, And Self-Efficacy, Tara Rebekah Rouse

Dissertations

This study investigated employee participation in a college based wellness program using the following factors: leader support, incentives, job satisfaction, absenteeism, and self-efficacy. Specifically, the research was conducted to determine whether there was a significant relationship or difference in participation in a college based wellness program when looking at leader support, incentives, and individual self-efficacy and if participation made any difference on job satisfaction and/or absenteeism. The theoretical framework of this research is based on Bandura’s social learning theory, also known as social cognitive theory and was supplemented using Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior. This study could be beneficial to …

An Assessment Comparing Community College Students’ Computer Self-Efficacy And Task Based Computer Knowledge, Amy Nicholson Stewart

Dissertations

This quantitative research study explored the relationship between students perceived computer self-efficacy and actual knowledge of computer related skills in computer hardware/technology, windows, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and whether gender, race, and education level affected the research findings.

The participants in this study were students enrolled in an introductory computer concepts course at a community college located in the southeastern region of the United States. The computer course was a required for all students to receive an Associate of Arts and Associate of Applied Science degree. Data was collected in traditional face-to-face class sections and consisted of a pre- and …

Generational Learning Style Preferences Based On Computer-Based Healthcare Training, Michaelle H. Knight

Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this mixed-method study was to determine the degree of perceived differences for auditory, visual and kinesthetic learning styles of Traditionalist, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennial generational healthcare workers participating in technology-assisted healthcare training.

Methodology. This mixed-method research design used quantitative and qualitative data to analyze the research questions regarding generational learning style preferences. The study focused on quantitative data collection, through an online survey instrument that included two open-ended qualitative questions. The quantitative component (survey) was administered via a 24-question online survey. The results obtained from the qualitative component (interview questions) identified analyzable patterns and …