Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Sport Management, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-04, Section: A, page: 1417. Adviser: Larry Fielding. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed June 19, 2007)."

<p> Despite gains in expanding the student pipeline to postsecondary education, first-generation and low-income (FGLI) students complete college at disproportionately lower rates and have limited access to the resources necessary to make informed decisions about higher education. Research has shown that FGLI students are less likely to apply to college after completing high school, and when they do, they often enroll in institutions that are less selective than they were academically qualified to attend. Moreover, although access to higher education has expanded, the increased concentration of students at community colleges has not led to increases in earned credentials. </p><p> This study used two parallel phenomenological inquiries to explore the college decision-making processes and first-year experiences of two groups of FGLI students pursuing a baccalaureate degree: students who completed a summer college-access program before entering a four-year institution, and students who attended a community college. Findings from the study revealed that FGLI students often sought the support of guidance counselors during the college choice process, but the degree to which community college and four-year college attendees accessed this resource varied. Additionally, four-year college attendees provided strong evidence of having the support of parents, siblings, or peers who helped influence their college enrollment decisions. </p><p> This study also examined the first-year experiences of FGLI students and found that community college enrollees spoke highly of their experience, felt more comfortable navigating higher education independently, and remained steadfast about their desire to pursue a bachelor&rsquo;s degree; however they demonstrated less engagement with the college community and were uncertain about where they would be ultimately complete their studies. Participants who had completed a summer college-access program were more engaged on campus with administrators and peers, had a better understanding of the support resources available, and gained confidence in how to approach college-level work.</p><p>

<p> This study aspired to understand the practices implemented by school leaders to ensure deaf and hard-of-hearing students have access to nonacademic and extracurricular activities and services commensurate with their hearing peers. The participants for this study were school leaders as well as non-school leaders who worked with deaf and hard-of-hearing students in their nonacademic and extracurricular activities in secondary public schools. The data were collected through document reviews and semi-structured interviews to address the research question: What are the practices, if any, that school leaders implement and employ to support their staff in developing transformative leadership skills to ensure a culture of inclusion that ensures deaf and hard-of-hearing students have access to nonacademic and extracurricular services commensurate with their hearing peers? The data were analyzed through the lens of transformative leadership theory and illuminated three themes: administrative guidance, resources, and culture. Key findings indicated the need for more explicit policies at the district and school levels, more access to resources, and greater professional development opportunities to support the development of a strong culture. </p><p>

<p> This study examined students utilizing a computer-aided reading intervention Lexia Reading Core5 and the correlation with oral reading fluency for grades second through fourth at nine Title I schools in a medium-sized urban characteristic Midwestern school district. The researcher design utilizes a quantitative methodology to gauge the changes in reading scores measured for students utilizing Lexia Reading Core5 when utilized as a Tier I or Tier II intervention. The change in the dependent variable of student oral reading fluency rates from fall to spring as measured by the Formative Assessment System for Teachers (FAST) specifically the Curriculum-Based Measure for Reading (CBMR) determined student growth. The 2,514 students involved in the study came from nine Title I elementary schools in the Heartland School District for students in grades second through fourth. The student population in the study has characteristics of a typical urban school district that is a minority-majority school district in addition to approximately 34% of students being English language learners, with 95.1% free and reduced lunch rates. Students are distributed equally between grade levels with each grade having approximately one-third of the sample students. Gender was 51.45% male and 48.55% female. </p><p> The study supports a correlation between time and proficiency growth using Lexia Reading Core5 and student growth in oral reading fluency as measured by the CMBR assessment growth. This study supports the use of computer aided adaptive reading instruction for students in need of a Tier I or Tier II reading intervention.</p><p>

