The purpose of the present study was to record Cedar Middle School's (CMS) response to intervention implementation journey. It is a qualitative case study that examines one school's efforts to bring school improvements under the response to inventory (RtI) umbrella in order to achieve a more systematic approach to providing high-quality educational services to every student enrolled at CMS. Participants included the 10 members of the school's Student Success Team along with the principal and assistant principal. The recorded journey included: (a) a description of the RtI consensus and infrastructure-building processes, (b) an exploration of the SST perceptions of school-wide intervention efforts both past and present, (c) a review of the school's accomplishments and the barriers to implementation encountered, and (d) the implications for further school improvement efforts and research. Participants submitted to interviews, observations, and focus group meetings. Although the purpose of the study was not to measure program effectiveness, preliminary data are included that report the school's efforts toward systems change was helpful for students and is having a positive effect on student performance in reading comprehension. Participants were also able to share anecdotal evidence of increased student motivation and other behavioral changes that were natural consequences of their efforts. This evidence is reported in the narrative found in Chapters IV and V. Conclusions were based on participant input, recorded measures, and analyses conducted as part of the present study. Cautions were also discussed, including the limitations and delimitations. Finally, implications of the present study were provided for RtI and the field of schoolwide systematic interventions and support.

Florida's undergraduate organization of higher education is a 2 + 2 system in which students are encouraged to complete freshmen and sophomore years at a community college and then transfer to a state university. Florida statutes provide for a highly articulated educational system to facilitate seamless transition from one public institution to another. The researcher investigated the transfer function's effectiveness among community college students subsequent to enrollment at a large, urban, doctoral/research extensive university in Florida using a course-based model of transfer success. The research explored whether differences existed in academic performance in targeted upper-division undergraduate courses between native and Florida Community College System (FCCS) transfer students who completed prerequisite courses prior to transferring to the university. Four upper-division courses were chosen specifically because many transfer students complete prerequisite coursework at a community college prior to matriculating at the university. A total of 764 native students and 1,053 FCCS transfer students were enrolled in at least one course of interest in fall 2002. Preliminary investigation of selected demographic characteristics identified statistically significant differences between these two groups. Native students were younger and more racially/ethnically diverse; more native students were enrolled full time (for 12 or more credits) than transfer students. Although first-term transfer students experienced transfer shock, university native students who were enrolled in three courses also experienced declines in fall 2002 GPA when compared to their previous GPA at the university. Statistically significant mean grade differences occurred between transfer and native students in three courses; transfers outperformed native students in two courses. Additional comparisons of fall 2002 term GPA between native and transfer students yielded no significant differences. Findings lend support to the effectiveness of Florida's community colleges in preparing students for upper-division undergraduate coursework, but that transition for some is not seamless, suggesting need for collaboration among universities and community colleges.

The learning environment has been the focus of considerable educational research over a long period of time. The study reported in this thesis utilises the perceptions of 208 junior science students from a North Queensland state secondary school to inform classroom environment improvement plans developed and implemented by their teachers' in an attempt to improve the cognitive and attitudinal outcomes of the students. The five stage process on which the study is based combines theory and practice in providing the participating teachers with a structured means of bringing about change in their classrooms. Students' perceptions of actual and preferred teacher interpersonal behaviour and the laboratory learning environment are measured using the QTI and SLEI respectively. Particular aspects of teacher interpersonal behaviour and the laboratory learning environment are targeted for change through the classroom environment improvement plans. The study identified which aspects of the learning environment had changed after a period of intervention. It also identified associations between students' perceptions of aspects of their laboratory learning environment and attitudinal outcomes as well as associations between teacher interpersonal behaviours and attitudinal outcomes. While no direct associations were found between aspects of the laboratory learning environment or teacher interpersonal behaviours and cognitive outcomes, students' cognitive outcomes did improve over the duration of the study thus supporting a previously established link between student attitudes and cognitive outcomes.

