<p> When applied to mathematics education, manipulatives help students to visualize mathematical concepts and apply them to everyday situations. Interest in mathematics instruction has increased dramatically over the past two decades with the introduction of virtual manipulatives, as opposed to the concrete manipulatives that have been employed for centuries. This quasi-experimental study proposed to explain the relationship between concrete and virtual manipulatives when used in a seventh-grade mathematics classroom. Using students' mathematics composite scores on standardized and teacher-created assessments, it compared the effectiveness of using concrete manipulatives alone versus using a combination of concrete and virtual manipulatives. The foundational theory of the study is that when students can visualize a mathematical concept in action, a deeper level of understanding occurs. </p><p> The results of this mixed methods study consisting of 44 seventh-grade students (22 in each group) indicated that coupling concrete manipulatives with virtual manipulatives led to a measureable change in mathematics composite scores. One recommendation is that mathematics educators incorporate both concrete manipulatives and virtual manipulatives into their mathematics curriculum. As the results of this year-long study indicated, the combination of these two types of manipulatives enabled the students in this group to accomplish a measureable change in tested mathematical ability. Educators need to offer their students lessons that are authentic and interesting in order to hold students' attention as they attempt to grasp the concepts. The different options also provide students with the needed differentiated instruction to suit their varied learning styles.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate the impact a robotics curriculum might have on the experiences and perceptions of middle school girls in two California classrooms. The research found that middle school girls in two different California classrooms felt that their experiences with robotics were personalized experiences that were positive and rewarding. Additionally, the girls felt that robotics was a curriculum that they could relate to real-life, and it was a curriculum that was relevant to their lives. The research found that girls had perceptions about STEM fields that remained sex-biased, and they perceived that certain occupations were more geared toward woman than men and vice versa. Both teachers provided learning environments that were free from sexist constructs.</p>

The current study explored factors believed to influence middle school students' willingness to participate in hypothetical school-based conflict management programs. A seven-phase process was used to carefully construct written vignettes depicting different types of school-based conflict management programs (e.g., Skillstreaming, Peacemaking, and Outdoor Adventure) and different types of program leaders (e.g., teachers, school counselors, social workers, and youth care workers). The Conflict Management Intervention Participation Scale (CMIPS) was also constructed to assess students' responses to the vignettes. In an initial study involving 150 middle school students, responses to the CMIPS were factor analyzed. Two valid and reliable unique factors comprised of 14 total Liken items were retained: likelihood of joining and following the directions of a conflict management program.To test the main hypotheses that CMIPS responses would be highest for students exposed to vignettes depicting Outdoor Adventure conflict management programs not led by teachers, an additional 275 sixth grade students were recruited. These students were randomly assigned to one of the twelve vignettes constricted for this project and were then asked to complete the CMIPS. A 4 x 3 Between Subjects MANOVA was employed to test the hypotheses. No significant results, however, were obtained. Regardless of program type or group leader, participants did not differ in their reported likelihood of joining or following the directions of the conflict management program presented. Limitations of this project as well as implications for future research on school-based conflict management programs are offered. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

<p> This doctoral project is a pilot study to assess the effectiveness of a church discipleship co-op designed to convey a biblical worldview to middle and high school students enrolled in charter homeschooling in Southern California. Research by the Nehemiah Institute indicated that 90% of Christian families in the United States send their children to forms of education that are not likely to produce a biblical worldview. Research by The Barna Group, LifeWay Research, and The National Study of Youth and Religion indicated that the vast majority of church-attending children transition into adulthood without a biblical worldview and disengage from church and Christianity as adults. Research by America's Research Group, Probe Ministries, and the Nehemiah Institute indicated that educational experiences in middle and high school determine the worldview of most children raised in Christian homes.</p><p> To address this problem some Christian families and churches are turning to public charter schools, as the fastest growing form of education in California and many other states. However, constitutional and state law restrictions forbid charter schools from presenting a biblical worldview in classes or curricula. The participants in this project combined church and family resources to provide supplemental educational experiences to convey a biblical worldview to middle and high school students while they received a public school education by enrolling in charter homeschool.</p>

<p> For all that is revealed in the research literature identifying and describing traits and behaviors exhibited by principals who make a positive difference in student learning, many schools are still failing. With all we know, how does this continue to happen? The goal of this study was to develop theory to expand and enrich the existing research by defining and describing what three successful principals&mdash;a middle school and two junior high schools&mdash;did to turn their failing schools around and positively influence the levels of student achievement in their respective schools. </p><p> The significant contribution this study adds to the field of educational research is its identification of five themes or categories of leadership implemented by the principal in each of the schools studied that were credited by the participants as causes for their schools' successful turnarounds. These five categories&mdash;expectations and accountability, leadership, responding to student needs, climate and culture, and instruction&mdash;and their indicators were consistently identified by the participants in all schools as reasons why their schools were successful in improving student performance levels and each school's achievement status. Clearly, the five categories were interrelated and interdependent upon each other and thus, equally critical to the success the schools experienced.</p>

