In 2001, the Anderson Neighborhood of Bristol, Tennessee, received official recognition as a Weed and Seed site by the United States Department of Justice. This designation is provided to a local coalition of committed community members organized to “weed” out the elements that contribute to crime and delinquency in a targeted neighborhood and “seed” in strategies to build strong neighborhoods. Anderson Elementary School is a key partner in the effort and the conduit for a variety of coalition initiatives. Through investigation of measures and surveys administered at Anderson Elementary School, the study was designed to ascertain if there were improvements in quantitative measures related to academic success (attendance, discipline referrals, test scores, and grades) at Anderson Elementary after multiple strategies were implemented in the Anderson Neighborhood. Findings revealed that attendance improved in the first two years but then declined by end of the five-year period studied. Improvements were documented in the other three areas. In addition, this study focused upon the differences in improvements between the two populations attending school at Anderson: those residing within the Weed and Seed boundaries and those residing outside the designated area. Whereas Weed and Seed students performed below the nonWeed and Seed students each year, the differences were reduced over the five-year period. A final analysis was conducted regarding comparisons to both Central and Fairmont Elementary schools in Bristol, Tennessee, the other two Title I schools in the system. Anderson showed the greatest improvement in the area of discipline whereas Central made the largest gains in tests scores and Fairmount was consistently higher in attendance. Because so many variables can mitigate academic performance, faculty and staff members' perceptions regarding a variety of coalition efforts initiated through the Weed and Seed effort were measured by survey and analyzed. Educational professionals reported observing positive changes in community commitment and involvement. To further qualify successful strategies and required skill sets regarding leadership to build school partnerships with community coalitions, an indepth interview was conducted with the principal at Anderson Elementary School. The leadership themes documented in the interview were consistent with postmodern leadership theory.

The focus of this study was a comparison between the perceptions of school-based licensed educators in Title I and non-Title I schools in Northeast Tennessee as measured by the TELL Tennessee Survey and each school’s overall composite TVAAS score. The factor variables were professional development, instructional practices and support, teacher leadership, and school leadership. This dissertation was a quantitative study of teachers’ perceptions of data-driven professional learning and TVAAS composite scores. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to evaluate the difference between teachers’ perceptions of data-driven professional development and student TVAAS data. An independent samples t-test was used to evaluate the difference between teachers’ perceptions and poverty levels, as determined by Title I status. The dependent variable was the response to the TELL Tennessee survey questions by Northeast Tennessee school-based licensed educators. Research indicated no significant difference in Northeast Tennessee teachers’ perceptions of professional learning as measured by the TELL Tennessee survey in the dimensions of professional development, instructional practices and support, and teacher leadership as related to TVAAS composite scores. The research found a significant difference in teachers’ perceptions in the dimension of school leadership as related to TVAAS composite scores. There were no significant differences in teachers’ perceptions as measured by the TELL Tennessee survey in the dimensions of professional development, instructional practices and support, teacher leadership, and school leadership between Title I and non-Title I schools.

ABSTRACT SCHOOL SIZE, SCHOOL POVERTY AND SCHOOL-LEVEL MOBILITY: INTERACTIVE THREATS TO SCHOOL OUTCOMES by Sharon M. Thompson School-level mobility is the flow of students moving in and out of schools and has been defined as the rate of student entries and withdrawals per 100 students enrolled in a school during the year (Pike & Weisbender, 1988). Stakeholders report that school mobility disrupts the delivery, pace and effectiveness of classroom instruction, causes problems associated with classroom adjustment, and renders long-term negative effects on schools’ Adequate Yearly Progress rankings (Bruno & Isken, 1996; GAO, 2007; Kerbow, 1996; Lash & Kirkpatrick, 1990; Rhodes, 2005; Sanderson, 2003). Despite these findings very few studies have been conducted to determine the effects of mobility (particularly at the school level) and how it combines with other school-level factors such as school size and school poverty to create threats to positive school outcomes. Of the few relevant studies (e.g., Bourque, 2009; Rhodes, 2007), little attention has been given to understanding mobility’s relationships to achievement in the context of size of student enrollment, degree of poverty and longitudinal examination of achievement across multiple years. To address these gaps in the research literature, this study investigated the effects of school-level mobility on middle school reading achievement after controlling for the effects of school enrollment and poverty. Findings from regression analyses indicated significant relationships between school-level mobility and reading achievement over and beyond the relationships between school size or school-level poverty with achievement. A repeated measures procedure was used to analyze long-term effects on eighth grade reading achievement for Title I middle schools that focused on three, key variables: degree of school mobility (e.g., high versus low rate), size of student enrollment (e.g. big versus small school), test administration year(s) (e.g., 2006, 2007 and 2008) and interactions between these variables. There were significant main effects for school size, school-level mobility as well as for the year of test administration. Reading test scores rose significantly from one year to the next, big schools out-performed small schools , and highly mobile schools performed significantly lower than low mobile schools in reading achievement over a three-year period. No significant interaction effects were found. Results are discussed in terms of research and policy implications.