The introduction of environmental education in schools has been the focus of a long campaign worldwide since the late 1960s. The difficulties in teaching environmental education, including the choice of curriculum models, and the obstacles to changing contemporary schooling patterns have been well documented. The traditional process of new subject emergence has been detailed in the literature; whether or not environmental education should or could follow this traditional pattern of subject emergence in schools is the focus of this thesis. In Taiwan, the introduction of environmental education in junior high schools occurred as part of a nationwide curriculum change in 2002. This research used an interpretive approach to explore the views and practices of staff in three typical Taiwanese junior high schools at this time. The focus of the research was to study what happened at the level of classroom teaching and school development. The research program was designed to interview both administrators and teachers before, during and after the first year (2002 school year) of curriculum implementation in each of the three case study schools. Three rounds of interviews were conducted over a period of three years (Sept. 2001 - June 2004). As well as interviews, national and school documents were collected; and announcements and decisions from the Ministry of Education and schools were documented. Also, because the reform encouraged the development of school-based curriculum, a questionnaire was given to the one school which chose environmental education as their school-based curriculum in order to better understand the emergence of environmental education in this school. The findings show a paradox in Taiwanese junior high schooling: although each school placed considerable value on environmental education, the data showed that the introduction of environmental education via an infusion strategy during a time of national curriculum change had minimal impact in the three Taiwanese case study schools. A cross-case analysis indicated the reason for this failure was the lack of effectiveness of eleven supporting themes often discussed in the emergence of a new subject: the possibility of gaining external examination credit and entry to a university department; the prioritising of the subject in school timetabling and programming; the development of a systematic syllabus; the presence of proactive support from central government leadership; the provision of teacher professional development; the inclusion in the informal as well as the formal curriculum in a school; the inclusion of environmental education in non-formal education in society; the presence of clear subject characteristics and definition; the presence of substantial school-based material interests; the gaining of support from an external constituency, especially parents; and the presence of an emergence process that couples internal value evolution with external compulsion. The Taiwanese case studies raised three particular and additional themes for the emergence of environmental education, specifically: the need to set up long-term partnerships with local groups that have an interest in or responsibility for the local environment (e.g. societies, agencies and non-governmental organisations) to achieve local environment involvement; the need for a whole school approach through curriculum integration to achieve the transformative nature of environmental education; and the need to build up a sound cooperative network that includes people at all levels of the education system and society to achieve a national cooperation network. These three particular themes derived from the nature of environmental education as a holistic, integrative and interdisciplinary subject. In summary, the findings not only confirmed the themes important for the emergence of environmental education and other contemporary school subjects, but they also raised particular themes pertinent to the emergence of environmental education. When these three particular themes are not taken into account, the effective emergence of environmental education in contemporary schooling, as exemplified by Taiwanese junior high schools, will be difficult to achieve in mainstream education.

競爭力一詞常被運用於國家、組織或績效評比表現的效標，近年來被用於探討個體在環境中因應競爭的能力或表現。過去研究顯示具有個人競爭力的大學生或職場員工，有較好的生活適應。本研究之目的在瞭解國中階段個人競爭力之內涵，編製國中生個人競爭力量表以作為測量工具，了解國中生個人競爭力之現況，和分析不同背景變項之國中生其個人競爭力的差異，並進一步探討個人競爭力與生活適應之關係。 本研究先以文獻探討、訪談和問卷收集資料以了解國中生個人競爭力之內涵，並經預試分析後，正式施測以台北縣市429位國中生為研究對象進行問卷調查，研究結果發現：(1)國中生個人競爭力之內涵包括：自我管理、人際相處能力、解決問題能力、家庭資源、競爭態度和與人為善等六個因素。（2）台北地區國中生個人競爭力為中上程度，不同性別和年級之國中生其個人競爭力沒有差異。（3）國中生個人競爭力與生活適應有顯著高相關。（4）從個人競爭力對生活適應各向度之預測分析結果發現，自我管理對自我定向、社會適應、學習適應、自我意識、工作適應和自我勝任等生活適應向度具有最高的預測力；人際相處能力對人際關係之生活適應有最高的預測力；家庭資源對家庭適應具有最高的預測力。依據研究結果及發現，本研究對國中生個人、家長和教育與諮商輔導人員提出培養個人競爭力之建議。 / The word “competitiveness” was usually used to determine the characterizations for efficiency evaluation of countries, organizations. In recent years, the word is used to investigate presentation or capability of people in competitive circumstance. Past reports featured that college students or employee with better competence will be more adjustment in daily life. The purpose of this research is to understand the immanence of personal competitiveness at junior high school age and to offer a tool as scale to formulate junior high school students’ competence, difference in competitiveness between personal background variables, and to discuss the relationship between personal competence and life adjustment. In beginning of this research, literature review, interview, questionnaire were used to understand the immanence of junior high school students’ personal competitiveness. After pre-testing, 429 junior high school students in Taipei city and Taipei county completed questionnaire investigation. The results in this research are concluded as follows: (1) the immanence of junior high school students contains: self-management, interpersonal skills, problem solving skills, family resource, competence attitude and with good intensions toward others, etc. (2) personal competitiveness of junior high school students in Taipei area is above average, no difference between distinction gender or grade. (3) significantly positive relationship between junior high school students’ personal competitiveness and life adjustment. (4) different factors of junior high school students’ personal competitiveness can predict different situation of life adjustment. According to the conclusions, this research provide several suggestions for students, parents, educators and counselors in junior high school.

