Thesis (Ed. D.)--Indiana University of Pennsylvania. / Includes bibliographical references.

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The purpose of this dissertation was to analyze the social and educational contexts that impact students' perceptions of their mathematical learning and students' use of resistance in regard to these social and educational impacts within the sixth grade environment. Specifically, this study addressed the following overarching questions: (1) What makes the relationship between student self-perception and (mathematical) learning specific to these Latino student's circumstances/experiences? (2) How do students apply their individual prior knowledge, experiences, and beliefs to their situated classroom context and content? (3) What role do student relationships with teachers, parents, and peers have in the development of student self-esteem and self-perceptions?Data collection included: self-perception questionnaires, student work, mathematical task-based interviews, classroom observations, and focal group interviews.The findings of this study suggest that in the context of this advanced mathematical setting, the teacher and the case study students came together to create an accepting mathematical space. It is possible that students' academic confidence, liking for mathematics, relevance of mathematics to their future career goals, and seeing themselves as capable of having career goals beyond their current economic situations, helped them agree to the classroom situation rather than resist it.The case study students placed themselves in opposition to peers that did not share in the interest that they had toward mathematics. Students were capable of expressing themselves in linguistic forms that were comfortable to them and were allowed to see their language as a tool for learning mathematics. By creating a space that was academically and linguistically supportive to the case study students, the teacher found a means to nurturing his students to be intellectually confident, curious, and engaged. If the teacher-student relationship and student interest in mathematics are strong enough to overcome educational hurdles that students face then there are possibilities for researchers to investigate how to develop this relationship and mathematical interest in order to replace the presence of resistance with approval for students who struggle to connect to school and mathematics.

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Masters Degree in Technology: Chiropractic, Durban University of Technology, 2010. / Background: Low back pain (LBP) is the most prevalent musculoskeletal condition experienced by human beings and the most common cause of disability in developed nations. Psychosocial factors, involving aspects of social and psychological behaviour, have previously been documented as potential risk factors in the development of adult LBP. However, more research is required to fully understand the role of psychosocial risk factors on the prevalence of LBP amongst adolescents. Objective: To determine the prevalence of LBP and to identify selected psychosocial risk factors associated with LBP amongst Grade 12 learners in the Greater Durban area. Methods: A population-based study was conducted amongst a stratified random sample of 20 public secondary schools in all three educational districts in the Greater Durban area. Data was collected by means of a structured questionnaire administered to the sample population consisting of Grade 12 learners. Using an exploratory research design, the individuals reported on demographics as well as prevalence, severity, frequency and chronicity of LBP. In addition, data was obtained regarding various psychosocial risk factors including depression, exam stress and anxiety, socio-economic status, family history of LBP, smoking, alcohol and drug abuse amongst the respondents. Results: The prevalence of LBP was 57.42% with a median frequency of 8 times a month. About a third (33.9%) of the respondents experienced difficulty bending whilst 35% reported that their LBP spread down to the legs below their knees. The daily activity most affected by LBP was having a good night‟s sleep (50.6%), followed closely by playing sports (47.4%) and concentrating in class (46.6%). The majority of the respondents that suffered from LBP had taken pain relief medication (47.1%) whilst only 21% of the respondents had missed school because of LBP. With regards to the psychosocial risk factors under investigation, three of the risk factors did not show any association to LBP. They included socio-economic status, smoking and recreational drug use. In contrast, five psychosocial risk factors showed an 6 association to LBP. They included alcohol abuse, family history, exam stress, anxiety and depression. Finally, after adjusting for all other risk factors for adolescent LBP, depression and high exam stress showed the strongest correlation with the occurrence of LBP amongst Grade 12 learners in the Greater Durban area. Conclusion: LBP amongst adolescents is a common problem that increases with age, representing a risk for LBP in adulthood. The researcher is of the opinion, that this illustrates the need for further investigations with more profound studies on the risk factors so that more light can be shed on how to manage this ever-growing problem.

