The following study utilizes data from the High School and Beyond Study in order to predict mathematics achievement using both student characteristics and school level characteristics. Utilizing Hierarchical Linear Modeling, this study extends the body of literature by exploring how race, socio-economic status, and gender, as well as the percentage of minority students in a school, whether or not the school is Catholic, the proportion of students in the academic track, and the mean socioeconomic status of the school all affect mathematics achievement. Through this methodology, it was possible to see the direct effects of both student level and school level variables on achievement, as well as the cross-level interaction of all of these variables. Findings suggest that there are discrepancies in how different types of students achieve, as well as how those students achieve in varying contexts. Many of the variables were statistically significant in their effect on mathematics achievement. Implications for this research are discussed and considerations for future research are presented.

The primary purpose of the study was to examine scholastic achievement of fourth and fifth grade students in science and social studies in schools which had been organized in self-contained or departmentalized formats.A secondary purpose was to assess teachers' attitudes toward departmentalization at the elementary level.Fourth and fifth grade students in a large Indiana school corporation were the population. Random samples of 50 fourth grade students and 50 fifth grade students were drawn from schools organized in departmentalized and self-contained formats.Social studies and science test scores, subscales of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, were analyzed using a one-way multivariate analysis of variance. Two null hypotheses were developed to test the analysis of the students' achievements.Teachers judgments about departmentalization were assessed through the use of a questionnaire with findings reported in percentage of response tables.Findings1. Fourth grade self-contained students achieved better on the social studies measure, but showed no difference on the science measure.2. There was no significant difference in achievement on either measure for the fifth grade students.3. Teacher responses stressed that departmentalization did not meet the emotional needs of students as well as the self-contained classroom.4. Teacher responses emphasized the key factor in impacting students was the teacher, not the organizational structure of the classroom.

Concurrent and prospective relationships between symptoms of depression, anxiety, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and conduct disorder (CD) and academic achievement were examined in a large sample of Canadian children. Students in Grade 5 (N = 715) completed the depression and anxiety subscales of the Behaviour Assessment System for Children – Second Edition. Parents reported on their child’s symptoms of ADHD and CD using the Brief Child and Family Phone Interview. Academic achievement was measured using teacher-rated learning skills and students’ grade point average (GPA) from their Ontario Student Record (OSR) in fifth grade and again in sixth grade (N = 627). Symptoms of depression, anxiety, ADHD, and CD were significantly negatively correlated with academic achievement at Time 1 and Time 2. After controlling for child’s sex, household income, maternal education, and days absent, children’s mental health problems accounted for an additional 12% and 11% of the variability in their Time 1 mean ratings of learning skills and GPA, respectively. Only symptoms of ADHD predicted Time 2 GPA (1% of the variance) after controlling for Time 1 GPA and other sociodemographic variables. Findings highlight the unique contribution of mental health problems in predicting academic achievement and point to the need to promote children’s mental health in schools.

Rothbaum, Weisz, and Snyder's (1982) dual-process model of control proposed that in addition to attempts to change one's environment (primary control, PC) or psychologically adjust to one's circumstances (secondary control, SC), the higher-order capacity to alternate between these processes in congruence with performance (optimization) served to foster development in achievement settings. The present five-phase longitudinal study conducted over an academic year explored how college students (n = 568) shift between PC and SC over time in response to actual performance feedback, as well as the differential effectiveness of congruent emphasis shifts for development based on the perceived ability to shift in a strategic manner. Dependent measures included academic achievement (course test scores), motivation (achievement orientation, perceived success and value, expectations), emotions (enjoyment, anxiety, boredom), health status (global health, illness symptoms), and overall adjustment (perceived stress, self-esteem, depression). Hypotheses were evaluated using phase-specific and cross-lagged structural equation models assessing moderation effects for perceived congruence ability. Results showed that students shift toward PC after success and toward SC following failure, and suggest an elaborated theoretical model of how PC and SC contribute to beliefs and behaviour involving strategic and congruent emphasis shifts. These findings also demonstrate that some individuals better recognize when this behaviour is most effective for their performance and well-being and strategically make congruent emphasis shifts to improve their subsequent development. In sum, this study highlights the benefits of one's ability to make strategic emphasis shifts between PC and SC in an academic achievement setting, and provides empirical support for this effective yet relatively unexplored facet of Rothbaum et al.'s model. / May 2006