本研究旨在藉由國中教師之激勵方式重要性與實現可能性認知兼論其對服務士氣的影響之實證研究，以期瞭解教師與行政間之激勵與保健因素措施最佳認知內涵取向。 　　本研究採取量化研究，以文獻分析法及問卷調查方法為主，受試為桃園縣54所國民中學中，經分層隨機取樣，依比率抽取學校樣本22所，其次再以簡單隨機取樣抽取教師樣本，總共調查問卷對象計1200人。每位受試均以編製之「國民中學教師教學工作調查表」內含「教師理想的工作」、「工作士氣問卷」測試。正式施測，有效樣本1075份，分別以描述性分析、t考驗、單因子變異數、二因子變異數等統計方法進行研究分析。 　　研究結果顯示： 　　一、由國中教師之激勵方式重要性認知分析：國中教師在「學校規模」、「性別」、「年齡」、「職務」、「任教科別」、「年資」上有顯著差異。亦即：學校班級在61班以下、女性、年紀愈輕者、專任、不同領域課程、服務5年以下之教師，都認為工作激勵重要。 　　二、由國中教師「激勵保健」因素重要性認知得知：以「教學環境讓人覺得愉快」、「學校能尊重教師專業權威」、「教學擁有專業自主」、「能讓教師獲致自我成長的機會」、「工作職位能有適切之保障」、「同事間擁有良好的關係」等，為教師激勵方式重要性認知指標。 　　三、由國中教師之激勵方式實現可能性認知發現：國中教師在「職務」、「任教科別」方面對激勵方式實現可能性認知感受有顯著差異。顯示：兼任行政及專任、健康教育與體育、社會科之教師認為理想工作較有可能實現；而私校、偏遠地區之教師則認為理想工作較不可能實現。 　　四、由國中教師「激勵保健」因素實現可能性認知顯示：以「教師具有崇高的責任與使命感」、「教師有機會充分發揮自己的能力」、「工作職位能有適切之保障」、「同事間擁有良好的關係」、「教學擁有專業自主」、「能讓教師獲致自我成長的機會」等，為教師之激勵方式實現可能性認知指標。 　　五、在整體工作士氣的分析得知：桃園縣國中教師在「學校性質」、「年齡」、「職務」、「學歷」、「年資」上有顯著相關。意指：公立國中、年紀愈大、專任、研究所四十學分結業者、年資11-15年及20年以上之教師整體士氣表現較佳。 　　本研究之成果可為行政運作上提出有效激勵方式，以激勵教師潛能，滿足教師個別需求，提昇服務士氣之參考。 / The purpose of this empirical research is to find out the best way to inspire teachers and administrators through finding out the importance of teachers' inspiration ways, realizing the possibility of cognition, and knowing the influence of working atmosphere. 　　This is a quantitative research using data-analysis and questionnaire. The subjects are 1200 teachers randomly picked out from 22 junior high schools in Tao-Yuan County. Each subject has taken the “junior high school teachers' teaching investigation list” which includes “teachers' ideal work” and “teachers' working attitude questionnaire”. After the test taking, there are 1075 valid samples. Descriptive analysis, T-test, one-way ANOVA, and two-way ANOVA are used to analyze the data in this research. 　　The outcome are as followed: 　　1.The cognitive analysis of the importance of junior high school teachers' inspiration ways shows that there are significant differences on variables including “the scale of the school”, “gender”, “age”, “position”, “the course they teach”, “the years being teachers”. This means that teachers in a school scale under 61 classes, young female teachers, teachers teaching in different course fields, and being a teacher under five years all agree the importance of providing inspiration during working. 　　2.Analyzing from the middle school teacher' understanding of the significance of the cause,” motivation-hygiene“：using “Teaching environment will make teacher feel pleased” ,”The school will esteem the teachers' professional authority”, ”Teaching will be acted on its own and be professional”, ”Offering teachers the opportunities of self-development”,”Teaching positions should be guarauteed properly”and “Keeping good relationship among the colleagues”,as the norm of teachers' understanding. 　　3.The cognitive feelings about realizing junior high school teachers' inspiration ways have significant differences on “position” and “the course they teach”. This shows that teachers who teach health, physical, and social science, and teachers who also do administration jobs and full-time teachers think that it's more possible to bring their ideal jobs out to lives. Besides, teachers in private schools, and teachers who teach in remote areas think that bringing out ideal jobs is not an easy thing. 　　