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Online learning provides secondary students with the flexibility to meet learning goals at a time, place, and pace that meets their needs. In order to be successful in online courses, students must exhibit strong levels of self-regulated learning (SRL), including time management, goal setting, and resilience. Understanding the SRL behaviors of secondary online students can help course designers, instructors, and administrators design effective learning environments and provide targeted support to help students be successful in online learning environments. This three-manuscript dissertation analyzes the course pacing behaviors of secondary students enrolled in online courses to attain insight on their self-regulated behaviors. As a proxy for understanding online self-regulated behaviors, temporal variables were examined including the average length of an online study session, the amount of time between study sessions, the average number of study session sand the overall number of study sessions for each participant. The first study investigated the relationships between student demographics and temporal behaviors in relation to their effect on the depth of student understanding on the course midterm exam. The second study explores trends in online temporal behaviors, including the consistency and frequency of engagement in the course, and how these behaviors change over time in relation to student demographics. The final article utilizes student demographics and temporal behaviors to study their effect on academic achievement, as measured by their performance on the Advanced Placement exam. Findings from these studies indicate that online pacing behavior is related to student demographics and previous academic experience while also providing insight into how these variables affect achievement. By understanding the temporal behaviors of online secondary students, personalized support can be provided to strengthen student time management and engagement to promote academic achievement.

The No Child Left Behind education act mandates that school districts develop supplemental educational service programs for students not demonstrating mathematical proficiency on state standardized math assessments. Yet there is limited understanding of issues related to supplemental educational service math programs. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate a local after school math program to offer insight on the low math achievement for economically disadvantaged students involved in the program. Constructivist theories of math reform and education for economically disadvantaged students and English language learners guided this study of 10 teachers and 15 of their students in a diverse urban elementary school in the northeastern United States. Two questions guided this research: One on the mathematical achievement of economically disadvantaged students in the local after school math program; the other on the nature of professional development for teachers of supplemental educational service programs. Data from observations and teacher interviews were analyzed using constructivist grounded theory coding procedures. Data revealed themes centered on program structures, student attributes, instructional strategies, professional collaboration, curriculum, and professional development. Findings further revealed educational communities can increase student math achievement through strategic teacher training. The final project addresses social change with the creation of a research supported action plan for teacher professional development within the local supplemental educational math program. This research is significant to school leaders in the advancement of supplemental educational service math programs for academically diverse learners.

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) have shown promise as a means to meet the challenge of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. A problem that has surfaced is the inabilty of schools to sustain PLCs. This project study examined leadership characteristics of elementary school principals in selected school districts to determine how these characteristics shape organizational culture and provide support for sustaining professional learning communities. At the center of this initiative have been the school principals and their leadership skills. The theoretical underpinnings of this study were based on the work of DuFour and DuFour, which places leadership of the principal at the forefront of successful school improvement. A mixed-methods approach with a sequential-transformative strategy was used. Quantitative data were collected by administering the Leadership Capacity School Survey to 30 elementary principals. Descriptive statistics were used to determine which of Lambert's six critical constructs were most and least commonly practiced among the schools in the study. Qualitative data gathered through a focus-group discussion were analyzed through the typological process. Quantitative and qualitative findings indicated that broad-based, skillful participation in the work of leadership (Construct 1) was the most important leadership construct to the success of sustaining PLCs. The outcome of this project study was a professional-development model that will provide knowledge and understanding of the key leadership elements needed to develop an environment for sustaining PLCs. The potential social impact of this study includes improved student achievement as a result of improved leadership by principals.

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act created new accountability for educational institutions where schools must demonstrate adequate yearly progress (AYP) by regularly increasing student achievement. Many school districts across the nation failed AYP, searched for effective teaching strategies, and used new instructional models to help, yet they continued to fail. Thousands of educational institutions turned to the learning-focused schools (LFS) model of instruction, but increases in student achievement were sporadic. The rationale for this project stemmed from inconsistent student achievement results at a local middle school while using LFS from the inception of NCLB. This project study reviewed the teaching strategy of activating students' prior knowledge at a low-socioeconomic status (SES) middle school. Theoretical foundations guiding this study included learning theory, constructivist learning, the effects of low-SES environments, instructional strategies, and the role of prior knowledge in learning. Using archival data, this ex post facto study found a statistically significant difference using an ANCOVA, F(1, 863) = 35.398, p < .000, for the research question investigating the effect on student achievement when teachers specifically activate students' prior knowledge before using the LFS model of instruction. The project is an instructional lesson plan design that activates students' prior knowledge; recommendations include implementing the project countywide. Positive social change implications include providing policy makers data on the effectiveness of activating students' prior knowledge, the long-term effectiveness of LFS, and recommendations for increasing student achievement consistently.

