The primary purpose of this study was to determine the impact of mobility on fifth grade students in an urban elementary school environment during the 1994-95 and 1995-96 school years. The significance of the study lay in its intent to assess the impact of mobility. Specifically, the study analyzed the demographic characteristics of mobile students and investigated the impact of mobility on student achievement, attendance, discipline referrals, and retention.;The sample consisted of 244 fifth graders. Archival data were obtained from the students' scholastic and directory information records for the 1994-95 and 1995-96 school years. The results were analyzed by performing a one tail t-test. The study concluded that the reading achievement and the mathematics achievement of mobile students were significantly less than that of nonmobile students.;In addition, the number of absences, discipline referrals, and retentions for mobile students were significantly higher than that of nonmobile students. This study supported the idea that schools must advocate more and better interventions to equitably meet the needs of mobile students. Recommendations were made for future research.

The research investigated whether 4 x 4 block scheduling had any effect on students' achievement in Advanced Placement Calculus AB and described some of the dynamics involved in the shifts to 4 x 4 plans. Data from 52 schools (38 North Carolina, 14 Virginia) were divided into two groups: (Sample 1) 25 schools in which the course was taught in one semester (N = 252) and (Sample 2) 27 schools in which it was taught in two semesters (N = 355). Using two-tailed Z and chi square goodness-of-fit tests {dollar}(\alpha=0.05),{dollar} the 1995 AP test mean score of each sample was compared to the mean of the 103,032 students who took the test. The z test showed that Sample 1 made significantly lower scores. The effect size ({dollar}-{dollar}0.51) and chi square test supported this conclusion. The chi square test revealed significantly higher scores for Sample 2, but the z test did not. The study also found that schools used diverse practices regarding both AP classes and the change process. The study has implications for instruction, staff development, and administrative decision-making related to block scheduling.

This qualitative grounded theory study explored teachers' instructional decisions around planning and practice for technology integration after participation in professional development. The purpose of this study was to determine how a long-term hybrid professional development experience influenced, if at all, math teachers' instructional decisions to integrate The Geometer's Sketchpad into their planning and classroom practice. There are several components for effective professional development suggested in the research literature. Professional development that is sustained over long periods of time, connected to teachers' practice, and provides active engagement in learning by participating teachers' is more likely to result in effective implementation of new skills and pedagogical practices (Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin, 1995; Polly & Hannafin, 2010). The seven participants in this study all experienced a seven-month hybrid professional development that was designed using these research-recommended components. The study took place ten months after the professional development. Sources of data included classroom observations, one-on-one interviews, and written lesson plans. Data generation occurred over a three-month span of time. Data were analyzed using constant-comparative methods. A theory grounded in the data found four perceived influences on teachers' instructional decisions around planning and practice for technology integration: curriculum and district expectations; professional development; teaching practices; and internal and external factors. These four influences work together, with curriculum and district expectations being the central influence. The findings from this study have implications for educational leaders around their decisions for technology acquisitions, use expectations and design of technology-focused professional development.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether computer assisted instruction of mathematics produces significantly greater improvement in mathematics performance of low achieving ninth grade students than teaching mathematics skills without computer assisted instruction.;The sample consisted of four classes (N = 46) of ninth grade students who had registered for the course "Mathematics Nine," and whose eighth grade ITBS scores fell between the 1st and 30th national percentile. Identified students were randomly assigned to one of four instructors and one of two instructional groups (computer assisted instruction or non computer instruction). Two classes with different instructors were taught the standard 9th grade mathematics curriculum augmented with computer instructed drill and practice, simulation, and games. Two classes with different instructors were taught the standard 9th grade mathematics curriculum with the conventional (teacher directed) instructional technique without computer assisted instruction. The treatment group used 16 Apple IIe microcomputers. Treatment and control groups were taught at alternating periods 3rd through 6th for 50 minutes daily. The Iowa Test for Basic Skills mathematics subtest and the Test of Achievement and Proficiency mathematics subtest were administered to all students as pretest-posttest measures of student performance in mathematics. A system wide standard exam was administered first and second semester to assess student performance in terms of the divisions mathematic program and as multiple indicators of treatment effect.;The major findings of the study were: (1) Significant differences (p {dollar}<{dollar}.05) in total mathematics achievement gains were found between students receiving computer assisted instruction and those not receiving CAI. Students receiving CAI increased mean scores on ITBS/TAP from the 11th percentile to the 30th percentile. (2) No significant differences (p {dollar}<{dollar}.05) in computation, concepts, and problem solving achievement gains were found between students receiving computer assisted instruction and those not receiving CAI. (3) No significant differences (p {dollar}<{dollar}.05) were found in the performance of the non-computer and the computer groups on the division city-wide exams.