4.The analysis through the factor of middle school teachers ” motivation-hygiene“ to achieve the possible understanding：using “Teachers posses the esteemed responsibilities and missions”,”Teachers coudle elaborate their abilities and talents sufficiently ”,” Keeping good relationship among the colleagues”, ”Teaching will be acted on its own and be professional”,and ”Offering teachers the opportunities of self-development”,as the cxiterion of teachers' accomplishing the possible understanding. 　　5.Analyzing from the whole working atmosphere shows that junior high school teachers in Tao-Yuan County have significant differences on variables such as “the school type”, “age”, “position”, “record of formal schooling”, and “years of being a teacher”. This means that teachers in public junior high schools, older teachers, full-time teachers, teachers with master degrees, being teachers more than 20 years and from 11-15 year have better working performance. 　　The outcome of this research can provide effective inspiration ways on administation operating to encourage teachers' latent energy, to satisfy teachers' individual needs, and to promote their working atmosphere.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1979. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 91) Also available in print.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is intended to provide students with a cross-subject, contextual learning experience. In order to more fully prepare our nation's students for entering the globally competitive workforce, STEM integration allows students to make connections between the abstract concepts learned in core subject classrooms and real-world situations. FFA and 4-H programs, by nature, are intended to provide students with hands-on learning opportunities where abstract core subject principles can be applied and more fully understood. Junior livestock projects through FFA and 4-H can provide rich connections for students between what they learn in school and how it is applied in the real world through their livestock project. Using a modified Delphi technique, this study identified STEM concepts associated with junior livestock projects. The study also examined whether STEM concepts should be integrated into the supervision of junior livestock projects and identified barriers which would prevent the incorporation of STEM concepts into local 4-H and FFA programming and instruction. The experts identified several (13 of 19) STEM concepts associated with junior livestock projects, four reasons local 4-H and FFA leaders/advisors should incorporate STEM concepts into their programming and instruction, and no barriers which would prevent local 4-H and FFA leaders/advisors from incorporating STEM concepts into their programming and instruction. This paper explores rationale regarding why STEM integration is important and makes recommendations for the integration of STEM concepts into the supervision of junior livestock projects.

