Concerns over the academic success of first-time ninth-grade students transitioning into the high school setting continue to stimulate substantial interest in identifying the various factors that cause the ninth-grade bottleneck.  Extensive research shows that when ninth-grade students transition into the high school setting, students have a difficult time navigating the more academically rigorous, less nurturing, usually larger and anonymous high school setting.  Studies have shown that transition practices to help ninth-grade students are successful in making this transition smoother and more successful for incoming freshmen, thereby leading to more credits and a stronger chance for students to earn a diploma. This dissertation is a replication of a previous Virginia Tech study completed by Henry Johnson titled High School Transition Practices for Ninth Graders: A Descriptive Study of Maryland Public High Schools, but it focuses on public schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  The primary data collection method was a survey that was sent to all Virginia principals.  First, results from the survey were analyzed to develop a description of the various transition practices existing in Virginia\'s public high schools in relation to school size, demographics, and community type.  Second, the survey data were analyzed to determine the various perceptions of school officials concerning the effectiveness of reported transition practices.  The data provide a description of the transition practices in Virginia's public schools.  Results from this study give administrators and policymakers an idea of what type of transition practices exist in the various public schools in Virginia as well as the perceived effectiveness of the practices in place. / Ed. D.

Title: Use of Crossfit in condition training of junior ice hockey players Objectives: Main idea of this thesis was to prove, that Crossfit is usefull in ice hockey while pre-season. We aimed to proved crossfit improvment at generally condition presupposition, compare to other training method. Main area of condition were speed and power presupposition. Methods: In our thesis we used a method of analysis and a method of comparison. We apllied the method of analysis in pre-season of ice hockey and the method of comparison in comparing the two different types of training method. We used Crossfit as training method, which was applied on junior hockey. Strength training based on Crossfit exercise is going to be compared with running training, This running training program is use for training of junior hockey players. In the period under consideration of the performance stage we assess the change of power and speed performances of the ice hockey players. To assassmnet we used battery of test which is identify for Czech junior hockey league. We applied this test on junior players at age 17-20, which are playing 2. Czech league. Results: This thesis proved that Crossfit can be used in pre-season training oj junior hockey. At the same time proved that explosive power assumption on players which used Crossfit...

This study is the result of testing conducted on seventh grade students to determine the influence of environment on academic achievement.

Auffällig viele Athletinnen und Athleten beenden vorzeitig, d. h. vor Erreichen des individuellen Leistungshöhepunktes, ihre leistungssportliche Karriere (Dropout). Oftmals werden von den Dropouts neben gestiegenen Anforderungen im schulischen und sportlichen Bereich, auch Motivationsverlust sowie eine Verschiebung der Prioritäten als Gründe für ihre Entscheidung gegen eine Fortsetzung der leistungssportlichen Karriere angegeben. Ver- schiedene sportwissenschaftliche Untersuchungen beschäftigten sich bereits mit diesem komplexen Phänomen, eine zufriedenstellende Erklärung gelang indes nicht. Ein Großteil der bereits vorhandenen Studien betrachtet meist nur die retrospektive und damit eine oftmals verzerrte Sichtweise. Das Hauptanliegen dieser Untersuchung ist es daher gewesen, den Einfluss ausgewählter psychologischer Merkmale auf die Aufrechterhaltung des Leistungssports für Nachwuchsathletinnen und –athleten bereits prospektiv zu erfassen und damit eine Möglichkeit zu schaffen, dem frühzeitigen Ausscheiden entgegenzuwirken. Ein großes wissenschaftliches Interesse besteht hinsichtlich der Prävention von Dropout gerade im Nachwuchsleistungssport. Mittels eines Modelles, welches den Einfluss der erfassten psychologischen Merkmale auf den Verbleib bzw. Abbruch einer sportlichen Karriere abbildet, können Maßnahmen zur Verhinderung von Dropouts ergriffen werden.

