Instructional time is a precious commodity within the school day. Research has shown (Gettinger & Ball, 2008; Hollywood, Salisbury, Rainforth & Palombaro, 1994) that students are only academically engaged for a fraction of time that is protected for instruction. In order to increase academic achievement, we must increase and protect instructional time. This study used a multiple baseline design across teachers to examine teacher behavior and student engagement. Teachers and students were systematically observed in the classroom. In the first phase, the data from these observations were provided graphically to teachers, thus serving as performance feedback. Performance feedback has been demonstrated as an effective means of increasing treatment integrity and facilitating teacher behavior change (Noell et al., 2005). During the second phase of the study, consultation meetings included a review of the data, collaborative brainstorming of strategies for increasing instructional time and goal setting. It was hypothesized that sharing performance feedback would lead to increased levels of observed instructional time. Results show inconsistent effects for increasing instructional time across participants.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the comparative analysis of dynamic assessment procedures when two types of tests are used. Specifically, the aim of this study was to find out whether instructions on basic cognitive skills would improve the students' performance on specific standardized tests. The tests that were used were: a verbal educational test (Standardized Test of Essential Writing Skills), and a non-verbal intelligence test (Raven Progressive Matrices). Fifty two subjects were randomly selected from the 7th grade population of a middle school in Western Massachusetts. This sample represented slightly more than 35% of the 7th grade population of this school (N = 148). Two out of five seventh grade classes were selected by the principal and the researcher. One was a low academic performance class and the other was a high academic performance class. Prior academic performance and achievement scores were collected from the school records. Participation in this study was voluntary. The administration of the pretest instruments (Raven progressive Matrices and Standardized Test of Essential Writing Skills) was done in group sessions. Students were divided into two treatment groups and each group was exposed to two sessions of graduated prompting instructions, each session lasting 30-40 minutes. The same pretest assessment instruments were then administered during the post test. Individual student data was held confidential and combined into a group statistical process. According to the research findings it appears that dynamic assessment did improve the subjects' performance on the verbal, educational test (Standardized Test of Essential Writing Skills), but not on the non-verbal, intelligence test (Raven Progressive Matrices). The type of instructions received did not seem to have a significant effect on the subjects' post test performance on both the Standardized Test of Essential Writing Skills and Raven Progressive Matrices. However, a comparison of the highest and lowest academic groups, (as defined by the teachers) showed that the lowest group improved their scores on all test measures as compared to the highest academic group.

Promising technologies are being developed to increase the levels of reciprocal interactions between typical children and those with autism and other developmental delays. Research in this area, however, has frequently relied on the use of specially trained personnel as behavior change agents. Therefore, the applied significance of this research is in question until effective mediator training strategies are designed and successfully implemented in clinical settings. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a teacher training package on increasing the rates of implementation of a peer-mediated intervention. Participants were three teachers working in an integrated preschool. Each was assigned a child pair, consisting of a child with autism and a typically developing peer, to work with throughout the study. A multiple baseline design was used to evaluate the training package, which included the use of inservice training, verbal and written feedback, goal setting, and self-recording. Teachers were taught to use a cooperative play procedure that had been demonstrated to be an effective tool for increasing reciprocal interactions between children grouped in integrated dyads. This procedure emphasized the use of toys preferred by the child with autism in a turn taking sequence. Typical peers were instructed and reinforced for participating in the turn taking sequence as well as for following the preferences of the child with autism. Results revealed that for one of three teachers, didactic training alone was sufficient to increase implementation rates to desired levels. However, feedback, goal setting, and self-recording was necessary for the implementation rates of the two other teachers to reach acceptable levels. Furthermore, introduction of the training package was associated with increased rates of reciprocal interactions between child pairs during generalization probes collected during free play situations. Follow-up measures indicated that both teacher implementation rates and child interaction rates were maintained.