<p> This basic interpretive study explored teacher and principal perceptions of reform and accountability and how these perceptions influenced leadership for school-based teacher development and learning. Complexity leadership theory served as the theoretical lens for the study and provided a holistic view of how reform and accountability served as tensions for enacted leadership roles both within and without the complex adaptive system of teacher learning and development. Four principals and twelve teachers participated in this study and reflected a maximum variation sample of teachers and principals across a southeastern state in the United States. The researcher collected data through semi-structured interview questions in one-to-one principal interviews and three teacher focus groups. Additionally, teachers constructed a drawing to illustrate what teacher learning and development looked like in their respective schools. Data from the interviews and drawings were analyzed for emergent themes and theoretical connections. Results found that all of the participants felt pressure from accountability for student performance as measured by state mandated tests. Required/mandated reform, created pressure to change instructional practice to ensure students showed growth and achievement on state mandated tests. Patterns of leadership behaviors for learning and development illuminated the role of principal leadership and context to the dynamic interactions of agents toward the shared need of improving instructional practice and growth. All participants experienced some form of tightly coupled leadership behaviors that stifled the teacher&rsquo;s ability to collaborate and interact with others. While reform and accountability were established to improve growth and achievement, the leadership behaviors oftentimes stifled the learning and development of the teachers. All of the principals and only three teachers&rsquo; responses revealed moderate couplings that supported agent interactions and one teacher experienced loosely coupled leadership behaviors. This study&rsquo;s findings suggest reform and accountability influenced leadership behaviors that tried to control and predict outcomes through information getting sessions or trainings which oftentimes led to static learning environments. Leaders that supported creation, innovation, and sensemaking in their schools, relinquished tight control and fostered collaborative spaces. These findings may be useful as educators endeavor to learn and grow to meet the evolving needs of the twenty-first century.</p><p>

<p> Many Black boys become detached from their classrooms and disengaged from the learning process altogether. Irrelevant curriculum, systemic discriminatory K-12 experiences, and poorly staffed and resourced schools are among the various historical, educational, and socio-economic factors that contribute to the 31% drop out rate among Black students, particularly males. Those who drop out of school often experience unemployment, economic struggle, and in many cases, incarceration. In an effort to explore engaging instructional approaches that address the cultural needs of Black boys, a qualitative case study was conducted to explore the cultural responsiveness of Linked Learning. An emphasis was placed on identifying specific instructional strategies that impact the engagement levels and overall academic performance of Black boys. </p><p> A combination of interview, observational and documented data were collected with participants consisting of 10 Black, male high school students, 3 Linked Learning teachers, and 2 administrators. The following themes resulting from the data were evident within participants&rsquo; interview responses, observed behaviors and practices, and analyzed lesson plans and student work samples: (a) Caringclassrooms were critical to the success of Black boys, and (b) The Linked Learning promise positively impacted the academic experience of Black boys. An integration of two theoretical frameworks, Invitational Theory and Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, served as this study&rsquo;s conceptual frameworkand guided the exploration of the Linked Learningmodel.</p><p>

<p> This qualitative narrative research study explores the reasons that undergraduate transfer students make college and career planning decisions. The insights of community college students who expressed interest in completing a bachelor&rsquo;s degree but did not enroll at a university were compared with the perspectives of university students enrolled in a bachelor&rsquo;s degree program who had successfully transferred from a community college. The student input was analyzed to determine if there were differences in their decision-making experiences. Sixteen undergraduate students enrolled at higher education institutions in Pennsylvania responded to open-ended questions related to choosing a college and degree major, navigating the transfer admissions process, and participating in extracurricular activities. The participants provided viewpoints for ways in which they engaged with academic advising and transfer student support services and the influences that motivated their decisions. The qualitative data analysis resulted in nine emergent themes related to community college transfer student decision-making. The study concludes with a discussion and recommendations for further investigation. Understanding the student decision-making experiences of community college transfer students provides fellow-students, parents, education leaders, and policymakers with insights to support student success.</p><p>

