<p> This qualitative study was designed to investigate the perceptions of participants in the TRIO Student Support Service (SSS) program, a government-funded student retention program for first-generation college students, low-income students, and students with disabilities. There was little research on the perceptions of students who represent the target population in this government-funded program. Tinto&rsquo;s (2012b) model of student departure was used to interpret the findings. The study was guided by three research questions used to investigate possible barriers or benefits to the participants while attending the university, and also asked participants for suggestions to improve the TRIO SSS program. Interviews with first-year TRIO SSS participants at a Midwest university were conducted. The students in this study discussed their experiences; and three themes emerged as issues with which they had to deal: adjustment, integration, and personal growth. These findings mirrored prior research on this target population, all of whom have been found to struggle with academic preparation, study skills, college procedural knowledge, and with wanting to fit into college both socially and academically (Johnson, 2012). The findings in this study are also consistent with the theory of student departure put forth by Tinto (2012b). Program improvement suggestions included, additional social gatherings, increasing the number of advisory meetings, provide a TRIO SSS program-specific orientation meeting, facilitate workshops to address study abroad programs and understanding income taxes. The TRIO SSS program services and staff were perceived by the participants as meeting the participants&rsquo; needs and should continue the practices already in place.</p>

<p> This study was focused on the perceptions of teachers and administrators from southwest Missouri high schools regarding the impact of Active Shooter Intruder Response Training (ASIRT). Perceptions of school safety, school climate, and preparedness for an active shooter were collected through focus group interviews. Participants for this study included four teachers and four principals randomly selected from a stratified cross-section of southwest Missouri high schools, based on enrollment. Also interviewed was Senator Dan Brown, primary sponsor of Missouri Senate Bill 75 (2013). Missouri Senate Bill 75 was signed into law by the Governor of Missouri in 2013 and mandates intruder training for Missouri school districts. The findings of this study were that teachers and administrators reported greater feelings of safety, climate, and preparedness for an intruder after participating in ASIRT. According to Senator Brown, the bill was originally authored to allow each school district the opportunity to determine how to best train staff for the event of an active shooter. Findings revealed that ASIRT was designed primarily to better provide safe learning environments for students and school staff, allowing higher levels of teaching and learning. Maslow&rsquo;s (1954) theory of motivation&ndash;hierarchy of needs was the theoretical framework of this study, which states all humans must have the basic need of safety met before further development can take place. This theory paralleled the literature reviewed for this study, which indicated students perform at higher levels when they have a greater sense of safety.</p>

<p> Historically, the state of Missouri has utilized the Performance-Based Teacher Evaluation (PBTE) system developed by Dr. Jerry Valentine from the University of Missouri (Valentine &amp; Harting, 1986). The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 mandated more rigorous accountability standards for state education systems (Moe, 2014). The 2012 revisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) provided to Missouri by the U.S. Department of Education relieved the original mandates of the NCLB Act (MODESE, 2015a). However, added were provisions for teacher and administrator accountability which required evaluation of research-based principles of effective instruction (MODESE 2015a). In this study, the researcher reviewed one evaluation system, the Network for Educator Effectiveness (NEE) teacher evaluation system, to determine if a correlation existed between principal evaluation data and student perception data of specific classroom teachers in relation to student performance on state assessments. Of the six research questions included in the case study, the data generated for question three with a bivariate correlate for the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient for the NEE Evaluation Indicator 4.1 principal&rsquo;s evaluation and student survey data for Indicator 4.1 revealed the best line of fit with <i>r</i> = .63. The significance output of <i>p</i> &lt; .01 was the greatest significant correlation of the study. These data indicate both the students and the principal recognize the teacher&rsquo;s level of implementation for Indicator 4.1 (teacher instructional strategies leading to student problem-solving and critical thinking). No other correlates were found to be significant for this study.</p>

