No description available.

The purpose of this observational study was to determine if significant difference existed in the quality of teacher preparation training as perceived by school district employees who have completed or were pursuing teacher certification in the area of school library media specialist from graduate programs accredited by National Council of Accreditation for Teacher Education (NCATE) and those accredited by institutions holding the American Library Association (ALA) endorsement. The focus of this investigation was on how or if knowledge, skills, and dispositions of school library media specialists and how does initial training impact student achievement. The study was conducted in an urban school district located in the metropolitan Atlanta area and is identified as district SDA. Descriptive, student performance, and perceived competence data were collected from 95/ P-12 media specialists, working in 90 school sites for the study population. Elementary (54 sites) and middle schools (19 sites) were part of the population. Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) results for students in grades 1-8 during the spring of 2007 were used to rank adequate yearly progress (AYP) performance. High school students do not take the CRCT. High school media specialists (N=21) were included in the study population. Findings form the study indicated that the interactions between the school administration, teachers as collaborative planning partners, collection development activities, and the school library media specialists (SLMS) have a positive impact on P-12 student achievement. Graduate preparation programs (NCATE and ALA) as independent variables were not perceived by SLMS to have a significant impact on the quality of the service and support they provided to learners.

published_or_final_version / Psychiatry / Master / Master of Philosophy

Stakeholder participation in evaluation, where the evaluator engages stakeholders in the process, is prevalent in evaluation practice and is an important focus of evaluation research. Cousins and Whitmore proposed a bifurcation of participatory evaluation into the two streams of transformative participatory and practical participatory evaluation (T-PE and P-PE respectively). T-PE stems from a social justice perspective and P-PE has more of a use orientation. T-PE is an underdeveloped evaluation theory with relatively low operational specificity. Case examples provide some understanding of it in practice, but comprehensive empirical support is still forthcoming. This study aims to develop a greater understanding of the participatory evaluation schema of P-PE and T-PE and to develop more practice-based and accessible operational specificity of T-PE by developing a logic-model like representation informed by both theorists and practitioners. In the process, a set of 28 key T-PE variables and eight statements that help identify T-PE evaluators were developed. The American Evaluation Association's membership (N=6,615) was invited to an online survey where they were asked their agreement on eight statements related to participatory evaluation. If they were at all participatory in their approach to evaluation they were asked to model their evaluation practice using an online software. A total of 240 evaluators modeled their practice. A most-endorsed model was created from the drawings of those identified as T-PE evaluators (n=142). A sample of these (n=21) commented on the model through webinars. The model created in this research is quantitatively and qualitatively different from a model created by a group of practitioners identified as more utilization-focused (n=16). The T-PE model was more likely to have stakeholder involvement and community trust at its center and the comparison model was more action-oriented and outcomes driven. This theory- and practice-informed T-PE model, the set of variables expected to be key to T-PE, and the set of statements that might be used to identify T-PE evaluators from other practitioners provide for a more descriptive theory of transformative participatory evaluation and introduce a novel method for engaging practitioners in the theory development process.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2005. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 149-156). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

No description available.

In multilevel MIMIC models, covariates at the between level and at the within level can be modeled simultaneously. Covariates interaction effect occurs when the effect of one covariate on the latent factor varies depending on the level of the other covariate. The two covariates can be both at the between level, both at the within level, and one at the between level and the other one at the within level. And they can create between level covariates interaction, within level covariates interaction, and cross level covariates interaction. Study One purports to examine the performance of multilevel MIMIC models in estimating the covariates interaction described above. Type I error of falsely detecting covariates interaction when there is no covariates interaction effect in the population model, and the power of correctly detecting the covariates interaction effect, bias of the estimate of interaction effect, and RMSE are examined. The design factors include the location of the covariates interaction effect, cluster number, cluster size, intra-class correlation (ICC) level, and magnitude of the interaction effect. The results showed that ML MIMIC performed well in detecting the covariates interaction effect when the covariates interaction effect was at the within level or cross level. However, when the covariates interaction effect was at the between level, the performance of ML MIMIC depended on the magnitude of the interaction effect, ICC, and sample size, especially cluster size. In Study Two, the impact of omitting covariates interaction effect on the estimate of other parameters is investigated when the covariates interaction effect is present in the population model. Parameter estimates of factor loadings, intercepts, main effects of the covariates, and residual variances produced by the correct model in Study One are compared to those produced by the misspecified model to check the impact. Moreover, the sensitivity of fit indices, such as chi-square, CFI, RMSEA, SRMR-B (between), and SRM-W (within) are also examined. Results indicated that none of the fit indices was sensitive to the omission of the covariates interaction effect. The biased parameter estimates included the two covariates main effect and the between-level factor mean.

