<p> More families in the United States are beginning to choose private or homeschool education for children instead of a public school education (Hanna, 2011); therefore, college administrators must begin to evaluate each student&rsquo;s educational background in order to help all students achieve academic success at the college level. The purpose of this study was to determine differences in multi-year college academic performance among public, private, and homeschool graduates who attended a private work college in the Midwest. The variables analyzed consisted of students&rsquo; final high school GPAs and ACT test scores, college cumulative GPAs and work point average (WPA) scores, as well as college graduation rates. Each educational background was examined independently, while also analyzing the varied educational backgrounds against one another and as groups. The results of the homeschool and private school students were not significantly different in all variables tested. The homeschool students maintained a slightly higher average overall; however, both homeschool and private school students&rsquo; scores were consistently higher than students who attended public schools using an equality of variance, ANOVA, and post-hoc analyses for high school cumulative GPA, ACT composite score, college cumulative GPA, and WPA variables. Both homeschool and private school students had a comparable college completion rate; however, public school students had a lower graduation rate. A chi square test of independence was used to determine whether a significant relationship existed between the educational background of students and college graduation. The analyses showed the graduation rate was dependent upon the educational background. Not only did public school students average the lowest percentage in all variables, but they were below the overall average of each variable tested.</p>

<p> Research in the area of 21st century learning suggested the American public education system lacked educational preparation for students to compete in a global/connection economy. The United States performed lower than other nations on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 reading performance. However, the United States had a higher number of 21st century skills and knowledge embedded in the curriculum. The 21st century skills, referred to as the 4Cs (collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking) served as the foundation of this research. Moreover, while the United Sates performance on the PISA was no match to other developed nations; the country ranked above competitors in other international indexes such as the Global Competitiveness Index and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. </p><p> The researcher analyzed data using an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC), and Chi-Square tests for independence and goodness of fit, to seek a possible relationship between the number of 21st century skills included within the 2012 reading curriculums in the countries of Finland, Singapore, and the United States and compared to reading scores measured by the 2012 PISA. For the null hypotheses numbers one through five the researcher applied a PPMCC to the data by comparing a single 4C to the score of each researched country for reading PISA results. With exception to null hypothesis three, a significant inverse relationship existed between the number of 21st century skills included within the 2012 reading curriculums and the 2012 PISA reading scores of the researched countries. Although null hypothesis three was not significant, an observable inverse relationship did exist. This study revealed when a country scored higher on the PISA 2012, the total number of 21st century skills included in the reading curriculums were lower. Additionally, students within the American educational system may benefit from increased focus on academic performance and instructional design to harness creativity and develop an entrepreneurial spirit.</p>

<p>The researcher designed this study to investigate a possible correlation between the number of years of fine arts coursework and achievement on the American College Test (ACT). The district studied was predominantly African American; therefore, similar schools may use the results to plan strategies to reduce the achievement gap. Results included a mild positive correlation between student ACT achievement and coursework in visual arts, and a moderate correlation between ACT achievement and performing arts. The more fine arts coursework a student received, the higher his or her ACT score. The researcher conducted a z-test for difference in means to compare the ACT scores of students with two or more years of fine arts to the district population?s average ACT score. The researcher found significant statistical difference in ACT scores. Finally, the researcher conducted a z-test for difference in means to see if number of years of fine arts coursework correlated to student achievement on each of the ACT sub tests: English, Math, Reading, and Science. The researcher found students with two or more years of arts coursework scored higher on each sub test than students who only took one required year of fine arts. The researcher noted this study could be important to curricular programming and increased student achievement in the future.

