The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of parents and teachers regarding effective parental involvement with elementary students based on Epstein et al.'s (2009) 6 typologies of parental involvement. The population consisted of 77 teachers in a particular east Tennessee school district and the parents of 889 students enrolled in kindergarten through 6th grade. Parents and teachers were asked to indicate the effectiveness of 4 activities within each of the 6 parental involvement categories: parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community. Parents and teachers were asked to rank each activity numerically with 1 indicating not effective and 5 indicating highly effective. A ranking of 2, 3, or 4 indicated an activity between not effective and highly effective. In a separate section, parents and teachers were asked to rank the 5 most important activities from a list of specific parental involvement activities. Findings indicated that parents and teachers in this study have some similar views and some differing views regarding effective parental involvement. Parents and teachers in this study shared similar perspectives by ranking the top 5 specific parental involvement activities from a list of 10 specific activities. Parents and teachers used a Likert scale to indicate the effectiveness of activities from Epstein et al.'s (2009) 6 typologies: parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community. The t-test indicated significant differences in the perceptions of parents and teachers regarding effective parental involvement in 5 of the 6 typologies. ANOVA and post hoc analysis revealed significant differences among the parent population based on age, education level, gender, and race. No significant differences were identified among the teacher population based on the 4 demographic areas examined: age, education level, teaching experience, and gender. This study revealed that parents and teachers surveyed had some similar perceptions and some differing perceptions regarding effective parental involvement, but both groups identified communicating as the most important typology from Epstein et al.'s (2009) 6 major types of involvement.

The purpose of this study was to compare the perception scores and action scores of teachers in a northeast Tennessee school system in terms of parent involvement. Also, this study examined the relationship between perception scores and action scores of administrators and teachers across the district. Lastly, this study determined if significant differences existed in the perception scores and action scores between elementary, middle, and high school teachers. Data were collected by questionnaires containing sections for demographic information, perceptions of parent involvement, and actions involving parent involvement. The population consisted of 437 certified teachers and 24 building level administrators. From that population, 298 teachers and 18 administrators responded. Independent-samples t tests were used to compare the action scores of teachers in a high perception group and a low perception group. As a whole, teachers in the low perception group tended to have lower action scores than those in the high perception group. However, when analyzed by grade level, no significant differences were noted between the high perception and low perception groups. One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) testing was used to test for differences in the perception scores and action scores of teachers by grade level. Significant differences were noted in the perception scores and action scores between the elementary, middle, and high school groups. A post hoc Tukey procedure clearly indicated that elementary school action scores were significantly different from middle action scores, and middle school action scores were significantly different from high school action scores. A post hoc LSD procedure clearly indicated that elementary school perception scores were significantly different from middle perception scores, and middle school perception scores were significantly different from high school perception scores. Single-sample t tests revealed a significant difference in the perception scores and action scores of teachers and administrators across the district. In each single-sample t test, the mean administrator score was used as the test value. Each test confirmed that the sample mean was significantly lower than the test value. This study was important in uncovering information about the perception scores and action scores of teachers and administrators in the area of parent involvement. Parent involvement has been consistently shown to have positive benefits on students but is still an underused resource. Recommendations are made with the intention of helping schools better understand how to serve their students and communities more effectively.

FITNESSGRAM is a battery of fitness tests that assess if a child's fitness level is, according to a health standard, enough to be considered healthy. These tests include the five components of health-related fitness: aerobic endurance, muscular strength and muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition. Students are not compared to each other, but to health fitness standards specific to their age and gender that indicate good health. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify children's perceptions of FITNESSGRAM and determine if self-administration of this fitness test provides a positive experience for the students. Specifically, this study evaluated (a) students' perceptions of FITNESSGRAM, administered in a self-testing format, (b) children's understanding of the purpose of fitness testing, and (c) what effect participation in FITNESSGRAM had on students' perceptions of their personal health. This study used questionnaires (n = 78), and follow-up individual interviews (n = 45) to identify students' perceptions of FITNESSGRAM. Results using the constant comparative method identified four main categories: (a) administration of fitness testing, (b) the purpose of fitness testing, (c) components of fitness testing, and (d) overall influence of fitness testing. Findings showed that children clearly understood the importance and role of fitness testing, felt successful and were pleased with their results, preferred doing the tests with a partner or by themselves, and thought the fitness test was fun.

