Other Education Commons^™

Different Choices: A Public School Community’S Responses To School Choice Reforms, Amanda U. Potterton

The Qualitative Report

In the United States, state and federal reforms increasingly encourage the expansion of school choice policies. Debates about school choice contrast various concepts of freedom and equality with concerns about equity, justice, achievement, democratic accountability, profiting management organizations, and racial and class segregation. Arizona’s “market”-based school choice programs include over 600 charter schools, and the state’s open enrollment practices, public and private school tax credit allowances, and Empowerment Scholarships, (closely related to vouchers), flourish. This qualitative analysis explores one district-run public school and its surrounding community, and I discuss socio-political and cultural tensions related to school choice reforms that exist …

Redefining Supports And Resources For Students And Families In High Poverty Schools, Rick Grayes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This capstone project was part of a team project completed by two school principals in Hillsborough County, Florida. The project began because of our passion for meeting the needs of our students in urban high poverty schools being supported by varying district turnaround initiatives. We looked at our district’s previous and current attempts to increase student success in high poverty schools. We questioned the ways in which supports and resources were provided, and we explored ways through which success in high poverty schools might be increased by redefining the supports and resources provided. Our appreciative exploration of the topic was …

Culturally Relevant Curriculum And Instruction In A Culture Of Care, Johan Von Ancken

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This capstone project was part of a group project completed by five school and district administrators in Hillsborough County, Florida. The project began because of our passion for teachers who are able to establish a culture of care in their classrooms that support students academically but transform their learning through experiences that enable them to be more highly engaged and productive students, regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, perceived academic abilities, and backgrounds.

Our school district has spent significant resources attempting to address the deficiencies that exist within its lower performing schools. A variety of curriculum specialists have addressed challenges these …

Behavioral Interventions And Positive Systems Of Support In A Culture Of Care, Olayinka Alege

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This capstone project was part of a group project completed by five school and district administrators in Hillsborough County, Florida.

The project began because of our passion for teachers who are able to establish a culture of care in their classrooms that support students academically but transform their learning through experiences that enable them to be more highly engaged and productive students, regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, perceived academic abilities, and backgrounds.

My focus in this group project looked at school climate, culture and student behavior in high needs schools. I asked, what steps can be taken by a school …

School-Based Health Centers In High Poverty Schools, Felicia Davis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This capstone project was part of a team project completed by two school principals in Hillsborough County, Florida. The project began because of our passion for meeting the needs of our students in urban high poverty schools being supported by varying district turnaround initiatives. We looked at our district’s previous and current attempts to increase student success in high poverty schools. We questioned the ways in which supports and resources were provided, and we explored ways through which success in high poverty schools might be increased by redefining the supports and resources provided. Our appreciative exploration of the topic was …

Building Capacity And Sustainability Through Teachers Leading Teachers, William Woodland Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This capstone project was part of a group project completed by two principals in elementary schools and a principal coach in Hillsborough County, Florida. Each of the team members has a passion for the work of administrator and lead learner in a turnaround school. Through creating a culture of teacher leadership, especially in high poverty schools, we believe students will succeed. We were looking for what a high performing school culture would look like if teachers were leading the work through ongoing inquiry and personalized support.

My individual focus was, in what kinds of work experiences did teachers feel they …

Supporting A Culture Where Teachers Are Leading Teachers, Gloria Waite

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This capstone project was part of a group project completed by two principals in elementary schools and a principal coach in Hillsborough County, Florida. Each of the team members has a passion for the work of administrator and lead learner in a turnaround school. Through creating a culture of teacher leadership, especially in high poverty schools, we believe students will succeed. We were looking for what a high performing school culture would look like if teachers were leading the work through ongoing inquiry and personalized support.

My individual focus was, how can district and school leaders support a culture where …

The 4 C'S Model - A Common Framework For Professional Aviator Development, Kenyatta Hents Ruffin

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

The United States Air Force currently has an acute shortage of pilots while simultaneously, the commercial airline industry is currently experiencing unprecedented growth. With 100's of thousands aviation professionals required over the next 15-25 years, the need for a collaborative and comprehensive approach to attract, motivate, and prepare the next generation of aerospace leaders is clear. The 4C's Model presents a partnered civil-military strategy to efficiently and effectively take youth from from the cradle to the cockpit. Through deliberate, engaging activities over the course of four distinct time periods—childhood, college, cockpit, career—with specific outcomes, the 4C's Model provides the National …

Understanding Campus Spaces To Improve Student Belonging, Michelle Samura

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Michelle Samura demonstrates that we can gain insight into students’ experience of connectedness with a campus community by considering how they use physical, human-built spaces and the meaning they attribute to them.