<p> While many factors have been identified as influencing student academic performance, previous studies consistently determined effective teaching as the most significant factor, within the control of educators, leading to improved student achievement. Nonetheless, educational experts, statisticians, and policy-makers alike acknowledged the complexity of isolating the contributions of individual teachers on their students&rsquo; achievement. Converging with these changing beliefs about teaching and learning, the landscape of education faced an additional challenge&mdash;marked by an increased demand for schools and individual teachers to be held accountable for the academic growth of his/her students. Local districts have been empowered to create and implement teacher evaluation systems, with the caveat they maintain student achievement data as one measure of teacher effectiveness. </p><p> While there has been research conducted investigating a relationship between performance-based teacher evaluation systems and student achievement, studies have been limited to the most common large-scale models. This study was unique because the research focused on a specific teacher evaluation system, created by and for, a rural Missouri school district during its first two years of implementation. The purpose of this mixed-methods research study was two-fold: (1) to investigate the relationship between teachers&rsquo; annual evaluation ratings (as measured by the researched district&rsquo;s teacher evaluation tool) and their students&rsquo; academic performance (as measured by the MAP and i-Ready assessments), and (2) to analyze teacher and administrator perceptions of the impact of the new teacher evaluation system on improving student achievement and the teachers&rsquo; instructional performance. </p><p> This study&rsquo;s analysis took both math and reading achievement scores into account, considering two different standardized assessments, the state-mandated Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) and a locally-administered i-Ready Benchmark Assessment. The student achievement data yielded an increase in student achievement over the two years of the study. However, the results of the study did not establish a correlation between the two variables: teacher quality and student achievement. More sensitive evaluation methods are needed to isolate the variable of teacher evaluation ratings on student achievement.</p>

<p> Purpose. The purpose of the qualitative study was to explore early childhood classroom teachers&rsquo; experiences with administrative support in the implementation of the Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP) as an authentic assessment tool. </p><p> Methodology. The participants included 10 Head Start and 10 State Preschool teachers implementing the DRDP. The researcher conducted and transcribed one-on-one participant interviews. The questions were pilot tested, and a member check was conducted. An inductive analysis approach, which included both the researcher and a second rater independently examining the data, was employed to identify common themes. </p><p> Findings. Results reflected the participants&rsquo; experiences regarding administrative support provided in DRDP implementation. The findings revealed 6 themes relevant to the research questions: (a) reflecting on DRDP results is challenging due to time constraints, (b) time off the floor with children aids in reflecting on DRDP results, (c) the Center for Child and Family Studies at WestEd (WestEd) DRDP training is encouraged, (d) the WestEd website is helpful in implementing the DRDP, (e) program-specific DRDP resources are provided, and (f) time is a valuable resource to aid in DRDP implementation. </p><p> Conclusions. The study&rsquo;s results indicated that administrative support is important in DRDP implementation. A major finding of this study exposed the need for time off the floor with children for both reflection on DRDP results and the completion of the required paperwork. The data from the study will aid early childhood administrators in future planning. </p><p> Recommendations. The researcher recommends additional early childhood program types be studied. Additional recommendations for further research include a quantitative study on the same topic. The researcher further recommends that support regarding authentic assessment tools other than the DRDP be explored. </p>

<p>This study examines the educational history of African Americans since their arrival in America in 1619. From milestones to major turning points in educational history, various Supreme Court decisions, and federal educational legislation, this study highlights the development of the African American system of education. This paper also examines the creation of the first legislation governing education of blacks in the 1700s and then evaluates the modern legislation pertaining to the education of blacks in America?s schools. Next, this paper examines the academic progress of African Americans by reviewing their performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading and mathematics assessment. Lastly, this study offers remedies for the current state of academic affairs for African Americans.

<p> Research demonstrates that problem-based learning (PBL) teaching strategies raise student achievement and skills needed for the 21st century. Research also found that educators enjoy using PBL, students enjoy learning through PBL, and PBL motivates students to succeed in science classrooms. The descriptive, comparative study focused on science raw scores obtained from two schools in the Southern region of the United States and presented an analysis of the difference between two groups of sixth-grade students&rsquo; science scores. One group of scores was from classes whose teachers implemented PBL and the other group was from classes whose teachers did not implement PBL. The study addressed one central research question: Is there a statistically significant difference in raw state exam scores when implementing PBL teaching strategies instead of non-PBL teaching strategies among sixth-grade science students in two schools located in the Southeastern United States? The researcher analyzed archived data of 357 fifth- and sixth-grade students from two schools in the Southeastern region of the United States. The study used descriptive statistics, an independent <i>t</i> test, and a Levene&rsquo;s test to identify the significance between the two sixth-grade groups using 2014&ndash;2015 school data. Descriptive statistics showed that students taught using PBL scored an average of 15.48 points higher on the assessment than students in a non-PBL classroom. The independent <i>t</i> test found a two-tailed significance value or <i>p</i> value of 0.000. Results suggest that students taught using PBL teaching strategies score significantly higher on the sixth-grade science state exam assessment than students taught using non-PBL teaching strategies.</p><p>

