Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

A Qualitative Grounded Theory Study In Understanding The Teacher/Student Relationship In The College English Freshman Composition Classroom, Jean Tweedy

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative grounded theory study is focused on the teacher/student relationship that develops in a freshman composition class when writing is being taught and how that relationship exists during the writing process. Notes were generated through field observation of three freshman English 101 classes, personal interviews with 12 students who were members of the three freshman English 101 classes observed by me, and final grade records for each student in each class obtained from the registrar’s office. The ability and perceived willingness of the English teacher to communicate with students is the prime motivating factor for confidence within the students …

The Effect Of A Minimum Credit Diploma Pathway On High School Graduation Rate, Teresa Strickland

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

There are many paths to high school graduation. The reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act has driven schools to be creative in seeking strategies by which students successfully earn their high¬¬¬¬ school diploma. In this non-experimental, causal-comparative study, a large Western North Carolina school district utilizes a minimum credit diploma to help students who previously experienced repeated academic failure achieve high school graduation by earning 21 course credits. The district requires traditional diploma-seeking students to earn seven additional credits to the 21 required by the State. Participants included high school graduates from the 2013-2014 school year. Both traditional …

Qualitative Phenomenological Study Exploring Instructional Practices That Contribute To Academic Success For Public Elementary School English Language Learners, Mechelle Champion

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore effective instructional strategies of mainstream classroom teachers working with English Language Learners (ELLs). Many teachers feel unprepared to adequately educate English Language Learners. School systems have attempted to rectify this situation by providing teachers with professional development that provides instructional strategies which may or may not be effective. This study answered the questions: What teaching strategies do teachers and administrators perceive to have the most positive impact on learning for ELLs?; How does the culture of the classroom and school impact ELLs’ academic success?; and What are building level administrators’ …

A Qualitative Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Adults In The North Georgia Area That Were Retained In Grades K-12, Betsy Green

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the impact retention has had on the lived experiences of adults in the North Georgia area that were retained in their K-12 education. The 10 participants were adults over the age of 18 that live in a rural North Georgia community and have experienced retention. The sampling was purposive and took place at public schools in Mountain Town, Georgia. The research questions for this study were: • How is the experience of grade retention remembered by adults retained in their K-12 education? • How has K-12 retention impacted self-efficacy, the …

Academic Interventions And Academic Achievement In The Middle School Grades, Toby G. Kite

Dissertations

After the passing of the Individuals with Disabilities Act of 2004, many schools began to use a Response to Intervention (RtI) model instead of the discrepancy model when identifying students with specific learning disabilities (National Center on Response to Intervention, 2011). When elementary schools adopted the RtI model, it was shown to be successful with any students who need academic interventions (National Center on Response to Intervention, 2011). The success at the elementary level has led to middle schools adopting the model with varying success (National Center on Response to Intervention, 2011). In this study, middle schools that have developed …

“I Am More Productive In The Library Because It’S Quiet”: Commuter Students In The College Library, Mariana Regalado, Maura A. Smale

Publications and Research

This article discusses commuter students’ experiences with the academic library, drawn from a qualitative study at the City University of New York. Undergraduates at six community and baccalaureate colleges were interviewed to explore how they fit schoolwork into their days, and the challenges and opportunities they encountered. Students identified physical and environmental features that informed their ability to successfully engage in academic work in the library. They valued the library as a distraction-free place for academic work, in contrast to the constraints they experienced in other places—including in their homes and on the commute.

Implementation Of Positive Behavior Intervention And Support At The High School Level, Bernadette D. White

Dissertations

With schools having an ever-increasing interest in reducing acts of violence and reducing the incidence of out-of-school suspension, new interventions are constantly being sought. How the program is implemented can play a significant role in program effectiveness. Durlak (1998) found that many evaluation methods did not consider the implementation process because they were done after the implementation of the program. Whether an evidence-based intervention would have a positive effect depended on closely following the details of the implementation process (Durlak, 1998). This study was motivated by four research questions: (a) Was the process used to implement Positive Behavior Intervention and …

Grit And Student Performance: A Mixed-Method Analysis Of A Non-Traditional Technical High School And A Traditional High School, Ronda L. Wallace