Parents’ Involvement In Their Children’S Education: The Value Of Parental Perceptions In Public Education, John Duman, Hasan Aydin, Burhan Ozfidan

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this study was to gather data from public school parents that would contribute to the understanding of parental involvement with school choice for their children and of parental involvement with educational organizations. We employed a case study approach as the methodological basis for eliciting 22 multi-racial parents perceptions’ about school climate and their child’s school choice. Our comprehensive in-depth semi-structured interviews, field notes, observations, and documents data collection process incorporated feedback from potential respondents from the outset of the design process to enhance data quality. Verbatim transcripts and documents were analyzed using a content and thematic analysis …

Investigating The Effectiveness Of A Community Leadership Program Based On The Experiences And Perceptions Of Alumni Participants, Sandi Wolff

Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation investigated the perceptions of alumni who participated in a civic leadership program (LP) in a large, metropolitan city with over 1.7 million residents in its local community. The program, with a 42 year-long history, had no formal data on its participants, the program, or its efficacy. The research investigated the expectations, experience, and engagement of participants over its 42-year history. To examine these concepts, the study was motivated by three research questions: (1) What is the relationship between the participants’ program satisfaction and the program elements? (2) To what extent did the program meet expectations, based on participant …

The Initial Planning Process Of An International Service-Learning Pilot Initiative Under Development, Denise P. Krohn

Theses & Dissertations

This research explored the initial planning process of an international service-learning (ISL) initiative under development that involved a collaboration among a south-central Texas private university, a ministry of Catholic Sisters in Peru, a U.S. non-profit organization, and a Peruvian optometry school. Three collaborators were founded by the same religious order. An overlapping in mission and values influenced the context. By delving into the expectations of higher education and its pedagogical practices, ISL’s history and conceptualizations, and concepts of program planning and designing related to the fields of ISL and adult learning, this study presented significant program development aspects. Furthermore, the …

Nebline, August 2018

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Feature: Nutrition Education Kits developed by Extension help LPS students learn about nutrition and physical activity

Food & Health

Farm & Acreage

Pests & Wildlife

Horticulture

Early Childhood

4-H & Youth

and other extension news and events

Special pullout section: Lancaster County Super Fair 2018 Schedule & Map

Utilizing Natural Settings To Reinforce Social Skills Instruction In Students With Disabilities, Torrey Pitchford

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A large proportion of students with disabilities (SWD) have social skills deficits that make it difficult for them to succeed in school, work, and life. This quantitative, quasi-experimental, non-equivalent, pretest-posttest, control group study was designed to explore whether SWD can better transfer their learned social skills to natural settings, improving their chances at independence and success, with the use of reinforcement in natural settings. The researcher included 86 students with disabilities from a school district in a predominantly white, middle class, rural Utah town. The researcher and teachers used Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS) in this study to provide instruction …

Predicting Student Retention Using Scholarship And Grant Aid, William Dixon

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Since the beginning, the field of higher education has represented the possibility of a better future for many. For some, education represents a way to better oneself and to prepare for a future career. This is the one of the strongest drivers of going to college, that it will open doors to a better future. The number of students attending colleges and universities has increased over the decades but so too has the expense of going to college. The dissertation report presented here attempts to look at the retention rates of colleges and universities and how forms of financial gift …

The Relationship Between Self-Regulation And Perceived Autonomy Of Psychological Well-Being Among Fifth Grade Christian Private School Students, Benedetto Mongiovi

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Increased anxiety, depression, and maladaptive ways of coping among children are evidence of an increase in poor psychological well-being. The purpose of this predictive correlational study was to examine the theory of self-determination that relates natural and intrinsic tendencies of students to behave in an effective and healthy autonomy-supportive way, by examining the predictive relationship of perceived autonomy-support, self-regulation, and psychological well-being of fifth grade Christian private school students. The criterion variable was defined as psychological well-being in this study. The predictor variables were perceived autonomy-support and self-regulation. Data were collected to facilitate this study from 124 fifth grade students …