Two studies are presented which test the applicability of Ericksonian hypnosis to an academic environment. The treatment consisted of 4 one hour group sessions fashioned on Lankton and Lankton's (1983) embedded metaphor formulation of Milton Erickson's approach to hypnotherapy. Subjects in the first study were 57 undergraduate students in a challenging remedial algebra course. When treatment subjects were compared to a group of randomly selected no-treatment control participants, and using a model which controlled for cognitive developmental level (TOLT), the treatment was associated with a difference of 14.5 points on a 100 point final exam with the treatment group scoring higher (F = 6.77, p $<$.01, one tail). Other analyses which used a different covariate (midterm exam) and which used a different control group (self-selected volunteers) did not reach statistical significance. The models using the TOLT appeared to be most sensitive to the effect of the treatment. Students in the second study were 85 undergraduates in an introductory statistics course. Controlling for performance on prior exams, the treatment was not associated with a difference between groups on performance on a final exam. Some evidence for an interaction was found, suggesting that the treatment benefitted the least able students in the class. Results suggested that the treatment might have affected these students in the areas of self-assessment of resources and "feeling good" about class. These latter findings are considered especially tentative because of a low n. Methodological shortcomings discussed include the lack of a control group which received a similar treatment, e.g. relaxation training, lack of control for an expectancy effect on self-efficacy/affect variables, and a low ceiling on the dependent variable in the second of the studies.

<p> The concept of self-esteem has so thoroughly infiltrated American education that &ldquo;most educators believe developing self-esteem to be one of the primary purposes of public education&rdquo; (Stout, 2001, p. 119). That the available scholarship challenging the validity of self-esteem principles has had little to no impact on schooling and school policy demonstrates the need for more a comprehensive interrogation of a concept that has become so pervasive and commonsensical that many administrators and teachers do not even think to question its place in traditional pedagogy, let alone consider the possibility that self-esteem is a damaging ideological construct. The rhetorical (and impossible) promise of self-esteem as both a quantifiable and fixed human resource has proliferated in educational language as schools continue to promote self-esteem among racialized and poorly performing students, while the structural conditions that negatively impact these students&rsquo; performance in the first place remain intact.</p><p> The legacy of self-esteem in educational discourse requires a critical interpretation, or re-interpretation, by educators who wish to challenge oppressive commonsense assumptions and feel-good principles that covertly help to maintain &ldquo;dominant cultural norms that do little more than preserve social inequality&rdquo; (Darder, 2015, p. 1). This study takes a decolonizing approach that involves a substantive interrogation&mdash;historical, political, and philosophical&mdash;of the Eurocentric epistemological concept of self-esteem, in order to demonstrate the debilitating effects that self-esteem has on students from working-class communities of color. It then suggests an emancipatory understanding of the self and alternative critical pedagogical principles of social empowerment.</p>

<p> The path to expertise has been quantified on several occasions (Ericsson, Krampe, and Tesch-R&ouml;mer, 1993; Ericsson 2001; Ericsson &amp; Charness, 1994; Ericsson 2008) as well as explored through qualitative retrospective methods (Bloom 1985; Kreiner, Phillips, &amp; Orlick 1993; Hayman et. al. 2014). However, little research has investigated the experience of elite performers as they attempt to maximize their performance over time. The purpose of this study was to examine how elite golfers think about, structure, and experience practice intended to maximize performance throughout a long career.</p><p> The researcher utilized a phenomenological approach to explore the lived experience of five PGA Tour players as they reflected on their practice experience thus far. The central themes found were: a) tailoring practice, b) <i> achieving balance, c) staying engaged, d) being proactive</i>. The core thematic findings spring from two results: 1. The most effective practice for elite golfers are highly individualized, and 2. effective practice for these players is reached when they proactively tailor their approach to pursue appropriate balance and achieve consistent engagement. These findings may benefit golfers, golf coaches, and applied sport psychology practitioners. Theoretical implications and possibilities for future research are discussed. </p><p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, 1913. / "Published as one of the Psychological review monographs."

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, 1941. / Lithoprinted. "Private edition, distributed by the University of Chicago libraries, Chicago, Illinois." Bibliography: p. 109-112.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, 1913. / "Published as one of the Psychological review monographs."

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1968. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.