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In this study an interpretive learning framework that aims to measure learning on the classroom level is introduced. In order to develop and evaluate the value of the framework, a theoretical/empirical study is designed. The researcher attempted to illustrate how the proposed framework provides insights on the problem of classroom-level learning. The framework is developed by construction of connections between the current literature on science learning and Wittgenstein's language-game theory. In this framework learning is defined as change of classroom language-game or discourse. In the proposed framework, learning is measured by analysis of classroom discourse. The empirical explanation power of the framework is evaluated by applying the framework in the analysis of learning in a fifth-grade science classroom. The researcher attempted to analyze how students' colloquial discourse changed to a discourse that bears more resemblance to science discourse. The results of the empirical part of the investigation are presented in three parts: first, the gap between what students did and what they were supposed to do was reported. The gap showed that students during the classroom inquiry wanted to do simple comparisons by direct observation, while they were supposed to do tool-assisted observation and procedural manipulation for a complete comparison. Second, it was illustrated that the first attempt to connect the colloquial to science discourse was done by what was immediately intelligible for students and then the teacher negotiated with students in order to help them to connect the old to the new language-game more purposefully. The researcher suggested that these two events in the science classroom are critical in discourse change. Third, it was illustrated that through the academic year, the way that students did the act of comparison was improved and by the end of the year more accurate causal inferences were observable in classroom communication. At the end of the study, the researcher illustrates that the application of the proposed framework resulted in an improved version of the framework. The improved version of the proposed framework is more connected to the topic of science learning, and is able to measure the change of discourse in higher resolution.

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Unfortunately, for the most part, teachers do not teach the Nature of Science (NOS). Even when teachers have adequate NOS knowledge, their knowledge still does not make its way into practice. While there are various reasons for this happening, this study has isolated other, more typical, constraints to teaching in order to look more closely at the influence of personal epistemological beliefs, understandings of NOS, and their effects on practice. In an effort to minimize typical constraints of time for the teaching of NOS, a sixth grade physical science course was chosen as a way to minimize this constraint. Within this course there was a School District- mandated schedule for the teaching of NOS. This curriculum map included details of what NOS topics to teach and when to teach them. In Phase One of the study, correlational relationships between these understandings of NOS and personal epistemological beliefs were investigated. A Pearson Correlation Coefficient of 0.62 was calculated based on 28 sixth grade science teachers. In Phase Two of the research, eleven participants were chosen for a more in-depth analysis. Through the use of triangulation of interview data, classroom observations, artifact collection and survey scores to ascertain the constraints for each individual, even though few constraints could be verified that would affect instruction, only three of eleven participants taught NOS. Personal epistemological beliefs play a role in the way instruction is approached in either a constructivist or non-constructivist manner.

Inadequate student-teacher interactions in undergraduate courses have been linked to poor student performance. Researchers have noted that students' perceptions of student-teacher relationships may be an important factor related to student performance. The administration of a Mid-Atlantic community college prioritized increasing undergraduate biology student performance. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between students' biology achievement and their perceptions of interpersonal teaching behaviors and student-teacher interactions in introductory biology courses. Leary's theory on interpersonal communication and the systems communication theory of Watzlawick, Beavin, and Jackson served as the theoretical foundation. The Wubbel's Likert-scale questionnaire on student-teacher interactions was administered to 318 undergraduate biology students. Non-parametric Spearman's rank correlations revealed a significant direct correlation between students' grades and their perceptions of teachers' interpersonal teaching behaviors. The relationship between student achievement and students' perceptions of student-teacher interactions prompted the recommendation for additional study on the importance of student-teacher interactions in undergraduate programs. A recommendation for local practice included faculty development on strategies for improving student-teacher interactions. The study's implications for positive social change include increased understanding for administrators and instructors on the importance of teacher-student interactions at the community college level.