The Effect Of Color Coding Exterior Letters Of Words On Reading Fluency And Decoding Ability In Intermediate Students Who Read Below Grade Level, Edward Kirby

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this true experimental, posttest-only control-group design was to determine if the color coding of exterior letters affects the fluency and decoding ability among fourth grade students who were below grade level in reading. If color coding exterior letters is an effective intervention, then struggling readers could utilize this intervention to improve their reading fluency and decoding abilities. Participants were selected from a random sample of 102 public school students who were below grade level in reading. The participants were from a district in the southeast United States. Each student was randomly assigned to either an experimental or …

An Examination Of Concussion Understanding Among Parents Of High School Female Student Athletes, Kelly Hartley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Few online concussion education programs have been developed specifically for parents, and those that have been tend to neglect the fact that concussion rates are higher in female rather than male student athletes (Donaldson et al., 2016; Macdonald & Hauber, 2016; Williamson et al., 2014). This quantitative study is important because it addressed gaps in the concussion education literature. The purpose of this study was to examine whether concussion symptoms knowledge and general youth sports-related concussion knowledge was significantly higher among parents of female student athletes who watched the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Heads Up concussion videos (intervention …

The Relationship Between Grade Point Average And Understanding Of Homework's Purpose And Management In Economically Disadvantaged High School Students, Diane Bush

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a key measure of academic achievement, grade point average (GPA), could accurately be predicted from a linear combination of understanding homework’s purpose as measured by the Homework Purpose Scale (HPS) and by the student’s approach to homework management and homework behaviors as measured by the Homework Management Scale (HMS). This quantitative study is a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey design comprised of two previously established valid and reliable scales: the Homework Purpose Scale and the Homework Management Scale. The study’s design is correlational using a sample (N = 300) of pre-existing high school …

A Case Study Of The Stakeholders' Perception Of The Effectiveness Of A South Carolina District Mentorship Program, Donna Floyd

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study is to understand the perceptions of participants in St. John’s County School District concerning the effectiveness of the mentorship program in the county. The Theory of Teacher Development (Fuller, 1969; Katz, 1972) guided the research. This theory states the induction programs should follow pre-service preparation, which will reduce the teacher attrition rate. A single case study was chosen so that the mentorship program could be studied using the perceptions of the participants in the program. The two research questions that guided the study is as follows: “What are the beginning teachers’ perceptions of the …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Effective Student Support Systems By Availability Of Student Support Facilitators, Marsha Joyce-Tatum

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Student support systems are designed to improve struggling students’ performance and should be used by general and special education teachers. The purpose of this study was to examine teachers’ perceptions of student support system frameworks in a rural school district in a Mid-Atlantic state with a full-time or part-time student support facilitator. This study will provide educational leaders with information on teachers’ perceptions concerning student support systems, in order to support creation of improved staff development efforts that will influence effective teacher use of student support systems. Teachers’ perceptions of their training, special education eligibility, and framework weaknesses in student …

The Prediction Of Technology Integration In The Christian K-12 Classroom Based On Openness To Change, Technology Training, And Work Beyond The Contractual Work Week, Troy Spetter

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This predictive correlational study explored the lack of generalizable data regarding the use of technology in the Christian K-12 environment. The study searched for a predictive correlation between teachers’ overall use of technology, openness to change, amount of technology training, and hours of work beyond the contractual work week, based on previous study in public education (Vannatta & Fordham, 2004). The target population was all teachers who work in schools that are members in good standing with the Association of Christian Schools International in the United States. Using a random sample, teachers were asked to participate in the study and …

Quantitative Content Analysis Of Virginia Doctoral Dissertations 2007-2017: Trends In Degree Types And Methodologies, Craig Krueger

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study was a trend analysis of the choices made by doctoral candidates in the state of Virginia who sought degrees in the field of education. It analyzed frequencies of degree types (EdD degree compared to the PhD) and research methodologies (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods). This research is important because no such study has been done since 1994. The information will be useful to both those who lead doctoral programs and to people who seek to understand philosophical implications and practical applications of these degree and methodology types. The purpose of the study is to bring up to date …