High-stakes testing and accountability have infiltrated the education system in the United States; the top priority for all teachers must be student progress on standardized tests. This has resulted in the predominance of reading for test-taking, (efferent reading), in the English, language arts, and reading classrooms. Authentic uses of print activities, like aesthetic reading, that encourage students to engage individually with a text, have been pushed aside. During a 3-week time period, regular level, English 3/American literature students in a Title I magnet high school, participated in this quasi-experimental study (N = 62). It measured the effects of an intervention of reading American literature texts aesthetically and writing aesthetically-evoked reader responses on students’ self-efficacy beliefs regarding their comprehension of American literature. One trained teacher and the researcher participated in the study: student participants were pre- and post- tested using the Confidence in Reading American Literature Survey which examined their self-efficacy beliefs regarding their comprehension of American literature. Several statistical analyses were performed. The results of the linear regression analyses partially supported a positive relationship between aesthetically-evoked reader responses and students’ self-efficacy beliefs regarding their comprehension of American literature. Additionally, the results of the 2 (sex) x 2 (treatment) ANCOVAs conducted to test group differences in self-efficacy beliefs regarding the comprehension of American literature between treatment and control groups indicated a main effect for treatment (but not sex; nor was there a significant sex x treatment interaction), suggesting the treatment was partially effective in increasing students’ self-efficacy beliefs. Seven of the twelve ANCOVAs indicated a statistically significant increase in the treatment group’s adjusted group mean self-efficacy belief scores as a result of being exposed to the intervention. In six of these seven analyses, increases in self-efficacy beliefs occurred in tasks that required three or more higher-order levels of thinking/learning. The results are discussed in terms of theoretical, empirical and practical significance. Future research is recommended to extend the intervention beyond the narrow confines of a Title I magnet school to settings where the intervention could be tested longitudinally, e. g., honors and gifted students, elementary and middle schools.

Children from low-income families often begin kindergarten at an academic disadvantage. This research consisted of a causal comparative study of the short-term and longer term academic effects of voluntary prekindergarten (VPK) participation with a population of students who qualified for free or reduced-price lunch in a large southern public school district. Reading and math achievement of low-income students who attended VPK in 2008-09 were compared with a matched sample of students who did not attend. Incremental changes following the 2008-09 prekindergarten year to the cohort’s and matched sample’s 2012-13 third-grade academic performance were compared via archived kindergarten, first-, second-, and third-grade test scores, ratings, and promotion status at the end of third grade. Additional analyses were made to test for any differences between program length for the VPK and non-VPK attenders. Analyses were also conducted to see if the effects of VPK persisted through the early school years as measured by school type (Title I or non-Title I). Short-term and longer term effects in favor of VPK participation were found for kindergarten, first, and third graders who attended summer or full-year programs and a Title I school for 1 to 3 years of their academic career during the 4-year period examined. However, those students who attended VPK but who did not attend any Title I school from kindergarten to third grade did not perform better statistically than matched students who did not attend VPK. It is recommended that full-year prekindergarten programs be considered for students likely to attend high-poverty schools. Reading readiness and achievement were significantly higher for the students attending high-poverty schools if they previously attended full-year prekindergarten programs.

