<p> This exploratory study investigated the effect of a twenty-one day outdoor orientation program (OOP) on participants' relationships with the natural world, as understood via the lens of biophilia. The primary research question was "Does the Prescott College New Student Orientation have an effect on participants' biophilic profiles, as measured by the Kellert-Shorb Biophilic Values Indicator (KSBVI)?" <i>Biophilic profiles</i> were calculated pre and post with the KSBVI, a 99-question survey that shows survey-takers' expressions of each of the nine biophilic responses at a specific moment in time. The KSBVI was administered to instructors and participants prior to the trip and to participants on the last day in the field; instructors also completed a questionnaire about the curriculum implemented. Correlation analyses showed highly stable biophilic expressions over time, and paired-sample t-tests showed changed on 8 of the 9 KSBVI subscales. Alpha tests indicated that the KSBVI had acceptable reliability as a whole, however the aesthetic and symbolic subscales showed poor reliability. The KSBVI was determined to be a promising tool for understanding how OOP and WEP participants relate to the natural world through the lens of biophilia, however further research is warranted to better understand the KSBVI's strengths and limitations. This research determined that participation on this OOP may have influenced change in these participants' relationships with the natural world, with strong evidence for the impact of the curriculum on type and amount of change in biophilic expression.</p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> biophilia, adventure education (AE), outdoor orientation program (OOP), Kellert-Shorb Biophilic Values Indicator (KSBVI), Wilderness Experience Program (WEP)</p>

<p> Self-evaluation accuracy is a necessary component of music learning. Without it, students rely on teacher feedback and do not develop skills necessary to become independent learners. While research has indicated that self-evaluation is unreliable and inaccurate, peer-evaluation has been shown to have the potential to be both reliable and accurate. Using social constructivist theory and transfer theory as conceptual frameworks, this study investigated the effects of peer-evaluation on self-evaluation skills in the music classroom.</p><p> Pretest and posttest self-evaluation scores of 42 ninth grade band students were compared with three teacher mean scores. Results found students made a slight improvement in self-evaluation accuracy after five peer-evaluations given over 10 weeks. Qualitative analysis of student feedback from peer-evaluations found students improved in both precision and use of musical language and vocabulary. To further investigate students' perception of peer-evaluation, two focus group interviews were administered.</p><p> Emerging themes suggested students have a positive impression of peer-evaluation. They found it to be a team building and motivating activity that made them want to be both honest and critical with their peer feedback. Peer-evaluation allowed students to be part of the learning process that helped them build confidence in their evaluation skills. Students found peer-evaluation to be an effective tool for developing critical thinking skills, specifically analytical listening, and were able to cite examples of how skills used and learned during peer-evaluation were transferred to their own self-evaluation skills. </p><p> As there is little research on peer-evaluation and music at the high school level, it is the hope that this research will provide a foundation for future research of peer-evaluation at all grade school levels and in all ensemble genres. In addition, this research will hopefully support the introduction of peer-evaluation as a methodology to be taught to pre-service teachers and to help dismiss previous negative notions about peer-evaluation to in-service music teachers, shedding light on the positive impacts of peer-evaluation and its possible uses with students in the music classroom.</p>

<p> The purpose of this phenomenological study is to describe, analyze, and interpret a comparison of assistant superintendents&rsquo; perceptions of the impact of classroom walk-throughs as a model of teacher development designed to monitor and improve instructional practices in 12 school districts in Connecticut. A major focus of this study is whether the practice of classroom walkthroughs have an impact on with improving instructional practices. According to Marshall (2012a), &ldquo;Classroom observations, student achievement, and feedback from students are important, but they&rsquo;ll only improve education if they&rsquo;re used wisely&rdquo; (p. 50). This research study is informed by a comprehensive review of the literature related to teacher evaluation models, including the practice of classroom walk-throughs, brief visits, and instructional rounds, prior to interviewing assistant superintendents about their perceptions of the impact that classroom walkthroughs have on improving instructional practice. Marshall (2012c) indicates that &ldquo;In most schools, by contact or by tradition, administrators give advance notice of their formal observations and teachers quite understandably take their performance up a notch or two&rdquo; (p. 19). There are social and professional implications of this inquiry-based research that need to be considered. A social implication is the relationship to teacher acceptance behavior of the implementation of classroom walk-throughs that could change school culture. Professionally, relationships between and among teachers and building administrators could become stronger in terms of creating a professional learning community. Conversely, there could be resistance to the change process that impacts potential positive results. Conducting a phenomenological study through a carefully designed methodology will result in qualitative reflection and findings that will support the assistant superintendent subjects as they examine the impact of individual walkthrough models on improving instructional practices.</p>

