Students' behavior on buses continues to be an issue that requires administrators to spend significant time investigating and applying consequences for the behavior (Neatrour, 1994; Pattington, 1945; Putnam, Handler, Ramirez-Plat, and Luiselli, 2003). The purpose of this study was to identify policies and practices that may improve student bus behavior. Two research questions were addressed: (a) What policies could school districts implement to facilitate the improvement of student bus behavior? (b) What practices could school districts implement to facilitate the improvement of student bus behavior? A three-round Delphi technique was used to conduct the research. The goal was to obtain consensus among experts on the policies and practices that school districts could implement to improve student bus behavior. A panel of 22 experts on student bus behavior participated in one or more rounds of the study. Panelists were selected based on their involvement with and knowledge of student bus behavior and their geographic location, using the five-region structure of the National Association for Pupil Transportation. This process resulted in a broad representation of experts on student bus behavior throughout the United States. The panel of experts included superintendents, directors of transportation, principals or assistant principals, bus drivers, presidents of out-sourced school transportation companies, authors, researchers, and members of the National Association for Pupil Transportation Board of Directors. Panelists recommended 19 policies and 284 practices for school districts to implement to improve student bus behavior. Based on the consensus of the panelists, student bus behavior could be improved if polices were enacted in eight areas: bus driver responsibility, stakeholder training, bus driver evaluation through observation, student consequences for assaulting a bus driver, bus ridership, bus surveillance technology, bus routes for special education students, and a district-wide universal transportation system with supporting programs. Panelists indicated that student bus behavior could be improved if practices were implemented in nine areas: stakeholder communication, bus driver knowledge, stakeholder training content, stakeholder training processes, stakeholder daily practices, the enforcement of policies and procedures, positive behavior support systems, data analysis, and a district advisory committee. / Ed. D.

This dissertation reports on two supplemental instruction implementations in courses with high failure rates. In study one, 27 ultra-short on-line tutorials were created for Principles of Accounting II students (N = 426). In study two, 21 tutorials with a similar design were created for Elementary Statistics students (N = 1,411). Accounting students were encouraged by their instructor to use the resource, but statistics students only saw a brief demonstration by the researcher. Neither course gave students credit for using the tutorials. In study one, 71.4% of the accounting students used the tutorials. Students who used the tutorials had dramatically lower drop rates and better pass rates. Tutorial use was correlated with exam scores, although the effect was moderate. Tutorial use remained at high levels two years after implementation without instructors promoting use of the resource. Course grades were higher for the two-year period after implementation compared to the two years prior to implementation. In study two, statistics sections were randomly assigned to intervention (tutorials; 695 students) or control (716 students). There were no significant differences in drop rates or average grades between intervention and control sections. On average, 46.0% of the intervention students used the tutorials. Users were less likely to drop and more likely to pass compared to non-users and control students; these differences were especially pronounced among low-achieving students. Tutorial use was correlated with slightly higher exam scores, but only for low achievers. The lack of differences between intervention and control sections may have been due to the drop off of usage after the first exam and the small learning effect only accruing to the relatively small number of low achievers. Participants reported the tutorials as “important to their course achievement” more often than other course resources. The important features of the tutorials were convenience (24/7 Internet access), efficiency of learning, and clear instruction. These studies suggest that the magnitude of the learning effect of the ultra-short tutorials depends on the tutorial topics, instructor promotion of the resource, and whether or not they are implemented in a course in which students feel the need to seek extra instruction.