The purpose of this study was to investigate effective principal leadership behaviors as perceived by teachers in schools demonstrating continuous student academic improvement. The principal leadership behaviors, which were based on transformational leadership theory, were (1) provides vision, (2) models appropriate behavior, (3) fosters commitment to goals, (4) provides individualized support, (5) provides intellectual stimulation, and (6) holds high expectations. Continuous student academic improvement was defined as improved scores on the Stanford 9 Achievement Test for a cohort of students over a three-year period. The Principal Leadership Questionnaire (PLQ) (Valentine & Lucas, 2000) was administered to teachers in six schools which had demonstrated continuous student academic improvement. Focus groups were conducted with teachers in three of the six schools to define further the leadership behaviors they observed in their principals. The following conclusions were based on the findings of this study. (1) Teachers in schools demonstrating high continuous student academic improvement rated their principals significantly higher on all six transformational leadership behaviors than teachers in the medium and low continuous student academic improvement schools. (2) Principals who were strong in one of the principal leadership behaviors were strong in the other principal leadership behaviors. (3) All of the principal leadership behaviors were correlated with the school's academic gains. The correlations indicated that schools with high mean gains all had high mean teacher ratings. (4) Teachers in the high CSAI school identified more examples of how their principal modeled the six transformational leadership behaviors than did teachers in the medium CSAI and the low CSAI schools. These six transformational leadership behaviors, first identified by Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Moorman, and Fetter (1990) in their review of research, were expanded by Leithwood, Tomlinson, and Genge (1996) to provide indicators of each specific behavior. Principals who have a goal of increasing and maintaining high levels of student academic achievement should focus their day-to-day actions on modeling and emphasizing these transformational leadership behaviors. The findings of this study could be utilized to assist principals in ensuring that they demonstrate the transformational leadership behaviors identified by teachers in the schools demonstrating high continuous student academic improvement.

<p> Achievement in youth across America has been defined by youth report card grades and standardized test scores, with higher scores typically being the gateway to college, scholarships, and future financial success. There is abundant evidence that shows parenting factors and the parent-child relationship are correlated with high academic achievement in youth. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate if the effects of high parent-child agreement on youth self-esteem and self-efficacy significantly correlated with high youth academic achievement on classroom achievement scores. Data from Dr. Judy Ho&rsquo;s The STAGES Project in student&rsquo;s entering the 6^th grade was utilized in examining the parent-child relationship and youth academic achievement. Youth and parent report on the State Self-Esteem Scale (SSES) and New General Self-Efficacy Scale (NGSE), both scored using the Likert scale, were utilized to calculate agreement scores. Parent-child agreement on the measures was scored using the total difference between parent and child scores on each measure. Three youth academic indicators from the youths&rsquo; 2011-2012 report cards were used to assess academic achievement of English grades, Math grades, and GPA semester grades. No significant relationships were found between parent-child agreement on youth self-esteem or self-efficacy, and the academic indicators examined in this study.</p>

With a pronounced move toward student-centered learning and academic self-regulation, the responsibility of learning is shifting from teacher to student. As a result, students are now being asked to take more responsibility for their learning. Research has made clear that strategic behavior and the use of learning strategies enhances teaming. Effective learners are able to self-regulate in order to evaluate when and how to use the appropriate strategies as well as evaluate their success relative to their actions. Students often enter postsecondary education without the knowledge and skills to self-regulate; therefore, learning strategy instruction becomes a key instrument in students' pursuit of academic success. Quantitative examination of the students' outcomes associated with this type of instruction is limited at best. This study examines student outcomes associated with the attendance of learning strategies workshops at the postsecondary level. Findings indicated that participants reported using some, if not all, of the strategies discussed. Additionally the largest percentage of strategies reported were strategies that were supported instructionally by modeling, practice, and feedback. This study did not uncover particular student traits that would lead to students' use of strategies. Strengths and weaknesses of this study are discussed, as are directions for future research.

