Researchers have studied professional learning communities for over two decades. Educators have utilized the elements of professional learning communities in their schools to improve instruction and student learning. Yet, there is limited empirical evidence that establishes, describes, and confirms this relationship. This study was completed to better understand the nature, strength, and types of relationships between the individual elements of professional learning communities and student achievement. The sample for this study was 26 elementary schools, 439 teachers, and nearly 11,000 students. An analysis of professional learning communities and student achievement data through hierarchical linear modeling indicated that each of the eight clearly defined elements of professional learning communities have a significant relationship with student achievement.

Using measures of student growth has become more popular in recent years—especially in the context of high stakes testing and accountability. While these methods have advantages over historical status measures, there is still much evidence to be gathered on patterns of growth generally and in student subgroups. To date, most research studies dealing with student growth focus on the effectiveness of specific interventions or examine growth in a few urban areas. This project explored math, reading, and English language arts (ELA) growth in the students of two rural school districts in Utah. The study incorporated hierarchical and latent growth methods to describe and compare these students’ growth in third, fourth and fifth grades. Additionally, student characteristics were tested as predictors of growth. Results showed student growth as complex and patterns varied across grade levels, subjects and student subgroups. Growth generally declined after third grade and students experienced summer loss in the second summer more than the first. Females began third grade ahead of their male peers in ELA and reading and began at a similar level in math. Male students narrowed the gap in reading and ELA in fourth and fifth grade and pulled ahead of their female peers in math in third grade. Low SES students were the most similar to their peers in math and ELA growth but were ahead of their peers in reading. Hispanic and Native American students started consistently behind white students in all subjects. Hispanic students tended to grow faster during the school year but lost more over the summer months. Native American students had more shallow growth than white students with a gradual decline in growth in fourth and fifth grades. ELA and reading growth were more closely related to each other than with math growth. Initial achievement estimates were more highly correlated with subsequent growth than previous years’ growth. A cross-classified model for teacher-level effects was attempted to account for students changing class groupings each school year but computational limits were reached. After estimating subjects and grade levels separately, results showed variance in test scores was primarily due to student differences. In ELA and reading, school differences accounted for a larger portion of the overall variance than teacher differences.

Research on intimate partner violence (IPV) and intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV) has largely focused on individual and dyadic-level risk factors, but recently studies have explored how the surrounding environment is associated with IPV/IPSV. Studies that have explored community-level variables typically only use IPV/IPSV samples and do not first compare indicators of IPV/IPSV to those of general crime in those same communities. To address these gaps, this study was conducted in two parts. Data were retrieved from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Reporting System, County Health Rankings and Roadmaps System, the US Census Bureau, and other sources. Study 1 first determined that aspects of gender inequality, specific socioeconomic variables, and health-related factors differentiated IPV/IPSV from community crime. Study 2 utilized multilevel modeling to further investigate the nested effects of IPV/IPSV on individuals within the larger community. Significant individual level variables included younger age, differences among relationship type, and drug use. At the community level, factors related to socioeconomics and children, firearm prevalence, and certain health-related factors (e.g., lack of health insurance) were important when comparing IPV/IPSV. Prevention and intervention efforts should improve healthcare access and medical IPV screening, target younger age groups, provide specific resources to improve socioeconomic status, and reduce excessive drug/alcohol use and firearm use in IPV/IPSV.

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The extant literature on the play behavior of youth normalizes adolescent behavior in public space as transgressional, resistant, and in need of social control. The dissertation counters this trend by looking to see if physical qualities, peer effects, and neighborhood context of settings play a deeper role in youth behavior. The study documented urban context, peer effects, physical features, and play behavior across 21 urban settings in New Orleans. Unobtrusive observations employed a highly innovative technique based on YouTube videos and analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling. Coded observations of risk-taking and prosocial behavior demonstrated some stability in behavior amongst adolescents—“youth” ages 12-19—within each site, suggesting that site-specific factors can constrain youth behavior. Yet, more interesting, teens appropriated sites. Specifically, the study found that (a) adolescents consistently adapt play behavior due to settings and (b) that adolescents adapt sites to support play behavior. The latter finding is novel and diverges from normative theory on adolescent behavior by suggesting that teens exercise interdependence when engaging in urban environments away from home and school. Interdependence is a term derived from economics that means mutual dependence upon others for some needs. That adolescents display increased risk-taking behavior in environments with low appropriation and increased prosocial behavior in environments with high appropriation advocates for cities to support adolescent appropriation of urban space.

