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During the past century the educational reform movements focused on the need for highly qualified teachers based on research surrounding the effects on student achievement related to the quality of the teacher (Busatto, 2004). The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) was created in 1987 in response to the increasing focus placed on having quality teachers (Berg, 2003; Humphrey, Koppich, & Hough, 2005; NBPTS, 2011). The NBPTS is an organization governed by teachers that emphasizes sound instructional practices and improving teaching. The standards for National Board Certification are based on solid research that recognizes education practices that result in improvement in student achievement (NBPTS, 2012b). If the National Board Certification process identifies effective teachers, then the classroom practices of those teachers should demonstrate research-based best practices in their everyday instruction. The purpose of this study was to explore the everyday instructional practices of 3 Nationally Board Certified (NBC) teachers who taught grades 4 and 5 in east Tennessee. This study was a multi-site, qualitative study that included classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and checklists to conduct descriptive and evaluative case studies involving 3 Nationally Board Certified teachers who taught in counties located in east Tennessee. Research conducted by Marzano, Pickering, and Polluck (2001) identified 9 best practices of effective teachers; those practices were used as a framework for observation. Through observations and interviews the researcher investigated the teaching strategies used by 3 NBC teachers and how those strategies compare to the 9 best practices identified by Marzano et al. (2001). Further, the researcher sought to understand how the National Board Certification process impacted those strategy choices. Findings for this study support the following 3 conclusions. First, this research study revealed that the participating Nationally Board Certified teachers use research-based best practices regularly in their classrooms. Second, the NBC process makes a positive impact on instructional practices in the classroom according to the 3 teachers in this study. Last, the NBC process made a difference in the reflective practices of the 3 participants in this inquiry.

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The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the perceptions of school staff as to the best practices utilized in successful middle schools. The researcher used the framework of This We Believe and the School To Watch application process to determine schools worthy of the study. Each school must have been designated three times or more as a School To Watch. Three schools were selected for the study that were each in three different school divisions and three different geographical regions in Virginia. The researcher went to each site to conduct interviews with participants. Fifteen interviews via focus groups were conducted with twenty-one participants. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded. The researcher analyzed interview data and determined there were three emerging concepts critical to the success of middle schools. Concepts that emerged from participants were: each school was developmentally responsive to the social and emotional needs of young adolescents, each school’s staff employed strong organizational leadership and structures to coordinate the school, and each school’s staff was purposeful in their creation of each school’s master schedule that allowed for purposeful planning. Practitioners may find the results of the study useful as many of the practices could be employed in other middle schools.

There has been an increase in adoption of building information modeling (BIM) by commercial contractors over the past few years but there is not a clear indication of current application or the frequency of each use. This research was undertaken to determine the frequency and best practices of using BIM in commercial construction. Leading commercial contracting firms were contacted and employees were selected to complete a telephone survey that was designed to determine how they are using BIM. It was found that BIM is being used with more frequency on projects, with plans to continue to implement it even further on all projects that allow for its use. Most companies are incorporating trade contractors in their coordination meetings but are taking the lead to ensure a high standard is maintained. Trade contractors are given responsibility to resolve smaller clashes while bringing the larger problems to the clash detection meetings. The model quality being received is increasing as well the frequency of models being received from the design team; however, there is a lack of consensus as to the level of development requirement to ensure the model can be used for facilities management. Commercial contractors are adopting building information modeling for a variety of reasons. These include client requirements, innovative technology strategies, and fear of being left behind. Overall its use improves processes within their companies. The general agreement is that BIM is having a positive impact on profitability, schedules and sales. BIM further improves the efficiency, effectiveness and competitiveness. The best practices undertaken by commercial contractors include using BIM as a sales and marketing tool, utilizing subcontractors knowledge and allowing them to resolve minor clashes, having combination of BIM teams and BIM experts and investing in training employees and further development of BIM uses.

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This dissertation investigates the links between lesson characteristics, student engagement, self-determination, and environmental literacy outcomes at a residential environmental education (EE) program. I developed a novel methodology using observations of 81 lessons at the study site to isolate the characteristics hypothesized to influence student engagement, self-determination, and outcomes of environmental literacy. Student surveys provided self-reported data on student engagement, selfdetermination, and environmental literacy. Mixed-methods analyses allowed me to explore these links within the 81 lessons observed in this case study. The results are organized into five chapters: an introduction chapter; three manuscripts planned for stand-alone publication (Chapters 2 - 4); and a conclusion chapter. Chapter 2 reports on the links between student engagement, self-determination, and environmental literacy. Chapter 3 provides insights on the links between the lesson characteristics (e.g., educator characteristics, teaching approaches, and schoolteacher/chaperone behaviors) and environmental literacy outcomes. Chapter 4 investigates the degree to which measures of student engagement, observed or self-reported, are associated with environmental literacy outcomes. Chapter 5 summarizes the findings from this study and presents additional analyses intended to fully synthesize the links between lesson characteristics, student engagement, self-determination, and environmental literacy. This study provides a novel methodology and survey items that may be of use to both practitioners and researchers. This research offers useful information about why and how EE works in this case and some of the specific characteristics and practices that engender positive environmental literacy outcomes. / Ph. D.

In this study 64 web based services (bibliographical, patron education, patron communication and patron publication services) and best practices offered by the 70 top world university libraries and 39 top Indian University libraries were studied using different data analysis techniques like cross-tabulating for average scores and Pearson correlation coefficient and tests like Chi-Square Test and T-Test were applied to the raw data collected for final results. The library rankings as per their web-based services were correlated with their university rankings as per Webometric rankings and found that library web-based services rankings are correlating with their university rankings. Therefore, developing countries like India should improve their library web-based services rankings to improve their rankings at global level. / Doctor of Philosophy