This dissertation considers in turn the role education plays in civil, democratic society; the role assessment plays in education; and the role theoretical constructs and cultural contexts play in assessment. Then, through literature review, document analysis, and interviews, the analysis investigates, identifies, and recommends…

It is important that practical nurse (PN) educators be able to identify which students are likely to be successful in their programs. However, the majority of literature related to predicting success of nursing students has been done on baccalaureate nursing students in the university setting. This study sought to determine whether the same…

This research study examined the development of 43 preservice elementary school teachers' conceptual understanding of place value after participating in a research-based constructivist unit of instruction in place value. The preservice teachers were enrolled in one of three terms of an elementary mathematics methods course in a private…

As communities and universities confront increasingly complex social and fiscal pressures, there is a growing need to align and maximize local resources, knowledge and efforts. Historic and current tensions between town and gown can challenge the ability of universities and communities to collaborate for mutual benefit. This dissertation explores…

The present study investigated the strengths and areas of improvement for elementary music teacher preparation from the perspective of multiple members of a single body of music teachers. Subjects for the study were elementary music teachers from an urban school district in the southern United States. All elementary music teachers in the school…

Researchers have postulated that math academic achievement increases student success in college (Lee, 2012; Silverman & Seidman, 2011; Vigdor, 2013), yet 80% of universities and 98% of community colleges require many of their first-year students to be placed in remedial courses (Bettinger & Long, 2009). Many high school graduates are…

This dissertation examined the importance of family involvement in student learning and achievement within the Response to Intervention framework. This study built upon the premise that family involvement in a child's education is paramount if educational gaps are to be closed. Families included in this study were randomly assigned into a…

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of instrument-specific rater training on interrater reliability (IRR) and counseling skills performance differentiation. Strong IRR is of primary concern to effective program evaluation (McCullough, Kuhn, Andrews, Valen, Hatch, & Osimo, 2003; Schanche, Nielsen, McCullough, Valen, &…

This transcendental, phenomenological study explored the Self-directed learning (SDL) of 10 successful minority entrepreneurs. Two SDL theories serve as lenses for the study, Spear and Mocker's (1984) Organizing Circumstance and Brockett and Heimstra's (1991) Personal Responsibility Orientation model. Five themes emerged from the data:…

Examines relationships among the levels of pre-service and inservice teacher preparation in various topic areas within environmental education (EE) and the levels of implementation of those topic areas in public high school science and social studies classrooms in Illinois. Measures teacher attitudes toward EE. Findings indicate that teachers who…

Using the symbolic interactionist perspective that meaning is constituted as individuals interact with one another, this study examined how group thinking during cooperative inquiry-based activity on chemical bonding theories shaped and influenced college students' understanding of the properties of ionic compounds in solution. The analysis…

Research shows that college students drink alcohol frequently and heavily. This can compromise their health and well-being. Student drinking is also tied to crime. While prior work explores the nature and extent of crimes involving alcohol on campus, to date no study has examined how police handle these incidents or crime generally. This study…

Traditionally, English reading has been thought of as an approach used to acquire language proficiency rather than as a way to understand information and elicit thoughtfulness. Although a positive correlation has been found between motivation and engagement, no study has yet been undertaken to discover the relationship between motivation and…

The purpose of this research study was to establish understanding of the capability of universities to change the behaviors of students towards pro-sustainability behaviors. In particular, the University of Wisconsin-Stout was studied due to the nature of pro-sustainability initiatives already implemented on the campus and the ease with which the…

Teacher preparation is a hot topic in the world of education today. Performance assessments mark one way that colleges may prove the readiness of their pre-service teaching candidates for a career in the classroom. This study used methods to evaluate one college's effort to implement such an assessment, to integrate assessment tasks into its…