<p> This study explored the current state of secondary social studies in Western New York (WNY) through the lens of social studies orientations, specifically the traditional, disciplinary, and progressive strands (Fallace, 2010), and their alignment with the <i>K-12 Social Studies Framework </i>, approved by NYS&rsquo;s Department of Education in 2014, with new NYS Regents assessments to begin in 2019. It was, therefore, important to collect baseline data on secondary social studies teachers&rsquo; social studies purpose, practices, and knowledge of NYS reforms. </p><p> A mixed-method study began in the spring of 2017, which collected data from the <i>WNY S4</i> survey and two focus groups. Survey participants totaled <i>n</i> = 136, representing six counties in WNY; focus group members totaled <i>n</i> = 9. The <i>WNY S4</i> replicated survey items from a nationwide instrument, <i>Survey on the Status of Social Studies&ndash;S4</i> (Fitchett &amp; VanFossen, 2013) and analyzed data with descriptive and inferential statistics. The researcher developed a semi-structured interview guide to collect focus group data, which were analyzed by the long-table approach (Krueger &amp; Casey, 2009). </p><p> Major survey findings were: (1) 99% reported an unawareness of their <i> state/district standards</i>; (2) 100% reported developing <i>critical-thinking skills</i>, while 64% reported <i>content knowledge</i> as primary goals; and (3) top-ranked instructional practices were 87% <i> teach political history</i>; 83% <i>teach social history</i>; and 82% <i>examine sources</i>. Analyses of <i>t</i>-tests indicate gender and grade level-band indicators are influential to instructional practices. For example, female and high school teachers seem to engage students more often in non-history content emphases, such as <i>diversity of religious views, economics</i>, and <i>historiography</i> while also de-emphasizing the <i>lecture</i>; hence aligning more with the disciplinary strand and less with the traditional strand. </p><p> Focus group results pinpoint a struggle between participants&rsquo; intentions versus actual practice which may impact alignment to NYS social studies reforms. Misalignment attributed to teacher&rsquo;s purpose being overshadowed by their own instructional choices or outside factors, such as assessments, time, and other school district issues. Five out of nine focus group participants associated with the hybrid disciplinary-progressive approach, suggesting that secondary social studies teachers do not situate themselves to a single social studies orientation; and also consistent with past studies (Long, 2017; Vinson, 1998). </p><p> Overall, <i>WNY S4</i> data suggests when purpose and practices are more closely aligned to the disciplinary and progressive approaches, secondary social studies instruction may find greater success with NYS social studies education reforms. In addition, gender and identified grade level-band (middle school and high school) differences provide insights for developing and tailoring professional development for different groups of teachers. </p><p> Two recommendations for policy and practice include: (1) refine the social studies orientation model into a continuum, and (2) apply the <i>Social Studies Purpose Compass</i> developed by the researcher to guide instructional alignment with NYS social studies reforms.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to empirically analyze the determinants of charitable giving rates generationally among alumni of a private business college in the northeastern United States, with a focus on three areas: the unique cultural component of giving as it relates to the college and its entrepreneurial focus; the level of connectedness and involvement of the students to the college through co-curricular and affinity activities; and the demographics of the college, including the high number of international students that are attracted to study at this business college. These are examined through Park and Smith&rsquo;s (2007) framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), which is an adaptation of Ajzen&rsquo;s (1991) model of Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Background data for this study was provided by the Office of Alumni and Friends at Northeast College, which in April 2015 partnered with the Performance Enhancement Group Ltd. (PEG) to administer the <i>Alumni Attitude Study</i>. This survey instrument measures alumni perceptions and attitudes about their alma mater as well as their student and alumni experiences, and served as a basis for this study on alumni charitable giving. In addition, this particular study synthesizes literature related to affinity giving across a broad spectrum of colleges and universities.</p><p>

Através da teoria de mercados de matchings de dois lados, este trabalho analisa o Sistema de Matrículas Escolares do Município de São Paulo. Em um primeiro momento, descrevemos detalhadamente o mercado de escolha escolar, um caso particular do \"College Admission Problem\", demonstrando seus principais resultados. Em seguida, passamos ao estudo dos principais mecanismos de alocação existentes e o atualmente utilizado em São Paulo. Simulações são realizadas para corroborar os resultados teóricos. Finalmente, apresentamos sugestões de melhoria para o atual processo de matrículas, propondo, inclusive, a substituição do mecanismo existente. / Through the Theory of Two-Sided Matching Markets, this work is aimed at assessing the São Paulo Municipality Basic School Enrollment System. As a first effort, we describe the school choice problem, a special case of the \"College Admission Problem\", demonstrating its main results. Next, we follow to the study of the main existing mechanisms of allocation as well as the one currently used in Sao Paulo. Simulations are used to corroborate the theoretical results. Finally, we present suggestions for the improvement of the current enrollment system, including the substitution of the existing mechanism.