Recent studies have documented an alarming rate of alcohol use in Japan (Eisenback-Stangl et al., 2005; Milne, 2003; Shimizu, 2000). Indeed, permissive social and cultural norms for alcohol use exist within Japanese culture (Shimizu, 1990, 2000). Japanese college-students may be at further risk due to their developmental time period, where increases in alcohol use are typically seen. Furthermore, drinking habits formed during this time period may be difficult to alter later in life (Frone, 2003). Thus, social, developmental, and cultural factors exist to influence drinking among Japanese college students. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the drinking behaviors of Japanese college students and possible proximal predictors of use. Specifically, given the importance of social relationships and interactions to interdependent cultures, such as Japan, the occurrence of negative social interactions may be influential in predicting subsequent drinking, as individuals may increase drinking in order to adhere to the social norms and to make amends. Hypothesis testing confirmed a significant and positive relationship between negative social events and drinking with others. Furthermore, the expected physical, social and emotional outcomes of alcohol consumption (alcohol outcome expectancies) have been shown to predict alcohol use among U.S. samples (e.g., Goldman, 1994), however, daily fluctuations in the desirability of alcohol outcome expectancies has not been previously investigated in a Japanese sample. Given the importance of fluctuations in desirability of alcohol outcome expectancies among U.S. samples (Armeli et al., 2005), this dissertation investigated daily fluctuations in the desirability of expected outcomes and alcohol use. Support for this relationship was found; on days with individuals experienced increases in the desirability of alcohol outcome expectancies, individuals drank more with others. Support for the hypothesis that increases in daily negative social events would predict increases in the desirability of alcohol outcome expectancies was not found. Finally, this dissertation investigated two types of self-efficacy (drinking refusal self-efficacy and social self-efficacy) as stable factors of drinking. Drinking refusal self-efficacy significantly and negatively predicted drinking with others; marginal support for drinking refusal self-efficacy as a moderator of the relationship between negative social events and drinking with others was found. Social self-efficacy significantly and positively predicted drinking with others. No support was found for social self-efficacy as a moderating variable in the relationship between negative social events and drinking with others. In sum, using data that was previously collected via daily process methodology, this dissertation investigated the relationships between daily negative social interactions, daily desirability of alcohol outcome expectancies, and drinking refusal and social self-efficacy as moderators of alcohol consumption. Support was found for five of the seven hypothesized relationships.

The purpose of the study was to investigate relationships among 7th grade students&rsquo / personal goal orientations, perceptions of classroom goal structure, and learning related variables of efficacy, self-handicapping strategies, cheating behavior, and science achievement. This study was carried out during 2006-2007 spring semester at 12 public elementary schools in Ke&ccedil / i&ouml / ren, Ankara. A total of 1950 seventh grade students from 62 classrooms participated in the study. Data were collected through Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales and Science Achievement Test. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) analyses were conducted due to the nested structure of data. Results revealed that students who demonstrated high efficacy, high science achievement, low cheating behavior, and low self-handicapping strategies, which were all adaptive learning patterns, had higher mastery goal orientations. Findings regarding performance-approach goal oriented students, focusing on demonstrating their ability, however, were not as straightforward. Performance approach goals were associated with high efficacy and high demonstration of cheating behavior. Class level analyses, on the other hand, revealed that students&rsquo / perception of the classroom goal structure was a significant predictor of personal goal orientations they adopted. While learning environments emphasizing understanding of the material and self-improvement promoted students&rsquo / adoption of mastery goals / learning environments focusing on performance and relative ability of students promoted students&rsquo / adoption of performance-approach goals. The current study, thus, demonstrated the influence of goal structure of the learning environment on students&rsquo / personal goal orientations which in turn found to be related with various learning related variables.

The purpose of the study was to examine the impact of school and student related factors on scientific literacy skills of Turkish students in the Programme for International Student Assessment &amp / #8211 / PISA 2006. 4942, 15 year-old Turkish students from 10 primary schools, 88 general high schools and 66 vocational high schools participated in this assessment. Among the student factors considered were gender, student background, motivational factors, science self belief, value belief regarding science, science-related careers, science teaching and learning, scientific literacy and the environment. Some of the school factors discussed were proportions of girls at school, school size, school academic selectivity, teacher-student ratio, school activities for learning environmental topics and learning of science, quality of educational resources, teacher shortage (negative scale), general high school &amp / #8211 / vocational high school and average class size. The responses of Turkish students and principals from the database of the PISA assessment were used in Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). The result of the study showed that the impact of school and student related factors on scientific literacy skills of the Turkish students varied from school to school. It was observed that the PISA index of economic social and cultural status, general value of science and science self-efficacy impacted on every aspects of the scientific literacy. In addition, it is evident that the general high school students were more successful than the vocational high school students after adjusting for selected student and school characteristics.

The purpose of study is to investigate the effects of school characteristics on students&rsquo / mathematics achievement across Turkey by analyzing the data collected from school questionnaire, student background questionnaire and mathematics achievement test in Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2007. The analyzed sample was comprised of 4,498 students in 146 schools. Student level factors were highest level of education of either parent, students speak the language of test at home, students&rsquo / parents born in country, books in home, computer and internet connection, computer use, index of time students spend doing mathematics homework in a normal school week, index of students&rsquo / positive affect toward mathematics, index of students&rsquo / valuing mathematics, index of students&rsquo / self confidence in learning mathematics. School related factors were principals reports on the percentages of students in their schools coming from economically disadvantaged homes, principals report on the percentage of students having the language of test as their native language, index of good attendance, principals time spent on various school related activities, schools encouragement of parental involvement, index of school resources for mathematics instruction, index of principals perception of school climate. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used for analysis. The result of the study showed that 45% of variance between schools, 54.6 % of variance was in schools, 57.33 % of school variance in mathematics achievement accounted by principals&rsquo / report on percentages of students coming from economically disadvantaged homes, parents to volunteer for school programs, school resources for mathematics instruction and principals&rsquo / perception of school climate.