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No description available.

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of social structure and community organization factors on campus crime on California community college campuses. The study utilized social disorganization theory to examine those relationships by aggregating data from the 113 campuses that are required to submit data on an annual basis to state and federal agencies. Crime data from the 2011 Clery report was separated into personal crimes and property crimes as reported by the California community college campuses. Correlation analysis was used for the non-categorical social structure and community organization factors. Those factors which demonstrated a statistical relationship with personal or property crimes were then regressed to further analyze the data. The relationships of categorical social structure and community organization factors with personal and property crimes were studied using analysis of variance. The results demonstrated that most of the social structure and community organization variables did not have a statistically significant relationship with personal or property crimes. However, the percentage of students receiving general financial aid in the form of Pell Grants demonstrated a strong relationship with an increase in both personal and property crimes. Additionally, an increase in the ratio of part-time to full-time faculty members demonstrated an increase in property crime on campus. The findings indicate that students on campuses with a high percentage of Pell Grant recipients are likely to be impacted by crime in some manner and that campuses with a large percentage of Pell Grant recipients need to consider additional supports and interventions to protect students from crime on campus. The findings also demonstrate that hiring a large percentage of part-time instructors may be counterproductive to preventing campus crime.

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This applied study was designed to explore the opinions and perceptions of classroom teachers and school administrators toward substitute teachers in an urban religious school located in the mid-Atlantic United States. The researcher also investigated how these opinions and perceptions impacted the school’s culture and students’ learning abilities. The theoretical framework of the study was based on the social cognitive theory, which is based on the reciprocal causality that a strong sense of collective efficacy enhances teachers’ selfefficacy beliefs, whereas weak collective efficacy beliefs undermine teachers’ sense of efficacy and vice versa. Self-efficacy and collective efficacy shape the normative school environment in which teachers work and students can perform. Three research questions guided the present study: How do opinions or perceptions of substitute teachers from classroom teachers, school administrators, and district personnel affect the substitute teaching process and student learning continuity? What methods of collaboration and strategies can classroom teachers, school administrators, and district personnel use to enhance substitute teachers’ efficacy? How could the professional development of substitute teachers improve instruction? This study used a qualitative approach that involved surveys and interviews as instruments to collect data. The study sample consisted of available regular classroom teachers, substitute teachers, and administrators from the research site. Traditional methods were used to analyze and synthesize the collected data. The validity of the findings was ensured through member checking, peer review, and triangulation. Findings revealed that the leadership at the target institution has a philosophy and practice of integrated and comprehensive services both for substitute teachers and regular staff in the school system. Therefore, the general opinions and perceptions of the school administrators, classroom teachers, and substitute teachers about substitute teaching remain positive. That means substitute teachers are fully integrated into the target school system. Relationships between permanent staff members and substitutes also remain positive in that institution. The productive teaching and learning process takes place when substitute teachers are in charge of the classrooms and their contributions positively impact the students continuing learning. These outcomes may contribute to the improvement of the views and practices of education policy makers, school leaders, classroom teachers, curriculum department, support staff, students, parents, community members, and school partners about substitute teachers and integrate their value into the school system toward the learning continuity of students.