This study assessed the convergent validity of the Functional Assessment Informant Record for Teachers (FAIR-T; Edwards, 2002) with analog functional analyses (FAs). Participants were five teachers and students located at a specialized school serving individuals with disabilities. Teachers had worked with the student for a minimum of 1 month, and students displayed a variety of behavioral topographies. The FAIR-T was conducted by the researcher using telephone or video conferencing technology, and analog functional analyses were conducted in a clinic setting by trained therapists within the course of the student’s typical treatment plan. Results of the FAIR-T were coded according to function, and the results of the analog FAs were graphed and analyzed visually. Results of the FAIR-T and FAs indicated limited convergence between the two assessment methods, though results were somewhat inconclusive. Results are discussed in relation to the utility of the FAIR-T, particularly in the school setting. Directions for future research are discussed in light of the need to delineate efficient means with which to conduct functional behavior assessments within the schools.

The perspectives of gay men on college and university campuses is informed by a rich gay social history and extensive roots of community politics. The experiences of gay undergraduate men have been illuminated in segmented ways in scholarly literature to date. This narrative inquiry develops and advances those efforts by exploring how gay undergraduate men construct, experience, and make meaning of their gender as a population ascribing to both liberationist and assimilationist viewpoints. Data for this qualitative study were collected at one public, four-year research university in the southeastern United States in the fall 2015 semester using recorded personal interviews with eleven men. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed for data analysis. The men included in the study represent a broad range of personal identity backgrounds, including a variety of college majors and years of experience in university study. Self-authorship and queer theoretical frames were used to analyze participants’ gender interpretations. Findings suggest men do not understand gender in isolation, but in tandem with intersections of familial ethnic and cultural backgrounds, social class status, and involvement on campus. Four major themes of experience that effect self-authorship of gender evolved from narrative analyses: masking, agency, costs, and policing. Implications for higher education professionals, including faculty, staff, and administrators, are discussed. Opportunities for further research in navigating lived experiences of marginalized campus subpopulations are also suggested and explored.

The purpose of this study was to create and test two series of predictive models aimed at projecting high school graduation status. Secondary data were obtained in partnership with an urban school district. All of the predictor variables included in the models tested in this study were academic and nonacademic variables that were found to be significant predictors of high school graduation in previous empirical work. In the first series of models tested, individual academic and nonacademic variables were tested together along with school-level variables. Eighth and ninth grade variables were tested separately to avoid multicollinearity issues. The second series of models tested included similar individual-level academic and nonacademic variables, along with community-level predictors to analyze their ability to predict high school graduation status. Logistic regression and multilevel logistic regression analyses were conducted to analyze the data. The model including community-level predictors yielded a pseudo R-squared value of .40, approximating that 40% of the variance was explained by the predictors in the model. Most of the individual predictors included in the models yielded findings similar to those found in previous literature on high school graduation status projection; however, this was not true for all of the predictor variables included. These differences highlight the tension that can exist between generalizability and local specificity. Significant findings from studies utilizing large nationally-representative longitudinal datasets and other large data sources do not always generalize to settings with samples that differ demographically. This study represents a first step in a line of research aimed at developing a better understanding of high school graduation status, particularly in challenging school contexts.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship of teachers’ and administrators’ perception of the effectiveness of a teacher evaluation system to the effects of the system on student learning. Teacher surveys were administered electronically and administrator and teacher focus group discussions were held to determine the relationship between the following variables: Teacher perception of evaluation activities, teacher perception of the effectiveness of the evaluation system, administrators perception of evaluation activities, administrator perception of the effectiveness of the evaluation activities, professional development of teachers and teacher perception of the effects of the evaluation system on student learning.

One hundred 9th-grade students were divided into four groups of 25 each through systematic sampling procedures. Each of the groups were tested, pre and post, by the Otis-Lennon Mental Ability Test, forms J and K. During the pretest for all groups, the background condition of silence was observed. During the posttest, one group was again tested in silence. The other three groups were each tested to one of three background conditions: pop music, hard rock music, and soft rock music. Pop music played was characterized as more mellow, more melodic, and less intense than rock music. Hard rock music played was characterized as the most intense form with the hardest-driving beat, as well as being the least melodic form of the three. Soft rock music played was characterized as similar to hard rock but somewhat less intense and hard-driving. A comparison was made, through a series of 12 t-tests, between pretest and posttest means of all subjects, all male subjects, all female subjects, and each of the four groups – intact, males only, and females only. No significant differences in mean scores were found at the .01 or .05 levels of significance. The only two groups whose mean scores approached significance were the groups that listened to pop music and the males only from the pop music group. Lower posttest scores for certain individuals were noted. More of these were found in the group that listened to pop music than in any other group.

