The purpose of this study was to investigate the meaning of music education to middle school students in general music classrooms.Specifically, this study addresses the following questions:1. What meaning do middle school general music students derive from their musical education?2. Do underlying dimensions exist in this meaning? If these dimensions do exist, what are they and what relationships exist among them?To answer these questions, a two-part study was proposed. In part one, a survey instrument was created by gathering middle school students' responses to an open-ended question. The 178 participants generated 670 responses. These responses were analyzed and then reduced to 147 relatively distinct statements of meaning. Responses were analyzed qualitatively by grouping the items with others that appeared similar. In the second part of the study, student responses were used to construct a survey, called the Music Meaning Survey (MMS). The survey was first piloted in Tucson, Arizona with a sample of students (N = 96), in order to test the clarity and usability of the MMS. The results of the pilot survey were factor analyzed using principal components analysis and a varimax rotation. The factor analysis confirmed the existence of five factor categories: Psychological, Future Music Goals, Academic-Musical, Performing/Music Making and Integrative (social).A total of 50 statements of meaning were used for the final version of the Music Meaning Survey. The MMS was then administered during the spring of 2005. According to the MMS, subjects did ascribe particular meaning to music education. In particular, it was found that the meaning students derived from their music education experience could be assimilated into four categories: Vocational (career-oriented outcomes for learning about music), Academic (academic aspects of music class such as reading music, learning about composers, and musical styles), Belongingness (social interactions between individual students and groups of students), and Agency (related to students' self-esteem, motivation, and emotional development). The primary conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that for middle school students, music class can be a meaningful and multi-faceted experience.

The purpose of this dissertation was to analyze the social and educational contexts that impact students' perceptions of their mathematical learning and students' use of resistance in regard to these social and educational impacts within the sixth grade environment. Specifically, this study addressed the following overarching questions: (1) What makes the relationship between student self-perception and (mathematical) learning specific to these Latino student's circumstances/experiences? (2) How do students apply their individual prior knowledge, experiences, and beliefs to their situated classroom context and content? (3) What role do student relationships with teachers, parents, and peers have in the development of student self-esteem and self-perceptions?Data collection included: self-perception questionnaires, student work, mathematical task-based interviews, classroom observations, and focal group interviews.The findings of this study suggest that in the context of this advanced mathematical setting, the teacher and the case study students came together to create an accepting mathematical space. It is possible that students' academic confidence, liking for mathematics, relevance of mathematics to their future career goals, and seeing themselves as capable of having career goals beyond their current economic situations, helped them agree to the classroom situation rather than resist it.The case study students placed themselves in opposition to peers that did not share in the interest that they had toward mathematics. Students were capable of expressing themselves in linguistic forms that were comfortable to them and were allowed to see their language as a tool for learning mathematics. By creating a space that was academically and linguistically supportive to the case study students, the teacher found a means to nurturing his students to be intellectually confident, curious, and engaged. If the teacher-student relationship and student interest in mathematics are strong enough to overcome educational hurdles that students face then there are possibilities for researchers to investigate how to develop this relationship and mathematical interest in order to replace the presence of resistance with approval for students who struggle to connect to school and mathematics.

<p> The intent of this qualitative research study was to investigate the experiences of eighth-grade readers as they read nonfiction text on an iPad for academic purposes. Analysis of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) calls for close reading requiring readers to interact with the text to create meaning (Fisher, n.d.). With this in mind, the researcher investigated reading strategies students used to support their reading as well as what role the iPad features played in the reading process. Several theoretical perspectives informed the framework for this study: (a) New Literacies theory, (b) transactional theory, (c) constructivist theory, and (d) metacognition theory. These perspectives focused on the reading comprehension strategies students used to facilitate reading comprehension while reading nonfiction text on an e-reader, specifically on an iPad. Data sources for this study included the following: (a) retrospective think alouds; (b) student questionnaire about iPad knowledge and experiences; (c) pre-study student interview; (d) post-study student interview; (e) Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI); (f) student observations; and (g) teacher interview. Preselection data for the collective case study participants were used to identify proficient readers who displayed confidence, competency, and control over text. The criteria used for participant selection included (a) reading skills using Lexile Levels, (b) MARSI survey, and (c) iPad use survey to determine prior knowledge of iPad. Three themes emerged in the collective case study that were directly related to the analysis. Students used a combination of (a) reading comprehension strategies, (b) nonfiction features, and (c) iPad features to support their reading of nonfiction on the iPad. Analysis of the data revealed three distinct groups for which recommendations were made: (a) classroom teachers, (b) publishers, and (c) researchers.</p>