Dissertations

Grit, defined as the tendency to pursue long-term goals with sustained zeal and hard work, was shown to predict achievement in academic, vocational, and avocational domains. In 2009, Duckworth and Quinn found that grit predicted student effectiveness in school and the concept of grit was largely unrelated to talent. Grit provided incremental predictive validity for achievement outcomes, particularly in settings of high challenge. From the combination of persistence, self-control, and more broadly, conscientiousness, emerges the concept of grit. The purpose of this study was to compare the relative grittiness of students from two different high school settings. The first of …

A Comparison Of Single Gender And Coeducational Classrooms, Student Engagement, And Achievement Scores, Myra Pendleton

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference in the academic achievement in reading among students enrolled in single-gender and coeducational classes, as well as the impact of teachers’ perceptions on the outcome of academic achievement. The study used a mixed-method approach to address this purpose. This study reported quantitative findings from reading scores on the Acuity test for 396 students in grades two through eight, from four elementary and two middle schools within an urban district in Missouri. Acuity scores were examined in several ways: comparison of the means for coeducational and single-gendered classrooms …

Student Involvement In Extracurricular Activities And Post-Secondary Education Placement, Courtney J. Martin

Dissertations

Extracurricular activities have been an important part of adolescents’ lives for generations (Kremer-Sadlik, Izquierdo, & Fatigante, 2010). Extracurricular activities take place outside of the classroom and result in several benefits to students (National Federation of State High School Associations [NFHS], 2010). With the recent recession in the United States, many school districts are having to find ways to cut budgets and are looking at eliminating extracurricular activities to save money (Lamb, 2011). Data from graduating seniors were reviewed in the largest accredited public school district in a Midwestern state. Graduates are required to take a post-follow up survey upon graduating …

The Study Of Effective Tier Ii Reading Interventions For Primary Grade Students, Sheila Cox-Hines

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine effective reading interventions for primary grade students, utilizing the Response to Intervention (RtI) model. The purpose of RtI is to enhance the quality of education for children, if appropriate levels of academic instruction are present (Hanover Research, 2015). The research questions were posed to garner perspectives of the Intervention Team (IT) leaders as to Tier II interventions that aided students who indicated difficulty with reading, and the duration of the intervention, prior to achieving progress toward the specified goal. Additionally, research questions were stated to determine which Tier II reading intervention yielded …

Evaluation Of The Counseling, College And Career Specialist, And Social Work Programs In A Midwest School District, Shona O. Ambers-Phillips

Dissertations

In education, much emphasis is placed on academic achievement without fully understanding the role counseling programs can have to ensure all students are learning at high levels and are college and career ready. The staff of Midwest School District believes that guidance and counseling is an integral part of each school’s total education program. As a commitment to this belief, the district developed a program evaluation plan to both consistently and effectively evaluate district programs. An essential component of a school counseling program’s accountability is to provide evidence that what school counselors do makes a measurable difference in the lives …

Understanding Student Evaluations : A Black Faculty Perspective., Armon R. Perry, Sherri L. Wallace, Sharon E. Moore, Gwendolyn D. Perry-Burney

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Student evaluations of faculty teaching are critical components to the evaluation of faculty performance. These evaluations are used to determine teaching effectiveness and they influence tenure and promotion decisions. Although they are designed as objective assessments of teaching performance, extraneous factors, including the instructors’ race, can affect the composition and educational atmosphere at colleges and universities. In this reflection, we briefly review some literature on the use and utility of student evaluations and present narratives from social work faculty in which students’ evaluation contained perceived racial bias.

Financial Management And Gender Equality In Interscholastic Athletics, Steve Chen

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

Interscholastic athletic programs must avoid gender-based budgetary inequity lawsuits to ensure their successful operation. Potential problem areas are the methods used to generate athletic funds, female sports funding and the maintenance of Title IX compliance. Eighty-two interscholastic athletic directors from eastern Kentucky region shared their perceptions concerning these potential problem areas. They completed an online survey based on past literature [1, 2, 3] addressing themes concerning effective strategies for generating athletic funds and maintaining equitable athletic budgets for both gender sports. The results indicated that participants adopted both direct sales (food, apparels, and tangible product items) and indirect sales (advertising …

Student Athletes’ Perception Of Sexual Harassment, Lynn Hunt Long, Regina Rahimi, Delores D. Liston

Curriculum, Foundations & Reading: Faculty Publications

Purpose: This qualitative study examined the perceptions of student athletes regarding sexual harassment and other forms of gendered harassment (homophobic bullying) as well as knowledge of and/or experiences with harassment in high school and university settings, primarily in athletic school culture.

