The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of School Improvement Grants (SIGs) in the state of California (CA) in increasing student achievement using the turnaround implementation model. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) included educational priorities focused on fixing America’s lowest achieving schools. SIGs (i.e., up to $2 million per school annually over 3 years) to the nation’s persistently lowest achieving public schools required schools accepting these awards to implement a federally prescribed school-reform model. Of these models, the school turnaround model is the most aggressive and least used. Using data from CA, the researcher analyzed student achievement results in reading and mathematics at six high schools in CA over a three-year span between their pre- and post-SIG-award year.

Reliability Generalization (RG) is a meta-analytic method that examines the sources of measurement error variance for scores for multiple studies that use a certain instrument or group of instruments that measure the same construct (Vacha-Haase, Henson, & Caruso, 2002). Researchers have been conducting RG studies for over 10 years since it was first discussed by Vacha-Haase (1998). Henson and Thompson (2002) noted that, as RG is not a monolithic technique; researchers can conduct RG studies in a variety of ways and include diverse variables in their analyses. Differing recommendations exist in regards to how researchers should retrieve, code, and analyze information when conducting RG studies and these differences can affect the conclusions drawn from meta-analytic studies (Schmidt, Oh, & Hayes, 2009) like RG. The present study is the first comprehensive review of both current RG practices and RG recommendations. Based upon the prior research findings of other meta-analytic review papers (e.g., Dieckmann, Malle, & Bodner 2009), the overarching hypothesis was that there would be differences between current RG practices and best practice recommendations made for RG studies. Data consisted of 64 applied RG studies and recommendation papers, book chapters, and unpublished papers/conference papers. The characteristics that were examined included how RG researchers: (a) collected studies, (b) organized studies, (c) coded studies, (d) analyzed their data, and (e) reported their results. The results showed that although applied RG researchers followed some of the recommendations (e.g., RG researchers examined sample characteristics that influenced reliability estimates), there were some recommendations that RG researchers did not follow (e.g., the majority of researchers did not conduct an a priori power analysis). The results can draw RG researchers’ attentions to areas where there is a disconnect between practice and recommendations as well as provide a benchmark for assessing future improvement in RG implementation.

The first part of this study sought to validate the System for Observing Dance Activities in the Classroom Environment (SODANCE) based off the System for Observing Fitness Instructional Time (SOFIT). Female students age 11-17 years (N=42) participated in an activity protocol of SOFIT activities and common dance activities to validate appropriate coding categories. Each student wore a heart rate monitor and accelerometer while participating in the activities lying, sitting, standing, walking, running, single leg balances, leg swings, pirouettes, and leaps. Heart rate, maximum heart rate percentage, heart rate reserve percentage, vertical axis accelerometer counts, and vector magnitude accelerometer counts for each activity were classified as light, moderate, or vigorous. Ultimately heart rate reserve data was determined to be the best indicator of physical activity. The chi squared test was used to determine if there were significant differences in the proportion of subjects whose heart rate reserve data classified the activity as light vs. moderate vs. vigorous. Based upon the heart rate reserve data, each activity was assigned a SODANCE activity code of 1-5. The dance activities were coded as single leg balances 4, leg swings 4, pirouettes 5, and leaps 5. The second part of this study aimed to use the SODANCE instrument to collect data about the physical activity levels, time spent in MVPA, time spent in different lesson contexts, and frequency of teacher promotion of activity. Four different secondary (grades 6-12) dance technique classes (ballet or contemporary) at a public performing arts school were each observed four times using the SODANCE instrument. Students engaged in MVPA 40.62% of the time. Percentages of time spent in SODANCE lesson contents are as follows: management 9.53% (n=280), knowledge 22.29% (n=655), fitness 6.94% (n=204), technique 44.04% (n=1294), choreography 17.19% (n=505), and other 0.0% (n=0). Percentages of teacher interaction are as follows: promotes in-class activity 27.67% (n=813), promotes out-of-class activity 0.27% (n=8), and no promotion 72.06% (n=2117). These data suggests that dance technique classes offer equitable or more MVPA than physical education classes, but still short of the national recommendations.

This study assessed the convergent validity of the Functional Assessment Informant Record for Teachers (FAIR-T; Edwards, 2002) with analog functional analyses (FAs). Participants were five teachers and students located at a specialized school serving individuals with disabilities. Teachers had worked with the student for a minimum of 1 month, and students displayed a variety of behavioral topographies. The FAIR-T was conducted by the researcher using telephone or video conferencing technology, and analog functional analyses were conducted in a clinic setting by trained therapists within the course of the student’s typical treatment plan. Results of the FAIR-T were coded according to function, and the results of the analog FAs were graphed and analyzed visually. Results of the FAIR-T and FAs indicated limited convergence between the two assessment methods, though results were somewhat inconclusive. Results are discussed in relation to the utility of the FAIR-T, particularly in the school setting. Directions for future research are discussed in light of the need to delineate efficient means with which to conduct functional behavior assessments within the schools.

