Innovative physical training practices and concepts such as yoga, Pilates, tai chi, cardio kickboxing, cardio spinning, and step aerobics have emerged to provide college students with alternative fitness exercises. However, due to unavailable research, community college administrative and curriculum leaders may perceive nontraditional physical activity courses as unrelated to the values of physical education. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the perceptions of chairpersons/deans and faculty in physical education regarding nontraditional physical activity courses as compared to sport-related courses offered in community college physical education programs. Educational change theories of beliefs, values, and decision-making structures provided the conceptual framework for this study. Research questions focused on participants' perceptions toward health benefits, values, and contributions to students' learning experience of nontraditional physical activity courses. An 18-item survey was distributed via e-mail to 209 chairpersons/deans and 263 full-time faculty in community college physical education programs in the western region of the United States. An independent samples t test analysis revealed participants' perceptions differed regarding cardio kickboxing, cardio spinning, and step aerobics courses providing similar health benefits as compared to sport-related courses. Participants' perceptions also differed concerning yoga courses contributing to students' learning experience. Chi-square analysis showed participants' perceptions toward yoga, Pilates, cardio spinning, and step aerobics were dependent on their campus position in physical education. The findings in this study illustrate a positive social change community colleges can offer by teaching lifetime fitness activities that contribute to an active lifestyle and sustained wellness.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify the classroom management needs of graduate education students in one college, and develop a seminar that emerged from the research. Researchers have shown that professional development provided for graduate education students typically deals with curriculum and instructional methodologies rather than classroom management. However, graduate education students have expressed the need to learn more effective classroom management skills. The research questions asked what classroom management skills participants said they needed to teach in both collaborative, and special education classrooms. A grounded theory approach and the constructivist paradigm were used in the study. Interviews and focus groups employing a purposive sample of 12 graduate education students were used to determine core phenomena where participants were able to help shape and construct a seminar in classroom management. The results of the codified data concluded that participants lacked skills and wanted to be trained in the meaning of effective teacher engagement with students, collaboration with other professionals, effective use of class rules and procedures, helping students understand consequences for misbehavior, and managing classroom disruptions. The research generated a 3-hour seminar for special education or general education graduate students. The results gathered during the development of the seminar suggest that the content and presentation will help graduate education students foster social change by developing skills to effectively manage their classes. Additionally, the study can contribute to social change by affording participants classroom management skills necessary to create safe and nurturing school environments that have the potential to positively impact student achievement.

Previous research has indicated that literary skills performance in reading and writing for middle school students has declined. There remains an important gap in the current literature regarding the decline in literary skills, which is a good predictor of the potential for students to drop out of school. The goal of this study was to determine if the use of self-evaluation influences students' writing ability and their attitudes toward writing. Using a quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group design, and over the course of 10 weeks, the researcher administered a writing pre- and posttest, as well as a pre- and posttest Writing Attitude Survey (WAS) to 70 gifted Grade 7 students. Two classes formed the experimental group, and 2 classes formed the control group. Students in the first group participated in focused self-evaluation instruction and practice. A pre- and postwriting test patterned after the Georgia Grade 8 Writing Assessment was assessed with a standardized writing rubric, and the WAS provided the quantitative data. ANCOVA and an independent sample t test compared the average change from pretest score to posttest score between the groups in overall writing score, ideas, style, organization, and conventions. They showed a level of significance. A Cramer's V compared the average change from pretest survey score to posttest survey score between the groups in the areas of gender, ethnicity, and group. It showed a statistically significant difference. Findings from this study may directly influence the increased use of self-evaluation across language arts, as well as other content area subjects.