<p> In the fall of 2008 Westside Community Schools &ndash; District 66, in Omaha, Nebraska implemented a one-to-one notebook computer take home model for all eighth-grade students. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a required yearlong one-to-one notebook computer program supported by high-speed Internet connectivity at school on (a) English, (b) math, (c) reading, (d) science, and (e) composite score norm-referenced EXPLORE achievement test scores, District's Criterion-Referenced Descriptive Writing Assessment scores, and classroom performance grade point average (GPA) scores for the core subjects (a) English, (b) science, (c) social studies, and (d) cumulative GPA scores of eighth-grade students who do not have high-speed Internet connectivity at home (<i>n</i> = 19) compared to eighth-grade students eligible (<i>n</i> = 19) and not eligible (<i>n</i> = 19) for free and reduced price lunch program participation who do have high-speed Internet connectivity at home. The results of this study support the implementation of a one-to-one notebook computer program as a systematic intervention to improve student achievement. Furthermore, all within group pretest-posttest gains and between group posttest-posttest equipoise demonstrated that the achievement gap between students eligible and students not eligible for free or reduced price lunch participation with or without high-speed Internet connectivity at home had been mitigated through participation in the school-wide one-to-one notebook computer program. While the one-to-one notebook eighth-grade computer program in this study may not be singled out solely for between group posttest equipoise causality, its inclusion as a fundamental academic programmatic component of this middle school's curriculum should be considered as a contributing factor.</p>

<p> Saint Anne's Middle School is a Catholic, bilingual, bicultural, middle school for girls that participates in the Milwaukee Parental School Choice Program. This case study explored reading and language arts as experienced in the school through the lens of a school library media specialist. The students&rsquo; social, emotional, and intellectual needs appeared to be met at the school for the most part. The school also exhibited best practices for teaching reading at the middle school level to bilingual students. However, to improve reading, the school would want to consider changing the school&rsquo;s focus from reading comprehension to reading engagement so that students become lifelong readers. In addition, as schools begin to roll out the new educational framework known as the Common Core, which will change how librarians and teachers present reading, and standardized tests assess reading, it is essential that more time be dedicated to exploring point-of-view in informational texts. Finally, because the students tend to score lower on vocabulary than comprehension in reading assessments, increasing the use of free-reading books to introduce vocabulary may provide further opportunities for students to improve on standardized test scores while teaching a valuable lifelong skill. In sum, even a strong school can improve on reading and language arts instruction, and this project shows ways that teachers and librarians can change their thinking to be ready to implement Common Core and still achieve reading engagement.</p>

<p> The results of the study provided a unique perspective of 20 teachers and how their personal childhood bullying experiences influenced their response to student bullying. Teachers who participated in this study acknowledged that they had a heightened awareness of student bullying, felt their positive attitude was due to their Olweus training as well as a sensitivity towards students who are bullied, indicated that they were aware of the negative impact on their self-esteem, and identified the role empathy played in their response to student bullying. The question of self-efficacy in fourteen participants (70 percent) was an alarming emergent theme in teachers&rsquo; response to student bullying. Although fifteen participants (75 percent) responded in a proactive way, the participants&rsquo; self-confidence in stopping bullying altogether remained an issue. The benefits of responding to bullying, according to the participants, included stopping the cycle so as the student being bullied would not bully others, and these same participants felt that responding to bullying helped to build trust between teachers and students. The results of the study provide a framework of recommendations for educational leaders, policy makers, guidance counselors, school psychologists, and teachers.</p>

