Thesis (M.A.)--University of California, Santa Cruz, 1994. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-80).

The purpose of the study was to determine the effect, if any, of a selected magnet school program on achievement of average ability students. Repeated academic growth of average ability elementary magnet school students was compared with repeated academic growth of average ability elementary non-magnet school students in a major school corporation in northern Indiana.Data were collected from thirty-eight average mental ability fifth grade magnet school students and thirty-eight average mental ability fifth grade non-magnet school students from twenty-two schools. Student subjects had been in the respective educational setting for at least four years. Average mental ability (C+, C, or C-) was determined by the Otis-Lennon Ability, Test, Primary II administered while the students were enrolled in the third grade. Achievement was determined by the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, Levels 9-10. Achievement score data were collected for two years, three and four for each student subject, and averaged.Analysis of co-variance was utilized to test a hypothesis of no overall difference between group means. The hypothesis was rejected with the F value significant at 0.008. A profile analysis was utilized to probe for differences, if any, among adjusted means for the ten subtests of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, Levels 9-10. A parallelism existed between magnet and non-magnet school students with magnet students scoring higher on all of the ten subtests of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, Levels 9-10 except math computation where non-magnet students scored higher.

The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of at-risk tutorial programs as measured by student grade point average.The population was defined as elementary students identif7ed by local school officials as being at-risk according to federal and state descriptions of at-risk youth and according to individual school program objectives. The sample consisted of 250 elementary students selected from nine schools in five school districts that offered Indiana Department of Education funded at-risk tutorial programs and who were identified as at-risk by local school officials.The independent variables were time and treatment utilizing a 3 (Time) x 3 (Treatment) design for the study. The dependent variable was grade point average. Intervening variables were gender, age, grade, socioeconomic status, tutor, race, type of treatment, motivation, parent input such as encouragement, and student participation in other special programs such as special counseling.The following three findings were a result of analysis of data collected for the study:1. The null hypothesis of no differences among group means was rejected at an alpha level of .05 using Wilks multivariate analysis of variance.2. Univariate F statistics revealed the multivariate difference among group means to be accounted for at Time 4.3. Scheffe' post hoc pair-wise comparisons for Time 4 revealed a difference existed between the Control Group and Experimental Group 1 and between Experimental Group 1 and Experimental Group 2. No difference existed between the Control Group and Experimental Group 2.One conclusion was evident as a result of procedures applied in the study. No differences of grade point average were proven to result from differing levels of participation in at-risk tutorial programs. Implications of the study were (a) at-risk students need to participate in long-term programs that provide services for the student K-12 school career and (b) short-term at-risk programs may cause decline of student progress when the program is withdrawn. / Department of Educational Leadership

In recent years we have witnessed a burgeoning interest in the role socializing agents' play in the development of children's self-perceptions of competence. Outlined extensively by Harter (1981, 1982, 1985), the basic assumption underlying this work is that the self-concept is a multidimensional construct reflecting cognitive representations of individuals' socialization experiences across achievement contexts. These multiple dimensions are subsumed under the guise of self-perceptions and are thought to reflect distinct cognitive structures within the phenomenological world of the child. To date, however, the majority of research stemming from Harter's original theoretical conceptualizations has been limited to examining the impact of socializing agents' expectations on children's self-perceptions of academic competence. The differential contributions made by socializing agents to the prediction of children's self-perceptions of competence across achievement domains, however, has not been assessed. In the present study, an attempt was made to fill this research gap. In accordance with the recognition of the multidimensional nature of perceived competence, the purposes of this study were: (1) to compare the contributions made by different socializing agents' expectations to the prediction of children's self-perceived academic, social, behavioral and athletic competence; (2) to assess the extent to which socializers' expectations contribute differentially to children's perceived competence when examined in conjunction with additional variables instrumental in the development of self-concept in children; (3) to extend Harter's (1981) original conceptualization of the self by testing a uniform perceived competence model across achievement domains; and (4) to identify the primary references children utilize to define themselves. Data were collected from 87 fourth and fifth grade children. The children completed questionnaires that assessed their self-perceived academic, social, behavioral and athletic competence. Teachers' and parents' actual expectations, children's perceptions of these expectations and children's academic and social performance were also measured. Four stepwise hierarchical regression analyses were conducted (i.e., one for self-perceived academic, social, behavioral and athletic competence, respectively) to identify those variables which best predict children's domain-specific self-perceptions. Results revealed that: (a) the relative contributions made by socializers' expectations to the prediction of children's perceived competence across achievement contexts vary as a function of the domain assessed; (b) children's perceptions of significant others' expectations and performance factors also play a significant role in the prediction of domain-specific perceived competence; and (c) the social references children utilize when making self-evaluations can be conceptualized within a domain and context specific framework. Issues related to the development of self-concept theory, empirical research and counselling practices are discussed in relation to the acquisition of self-knowledge in children. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Carroll E. Izard, Dept. of Psychology. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2004.

