<p> The Alabama Vocal Association (AVA) is the choral division of the Alabama Music Educators Association (AMEA), the state chapter of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). This mixed methods study examined non-participation in AVA All-State Choral Festival and AVA State Choral Performance Assessment (SCPA) among Alabama public high schools (N = 355). Quantitative data were event choral program participation lists for 2012 &ndash; 2013 provided by the state AVA office and demographic statistics found on the Alabama State Department of Education website including ethnicity (percentage of White students), FRL (percentage of students qualifying for free and reduced lunch), and school size (total enrollment) for all Alabama public high schools. Qualitative data were transcripts and field notes (N = 56 pages) from interviews (N = 26), a focus session at the 2014 AVA Fall Workshop with AVA members (N = 35), and follow-up personal communications (N = 39) with choral teachers representing all AVA districts (N = 7). An Analysis of Variance revealed two significant indicators for AVA participation: (a) FRL, F(1,353) = 169.5, p &lt; .001 (non-participating schools M = 63.74 FRL; participating schools M = 49.05 FRL) and (b) school size, F(1,353) = 48.39, p &lt; .001 (non-participating schools M = 414.99 students; participating schools M = 983.03 students). Ethnicity, F(1, 352) = .458, p = .499, was not found to be a significant indicator of AVA participation. Qualitative findings suggested administrative support, financial limitations, teaching classes other than choral music, and lack of communication between AVA and some choral teachers accounted for non-participation in AVA events.</p>

<p> This dissertation seeks to investigate the term <i>joyful learning </i> as it applies to the learning process. Using methods of narrative inquiry, the collected stories of students serve as the nucleus around which the understanding of joyful learning is built. This inquiry is grounded in the literature of joy in the learning process, whole child learning theory, deep learning, agency in learning, and educational wounds. In this narrative inquiry, 15 students ranging from kindergarten to twelfth grade were asked to tell the story of their experience with learning. A domain analysis was completed on the stories of wounds and celebrations in the interviewees&rsquo; varied learning experiences and the identification of commonalities served as a catalyst for an enhancement of education theory and laid the foundation for future research on the importance of joy in the learning process of human beings. The themes emerging in this narrative inquiry were joy, engagement and disengagement in learning, connected learning, motivators and de-motivators, peer influence, positioning, relationship between the student and the teacher, agency, forced learning, standardized assessment and meaningful assessment, educational wounds, and the significance of education. Evidence of educational wounding surfaced in all 15 stories, illuminating a connection between the wounding and the replacement of student-centered learning practices with compulsory, standardized reforms.</p>

<p>The study set out to determine the effects of Career Technical Education Career Academy participation on student outcome measures in a high minority urban school district. Three research questions explored student participation in career academies and student outcomes in the area of grade point average, credit completion and/or attendance rates. The three research questions investigated in this study were: 1) What are the effects of CTE on student achievement, grade point average, credit completion, and attendance rates? 2) Does the amount of time in the CTE program affect the dependent variables of grade point average, credit completion, and attendance rate? 3) Does the CTE academy affect the dependent variables of grade point average, credit completion, and attendance rates? The quasi-experimental design, which matched Career Technical Education participants and non-participants according to various demographic variables, allowed the researcher to control for variables that usually impact grade point average, credit completion and attendance rates. The matching and labeling of CTE participants and non-participants occurred prior to students' participation in an academy. The results of this study adds to a relatively small body of research which examines the impact of Career Technical Education programs implemented in thousands of high schools across the country. Multiple regression was run and results concluded that participation in Career Technical Education significantly impacts grade point average and credit completion rates. However the amount of time in an academy only affected grade point average and the academy students participated in did not have an impact any of the student outcomes measured in this study. Further studies of similar design which measure student outcomes should be performed to confirm or deny the results of this study. </p>

