At Mississippi State University (MSU), students who do not meet full admission requirements may enroll in the Summer Developmental Program (SDP). During this ten-week summer program, students take four developmental courses to prepare them for college-level courses. MA 0003 Developmental Mathematics is the course designed to prepare these students for MA 1313 College Algebra. In addition, the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at MSU offers MA 0103 Intermediate Algebra to prepare students for MA 1313 College Algebra. The purpose of this study was to determine (a) whether there were correlations between student grades in MA 0003, MA 0103, and MA 1313, (b) whether students? grades in MA 0003 and MA 0103 would predict their grades in MA 1313, and (c) whether their grades in MA 0003 would predict their grades in MA 0103. A Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was performed on the data. The results showed that there were statistically significant correlations between grades in MA 0003 and MA 0103, between grades in MA 0003 and MA 1313, as well as between grades in MA 0103 and MA 1313 ( ). Linear regression was used to find the equations to predict students? grades in MA 1313 from their grades in MA 0003 and MA 0103 and predict grades in MA 0103 from grades in MA 0003. An analysis of the results revealed that the higher the grade a student received in the lower-level mathematics courses, MA 0003 and MA 0103, the higher the grade the student received in the college-level mathematics course, MA 1313. Based on this study, further research was recommended to investigate the success of the SDP students in courses above the level of MA 1313 and their success in graduating from MSU. Because the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at MSU has made changes in the college algebra course, MA 1313, since this study, further research should be conducted to investigate the performance of the SDP students in the ?new? college algebra.

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The purpose of this study is to examine the impact that the creation of programs or instructional strategies that were devised and designed solely for the purpose of improving academic achievement among at-risk students has on the at-risk middle school student. In this case study, educational success from school redesign programs was qualitatively measured based upon an oriental inquiry-based qualitative research design. The data obtained for this study were derived from interviews, observations, and archival documents. The data collected for this study were intended to address the following questions: (a) How do redesign programs support teachers? (b) How does the redesign program benefit middle school, at-risk students? (d) What challenges, at the school level, do teachers face in regard to redesign programs? The observations in this study revealed that the students‘ perceptions of the program were positive. The teacher inquiries in this study revealed that the vast majority of the students (after being in the program for at least a semester) stated that they would like to remain in the program and they also stressed concerns about whether they would have access to a similar program once they were promoted to high school.

The eastern massasauga rattlesnake, or massasauga, is threatened in Ontario. Massasaugas overwinter in habitat that is sufficiently moist, above the water table, and below the zero-degree isotherm in a physical space conceptualized as a resilience zone. A development project in the Eastern Georgian Bay subpopulation of massasaugas overwintering habitat necessitated restoration. The Toronto Zoo hibernacula design was deemed inappropriate for use in this bedrock dominated landscape, as the limited deep groundwater percolation would result in flooding of the habitat from the fall to spring. Massasaugas in EGB, overwinter above the water table in Sphagnum peat hummocks. The ecohydrological factors of these hummocks in confirmed massasauga habitat were evaluated in a mixed effect linear model. It was found that taller hummocks, taller shrubs, and less WT variability were the best predictor of suitable conditions. This information was combined into a restoration method that moves surficial peat material from a soon to be impacted wetlands to an adjacent depression with mean depths of 40-80 cm, with mean bottom substrates 15-30 cm, and varying proportions of open water and floating peat with different vegetation communities. This design limits water table variability and allows for the growth of tall shrubs. Unforeseen circumstances meant that peat to be used in the project had to be stockpiled, which increased peat bulk density and limited photosynthesis. Despite this, restored habitat had similar mean lengths of unsuitable conditions compared to confirmed massasauga wetland habitat. The physical size of available overwintering habitat, as well as the total duration of unsuitable conditions, was not significantly different between restored wetlands, unconfirmed wetlands, and confirmed wetlands. Amendments to increase the cover of live Sphagnum moss will likely increase the duration and size of suitable conditions in the restored wetlands. Based on this success with degraded materials this new method of restoration design shows great promise in this region. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)