The perspectives of gay men on college and university campuses is informed by a rich gay social history and extensive roots of community politics. The experiences of gay undergraduate men have been illuminated in segmented ways in scholarly literature to date. This narrative inquiry develops and advances those efforts by exploring how gay undergraduate men construct, experience, and make meaning of their gender as a population ascribing to both liberationist and assimilationist viewpoints. Data for this qualitative study were collected at one public, four-year research university in the southeastern United States in the fall 2015 semester using recorded personal interviews with eleven men. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed for data analysis. The men included in the study represent a broad range of personal identity backgrounds, including a variety of college majors and years of experience in university study. Self-authorship and queer theoretical frames were used to analyze participants’ gender interpretations. Findings suggest men do not understand gender in isolation, but in tandem with intersections of familial ethnic and cultural backgrounds, social class status, and involvement on campus. Four major themes of experience that effect self-authorship of gender evolved from narrative analyses: masking, agency, costs, and policing. Implications for higher education professionals, including faculty, staff, and administrators, are discussed. Opportunities for further research in navigating lived experiences of marginalized campus subpopulations are also suggested and explored.

The purpose of this study was to create and test two series of predictive models aimed at projecting high school graduation status. Secondary data were obtained in partnership with an urban school district. All of the predictor variables included in the models tested in this study were academic and nonacademic variables that were found to be significant predictors of high school graduation in previous empirical work. In the first series of models tested, individual academic and nonacademic variables were tested together along with school-level variables. Eighth and ninth grade variables were tested separately to avoid multicollinearity issues. The second series of models tested included similar individual-level academic and nonacademic variables, along with community-level predictors to analyze their ability to predict high school graduation status. Logistic regression and multilevel logistic regression analyses were conducted to analyze the data. The model including community-level predictors yielded a pseudo R-squared value of .40, approximating that 40% of the variance was explained by the predictors in the model. Most of the individual predictors included in the models yielded findings similar to those found in previous literature on high school graduation status projection; however, this was not true for all of the predictor variables included. These differences highlight the tension that can exist between generalizability and local specificity. Significant findings from studies utilizing large nationally-representative longitudinal datasets and other large data sources do not always generalize to settings with samples that differ demographically. This study represents a first step in a line of research aimed at developing a better understanding of high school graduation status, particularly in challenging school contexts.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship of teachers’ and administrators’ perception of the effectiveness of a teacher evaluation system to the effects of the system on student learning. Teacher surveys were administered electronically and administrator and teacher focus group discussions were held to determine the relationship between the following variables: Teacher perception of evaluation activities, teacher perception of the effectiveness of the evaluation system, administrators perception of evaluation activities, administrator perception of the effectiveness of the evaluation activities, professional development of teachers and teacher perception of the effects of the evaluation system on student learning.

One hundred 9th-grade students were divided into four groups of 25 each through systematic sampling procedures. Each of the groups were tested, pre and post, by the Otis-Lennon Mental Ability Test, forms J and K. During the pretest for all groups, the background condition of silence was observed. During the posttest, one group was again tested in silence. The other three groups were each tested to one of three background conditions: pop music, hard rock music, and soft rock music. Pop music played was characterized as more mellow, more melodic, and less intense than rock music. Hard rock music played was characterized as the most intense form with the hardest-driving beat, as well as being the least melodic form of the three. Soft rock music played was characterized as similar to hard rock but somewhat less intense and hard-driving. A comparison was made, through a series of 12 t-tests, between pretest and posttest means of all subjects, all male subjects, all female subjects, and each of the four groups – intact, males only, and females only. No significant differences in mean scores were found at the .01 or .05 levels of significance. The only two groups whose mean scores approached significance were the groups that listened to pop music and the males only from the pop music group. Lower posttest scores for certain individuals were noted. More of these were found in the group that listened to pop music than in any other group.

The purpose of this project was to investigate the effect of studying higher-level thinking skills on fifth grade students with high language ability. The researcher compared the test scores of students in an elementary enrichment program with test scores of students enrolled in the same program the following year to which materials emphasizing higher-level thinking skills were added. The researcher also included analysis of student performance on the Ross Test of Higher Cognitive Processes and its component parts of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation as well as each of the eight subtests. It was determined that analysis of Ross Test raw scores and percentile data would be made by the Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed Ranks Tests. Comparisons of the raw score results revealed gains in favor of the posttest for each set pf data. The results favoring the posttest are not considered statistically significant and are attributed to the increase in cognitive development inherent in chronological aging. There is no discernible pattern in the areas of significance on the section percentile scores. This researcher has determined that the study of higher-level thinking skills does not have a significant effect on fifth grade students. The comparisons of test data did not yield results favoring the addition of selected thinking skills materials to a language arts enrichment program.

Samples from four school year classes of students that participated in the youth Development Program, were interviewed in areas of family background, marital status, career status, educational status and interest in certain communication media. The data from the Interview Questionnaire was then collated. All participants had been classed as drop-outs or potential drop-outs. The school years involved were: 4969 through 1972-73. The results showed that fifty-six percent graduated the year they attended the program; twelve percent returned to regular school. Persisted and graduated; six percent went on to college and twenty-six percent received their graduation certificate or an equivalency (G.E.D.) certificate. A total of 94 percent of the participants graduated or went on to graduate. Also, 10.2 percent of the student’s parents had attended college; the report shows that drastic changes must be made in primary and secondary school curricula. Work-study type program are desperately needed, and, the ability to recognize or identify the potential school leaver at elementary levels is badly needed. Career oriented education is an important need.