In a Colorado school district, school personnel and parents were concerned that middle school math proficiency levels were low for 2011-2014 and math teachers were not using manipulatives in their classes to increase math performance. The district's math coordinator did not foresee providing specific professional development (PD) for math manipulative use to address these concerns. Without this PD, math teachers may be ill-quipped to teach math concepts when using manipulatives, which, in turn, could lead to further poor math performance. The purpose of this qualitative bounded collective case study was to explore middle school teachers' perceptions of PD and perceived self-efficacy regading the implementation of manipulatives. Knowles's andragogy and Piaget's cognitive development theories framed this study. A homogeneous sample of 12 voluntary participants with more than 5 years teaching middle school math, both with and without access to manipulatives, volunteered to participate in this study. Data from observations, interviews, and archival documents were analyzed using comparative and inductive analyses and were analytically coded. Participants reported a need for PD that focused on physical and virtual manipulatives (PM and VM) and a low perceived self-efficacy regarding manipulatives use during math instruction. A blended PD using face-to-face and distance learning formats was designed to increase math teachers' knowledge of and perceived self-efficacy with PM and VM for math instruction. This endeavor may contribute to positive social change by reforming PD opportunities to support teachers' practice and self-efficacy using manipulatives during math instruction, ultimately increasing student performance.

Gaps in middle school students' outcomes such as engagement, achievement, and attendance have been linked to instruction. In addition, the effect of instructional quality might not be the same for male and female students. The purpose of this quantitative study was to measure the relationship between instructional quality, student engagement, achievement, and attendance, with gender as a moderator in middle school. The ecological systems model and Vygotsky's social development theory formed the theoretical framework for this study, as they help understand how the environment, including instructional support, is likely to correlate with student behavior and motivation toward learning. The CLASS Observation Tool and Tripod survey were used to measure instructional quality and engagement for students (N = 160) in 11 middle school math classes from a large southern state. Achievement and attendance data were gathered from teachers and administrators. Two-way MANOVA was used for the independent grouping variable for the classroom score. Two-way ANOVA was conducted to examine 2 main effects of the independent variables of CLASS and Tripod. Multiple regression was used for gender as the moderating variable. Gender did not moderate the association between instructional quality and the 3 outcome variables. Additional research is needed to improve the understanding of instructional quality and the connection between the 3 outcome variables. Implications for positive social change include informing public policy of study results to improve instruction, engagement, achievement and attendance.

Transitioning from a clinical practitioner to an educator in the health sciences is a difficult task for many professionals. Although, clinically, these individuals have achieved a level of expertise, they are not necessarily trained to teach in a classroom setting and may find it difficult to transition into their role as novice. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine faculty members' preparedness during their transition to academia and their perceptions of the need for more support during the first 5 years of teaching. Vygotsky's and Dewey's theories of social constructivism and Knowles's assumptions of adult learning provided the framework for this research. The main research question focused on exploring perceptions about instructional preparedness and support for university educators, at a university in Detroit, Michigan, in health science fields. The data sources were interviews and observations from 9 health science faculty members. Interviews were coded based on perceptive categories such as experiences, knowledge, and opinions, whereas observations were coded using recurrent patterns of identified standards of university teaching based on teaching preparedness. Results showed 5 areas where the participants felt they needed more support: peer mentoring, administration support, institutional support, interaction with students, and instructional methodology technology training. Findings may provide insight to university administrators on strategies to provide more effective professional development to health science educators. Potential implications for positive social change include increased job satisfaction and retention for professionals who become health science educators.