Middle School Apathy: A Phenomenological Study From Students' Perspective, Debra Graves

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose for this phenomenological study was to investigate students’ perceptions as to why some middle school students lose their intrinsic motivation to learn and develop apathy toward learning while other middle school students thrive. The following question guided the research: Based on students’ lived experiences, what are the sources for motivation and/or apathy during the middle school years? Four sub-questions were also used: (1) What are students’ perspectives about the intersection of standardized testing and report cards to their motivation/apathy to learn? (2) What are students’ perceptions of the intersection of technology and motivation/apathy? (3) What do students perceive …

The Relationship Between Parental Expectations And Post-Secondary Choices Of High School Seniors, Katherine Clophus

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Parental involvement is a driving force in guiding the post-secondary plans of high school students. Although there are current studies that examine the link between parental involvement and the choice of secondary students to pursue college as well as parental involvement and students’ future career choice decisions, little research is available addressing whether parental involvement influences students to pursue careers contrary to the students’ wishes. Research shows that as students move into middle and high school, parental involvement in the form of parental expectations becomes important and often guides much of students’ decision making. This correlational study sought to determine …

Attitudinal Differences Towards Robotics Competitions Of Male And Female Students Participating In A Southeastern State Robotics Competition, Jesse Neece

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Some of the most dynamic and demanding careers are in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). However, when analyzing gender, there are great disparities among gender in STEM. Statistics indicate females are vastly underrepresented and males are employed double the rate of females. Leading STEM companies are creatively trying to attract future STEM laborers by means of science and engineering competitions. The purpose of this quantitative causal comparative study was to investigate if there are differences in attitudes between male and female students participating in a robotics competition. A convenience sample of public school students (N = …

The Relationship Between Teacher-Assigned Course Grades And The Ohio Air End Of Course 8th Grade Science Test, Mark Potts

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

For over a century, teacher-assigned grades have been criticized and maligned as a subjective hodgepodge of academic and non-academic factors that varied from teacher to teacher and generally failed to communicate student academic achievement. Standardized tests focused more objectively on student achievement rather than leveling the playing field by eliminating the subjectivity it seems to have tilted it in favor of white middle-class students. The purpose of this correlational study was to better understand the relationship between standardized tests and teacher assigned grades. This study examined the Ohio End-of-Course exams for 8th grade Science and the teacher assigned final grades …

A Study Of The Protective Factors That Foster Resilience In Teachers, Zundra Gates

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare the protective factors of teachers in various fields: discipline, tested and non-tested subject areas, and teacher certification route. The study involved 161 kindergarten to twelfth grade Mississippi teachers who were full-time during the 2016-2017 school year. The 36-item Resiliency Questionnaire was used to measure the presence of six protective factors. The six protective factors that were examined on the questionnaire are: purpose and expectation (PE), nurture and support (NS), positive connections (PC), meaningful participation (MP), life guiding skills (LGS), and clear and consistent boundaries (CCB). A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) test …

The ‘Just City’ Or Just A City? : Evaluating Social Justice And Equity In Planning Education., Wes Grooms

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary evaluations of accredited planning education performance have eschewed the principles and methodologies of formal program evaluation and performance management. This dissertation tests hypotheses that this contributes to the lack of social equity and justice commitment, content, and inquiry on the part of accredited graduate planning degree programs, their clients, and administrators. The organizations, resources, and processes involved in the purveyance of accredited graduate planning education were conceptualized as a singular, evaluable program and illustrated in a series of program logic models. These models revealed sources of the inattentiveness to normative issues that past evaluations have evidenced, and informed assertions …

Failure-To-Rescue Simulations As A Risk Management Strategy For Registered Nurses, Trena K. Seago

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

In the hospital setting, prevention of failure-to-rescue (FTR) events is an important aspect of patient safety. The use of patient simulation as a strategy to educate nurses on the prevention of these events offers two modes of learning: 1) experiential learning through simulation and 2) reflection through debriefing. The act of practicing to recognize a deteriorating patient through experiential learning and reflection may help increase nurses’ self-efficacy in recognizing a similar situation in their future practice. This quasi-experimental, one-group, pretest-posttest pilot study investigated the use of patient simulation among registered nurses (RNs) in the hospital setting as an anticipatory educational …