<p> This quantitative study was designed to be an analysis of the relationship between school climate and student achievement through the creation of an index of climate-factors (SES, discipline, attendance, and school size) for which publicly available data existed. The index that was formed served as a proxy measure of climate; it was analyzed through both a hierarchical clustering method and a multiple regression.</p><p> The data used for the study was drawn from a sample of 335 middle schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and student achievement was measured using pass percentage rates for each school on the Virginia SOL tests in each of the four tested content areas. Through analysis of the data generated through both the cluster analysis and the multiple regression process, a clearer picture of the relationship between school climate and student achievement was revealed. Five clusters of schools emerged from the cluster analysis, ranging from highly negative to highly positive in terms of climate. Findings indicated that for each of the four core content areas, there was a significant difference in the mean achievement of each cluster; these findings supported the general hypothesis of the study that as climate becomes more positive student achievement rises. Further, the multiple regression analysis supported the findings of the cluster analysis. With regard to the variables used as climate factors, both the cluster analysis and the multiple regression analysis showed that school size had the least impact on achievement whereas SES had the greatest impact. In both analyses, the climate factors reflected a more significant relationship to student achievement when examined collectively.</p>

<p> This study examined the multilevel factors that influence mathematics and English performance on the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLEs) among primary seven pupils (i.e., equivalent to the United States [U.S.] 7^th graders) in Uganda. Existing student state test data from the Wakiso District were obtained. In addition, a newly created Teacher Quality Measure (TQM) was used to collect teacher data from the same district. Pupil data from primary seven (7^th grade) and the TQM data were analyzed via Rasch Analysis, Analysis of Covariance, and Hierarchical Linear Modeling to investigate the following two main objectives: (1) Developing a behavioral frequency measure of teacher quality for Ugandan teachers, (2) Examining the relationship between pupil-, teacher-, and school-level factors on pupil achievement on the PLEs in Uganda.</p><p> Specific to the first objective, it was found that a psychometrically sound measure of teacher quality can be developed. The results rendered a 38-question measure focusing on four domains: (1) Teacher Planning and Preparation, (2) Classroom Environment, (3) Teacher Instruction, and (4) Teacher Professionalism. </p><p> The second objective found that there are no significant differences between boys and girls on English achievement controlling for prior ability in English. However, there were significant differences between the sexes on mathematics achievement, with boys having higher scores. Additionally, the results showed that there is a significant relationship between student SES (i.e., boarding and day schools) and student achievement, with higher SES students (i.e., boarding schools) having higher achievement. It was also found that teacher TQM scores were a significant predictor of student PLE mathematics and English test scores, with higher teacher quality rendering higher student mathematics and English scores. There was also a significant difference between school types (i.e., urban and rural) on student achievement in mathematics, with rural schools (i.e., lower SES schools) having higher means compared to urban schools. </p><p> Future research should continue to define the network of relationships between pupil-, teacher-, and school-level factors and pupil achievement, and maintain the measure revision and validation process of the TQM. Assessment is becoming commonplace in the classroom in Uganda, and the need to examine the influence of the teacher on pupil achievement is in high demand. Results from this study can provide insight into the disparities involving sex, student SES, and school SES that influence pupil achievement in Uganda. The findings also support administrative demands for more efficient ways to monitor teacher quality, and in turn, meet educational standards and increase student achievement. </p>

<p>The need for accurate information about the achievement of students whose military parents are deployed to a war zone or whose military parents are eligible although not currently deployed to a war zone is important in order to ensure that we are providing for the educational wellbeing of these children as their parents defend our nations freedoms. The purpose of this posttest-only comparative efficacy study was to determine the achievement outcomes of sixth-grade students with a military parent deployed to a war zone (<i>n</i> = 10) or sixth-grade students with a military parent not deployed to a war zone (<i>n</i> = 10) compared to same school students whose parents have no military affiliation (<i>n</i> = 10). The study&rsquo;s dependent measures were Academic achievement as measured by end of sixth-grade (1) Nebraska State Accountability Assessment Test-Math, (2) Nebraska State Accountability Assessment Test-Reading, (3) Measure of Academic Performance-Math, (4) Measure of Academic Performance-Reading, (5) Research School District&rsquo;s Descriptive Writing Assessment for (a) Ideas and Content, (b) Organization, (c) Voice, (d) Word Choice, (e) Sentence Fluency, and (f) Conventions, and (6) Research School District&rsquo;s Essential Objectives for (a) Language, (b) Math, (c) Science, (d) Social Studies, (e) Health, (f) Physical Education, and (g) Music. The overall pattern of end of sixth-grade statistical equipoise between group comparisons indicated that the goal of educational wellbeing for these students of military families, and control group students alike, was being met and was reflected in measured proficient and advanced level performance requiring students&rsquo; day-to-day engagement at school and support at home. </p>

The Greater Victoria School District has undergone a reconfiguration to include middle schools in their public education system. This reconfiguration has students from grades six to eight learning in a new setting. Cedar Hill Middle school is an example of one of the middle schools that is now in its eighth year of existence. The school is the centre of the learning community that is made up of students, staff and parents. As part of an ongoing review and reflection, this research used an Appreciative Inquiry methodology to try to identify the strengths found within the learning community. Through a dialogic interview process, a sample of staff, parents and most importantly students were interviewed to collect the best experiences that they had experienced as a part of the learning community. The data was open coded to identify best experiences, categorize them, and then identify the themes or relationships between the experiences of the different members of the learning community. These relationships were then used to create a set of powerful propositions that can be used to potentially guide the growth of the Cedar Hill learning community. Through this process two main themes emerged. The first was the importance of connections within the system and the second was the need for diversity within the system. This supported the assumption that the learning community was indeed a complex system and reinforced the idea that Appreciative Inquiry is a tool that can be used to support and develop complex systems. / Graduate

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