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It is our goal to create a curriculum where students have the opportunity to learn and promote competency in the area of health and fitness. Additionally, to be able to reason critically and integrate the information learned through healthy choices and understand the importance of physical fitness and exercise.

This project describes the outline for an effective procedure for a backwards design approach as it relates to a technology integrated unit of study.

The purpose of this project was to review literature for appropriate elements that should make up an adolescent exercise video. Methods consisted of gathering research from twenty-three publications in books and professional journal articles. A review of the literature was examined to create chapters of information and a checklist pertaining to what makes up an appropriate adolescent exercise video.

The study was to determine the impact of a Professional Learning Community on student achievement as measured by the state's criterion referenced reading and mathematics achievement tests. Data for this study were extracted from the school district's student database. Two cohorts of 90 students each were randomly selected from a population of approximately 600 students in 3 schools that participated in a Professional Learning Community (treatment) and 3 schools that did not (control). Professional Learning Communities known as PLCs, can serve as a major theoretical framework to promote the improvement of classroom teachers' instructional practice, teacher effectiveness and student achievement. Reading and mathemtics mean scale scores were extracted at three time points (year 1, year 2, and year 3) across three grades (grade 3, grade 4 and grade 5). Test for equality of variance found that no statistically significant difference existed between the mean scale scores of the two cohorts at the beginning of the study. The findings revealed that both cohorts trend toward increased academic achievement from year to year individually; however, when compared to each other, no statistically significant difference existed. Further research is indicated to examine each PLC for implementation, support and leadership as they relate to the PLC and a focus on instruction and learning.

Federal revenue sharing programs aim to make up lost tax revenue to counties that contain federal land, as counties do not receive any property tax revenue from publicly owned lands. This may have a significant impact on rural school districts with a limited tax base, as most funding for public education comes from property tax revenue. My analysis seeks to determine the full impact of certain federal revenue sharing payments (paid out by the U.S. Forest Service) on school districts in counties that contain U.S. Forest Service land. My analysis shows that the payments have little impact on school district budgets, indicating that states likely smooth for variations in the U.S. Forest Service payments.

The purpose of the study was to examine retirement decision making of certificated employees (N = 284 respondents N = 241) of the Beaverton School District in a near retirement age category. The Beaverton School District is a large suburban school district near Portland, Oregon. It currently serves over 25,000 students and employs approximately 2,600 certificated and classified employees. The study answered the following questions: Can psycho-social factors be identified that will enable the Beaverton School District to help potential retirees make an informed decision to retire? What personal factors affect a person's decision to retire? Does it matter, in the ranking of variables, if a person is either vested or not vested in his or her retirement fund? What demographic factors (gender, age grouping, education, position and marital status) affect a person's decision to retire? Discriminate analysis enabled this researcher to conclude that finance and job satisfaction were significant factors in predicting retirement decision making. Other factors listed (health, activity time, support system, degree of control, personal identity as it relates to the job, and availability of medical benefits) were significant but did not add appreciably to predictive capability. Personal factors effecting a person's decision to retire were obtained through self- reports and were grouped into two categories: Directly stated informational requests, and Implied informational needs. Responses were grouped according to their common themes and each fit well within the parameters of the previously identified psycho-social variables. Directly stated informational requests related to concerns about finances and the availability of medical benefits. Implied needs were primarily related to the need for relief from job stress, pressure, and burnout. Concerns were also expressed regarding a perceived lack of administrative competence and/or support and a lack of personal control relative to the job. Respondents were asked if they would be vested at the point of retirement. This question was asked to assess if being either vested or not vested would make a difference to one's decision to retire. Though the findings were significant, the sample size for individuals who would not be vested was too small (1%) to constitute a valid sample. Gender, the first demographic variable examined, was found to be significant. Males reported less job satisfaction than their female counterparts. Job satisfaction was the most significant psycho-social variable affecting retirement decision making. Other demographic variables (age, marital status, education, and position) were not found to be significant predictors of retirement decision making. This study was clearly exploratory. Therefore, recommendations for further research include replicating this study in other school districts. Additional variables might be identified that impact one's decision to retire. There was clear indication for the need for further study in the area of job satisfaction. In addition, a longitudinal study would enable a researcher to determine the congruence between pre-retirement perceptions and post retirement "reality."

No description available.