<p> In the current knowledge economy, a connection exists between globalization and global macro policies and the micro level effect of these policies at the local classroom level. This study begins by establishing globalization's impact on education at the local level by operationalizing 21^st century instruction as a global educational outcome that is actually a macro policy with micro effects. With this framework in place, this study examines the ability of a higher education institution to prepare pre-service teachers to provide 21^st century instruction in the public middle school setting. In order to examine the connection between higher education and the public middle school, the study utilizes qualitative research to examine the level of preparation pre-service teachers receive at the higher institution level. The study also utilizes qualitative research to study participants at the public middle school level in order to measure the degree of 21^st century instruction in the classroom resulting from their higher education pre-service preparation. The study finds that a connection exists between the university and the public middle school setting. The professor participants clearly conceptualize globalization and 21^st century instruction. Additionally, the teacher participants also conceptualize globalization and 21^st century instruction. However, a point of diffusion exists between the active and intended curriculum suggesting that conceptualization is not the same as instructional delivery. Finally, the results support the hypothesis that globalization has an impact on classroom instruction at the local level.</p>

<p> This study examined an existing afterschool, outdoor-based program called <i> Challenge: Nature.</i> This program worked with students in sixth-grade through eighth-grade, who had been recognized as struggling with characteristics of a Significant Identifiable Emotional Disability (SIED). The goal of the study was to identify the effect this program provided to the participants, as well as how new skills and knowledge were transferred from the afterschool setting to other domains of participants' lives, including at school, at home, and in social situations. The research consisted of an action research project using a mixed-methods approach, with existing data previously collected through the host organization. This approach included parent and student surveys, direct observation sheets, and data from the school district. The data collected spanned three years, from the program's conception, to the middle of the 2012-2013 school year. Through data analysis, this study provided an overview of the effects of the program and made suggestions based on the findings.</p>

<p> This quantitative study used descriptive statistics to evaluate data obtained from 179 middle grade teachers, grades 5-9, currently working in a single-gender environment, including public, private, and charter schools, with regard to the academic and behavioral benefits of single-gender education. The study used a survey created by Dr. John Fry in 2009 for his doctoral dissertation, <i> Single-Gender Education: Teachers' Perspective,</i> and sought to confirm or refute his conclusions regarding the efficacy of single-gender education as recommended in his section for future research. The results of this study confirm his conclusions and indicate the teachers have positive perceptions regarding single-gender education, particularly in relation to academic achievement and behavioral change.</p>

<p> Too often, low socioeconomic school districts are associated with low performing students. The NCLB Act of 2001 dictates closure of the achievement gap by year 2014. Twenty-first century education must include instructional practices that use technology to enhance student learning. The non-experimental quantitative causal-comparative research study examined archival data from a Northwestern Arizona school district which included two dependent variables&mdash;the spring AIMS assessment and the spring ATI assessment. The statistical analysis used descriptive statistics to determine the effect of SRS on student academic achievement in mathematics. The data derived from 7th and 8th grade students to examine the ratio of the students&rsquo; scores in the highest category named Above, that included students&rsquo; scores which performed in the higher performance scale ranges on both assessments comparing the ratio of students&rsquo; scores in the Below category, that included students&rsquo; scores which performed in the lowest performance ranges on both assessments. Since the school district did not purchase the SRS technology until the 2010-2011 school year, the archival data from 2010 spring tests when students did not utilize SRS in the classroom was compared to the archival data from 2011 spring tests when students utilized SRS in the classroom environment. The data was compared horizontally from one year to the other: 7th grade to 7th grade and 8th grade to 8th grade on each test. In addition, the data was compared vertically from one year to the other: 7th grade to 8th grade on each test. The results of the research study can be used and replicated to help close the achievement gap.</p>