This paper investigates self-monitoring as a structured intervention for studens with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in the regular classroom. The definition and procedures for self monitoring are based on the research of Hallahan, Lloyd, Kosiewicz, Kauffman, and Graves, (1979). Three fourth grade classrooms, two treatment and one control, participated in this study. The ADHD students and all of their peers in the intervention classrooms were engaged at least once a day in monitoring their own behavior. Each student checked a box "on-task" or "off-task" when prompted by an audio signal (beep). An audio cassette was played for 10 to 30 minutes with beeps sounding at intervals ranging from 10 to 80 seconds (an average of 45 seconds between beeps). The intervention was used during mathematics instruction when students were expected to do independent seatwork. No student was singled-out during the intervention. Eight students previously diagnosed with ADHD, three in each intervention classroom and two in the control classroom, were monitored by observers without the students' knowledge of who was being observed. The ADHD students were observed during a baseline period before intervention began and throughout the intervention period. Additionally, they were rated pre- and post-intervention by their teachers on the Conners Teacher Rating Scale. Pre-intervention observation results were compared to intervention period results for both treatment and control groups. Comparisons were analyzed using analyses of variance (ANOVA) procedures. Additionally, the pre- and post-intervention findings of the Conners were analyzed using ANOVA and displayed graphically to demonstrate overall change. The results strengthen the claim that self-monitoring increases the time-on-task of ADHD students in a regular classroom, without singling them out from the group and without them knowing they were the aim of the intervention.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the various demographic characteristics of school psychologists and their respective ratings of the frequency of ethical dilemmas they encounter involving dual relationships, and to determine what types of dual relationships are most frequently reported in occurrence. In addition, the present study evaluated the ratings of school psychologists regarding the types of dual relationships that they encounter in the schools and to determine the level at which they rate these situations as ethically troublesome. Two thousand randomly selected members of the National Association of School Psychologists were sent surveys regarding ethical beliefs and practices. 1,000 were sent Form A, which consisted of demographic questions, and a series of multiple relationship situations, on which they were asked to give an ethical rating. 1,000 were sent Form B, which consisted of demographic questions, and a series of multiple relationship situations, on which they were asked to report the occurrences of these situations in their practices. A response percentage of 29.9% (N = 299) was achieved for Form A, and 37.7% (N = 377) for Form B. Significant differences were found between respondents grouped by gender and degree for Ethical Rating Scores. Females were more ethically conservative, rating more items as "never ethical" than males. In addition, practitioners with Master's degrees rated items as more ethically conservative than those with Specialist's degrees. Significant differences were also found between practitioners grouped by school setting for Total Occurrences Scores. Practitioners from rural areas reported that these situations occurred more often than practitioners in other settings.

This researcher examined the construct and predictive validities of the Negative Beliefs About Change Measure (NBC) in order to determine whether the NBC can serve as a measure of resistance. The NBC is composed of 22 items that are based on the cognitive-behavioral conceptualization of resistance to change. The participants included 72 adult outpatient psychotherapy patients (29 males and 43 females). Diagnoses included: 42% depressive disorder; 25% adjustment disorder; 17% anxiety disorder; and 16% bipolar disorder. The following measures were administered: NBC; K Scale of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-II (MMPI-II); Openness to Change Scale of the 16 Personality Factor; Stages of Change (SOC); Working Alliance Inventory (WAI-client and therapist versions); Therapist Rating Scale; and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Data were collected at 3 time points---prior to the first psychotherapy session; between the 8th and 9 th therapy sessions; and after the 16th therapy session. A four-factor structure was derived from the NBC. These factors included: Fear of Change, Hopelessness; Fear of Disappointing Self/Others; Noncompliance; they displayed satisfactory internal consistency. The results indicated that the NBC Measure was related to the construct of readiness to change as measured by the SOC and the construct of forming a working relationship as measured by the WAI. The NBC Measure was a weak predictor of change in symptomatology, as measured by the BSI, from time I to time 2. The Hopelessness factor displayed a modest relationship with change in symptomatology from time I to time 2. In sum, the data presented a "mixed picture" with regard to the ability of the NBC to serve as a measure of resistance.

