Although some school improvement literature has suggested that schools will improve when unions are removed from the school system, unions have rarely been isolated in the research. This study involved a mixed method case study approach to explore whether support of the local teacher union affected perceptions of school climate, as measured by the…

Successfully implementing the practice of inclusion by differentiating instruction is dependent upon both the skills and attitudes of general education teachers. New general education teachers who are entering the field are particularly vulnerable to the demands and stress of the profession, and exemplary preservice teacher education programs must…

Professional societies in the field of medicine have recommended that the traditional model for lifelong medical learning, which had previously focused on attendance at weeklong didactic continuing medical education (CME) courses, should be replaced by individualized study. Self-directed and practice-linked learning are well accepted in principle,…

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the communication behaviors of online leaders, or those who influence other members of online communities in terms of triggering replies, sparking conversations and diffusing language. It also examines the influence of group attributes on leadership such as size and connectedness. It relies on roughly…

The purpose of this study was to determine how technology was integrated into the curriculum of a Title I high achieving elementary school in a large school district in the Southwestern United States. Three research questions guided the study: How did teachers integrate technology and curriculum in a Title I, high achieving elementary school? How…

Understanding the nuances of product line management has been of great interest to business scholars and practitioners. This assumes greater significance for firms conducting business in technologically dynamic industries, where they face certain challenges regarding the management of multiple, overlapping technologies within their product lines.…

Technology transfer is vital to humanity. It spurs innovation, promotes commerce, and provides technology-based goods and services. Technology transfer is also highly complex and interdependent in nature. This interdependence is exemplified principally by the various technology transfer interactions between government, industry, and academia. …

In this dissertation, we report on results of an in-depth observational study to understand the temporal dimension of communication in the workplace. By employing the "shadowing" method for in situ to-the-second data gathering of information workers' behaviors, we gained a detailed snapshot of informants' workdays, "warts and all." Our…

A growing number of demographically diverse, globally-conscious students demand instant access and flexibility when it comes to formal learning. Institutions of higher education are hard pressed to respond, and often cling to old delivery methods and pedagogy. Learner-directed use of Web 2.0 applications to locate, organize, and evidence…

The current study explored differences in test anxiety on high-stakes standardized achievement testing and classroom testing among elementary school children. This is the first study to directly examine differences in student test anxiety across two testing conditions with different stakes among young children. Three hundred and thirty-five…

This research study was designed to determine leadership and instructional behaviors of administrators and teachers who are participants in the Alabama AP Initiative, as well as evaluate the perceptions of the AAPI with regard to student performance. The importance of this research was three-fold. First, this study provided principals, as well as…

The purpose of this study was to determine the competence of beginning California K-6 teachers in basic algebra topics, and to investigate their level of math anxiety and attitudes toward math. The sample for this study was beginning California elementary teachers in the Bay Area of California. An algebra content assessment and a self-report…

Instrumental music education, as it evolved in the segregated African American communities and their educational institutions, remains an under-investigated area of historical research. As a partial remedy to that circumstance, this study sought to document one of the more noteworthy of such accounts, the history of instrumental music ensembles at…

Leadership theories are continuously evolving. Leadership is an indefinable concept that may be interpreted as an art. This study explores the complexity of leadership and the superintendency. The purpose of this study was to describe and explain the perspective of a superintendent and his journey through several educational leadership roles and…

The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experience of reflection and document how a holistic approach to teacher reflection contributes to teachers' understanding of, and improvement in their pedagogical practice. The investigation asked how classroom observations, when followed by a reflective dialogue, impact pedagogical practice. The…