The 1989 Teacher Expectations and Student Achievement (TESA) study analyzed whether students perceived as low achievers, having been taught by TESA-trained instructors in the Metropolitan School District (MSD) of Warren Township over a three-year period, achieved significantly (p < .05) higher academic gain than a similar control group of students not taught by TESA-trained instructors as measured by the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS).Federal Judge S. Hugh Dillin, in 1971, found the Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) system to be racially segregated in violation of the Constitution. The ruling indicated that the school system was denying equal opportunity to black children because of race. Following ten years of review and appeals to higher courts, one-way busing of black students from IPS to six suburban school districts began in the fall of 1981 in Marion County, including the MSD of Warren Township. Some of the greatest concerns for one-way busing included the steps being taken to ensure fair treatment and full academic opportunity for all children involved in desegregation.As a result of the desegregation order, the MSD of Warren Township and several other Indianapolis suburban school systems adopted the TESA staff development program. TESA is an intervention program designed to encourage non-discriminatory behavior toward all students in the classroom in order to increase academic performance.The original TESA research was conducted in 1974 by Sam Kerman and Mary Martin in school districts in Los Angeles, California. This 1989 TESA study covered five school years from 1982-1983 through 1986-1987, and followed the progress of 102 students through three consecutive years of being taught by a TESA-trained teacher, or a teacher not trained in TESA skills, in 246 classrooms.A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated that neither group (TESA or other) or race (black or other) were found to be statistically significant in improving students' academic achievements on the CTBS. Although some academic gains were noted for students taught by TESA-trained teachers over a three-year period, the gains were not statistically significant. TESA continues to be a staff development program many school systems support, but perhaps the interest should not include the expectation that low achieving students will significantly improve academic achievement.

Risk factors tend to be negatively associated with developmental outcomes such as academic achievement and language skills. Promotive factors, on the other hand, may foster resilience in at-risk children. Some children, such as children with intellectual disabilities, experience relatively more risks than other children do. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of risks, adaptive behavior, and an intervention on the language and reading growth of children with intellectual abilities over the course of a yearlong reading intervention in which they were participants. The results suggested that, on average, risks were negatively associated and adaptive behaviors were positively associated with initial language and reading scores. Additionally, participants evidenced significant progress on their language and reading scores over the course of the intervention, but neither adaptive behavior nor risk was related to this growth, which may suggest that students from differing backgrounds and with differing levels of adaptive skill can profit from high-quality reading instruction.

Self-concept, or feelings about oneself, encompasses various areas including social and academic domains and has been suggested to be a predictor and mediator of other outcomes (Bryne, 1996). In this study, the relationships between achievement, intelligence scores, and self-concept in children with mild intellectual disabilities were examined. Self-concept and WISC verbal intelligence scores evidenced significant relationships. Additionally, relationships were demonstrated between gains in achievement and higher ratings of self-concept. These results suggest that relationships exist between intelligence, achievement, and self-concept in elementary school children with MID. Specifically, a positive relationship was demonstrated between achievement gains and self-concept. Associations between intelligence and self-concept also were demonstrated, where higher intelligence scores were related to both lower nonacademic self-concept and higher cognitive self-concept.

The present study explored the prevalence and patterns of nonparental social support and investigated the effect of such support for 363 ethnically diverse elementary and middle school students. Using a prospective design, the study examined the effect of the availability of significant nonparental adult support as well as the effect of learning and affective support on students' academic achievement (reading and math) and academic outcomes (academic competence beliefs, classroom engagement, and school belonging), controlling for the baseline levels of functioning, cognitive ability, and demographic variables. The main and interactive effects of sex, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status were also examined. Furthermore, the study investigated the moderating effect of middle school transition on the relationship between the support variables and outcomes. A large majority of young adolescents in the current study reported having a significant nonparental adult or natural mentor. There was no racial or ethnic difference in the availability of natural mentors. A sex difference was found, with more female students reporting having such an adult. Extended family members were most frequently nominated as natural mentors by all students, but there was a statistically significant ethnic difference with more Hispanic and African American youths nominating extended family members than Caucasian students. Furthermore, 35% of natural adult mentors named by youth were employed in helping professions, more than in any other employment category, and nearly half of these adults were teachers. The availability of natural mentors had statistically significant and positive effects on female students' math achievement and both male and female students' reading achievement. The provision of learning and affective support from these adults exhibited additive effects on students' teacher-reported classroom engagement and interactive effects on student-reported academic competence beliefs and school belonging. These findings were often qualified by sex and in some instances ethnicity. Furthermore, there was some support for the moderating effect of middle school transition; however, the effect was in a negative direction for students who had recently transitioned to middle school. Study limitations and implications for formal mentoring programs, extracurricular activities, teacher training and educational policy are also discussed.