Vi har gjort en kvalitativ fallstudie på en skola och vårt syfte är att undersöka hur framtidstron och studiemotivationen ser ut hos elever i årskurs nio på en mångkulturell skola med lågt meritvärde. Våra frågeställningar är: vilka faktorer anser elever i årskurs nio på den valda skolan kan tänkas påverka deras framtidstro och studiemotivation? Hur ser sambandet ut mellan framtidstro och studiemotivation hos elever i årskurs nio på den valda skolan? Vad anser elever i årskurs nio på den valda skolan själva att man kan göra för att förbättra sin framtidstro och studiemotivation? Vi är inspirerade av fenomenologisk forskning och har en induktiv ansats. Empirin har vi samlat in genom kvalitativa halvstrukturerade intervjuer med åtta elever i årskurs nio. Vi bearbetade empirin genom att först transkribera intervjuerna, sedan sammanfattade vi varje intervju och letade efter teman utifrån våra frågeställningar. Därefter sammanförde vi de gemensamma nämnarna utifrån frågeställningarna och gjorde en sammanställning. Vi analyserade med hjälp av begreppet KASAM och dess komponenter hanterbarhet, begriplighet och meningsfullhet. Resultatet visade att alla informanterna var studiemotiverade och hade en god framtidstro. Det var mycket som kunde tänkas påverka deras motivation och framtidstro, bland annat familj, vänner, lärare och förebilder. Med hjälp av begreppet KASAM och dess komponenter kunde vi se ett samband mellan deras studiemotivation och framtidstro. Informanterna behöver förstå varför de studerar för att kunna känna studiemotivation (begriplighet). De behöver känna att de har de resurser som krävs för att nå de resultat de vill och de mål de har (hanterbarhet) och de behöver ett mål med studierna så att de känner att det är värt att investera i studierna (meningsfullhet). De kunskaper vi tycker är viktiga att ta med sig från vår fallstudie för att kunna arbeta här och nu med ungdomar i skolåldern är att förstå att skolresultaten hänger ihop med elevernas syn på framtiden. Även att tänka på att vardagen måste vara både begriplig, hanterbar och meningsfull för att ungdomen ska må bra och fungera. / We have performed a qualitative case study at a school of substandard merit. Our purpose was to examine to what ninth graders had a sense of confidence about their future success and academic motivation. The questions asked were: Which factors do the ninth graders deem influential for their own sense of confidence in future prospects, as well as what affects their academic motivation? What is the relationship between confidence in future success and academic motivation at the school? What do the students feel, can be done to improve their own beliefs about future prosperity as well as improve academic motivation? We have been inspired by phenomenological research and have used an inductive approach. We collected our data via semi structured qualitative interviews with eight ninth grade students. We processed the data by first transcribing the interviews, then we summarized each interview looking for key themes related to our original queries. Finally we consolidated the common denominators into a compilation. We did our analysis using the concept of KASAM, or ”sense of context”, as well as its' components, those being; manageability, comprehensibility, and relevance. The results revealed that all the informants were academically motivated and they each felt confident in their future outlook. There seemed to be a lot of factors that influenced both their motivation and their outlook, amongst these were family, friends, teachers, and roll models. Using the KASAM, or ”sense of context” concept, and its' components we could see a relationship between their academic motivation and their beliefs about their future. The informants first need to comprehend why they need to study, in order for them to feel a sense of educational motivation (comprehensibility). They need to feel that they have the resources needed to attain the desired results and goals that they have (manageability) and they need a goal with their studies so that they feel it is worth investing in the studies (relevance). The most important revelation that we have gleaned from our study and that we feel is of most value when working with school age youth in the here and now, is to understand how academic performance is directly related with the students  perception about their future. Even everyday life needs to be comprehensible, manageable, and have relevance, in order for youth to thrive and function.

The purpose of this research study is to examine reading assignments given in the secondary classroom of a rural secondary school. The intention is to analyze student readiness to handle complex text found in post-secondary education and/or the workforce, based on current reading trends within the school. The research questions guiding this study focus on the average amount of reading students are expected to complete in a week, what strategic support is being provided to students to enhance comprehension of text, the methodology behind how teachers select both reading assignments and reading strategies, and finally the methodology behind how teachers assess student content learning through assigned text. This study is broken down into three major components: teacher-completed reading logs, student surveys, and two case studies. This mixed methods data collection process revealed that students are typically assigned less than two reading assignments per class per week, however nearly half of these students indicate that they read all of an assigned text. Case study data concluded that teachers are not consistent in their methodology neither in selecting reading assignments nor in utilization of reading strategies. Finally, based on the data, it is reasonable to conclude that students in this setting may not be prepared to handle complex texts found in post-secondary education and/or in the workforce.