The characteristics of servant leaders as perceived by teachers who evaluated the leadership excellence of principals were the focus of this study. The essential ingredient of a leader was examined in all participating schools; the role of the principal was crucial to a school's effectiveness and was widely acknowledged. Ten characteristics were discussed in the literature review. This dissertation was a quantitative study of teachers' perceptions, as well as principals' self-perceptions, of principals in rural Title I Schools located in southwest Virginia. The exploratory question that originated from this study was: Was there a significant difference between the mean score on the Metcalfe Leadership Questionnaire for teachers and their school principals for each of the 10 survey variables (listening, empathy, awareness, healing, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community) for schools 1 through 17? In an attempt to answer this question, a Likert 5 scale survey was given to each principal regardless of years experience and teachers with at least 3 years of experience. This group of teachers was selected with the assumption that experienced teachers could better identify influential relationship that described true patterns in Title I schools. A one sample t-test was used to determine if differences existed between teachers' means and their principal's self-ratings. The results showed a significant difference in the teachers' perceptions of their principal and the self-analysis by the principal in the servant-leadership characteristics as defined by Robert Greenleaf (1977). The null hypotheses relating to healing and persuasion were retained in more schools than rejected. The remaining 8 null hypotheses were rejected in more schools than retained. In most cases principals' self-ratings were higher than the means of teachers rating them. In at least two schools principals generally rated themselves lower than their teachers.

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The federal government has taken an increasingly active role in its involvement in public education since the turn of the twentieth century. Prior to World War II, federal intervention in public education was a result of war initiatives. Following World War II, the United States experienced a number of social and economic conditions that had implications for public education. Among these were a rapid increase in student enrollments resulting from the post World War II baby boom, continuing racial segregation, and chronic inferior education for African Americans and economically disadvantaged students of all races and ethnic groups. To combat the economic, social, and political implications associated with these conditions, the federal government worked with states and local departments of education to formulate plans for educational reform. During the 1960s, federal aid to public schools grew from half a billion dollars in 1960 to 3.5 billion in 1970 (Kantor & Lowe, 1995). Federal aid was increased to provide support for educational facilities and to provide compensatory educational programs for economically disadvantaged students through Head Start of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 and Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Educators were encouraged to develop programs to meet the needs of the minority, disadvantaged, and special education populations through the provisions of these acts and subsequent appropriations. This is the report of a historical study of the federal response to the needs of the identified students as implemented through Roanoke County Public Schools. The purpose of this study is to provide a historical account of the development of Head Start and Title I programs in Roanoke County Public Schools within the national context of Head Start and Title I programs. The potential impact of this study includes a greater understanding of the influences that led to the development of Head Start and Title I at the national level and the subsequent educational services implemented through Head Start and Title I programs in Roanoke County Public Schools. / Ph. D.

The goal of Title I is to provide extra instructional services and activities that support students identified as failing or most at risk of failing the state’s challenging performance standards in mathematics, reading, and writing. Low-income schools or Title I schools are the primary target of Title I funds. A school is eligible for Title I status when 40% of the school’s students are from low income families; these students are identified by their eligibility to receive free and reduced priced meals. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a significant difference in elementary schools’ TVAAS Composite scores between Title I and Non-Title I schools. Specifically, this researcher examined the relationship of Title I funding with student academic growth at the elementary level. The schools were located in rural Tennessee. Data were gathered from the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 Tennessee State Report Cards and the TNDOE to determine if there was a statistically significant difference between the 2 types of schools. Research indicated mixed reviews on the impact Title I funds have on lower socioeconomic schools. The researcher performed 5 paired t test and 8 Pearson correlation coefficients. There was a significant difference in the schools’ composite scores between Title I and Non-Title I elementary schools in Tennessee. Non-Title I elementary schools in Tennessee had higher composite scores than those of the Title I elementary schools. Results from the Pearson correlations indicated no significant relationships for mean years of teaching experience with school composite scores.

Many teachers in a low socioeconomic school district in Florida struggle with differentiating instruction for the large at-risk population; however, one school has been identified as a high functioning school. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate how classroom teachers at the high functioning school are differentiating instruction and how their reading coaches are supporting the teachers in designing instructional interventions. Guided by the concepts of Vygotsky's zone of proximal development and Tomlinson's differentiated instruction, this study examined the connection between these 2 concepts and explored approaches to the creation of an instructional model to support at-risk students. The research questions focused on the perceptions of teachers and reading coaches about instructional interventions and differentiated instruction. The participants were classroom teachers and reading coaches with 2 or more years of teaching experience in grades 3-5. A case study design was used to capture the insights of 7 participants through interviews and school district public artifacts. Emergent themes were identified from the data through open coding and findings were developed and validated. The findings indicated that at-risk students benefit from (a) dedicated, caring teachers; (b) strong stakeholder support; (c) on-going professional development; (d) opportunities for teacher collaboration; and (e) effective differentiated instructional strategies. Implications for social change include increased instructional effectiveness for teachers that improve academic performance of at-risk students.