The purpose of this study was to explore the possible relationship between school facility conditions and school outcomes such as student academic achievement, attendance, discipline, completion rate and teacher turnover rate. School facility condition for the participating schools was determined by the Total Learning Environment Assessment (TLEA) as completed by the principal or principal’s designee on high school campuses in Texas with enrollments between 1,000 and 2000 and economically disadvantaged enrollments less than 40%. Each school in the study population was organized by grades nine through twelve. Data for achievement, attendance, discipline, completion rate and teacher turnover rate were collected through the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) managed by the Texas Education Agency. Student achievement, attendance, discipline, completion rate and teacher turnover rate and their relation to school facilities were investigated using multiple regression models to compare sections and subsections of the TLEA with each of the five dependent variables. Major research findings of this study included the following: first, student achievement, attendance and completion rate measures were not found to be statistically significant in relation to school facility conditions as measured by the TLEA at the 0.05 level; second, discipline, or behavior, was found to be significantly related to the TLEA. This indicates that the subsections of the TLEA could be used to predict discipline factors for schools in the study population; third, teacher turnover rate was found to be related to the TLEA subsections of Specialized Learning Space and Support Space, with the correlation to Support Space being indirect. Literature from prior studies infers that relationships do exist between all five of the study’s dependent variables. However, this study only yielded significant findings in the areas of student discipline and teacher turnover. The researchers recommendations based upon this study include the following: administrators and designers should take into account factors such as interior environment and academic learning space when planning schools to positively impact student discipline; school design and construction should focus on specialized learning spaces and other academic areas more than administrative support spaces when striving to increase teacher satisfaction with physical working conditions.

The present study had three purposes. The first was to examine the score reliability of instruments purported to be appropriate in the assessment of students with limited English proficiency (LEP). The second was to investigate the criterion-related validity of the Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test (UNIT) with a sample of lowperforming, Hispanic students. The third purpose was to explore the contribution of language proficiency in the dominant language (L1) and the language proficiency in the subordinate language (L2) in the prediction of reading achievement in L1. Participants included first and third grade students of Hispanic origin who scored below the median for their district on a state-approved, district-administered measure of literacy in first grade. Satisfactory internal consistency estimates were achieved with a sample of LEP students (n=24) on the UNIT, the Woodcock-Muñoz Language Survey (WMLS) in English and in Spanish, and the Batería Woodcock-Muñoz: Pruebas de Approvechamiento-Revisada (Batería-R APR). For first grade students, scores from the UNIT demonstrated satisfactory concurrent validity with those from the Woodcock Johnson III: Tests of Achievement (WJ-III ACH) for a sample of Hispanic, non-LEP students (n=89). However, the concurrent validity of the UNIT was not upheld for a sample of Hispanic, LEP students administered the Batería-R APR (n=56). Regarding predictive validity, results from simple linear regression analyses suggested that performance on the UNIT in first grade accounted for a negligible portion of the variance on the Texas high-stakes reading test in third grade for a group of LEP students (n=51) as well as for a group of non-LEP students (n=77). Language proficiency in L1 emerged as a positive predictor of reading achievement in L1. However, language proficiency in L2 was not shown to be a statistically significant, independent contributor to this relationship with reading achievement on the Batería-R APR (n=79), WJ-III ACH (n=14), TAKS Spanish (n=54), or TAKS English (n=12). Findings are discussed with respect to the restriction of range due to selection criterion and sample size, the use of the Abbreviated battery of the UNIT in the prediction of reading achievement, and the contribution of language proficiency in L2 for low performing, LEP students in the third grade.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between leadership responsibilities of Title I principals and student achievement. This study involved the analysis of the results of a 92 item survey sent to successful Title I principals. The 92 items were grouped into 21 leadership responsibilities, first and second order change. The first research question was an examination of the relationship between the 21 leadership responsibilities of Title I principals and student achievement. The overall indication is that a substantial relationship exists between the 21 Leadership responsibilities and combination reading and math averages. Fourteen leadership responsibilities were positively correlated to the overall achievement ranging from Input with r s = .169 to Focus with r s = .018. This indicates principals of successful Title I schools are proactive with their leadership which increases student overall achievement. The second research question was an examination of the most influential 21 leadership responsibilities of Title I schools student achievement in math and reading. The indication of influence of the 21 Leadership responsibilities and math was that a strong correlation does not exist. There are seven positively correlated leadership responsibilities ranging from r s = .103 to r s = .014 indicating student achievement is more affected by the educational conduct within the classroom compared to leadership of the principal (outside the classroom). There was a strong relationship between the leadership responsibilities and reading, with all 21 Leadership responsibilities being positively correlated. This indicates student achievement is dependent on the leadership of the principal to create a school or campus wide effort. The third research question was an examination of the relationship between the 21 leadership responsibilities and student achievement based on school size and demographics. The overall indication is that a relationship exists between student achievement and size of the school (r s = .187), math and population (r s = .234) and a particularly small correlation between reading and population (r s = .045). This finding suggests that the size of the school does matter with regard to overall (math and reading combined) and math student achievement of Title I schools.

