This applied dissertation was designed to provide a better understanding of the effectiveness of out-of-class safety net corrective instructional activity practices conducted beyond regular classroom instruction for lower secondary level (9th- and 10th- grade high school) students within mastery learning educational environments. The study was designed to shed light on the impact and implications of these practices on Bloom’s vanishing point (Bloom, 1971) and Arlin’s leveling effect (Arlin & Westbury, 1976). Seven mastery learning structured international schools in geographic proximity, of similar size, and utilizing the same program of study were used in this study. Three of the schools that employed a safety net program were the basis of this study, and the four schools that did not have in place a safety net program were used as a control for this observational research. Normed Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) RIT scores (Northwest Evaluation Association, 2005), grade point averages, and safety net program data were used in a series of case-control tests to determine the effectiveness of out-of-class corrective instructional activity safety net programs for above-average and below-average achieving students. The mean study and control group RIT percentile ranking scores for the students was nearly 1 standard deviation above the averages reported by the Northwest Evaluation Association (2005), so these relative comparisons involved bright students. This large volume of data enabled analysis of the effects of out-of-class safety net activities on school-wide and individual improvement in literature, writing, mathematics, and comprehensive results. Series of conclusive nonparametric analysis were used instead of normal distribution tests because of the out-of-bounds skewed nature of the data. Analysis of the data suggested that safety netting programs benefit all students, irrespective of whether or not students received out-of-class corrective instructional activities. The MAP RIT scores of below- average achieving students were not affected by attending a school with a safety net program but their GPA results improved in all subjects. Arlin’s leveling effect (Arlin & Westbury, 1976) most likely accounted for improvement of MAP RIT scores for above- average students who attended a school with a safety net program but their GPA results were not affected. These contrasting benefits masked the school-wide test results, which suggested that a school district might not realize an overall increase in MAP RIT and GPA results when adopting a safety net program. Students identified in need of safety netting services benefited by having been placed in the program up to twice in any respective course, but a point of diminishing returns was reached when a student fell 3 or more units behind in a course in relation to the progress of the class.

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The purpose of this dissertation was to examine whether nontraditional student age, female gender, and the possession of nontraditional student risk factors predict enrollment in distance education college courses. This dissertation used data from the most recent National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:12), which consisted of approximately 95,000 undergraduate students who were enrolled in higher education in 2011-2012. The results of a logistic regression analysis indicated that both nontraditional student age and female gender were strong predictors of enrollment in distance education, whereas the number of nontraditional student risk indicators was a partial predictor. As leaders in higher education are tasked with decreasing time to degree completion, it is hoped that the findings of this research will support distance education as one solution to this problem. Further exploration through the deconstruction of the nontraditional student risk index as defined by the National Center of Educational Statistics as well as examination of other factors such as ethnicity and GPA are needed to provide a more complete analysis of predictors of distance education enrollment as well as better data collection for distance education retention and success.

The Introduction to Equine Assisted Family Therapy course offered at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) provides Master’s and Doctoral level student therapists the opportunity to learn how to conduct an equine session and how to utilize horses as part of the therapeutic process. Students learn about the underlying theories and framework behind the equine activities and methodology, as well as participate in the equine activities themselves. For the purpose of this study, classroom discussions centered around processing the students’ experiences and were further enriched by viewing photographs and videos that had been taken of the students conducting the equine activities. The researcher utilized IPR as a qualitative methodology to create an improved perspective where students reflected on their experience and made connections with their professional and personal developments. The findings of this grounded theory study document how students reflected on their personal and clinical development. More specifically, the transcripts of the conversations that took place during class discussions and interviews from students who took the course a year earlier showed that students reflected on their personal awareness, created changes in their relationships, developed their self of the therapist, honed in on their clinical skills and started viewing therapy differently. This study confirmed the transformative nature that the Introduction to Equine Assisted Therapy course has on the students.

The purpose of this study was to portray the experiences of African-American tenured female faculty employed within Historically White, public institutions of higher education in Virginia. This study is a portrait of the career paths, teaching experiences, institutional experiences, community and personal activities, work life, and the future of African-Americans. The study focused on personal experiences and provided a grounded recording for other African-American female faculty members employed within comparable institutions of higher education. The interviews also addressed educational preparation, mentoring, expectations, frustrations, difficulties, cultural and collegial experiences. Participants' audio taped responses were transcribed. Similarities that evolved from the discussions were identified. Repeat conversations reflected concerns about the lack of role models, community, activities, isolation, mentoring, and access to professional development opportunities. These women were experiencing some of the same career paths, teaching experiences, institutional experiences, community and personal activities, and work life environments. The findings portrayed women that were very competent. The seven women interviewed had distinctive work ethics and, in spite of overloads in departmental responsibilities, at least six of them had completed some scholarly activities. These scholarly activities included funded grants, books, and community reform projects. These African-American women faculty members are still struggling to enter into the academic mainstream. They are currently working in different and uncertain environments. Being African-American and female places the women in this study in a subordinate role.

This study investigates the apparent threat assessment priorities of potential risks to safety in the school environment in the United States and whether stakeholders in Florida private schools that serve exceptional students agree with the priority given to specific identified potential threats. Faculty and staff, high school students, and the students’ parents and guardians at four Florida private schools for exceptional students rated their perceptions of the severity and likelihood of occurrence of nine potential threats identified in a review of federal and Florida state school safety laws and national and state government surveys of incident occurrences. Results showed that although violent potential threats such as an armed intruder, students bringing weapons to school, and physical assaults received priority attention in federal and state school safety laws, stakeholders in Florida private schools for exceptional students indicated that threats of a more personal nature—such as bullying, sexual harassment, and cyberbullying—were the most significant risks to the safety of their school environment. All three respondent subgroups, however, reported high ratings of their overall feelings of safety at their schools.