The purpose of the study was to determine possible relationships existing between elementary student retention and academic performance, as measured by standardized achievement tests legally mandated by state initiatives in minimum competency testing, for a four year period beginning with the year culminating in retention. The study also attempted to determine if the relationship is affected by the grade level of retention, gender, ethnicity, or mental aptitude.Subjects of the study were 220 elementary students from a large metropolitan school district in central Indiana, half of whom had been retained in grades one or two, and half of whom were randomly selected and had never been retained. Using achievement data collected from the MacMillan/McGraw-Hill standardized achievement tests, CTB/4 and CAT E/F, the relationships of achievement scores in reading, language expression, and mathematics between and within the two groups were analyzed. Mental aptitude data from The Test of Cognitive Skills (CTB MacMillan/McGrawHill), and data on gender and ethnicity, were also examined to determine the effect of these variables. Multivariate analysis of variance and multiple regression analysis were employed to analyze the various relationships using the P<.05 level of significance.The study found that (a) for the longitudinal period, retained student performance did not reach the-mean of the promoted group; (b) grade level of retention yielded different longitudinal patterns of performance, but did improve the relationship between retained and promoted student performance in either grade; and (c) mental aptitude, but not gender and ethnicity, was significantly related to student performance.The study concluded that (a) retention is not effective in raising substandard performance to promoted peer levels over a four year period, (b) retention is most effective for improving performance in the repeated year, (c) students retained at grade two maintain performance gains better than students retained in grade one, and (d) mental aptitude plays a significant role in the evaluation of the effectiveness of retention. / Department of Educational Leadership

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of Accelerated Reader on the reading motivation and achievement of fourth grade students. The participants were 68 fourth grade students who attended an elementary school in a suburban location north of a large Midwestern city. Quantitative and qualitative methods were employed in the investigation to understand and analyze the effects of the program.Quantitative methods utilized a pre/post-test design using the Motivation to Read Profile (Gambrell, Palmer, Codling, & Mazzzoni, 1996) to assess motivation and the STAR Reading Diagnostic Test (Renaissance Learning, 2002) to measure achievement through instructional reading levels. Participants were divided into three groups based upon the total number of Accelerated Reader points they had accumulated during a continuous 14 week period. Analyses compared the differences in gains in motivation and reading achievement among the groups. The only significant effect noted was that the higher the number of Accelerated Reader points accumulated, the smaller the decrease in motivational scores. A comparison of the number of books read among the groups revealed the group obtaining the highest number of points read significantly more books than the group with lowest.Qualitative measures consisted of the administration of the Conversational Interview portion of the Motivation to Read Profile (Gambrell, et al., 1996) to nine students, three randomly selected from each of the previously established groups. Interviews were conducted to gain information concerning students' motivation for reading through the construction of theories based upon consistencies and differences among and between groups' responses. The categories within which all themes were grouped included motivations for book selections, reasons for reading, and the amount of knowledge retained through reading. Very little mention of Accelerated Reader was made in any portion of the interview sessions. / Department of Elementary Education

The purpose of the study was to compare the academic achievement of students having a junior high school experience to those having a middle school experience. sample consisted of eighth-grade students from the Mississinewa Community Schools in Gas City, Indiana. The scores of 420 students having a junior high school experience were compared to the scores of 762 students following the reorganization of the middle grades into a middle school.The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, (Form 7) were used as a measure of academic achievement. The test results were compared based upon sex and ability group differences. The Cognitive Abilities Tests, (Form 3) were used to determine ability group. A two-by-two-by-three multivariate analysis of variance was used to statistically analyze the data.Findings1. A significant difference was found in favor of the middle school in the areas of vocabulary,reading, spelling, math concepts and math problems.2. Both males and females attained higher academic achievement scores in the middle school setting than in the junior high school setting.3. Students in average, below average and above average ability groups attained higher academic achievement scores in the middle school setting than in the junior high school setting.4. Larger academic achievement gains were made by students with greater ability levels.Conclusions1. The academic achievement was higher for eighthgrade students having a middle school experience than for those having a junior high school experience.2. The middle school is more beneficial to the academic achievement of both males and females than the junior high school experience.3. Students with higher ability levels attained higher academic achievement gains in the middle school than students with less ability.

