<p> The conflicting nature of the principal's role as a leader in the context of the school building and yet a follower within the school district organization may lead to frustration, poor job performance, and ultimately, premature principal departure. As middle managers in the school district organization, principals are wedged between superintendents who are grappling with the directives of government mandates and with meeting the needs of teachers, and teachers, who are doing the difficult day-to-day work of educating our nation's children. This duality in the principal's role is highlighted as principals implement the teacher evaluation process. Teacher evaluation has become more significant in this age of accountability, and school districts expect that principals will answer for the performance of students and teachers in their schools. Research on teacher evaluation has included the viewpoints of teachers, parents, policymakers, and stakeholders, but has not emphasized the principal's perspective on his/her role in the teacher evaluation process. This qualitative study highlights the perspectives and experiences of secondary school principals as they conduct teacher evaluations. The five major findings of this research are: 1) teacher evaluation provides principals an opportunity to demonstrate instructional leadership; 2) principals experience professional isolation in the teacher evaluation process; 3) principals are concerned about the demands on their time; 4) principals seek autonomy but not isolation in their position; and 5) principals grapple with their role as middle managers. The current pace of change to teacher evaluation policy has created challenges for state and district level policymakers as they attempt to interpret the changes and implement best practices. It is vital that policymakers understand the principal's role in the teacher evaluation process and that the principal's voice is included in policy decisions. District policymakers should consider the principal's role as a middle manager as they develop and improve job descriptions for the principalship.</p>

<p> A purpose of this study was to explore the inter-relations among eighth grade mathematics student achievements in the content domains of <i>Number, Algebra, Geometry, and Data &amp; Chance</i> and the cognitive domains of <i>Knowing, Applying, and Reasoning,</i> in the context of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), 2007. A second purpose was to find the associations between student achievements in the cognitive domains with student-related, teacher-related, school-related, and home-related variables. The variables were selected mainly on the basis of Carroll's model of school learning. Further, the math achievement of the students of the United States in each of the domains was compared with <i> Bulgaria, Chinese Taipei, Republic of Korea, Singapore,</i> and <i> Thailand.</i> After analysis, interpretations were made on the findings of the relationships among student achievements in each of the content and cognitive domains and also on the associations between variables and math achievement in the four content domains. Further, comparative performance of the U.S. with each of the five selected countries in each of the seven domains was analyzed. For finding the relationships among student performance scores across all the countries in eighth grade mathematics in different domains, Pearson's product moment coefficient of correlation was used as the measure. For finding the associations of the scores with the variables, multiple regression method was employed. Finally, for comparing student performances of the U.S. with other states, independent samples <i>t</i>-test was used. </p><p> The findings of this study indicated that student performance in all the content and cognitive domains were highly correlated. The second finding was that the variable <i>'School Resources'</i> was significantly related to student performance in each of the content domains, whereas <i> 'Overall Home Involvement'</i> had moderately significant relation with student achievement in <i>Number</i> and <i>Data &amp; Chance. </i> The findings revealed no significant relation between the other variables considered and student achievement in the four content domains. The third finding showed that <i>Chinese Taipei, Republic of Korea,</i> and <i>Singapore</i> outperformed the U.S. in all the domains, whereas the U.S. performed better than <i>Bulgaria</i> and <i>Thailand </i> in each of the domains. These results provide some clues for improving classroom instruction and streamlining administrative priorities in order to improve student performance in the United States. Furthermore, the results indicate paths for further research in order to augment the educational practice not only in the U.S., but in all countries, for securing better student achievement in mathematics.</p>

