This study describes students' perceptions of their physics classroom learning environments and their interactions with their teachers in upper secondary school classes in Thailand. Associations between these perceptions and students' attitudes toward physics were also determined. The learning environment perceptions were obtained using the 35-item Physics Laboratory Environment Inventory (PLEI) modified from the original Science Laboratory Environment Inventory (Fraser, McRobbie, & Giddings, 1993). Teacher-student interactions were assessed with the 48-item Questionnaires on Teacher Interaction (QTI) (Wubbels & Levy, 1993). Both these questionnaires have an Actual Form (assesses the class as it actually is) and a Preferred Form (asks the students what they would prefer their class to be like - the ideal situation). Students' attitudes were assessed with a short Attitude scale. The questionnaires were translated into the Thai language and administered to a sample of 4,576 students in 245 physics classes at the grade 12 level. Statistically significant differences were found between the students' perceptions of actual and preferred environments and teacher interpersonal behaviour in Thailand. Associations between students' perceptions of their learning environments and teachers' interpersonal behaviour with their attitudes to their physics classes also were found. It was found from interviews with a sub-sample that particular categories of comments could be identified, physics being a difficult subject, evaluation and assessments not being related to the tertiary entrance examination, and teachers' plans. These factors appear to be affecting student achievement in physics. Based on all the findings, suggestions for improving the physics laboratory classroom environment and teacher interpersonal behaviour with students' perceptions are provided.

The purpose of the research reported in this thesis is to investigate the occurrence and recognition of “limit experience” among some Catholic High School students in their final year at selected secondary colleges in Brisbane. “Limit” experience was defined as an experience that reveals a reality of life beyond the self, beyond the here and now. It may be recognition of our own fragility and vulnerability as much as a joyous awareness of a reality beyond our normal encounter with life.” The research work of the Alistair Hardy Research Centre and of Hay (1987) in particular has centred on the question, asked in various ways: Have you ever been aware of, or influenced by, a presence or power, whether you call it God or not, which is different from your everyday life? The survey instrument for this research was designed to divorce questions on such experiences from the direct reference to the term “religious”, although individuals might indeed interpret them as “religious”. To approach the issue, an extensive open-ended survey was administered to senior high school students. It was designed first to determine the extent of recognition of such experiences among the students and second to examine whether factors such as home background, regular religious practice, type of school, subject choice or co-curricula activities may make a difference in enhancing the awareness of such experience. This research has also been designed to enable comparison with similar studies. Major research in Australia by Flynn (1975, 1985, 1993) highlighted the factors above as influencing student achievement. Flynn also made connections to religious practice and attitudes to church but not to religious experience as such. Robinson and Jackson (1987) had undertaken extensive research on religious experience in Great Britain that also has important parallels to this research. Some of the techniques of both studies and in some cases actual questions have formed part of this research instrument. This research has gone further than both studies by incorporating the Hay (1987) categorisation of types of religious experience to form the basis for direct questions on student experience. The data gathering, treatment and analysis focused on four catholic secondary schools in the Brisbane Archdiocese. While the research focus was by definition limited, and while the results have of necessity to be treated with some caution before wider generalisation, the outcomes of the research do illuminate some of the important issues identified in the literature. The results of the survey showed that over 90% of the respondents could affirm some association with a “limit” experience along the lines of the Hay (1987) framework. With significant strengthening of criteria to allow for meaningful statistical analysis, this reduced to 76% of respondents. Results for this smaller group were shown to be essentially independent of home background, type of school attended, co-curricula programs and level of religious practice. With the significant exception of religious education, their recognition of “limit” experience was also independent of subject choice. This last is in contrast to the earlier work of Robinson and Jackson (1987). Exploratory analyses of the data enabled comparisons to be made with a suggested framework for “spiritual sensitivity” and the context of “relational consciousness”, both of which were first proposed by Hay and Nye (1998). This suggests some possible directions for further research into adolescent spirituality. The exploratory analyses also highlight some of the conflict between the reality of these experiences for students and their experience of dissonance with institutional religion.

