<p> This qualitative case study explored how the classroom management practices of sampled teachers in a private school in central Oregon influenced classroom disruptions. Through the study, the researcher was able to provide insight on the differences in specific classroom management processes between teachers who had a high number of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS) classroom discipline referrals versus those who had a low number. The phenomenon studied was how the classroom management practices and culture that the teachers developed in their classroom influenced the effectiveness of management of their students. Triangulation of data involved using teacher interviews, classroom observations, and classroom artifacts. Four research questions framed this study. Two models providing the theoretical foundation included Sugai and Horner positive behavioral support (PBS) and Edgar Schein&rsquo;s model of culture. Two of the themes emerged as significant in advancing knowledge of teachers&rsquo; classroom management. First, in the area of teachers&rsquo; perception of classroom management, the teachers with high level of classroom referrals and those with low level of classroom referrals perceived that they had effective classroom management practices. Second, teachers with a low number of referrals appeared to take a more holistic approach to classroom management, while teachers with a high number of referrals used a more traditional approach to classroom management. Additional qualitative and quantitative research should further explore the effectiveness of a holistic classroom management model versus a more traditional classroom management model.</p>

<p> Over the past two decades public schools have faced an unrelenting demand for reform. In response to this call for change, researchers have identified two strategies that hold great promise &ndash; organizational mindfulness and teacher collaboration. Despite the volume of work that has focused on these areas, little has been done to investigate their overlap. This study discusses development of the Teacher Instructional Practice and Sentiments (TIPS), an 18-item survey to measure teacher practices and beliefs that reflect mindful collaboration for improving instruction. Teacher responses to the TIPS were gathered and analyzed from a representative statewide sample of elementary school teachers in Washington State. Findings examined survey items which were aligned to the five cognitive processes of HRO theory: preoccupation with failure, reluctance to simplify, sensitivity to operations, commitment to resilience, and deference to expertise. An exploratory factor analysis was complete using Principal Components Analysis with varimax rotation which revealed three factors underlying mindfulness in schools. The first factor, Mindful Focus on Students, includes items such as understanding a student&rsquo;s home situation, as well as making accommodations for struggling learners. The second factor, Mindful Focus on Relationships, deals with interactions between teachers, students, parents, and the community. Finally, Mindful Focus on Instruction includes &ldquo;checks for understanding&rdquo; and brainstorming with colleagues on strategies to get students to standard. As an alternative to forcing the current labels of HRO theory on education, consideration should be given to application of these school-specific categories. They simplify the process of evaluating mindfulness in schools, and simplify the variables requiring investigation. Use of the TIPS survey to understand the extent to which mindfulness and teacher collaboration are evident in schools is recommended.</p>

<p> This multimethod, multiphase study was designed to determine the impact of charter school reform on achievement in North Carolina. The study was designed to be an analysis of the relationship between classroom climate, interactions, and student achievement, through a complexity systems context. This methodology allowed for combined qualitative, quantitative, network analysis, and agent-based modeling to capture the simple, complicated, complex, and chaotic interactions in classrooms. The data for the study were drawn from eighth-grade mathematics teachers and students at four charter schools in a North Carolina urban area (<i>n</i> = 300). Through the analysis of data, a more detailed and nuanced picture of the relationship between classroom climate, interactions, and charter school achievement emerged. The findings suggest that teacher control and second-semester math grades are statistically significant; the higher the level of control teachers exercise, the higher students score on common core achievement. According to the findings of this study, North Carolina charter schools have served as a successful reform strategy to address the achievement gap problem in North Carolina, with school-specific strategies including high teacher support, students&rsquo; teaching students, IAP/tutoring/online supplemental program, and small classrooms. All schools, on average, scored 30.9% to 56.8% higher on grade-level proficiency (GLP) than the North Carolina 2014&ndash;2015 average. The network analysis showed how classrooms can be more or less complex in different ways with instructional, emotional support, and behavior management interactions that fit into network structures of teacher to one-student, teacher to whole class, whole class to teacher, and student to student or students. The predictive ABM, based on achievement scores over time, school achievement strategy, classroom climate, high teacher control, and second-semester math grades, demonstrated accuracy. The ABM captured macroclassroom and microstudent outcomes, along with climate changes based on interactions that either increased or reduced positive climate. This is important because a teacher has limited resources and must deal with uncontrollable influences from outside the classroom. Teachers have the power to create a positive or negative climate by their verbal and nonverbal interactions. Teachers&rsquo; interactions have consequences that impact students&rsquo; achievement and students&rsquo; lives. Consequently, every interaction matters.</p>