The present study investigated the effects of consultant verbalizations on consultee verbalizations related to the specification and measurement of client behaviors and descriptions of client individual characteristics (i.e., traits). Statement categories for both the consultant and the consultee were related to the interview-outcome measure, i.e., the number of days of baseline collected by the consultee subsequent to the problem-identification interview. The present study also examined the relationship between the number of days of data collection agreed upon by the consultant and the consultee in the problem-identification interview (the interview-content measure) and the interview-outcome measure. The consultant's use of elicitation or emission in the selection of the interview-content measure was also related to the interview-outcome measure. Interviews of 50 consultants trained in behavioral consultation and participating in a field experience with public school teachers were analyzed. Consultant and consultee verbalizations were found to be highly interrelated, although weakly related to the interview-outcome measure. The content-interview measure was related to the interview-outcome measure in that the agreed-upon number of days of data collection was positively related to the subsequent collection of the same number of days of data. The odds that a consultee would return with the agreed-upon number of days of data (or more) as opposed to less than the agreed-upon number were found to be roughly six times greater for consultants who elicited rather than emitted the number of days of baseline to be collected.

This study investigated the relationship between cognitive functioning and Emotionally Disabled (ED) and Specific Learning Disabled (SLD) students' aggressive behavior. It also identified the number of ED students who had demonstrated aggressive Conduct Disorder (CD) behaviors. Ancillary goals included investigating aggressive students' academic functioning and social factors related to aggressive behavior. The study used initial and most recent Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Third Edition (WISC-III) scores and Woodcock-Johnson-Revised (WJ-R) scores obtained from students' special education folders. In addition, district discipline records and local juvenile court records were searched for documentation of participants' aggressive conduct disorder behavior. The sample consisted of 322 special education students from an urban school district in the American Southwest. Of this sample, 168 students had been previously identified as ED and 154 as SLD. Seventy percent were males and 30% were females which approximated the gender distribution of the district's special education population. The ethnic distribution of the sample included White (67%), Hispanic (24%), Black (7%), and Other (2%) which was representative of both the district and its special education population. Significant findings included a high rate of CD aggressive behaviors found in ED students in comparison to SLD students. Results also indicated that aggressive behavior was negatively related to the students' families' social status and that students from single-parent households had a significantly higher incidence of reported aggressive behaviors. No relationship between aggressive behavior and either ethnicity nor gender was found. Regarding cognitive functioning, aggressive students demonstrated significantly lower initial WISC III Verbal IQ scores in comparison to their Performance IQ scores. However, this relationship was not observed in subsequent testing. ED students demonstrated a significant decrease in WISC III Full Scale IQ scores. In addition, aggressive ED students demonstrated a significant decrease in WISC III Verbal IQ scores. Also, aggressive students demonstrated a significant decrease in WJ-R Broad Math scores. The latter two results tend some support to Patterson's Coercive Theory.

In the past, the issue of college choice has been studied as a matter of determining the characteristics of students and institutions that affect decisions regarding the selection of a university or college. Forty years of research in this area demonstrates the importance of understanding college choice among institutional planners, educational psychologists, and the consumers of higher education. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of field of study in college choice behavior. The Chapman (1993) multistage model of college choice provided the theoretical framework for the examination of college choice among students selecting the field of agriculture. Data were collected from students enrolled in The University of Arizona College of Agriculture between 1997 and 1999. Qualitative and quantitative techniques were utilized to examine the influence of field of study in college choice. The roles of information quality and accuracy, information sources, information types, timing of contact, individual attributes, and institutional characteristics were shown to be unrelated to field of study. This study showed that the field of study of agriculture does not influence college choice. Student recruitment efforts, whether they be discipline-, department-, college-, or university based, presuming that field of study influences the college choices of prospective students should be modified to reflect this finding. Further, the additional variable, field of study, does not enhance the Chapman model of college choice.

This study of student persistence among institutions of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities represents an attempt to understand factors, particularly student satisfaction, that influence student persistence. Both student-level characteristics and institution-level characteristics have bearing on persistence rates, so a multilevel model is employed that takes both sets of characteristics into account. A thorough review of pertinent literature is included, as well as a depiction of Hierarchical Linear Modeling, the statistical method used. Several student-level characteristics that had a positive impact on persistence are presented, including class level, graduate or professional school aspirations, living on campus, satisfaction with academic life, satisfaction with religious life, and satisfaction with social life. Two student-level characteristics that had a negative influence on persistence, working off campus and attending an institution that was not one's first or second choice, are reviewed. Two institution-level variables that positively impacted persistence, including tuition and total enrollment, are presented, and one characteristic that negatively influenced persistence, percentage of women students, is discussed. The implications of these findings are advanced, and recommendations for practice and research are presented.