The central research question is the extent to which gifted programming affects student academic outcomes of gifted as compared to not-gifted students and how this differs by race/ethnicity and/or poverty status. Since the identification of elementary school students as gifted is not random, propensity score matching is used to remove this bias in the estimates of the effects. A matched sample of North Carolina middle school students based on individual level data of both gifted and not-gifted students of varied racial/ethnic groups and income levels is used for this analysis. This enables a comparison of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade student achievement to determine the extent to which participating in gifted programming differentiates effects by race/ethnicity and poverty status. I show the additional test score gain, if any, from being in gifted programming compared to students not participating in gifted programs. Variations in gifted program effects across race/ethnicity and income are assessed. This research adds empirical evidence to the more qualitatively focused gifted debate by analyzing differences in student outcomes between gifted and not-gifted students in North Carolina. Since black and lower income students are less likely to participate in gifted programs, they disproportionately encounter less experienced teachers, lower expectations, and fewer resources. The extent to which these additional learning supports translate to differences in student outcomes are analyzed.

This study is aimed to unpack the ‘black box’ that connects the grade-3 test-based retention policy with students’ academic outcomes. I theorized that the policy effects on teaching and learning may be modified by instructional capacity, but are unlikely to occur through enhancing teachers’ capability to teach. Analyzing the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten cohort (ECLS-K) dataset, I first explored the relationship between the test-based retention policy and instructional capacity as indicated by teacher expectations of students’ learning capability and then investigated whether and how the expectations moderated the policy effects on instructional time reallocation, student academic performance, and student self-perceived academic competence and interests. To remove the selection bias associated with the non-experimental data, I applied a novel propensity score-based causal inference method, the marginal mean weighting through stratification (MMW-S) method and extended it to a causal analysis that approximates a randomization of schools to the test-based retention policy followed by a randomization of classes to teachers with different levels of expectations. Consistent with my theory, I found that the test-based retention policy had no effects on teacher expectations. Although the policy uniformly increased the time allocated to math instruction, it produced no significant changes in students’ overall performance and overall self-perception in math. In addition, I found that students responded differently to the test-based retention policy depending on the expectations they received from the grade-3 teachers. The results suggested some benefits of positive expectations over negative and indifferent expectations in moderating the policy effects, including more access to advanced content, higher learning gains of average-ability students, and more resilient student learning over a long term. However, the results also showed that having positive expectations alone is not sufficient for academic improvement under the high-stakes policy. If implemented by a positive-expectation teacher, the policy could be detrimental to students’ learning in the nontested subject or to their learning of basic reading/math skills. It would as well place the bottom-ability students at a disadvantage. The findings have significant implications for the ongoing high-stakes testing debate, for school improvement under the current accountability reform, and for research of teacher effectiveness.

This study is aimed to unpack the ‘black box’ that connects the grade-3 test-based retention policy with students’ academic outcomes. I theorized that the policy effects on teaching and learning may be modified by instructional capacity, but are unlikely to occur through enhancing teachers’ capability to teach. Analyzing the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten cohort (ECLS-K) dataset, I first explored the relationship between the test-based retention policy and instructional capacity as indicated by teacher expectations of students’ learning capability and then investigated whether and how the expectations moderated the policy effects on instructional time reallocation, student academic performance, and student self-perceived academic competence and interests. To remove the selection bias associated with the non-experimental data, I applied a novel propensity score-based causal inference method, the marginal mean weighting through stratification (MMW-S) method and extended it to a causal analysis that approximates a randomization of schools to the test-based retention policy followed by a randomization of classes to teachers with different levels of expectations. Consistent with my theory, I found that the test-based retention policy had no effects on teacher expectations. Although the policy uniformly increased the time allocated to math instruction, it produced no significant changes in students’ overall performance and overall self-perception in math. In addition, I found that students responded differently to the test-based retention policy depending on the expectations they received from the grade-3 teachers. The results suggested some benefits of positive expectations over negative and indifferent expectations in moderating the policy effects, including more access to advanced content, higher learning gains of average-ability students, and more resilient student learning over a long term. However, the results also showed that having positive expectations alone is not sufficient for academic improvement under the high-stakes policy. If implemented by a positive-expectation teacher, the policy could be detrimental to students’ learning in the nontested subject or to their learning of basic reading/math skills. It would as well place the bottom-ability students at a disadvantage. The findings have significant implications for the ongoing high-stakes testing debate, for school improvement under the current accountability reform, and for research of teacher effectiveness.

Teach For America (TFA) has seen its profile and list of donors expand tremendously in recent years. Despite its success in attracting support, research on the effectiveness of the program has been inconclusive. This study investigates the impact of TFA on student achievement measured at the state level. Panel data from grades 4 and 8 are analyzed to examine how the presence of TFA corps members in a state impacts student test scores compared to states which have no TFA corps members.