<p> The 21st century perception of students and stakeholders (parents, teachers, administrators, and support staff, etc.) within the realm of world language study in a Midwestern, suburban school district varied sometime subtly and sometimes greatly. No particular study had been done to indicate what inspired students to enroll in world language, other than conjecture from students and stakeholders. To discover the true perception of students and stakeholders within this particular school district, a case study was conducted. A survey was crafted utilizing a tool that focused on language perception with relation to motivation, learning process, relevance, progress, and relationships. Each population researched, both student stakeholder and other stakeholders, took this survey to discover their perception of world language study. From those who took the survey, individuals volunteered to participate in interviews from which the questions were constructed from the same categories that organized the survey: motivation, learning process, relevance, progress, and relationships. The surveys and interviews both narrowed the understanding of how the student stakeholder and other stakeholders perceive world language study, by comparing student responses to those of the stakeholders and seeing their positive and negative correlations. The two different populations agreed that learning a language was difficult and understood the effort it took to achieve proficiency, but valued the then-current system&rsquo;s grading or credit versus actual skill achieved. Ultimately, one&rsquo;s self-perceived ability to achieve within language determined the value attached to the process and the role language would play in their lives.</p>

<p> The effects of Tennessee&rsquo;s Response to Instruction and Intervention (RTI²) framework were evaluated to determine the impact on one middle Tennessee public school district. General education teacher&rsquo;s beliefs, student achievement, and special education referral and eligibility data was assessed before, during, and after implementation. Results indicate that teacher&rsquo;s beliefs were mixed and varied according to the time participants were surveyed. Significant achievement differences were found on TVAAS math fifth grade, TVAAS reading fourth grade, and STAR reading and math scores. Practical significance was noted for students referred and made eligible for special education. A recommendation that RTI&sup2; supports student achievement and decrease special education services was derived, while teacher&rsquo;s indicated a greater need for implementation support.</p>

<p> This research study examined the academic impact of extracurricular activities on middle school students. This study investigated a possible relationship between the amount of hours that students spent participating in extracurricular activities and their academic achievement, as well as the amount of hours that students spent participating in in-school extracurricular activities and their academic achievement. This study used a combination of quantitative and qualitative data to reach its results. The quantitative data ultimately did not show a statistically significant correlation between the hours that students spent in extracurricular activities in general or in in-school activities and academic achievement. However, there was an upward trend in the data for hours that students spent in extracurricular activities in general and their academic achievement. The qualitative component drew upon the prior research on traits that contribute to the success of middle school students academically, and found a pattern consistent with the evidence of these traits through the results of a survey and interviews. Therefore, the qualitative component showed that through connecting these answers to and relying on the prior research, middle school students most likely benefitted academically from being involved in extracurricular activities, especially in-school activities that met these needs. The researcher also reflected on the study and made several recommendations for future research on the topic, ranging from survey and sampling augmentations to suggestions of sub-topics worthy of further exploration.</p>

<p> This ethnographic study addressed two effective programs designed to assist first-time underrepresented college students navigate and successfully graduate from a private four-year university. This study also addressed how small universities can often reach out to first-generation college students even when these students apply too late for special programs. It focuses on incoming-freshmen on their first semester of their freshmen year and on Alumnae. I explore how students&rsquo; transitions from high school to a four-year university are bounded by a variety of factors within the school's structural organization. By taking an anthropological framework, my qualitative research explores behavior and perspectives about the transition of First Generation College students (FGCs) and how support systems can enable these students to stay enrolled in college.</p><p> Findings indicate four major themes that enabled students to successfully graduate or enroll into the subsequent semester: 1) social support; 2) social capital; 3) importance of mentor, 4) importance of FGCs programs. The research process utilizes participant observation and interviews in uncovering the role that these support programs play in the transition of these students. Questions were posed for further research and recommendations were made for implementation by the university programs evaluated in this thesis.</p>