This research study investigates what 122 secondary students believe makes a good teacher of English as a second language. The students were randomly selected from three different schools in Malmö, Sweden. Six teachers’ views from the same schools will also be examined. The teachers and students answered questionnaires with open-ended and close-ended questions. Many researchers state that there are particular qualities that a teacher should possess to be considered a good teacher by the students. Qualities such as: being understanding, having a certain personality, being a motivator and a supporter, mastering the English language well, and listening to students wishes, are a few of many qualities that are being mentioned. The results indicate that the main quality that a teacher should possess is good knowledge of English. Other qualities that were mentioned were, varying work methods, the teacher’s personality, being supportive and encouraging ect. The students and the teachers opinions in comparison to what the researchers argue are not tremendously different.

Most people will experience rejection in the job selection process. Rejection from job opportunities is often issued via a letter from a hiring manager. These letters elicit reactions from applicants who may, in turn, have less favorable self perceptions and less favorable perceptions of the organization from which the applicant was rejected. Numerous research articles have been published that deal with delivering notification of selection and/or rejection to applicants in the job selection process. However, relatively few use a realistic laboratory design to obtain results. This study examined the effects of sensitivity and information in notifications of rejection when applicants are rejected in the job selection process. A more realistic laboratory design was used to increase the psychological fidelity of the job selection situation. One hundred forty undergraduate students participated in this study. Participants were told to imagine that they were graduate school applicants. Then, the participants completed a fake graduate school admissions test and received notification of rejection from a fake graduate school. Participants were assigned to conditions (letters varying in sensitivity and information type) randomly and the participants completed a post-notification of rejection survey that captured their self and organizational perceptions. Additionally, moderating variables were explored.

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Conceptual development and achievement are embedded in social relationships. Research on self-fulfilling prophecies in the classroom has shown teachers' inaccurate perceptions about a child's ability shape schoolchildren's intellectual development in the direction of the misperception (Jussim & Harber, 2005; Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968; Sorhagen, 2013). This contrasts with prior research on the influences of parents' misperceptions, which has shown that parents with accurate perceptions of their child's abilities, compared to those with misperceptions, have children with advanced conceptual development and higher achievement (Hunt & Paraskevopoulos, 1980; S. A. Miller, Manhal, & Mee, 1991; Sorhagen, 2014a, 2014b). Taken together, the literature on adult misperceptions of child abilities paints discrepant pictures of how adults' inaccurate beliefs may influence children's achievement trajectories. There is evidence for conditional direct and indirect effects of misperceptions within both literatures. Perhaps if moderating conditions were the same at school and at home, the effects of teacher and parent misperceptions would be the same. The present dissertation used prospective data to address the conflicting evidence on the effects of teachers' and mothers' misperceptions of abilities, focusing on differences in the magnitude and direction of adult misperceptions by the levels of environmental control (i.e. rigidly structured and intrusive versus autonomy-supporting). The results confirmed and extended the prior literature by showing that children's reading and math achievement in high school were differentially affected by the accuracy of adults' perceptions of the children's abilities depending on whether the adult is a teacher or mother. Children's high school performance benefited most when their teachers overestimated their abilities and when their mothers' accurately estimated their abilities in in third-grade. Furthermore, there was evidence for mediation through adults' differential treatment in the reading models. Evidence for moderation was also seen in the reading models, but only for the influence of teachers' misperceptions on teacher attention, which indirectly led to differences in child achievement (i.e. conditional indirect effects). The effects of teachers' misperceptions were more profound at low levels of environmental control compared to highly controlled classrooms. Thus environmental control did not lead to similar influences of teacher and mother misperceptions. This supports the notion that there are different consequences of teacher and mother misperceptions on child achievement. The results of additional analyses found child characteristics (i.e. child birth order, gender, ethnicity, family SES, child social competencies, and prior abilities), as well as teacher's self-efficacy predicted the degree of accuracy of the adults' perceptions of children's reading and math abilities. Furthermore, the results showed that teachers' and mothers' perceptions were often accurate, but when one adult was inaccurate, it was likely that the other adult's perception was similar. As we become increasingly aware of the importance of social influences on cognition, the results of the present dissertation suggest that it is important to consider differences between socializing agents. / Psychology

no / City Park opened in early 2012 and despite some on-going criticism, during the summer the site drew thousands of people to the heart of Bradford and was the scene of much relaxed and good natured conviviality amongst socially diverse groups. As a new and unique public space in Bradford and a focal point for the city, a number of staff from the Centre for Applied Social Research believed researching City Park to be a fruitful endeavour to help promote a dialogue with the public and other sectors about living together in Bradford.