<p> Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) tools are used widely to assess students&rsquo; progress within different stages of the Response to Intervention (RTI) process. Despite the wide-spread use, little research has identified the efficacy of reading CBMs in predicting secondary student outcomes on high-stakes assessments. High-stakes assessments are being utilized to determine outcomes for not just students, but teachers, administrators, and districts. More research is needed to determine if reading CBMs are useful tools for the populations of struggling secondary readers. The current study was a secondary analysis of existing data, which attempted to gain an understanding of this through examining the predictive validity of CBMs and high-stakes pre-assessments on end-of-year outcomes. The population included struggling, seventh grade readers who had not demonstrated proficiency on previous state tests and who attended urban schools representing low socio-economic status and high ethnic diversity. Results identified previous year state tests and norm-referenced tests as significant predictors of end-of-year outcomes, both individually and in combination. Though the reading fluency CBMs accounted for some variance in the regression equation, the amount was negligible. Student ethnicity and group status (i.e., whether received intervention) were not significant predictors of end-of year outcomes. These results indicate that CBMs may not provide additional valuable information in the prediction of student outcomes for secondary struggling readers. This finding is important for educators to weigh with other concerns, such as ease of use and time constraints, as existing pre-assessments (i.e., state tests, norm-referenced screening tools) may provide enough information without the additional use of CBMs.</p>

<p> The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the impact of teacher attitudes and to discover other factors that have an impact on the implementation of a standards-based grading program. This descriptive phenomenology features interviews of 25 educators from Georgia as well as other states and two foreign countries in order to collect their perspectives of the lived experience of the implementation process. </p><p> The findings of this study suggest that the attitudes teachers have regarding the implantation process of a standards-based grading program do have a significant impact on the process. Those participants who described themselves as having a positive attitude towards the transition tended to also describe experiencing a more successful implementation of the program. The converse was true as participants describing their experience as being controlled by a negative attitude towards the transition experienced less successful transitions to the standards-based grading program. The findings of this study suggest that school leaders play a vital role in creating a successful implementation process and that other factors such as the quality of professional development and the element of time impact the process.</p><p>

<p> This doctoral project was developed to evaluate the validity and reliability of a spiritual growth assessment tool that the author created for his ministry in Southeast Asia called the Bridge or BRIDGES. This tool called the BRIDGES Spiritual Growth Questionnaire (BSG-Q) is helpful for church leaders who intend on implementing The Bridge&rsquo;s 7-Stage Discipleship Strategy in determining the spiritual stage of their church members. Fifty volunteers at the Bridge were recruited to complete the BSG-Q. To study the validity of the BSG-Q, the three basic and traditional components of validity (criterion-related validity, content validity, and construct validity) were applied. Nine small group leaders at the Bridge were recruited to help assess the criterion-related validity by completing a criterion assessment form. Five experts concerning the Bridge&rsquo;s 7-Stage strategy were recruited to help assess the content validity by completing a content assessment form. Construct validity was assessed by referencing published authors. To study the reliability of the BSG-Q, the test-retest method and the split-halves method were applied. The accumulated data from all the questionnaires and tests and the analysis of the data confirmed the hypothesis of this project: &ldquo;The BSG-Q is a valid and reliable tool in determining a person&rsquo;s level or stage of spiritual growth within the 7- Stage strategy.&rdquo; This project also enabled the author to make some critical discoveries in how to interpret the scores of BSG-Q participants resulting in important recommendations for church leaders who intend on using this tool.</p><p>