Recorders were the most often used instrument for assisting music instruction in today¡¦s elementary schools. However, many students didn¡¦t like recorders and, as a result, they lose interest in music. Xylophone was easy to learn and might be a suitable substitute for recorders. Therefore, the purpose of this action research is to examine the effects of Xylophone-assisted music instruction on fifth graders¡¦ Motivation for Learning Music and Achievement. A fifth grade class in Guai-Guai elementary school of Kaohsiung City was selected as participants. Before the instruction, the students filled out a scale of motivation for learning music, and their achievement of music was tested. Then the students received an 8-week long Xylophone-assisted music instruction. During the instruction, the students¡¦ report and teacher¡¦s reflection of the music class were obtained and some students were interviewed. At the end of the instruction, students were tested again on their achievement and motivation, and they gave feedback about their attitudes of the instruction and the students who were interviewed before were interviewed again about the instruction. The results were as the followings¡G 1.The xylophone-assisted music instruction increased the motivation of the class as a whole. The effects were especially significant for those who dislike recorders. 2.After the instruction, the differences between the students who like and dislike recorders before were decreased. 3.The students were very positive about the instruction. Over 80% of the students chose and recommended xylophone as an assistant instrument in music class. 4.The characteristics of xylophones were appropriate for music instruction.

For increasing competitions of department stores, how to reinforce the extent of selling skills of salespeople will affect individual or organizational achievement performance strongly. This study was intended to explore the relationships between selling skills and achievement performance of the salespeople. In this study, work experience, training and locus of control are independent variables, achievement performance is dependent variables, and the selling skills are as a mediator. This study examined the mediator effect of the salespeople¡¦s selling skills among of the work experience, training and locus of control. Besides, we defined the product type and reward as a moderator between the job experience, training as well as locos of control. The subject of this study is 316 salespeople of a department store in Kaohsiung. This research used the method of questionnaire. The results indicated that: 1. Training was positive significant to selling skills. 2. Training was positive significant to achievement performance. 3. Selling skills were positive significant to achievement performance. 4. Selling skills were found that play a part of mediating effect between training and assigned sales quota achieved. 5. Selling skills were found to have significant mediating effect between training and customer relationship operation. 6. Mutual effect between the product type and selling skills were positive significant to customer relationship operation. Those are some suggestions to the department stores, retailer, salespeople that have been working in this field; and also the directions were given in the future research in this study.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships among leadership style, trust, achievement motivation and job involvement. The leadership style was measured by using revised LBDQ which was commonly seen in related research (Lee¡A2000¡FKao¡A2002); The measurement of trust was based on the research of Mayer, Davis & Schoorman (1995) with minor revisions made by Wu (2000); Achievement motivation was measured by using Wu and Lin¡¦s (1997) translated questions. Finally, the measurement of job involvement developed by Lodahl and Kejner (1965) was used. 110 survey questionnaires were issued to the staffs of Kiss Radio, with a total number of 95 valid respondents. The data was analyzed by using SPSS/12 (Statistical Package for the Social Science) for Windows XP. The statistical analyses contained 1).descriptive analysis, 2) reliability tests, 3) factor analysis, 4) Pearson Correlated analysis, and 5) regression analysis. The results of generally indicated the following: 1) There were significant relationships between structural leadership and job involvement. 2) The sympathy for work is significantly affected by the perfectionism and workaholicism. 3) Significant relationship between structure of leadership and achievement competition of effort was found. Conclusions, recommendations, as well as limitations of this study were also discussed based on the results.