Self-efficacy is defined as "one's perceived capabilities for learning or performing actions at designated levels" (Schunk & Mullen, 2012, p. 220), and has been shown to account for up to 25 percent of the variance in academic achievement (Multon et al., 1991; Schunk & Pajares, 2009). The development and influence of self-efficacy on the academic achievement of first-generation college students has received relatively little attention in the literature. Implementing a case study approach, this study intended to understand how self-efficacy has developed and influenced the academic success of high-achieving first-generation college students. Data for this study came from two separate in-depth interviews with 16 high-achieving college seniors enrolled in the honors program at a four-year Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Findings from the study were consistent with the core tenets of self-efficacy. In the study, participants' self-efficacy development was largely driven by positive mastery/lived experiences before and during college. Vicarious/modeled experiences and social/verbal persuasion also played a role in forming participants' sense of capability, albeit not as consistently as lived/mastery experiences. In terms of influence, the lived/mastery experiences participants identified were largely positive and more consistently influential than positive or negative vicarious/modeled experiences and/or social/verbal persuasion. Based on findings from the study, implications for practice and directions for future research are offered. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Education. / Spring Semester 2015. / April 29, 2015. / College motivation, First generation college students, Hispanic college students, Honors college students, Latino college students, Self-efficacy / Includes bibliographical references. / Kathy Guthrie, Professor Directing Dissertation; Kathryn Tillman, University Representative; Tamara Bertrand Jones, Committee Member; Lara Perez-Felkner, Committee Member.

Multivariate meta-analysis methods typically assume the dependence of effect sizes. One type of experimental-design study that generates dependent effect sizes is the multiple-endpoint study. While the generalized least squares (GLS) approach requires the sample covariance between outcomes within studies to deal with the dependence of the effect sizes, the univariate three-level approach does not require the sample covariance to analyze such multivariate effect-size data. Considering that it is rare that primary studies report the sample covariance, if the two approaches produce the same estimates and corresponding standard errors, the univariate three-level model approach could be an alternative to the GLS approach. The main purpose of this dissertation was to compare these two approaches under the random-effects model for synthesizing standardized mean differences in multiple-endpoints experimental designs using a simulation study. Two data sets were generated under the random-effects model: one set with two outcomes and the other set with five outcomes. The simulation study in this dissertation found that the univariate three-level model yielded the appropriate parameter estimates and their standard errors corresponding to those in the multivariate meta-analysis using the GLS approach. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2014. / November 6, 2014. / effect sizes, gls, meta-analysis, multilevel, multivariate / Includes bibliographical references. / Betsy Jane Becker, Professor Directing Dissertation; Fred Huffer, University Representative; Insu Paek, Committee Member; Yanyun Yang, Committee Member.

This qualitative study analyzes the effects of an Advanced Placement (AP) Statistics course upon a student typically not permitted to take such a class. The researcher examined students enrolled in AP Statistics at a high school in North Florida. The school has broadened its base of AP students, thus including students whom in the past may have been left out of the program. The data in this study includes observations, student surveys, and case studies of the two participants. The researcher discusses any changes in performance, attitude, self-confidence, or anything else affected by participation in the course. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Middle and Secondary Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Summer Semester, 2004. / June 21, 2004. / Advanced Placement, Statistics / Includes bibliographical references. / Elizabeth Jakubowski, Professor Directing Thesis; Leslie Aspinwall, Committee Member; Matthew Clark, Committee Member.

The dissertation explored the efficacy of using a POMDP to select and apply appropriate instruction. POMDPs are a tool for planning: selecting a sequence of actions that will lead to an optimal outcome. RTI is an approach to instruction, where teachers craft individual plans for students based on the results of screening test. The goal is to determine whether the plans crafted by a POMDP model in a RTI setting offer advantages over the current practice that uses simple cut score methods. Two simulated data sets were used to compare the two approaches; the model had a single latent reading construct and two observed reading measures: Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF) for phonological awareness and Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF) for phonics. The simulation studies evaluated the POMDPs forecasts of the students' end-of-year reading performance, and the studies compared how the students were placed into instructional groups using the two approaches. The POMDP-RTI model forecasted the students PSF and NWF scores for the last time period based on their scores in the previous time period as well as a forecast standard deviation. In the study, 91% of PSF scores and 94% of NWF scores fell within two standard deviations. The assignment to tiers was very different (after the initial time block) with just over half the students assigned differently under the two models at the last time point. The growth was better under the POMDP-RTI approach with a difference in mean reading ability of .49 on a standardized scale. The gain is because the POMDP model can take into account past observations and instructional history in its forecasts. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2016. / March 31, 2016. / MCMC, POMDP, POMDP-RTI, RTI / Includes bibliographical references. / Russell G. Almond, Professor Directing Dissertation; Young-Suk Kim, University Representative; Betsy J. Becker, Committee Member; Insu Paek, Committee Member.

Military wartime deployment of parents has a powerful and potentially damaging impact on their young children. As tours lengthen and deployments of military parents become more frequent, the possible negative effects on the children increase proportionally. This quantitative, comparative study evaluated internalizing symptoms among 220 young children who had a parent currently on military deployment and a parent who returned from military deployment compared to a control group of same age peers whose parents were nonmilitary. Using the theoretical frameworks of attachment theory and ambiguous loss theory, the study investigated 3 internalizing symptoms: Anxiety/Depressed, Withdrawn/Depressed behaviors, and Somatic Complaints among these children in 3 large public school districts in southern California using The Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 6 to18 Teacher's Report Form (TRF). There is little information about the effects of these factors on younger children; therefore, this study specifically focused on children in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. A multivariate analysis of variance analysis revealed significant differences in mean scores of anxiety, withdrawn behaviors, and somatic complaints among young children with a parent on active military wartime deployment and children whose parent returned from military wartime deployment within 1 to 6 months in comparison to young children whose parents are nonmilitary. The study added to positive social change through educators' increased awareness of the unique emotional symptomatologies among military children. Educators will be able to recognize and provide interventions to address these children's emotional needs during and after military wartime deployment.

Teacher coaching with performance feedback is widely used in single-case literature to train teachers to implement a variety of strategies and interventions in their classrooms. Meta-analyses of teacher coaching have been conducted in the group design literature and on studies examining the influence of coaching on teacher treatment integrity in the single-case literature. However, the present study is the first to examine the collective single-case effects of teacher coaching with performance feedback on generalizable and maintainable teacher skills that promote teacher effectiveness. A literature search and qualitative coding process yielded 52 single-case studies examining the influence of teacher coaching with performance feedback on teacher implementation of 13 categories of generalizable skills. Included studies used multiple baseline and multiple probe designs and were coded for a variety of qualitative study characteristics. All studies were rated for quality using adapted two-level standards from Ganz and Ayers (2018) and the What Works Clearinghouse standards. Log response ratios were calculated for effect size estimates. These effect sizes were then synthesized in three sets of multi-level models with random effects for studies and cases within studies. Overall, teacher performance feedback was found to result in a 227% change in teacher implementation of skills or strategies in the classroom. When multi-level models were subset by teacher skill, seven of the 13 dependent variable groups demonstrated significant results. Twelve predictors included in an overall model revealed non-significant moderating effects, including publication status and study quality. The present meta-analysis supports teacher coaching with performance feedback as an evidence-based professional development practice in the context of single-case research, although results may vary depending on teacher target behavior. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. / School Psychology

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