The purpose of this study was to teach middle school students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) academic, grade level science term definitions. Three students with ASD who were served in a self-contained classroom for students with moderate and severe disabilities participated in the study. A multiple probe (days) across behaviors research design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a model-lead-test procedure delivered using a computer software program to teach three sets of five science term definitions from the general education academic standards. Generalization probes were conducted in the general education setting by giving each student terms that they learned during intervention in the context of the classroom lesson and asking them to respond by giving the definition to the term. The results indicate that students were able to learn and maintain science term definitions when using teacher created e-books with an embedded model-lead-test procedure.

This paper updates the current knowledge about Black-White wage inequality in the US male labor market by using the NLSY97 sample. Compared with the results obtained from the NLSY79 cohort, I find that the unconditional racial wage inequality is smaller today, but after controlling for premarket academic skills, the conditional racial wage gap remains roughly the same as it was twenty years ago. After dividing the labor market by occupational categories, I find that in the white collar sector, the racial wage gap has largely disappeared even without controlling for academic skills. In the blue collar sector, academic skills can fully account for the unconditional racial wage gap among clerical jobs but there still remains a substantial conditional racial wage gap among craftsman and laborer jobs. I show that clerical jobs are more similar to white collar jobs than blue collar jobs today. The racial wage inequality also has disappeared among the operative workers, probably due to omitted variable bias. For the remaining racial wage gap in the craftsman and laborer jobs, both preference-based and statistical models of discrimination are consistent with the findings.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas A & M University, 2004. / Title taken from PDF title screen (viewed October 23, 2007). Includes bibliographical references (p. 66-74) and appendices.

This study investigated: the impact of addition of learning styles identification and interpretation on an existing academic skills improvement program, the effect of student's learning new material at preferred or non-preferred times of day, and learning style characteristics for different sexes, ethnic groups, and college majors. Student GPAs and probationary status were compared for 144 freshman students admitted on Individual Approval status, i.e., 71 students who completed the Academic Skills Workshops during the Fall of 1983 and 73 students who completed a revised program in 1984. Reading gain scores and learning style characteristics were studied for the 1984 students. Learning style characteristics were measured by the Productivity Environmental Preference Survey and reading gains were measured by the Nelson-Denny Reading Test. Analysis of variance, simple effects analysis, and chi square analysis were used to determine whether GPAs and probationary status significantly improved after the addition of learning style information for the total sample, sex and ethnic subgroups. Reading gain scores were compared by means of a t test. Analysis of variance and simple effects analysis were used to determine whether different learning style preferences existed for different sex, ethnic, and college major groups. Findings indicated that GPAs and probationary status did not significantly improve for students who received learning styles assessment and interpretation as compared to those who did not, either by total sample or subgroup analysis. Reading gain scores were not significantly better for time-congruent than time-incongruent students. However, scores on some learning style elements were significantly different for male, female, Anglo-American, Mexican-American, and college major groups. Differences in program instructional format and setting, sample, and outcome measures between this study and previous research were discussed as possible reasons for the lack of significant improvement in GPA, probationary status or gain scores. Some of these factors may also have been responsible for the low number of elements found to be significantly different for the subgroups studied.

The purpose of this study was to investigate predicting student success on one example of a "high stakes" test, the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills Exit Level Exam. Prediction algorithms for the mathematics, reading, and writing portions of the test were formulated using SPSS® statistical software. Student data available on all 440 students were input to logistic regression to build the algorithms. Approximately 80% of the students' results were predicted correctly by each algorithm. The data that were most predictive were the course related to the subject area of the test the student was taking, and the semester exam grade and semester average in the course related to the test. The standards of success or passing were making a 70% or higher on the mathematics, 88% or higher on the reading, and 76% or higher on the writing portion of the exam. The higher passing standards maintained a pass/fail dichotomy and simulate the standard on the new Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills Exit Level Exam. The use of the algorithms can assist school staff in identifying individual students, not just groups of students, who could benefit from some type of academic intervention.