This quantitative study investigated faculty trust in their immediate supervisors (academic deans and faculty chairs) in a state college setting. A survey instrument created for this study was based on existing research on trust in schools by Bryk and Schneider (2002) and Tschannen-Moran and Hoy (1998), as well as research on trust in corporate setting. The study’s purpose was to determine the types and frequencies of interactions between community college faculty and deans/faculty chairs – i.e., faculty immediate supervisors – that are related to higher levels of faculty trust. Also investigated were the relationships between faculty trust and demographic characteristics including age, gender, ethnicity, length of employment, and number of faculty in department. The study’s findings suggest policies and practices for creating more trusting environments in community and state college settings, thereby leading to higher faculty retention levels. These, in turn, can contribute to increased levels of student success, higher graduation rates, and financial savings for schools.

The emphasis of the inquiry is on the domain of education and the relationship present between the teacher and student more specifically. Essentially, the first part of the thesis outlines how the larger social-political system impacts the domain of public education, with the predominant issues of adversity becoming manifest at the level of the relationship that exists between teacher and student. The second part of the work utilizes the problems discovered and their impact on human experience to propose a virtue/care based method for approaching the relationship with the student in a way that both aligns more closely with the movement of experience, while also functioning to assist the student in shaping their own moral character. Essentially, the method being proposed is something that is meant to assist the teacher in her attempts to communicate with the student in a more personal sort of way, thus allowing for a higher degree of understanding of the unique personality of each student, with this understanding leading the teacher to form a more flexible approach that takes into account the various personalities of the students. In so doing the teacher is working to bring the experience of the student into the educative process, which should thereby increase student performance through their feeling more involved in the education being received.

This project explores research-based methods for creating an e-learning resource to teach an intellectual skill. Intellectual skills are one of the five domains of learning defined by Robert M. Gagné. The intellectual skill taught via the e-learning resource is the rules of Turkish vowel harmony, a fundamental phonological feature of the Turkish language. The purpose of the e-learning resource is to provide novice learners with a set of tools and strategies with which to approach the future study of Turkish. A literature review was conducted in three areas: Gagné’s instructional design theories, Turkish language learning, and best practices for the design of multimedia e-learning. Two rapid prototypes in the form of Moodle course sites were developed. Guidance for improving the prototypes was sought from experts in instructional design, usability, and computer software. The resulting finished e-learning product is a nine-topic Moodle course based on Gagné’s nine events of instruction. The main Moodle course content teaches the rules of Turkish vowel harmony as an intellectual skill which has been broken down into discriminations (the Turkish vowels), concepts (the Turkish vowel groups) and rules (Turkish vowel harmony). Higher order rules are taught in the form of exceptions to the rules of Turkish vowel harmony found in foreign loan-words in Turkish. Practice is provided in applying the rules of Turkish vowel harmony as a set of word attack skills for approaching Turkish language artifacts found online and in the environment. A comprehensive list of resources relating to learning Turkish, learning about the Turkish language, and learning about learning Turkish, is provided to facilitate future extension and application of what was learned in this course. Each lesson is presented in the form of a Moodle book. Each lesson is followed by an ungraded assessment in the form of an Adobe® PDF quiz. The quizzes and accompanying answer keys are designed to provide guided practice, feedback, and self-assessment to help students extend and apply the lesson material. All lessons were beta-tested to ensure usability and reduction of extraneous cognitive load. The project resulted in the development of a Best Practices Checklist for designing e-learning resources to teach intellectual skills. The Best Practices Checklist, which can be found in Appendix B, was used to develop the outline for e-learning resources to teach intellectual skills in other subject areas and was found to be an effective rapid prototyping and instructional design tool. Insight was gained into the significance of prior knowledge for teaching intellectual skills, and on how to calibrate cognitive load in e-learning design relative to the learner’s prior knowledge of the subject matter being taught.

This study explored pre-existing quantitative data for 55 students when they were in the seventh grade who eventually attended a continuation high school years later. There were 101 students at a particular continuation high school, and this research explored pre-existing data looking solely at the students who were in the same district while they were in seventh grade. Attendance and grades from the pre-existing data in the district’s software system were analyzed using a descriptive methodology followed by a cluster analysis through SPSS. Attendance findings for the 55 students revealed that nine students (16%) were absent with a frequency of 10 or more days in each semester. Reasons given for some absences were bereavement for four students (7%) and suspensions for 10 students (18%). Eight out of these 10 students (80%) declined in their grades from the first semester to the second semester. Overall, 33 students (60%) declined in their grades from the first semester to the second semester regardless. Findings related to grades looked at the number of Fs over the two semesters of the seventh-grade school year and at the number of Fs earned in each course. Forty-four students (80%) earned at least one F either semester. Language Arts was the highest failed academic class second semester, with 32 out of 55 students (58%), and Computer Applications was the highest failed elective class for 5 out of 9 students (56%) who took this class second semester. Other findings related to grades were that 0 students (0%) failed only the elective, and only 2 students (4%) failed Physical Education. Additional findings through cluster analysis revealed a connection between failing an elective in combination with failing Language Arts: 81.8% first semester (9 out of 11 students) and 83.3% second semester (5 out of 6 students). Using a cross-tabulation, the highest pattern between the two semesters was for 10 students of the overall 55 (18%) with no Fs both semesters, and the second-highest pattern was for 6 students (11%) with no Fs first semester and 1 F second semester.