The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of teacher absences from the classroom on student achievement. The specific grade level researched was the third grade. Two school corporations, one in Indiana and one in Wyoming, participated in the research study. Changed scores on reading achievement were utilized to evaluate the impact of teacher absence on achievement.A review of the literature was conducted to identify previous studies on this subject. Several studies were found that examined teacher absences.Private sector research was also reviewed. These studies found employee absences to have a negative impact on productivity.Teacher absences were divided into three categories: 0-4, 4.5-11.0, and 11.5 days absent and above. The data on student achievement was compared to each attendance cell to determine a difference of significance existed. The Iowa Test of Basic Skills was used to determine student achievement. To measure growth in achievement, student scores obtained in the fall semester of the third grade experience were compared to scores obtained in the fall semester of the fourth grade.Data collected supported the following conclusions:1. Teacher attendance did have a significant impact on student achievement.2. Students enrolled in classes where teachers had absences of 4.5 days or more did not score as well on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills achievement tests as students with teachers having less than 4.5 days of absence.3. Fringe benefits used to pay for absences will encourage employees to miss work unnecessarily.4. Teachers having absences between 0-4.0, regardless of principal ratings, had students that scored better on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills achievement tests than teachers with absences in excess of 4.0.5. Teacher days absent and overall ratings by principals are independent of each other. The data suggest principals do not consider absences when evaluating teachers.6. Teachers' application of current educational research to the classroom demonstrated a significant impact on grade equivalency gain.7. Teacher knowledge of subject matter taught had a significant impact on percentile gain by students.

The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship of student attitude to academic achievement in reading/language, mathematics, science, and social studies while holding gender, grade level, and class size constant.The review of related literature revealed the transition of educational emphasis from positive cognitive outcomes to affective considerations. Research dealing with the effect of the independent variables, gender, grade level, and class size, as well as that showing the impact of attitude toward reading/language, mathematics, science, and social studies as they affected achievement in those subjects was studied.A multiple partial canonical correlation analysis was used to treat the data.POPULATION1. Sample data were collected from thirteen Indianapolis area private Christian schools.2. Three hundred eighty-four subjects were boys and three hundred eighty-three were girls.3. Grade four had one hundred forty-five boys and one hundred forty-three girls. Grade five had one hundred eighteen boys and one hundred sixteen girls while grade six had one hundred twenty boys and one hundred twenty-five girls.4. Forty-nine students were administered the California Achievement Test, one hundred forty-six the Stanford Achievement Test, one hundred forty-eight the Metropolitan Achievement Test, and four hundred twenty-four the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills.5. Three hundred seventy-two students were from Baptist schools, fifty-four from Church of Christ schools, seventy-five from Church of God schools, forty-one from Nazarene schools, and two hundred twenty-five from non-church related Christian schools.FINDINGSThe null hypothesis was rejected at the .01 significance level for the California Achievement Test, Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, and the Stanford Achievement Test, and at the .05 significance level for the Metropolitan Achievement Test.CONCLUSIONS1. There is a relationship between student attitude toward reading/language, mathematics, science, and social studies and achievement in reading/language, mathematics, science, and social studies when extraneous variables are partialed out.2. That the relationship is not the result of sample error is implied by the significant X2 tests.

The 1989 Teacher Expectations and Student Achievement (TESA) study analyzed whether students perceived as low achievers, having been taught by TESA-trained instructors in the Metropolitan School District (MSD) of Warren Township over a three-year period, achieved significantly (p < .05) higher academic gain than a similar control group of students not taught by TESA-trained instructors as measured by the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS).Federal Judge S. Hugh Dillin, in 1971, found the Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) system to be racially segregated in violation of the Constitution. The ruling indicated that the school system was denying equal opportunity to black children because of race. Following ten years of review and appeals to higher courts, one-way busing of black students from IPS to six suburban school districts began in the fall of 1981 in Marion County, including the MSD of Warren Township. Some of the greatest concerns for one-way busing included the steps being taken to ensure fair treatment and full academic opportunity for all children involved in desegregation.As a result of the desegregation order, the MSD of Warren Township and several other Indianapolis suburban school systems adopted the TESA staff development program. TESA is an intervention program designed to encourage non-discriminatory behavior toward all students in the classroom in order to increase academic performance.The original TESA research was conducted in 1974 by Sam Kerman and Mary Martin in school districts in Los Angeles, California. This 1989 TESA study covered five school years from 1982-1983 through 1986-1987, and followed the progress of 102 students through three consecutive years of being taught by a TESA-trained teacher, or a teacher not trained in TESA skills, in 246 classrooms.A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated that neither group (TESA or other) or race (black or other) were found to be statistically significant in improving students' academic achievements on the CTBS. Although some academic gains were noted for students taught by TESA-trained teachers over a three-year period, the gains were not statistically significant. TESA continues to be a staff development program many school systems support, but perhaps the interest should not include the expectation that low achieving students will significantly improve academic achievement.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 309-325). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.