Concurrent and prospective relationships between symptoms of depression, anxiety, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and conduct disorder (CD) and academic achievement were examined in a large sample of Canadian children. Students in Grade 5 (N = 715) completed the depression and anxiety subscales of the Behaviour Assessment System for Children – Second Edition. Parents reported on their child’s symptoms of ADHD and CD using the Brief Child and Family Phone Interview. Academic achievement was measured using teacher-rated learning skills and students’ grade point average (GPA) from their Ontario Student Record (OSR) in fifth grade and again in sixth grade (N = 627). Symptoms of depression, anxiety, ADHD, and CD were significantly negatively correlated with academic achievement at Time 1 and Time 2. After controlling for child’s sex, household income, maternal education, and days absent, children’s mental health problems accounted for an additional 12% and 11% of the variability in their Time 1 mean ratings of learning skills and GPA, respectively. Only symptoms of ADHD predicted Time 2 GPA (1% of the variance) after controlling for Time 1 GPA and other sociodemographic variables. Findings highlight the unique contribution of mental health problems in predicting academic achievement and point to the need to promote children’s mental health in schools.

The purpose of this research is to describe the relative factors among motivation, professional ability and the sense of achievement for clinical nurses. The research method is the purposive sampling. The target sample is the 160 clinical nurses in a teaching hospital in Hsinchu County. The recycling effective questionnaire 145, the effective questionnaire recycling rate is 90.63%, the questionnaire information has confirmed after the return analytic method, descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests , ANOVA (analysis of variance)¡APearson Correlation and regression analyses, obtains the following conclusion the clinical nurses care about the inside motivation most. Among the items, educational training and communication ability are placed importance to, the research ability is the lowest. The sense of achievement is the highest and the enough authorization from the supervisors is the lowest. It appeared obvious differences among age, education level, seniority, status and departments. Inside and outside motivation affect the clinical nurses¡¦ sense of achievement. The suggestion of this research is that the supervisors should pay more attention to the design of the motivation, develop the standard scale to match the clinical nurses¡¦ motivation, the promotion system, and the educational training to increase their the sense of achievement, the caring quality and lower about turnover rate.

The current study utilized structural equation modeling to test an indirect model of the effects of Teacher-Student Relationship Quality (TSRQ) on reading and math achievement via the indirect effects of TSRQ on engagement over the entire grade school period (grades 1-5). The use of this design allowed for the testing of reciprocal causal pathways and stationarity effects across the first five years of post-kindergarten schooling. It was hypothesized that structural relationships between TSRQ, engagement and achievement would vary across the grade school period with early experiences with teachers influencing students’ patterns of engagement which would become stable, influencing future teacher-student relationships and long-term achievement. Additionally, muti-group analyses were utilized to determine if gender or ethnicity impacts the fit of the structural model. Results indicated that the effect of TSRQ on engagement is invariant across time. For both math and reading target outcomes, the null hypothesis that effects are invariant (i.e., constant) across time could not be rejected. Additionally, results did not indicate that gender or ethnic group membership impacted the structural fit of the model. The current sample was limited to elementary school students and may not have provided a sufficient age span to investigate the developmental trends in teacher-student relationships that were predicted. Additionally, while the influence of TSRQ on engagement and achievement remains constant, the process through which TSRQ influences achievement may vary at different developmental periods. Study limitations and implications were also discussed.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible relationship between the level of implementation of the middle school concept and student achievement. The level of implementation of the middle school concept was determined by the Texas Assessment of Middle Level Schools (TAMLS) which was completed by a random sample of middle school principals from across Texas. Student achievement and selected demographic data were obtained from the Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) reports on the various campuses as published on the Texas Education Agency (TEA, 2003a) website. Student achievement, school size, and demographic variables were investigated using frequency counts, mean scores, standard deviations, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Pearson product–moment correlations across independent variable categories. The independent variable categories were the five criteria and the total score as rated by principals on the TAMLS survey. Major research findings of this study include: 1. Relationships were found between the TAMLS criteria of developmental responsiveness and teacher preparation and professional development with student achievement across all of the research questions examined. 2. Relationships were found between school size, the TAMLS criteria and student achievement. 3. Relationships were found between student ethnicity, the TAMLS criteria, and student achievement. The study results with regard to the relationship between the level of implementation of the middle school concept, taken in its totality, are inconclusive. This finding is supported in a review of the literature. Based on the findings of the study, researcher recommendations include: 1. Middle schools involved in reform efforts to improve student achievement should focus their efforts in the areas of developmental responsiveness and teacher professional development. 2. Principals of large middle schools (n ≥ 801 students) should consider the implementation of the middle school concept as a design strategy when reform efforts are undertaken.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Education." Includes bibliographical references (p. 120-123).