Assistive technology (AT) is defined as any tool that can help integrate students with severe or multiple disabilities (SMD) into learning activities. As mandated by federal law, AT must be considered for all students with disabilities. Educators, however, do not consistently embrace low and mid tech AT devices in reading and the language arts, thus limiting student engagement in learning activities. The purpose of this study was to explore educators' perceptions of their experiences regarding the acquisition and the use of low and mid tech assistive devices with students with SMD. This study builds on the existing literature base of using AT to increase student participation in literacy activities, thus moving students through Vygotsky's zone of proximal development from limited performance to independent performance. Research questions in this study addressed (a) educators' experiences regarding the use of AT for students with SMD, (b) educators' perceptions of AT use for students with SMD, and (c) strategies educators use to match AT to students with SMD. A qualitative phenomenological research design utilizing interviews with educators and unobtrusive data collection was used to determine the effectiveness of the incorporation of AT devices in learning activities for students with SMD. Results indicate that educators have limited AT use and little or no training. This study indicates the need for formal and informal AT training for educators and contributes to social change by enhancing the literature on academic modifications and adaptations with the use of low and mid tech assistive device interventions. Implications for social change include improving teaching practices for students with SMD.

Georgia Writing Assessment scores revealed that there were third grade students at an elementary school in rural Southeast Georgia struggling to meet the state standards. This pre-experimental, action research study examined the impact of collaborative analysis of student work on student achievement among third graders in the area of writing through a one-group pretest-posttest design. The pretest phase of this quantitative study was comprised of the collection of scored student writing samples followed by professional development training for teacher participants on collaborative analysis of student work. The posttest phase of the study included the collection of scored student writing samples. These student writing samples were scored by each teacher using a rubric developed by the state of Georgia as part of the Georgia Writing Assessment. Six third grade teachers and 50 third grade students participated in the study. A repeated measures t test was conducted to determine the impact of collaborative analysis of student work on student achievement. This comparative analysis between pretest and posttest scores indicated that the collaborative efforts of the teachers in this action research initiative positively impacted student achievement. Recommendations for further study include duplication of the study at another time during the school year, repetition of the study using a larger sample, and the collection of qualitative data from teachers and students through surveys, questionnaires, or focus group interviews. The social change implication of this study is that it informs the body of knowledge related to the impact of collaborative analysis of student work on student achievement in the area of writing at the elementary school level This may be beneficial to administrators and teachers in the planning of professional development activities and the teaching and learning of writing.

Educational institutions are implementing curriculum mandates without data to support the benefits of the mandates to students. The purpose of this concurrent, mixed-method study, which utilizes quasi-experimental and case study approaches, was to address the effectiveness of mandated differentiated instruction in a suburban high school. This study investigated the significant differences in achievement before and after the implementation of differentiation as well as differences in achievement between a school that mandated the use of differentiation and one that did not. The study also investigated strategies used to implement differentiation and student and teacher attitudes toward it. For ninth grade literature and biology students, t-test analyses revealed significant differences between end-of-course test passing rates before and after implementing differentiation. However, the data showed no significant difference between the passing rates of the two different schools. A change midstream in the daily schedule from 4, 90-minute classes to 7, 50-minute period courses presented a confounding variable that could have affected passing rates. Teachers and students participated in surveys to evaluate attitudes toward differentiation. Surveys among teachers suggested a trend toward a preference for differentiation. Both teachers and students felt that differentiation was beneficial for students. According to students, differentiation was evidence of teacher professionalism and passion which influenced a student's desire to learn. Differentiation provides an avenue for educating all students through students' interests and strengths. Ideally, this avenue will lead to improved student learning and achievement resulting in a more educated society.

The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) requires that students with disabilities (SWD) be educated in the least restrictive environment, while the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires that these students meet minimum criteria on statewide testing by 2014. This sequential explanatory mixed methods action research study, situated in Bandura's self-efficacy and Atkinson's drive theories, examined the effects of teacher training and subsequent implementation of strategies on the intrinsic motivation of SWD. Intrinsic motivation was measured using the Children's Academic Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (CAIMI) before and after the training. A repeated measures t-test analyzed the mean difference in the students' responses to determine whether teacher training and subsequent implementation of motivational strategies had a significant effect on the intrinsic motivation of SWD in the general education classroom. Mean scores on the pre and post administrations of the CAIMI were not statistically different, t(13) = 1.426, p = .177. A focus group interview with the students' teachers provided data, which helped ascertain how teachers perceived the relationship between teacher training in motivational intervention strategies and teacher practice and levels of intrinsic motivation for SWD in inclusive classrooms. Typological analysis revealed teachers perceived a relationship between the training, their practice, and intrinsic motivation of SWD. Finally, qualitative responses were compared to responses on individual CAIMI items to explain inconsistencies between expected outcomes, actual results, and theory. Implications for positive social change are evidenced by the data that demonstrate a better understanding of motivation for SWD for educators and administrators seeking ways to merge requirements for NCLB with IDEA.