<p> This study examined the role of course engagement in college student success, especially for students who have multiple life commitments and few social supports. Building on previous measurement work and based in self-determination theory, the study was organized in five steps. Relying on information provided by 860 undergraduates from 12 upper and lower division Psychology classes, the first step was to improve the measurement of course engagement, by mapping the increased complexity found in self-reports of college students (by incorporating items capturing engagement in &ldquo;out-of-classroom" activities and general orientation, to standard items tapping classroom engaged and disaffected behavior and emotion). 12 items were selected to create a brief assessment covering the conceptual scope of this multidimensional construct; its performance was compared to the full scale and found to be nearly identical. </p><p> Second, the assessment was validated by examining the functioning of course engagement within the classroom model: As predicted, engagement was linked to proposed contextual and personal antecedents as well as course performance, and fully or partially mediated the effects of both context and self-perceptions on actual class grades; findings also indicated the importance of including a marker of perceived course difficulty. Third, the university level model was examined, which postulated key predictors of students&rsquo; overall academic performance and persistence toward graduation. Unexpectedly, academic identity was found to be the primary driver of persistence and the sole predictor of GPA; moreover, it mediated the effects of learning experiences and course engagement on both outcomes.</p><p> The fourth and most important step was to integrate the classroom and university models through course engagement, to examine whether students&rsquo; daily engagement predicted their overall performance and persistence at the university level. As expected, course engagement indeed showed a significant indirect effect (through academic identity) on both success outcomes, and these effects were maintained, even when controlling for the effects of university supports. Finally, student circumstances were added to the integrated model, specifically focusing on whether course engagement buffered cumulative non-academic demands on performance and persistence. Although unexpected, most interesting was the marginal interaction revealing that students whose lives were higher in non-academic demands showed the highest levels of persistence when their course engagement was high (and were the least likely to return next term when their engagement was low). Future measurement work and longitudinal studies are suggested to examine how course engagement cumulatively shapes academic identity, especially for students with differentiated profiles of non-academic demands and supports. Implications of findings are discussed for improving student engagement and success, and for using the brief assessment of course engagement as a tool for instructor professional development, and as part of threshold scores that serve as early warning signs for drop-out and trigger timely and targeted interventions.</p>

<p> This study examined the perceived value of academic support service types for post-secondary students with learning disabilities in the Christian higher education milieu. Grounded in a model of service utilization (Pescosolido, 1992), the research methodology applied in this study addressed the following research question: What is the perceived value of academic service types to provide support for individuals with learning disabilities from the perspective of post-secondary student participants, specifically at accredited institutions of the Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE)? Results reported student perceptions of the value of academic service types&mdash;both personally utilized and theoretically rated. The results of online survey responses, representative of eligible individuals selected by a criterion sampling protocol (N = 116) from 17 colleges and universities, indicated that the categories of accommodations perceived most valuable by students who utilize intervention services were those that were relationally implemented. Student respondents as an aggregate reported personally utilizing all categories of the 16 academic service types set forth by the researcher. Assistive technology was the only category found not to be statistically significant when value rated by survey respondents. Conclusions related to the three qualitative thematic findings emergent from the open-ended survey questions are reported. These qualitative themes include a focus on relational connectedness, the importance of self-understanding, and an expressed concern with the attitudinal perceptions of academic service program offerings. The conclusions of this study are purposed to assist program directors, researchers, and other practitioners in implementing academic services for post-secondary students with learning disabilities.</p>

<p> This study examined the multilevel factors that influence mathematics and English performance on the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLEs) among primary seven pupils (i.e., equivalent to the United States [U.S.] 7^th graders) in Uganda. Existing student state test data from the Wakiso District were obtained. In addition, a newly created Teacher Quality Measure (TQM) was used to collect teacher data from the same district. Pupil data from primary seven (7^th grade) and the TQM data were analyzed via Rasch Analysis, Analysis of Covariance, and Hierarchical Linear Modeling to investigate the following two main objectives: (1) Developing a behavioral frequency measure of teacher quality for Ugandan teachers, (2) Examining the relationship between pupil-, teacher-, and school-level factors on pupil achievement on the PLEs in Uganda.</p><p> Specific to the first objective, it was found that a psychometrically sound measure of teacher quality can be developed. The results rendered a 38-question measure focusing on four domains: (1) Teacher Planning and Preparation, (2) Classroom Environment, (3) Teacher Instruction, and (4) Teacher Professionalism. </p><p> The second objective found that there are no significant differences between boys and girls on English achievement controlling for prior ability in English. However, there were significant differences between the sexes on mathematics achievement, with boys having higher scores. Additionally, the results showed that there is a significant relationship between student SES (i.e., boarding and day schools) and student achievement, with higher SES students (i.e., boarding schools) having higher achievement. It was also found that teacher TQM scores were a significant predictor of student PLE mathematics and English test scores, with higher teacher quality rendering higher student mathematics and English scores. There was also a significant difference between school types (i.e., urban and rural) on student achievement in mathematics, with rural schools (i.e., lower SES schools) having higher means compared to urban schools. </p><p> Future research should continue to define the network of relationships between pupil-, teacher-, and school-level factors and pupil achievement, and maintain the measure revision and validation process of the TQM. Assessment is becoming commonplace in the classroom in Uganda, and the need to examine the influence of the teacher on pupil achievement is in high demand. Results from this study can provide insight into the disparities involving sex, student SES, and school SES that influence pupil achievement in Uganda. The findings also support administrative demands for more efficient ways to monitor teacher quality, and in turn, meet educational standards and increase student achievement. </p>