The present study was an attempt to look at the empirical classification of children's learning disabilities based on neuropsychological variables at differing IQ levels. Subjects were divided into four groups based upon Full Scale IQ (i.e., 70-79, 8089, 90-99, 100-110). Subsequent clustering of the test data within each group suggested that while the students in the 70-79 IQ range were represented by a single impaired cluster, each of the other IQ groups had both a moderately impaired cluster and a non-impaired cluster. The study attempted to respond to criticisms of previous research by using a large sample of subjects (N = 928), utilizing a broad range of subjects with a representative sample of abilities, and applying an interpretable structure to the cluster analysis (i.e., neuropsychological variables within IQ levels). The present research further offered a perspective on programming by way of neuropsychological functioning. As such, the results argued for placement procedures for learning disabled children that are apart from those formulas relative to achievement and intelligence. / Department of Educational Psychology

Priešmokyklinio ugdymo paskirtis – padėti vaikui pasirengti sėkmingai mokytis pagal pradinio ugdymo programą. Tačiau ne visi priešmokyklinio amžiaus vaikai į pirmą klasę ateina subrendę mokyklinei veiklai. Lietuvoje dar maža tyrimų, atskleidžiančių brandumo mokyklai ir vaiko mokyklinių pasiekimų sąsajas, kurie leistų išskirti intelektinės ir socialinės emocinės brandos gebėjimus, geriausiai numatančius būsimos mokyklinės veiklos sėkmę. Todėl šio tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti vaiko brandumo mokyklai sąsajas su akademiniais pasiekimais pirmoje klasėje. Tyrimas buvo vykdomas trimis etapais. Pirmajame etape dalyvavo 46 priešmokyklinio amžiaus lopšelio –darželio bei mokyklos – darželio vaikai, kuriems 2007 kalendoriniais metais suėjo 7 metai. Tyrimas vyko 2007 m. balandžio – gegužės mėnesiais. Vaikų brandumo mokyklai įvertinimo metodika (2005) buvo įvertinti vaikų kognityvinė, socialinė ir emocinė branda mokyklai. 2007 m. gruodžio ir 2008 m. balandžio mėnesiais buvo vertinami pirmajame etape dalyvavusių vaikų skaitymo, rašymo ir matematinių žinių pasiekimai. Skaitymo, rašymo ir matematinių žinių pasiekimai buvo vertinami užduočių baterijomis, sudarytomis remiantis Bendrojo pradinio ugdymo programomis ir išsilavinimo standartais. Gauti rezultatai atskleidė priešmokyklinio amžiaus vaikų pakankamą socialinę emocinę bei dalies vaikų nepakankamą intelektualinę mokyklinę brandą. Nustatyta, kad mokyklinės brandos rodikliai yra susiję su vėlesniais akademiniais pasiekimais: 1) rastas... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Purpose of preschool education is to assist a child to get ready for successful studies according to the programme of primary education. However, not all children of preschool age come to the first grade being mature for the academic activity. In Lithuania, very few surveys have been conducted revealing the links of readiness for school and child‘s academic achievement that would allow characterising abilities of intellectual and social emotional readiness, predetermining the future academic success in the best way. Therefore, objective of this survey is to establish the links of child‘s readiness for school with his academic achievement in the first grade. The survey has been conducted in three stages: in the first stage, 46 children of preschool age from a creche –kindergarten and a school-kindergarten who in calendar year 2007 became 7 took part in the survey. The survey was conducted in April – May of 2007. Referring to the methodology for evaluation of children‘s readiness for school (2005), children‘s cognitive, social and emotional readiness for school was assessed. In December of 2007 and April of 2008, reading, writing and mathematical knowledge achievement of children who participated in the first stage were assessed. Reading, writing and mathematical knowledge achievement was assessed with the series of tasks formed referring to programmes of general primary education and education standards. The results obtained revealed sufficient social emotional readiness of... [to full text]

A new approach is discussed for the generation of high purity silicon from silica fume (SF), which is a waste by-product from the manufacture of metallurgical grade silicon. Process steps were developed and optimized including purification of SF, reduction by magnesium, and post-reduction leaching. Reduction was carried out successfully with initial HCl leached SF in a sealed chamber with varying Mg/SF ratios, temperature and time. These variables affected the production of silicon from SF. Suitable reduction conditions were found to be within the temperature range 750-850C and at approximately 2:1 ratio of Mg/SF. Reduction products were treated using a three-stage acid leaching. XRD, QXRD and ICP analyses of the final silicon powder product indicated that silicon with low impurity levels (low boron content) can be produced. Therefore, silicon produced by magnesiothermic reduction can be an attractive source for the production of solar grade silicon.