The purpose of this study was to identify high performing school districts in Texas and to determine if there are different characteristics leading to the provision of an adequate education in high performing districts as compared to low performing districts. It specifically sought to determine which characteristics contributed most to an adequate education and used data from the Texas Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) which chronicled scores on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS). The population for this study consisted of all 2001-2002 Texas public school districts with the exception of charter schools, special-purpose statutory districts, and state-administered districts, which resulted in using data from 1027 Texas school districts. Descriptive discriminant analysis was chosen as the method for statistical analysis. Data were obtained from the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Adequate and inadequate districts were analyzed according to eight variables. They were (1) taxable value per pupil, (2) the percentage of special education students, (3) the percentage of students coded as bilingual and ESL, (4) pupil-teacher ratio, (5) the size of the district, (6) the percentage of economically disadvantaged students in the district, (7) the district community type, such as rural or suburban, and (8) the total operating expenditures per pupil. Two analyses were conducted. The first analysis sought to determine the different characteristics between adequate districts (districts that scored 80% or above on the TAAS test) and inadequate districts (districts that scored 79% or below on the TAAS test). In order to determine these differences with a higher standard for adequacy, a second analysis was performed. The second analysis focused on districts deemed adequate by scoring 90% or above on the TAAS test compared to those districts deemed inadequate by scoring 69% and below. The eight variables accounted for 21% and 37% of the variance between groups respectively. For both analyses performed, the three variables that clearly contributed most to predicting membership in the two groups were the percentage of economically disadvantaged students( .935, .652), the percent of students in bilingual or ESL programs (.332, .371), and the taxable values per pupil (.178, .058). The percentage of economically disadvantaged students indicated that this variable explained 94% and 65% of the overall effect sizes. The percentage of bilingual and ESL students explained 33% and 37% of the effect size. Taxable Value per pupil explained 17% and 6% of the effect size. The percentage of special education students, total operating expenditures per pupil, the student-teacher ratio, community type, and the size of the district each, revealed only slight contribution to group differences. These results clearly suggested that the inadequate districts had higher percentages of economically disadvantaged students and ESL students while the adequate districts had higher taxable value per pupil, or wealth.

The purpose of this study was to (1) gather information regarding knowledge of TAAS and perceptions (attitudes) about TAAS (excluding the current battery of End of Course Tests) from teachers and administrators; (2) relate teacher and administrator knowledge and perceptions of the test to student test performance as reported in the Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) Reports. Answers to the following questions were sought: 1. To what extent do teachers and administrators possess different levels of knowledge regarding TAAS, and different attitudes toward TAAS about its purpose and usefulness? 2. Are differences in teacher and administrator knowledge of TAAS related to student performance? 3. Are differences in teacher and administrator attitude toward TAAS related to student performance? Information was collected, by means of a twenty-six-item survey measuring teacher and administrator knowledge and attitude toward TAAS. The selected schools were chosen from schools rated as either exemplary or low performing by the state accountability system. The data were examined using Descriptive Statistics (Mean, Median, Mode, Standard Deviation) and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). ANOVA was performed to determine if a significant variance existed between the responses of teachers and administrators and also between exemplary and lowperforming schools. Exemplary and low performing schools were chosen to determine if there were differences in teacher and administrator responses from these two groups. The results of this study attempt to show what, if any differences there are in attitudes toward and knowledge about TAAS based on responses from teachers and administrators from both exemplary and low performing schools. Based on the analysis of the data, there is no evidence from this study that indicates that there are significant differences in knowledge between teachers and administrators regarding TAAS. There is evidence that administrators possess a more positive attitude toward TAAS than do teachers. There is no evidence presented in this study that differences in teacher or administrator knowledge significantly impact student performance.

The construction industry is an essential component of the U.S. economy, yet even amid good wages, construction companies are having trouble finding enough individuals who are ready for work in the industry, and they fear they will not be able to do so in the future because training options for potential workers are inadequate. Better training options are needed. Much research has pointed to soft and academic skills as necessary skills for successful workers that are missing from worker preparation programs, but little has been done to establish an actual correlation between these skills and workforce readiness. In this study, the underlying premise was that students who spend more time on learning tasks are more engaged and will be more likely to be successful in school. As such, time on task (TOT) was defined as the time construction students spent in school preparing for competition at SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC). TOT was measured for three skill sets: academic, soft, and hard skills. The results were correlated with student success at NLSC to determine if related preparation led to increased success in the competition (the proxy for workforce readiness in this study). The results across skills sets showed that competitors at this high level of competition spent a high percentage of their TOT integrating the skill sets. In addition, multiple hierarchical regression analyses were performed with the TOT in the three subscales and competition placement. Overall, related results suggested some limited correlation between skill set integration and final placement at NLSC. In this regard, it is possible that the homogeneity of the population likely limits the generalizability of results.

Shyness is characterized by anxious and reluctant behaviors that may put children at risk for underperforming academically. Previous research has observed that active behavioral engagement in the classroom improves academic performance, however, shy children show deficits in this type of engagement. The current study examined whether behavior skills training (i.e., instruction, modeling, rehearsal and feedback) improved active engaged behavior in pre-K and kindergarten-age children using a multiple baseline across participants design. Four children between 3 to 5 years of age with varying shy behaviors as reported by their parents were asked to complete a series of math worksheets prior to and during intervention. Participants’ hand -raising and question asking were measured. Due to limitations, it is unclear whether the present study’s BST protocol was effective in increasing engagement. Future research should examine the use of BST, in-situ training, and application of skills in the natural setting.

No description available.