<p> In this study, a multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effects of a social narrative on teaching appropriate social skills to three students with autism. Currently, guidelines for Social Story&trade;, as established by Carol Gray, have become very popular despite minimal scientific evidence to support their efficacy (Bellini, Peters, Benner, &amp; Hopf, 2007; Sansosti, Powell-Smith, &amp; Kincaid, 2004; Reynhout &amp; Carter, 2006). This study deliberately deviates from Gray's guidelines in an attempt to evaluate the contribution of the narrative to social literacy in students with autism.</p>

<p> Educating children is a costly endeavor; however, when children with special needs enter kindergarten unprepared emotionally, socially, or academically, the increased costs and support systems have to be absorbed by the schools and communities. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant difference between the academic achievement of students participating in Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) compared to students without ECSE services with DIAL-3 scores ranked in the 20^th percentile or below. Achievement scores for second and third graders in one urban school district were utilized to compare the scores of ECSE and non-ECSE students. The sample included the TerraNova and Performance Series assessment scaled scores of 30 ECSE students and 30 non-ECSE students for a total of 60 students from academic years 2008 to 2012 from the participating school district. A stratified sampling was utilized within the two groups of students' assessment scores. Standard calculations included means, standard deviations, and a <i> t</i>-test. When comparing the second grade achievement scores, ECSE students had statistically significant gains on the overall scaled scores than the non-ECSE students. When comparing the third grade Performance Series reading, language arts, and math scaled scores of the ECSE students to the non-ECSE students, the ECSE students had statistically higher achievement scaled scores compared to the non-ECSE students. When comparing the third grade Performance Series reading and language arts standard item pool scores of the ECSE students to the non-ECSE students, the ECSE students had statistically higher achievement standard item pool compared to the non-ECSE students. The Performance Series standard item pool scores were not statistically significant between the two groups.</p>

<p> Teachers may benefit more from a professional learning community (PLC) than from professional development initiatives presented in single day workshops. The purpose of this program evaluation study was to identify characteristics of an effective PLC and to determine how the members of the PLC have benefitted from the program. Fullan's educational change theory provided the framework for the study, which refers to learning experiences of teachers when collaborating with peers. The sample consisted of 9 biology teachers during the 2012-2013 school year. Data were collected through online surveys and face-to-face interviews regarding effective PLCs. The online survey questions were asked to identify the characteristics of PLCs. Interviews were conducted to examine how biology teachers benefited from PLCs. Survey data were analyzed for descriptive statistics. Interview transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis for emergent themes. According to study findings, PLCs are used for shared teaching vision and practices. Sustained use of PLCs in schools could help create supportive professional learning environments for teachers to improve their teaching practices through purposeful collaboration.</p>

<p> While much has been written about student engagement and its linkage to positive student outcomes&mdash;such as higher-order thinking, improved grades, and increased retention and graduation rates in traditional settings&mdash;little, if any, research has been done to connect student engagement and online student success. Learning Management Systems (LMSs) have the ability to measure student engagement by tracking frequency of logins, frequency of page visits, and frequency of discussion forum views, posts, and replies. Equally important, students who are aware of their levels of engagement compared to those levels measured by an LMS can self-monitor their progress and prevent the likelihood of failing a course. This initial exploratory study sought to determine whether relationships exist between students&rsquo; perceived level of engagement and students&rsquo; actual level of engagement as measured by an LMS, students&rsquo; perceived level of engagement and student success, and students&rsquo; actual level of engagement as measured by an LMS and student success. Correlation and regression analyses were performed to determine type and strength of relationships. Non-probability purposive sampling was used to recruit 38 respondents. Data showed that meaningful findings, which yielded statistically significant, modest or moderate positive partial relationships, occurred in the discussion forums. There were moderate positive relationships between students&rsquo; perceived level of engagement and frequency of discussion forum posts and replies, students&rsquo; perceived level of total engagement and student success, and students&rsquo; frequency of discussion forum views, posts, and replies, and student success. This initial exploratory study is useful in helping to refine future studies and learning more about student engagement levels in an online course and its relationship to positive student outcomes. Results can potentially help administrators and educators in making data-based decisions, and help students self-monitor engagement levels to improve student learning. </p>