<p> When applied to mathematics education, manipulatives help students to visualize mathematical concepts and apply them to everyday situations. Interest in mathematics instruction has increased dramatically over the past two decades with the introduction of virtual manipulatives, as opposed to the concrete manipulatives that have been employed for centuries. This quasi-experimental study proposed to explain the relationship between concrete and virtual manipulatives when used in a seventh-grade mathematics classroom. Using students' mathematics composite scores on standardized and teacher-created assessments, it compared the effectiveness of using concrete manipulatives alone versus using a combination of concrete and virtual manipulatives. The foundational theory of the study is that when students can visualize a mathematical concept in action, a deeper level of understanding occurs. </p><p> The results of this mixed methods study consisting of 44 seventh-grade students (22 in each group) indicated that coupling concrete manipulatives with virtual manipulatives led to a measureable change in mathematics composite scores. One recommendation is that mathematics educators incorporate both concrete manipulatives and virtual manipulatives into their mathematics curriculum. As the results of this year-long study indicated, the combination of these two types of manipulatives enabled the students in this group to accomplish a measureable change in tested mathematical ability. Educators need to offer their students lessons that are authentic and interesting in order to hold students' attention as they attempt to grasp the concepts. The different options also provide students with the needed differentiated instruction to suit their varied learning styles.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate the impact a robotics curriculum might have on the experiences and perceptions of middle school girls in two California classrooms. The research found that middle school girls in two different California classrooms felt that their experiences with robotics were personalized experiences that were positive and rewarding. Additionally, the girls felt that robotics was a curriculum that they could relate to real-life, and it was a curriculum that was relevant to their lives. The research found that girls had perceptions about STEM fields that remained sex-biased, and they perceived that certain occupations were more geared toward woman than men and vice versa. Both teachers provided learning environments that were free from sexist constructs.</p>

<p> This doctoral project is a pilot study to assess the effectiveness of a church discipleship co-op designed to convey a biblical worldview to middle and high school students enrolled in charter homeschooling in Southern California. Research by the Nehemiah Institute indicated that 90% of Christian families in the United States send their children to forms of education that are not likely to produce a biblical worldview. Research by The Barna Group, LifeWay Research, and The National Study of Youth and Religion indicated that the vast majority of church-attending children transition into adulthood without a biblical worldview and disengage from church and Christianity as adults. Research by America's Research Group, Probe Ministries, and the Nehemiah Institute indicated that educational experiences in middle and high school determine the worldview of most children raised in Christian homes.</p><p> To address this problem some Christian families and churches are turning to public charter schools, as the fastest growing form of education in California and many other states. However, constitutional and state law restrictions forbid charter schools from presenting a biblical worldview in classes or curricula. The participants in this project combined church and family resources to provide supplemental educational experiences to convey a biblical worldview to middle and high school students while they received a public school education by enrolling in charter homeschool.</p>

<p> For all that is revealed in the research literature identifying and describing traits and behaviors exhibited by principals who make a positive difference in student learning, many schools are still failing. With all we know, how does this continue to happen? The goal of this study was to develop theory to expand and enrich the existing research by defining and describing what three successful principals&mdash;a middle school and two junior high schools&mdash;did to turn their failing schools around and positively influence the levels of student achievement in their respective schools. </p><p> The significant contribution this study adds to the field of educational research is its identification of five themes or categories of leadership implemented by the principal in each of the schools studied that were credited by the participants as causes for their schools' successful turnarounds. These five categories&mdash;expectations and accountability, leadership, responding to student needs, climate and culture, and instruction&mdash;and their indicators were consistently identified by the participants in all schools as reasons why their schools were successful in improving student performance levels and each school's achievement status. Clearly, the five categories were interrelated and interdependent upon each other and thus, equally critical to the success the schools experienced.</p>

<p> This quantitative study was designed to be an analysis of the relationship between school climate and student achievement through the creation of an index of climate-factors (SES, discipline, attendance, and school size) for which publicly available data existed. The index that was formed served as a proxy measure of climate; it was analyzed through both a hierarchical clustering method and a multiple regression.</p><p> The data used for the study was drawn from a sample of 335 middle schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and student achievement was measured using pass percentage rates for each school on the Virginia SOL tests in each of the four tested content areas. Through analysis of the data generated through both the cluster analysis and the multiple regression process, a clearer picture of the relationship between school climate and student achievement was revealed. Five clusters of schools emerged from the cluster analysis, ranging from highly negative to highly positive in terms of climate. Findings indicated that for each of the four core content areas, there was a significant difference in the mean achievement of each cluster; these findings supported the general hypothesis of the study that as climate becomes more positive student achievement rises. Further, the multiple regression analysis supported the findings of the cluster analysis. With regard to the variables used as climate factors, both the cluster analysis and the multiple regression analysis showed that school size had the least impact on achievement whereas SES had the greatest impact. In both analyses, the climate factors reflected a more significant relationship to student achievement when examined collectively.</p>

<p>The need for accurate information about the achievement of students whose military parents are deployed to a war zone or whose military parents are eligible although not currently deployed to a war zone is important in order to ensure that we are providing for the educational wellbeing of these children as their parents defend our nations freedoms. The purpose of this posttest-only comparative efficacy study was to determine the achievement outcomes of sixth-grade students with a military parent deployed to a war zone (<i>n</i> = 10) or sixth-grade students with a military parent not deployed to a war zone (<i>n</i> = 10) compared to same school students whose parents have no military affiliation (<i>n</i> = 10). The study&rsquo;s dependent measures were Academic achievement as measured by end of sixth-grade (1) Nebraska State Accountability Assessment Test-Math, (2) Nebraska State Accountability Assessment Test-Reading, (3) Measure of Academic Performance-Math, (4) Measure of Academic Performance-Reading, (5) Research School District&rsquo;s Descriptive Writing Assessment for (a) Ideas and Content, (b) Organization, (c) Voice, (d) Word Choice, (e) Sentence Fluency, and (f) Conventions, and (6) Research School District&rsquo;s Essential Objectives for (a) Language, (b) Math, (c) Science, (d) Social Studies, (e) Health, (f) Physical Education, and (g) Music. The overall pattern of end of sixth-grade statistical equipoise between group comparisons indicated that the goal of educational wellbeing for these students of military families, and control group students alike, was being met and was reflected in measured proficient and advanced level performance requiring students&rsquo; day-to-day engagement at school and support at home. </p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, June, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-74). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Murdoch University, 2003. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Arts. Bibliography: leaves 96-99.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Teacher Education, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on March 31, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-138). Also issued in print.