No description available.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Sharon Walpole, School of Education. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2009. / Principal faculty advisor: Charles MacArthur, School of Education. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Lehigh University, 2000. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-104).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 166-174). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Indiana University of Pennsylvania. / Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of Accelerated Reader on the reading motivation and achievement of fourth grade students. The participants were 68 fourth grade students who attended an elementary school in a suburban location north of a large Midwestern city. Quantitative and qualitative methods were employed in the investigation to understand and analyze the effects of the program.Quantitative methods utilized a pre/post-test design using the Motivation to Read Profile (Gambrell, Palmer, Codling, & Mazzzoni, 1996) to assess motivation and the STAR Reading Diagnostic Test (Renaissance Learning, 2002) to measure achievement through instructional reading levels. Participants were divided into three groups based upon the total number of Accelerated Reader points they had accumulated during a continuous 14 week period. Analyses compared the differences in gains in motivation and reading achievement among the groups. The only significant effect noted was that the higher the number of Accelerated Reader points accumulated, the smaller the decrease in motivational scores. A comparison of the number of books read among the groups revealed the group obtaining the highest number of points read significantly more books than the group with lowest.Qualitative measures consisted of the administration of the Conversational Interview portion of the Motivation to Read Profile (Gambrell, et al., 1996) to nine students, three randomly selected from each of the previously established groups. Interviews were conducted to gain information concerning students' motivation for reading through the construction of theories based upon consistencies and differences among and between groups' responses. The categories within which all themes were grouped included motivations for book selections, reasons for reading, and the amount of knowledge retained through reading. Very little mention of Accelerated Reader was made in any portion of the interview sessions. / Department of Elementary Education

The purpose of the study was to compare the academic achievement of students having a junior high school experience to those having a middle school experience. sample consisted of eighth-grade students from the Mississinewa Community Schools in Gas City, Indiana. The scores of 420 students having a junior high school experience were compared to the scores of 762 students following the reorganization of the middle grades into a middle school.The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, (Form 7) were used as a measure of academic achievement. The test results were compared based upon sex and ability group differences. The Cognitive Abilities Tests, (Form 3) were used to determine ability group. A two-by-two-by-three multivariate analysis of variance was used to statistically analyze the data.Findings1. A significant difference was found in favor of the middle school in the areas of vocabulary,reading, spelling, math concepts and math problems.2. Both males and females attained higher academic achievement scores in the middle school setting than in the junior high school setting.3. Students in average, below average and above average ability groups attained higher academic achievement scores in the middle school setting than in the junior high school setting.4. Larger academic achievement gains were made by students with greater ability levels.Conclusions1. The academic achievement was higher for eighthgrade students having a middle school experience than for those having a junior high school experience.2. The middle school is more beneficial to the academic achievement of both males and females than the junior high school experience.3. Students with higher ability levels attained higher academic achievement gains in the middle school than students with less ability.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Tulsa, 1990. / Bibliography: leaves 79-86.