A recent law in a New England state allowed public schools to operate with increased flexibility and autonomy through the authorization of the creation of Innovation Schools. This project study, a program evaluation using a convergent parallel mixed methods research design, allowed for a comprehensive evaluation of the first Innovation School (IS). Activity theory, which conceptualizes change in systems involving human interaction, was the theoretical foundation of this study. The research questions focused on the efficacy of the autonomous school redesign model in involving stakeholders in participatory decision making, improving teacher collaboration, expanding teacher empowerment, and increasing student achievement on a state standardized assessment. Descriptive and statistical analyses of a preestablished survey on teacher empowerment were used to collect data, and student achievement was examined via parametric statistical analyses of standardized state achievement assessments of 3 rd, 4th and 5th grade students. Independent and paired t-test analyses documented significant increases in teacher empowerment and student achievement test scores associated with the IS model. Qualitative data, focus group and individual interviews, were analyzed through open coding and deriving summative themes of stakeholder perceptions to extend the quantitative results. The combined findings demonstrated that the IS model significantly impacted teacher empowerment and student achievement. The implications for social change lies in giving stakeholders a voice and decision making authority. As a result, schools can become organizations where stakeholders, regardless of race, color, national origin, or educational attainment, become responsible for issues related to the teaching and learning of the entire school community.

Teacher attrition compromises efforts to provide a quality teacher in every classroom, and attrition brings high financial and organizational costs to school districts. Yet, there are few studies on retention of veteran teachers. Within a framework of economic, organization, and attrition theories, the purpose of this study was to provide a clearer focus on factors that contribute to the retention of veteran teachers using Q-methodology. The independent variables were 49 participants from a large school district in the southwest United States. The dependent variable was the Q-sample of multiple factors. Using previous literature, a concourse was developed. The P-sample of veteran teachers sorted various retention perception statements into categories of most definitely influencing to most definitely not influencing their retention. Factor analysis including varimax rotation was completed. Four factors emerged defining groups of teachers and what influences retention: empowerment with emotional support, family lifestyle with intellectual growth, family lifestyle with serving students, serving students with physical support. Interfactor retention elements that positively or negatively affected retention included standardized testing, time challenges, administrator, empowerment, family lifestyle, serving students, adequate facilities and materials, and intellectual enjoyment. Recommendations for action included modifying standardized testing; providing supports for time, family lifestyle, and disadvantaged students; encouraging empowerment through a supportive administrator; and implementing further research clarifying veteran teacher retention. Positive social change may occur if local, district, state, and national policies address retention factors to provide better retention of teachers for increased stability and student learning with decreased financial and emotional costs.

The purpose of this study was to determine the beliefs of Tennessee principals and teachers in relation to national standards and national goals. This was a descriptive study, which utilized a survey methodology. The population under study was limited to 232 principals and 268 teachers randomly selected from the 1992-1993 membership of the Tennessee Education Association. The instrument, developed by the researcher for this study, was the National Standards/National Goals Questionnaire. The 32 item instrument was designed to determine the level of belief of national goals and national standards. Descriptive statements were used to analyze the data gathered from the 32 position statements, with the t-test for independent groups and a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). When the overall F-test was significant, a Student-Newman Keuls Post-Hoc Multiple Comparisons Test was used to identify pairwise differences. The descriptive analysis of the 11 null hypotheses warranted the following conclusions: (1) The key to the success of the national standards/national goals program lies within the hands of the local community. (2) National goals will enforce the idea that Tennessee students can learn as well and as much as any student in the world. (3) National goals would cause school curricula to be redesigned. (4) The school system's goals must be in line with national goals. (5) Educators have a high level of commitment to national standards and national goals. (6) National standards would have a positive influence on the quality of public education. (7) National standards would enhance instructional improvement. (8) National standards would not decrease paperwork for educators. (9) National standards would offer a vision of excellence and raise the expectations of all children. (10) By the year 2000, schools would not be free of drugs and violence and offer a disciplined environment conducive to learning.