O Brasil é um dos países mais violentos do mundo, e essa realidade se reflete no ambiente escolar. O problema da violência na escola induz nos agentes de educação comportamentos que se contrapõem às metas de melhoria da qualidade do ensino. Por isso, a violência na escola é um dos candidatos a determinante da baixa qualidade educacional encontrada no Brasil. Este trabalho investiga se existe relação entre violência na escola e proficiência dos alunos no Brasil nos anos de 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 e 2013. Os resultados das regressões lineares e das regressões quantílicas incondicionais indicam que a ocorrência de um tipo de evento violento adicional está associada a uma redução na proficiência. Eles indicam também que há heterogeneidade na resposta dos alunos à violência na escola: a violência na escola parece afetar mais os alunos da quarta série, os alunos que se encontram na mediana da distribuição das notas e os alunos com melhor condição socioeconômica. Além disso, a violência na escola parece afetar mais a proficiência em Matemática em comparação com a proficiência em Língua Portuguesa, e a violência contra o professor tem efeitos tão ou mais deletérios que a violência entre os alunos. / Brazil is one of the most violent countries in the world, and this reality is part of the school environment. The problem of school violence hinders any possible progress in improving the quality of education. Indeed, school violence is a key element in explaining the low educational quality in Brazil. This research investigates the relationship between school violence and student achievement in Brazil in the years of 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013. The results of linear regressions and unconditional quantile regressions analysis show that an occurrence of an additional kind of violent event is associated with a reduction on student achievement. They also show that there is a high degree of heterogeneity in student responses to school violence: the school violence seems to affect more 4th graders, the students that are in the median of the distribution of the grades and the students with the best socioeconomic conditions. Moreover, school violence seems to affect more grades in Math than Portuguese, and the violence against teachers has effects as or more deleterious than the violence between students.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction / David S. Allen / This study addresses how the flipped method of classroom instruction differs from traditional classroom instruction when comparing student achievement measures in middle and high school mathematics classrooms. The flipped classroom is defined by the Flipped Learning Network (2014) as an instructional method that moves direct instruction outside of the classroom in order to make room in the classroom for a more interactive learning environment where students can actively engage in the content. The flipped classroom strategy theoretically allows teachers the time to develop mathematical ideas and the ability to facilitate that development. For the Common Core State Standards initiative to be effective, teachers need to engage students in new learning experiences that support college and career readiness. By implementing a technology based instructional approach, like the flipped classroom strategy, teachers are able to blend twenty-first century skills with the development of the essential habits of mind of mathematically proficient students (Brunsell & Horejsi, 2013). This study seeks to understand how the flipped method of classroom instruction can lead to improved student achievement in mathematics courses and improve student perceptions about math in order to encourage course consumption in the future (Zollman, 2011). A modified explanatory sequential mixed methods design was used, and it involved collecting quantitative data and then explaining the quantitative results with in-depth qualitative data. In the quantitative phases of the study, NWEA Mathematics MAP Assessment data were collected from middle school students and course common final assessment scores were collected from middle school and high school students in a large Midwestern suburban school district to determine how student math achievement was impacted for students in a flipped classroom as compared to a traditionally instructed classroom. The frequency of active learning incidents was also collected during classroom observations. The qualitative phase was conducted as a follow up to the quantitative results to help explain the quantitative results. In this exploratory follow-up, student and teacher perceptions of mathematics achievement as a result of the flipped classroom approach to instruction with middle and high school math students and how those perceptions might be different than those of students and teachers in traditionally taught classrooms along with descriptions of observable active learning incidents in the school district were explored.

While No Child Left Behind ushered in the age of the "highly qualified" teacher, accountability focus has been shifted to the "highly effective" teacher, defined as teacher impact on student achievement. The Science Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) is used to judge the adequate yearly progress of students in Texas public schools. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of teacher factors (i.e., ethnicity, gender, teaching experience, university selectivity, certification route, National Center for Education Statistics Locale/Code, number of science content and pedagogical course semester credit hours, grade point average for science content and pedagogical coursework) on student achievement using the eighth grade Science TAKS. The primary dependent variables were students' five objective scores and their overall scores on the eighth grade Science TAKS examination. The sample was 44 eighth grade science teachers and 4,119 students in Texas public schools. Multiple linear regression models enabled examinations of the relationships between teacher quality variables and student achievement. No significant relationships between the variables were found. Small effect sizes for the beta weights and structure coefficients occurred between teachers' science credit hours and TAKS objectives to explain 20% of the variance for TAKS Living Systems and the Environment, 39% of the variance for TAKS Structures and Properties of Matter, and 21% of the variance for TAKS Earth and Space Systems. Teacher experience accounted for 24% of the variance with TAKS Structures and Properties of Matter, and pedagogical credit hours explained 30% of the variance with TAKS Motion, Forces, and Energy. Science GPA explained 31% of the variance for the TAKS Earth and Space Systems objective. Policy makers should examine NCLB assumptions about teacher content knowledge as a significant indicator of teacher effectiveness via student achievement on standardized tests. While measuring content knowledge provides a simple, efficient, and cost effective form of accountability, the small effect size indicated other factors, including teaching practice, need investigation.

