Engagement in mathematics lessons has a positive impact on student numeracy achievement. Yet special education students have experienced a significant drop in mathematics achievement from one year to the next, and this gap continues to grow. This mixed methods study examined the extent to which equal opportunities, similar to those offered to regular education students, are provided to special education students. It contributes to the body of knowledge regarding level of engagement of regular and special education students, the impact of their increased participation and engagement on numeracy achievement, and the ways to increase their level of engagement. Grounded in Kamii's theory of constructivism, Vygotsky's notion of the zone of proximal development, and Schon's reform of teaching and learning, the research questions addressed the level of participation of special and regular education students, the impact of increased engagement, and ways in which teachers can increase the level of engagement during lessons. Utilizing a concurrent nested strategy, the study utilized a sample of 375 students. The qualitative portion focused on text analysis of interview transcripts, and the quantitative portion focused on teacher/student interactions for each group. Results indicated that special education students are not as engaged in numeracy lessons, which may hinder their numeracy achievement. Findings revealed that special education students are being denied more than one-third of their deserved engagement time. Implementing more effective teaching strategies is recommended as a means to increase levels of engagement. Educators in every role may benefit from the results of this study. Social justice and positive social change is an urgent need for them in terms of quality of service.

Research examining instruction in geometry and standardized tests suggests that students have difficulty grasping geometry concepts and developing problem solving skills. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the use of inquiry-based strategies in a geometry class and achievement on the end of course test (EOCT) and to analyze qualitatively the implementation of inquiry-based instruction. Embedded in the theoretical framework of constructivism, inquiry-based instruction gives students skills to become independent learners. Addressing an issue in mathematics education, the primary research question focused on how to improve scores on a standardized geometry test. This mixed methods study utilized the t test to analyze the EOCT scores of 2 groups of geometry students in a Title I school. The results indicated that students taught using inquiry-based instruction scored higher on the EOCT. Lesson plans, field notes, observation notes and other artifacts were analyzed using categorical aggregation. The results indicated that the predominant instructional strategy in the implementation process was guided inquiry and that formal instruction included models of the inquiry process. Social change will be impacted by pointing to instructional strategies that will help students develop positive attitudes to problem solving through inquiry and increased understanding of the mathematical content. The development of critical thinking skills in problem solving will contribute to success in high school, in college and in the workplace.

Most research on Cognitive Load Theory (Sweller, 1988) has uncovered many instructional design considerations for learning complex tasks. Additionally, the Community of Inquiry (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000) framework describes many of the learning experiences in online education. A gap existed in the literature for investigating cognitive load over the duration of a college algebra course and for investigating the relationship between cognitive load and cognitive presence. This research study has addressed this gap by investigating cognitive load and cognitive presence in an online and face-to-face college algebra course. The results of this study revealed that face-to-face students earned statistically significant higher final course grades and homework grades than the online students. The face-to-face math course was slightly more efficient because it produced learners who exerted similar cognitive load as learners in the online course but the learners in the face-to-face earned higher performance score. Online discussion prompts that ask student to apply their solution or defend their solution engaged students in cognitive presence differently. When students were prompted to apply their solution to a real world scenario, most students reached resolution in their initial posts, but they were often not cognitively present in their follow-up posts. When students were prompted to provide a defense of their solution, most of the posts demonstrated cognitive presence, but not as many individual students reached resolution. Additionally, students progressed through the stages of cognitive presence when an instructor asked them a specific question about their math problem or real life scenario in a timely manner. When instructors post questions to their students that directly ask for an application of their hypothesis or an explanation how they arrived at their hypothesis, students can reach the highest stage of cognitive presence. When instructors post messages that reach the highest stage of cognitive presence, students do not post messages that reach the highest stage of cognitive presence. Lastly, this study did not find a strong linear relationship between cognitive presence and cognitive load.

Technology has advanced greatly over the past few decades and the surge in the industry has impacted the workplace. As a result, K-12 education has worked to integrate 21st century skills into curriculum. Many times this is through STEM classes. This study examined the impact technology had on gifted and talented students’ achievement and creative construction. During a unit on Transformations, a control group received traditional instruction, while an experimental group received traditional instruction with an added technology component. A pre and posttest were given to both groups to measure student success with the geometry content. Results indicated that the technology component did not have a major impact on student achievement. Both the control and experimental group showed mastery of the standards and concepts. The technology component did increase students’ use of correct content vocabulary.

This dissertation study documents in-depth the exploration of the Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) between the Dayton Regional STEM School (DRSS) and their industry partners as well as the establishment of a framework for evaluating and assessing PPPs. The public-private partnership agreements were studied in order to answer the over-arching research question: How is an effective public-private partnership established, assessed, and evaluated in education? A descriptive case study methodology was used to study DRSS' public-private partnership agreements to determine if goals and objectives were established and whether or not the partnerships met those goals and objectives. This case study also included the development and testing of a proposed evaluation framework that will allow for consistent, systematic inquiry that can produce defensible assertions regarding the assessment and evaluation of public-private partnerships in education. Results of the case study support the findings that utilization of an evaluation framework can serve to make public-private partnerships more successful. Results also indicated that establishment of goals and objectives enable effective evaluation for informal partnerships but could not be definitively stated for formal partnerships due to the lack of data points. The data from this case study revealed many emergent themes that should be considered in the development of future public-private partnerships. Overall this study contributes to the growing body of knowledge for public-private partnerships in education.