Abstract High stakes testing is popularly examined in educational research, but contemporary analyses tend to reflect a qualitative or quantitative research design (e.g., Au, 2007; Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2006; Gamble, 2010). Exhaustive debate over the relative success or failure of high stakes testing is often framed between competing visions of epistemological constructs, and the historical foundations of high stakes testing policies are rarely explored. The origins of high stakes testing can be traced to local school reform efforts in states like Louisiana, and investigating the roots of high stakes testing at the state level contextualizes the national debate on student assessment in research and scholarship. Using historical research methods, this project details the local campaign to implement the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) as Louisiana’s comprehensive high stakes testing program. Enacted under state law in 1986, the LEAP is a series of K-12 student assessments aligned to prescriptive state standards. The LEAP is among the nation’s longest comprehensive high stakes testing programs and is the centerpiece to Louisiana’s school accountability system. The narrative of its development offers critical insight into the overarching rationales for high stakes testing that continue to drive accountability policies throughout the country. This study interweaves sociological and political history into a singular chronological record of the LEAP. Historical research methodology informs this study by establishing the basis for data collection and analysis. Historical research method is the systematic collection and evaluation of primary source data in order to determine trends, causes, or effects of past events (Gay, 1996; Lucey, 1984). Methods used in this research investigation include document analysis and oral history interviews. Multiple data sources are used to gain a thorough understanding of the historical context surrounding the implementation of the LEAP. The LEAP functions as both a student assessment program and policy of school accountability, and the story of its development is an important narrative within the field of high stakes testing research and scholarship.

This descriptive, correlational study investigated small learning community campuses‘ teachers‘ perceptions and traditional high school campuses‘ teachers‘ perceptions of eight factors as measured by the Cultural Awareness and Beliefs Inventory (CABI): (1) cultural awareness, (2) teacher beliefs, (3) school climate, (4) culturally responsive classroom management, (5) home and community support, (6) curriculum and instruction strategies, (7) cultural sensitivity, and (8) teacher efficacy. Further, the statistical differences between teachers‘ perceptions were explored as related to ethnicity and gender. The relationship between teachers‘ perceptions as measured by the CABI and student achievement as measured by the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Ninth Grade Reading Test was examined. The data were collected from eight secondary campuses in a large urban school district in the southwest United States: four small learning community campuses and four traditional high school campuses. This descriptive, correlational study of ninth grade teachers‘ perceptions of cultural awareness and beliefs yielded unexpected results when delineated by the campus group in which the teacher was employed. The data found statistically significant differences between Small Learning Community campuses‘ and Traditional High School campuses‘ teachers‘ perceptions of school climate by campus group, by ethnicity and campus group, and finally by gender and campus group. Two additional factors of the CABI reported statistically significant difference when delineated by ethnicity: cultural awareness and teacher efficacy. The relationships between teachers‘ perceptions of the eight factors and the TAKS for ninth grade reading reported negative correlations for the small learning campus groups‘ teachers and a mixed results for the traditional high school campus groups‘ teachers with five negative correlations and three positive correlations for HCS, CI, and CS. In the final analysis, these results countered the expected responses given the research on small learning communities.

The primary purpose of this Delphi study was to determine which of the research-identified differentiated instructional elements are the most effective for improving student performance as perceived by secondary principals in 2A to 5A 2009 ―Exemplary‖ public high schools in Texas. A secondary purpose for this study was to determine what additional differentiated instructional elements are perceived by this study‘s targeted principals as being critical for student success. The researcher obtained feedback during three Delphi survey rounds from the twenty-four member expert panel regarding which of the research-identified differentiated instructional elements they perceived to be the most effective for improving student performance. The differentiated instructional elements presented in the survey were based upon a sound theoretical framework resulting from a review of existing research on differentiated instruction. After Round Three, consensus was reached, and the data collection period ended. Each of the surveys for the study, as well as the statistical analysis, can be found in the appendices of this dissertation. The findings of this study determined that using a variety of resources, as well as a variety of strategies, were the top-ranked research-identified differentiated instructional elements that the expert panel perceived to be the most effective for improving student performance. In addition, panelists agreed that the differentiated instructional elements already identified in existing research, as presented in this study, are comprehensive and sufficient for improving student performance. Without a doubt, the conclusions and recommendations of this study could extend the current knowledge base by promoting the use of the most effective research-identified differentiated instructional elements to improve student performance. Furthermore, the implications of the study will be invaluable for ongoing professional development, principal and teacher preparation programs, and for those in the field seeking to improve their daily educational practices for student impact.

Thesis (Ph. D)--University of Rochester, 2009. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references. Digitized version available online via the Sibley Music Library, Eastman School of Music http://hdl.handle.net/1802/11074