The purpose of this study was to measure the perceptions of teachers regarding their most recent evaluation experience and to determine whether teachers perceive any significant relationships between attributes of teacher evaluation and its quality and impact on teacher growth. The study also considered whether there are significant differences between elementary and secondary teachers, as well as between classroom and nonclassroom teachers, in their perceptions of evaluation. The suburban school district in this study serves approximately 22,000 students. The subjects included 402 elementary and secondary teachers who were randomly selected from 1,081 permanent teachers. The Teacher Evaluation Profile (TEP) instrument was used to measure teachers' perceptions of their most recent evaluation experience. The 44 items on the questionnaire were examined based on the following five categories of evaluation: (a) teacher attributes; (b) evaluator attributes; (c) evaluation procedures; (d) evaluation feedback; and (e) evaluation context. A total of 284 respondents, or 71 percent of the teachers surveyed, returned a completed questionnaire. Data were reported in terms of frequency distributions, means, and standard deviations. Data analysis consisted of correlational analyses and an analysis of variance. The results of this study suggested that teachers judge the quality of their evaluation based on the attributes of the person who evaluates them and the feedback they receive. The quality of evaluation appears to be determined by the following attributes of effective feedback: the merit of the ideas and suggestions contained in the feedback, the depth of information provided, the specificity of information provided, and the amount of information received. Teachers appreciate an evaluator who gives useful suggestions for improvement, has a persuasive rationale for suggestions, and is a credible source of feedback. None of the attributes on the TEP had a significant relationship to the overall impact of evaluation on teacher growth. The results indicated that significant differences exist between elementary and secondary teachers, as well as between classroom and nonclassroom teachers, in their perceptions of evaluation. Recommendations were made for establishing a teacher evaluation system that is supportive of professional growth.

Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva variationen i hur musiklärare tolkar kunskapskrav i sin bedömning. Fokus ligger på hur de bedömer kraven på tajming i enkla melodier. Mitt mål var att undersöka om bedömningarna var likvärdiga, eller om inte vad som skilde bedömningarna åt. Jag vill bidra med information som kan leda till bättre kunskap om lärares bedömning av elevers musikprestationer i högstadiets årskurs 9. Genom en enkätundersökning gjord i verktyget Survey & Report som tillhandahålls av Karlstads universitet samlade jag in det empiriska materialet. Fyrtiosex informanter besvarade detta. Genom att använda en enkät i stället för intervjuer nådde jag ut till fler musiklärare än vad som annars vore möjligt. Därmed gav resultatet möjlighet till en större variation i tolkningar av kunskapskrav och av bedömningen av en specifik elevprestation. För att urskilja och identifiera de olika sätt som musiklärare uppfattar kunskapskraven på och göra en bedömning har jag valt en fenomenografisk ansats för att analysera resultatet. De summativa bedömningarna av elevexemplet har stor spridning. Studiens resultat visar en variation i hur lärare definierar kraven och bedömde den givna prestationen. Sammanfattningsvis har lärarna subjektiva krav på svårighetsgraden av enkla melodier. Vidare skilde sig tolkningarna av det musikaliska begreppet tajming åt. Den största skillnaden var om lärarna definierar tajming endast som en korrekt rytmisk precision enligt genre, eller om de definierar tajming som en prestation som görs i samspel med andra musiker. / The purpose of this study is to describe the variation in how music teachers interpret knowledge requirements in their assessment. Focus is on how they assess the requirements of timing in simple melodies. My aim was to study if the assessments were equivalent, or if not what differ. I want to contribute with information that can lead to better knowledge about teachers´ assessment of students´ music performance for degrees in junior high school.   I used a questionnaire to collect the empirical material. Forty-six informants answered the questionnaire. By using a questionnaire instead of interviews, I reached out to more music teachers then otherwise would be possible. Thus, the result gained a broader view of the variations in interpretations of the knowledge requirements and in assessments. In order to distinguish and identify the different ways in which music teachers perceive the knowledge requirements and make an assessment, I have chosen a phenomenographic approach to analyses the result.  The summative assessments are widely disseminated. The results of the study show a variation in how the teachers defined the requirements and assessed a given performance. In conclusion, the teachers have subjective requirements about the degree of difficulty of a simple melody. Further, they differ in interpretations of the concept timing. The main difference was if they define timing only as a correct rhythmic precision according to genre, or if they define timing as how the performance fitted in to a concerted action with other musicians.

No description available.