<p> Young children first learn ways of understanding their world within families and communities (Cole, 2007; Rogoff, 2003). While we know that life in families shapes how children notice, question, and explain (Crowley, Callanan, Jipson, Galco, Topping, &amp; Shrager, 2001; Goodwin, 2007), we know relatively little about how this occurs within moments of interaction (Mehus, Stevens, &amp; Grigholm, 2010), when this occurs in family activity (Ochs, Taylor, Rudolph, &amp; Smith, 1992), or children&rsquo;s experiences as they move across settings (Leander, Philips, &amp; Taylor, 2010). Drawing upon ethnomethodological and interactional analysis traditions (McDermott, 1976; Jordan &amp; Henderson, 1995 Pomerantz &amp; Fehr, 1997), I analyze data from a longitudinal video-ethnographic study to explore young children&rsquo;s naturally occurring activity at home and school over time. </p><p> I explore how and when children learn to notice, question, and explore by looking across several focal children&rsquo;s interactions in families. I define Inquiry as a Members&rsquo; Phenomenon (Sacks, 1967/1992; Stevens, 2010) to focus on how participants oriented to exploring puzzling situations with others (Dewey, 1938/1981) and to better understand the forms of sense-making in which they engaged during these moments. I also explore two focal children&rsquo;s routine participation over time (ages two to three years, and age seven) within their families. I propose family questioning practices as patterns in interaction (Tuomi-Gr&ouml;hn, 2003) that capture how children come to perceive and know their world. Tracing children&rsquo;s engagement in their preschool classroom allows me to explore why some children were more successful in engaging teachers in questioning similar to family practices. I explain this difference as a result of tensions first between children&rsquo;s expectations for appropriate contexts in which to ask certain kinds of questions and those expectations of teachers, and second tensions in participant interests and concerns. Rather than see such tensions as obstacles, these tensions can be understood as places for future innovation (Engestr&ouml;m, 1987, 1999). Thus, this work contributes to understanding how and when children engage in inquiry, as well as the family practices that shape engagement in inquiry, that might inform research supporting teachers drawing upon how children perceive and know for inquiry learning. </p>

<p> Education reform has increased accountability measures for principals to ensure all students are achieving. Although student achievement should be the primary focus of a principal, the various responsibilities of the principalship can overshadow instruction. Due to the large number of students, multitude of course offerings, extra-curricular activities, discipline, and operational issues, many high school principals are inundated with responsibilities and challenges that may cause less time to be allocated to curriculum and instruction. These multiple responsibilities can also lead to principal burnout and high turnover rates. To understand how high school principals managed their time to ensure curriculum and instruction was a priority, a qualitative study was conducted. The researcher collected and analyzed data from semi-structured interviews, observations, and documents. The portraiture methodology was then employed to create portraits that would provide a realistic perspective of the high school principal&rsquo;s experience. The instructional principals in this study each had a co-principal to manage the principalship. This structure should have guaranteed curriculum and instruction would be a priority. However, there were still challenges that would disrupt the focus from instruction. Even with the division of responsibilities, principals felt ownership for anything that transpired on the campus. In spite of the demanding time requirements of the high school principalship, the leaders in this study were very dedicated to the role and student achievement</p>

<p> High levels of teacher turnover are the norm in American and International Overseas Schools. Studies in public and private schools in the United States established that high levels of teacher turnover are related to decreased academic performance, low levels of school climate and incur a financial burden. This study proposed the use of incentives to retain desirable teachers as a cost effective means to improve school climate and academic performance. Seventeen of forty-one American Overseas schools in Europe participated in this study. Teachers identified the incentives that are most influential on their decision to re-sign for at least one additional year. Heads of school identified the incentives they felt where most influential as well as those that they are allowed to use by tradition and school board policy. This study found re-signing bonuses, annual flights home and increased housing allowance to be the most influential incentives for teachers and the least accessible to heads of school.</p>

Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to analyze the personal characteristics of high school students enrolled in an alternative school with those enrolled in a traditional school and (2) to compare the achievement observed in selected psychological and educational factors by these students during a semester. Significance of the Study A review of the literature pertaining to high risk students revealed that the majority of the studies focused on the acquisition of basic skills to the relative exclusion of other important areas. For example, there was a paucity of research related to the affective domain. No attempt is made to diminish the importance of reading writing and arithmetic in the student’s academic behavior but equal attention needs to be given to the psychosocial factors that impact on the academic behavior of students. Methods and Procedures. The ex post facto research design was employed in this study. It permitted the investigator to compare the differences between alternative school students and traditional school students on selected psychological and educational variables. The dependent variables were the measure of academic achievement, academic performance, attendance, career maturity, and disruptive behavior. Participants The participants consisted of seventy adolescent students. Instruments The following instruments were utilized to collect data for this study: the Basic Skills Assessment Program, the Career Maturity Inventory, the How I See Myself Scale, the attendance reports, and the discipline records of the participant. Conclusions The following general conclusions were drawn from the findings of this study: 1. Since there was no statistically significant difference between the levels of self-concept and academic achievement of students enrolled in alternative and traditional schools it may be concluded that these students have similar self-concepts and academic achievement. 2. The nature of student academic achievement in alternative schools parallel academic achievement of students enrolled in traditional schools. 3. There is a strong similarity between the academic performance of students enrolled in traditional schools. 4. Students in alternative schools and students in traditional schools have similar attendance patterns. 5. Students in alternative schools experience the same level of career maturity as students in traditional schools. 6. Students in alternative schools experience the same level of disruptive behavior as students enrolled in traditional schools.

