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No description available.

The purpose of this study was to improve the mean scores on the COMPASS college placement test after guiding students through a PowerPoint presentation referred to as COMPASS orientation. Scores obtained from college placement tests indicated a large number of entering college students were not prepared for college-level classes. During the 2006–2007 academic year, 1,427 COMPASS placement tests were administered to students enrolling in the Big Sandy Community and Technical College (BSCTC). Of that number, over 70% produced scores at or below the level requiring developmental education. Data showed that only 28% of the students taking the COMPASS placement tests required no developmental course work and could enter college-level general education classes and receive college credit. This study proposed that a short orientation immediately preceding the COMPASS placement test would increase COMPASS placement test scores. Findings from the study showed that a 5-minute pre-test orientation did not significantly improve the mean test scores in reading, writing, or pre-algebra on the COMPASS placement tests. The study showed that algebra scores had a significantly improved mean score on the exam after intervention with the COMPASS orientation tutorial PowerPoint presentation. Recommendations from this study suggest that orientations and workshops should be mandatory for all college applicants. Online web sources should contain materials and web links for COMPASS study questions, COMPASS Web site addresses, and college pre-test workshops and orientation dates. Stakeholders such as local advisory committees, community businesses, and high schools should be involved with college application requirements. How underprepared college students impact the available workforce pool and the local economy should be discussed, and these businesses should be enlisted to suggest avenues for improving testing outcomes and college success.

Early college entrance programs have existed in the United States since the 1950s, but in-depth research on academic success in these programs is lacking. Every year, early college entrance programs utilize a variety of data-gathering and candidate-screening techniques to select hundreds of students for admission into these accelerated programs. However, only a smattering of research articles has discussed the factors that predict academic success in these programs. This exploratory study investigated commonly-relied-upon admissions data points—such as high school GPA and ACT scores—and demographic information—such as sex, ethnicity, and locality—to see if any of these factors predicted academic success: namely, graduation and early college entrance program GPA. Secondary data from nearly 800 students admitted over an 11-year period to a state-supported, residential early college entrance program located at a large Southern university in the United States were utilized for this study. Logistic regression failed to yield a model that could accurately predict whether or not a student would graduate from the program. Multiple regression models showed that high school GPA and ACT scores were predictive of performance, and that factors like locality and ethnicity can have predictive power as well. However, the low variance in performance explained by the variables included in this study demonstrates that high school GPA, standardized test scores, locality, sex, and ethnicity can only tell us so much about a student's likelihood of success in an early college entrance program.

Roanoke, as a city, needs to redefine itself and to constantly respond to what new should come to the city. Society and culture become an important factors in design. The insertion into an existing fabric requires a careful dialogue between past, present and future. The proposed building sets in contrast to the existing structures in the neighborhood of the site, establishing its own response to time. Although contrasting the existing buildings the proposition is responsive to context in terms of scale and materials. The context is important to continue the harmony and rhythm of the urban fabric. The site is located at one of the main entrances to downtown Roanoke and market square and hence the proposed building acts as a gateway to the future of the city. Due to its location the building will project the first image of the city. Therefore the proposed building should enhance and adapt to the social and cultural roots of the city. My thesis is a reaction to the existing conditions at the site for what I believe to be a lack of sensitivty to the context and the needs of the people of Roanoke. A museum is a public institution to provide insight into the attitudes and values of the local community. Through design the building is intended to symbolize the gateway to the future of the city. The basic shape of the building is curved in response to the plan of the site while allowing for an urban plaza in front. Cantilevered masses which radiate from Market square are inserted into the primary building mass providing a connection to a larger context. The cantilevered masses(which hosts art galleries)hover over and project into the urban plaza providing Roanoke city with a public space downtown. Thus the two most important elements i) Cantilevered masses and ii) The Urban Plaza are means to weave the thesis project into the existing urban fabric of the Roanoke. / Master of Architecture

The purpose of this study was to investigate the problem of early school entry as it affects the criteria of achievement, self-concept, and social maturity. The research design was a comparative associational design. The statistical procedure used was the two-way analysis of variance. The level of statistical significance was noted at .05. The subjects in this study were sixty-two kindergarten children in six schools in the.school system. The six schools were chosen as representative of the racial make-up of the school population. There was stratified random sampling to include children with early and not early birthdates. Race, sex and birthdates were the independent variables. Several instruments were used to measure achievement, social maturity, and self-concept. The Wide Range Achievement Test R-1, Level 1, The Standards of Learning Objectives, and the Metropolitan Reading Test, Level II, were used to measure achievement. The Burks' Behavior Rating Scales, Preschool and Kindergarten edition, were used to measure social maturity, and the Self-Concept and Motivation Inventory Pre-School/Kindergarten Form (SCAMIN) assessed self-concept. The following conclusions were formulated based upon critical analysis of the data. There was a statistically significant difference (p<.05) in achievement and age, race and sex in a few of the variables studied such as the following: 1. the WRAT math across age and race. The not early groups scored higher than the early groups and the white groups scored higher than the black group. 2. the Metropolitan Readiness test and race. The white children scored higher than the black children and the not early children scored higher than the early children. 3. the SOL reading objectives, age and sex. The not early group scored higher than the early group. The white children scored higher than the black children. The girls in the early group scored higher than the boys, and the boys in the not early group scored higher than the girls. 4. the SOL math objectives across age and race. The early groups scored lower than the not early group and the white children scored higher than the black children. There was also a statistically significant difference (p<.05) in poor ego strength and race. The white children had higher ego strength than the black children. / Ed. D.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education