This descriptive, non-experimental study examines the strength of the relationship between California school library media programs and student achievement, using data from California criterion-referenced state-wide tests, publically available school and community demographic data, and a state survey of school library programs. Results indicate a substantial discrepancy in library staffing levels from the elementary grades through the high schools. Nevertheless, statistically significant correlations were found between certificated staffing levels and student achievement at each grade. Significant correlations persisted at the elementary and middle school when controlling for five of six school and community variables, and at the high school when controlling for all six of those variables. Bivariate correlations between total staffing and student achievement were significant at both the middle school and high school level when controlling for all school and community variables. Generally, the strength of the correlations between both certificated and total staffing tended to increase with grade level; at the high school level, correlations were among the strongest reported in any statewide study to date. There was a significant positive relationship between a majority of the 21 library services regularly provided and student achievement at all levels. Total library services were significantly related to student achievement at all levels when controlling for all school and community variables. In multiple regression analyses, there was an increasingly stronger relationship between total library programs and student achievement by grade level when controlling for all school and community variables. At every level, certificated and total staffing levels were associated with the strength of library program elements. The findings from this study confirm a host of prior research on the relationship between school libraries and student achievement and point to inequitable access to school library services in California. Results from this study might also provide a baseline of data for qualitative research that more deeply explores ways school library programs contribute to student achievement beyond ways measured by current standardized tests.

The study was to determine the impact of a Professional Learning Community on student achievement as measured by the state's criterion referenced reading and mathematics achievement tests. Data for this study were extracted from the school district's student database. Two cohorts of 90 students each were randomly selected from a population of approximately 600 students in 3 schools that participated in a Professional Learning Community (treatment) and 3 schools that did not (control). Professional Learning Communities known as PLCs, can serve as a major theoretical framework to promote the improvement of classroom teachers' instructional practice, teacher effectiveness and student achievement. Reading and mathemtics mean scale scores were extracted at three time points (year 1, year 2, and year 3) across three grades (grade 3, grade 4 and grade 5). Test for equality of variance found that no statistically significant difference existed between the mean scale scores of the two cohorts at the beginning of the study. The findings revealed that both cohorts trend toward increased academic achievement from year to year individually; however, when compared to each other, no statistically significant difference existed. Further research is indicated to examine each PLC for implementation, support and leadership as they relate to the PLC and a focus on instruction and learning.

Standardized test data indicate that student achievement in science is a problem both nationally and locally. At the study site, only a small percentage of fifth-grade students score at the advanced level on the Maryland state science assessment (MSA). In addition, the performance of African American, economically disadvantaged, and special education students is well below that of the general student population. Some studies have shown that teacher self-efficacy affects student achievement. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between fifth-grade teacher inquiry science instruction self-efficacy scores and the scores of their students on the MSA. Bandura's work on the effect of self-efficacy on human behavior provided the theoretical basis for this study. The research questions examined the relationship between teacher inquiry science instructional self-efficacy scores and students' science MSA scores as well as the relationship by student subgroups. A correlational research design was used. The Teaching Science as Inquiry survey instrument was used to quantify teacher self-efficacy, and archival MSA data were the source for student scores. The study included data from 22 teachers and 1,625 of their students. A 2-tailed Pearson coefficient analysis revealed significant, positive relationships with regard to overall student achievement (r20 = .724, p < .01) and the achievement of each of the subgroups (African American: r20 = .549, p < .01; economically disadvantaged: r20 = .655, p < .01; and special education: r18 = .532, p < .05). The results of this study present an opportunity for positive social change because the local school system can provide professional development that may increase teacher inquiry science instruction self-efficacy as a possible means to improve overall science achievement and to reduce achievement gaps.

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The purpose of this mixed methods case study was to understand the hiring practices of a school district when considering a principal and how the school district attends to leadership within those hiring practices. The central premise of the study was leadership matters and is second to teaching in student achievement. However, the historical record paints a picture of less than adequate attention to effective hiring practices and a limited scope when addressing leadership. A small school district in California was selected to participate in the study. The design incorporated mixed methods to analyze the hiring practices through a survey of site administrators (principals and assistant principals), interviews of the Superintendent, and interviews of two principals. Similar to what was found in the review of literature, the school district did not align all of the hiring practices to what they valued in leadership and lacked in performance-based instruments when hiring. However, the results of the study indicated how the school district valued leadership and this may have been a contributing factor in student achievement. Through the review of literature and the study, the researcher developed an understanding of the complexity of the leadership construct and provides a synthesis of how key leadership studies fit together to provide a framework for hiring school administrators.