This is a historical case study on school desegregation and power in Broward County, Florida from 1970 to 1998. The purpose of this study is to describe, explain and analyze types of power used by the School Board of Broward County, Florida and community activists, in their efforts to influence desegregation decisions from 1970 to 1998. In addition, this study explains who benefited and who won from the School Board's desegregation decisions and who governed those decisions? A historical case study approach was used as the method for conducting this study. Data sources included 11 interviews of individuals who were involved in school desegregation issues as either School Board officials or community activists and 10 archival data sources. The theoretical models of Russell, Galbraith, Wartenberg and Domhoff were used to determine the different types of power techniques used by School Board officials and community activists and to answer the questions: who benefited and who won from the School Board's desegregation decisions and who governed those policies and practices? The primary beneficiaries of school desegregation policies and practices in Broward County were: white, affluent communities and the builders, developers, realtors and other businesses in the western suburban communities. All of the data sources indicated that the black community did not benefit from the School Board's desegregation policies. The primary power techniques used by School Board officials to influence desegregation policies and practices was "power over opinions" and compensation. These power techniques were manifested by the School Board publicly disputing the allegations raised by community activists and by compensating those who supported and promoted the School Board's desegregation policies and practices. The power techniques primarily used by community activists were coercive force and "power over opinions." They effectively used these power techniques to change the School Board's policies and practices they felt were detrimental to black children and the black community. Based on the analysis of the qualitative data, it can be concluded that black children did not benefit from school desegregation in Broward County, Florida and the community continues to suffer residual effects from past desegregation policies and practices.

More U.S. students are attending college than at any time in history, but many of these students are poorly prepared for college coursework. Higher education institutions are challenged to increase the overall student success rate. The study community college implemented an early alert system to identify students with potential course performance concerns, but it is not known whether other student data might also predict academic performance at the study site. Guided by Tinto's and Astin's respective works on student persistence, the purpose of this correlational study was to investigate the relationships between students' demographic, background, and environmental variables and course success, for students identified by the early alert system. Stratified random sampling of 4 academic years of student data using 50% of the early alert students in the top 25 courses with the highest number of early alert students yielded a sample of 3,873 students. Predictor variables were gender, race/ethnicity, age, income status, campus, faculty status, first generation to college, and course times. The dependent variable was the course outcome. A regression analysis examined the predictive ability of each variable, and race/ethnicity was the only predictor found to be statistically significant. African-American students were the highest risk students for failing a course. A white paper was developed to share the study findings with the administration at the study college regarding the early alert system and other factors related to course success. Increasing student success may produce an overall positive social impact on society by increasing students' job prospects and ability to contribute economically in their communities.

The purpose of this research study was to determine the effectiveness of four different class schedules on students' academic achievement on end-of-course testing and whether a specific class schedule is more conducive to student academic achievement on state-mandated standardized tests. Georgia Department of Education provided archived public data for the 2009-2012 school years for a high school with an approximate population of 1,400 students. This high school implemented different class schedules; a 4x4 block schedule, A/B block schedule, a mixed block and traditional period day, or traditional period schedule. The main research question was focused on students' state standardized end-of-course test scores performance (N = 8,972) between students instructed using 4 different class schedules. Data were analyzed using an ANOVA to determine whether there was a significant difference attributable to a specific curricular schedule. Students' academic achievement on state standardized testing showed a significant increase in math for students instructed on the block and A/B block schedule. The results were viewed through the theory of constructivism, as it is used to advocate for forms of block scheduling to promote increased instructional techniques and student academic achievement. Although the schedules taken in totality not show an improved student academic performance based on the schedule under which instruction occurred, the individual course analysis reflected statistically significant differences in the content area of math. The findings of this research promote positive social change by adding to the understanding of the effectiveness of different schedules on student academic achievement.