The school board of a school district in South Carolina has proposed to increase class size in all schools due to mandatory budgetary reductions. However, at the secondary school level, the literature on the effect of larger class size on student achievement is conflicting. The theoretical framework by Lazear suggested that the minimization of negative externalities (i.e., problematic behavioral and academic characteristics of students) achieved through the mechanism of smaller class size impacts student learning. Reducing the number of students in a classroom alters the entire classroom environment, creating a more positive learning environment in which students are able to forge better relationships with classmates and teachers. The research question for this study examined whether class size in secondary school predicted student achievement as measured by teacher-issued end-of-course numerical student grades (TIECNSG). The study used a correlational design with a sample of 17,582 TIECNSG from 5 secondary schools in the district. The effect of smaller class sizes on TIECNSG was determined through the use of a linear regression model. For 9 course offerings, an increase in class size resulted in a decrease in TIECNSG, whereas for 8 course offerings, an increase in class size resulted in an increase in TIECNSG. The results of this study, therefore, were inconclusive, suggesting that other unaccounted confounding variables may have affected student achievement. This study can be used to promote positive social change by creating a dialogue between parents and school administrators who often have opposing points of view in terms of the effects of class size. In addition, it is recommended that a district's school board should authorize additional studies prior to taking any course of action that would affect class size at the secondary school level.

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<div>Rain drop size distributions (DSDs) in severe convective storms are highly variable in time and space. DSDs can be derived from polarimetric radar observations at high spatiotemporal resolution but these observations are often lacking near the surface owing to radar horizon issues. Disdrometers provide “ground-truth” measurements and validation of radar-derived DSDs but are by nature limited point measurements. Moreover, substantial evolution of the DSD can occur between the lowest radar elevation angle and the surface. Recent studies have shown that hydrometeor size sorting (HSS) is an important and even dominant process contributing to DSD evolution in severe storms; many physical processes such as the strength of the updraft, transient effects, and storm-relative mean winds are contributing factors to continued size sorting. In this study, we focus on strong storm-relative mean winds that induce sustained size sorting owing to the different residence times of hydrometeors of different sizes as they fall in severe storms. The resulting differential advection leads to a distinct horizontal spread of hydrometeors of different sizes at the bottom of a given layer. The goal of this study is to evaluate the impact of size sorting on DSD evolution from the radar level to the surface. To accomplish this, we develop and apply a raindrop trajectory model to compute the evolution of DSDs between radar observations aloft and the surface. For simplicity and to isolate the effects of size sorting, we neglect processes such as breakup, collection, and evaporation, and assume a horizontally homogeneous wind profile. We use disdrometer and radar data, which measure DSDs at the surface and provide the observed quantities aloft, respectively. The disdrometer data was collected from portable disdrometers as a collaboration between Purdue University, University of Oklahoma, University of Massachusetts, and the National Severe Storms Laboratory during the VORTEX-SE 2017 field campaign. NEXRAD data from KHTX Huntsville, AL and KGWX Columbus Air Force Base, MS was retrieved from the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).</div><div><br></div><div>We evaluate three separate cases, a tornadic QLCS on 30 April 2017, a cluster storm on 27 March 2017, and a squall line on 25 March 2017. After the radar data is pre-processed, we retrieve the DSDs from the radar by assuming a gamma distribution and discretize them into PARSIVEL bins to produce a gridded dataset of DSDs. We then apply the raindrop trajectory model to compute the DSDs at the surface which are then compared directly with disdrometer observations. Analysis and comparisons from all cases yield similar results in that-the sorted radar DSDs at the surface are overall closer to the disdrometer observations than the original radar DSDs aloft. Results also show that the spatial variation of DSDs is higher at the surface due to size sorting by the storm-relative mean winds.</div><div><br></div>

The present study was concerned with investigating children's generalized locus of control of reinforcement and its possible relationship to the demographic variables of birth order and family size. The sample consisted of 93 school children in Grades 6, 7, and 8. The analysis of data was by a 2 x 3 factorial design. Results indicated no significant differences in the generalized locus of control orientations of first-born, intermediate-born, and youngest children. Results also indicated that children of these different birth order positions from small families and from large families did not differ significantly in their generalized locus of control orientation. A correlational study of the data showed that the children's locus of control orientations were unrelated to sex differences.

Size information is vital in many consumer contexts, but currently, no central framework or conceptual model exists for a thorough understanding of the underlying process of how consumers interpret size information and form size judgments. Thus, the purpose of this three-paper dissertation is to introduce such a framework, discuss future research directions based on that framework, and pursue a few of these directions in the second and third papers, both of which focus on a vanity sizing context. The resulting work and findings illustrate the process through which consumers go in forming size judgments and collectively present both scholars and practitioners with a common basis for future study and implementation of findings in contexts in which size information is salient.

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