M.Ed. (Education Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

<p> The No Child Left Behind Act has the stated purpose to ensure all children have equal access to high-quality education and reach minimum proficiency on state academic achievement standards and assessments. A disparity in the academic achievement between Blacks and Latinos and their White counterparts. The problem this study addresses is the lack of Black and Latino student perspective concerning challenges they face around the academic achievement gap and the goals they set to face those challenges. The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry study was to elicit from Black and Latino students their perspective on the academic achievement gap, the challenges they face, and the goals they employ to face those challenges in the hope of closing this gap. Data was collected from six 12^th grade Black and Latino students between 18 and 20 years old, in a central Florida urban community using semi-structured face-to-face and focus group interviews, and archived data. The Dimensions of Excellence Scales Student Survey Instrument was used to define and refine interview questions. Thirty-five pages of interview transcripts produced 42 stories, which were coded to saturation, revealing eight themes. Five of these themes (family support, educational support, white privilege, safety, and disenfranchisement) helped inform research Q1. To inform research Q2, three themes (goal setting, student-centered strategies, and sense of family) were used. Finally, three themes (educational support, white privilege, and disenfranchisement) were used to inform research Q3. Findings from this study suggest the participants share common perceived challenges to a successful educational experience (parental and educational support, white privilege, disenfranchisement, safety) as well as strategies to reach their goals (goal-setting, student-centered strategies). Additionally, it is suggested that participants are aware of the academic achievement gap and have opinions on how to help close it. Future research should focus on whether these perceptions exist in other demographics and geographical locations.</p>

<p> Professional learning communities (PLC) have become one of the most talked about ideas in the current movement of educational reform and school improvement. Many public schools are working to become professional learning communities in the hope that student learning will improve when adults commit themselves to working collaboratively around teaching and learning and then take action that will improve student learning and achievement. In spite of benefits of establishing professional learning communities, problems may persist in sustaining schools as learning communities if perceptions of the principals and teachers are different. Creating a learning community often requires a school&rsquo;s culture to change significantly. Schools must understand how adults learn and sustain learning, and as well, teachers need to know how to improve practice. This qualitative multiple case study will consider the relationships between teachers&rsquo; and principals&rsquo; perceptions of their school as a professional learning community. The implications of an organization characterized by trust and mutual interdependence in which the adults understand how adults learn and sustain learning, teachers know how to improve practices, and permanent personal investment, affiliation, and caring that promotes continuity and stability are elements of this research study. This qualitative multiple case study shows how schools that operate as a PLC can engage the entire group of professionals in coming together for learning within a supportive, self-created community. Teachers&rsquo; and principals&rsquo; learning is more complex, deeper, and more fruitful in a social setting where participants can interact, test their ideas, challenge their inferences and interpretations, and process new information with each other. This study was intended to employ the perceptions of principals and teachers involving 3 elementary schools Prekindergarten through 4th grade in the Metropolitan Nashville Public School System (MNPS) in Nashville, Tennessee, however, due to constraints of the MNPS guidelines and aggregated data from the survey, the research questions were unable to be answered. Only teacher perceptions were allowed to be used. Archival data from the Tennessee State Teaching, Empowering, Leadership and Learning (TELL) Survey was used from Spring 2015. Teachers (N=166), used the TELL gathered perception information prior to obtaining information through interviews with teachers only. Interviews were conducted to gather in-depth information from teachers in each school. The study revealed that teachers in all 3 schools had perceptions of their PLCs that were considered to be high levels of agreement among themselves. Based on the findings from the TELL survey and the interviews, the study concluded that: Within each school, there appear to be three key elements associated with strong shared and supportive leadership: involvement of teachers in leadership roles, open door policy and approachable administration, and trustful and respectful environments. Adverse people and lack of trust in particular are seen as important obstacles to effective PLCs. For all three schools, insufficient time for collaboration was seen as a strong obstacle to effective PLCs. Although professional development activities are ongoing at all schools, there is a need to evaluate the effectiveness of those activities, communicate the results to teachers, and provide follow-up from these activities. Across all schools, collaboration appears to be limited primarily to grade-level teams. Principals need to plan time for vertical teaming.</p>