The purpose of this project was to investigate the effect of studying higher-level thinking skills on fifth grade students with high language ability. The researcher compared the test scores of students in an elementary enrichment program with test scores of students enrolled in the same program the following year to which materials emphasizing higher-level thinking skills were added. The researcher also included analysis of student performance on the Ross Test of Higher Cognitive Processes and its component parts of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation as well as each of the eight subtests. It was determined that analysis of Ross Test raw scores and percentile data would be made by the Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed Ranks Tests. Comparisons of the raw score results revealed gains in favor of the posttest for each set pf data. The results favoring the posttest are not considered statistically significant and are attributed to the increase in cognitive development inherent in chronological aging. There is no discernible pattern in the areas of significance on the section percentile scores. This researcher has determined that the study of higher-level thinking skills does not have a significant effect on fifth grade students. The comparisons of test data did not yield results favoring the addition of selected thinking skills materials to a language arts enrichment program.

Samples from four school year classes of students that participated in the youth Development Program, were interviewed in areas of family background, marital status, career status, educational status and interest in certain communication media. The data from the Interview Questionnaire was then collated. All participants had been classed as drop-outs or potential drop-outs. The school years involved were: 4969 through 1972-73. The results showed that fifty-six percent graduated the year they attended the program; twelve percent returned to regular school. Persisted and graduated; six percent went on to college and twenty-six percent received their graduation certificate or an equivalency (G.E.D.) certificate. A total of 94 percent of the participants graduated or went on to graduate. Also, 10.2 percent of the student’s parents had attended college; the report shows that drastic changes must be made in primary and secondary school curricula. Work-study type program are desperately needed, and, the ability to recognize or identify the potential school leaver at elementary levels is badly needed. Career oriented education is an important need.

This study conceptualized remedial education as an attrition process in which students either progress onto the next stage or they do not, and had a particular emphasis on how age affects students’ remedial path. The purpose of this quantitative study was twofold. The researcher first sought to understand the points at which students fail to progress within the remedial math process (enrollment in remedial coursework, completion of the remedial sequence, enrollment in a college-level course, and passing the college-level course), and to statistically model the pre- and post-college entry predictors of that attrition among first-time, associate degree-seeking students referred to remedial math in community colleges in Louisiana. The study also had a particular focus upon the effect age has on students’ ability to successfully remediate. Longitudinal, student-level data from ten community colleges in Louisiana were used for the analysis. Multiple logistic regression analysis was utilized to answer the research questions. Results showed the first step in the remedial process (enrolling in a remedial math course) to be the greatest attrition point, with 88.2% of students failing to enroll in a remedial math class. Gender, high school GPA, age, full-time enrollment, and college GPA were found to be significant predictors of remedial math course enrollment. In terms of the second step (enrollment in a college-level math course), age, extent of remedial math need, unmet financial need, high school GPA, and college GPA were found to be significant predictors. By the third step (enrollment in a college-level math course) and fourth step (passing, with a grade of C or better, a college-level math course), the significant covariates narrowed to extent of remedial math need and college GPA, respectively. With regards to age, this study’s findings reveal that age matters during the first two stages of remediation (enrollment in a remedial math course and completion of the remedial math sequence). Specifically, age decreases the likelihood of enrolling in a remedial math course but increases the likelihood of completing the remedial math sequence.

Teacher assessment is a hot topic in today’s high-stakes, test-driven, accountability-focused educational environment. My recent research addresses how high school art educators, under the umbrella of non-tested subjects and grades, are assessed in their classroom teaching practices in Virginia. Based on my findings, it is clear that while the teachers surveyed do not fear accountability, they are wary of being evaluated by those who lack the content knowledge in the arts, by methods that are subjective, and with criteria that is inflexible. This thesis addresses the need to develop open forums that include the educator’s voice in order to create better teacher assessments that focus on student learning achievement in authentic and holistic ways. By learning about and sharing resources regarding how teachers in non-tested subjects and grades are evaluated suggestions are made to organize resources that may help develop more authentic assessments for art teachers focusing on meaningful student learning and achievement.

Students’ perceptions of feedback can impact other writing constructs, such as motivation, self-efficacy, self-regulation, and achievement (Ekholm, Zumbrunn, & Conklin, 2015; Magno & Amarles, 2011; Zumbrunn, Marrs, & Mewborn, 2016; Zumbrunn, 2013). The goal of this study was to develop a valid and reliable instrument for measuring students’ perceptions of writing feedback. Evidence for validity and reliability were gathered throughout the development of the Student Perceptions of Writing Feedback (PoWF) Scale, a self-report questionnaire that asks students how they perceive feedback they get on their writing from their teachers. Items on the PoWF reflected the extant literature on students’ feedback perceptions. The PoWF was administered to 275 secondary students attending a suburban, mid-Atlantic high school. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) yielded a four-factor structure of students’ feedback perceptions that accounted for 55 percent of the variance. Given the important role feedback may have in improving student writing, it is important to understand students’ perceptions of writing feedback, which is a relatively new construct. This measurement study was a critical first step toward a better understanding of students’ writing feedback perceptions as well as related theoretical implications.