No description available.

The purpose of this study is two-fold: (1) to identify the differences, if any, between the perceptions held by urban school teachers of urban school principals’ administrative leadership behaviors and urban school principals’ self-assessments of their leadership behaviors and (2) to determine if the responses of the principals relative to school activities that implement the leadership behaviors correlated with their self-assessments. The study was limited to 209 teachers and 55 principals in the Atlanta Public School System, Atlanta, Georgia. Three instruments developed by Selective Research Incorporated were used: (1) the Teacher Administrator Questionnaire administered to teachers; (2) the Administrator Self-Assessment Questionnaire administered to principals; and (3) the Administrator Perceiver Interview, a face-to-face, taped, structured interview, administered to thirty of the fifty-five principals. These three instruments have a common basis; that is, each instrument is developed around the twelve life themes espoused by Selective Research Incorporated as characterizing administrative behaviors that facilitate the growth of teachers, which in turn facilitates the growth of students. These life themes are Mission, Manpower Development, Relator, Arranger, Catalyzer, Audience Sensitivity, Group Enhancer, Discriminator, Performance Orientation, Work Orientation, and Ambiguity Tolerance. Analysis of variance was used to test the first set of null hypotheses at the .05 level of significance as to the differences between the perceptions held by urban school teachers relative to urban school administrative leadership behaviors and the assessments of urban school principals of their administrative behaviors. The null hypothesis was rejected for each of the twelve hypotheses related to the twelve life themes. Teachers’ perceptions of principals’ administrative behaviors were different from the principals’ assessments of their own administrative behaviors. When the teachers were grouped by the variables sex, race, age, years of teaching experience, and academic training, they were consistent in their perceptions of principals’ administrative behaviors. However, teachers with more academic training rated the principals significantly higher on theme Delegator than did teachers with less academic training. When the principals were grouped by the same variables, only black principals and older principals differed in their self—ssessments. Black principals assessed themselves significantly higher than did white principals on seven of the twelve life themes, and older principals assessed themselves significantly higher than did younger principals on three of the twelve life themes. Pearson Correlation Coefficients were computed to test the second set of null hypotheses at the .05 level of significance as to whether the principals’ responses in a structured interview correlated with their self-assessments. The null hypothesis was accepted for each of the hypotheses. The principals’ responses during the interviews to questions regarding school activities that reflect administrative behaviors described by the twelve life themes did not correlate with their self-assessments relative to conducting school tasks in keeping with the twelve life themes. The major recommendations resulting from this study are as foIlows: I. A longitudinal study should be made using the teacher—rating and principal-assessment instruments as a basis for planning and conducting in-service training for administrators, followed by post administration of the instruments 2. On-going use of the procedure employed in this study can be used by individual school administrators in an effort to assess needs in relation to staff morale

This study examines the effectiveness of two reading interventionists and their teaching methodologies with students in grades K-2. The two interventionists were selected because they are the two teachers responsible for reading intervention in the primary grades. The students were selected because they are being served by the interventionists and they are performing below proficient in reading. Many students come into Title I schools underperforming for a variety of reasons. These include a lack of literacy resources in their homes and also a lack of outside experiences. Many parents in this school setting are working poor. They hold jobs, but do not have a much time to spend with their child due to making ends meet financially. A case study approach was used to gather data. The researcher conducted three observations on each teacher for a total of six observations. All three grades levels (K-2) were observed in a pull out setting. The observer utilized an observation instrument and also an interview protocol to interview both teachers. Additionally, student achievement was analyzed using DIBELS Reading 3D data. The data was collected at the beginning of the year and the end of the year and compared to measure student reading growth. The researcher found that both teachers regardless of age, race, and experience were effective at raising student achievement with at risk students. There were no significant differences in the achievement between males and females, between students who received free and reduced lunch and those who did not, or among ethnicities. First grade students however made significantly higher gains than the other two grade levels in this study. Both teachers showed 100% growth according to Reading 3D scores. Additionally, they agreed that given autonomy and time to plan and build trust with regular education teachers they were more successful. They believe in the importance of accountability and providing supports to underachieving students. The conclusions drawn from the findings suggest that various teaching methodologies which include differentiation, a focus on the big five components of reading, and small teacher to student ratios were successful. Strong connections with students were seen from each teacher as they both knew their children and their strengths and weaknesses. This research suggests that given full autonomy to deliver instruction without a scripted program, both teachers were highly effective. Districts should use teachers, such as the ones in this study, to conduct professional development trainings on best practices in literacy. Leaders are encouraged to give teachers more autonomy in their classrooms. Intervention should be considered in higher grade levels to bridge gaps in reading.