The purpose of this study was to investigate the comparative analysis of dynamic assessment procedures when two types of tests are used. Specifically, the aim of this study was to find out whether instructions on basic cognitive skills would improve the students' performance on specific standardized tests. The tests that were used were: a verbal educational test (Standardized Test of Essential Writing Skills), and a non-verbal intelligence test (Raven Progressive Matrices). Fifty two subjects were randomly selected from the 7th grade population of a middle school in Western Massachusetts. This sample represented slightly more than 35% of the 7th grade population of this school (N = 148). Two out of five seventh grade classes were selected by the principal and the researcher. One was a low academic performance class and the other was a high academic performance class. Prior academic performance and achievement scores were collected from the school records. Participation in this study was voluntary. The administration of the pretest instruments (Raven progressive Matrices and Standardized Test of Essential Writing Skills) was done in group sessions. Students were divided into two treatment groups and each group was exposed to two sessions of graduated prompting instructions, each session lasting 30-40 minutes. The same pretest assessment instruments were then administered during the post test. Individual student data was held confidential and combined into a group statistical process. According to the research findings it appears that dynamic assessment did improve the subjects' performance on the verbal, educational test (Standardized Test of Essential Writing Skills), but not on the non-verbal, intelligence test (Raven Progressive Matrices). The type of instructions received did not seem to have a significant effect on the subjects' post test performance on both the Standardized Test of Essential Writing Skills and Raven Progressive Matrices. However, a comparison of the highest and lowest academic groups, (as defined by the teachers) showed that the lowest group improved their scores on all test measures as compared to the highest academic group.

abstract: ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of virtual office hours in the online classroom on engagement and course completion among criminology students at Arizona State University. The study relied on an action research mixed-method design. The goal of the interventions was to increase the engagement of all members of the class. The study’s conceptual framework drew from Albert Bandura’s (1977) social learning theory that combines cognitive psychology and behaviorism to describe the learning process within individuals, as well as Garrison, Anderson, and Archer’s (2000) Community of Inquiry Framework, which is based on constructivist learning theory, where individuals actively make sense of their experiences (Garrison & Vaughan, 2008). For the quantitative portion of the data collection, 60 students in my CRJ 305: Gender and Crime criminology iCourse were asked to participate in a pre- and post-intervention survey. For the qualitative portion of the data collection, I collected field notes during virtual office hours and invited all virtual office hour participants to participate in post-intervention interviews. From those who responded to my invitation, I conducted one-on-one interviews. Once analyzed, descriptive data and self-reporting Question #5 indicated that the intervention—virtual office hours—did have an impact on student engagement and successful course completion. Additional quantitative data collected (mean grade point averages), once compared, suggested that those who participated in virtual office hours overall had a final higher grade point average. The interview responses and field notes suggested that virtual office hours did have an impact on student engagement and successful course completion by allowing students to develop relationships, feel more connected, and be more successful. Overall, students found that virtual office hours allowed for a more visual and personal space where they felt comfortable and could develop a relationship with others, the kind of meaningful relationship that needs to happen with online students in order for them to be as successful, if not more so, than in traditional learning environments. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2020

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF EDUCATION in the Department of Educational Psychology of the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 1996. / The aims are: To study and report on relevant existing literature pertaining to Zulu fathers' perceptions of their educational responsibility To undertake an empirical investigation into Zulu fathers' perceptions of their educational responsibility. To provide certain recommendations and guidelines so that accountable support can be instituted in order to meet the possible needs of Zulu fathers regarding their educational responsibilities.

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There are major student discipline disparities in schools because Black males are referred to the office and suspended at an alarming rate. They are referred for a multitude of reasons, related to teacher misconceptions, their educational environment, and domestic issues. For this reason, I worked to design a series of meetings that enabled a team to develop a plan of action to reduce students’ undesired behaviors and their underlying causes. An inquiry and action process served as a foundation for the meetings. I observed the meetings and conducted participant interviews for the purpose of refining the process. Meetings were altered based on our critiques. Ultimately, the series of meetings was designed in a specific way that allowed participants to seek data from primary sources, conduct a more in-depth study, and develop a better plan of action. Astonishingly, I realized that these meetings also produced conversations that enabled increased consciousness regarding issues of race, particularly as it pertains to Black males. Analysis of interview and observational data found that meeting processes facilitated participants’ abilities to stay engaged, speak with increasing openness regarding issues of race, feel discomfort while addressing difficult topics, and realize that further work is needed to support Black male students. These attributes resulted in more constructive conversations. Taking everything into account, by developing a refined meeting structure, meeting participants held constructive conversations and developed a plan of action with the goal of reducing the rate of office discipline referrals written for Black male students. / Educational Leadership