<p> This dissertation is a mixed-methods study that critically looked at peer-reviewed articles and empirical research findings about goal setting for middle school students and the possible effects that goal setting had on achievement. This project synthesized the information from articles about goal setting in general and, more specifically, the student-informed goal-setting processes. The study spawned from the literature review and critically assessed one teacher&rsquo;s use of the informed goal setting process to affect the achievement of her Midwestern middle school students. Students in the treatment group completed pre and post-questionnaires that assessed their understanding of goal setting and achievement. The researcher used students&rsquo; assessment data reports to instruct and coach students on their use of data to establish SMART goals for fall conferences, during the winter and spring R-CBM and MAZE testing, and quantitatively compared the treatment groups&rsquo; data to that of a peer-like control group. The researcher analyzed focus group responses for perception trends about the goal setting process. The results of the qualitative information and quantitative data indicated an attitudinal and behavioral shift in the use of the SMART goal setting process; however, the researcher found no statistically significant difference between the treatment and control groups. Goal setting did not have adverse effects on either student performance or behavior; so, with proper feedback, conferencing, and follow-through, goal setting should continue to be part of routine habit-building instruction. Further study is needed to determine the effect that the &lsquo;informed&rsquo; aspect had on student attitudes and achievement and to explore parental influences on goal setting and attainment.</p>

<p> The researcher completed a quantitative comparative content analysis of early childhood developmental programs in high-poverty and low-poverty counties across the state of Missouri. The researcher discussed the importance of early childhood programs in the longevity of academic, professional success and long-term health benefits. Although lawmakers, educators, parents and policy makers emphasized the immense importance of early childhood education, the state of Missouri had not completed an evaluation of early childhood developmental programs for over 15 years. The last study (Fuger et al., 2003), completed in 2003, only evaluated early childhood programs described as part of the state&rsquo;s Missouri Preschool Project (MPP). The research results stated the state of Missouri had not completed a study evaluating all early childhood programs in the state. </p><p> The researcher examined secondary data, specifically licensing reports from online, public records through the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) website, as well as programing costs, curriculum, and accreditation through brief interviews of administrators employed by various child care centers and public school early childhood preschool programs. The purpose of the study was to discover if inequity occurred in facilities located in high-poverty and low-poverty counties. The researcher explored whether high-poverty facilities had more licensing violations than those facilities in low-poverty areas and examined the type of violations and assessed differences in the number of violation types. After researching early childhood curriculum endorsed by the state of Missouri, the researcher examined the type of curriculums used by each facility to determine the quality of the curriculum. The researcher surveyed the cost differences of facilities and the affordability of programs, based on average income. The researcher also evaluated the overall quality of programs, based on the secondary data. </p><p> In summary, the researcher conducted the study to examine differences between the quality of early learning and developmental programs in high and low poverty counties around the state of Missouri. The researcher determined the quality of a program based on the percentage of licensing violations, type of violations, curricula used, if a center held extra accreditation, and the cost per week. The results of the study were mixed.</p><p>

Parent education classes offered at the Catholic Charities Organization of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties were the focus of this study. A pre-test and post-test design was utilized to evaluate the effectiveness of the classes for parents receiving parent education classes. The hypothesis was directed towards parents who attended parent education classes that would show improvement in knowledge of instrumental parental skills and an increase in parent satisfaction. This included understanding parents awareness and knowledge of healthy emotional expression, which further positive communication, appropriate developmental methods of discipline for their children and utilizing the coping strategies learned to deal with parent stressors. Accountability for program outcomes makes this study valuable to social worker clinicians working with at-risk youth.