Methodology: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-seven former high school athletes/active university athletes. The data were analyzed regarding theme and their relationship to the reviewed literature.

Findings: Findings indicate that the athletic culture poses particular issues pertaining to the vulnerabilities and persistence of sexual bullying and harassment.

Discussion: Educators, coaches, and administrators must understand harassment, work to establish and …

Career Ready Or Rushed? Developing Career Exploration In Cscps, Catherine Hammond, Richard E. Cleveland

Leadership, Technology & Human Development: Faculty Presentations

While national focus on college/career-readiness has placed welcome attention on school counseling, overzealous emphases to pick a specific college and/or career can leave students feeling rushed. Broad school-wide or grade-level programs aimed at college/career preparation may trump individual career development. This session presents how to infuse career exploration into the current educational landscape (i.e., RTI, Common Core, etc.) via the multiple components of a Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling Program (CGCP): Foundation, Management, Delivery, and Accountability.

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Instructional Technology Integration And Student Achievement, Carla Holt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This correlational, causal-comparative research study examined the relationships between secondary career and technical education teachers’ gender, experience, professional development and their perceptions of technology use. The research also investigated how the teachers in this study perceive the adequacy of their student’s technology skills for meeting college and workplace demands. Eighty-four career and technical education teachers in six North Carolina high schools completed the School Technology Needs Assessment Survey 4.0 (STNA), which also included demographic questions that asked about age, gender and years of experience. A two sample t test, correlation analysis and multiple linear regression were performed. The results of …

How Science Teachers Balance Religion And Evolution In The Science Classroom: A Case Study Of Science Classes In A Florida Public School District, Pierre Willems

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study was to research how science teachers balance both religion and evolution in the science classroom with as little controversy as possible. In this study I attempted to provide some insight on how teachers are currently teaching evolution in their science classes in light of the religious beliefs of the students as well as their own. The case study was conducted in a school district in Florida where I attempted to answer the following questions: (a) How do science teachers in the Florida School District (FSD) approach the religion–evolution issue in preparing students for a …

Reporting And Protecting Students From Child Abuse, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

A tragic reality of American life is that a significant number of children are abused and neglected, even killed, by the hands of their parents and caregivers. In fact, 2013 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that 678,932 incidents of child abuse and neglect were reported to Child Protective Services (CPS) nationally, with about 27% of those cases involving youngsters under the age of three (CDC 2015).

Moreover, the CDC noted that the CPS data suggest that their reports may underestimate the occurrences of child abuse and neglect. That same report estimates that about 1,520 children …

Financing Education: An Overview Of Public School Funding, Charles J. Russo, William E. Thro, Frank M. Batz

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Financial resources for public education are increasingly scarce, and district leaders at all levels continue to struggle to maintain adequate levels of financial resources for their students and programs using complex funding formulas unique to their own jurisdictions. To help educators and education stakeholders better understand the dimensions of paying for public education, we begin with an overview of the historical development of school finance litigation that has shaped the funding mechanisms in most jurisdictions. The next section highlights developments in four representative jurisdictions from the funding formulas currently available in ASBO International’s Funding Formula Library. The library, available on …

Relationships Between Experiential Learning And Effects On Senior Nursing Students’ Self-Efficacy And Knowledge: A Non-Experimental Predictive Correlation Multiple Regression Analysis, Shanna Akers

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Preparing nursing students to transition into the professional registered nurse role is the task of nurse educators. These educators must train students to function in multiple nursing specialties post-graduation, to include critical care. As more nursing graduates enter into areas such as intensive care units and emergency rooms, nurse educators must prepare them to work with critically ill patients. Increased exposure to critical care clinical experiences and simulations may be one method to prepare them for these complex, high-acuity patient situations. In order to determine whether or not a relationship exists between increased hours of experience and effects on self-efficacy …

Community College Students' Academic Success And Persistence In Math Courses After Developmental Math: A Case Study, Robin Bontrager

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative research study was a bounded case study exploring how and why community college students achieved academic success after completion of the developmental math sequence and a college level math course. The purpose of this research was to explore how and why community college students were academically successful in college algebra or elementary statistics after completion of the developmental math sequence. For the purpose of this study, the students' changes in behavior that influenced academic success and persistence in their math courses were generally defined as involvement in academic support programs, integration into social groups, and the perception of …