The purpose of this study was to field test a two-tiered instrument including multiple-choice and short answer tasks to assess college students’ ideas and level of understanding in genetics. The instrument was constructed from previously tested assessment tasks and findings from the current research literature. Ninety-seven freshmen enrolled in a biology lab course were surveyed. Test validity and reliability were measured using Chronbach coefficients. Multiple-choice and short answer responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics to identify frequencies of answer selections. Written responses were independently evaluated using a five-point scoring rubric by three researchers to identify common misconceptions revealed in students’ written responses. A purposeful stratified sample of 15 students was selected across low, middle, and high performance on the instrument for individual interviews. Findings revealed that undergraduates have a variety of ideas concerning gene concepts. While the instrument revealed student conceptual difficulties, there also were issues with previously tested survey items. The findings suggest students possess superficial understanding regarding transcription and translation. Students also hold hybrid conceptual models of gene structure and function. The paper presents a critique of the instrument and discusses the broader impacts to teaching and learning college biology. Recommendations for improving assessment techniques also are discussed.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has become an emphasized component of PreK-12 education in the United States. The US is struggling to produce enough science, mathematics, and technology experts to meet its national and global needs, and the mean scores of science and mathematics students are not meeting the expected levels desired by our leaders (Hossain & Robinson, 2011). In an effort to improve achievement scores in mathematics and science, school districts must consider many components that can contribute to the development of a classroom where students are engaged and growing academically. Computer technology (CT) for student use is a popular avenue for school districts to pursue in their goal to attain higher achievement. The purpose of this study is to examine the use of iPads in a one-to-one setting, where every student has his own device 24/7, to determine the effects, if any, on academic achievement in the areas of mathematics and science. This comparison study used hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to examine three middle schools in a private school district. Two of the schools have implemented a one-to-one iPad program with their sixth through eighth grades and the third school uses computers on limited occasions in the classroom and in a computer lab setting. The questions addressed were what effect, if any, do the implementation of a one-to-one iPad program and a teacher’s perception of his use of constructivist teaching strategies have on student academic achievement in the mathematics and science middle school classrooms. The research showed that although the program helped promote the use of constructivist activities through the use of technology, the one-to-one iPad initiative had no effect on academic achievement in the middle school mathematics and science classrooms.

Science achievement of U.S. students has lagged significantly behind other nations; educational reformers have suggested science engagement may enhance this critical measure. The 2006 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) was science-focused and measured science achievement along with nine aspects of science engagement: science self-efficacy, science self-concept, enjoyment of science, general interest in learning science, instrumental motivation for science, future-oriented science motivation, general value of science, personal value of science, and science-related activities. I used multilevel modeling techniques to address both aspects of science engagement and science achievement as outcome variables in the context of student background and school characteristics. Treating aspects of science engagement as outcome variables provided tests for approaches for their enhancement; meanwhile, treating science achievement as the outcome variable provided tests for the influence of the aspects of science engagement on science achievement under appropriate controls. When aspects of science engagement were treated as outcome variables, gender and father’s SES had frequent (significant) influences, as did science teaching strategies which focused on applications or models and hands-on activities over-and-above influences of student background and other school characteristics. When science achievement was treated as the outcome variable, each aspect of science engagement was significant, and eight had medium or large effect sizes (future-oriented science motivation was the exception). The science teaching strategy which involved hands-on activities frequently enhanced science achievement over-and-above influences of student background and other school characteristics. Policy recommendations for U.S. science educators included enhancing eight aspects of science engagement and implementing two specific science teaching strategies (focus on applications or models and hands-on activities). Focused implementation of these research findings could enhance both science engagement and science achievement of U.S. students. I identified five key limitations of my research project: the age of the dataset, the lack of racial/ethnic identifiers, the low proportion of student-level variance accounted for by multilevel models with aspects of science engagement as outcome variables, the lack of class-level measures, and the lack of inclusion of students’ epistemological and fixed/flexible beliefs. These limitations provide opportunities for further investigations into these critical issues in science education.

An Evaluation of Math Assessment Policy Process in a Southwestern School District by Alicia Taber O'Brien EdS, Walden University, 2011 MA, Western Governors University, 2004 BS, New Mexico State University, 1994 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Teacher Leadership Walden University September 2015 This project study addressed the lack of evaluation of a math assessment policy in a rural elementary school district in the southwestern United States. This district implemented a math assessment policy in the spring of 2005, yet no evaluation had been conducted to determine whether the policy and its continued implementation were meeting the intended outcomes. Two conceptual frameworks that drove the study were Sabatier's theories of policy process and Bardach's eightfold path to policy analysis. Using interviews of the district's 3 K-12 math teachers and 5 administrators who had proximity to the math assessment policy, this case study explored how the math assessment policy was implemented, as well as whether the policy had met the goals it was originally created to address. Data were deconstructed by coding and then reconstructed in order to create a thick description of the findings. A review of local media documents was also used to illustrate the community's response and reaction to the local district's assessment policies. The 5 themes that developed from analysis of the interview data focused on uncertainty in the ranks, sharing power, collaborating among the mathematics disciplines, policy evolution, and policy outcomes. The results presented in the evaluation report showed that administrators believed the policy was achieving its goals but teachers did not. The evaluation included an executive summary with recommendations to facilitate better communication about the policy throughout the district. Positive social change implications resulting from the evaluation of the math assessment policy include changing the decision-making process at the local district from a top-down model to include more input from practitioners in order to create policies that maximize student success and teacher support.

The technology principle in the Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM, 2000) states that technology plays an important role in how teachers teach mathematics and in how students learn mathematics. The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed-methods study was to examine the impact of interactive applets on students’ understanding of parameter changes to parent functions. Students in the treatment classes were found to have statistically significantly higher posttest scores than students in the control classes. Although the data analysis showed a statistically significant difference between classes on procedural understanding, no statistically significant difference was found with regard to conceptual understanding. Student and teacher interviews provided insight on how and why the use of applets helped or hindered students’ understanding of parameter changes to parent functions.