<p> This mixed-method research examines student achievement, student interaction and social elements to determine which elements support online course completion for students in a state virtual school. The quantitative goals seek to find a possible degree of convergence with the course completion average grade. Qualitative data from 10 high school students, their teachers, and quantitative data from their courses were gathered. Quantitative data from the learning management system (LMS) was reproduced, scrubbed of unwanted data, such as dropped students. Mixed method constant comparison was performed to determine a descriptive analysis of three variables: student achievement, student interaction, and social elements. Using the data gathered from the qualitative interviews, a yes or no was assigned to the students for behavioral, cognitive, and social skills. Using descriptive statistics, the skills were compared to the students' course grades. The results revealed a strong pattern match of data for Research Question 1. This data was indicative of the need for behavioral, cognitive, and social skills to complete an online course. Quantitative and teacher data were grouped by themes: asynchronous, administrative, and assessments; synchronous added for teacher data. A constant comparison of data correspondence was performed between the student course average grade, the access data, LMS theme data, and the course average final grade. The investigation of Research Question 2 indicated that the LMS's reporting module can determine interactions to support online course completion by providing average grade analysis along with access analysis and tool usage analysis.</p>

<p> In a school district, teachers and administrators found that students lacked the academic technology immersion necessary to ensure their technological preparation for the 21st century. Professional development was offered to prepare teachers to integrate 21st century technology into their instruction; however, teachers were not fully implementing technology. Administrators and stakeholders have indicated concern. The purpose of this study was to explore whether professional development was effective in increasing teachers' capacity to integrate student-directed technology into instruction. The study, guided by Prensky's transformation and Siemen's connectiveness theories, indicated that technology immersion was necessary within schools. The overarching research questions explored the extent to which technology-based professional development experiences have most directly affected the integration of technology into the classroom. The research design was a qualitative explorative study comparing archival teacher learning logs of 15 teachers from 5 high schools with 2 questionnaires. The narrative findings from the learning logs were cross-checked through triangulation with the percentage data from a Likert-type scale and questionnaire to determine accuracy and reliability. Data indicated that professional development increased technology integration in a moderate way, whereas comprehensive integration will better prepare students for the future. The purpose of the white paper report was to encourage stakeholders to collaboratively discuss the needs of teachers and review strategies to meet the 21st century technology skills of students. Implications for social change are that high school stakeholders who read this white paper may be prompted to discuss options to equip students to use 21st century skills to address personal, local, and world issues.</p>

<p> The number of college students choosing to major in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in the United States affects the size and quality of the American workforce (Winters, 2009). The number of graduates in these academic fields has been on the decline in the United States since the 1960s, which, according to Lips and McNeil (2009), has resulted in a diminished ability of the United States to compete in science and engineering on the world stage. The purpose of this research was to learn why students chose a STEM major and determine what decision criteria influenced this decision. According to Ajzen's (1991) theory of planned behavior (TPB), the key components of decision-making can be quantified and used as predictors of behavior. In this study the STEM majors' decision criteria were compared between different institution types (two-year, public four-year, and private four-year), and between demographic groups (age and sex). Career, grade, intrinsic, self-efficacy, and self-determination were reported as motivational factors by a majority of science majors participating in this study. Few students reported being influenced by friends and family when deciding to major in science. Science students overwhelmingly attributed the desire to solve meaningful problems as central to their decision to major in science. A majority of students surveyed credited a teacher for influencing their desire to pursue science as a college major. This new information about the motivational construct of the studied group of science majors can be applied to the previously stated problem of not enough STEM majors in the American higher education system to provide workers required to fill the demand of a globally STEM-competitive United States (National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, &amp; Institute of Medicine, 2010)</p>

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1975. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Gary Griffin. Dissertation Committee: Phil Lange. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1964. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Includes tables. Sponsor: David B. Austin. Dissertation Committee: Arno A. Bellack, Harry L. Brown, Jr. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 192-196).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Lehigh University, 2008.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1939. / Vita. Bibliography: p. [101]-109.