<p> The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reported that, in 2013, only 35% of Virginia's eighth grade students tested at or above the proficient level on the grade level assessment for reading (National Center for Education Statistics, 2013). The Virginia State Report Card, published each year by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), reported that during the 2012-2013 school year, 29% of all tested eighth grade students failed to meet expectations in reading (VDOE, 2014). The Alliance for Excellent Education (2011) reported that a large number of students leave high school every year without the necessary skills to succeed and that reading and writing instruction across all grades must be addressed. Students are failing to graduate on time, and postsecondary and career goals of young students are suffering. This study looked specifically at how middle level principals might address the literacy needs of their schools and students. </p><p> Several experts in the field of education have developed literacy leadership models to address the demands currently facing school leaders (Guth &amp; Pettengill, 2005; Irvin, Meltzer, &amp; Dukes, 2007; Phillips, 2005; Taylor &amp; Collins, 2003). Based on a thorough examination and analysis of four literacy leadership models, five literacy leadership practices common to all models were identified. Survey data were collected in the following areas: literacy action planning, data-driven decision making, capacity building, instructional support, and resource allocation. Through descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis, this nonexperimental study assessed the extent to which middle school principals in Virginia employed the identified literacy leadership practices and the relationship of those practices to student achievement as measured by the Virginia Grade 8 Reading Standards of Learning (SOL) assessment. Although principals across the study identified that they did, in fact, employ the identified practices, the regression analyses resulted in nonsignificant findings at all levels.</p>

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Education. / Education in NSW reflects world-wide trends that promise changed practices through the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), to assist students attain capabilities expected of an educated population in contemporary society. Most recently, the use of the Internet has become a major priority for NSW government schools, with the expectation that students will increasingly participate in online learning activities. As educators grapple to find evidence of changed practices and extended or enhanced learning experiences for students, attention has turned to new forms of activity that have emerged within the online environment. This thesis explores the implementation of online projects as one such emergent form. The study focuses on the experiences of students and the practices of classes, with a view to asking how the online projects reconstruct the learning environments and activities of classes, how they contribute to the learning achievement of students and to the effective use of Internet technologies in K-12 school settings. A collective case study approach was used to reveal multiple views of online projects implemented in five NSW schools. Particular value is attached to the viewpoints of students and to professional dialogues with teachers that contributed insights into what was occurring in the classes and what was achieved as a result. Meanings have been drawn from each case to build a better understanding of the phenomenon of online projects as a whole. The study draws on social constructivist and project-based theoretical perspectives, with their widely accepted claims to benefits for students of authentic, learner-centred, participatory learning. The thesis argues that online projects can stimulate and support learning activities that produce these known benefits, while recognising constraints that exist in every-day classes. The online projects present a disruptive force within classes, changing the nature of activities and forcing a shift in the roles of both teachers and students, and of the technology itself, making it subservient to the learning intentions. Findings for students relate both to participation and learning effects. Strength of student engagement and the value of authentic learning activities emerged as notable features of the online project experience. Rather than accepting these claims as sufficient outcome of the projects, this thesis identifies attributes that promote student engagement. It examines what constitutes authentic activity for school students, especially younger ones, and how a sense of authenticity is established in learning tasks. It particularly explores the contribution of online presentation of the projects to the benefits and constraints identified. The study has significant implications for education systems and teachers, and for the design and implementation of online projects as part an effective online learning provision for schools. In the highly conflicted area of investment in ICT and the search for purposeful learning uses of the Internet, online projects present a teaching and learning approach that can deliver some of the much-acclaimed potential – primarily because they promote changes in practice that are concerned with much more than just the use of the technology.

This thesis, then, is about belonging to Australia and to the world. It is about imperialism, nationalism and the quality of goodness told through the lens of primary school students in 1930’s and 1950’s Victoria. I begin by exploring in Chapter One how the joint change in psychology and politics forced profound change to the basic framework of primary school curriculum. Children’s relationship to information was reconceived, and so too were the curricular structures necessary for this new epistemology. Spatial and temporal relations between Australia, Britain and the world were thus destabilized. But we need a much finer lens, and a more subtle understanding of the mechanisms of imaginative national belonging, if we are to describe this changing relationship. I take up this question in Chapter Two by looking at the reading resources given to children, from which they learnt complex lessons about aspects of being Australian. In Chapter Three I examine the impact of nationalism – Imperial and nation-state – in defining the child’s responsibilities. I argue that the project of nation-state nationalism that I describe, forced a change from moral to civic duty, a profound change to expectations about how and for whom children should act.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Georgia Southern University, 2007. / "A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education." Education Administration, under the direction of Barbara J. Mallory. ETD. Electronic version approved: December 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 195-203) and appendices.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Tulsa, 1988. / Bibliography: leaves 114-123.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed.D.) -- University of Montana, 2009. / Title from author supplied metadata. Description based on contents viewed on June 11, 2009. ETD number: etd-03262009-143435. Author supplied keywords: at-risk behavior ; criterion referenced ; grade configuration ; intermediate school ; K-8 ; middle school. Includes bibliographical references.

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on Feb 25, 2010). The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Dissertation advisor: Dr. Ruth Ann Roberts. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Central Florida, 2008. / Adviser: Mary E. Little. Includes bibliographical references (p. 104-130).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Unitec New Zealand, 2007. / Coda (electronic version) title page has 2008 date. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 159-164).