<p> Sexual minority students are targets of bullying and experience negative mental health and academic outcomes. Although teachers report positive attitudes towards the needs of sexual minority students, they do not feel prepared to effectively support such students. This study investigated the current ways in which teacher education programs integrate the topic of GLBT needs into the educational experience of pre-service teachers and factors that may affect the integration of the topic. Twenty directors of teacher education programs participated in phone interviews. Some information was also collected from institution and federal websites. </p><p> The results indicate that approximately half of teacher preparation programs expect pre-service teachers to develop GLBT related competencies prior to graduating, although very few assess these competencies. Pre-service teachers are most likely to learn about GLBT issues as they relate to family structures, bullying, and literature in a variety of education related courses. Hands-on experiences are limited, with few programs reporting a presence of GLBT faculty or students, few experiences with GLBT issues in the field, and few opportunities to engage in research on GLBT related topics. The results indicate no significant difference in the interview answers by institution type or program accrediting body. The institution's Carnegie Classification, student population, percent of the institution's students enrolled in the education program, and percent of ethnic minority students and faculty in the program were found to have relationships with factors extracted from the questionnaire. The results and implications for teacher education practices are discussed.</p>

<p> Universitas Terbuka (UT), the Indonesia Open University and the 45^th state university in the country, is the only one that uses distance learning as its sole mode of delivery and instruction. Although UT has operated for 28 years, unlike face-to-face classroom-based education, distance education has not been considered as a fully legitimate delivery system in Indonesia. In the mindset of the people of Indonesia, "education" necessarily implies a conventional classroom environment; and, as a consequence, the relatively new format of distance learning does not register as "real education." Yet under the pressure of increased demand for higher education, the participation in distance learning programs at UT has been rapidly growing. </p><p> However, that popularity also poses a problem. Indonesian students have difficulty with distance formats given lack of familiarity with the requirements of independent study and a low level of current aptitude for reading on their own. UT has therefore developed tutorial programs to assist distance learning students with overcoming the problem and reviewing their material. Most are offered face-to-face but are only accessible to the minority of students living near centers where such instruction can be delivered. With the spread of internet access in the country, online tutoring programs have been established but have been little evaluated. This study was devoted to assessing the quality of implementation and effectiveness of online course tutoring for Bachelor's degree distance learning students enrolled in UT. </p><p> Results indicate that despite difficulties of administration, the program is relatively well implemented and in the majority of classes, online tutorial participants score better than classmates who do not participate in the tutorial on final exams. Overall, therefore, the online tutorial program appears to be performing a real service but to be in need of better specification, some modification of methods and closer quality control. A number of recommendations for greater effectiveness and better service to UT students are offered in the last section of the text.</p>

<p> The need related behavioral dynamics that are revealed in self-determination and academic motivation research control factors which pinpoint and examine settings that facilitate self-motivation and well-being. This study examined differences in motivational and self-determination behaviors among three ethnic groups of Nigerian university students using a sample of students attending the University of Ibadan. The research continues the dialogue of the role of ethnicity in the motivational and self-determination behaviors by focusing on Nigerian students. Lastly, the study expands the current literature on motivation and self-determination by adding a study focusing on Nigerian students. Twenty-one hypotheses were tested to answer five research questions in the study. The research questions addressed whether significant statistical differences existed in academic motivation scores of Nigerian students based on their ethnicities or whether the parents' level of education affected the students' motivation, or self-determination. The questions also explored any statistical differences in self-determination of students based on their ethnicities or if there were differences between self-determination and gender, scholarship status, or number of children. Lastly, the questions addressed if there were differences in the type of prerequisites for entry to University of Ibadan. There were no statistically significant differences in means of the three broad types of academic motivation and perceived choice scores on the SDS based on ethnicity, parents' level of education, gender, scholarship status, number of children each participant had, and the kind of entry examinations that were taken. There were statistically significant differences in the mean of awareness of self scores based on parents' level of education and scholarship status. There was also a statistically significant difference in the mean perceived choice scores on the SDS based on the number of children each participant had. There were no statistically significant differences based on students' prerequisites.</p>

<p> Principals play a critical role in how a school performs and what type of culture it will have. However, most principal evaluation relies heavily on practices and beliefs grounded in 20th century educational paradigms or adheres to outdated behavioral checklists. This mixed methods study explores the current realities of principal evaluation in southeastern Idaho and the perceptions of 127 principals and superintendents. Findings suggest that there is a variance between written evaluation policies and current practices. Further, there was a statistically significant difference in the perceptions of principals and superintendents in nearly every aspect of principal evaluation studied. The study supports the need to revise and examine current practices being employed to assess principal job performance.</p>

