The purpose of this study was to examine differences between school configuration and students' academic and behavioral outcomes. The participants were eighth grade students in K-8 schools who were matched with eighth grade students in 6-8 middle schools on factors including percentage of students receiving free or reduced lunch, percentage of students receiving services for special education and English language learners, average years of teacher experience, and percentage of boys and girls in each school. Eighth grade student's standardized math and reading achievement data were collected at the school level for a 3-year period. Additionally, school-level data on suspensions and expulsions over the same 3-year period were also collected. The data were analyzed using arc-sine transformation, means, standard deviation, and a repeated-measure analysis of variance. No statistical interactions were observed between time and school type for any of the research questions. However, main effects favoring K-8 schools were found for (a) Math Test, (b) Reading Test, (c) In-school Suspensions, (d) Out-of-school Suspensions, and (e) Expulsions. These findings are interpreted with a lens towards assisting school districts as to which school configuration they should consider as it relates to the district's values and long-range goals. / 10000-01-01

Even though living openly is associated with better health, gay teachers are in an ambiguous position legally and socially when it comes to finding safe and successful ways to living openly while at work in K-8 schools. The purpose of this grounded theory study is to describe approaches gay teachers have found and employed to living openly in K-8 schools. From the interview data collected from eleven gay teachers, an identity development model was produced, which the researcher entitled The Gay Teacher's Workplace Visibility Process Model. No existing identity development models focus solely on the approaches gay teachers take to living openly in the K-8 school. The Gay Teacher's Workplace Visibility Process Model consists of four stages: becoming visible to administrators and other teachers, becoming visible to students, becoming visible to students' parent, and identity maintenance. It is hoped that this study will ultimately prompt more gay teachers to live openly as the model is intended to serve as a guide for future or current gay K-8 teachers who wish to live openly at work. This study also has implications for administrators and teachers, the first people gay teachers come out to. Administrators and other teachers can support gay teachers in becoming fully visible at work safely and successfully through their actions and words, which could potentially lead to more accepting school environments for everyone through the fostering of a culture of inclusivity.

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 was established to improve student achievement among all public schools. This federal legislation sets a proficiency goal of 100% for all students by the 2013-14 school year. Each state is required to provide parents and others interested in the public schools with information about school, district, and state-level data in a number of areas. The United States Department of Education requires that each state's report card include information pertaining to assessment data, accountability, and teacher quality. The state has an option to include other information such as: school attendance rate, average class size in each grade, and incidences of school violence, drug abuse, student suspensions, and student expulsions. The purpose of this quantitative research study was to determine if there was a difference between grade span configuration with respect to achievement scores of eighth grade students in four eastern states who attended 6-8 public middle schools and those who attended K-8 public schools, as evidenced by their state's 2009-2010 achievement data. The data from the four eastern states was obtained from each state's Department of Education and includes public schools that are configured with a K-8 or 6-8 model. The population in the quantitative study was one thousand one hundred and fifty-eight public schools from Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina, and North Carolina. This included 144 K-8 schools and 1,014 middle schools. The overriding research questions were: (1) what is the difference, if any, in English and mathematics pass rates on the Standards of Learning in Virginia for school with different grade span configurations? , (2) what is the difference, if any, in English and mathematics pass rates on the Maryland School Assessment in Maryland for schools with different grade span configurations? , (3) what is the difference, if any, in English and mathematics pass on the Palmetto-Assessment of State Standards in South Carolina for schools with different grade span configurations?, (4) what is the difference, if any, in English and mathematics pass rates on the ABC's End-of-Course tests in North Carolina for schools with different grade span configurations?, (5) if differences do exist in English and mathematics pass rates for schools with different grade span configurations, are the results consistent in all four states? Eight t-tests were conducted to examine academic performance of eighth grade students in K-8 and 6-8 schools with a pre-determined alpha of .05. The results indicated mixed findings. Results from Virginia and South Carolina revealed that there was no significant difference in the pass rates between K-8 and 6-8 schools in English and mathematics. In North Carolina there was a significant difference in the pass rates, with K-8 schools obtaining a higher pass rate in both English and mathematics. Outcomes from Maryland disclosed that there was a significant difference between K-8 and middle schools, with middle schools obtaining a higher pass rate in both English and mathematics. / Doctor of Education