Regular education teachers' self-efficacy may be negatively impacted due to a lack of professional development and experience teaching students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Research links teacher self-efficacy with increased student academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to examine to what degree training on ASD during and following teacher certification and experience had on overall teacher self-efficacy. This one-shot case study was based upon Bandura's theoretical construct of self-efficacy and secondarily on Tschannen-Moran, Woolfolk Hoy, and Hoy's theory of self-efficacy. The Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scales (TSES) was used to collect data from regular education teachers with experience teaching students with ASD in 1st through 3rd grades in a Southern California school district. After the data were assessed for accuracy, missing data, and outliers, the analysis was conducted on 36 cases. MANOVAs were conducted to assess differences on overall self-efficacy. Separate ANOVAs were used since the overall self-efficacy and the subscores were highly correlated. Though the sample in this study was small (n = 36) for data analysis, the effect size showed that training experience and grade levels had a moderate to large effect on teacher self-efficacy (.16, .13, .13 respectively). Therefore teacher self-efficacy has a positive impact on student achievement. Implications for positive social change are self-efficacious teachers increase the academic achievement of students with ASD. In this way, such students can become self-sustaining, dynamic members of the work force and community.

Federal and state guidelines direct students with disabilities to the least restrictive environment (LRE). The inclusion of students with disabilities in the LRE (general education) has been an issue for many public schools. In an effort to promote inclusive education for students with disabilities, many special education teacher--chairpersons experience opposition from the general education teacher and their administrator regarding LRE placement. The purpose of this qualitative case study, grounded in the theory of leadership, was to examine the leadership experiences of chairpersons of special education services in middle schools and their perception of the LRE decision-making process for placement for students with disabilities in their school. The primary research question that guided this study involved understanding how leadership experiences of chairpersons of special education services impact decision making about instructional placement in the least restrictive environment for students with disabilities. Data were collected from 5 teacher--chairpersons for special education service from a middle school who were purposefully selected to participate in face-to-face interviews. Data were analyzed using a thematic within-case analysis. The findings included the need for instructional leadership for (a) the decision making process, (b) staff development, and (c) socialization of students with disabilities to improve LRE placement of students with disabilities. Providing insight into the leadership experiences of the chairpersons for special education service may have implications for positive social change including addressing misunderstandings about LRE placement and instructing more students with disabilities in the LRE.

Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), school leaders have had to identify instructional and administrative practices that would increase student achievement. Provisions of NCLB have added additional challenges for schools working with low achieving students with discipline problems. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate how a school's in-school suspension (ISS) program served teachers and students. The research questions focused on determining the strengths and weaknesses of the school's ISS program, the potential that these characteristics held to affect student academic achievement and behavior for ISS students, recidivism, and measures that the school might take to modify the ISS program. Conceptually, this study was framed within the theories of emotional intelligence and social literacy. Using purposeful sampling, data included responses from questionnaires, face-to-face interviews, document analysis, and observations of the ISS room. These data were analyzed using open and axial coding. Results of the study indicated inconsistent practices in the ISS program, such as the lack of a standard policy to assess student ISS assignments and to provide students teacher feedback upon returning from an ISS referral. In addition, the study revealed that the school lacks procedures to provide ISS students counseling during their ISS referral and a curriculum to help these students develop social emotional learning skills. Implications for positive social change included increasing academic achievement and social literacy for students assigned to ISS, which could lead to fewer referrals to ISS and lower recidivism.