<p>Many universities have expanded from teaching only to include research goals, requiring shifts in organization behavior. An exploratory case study method was used to examine these dynamics among positive deviant researchers at the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech), the single case examined, from a social construction perspective. As a participant observer in the organization, the researcher engaged in marginality and its associated risks in studying UTech&rsquo;s transition from low to higher research outputs to answer the research questions&mdash;significant norms influencing positive deviancy patterns of the researchers and, their perceptions and experiences during transition. A qualitative case report and mini-organization ethnography of UTech was produced to enhance contextual understanding of positive deviance among university researchers, an area not previously described in the literature. Several important organizational findings emerged from the analysis of interviews of 6 participants who received the President&rsquo;s Research Initiative Award (PRIA), artifacts of the organization, and participant observation. The results detail early development of a descriptive typology of positive deviance during organization change, including motivation, feelings of being marginalized and coping strategies. Three patterns&mdash;(1) teaching versus research (2) disorder, and (3) personal resilience&mdash;and 9 interrelated themes enhance understanding of role adaptations and the meanings and beliefs that these faculty associate with their research environment. The results also indicate organizational factors and personal dimensions in a research subculture that is emerging amidst strong pivotal teaching norms and culture; social costs involved in such a transition, and; some challenges and opportunities for building a research culture and a high performance research environment at UTech. A construct of organizational and individual adaptation to stress was hypothesized, subject to future research. The main conclusions included that research is a peripheral norm; doing teaching and research involved tensions, challenges, incongruence, disequilibria as new identities and the implied research subculture are emerging at UTech; there are anti-research risks to the transition, and; organizational tradeoffs might be required. The findings, although not a template, are of potential usefulness in any organizational setting where organization growth and change are contemplated. Recommendations are made for UTech and future research. </p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of standards-based assessment practices within a music performance curriculum. This pre-survey, post-survey experimental treatment included 169 students, 97 parents, and 3 teachers from 3 school districts across Wisconsin. The results from this study indicated that music teachers rely on a variety of assessment strategies to monitor student achievement regardless of if they are using standards-based assessment practices; however, teachers who used standards-based assessment were more likely to use formal assessments to determine student achievement and were more likely to assess students both formally and informally on a regular basis. Furthermore, when standards-based practices were implemented students' awareness of the learning target increased. Students also became less reliant on teacher feedback in determining their success but valued the feedback that was received at a higher level. Finally, parents relied on both online gradebooks, and conversations with their child regarding student achievement. </p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to create a tool to evaluate web-based educational sources that are geared towards Latino parents with preschool children to combat childhood obesity and to promote healthy lifestyles. The goals of this project were to increase awareness of the Latino childhood obesity problem and provide a tool to web developers to aid in the development of culturally appropriate nutrition education websites for preschool Latino children. </p><p> The primary evaluation tool is organized into eleven groups: site content, site functionality, site design, layout, readability, user learning experience, type style, use of color, photos and illustrations, non-English site development, and site evaluation. All criteria were included based on evidence-based research and a review of literature. A feasibility study was conducted to review the primary evaluation tool and a content evaluation form for users provided feedback. </p>

<p> Through the evolving arena of educational reform over decades, educational policy with emphasis on teacher evaluation has become a priority. This study investigated the benefit of support as identified via observation evaluation scores through an online professional learning system. Teachers with an evaluation rating of needs improvement and ineffective were offered a professional learning opportunity in order to provide support and measure improvement by the observational rubric used in teacher evaluation. A quantitative research design was utilized through the collection of archival observational data over a two-year period as well as survey data to gather teachers&rsquo; perceptions of their own improvement post training. </p><p> Results suggested teachers benefitted from the online professional learning as participants improved their scores and categorical ratings. Teachers who participated confirmed that they perceived they improved in their instruction after participating in the module. It is important to note that the teachers who were invited to participate and those who chose not to participate improved in their teacher observable scores and categorical ratings in year two. The research is consistent with the value of professional learning and has implications for policy makers both at the state and district level.</p>