The Effects Of Student Self-Assessment With Goal Setting On Fourth Grade Mathematics Students: Creating Self-Regulating Agents Of Learning, Laura Clift

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

With the national trend toward student accountability as learners, few studies have identified effective instructional strategies that motivate elementary students in becoming agents of learning and the effect of these strategies on academic achievement. This quantitative study investigated the effect of student self-assessment with goal setting (SAGS), based on the work of Stiggins, Arter, Chappuis, and Chappuis (2006), on elementary school students’ academic achievement and motivation in mathematics. This study employed a quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest, nonequivalent control-group design. Participants were 130 students drawn from six intact classes of fourth graders from five elementary schools located in a large Archdiocese in the …

How Educator Attitudes, Knowledge, And Practice Impact The Academic Achievement Of Students Who Have Epilepsy: A Phenomenological Investigation Of Canadian Secondary School Teachers, Tawnya Fanjoy

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to discover how teacher attitude, knowledge, and practice with epilepsy impact the academic achievement of students who have epilepsy. This study assumed that middle school teachers perceive students diagnosed with epilepsy as lower academic achievers when compared to students who do not have epilepsy. The stigma associated with labels, such as epileptic, can negatively impact the academic performance of children with this disorder. For this study, stigma was generally defined as the negative perceptions about epilepsy held by middle school teachers. The participants included six middle school teachers from the Anglophone West School …

The Effect Of Public And Private Schooling On Anti-Semitism, Jay P. Greene, Cari A. Bogulski

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

Most major American Jewish organizations oppose voucher and other school choice programs based in part on the fear that private, mostly religious, schools do not check the development of anti-Semitism as well as do government-operated public schools. To examine whether private and public schools differ in their effect on the emergence of anti-Semitic attitudes in adults later in life, we conducted a large survey of a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States. Subjects were asked to provide details on the type of school they attended each year between 1st and 12th grade, including whether the school was …

The Decision, Implementation And Assessment Of A Credit-Bearing Activity Class By Faculty In Residence: A Case Study, Janet Callahan, Geoff Harrison, Michael Humphrey, Cala Sielaff, Melissa Wintrow

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This case study reports on a programmatic decision to require a credit-bearing course that was made by Faculty in Residence (FIR), including its implementation and results over a two-year period from 2010-2012. The focus is on FIR and on the impact of their decision upon the students enrolled in their Living Learning Communities (LLCs). The credit-bearing course was a Kinesiology Activities class taken by all seven LLCs at Boise State University. Anonymous feedback from students was obtained via end of semester surveys; results were used to improve the course. Survey feedback was analyzed to assess the value students perceived to …

When You Say Nothing At All: The Predictive Power Of Student Effort On Surveys, Collin Hitt

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

Character traits and noncognitive skills are important for human capital development and longrun life outcomes. Research in economics and psychology now shows this clearly. But research into the exact determinants of noncognitive skills have been slowed by a common data limitation: most large-scale datasets do not contain adequate measures of noncognitive skills. This is a particularly acute problem in education policy evaluation. We demonstrate that there are important latent data within any survey dataset that can be used as proxy measures of noncognitive skills. Specifically, we examine the amount of conscientious effort that students exhibit on surveys, as measured by …

Second Year Results From Razor C.O.A.C.H., Sarah Moore, Josh Raney, Gary W. Ritter, Kristin K. Higgins

Arkansas Education Reports

In this paper, we present the results of a random assignment evaluation on the Razor C.O.A.C.H. (Creating Opportunities for Arkansan’s Career Hopes) program. As the program started in the 2012-13 school year, this evaluation analyzes the impact of the program in its second year of operation and includes two cohorts of students. The focus of the comprehensive evaluation is the impacts of the program on students’ academic outcomes, short-term noncognitive outcomes, short-term college and career readiness outcomes, and post-secondary outcomes.

Reducing Disparities Between Australian Schools, Geoff N. Masters Ao

Teacher columnist – Geoff Masters

According to Professor Geoff Masters AO, one of the biggest challenges we face in school education is to reduce current disparities in the schooling experiences of students in Australia’s most and least advantaged schools

A Needs Analysis For Social Media At A Southern Postsecondary Campus, Sheri Burnett

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the College of Education At Morehead State University by Sheri Burnett on October 26, 2015.