Adult Basic Education (ABE) prison and community based literacy programs, are under close scrutiny to report accurate data to the National Reporting System (NRS). Delaware community based ABE programs are administered by the states' vocational school districts in New Castle, Kent and Sussex County. The NRS is the federal accountability…

The purpose of this study was to focus on teacher learning as it relates to professional learning communities. It is often touted that schools are a place for student learning, but many teachers now see school as a place for them to become learners as well through professional learning communities. This qualitative case study was designed to…

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the attitudes of parents of young children with autism towards the Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication Handicapped Children Program's (TEACCH) conceptual model, known as the Culture of Autism. One primary research question guided the study: What are the attitudes of…

The need for mathematics intervention has increased tremendously over the years, particularly after the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.Students who lack basic mathematics skills and students who experience mathematics difficulties greatly benefit from mathematics interventions. This study examined mathematics intervention through the use of the…

This purpose of this executive position paper is to (1) examine how post-transition experiences influence the adjustment of Associate in Arts students (as measured by academic achievement, social involvement, and satisfaction with various aspects of the university experience) to life on a four-year university campus and, (2) apply current…

While by and large urban public schools continue to not serve the needs of all of the students in their communities, there are some school principals who are creating educational equity for all of their students and deserve to be called social justice leaders. This study aimed to expand the field of school leadership studies and focus on social…

Transfer students comprise about ten percent of the student population in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at the University of Delaware. This research presents findings from a mixed methods study investigating the transition experiences of transfer students in the college. Demographic data were gathered on CAS transfer students admitted to…

As record numbers of students are applying to selective colleges and universities, students are attempting to set themselves apart from their peers by taking rigorous advanced courses in high school. The race for improving a student's academic record has resulted in more and more students taking these courses earlier and earlier in their high…

This study was conducted to examine the differences in high school biology achievement and student affect towards teacher and content from the use of individualized correctives as part of mastery learning. An experimental pretest-posttest with control group design was used during the fall 2011 semester. Over a thirteen-week period, 99 students in…

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which sustained teacher professional development in science education affects the classroom instruction of elementary school teachers in third through sixth grade over a 3-year period. The teachers in the study were all elementary endorsed and prepared to be generalists in the content areas.…

This mixed-method study investigated how two schools implemented RtI[superscript 2] and what core components of RtI[superscript 2] the faculty and staff perceived as priorities for implementation. Participants included teachers, school psychologists, and administrators at two schools with similar demographics. The study included a self-assessment…

The discovery and characterization of a phonetic segment's variants and the prediction of their distribution are two of the chief goals of phonology. In this dissertation, I develop a new, mostly automatic technique for discovering and classifying contextual variation. The focus is on a set of sounds in English that undergoes considerable…

This study investigated selected elementary school teachers' perceptions of principals' leadership. Ten South Carolina schools were selected based on the criterion of 50% or higher poverty index. Five schools included the feature of recognition by the state for academic success for one year or more over the 2003-2006 timeframe. One…

This study examines student growth on mathematics and reading assessments across academic years (Spring 2006 through Spring 2009) using three different growth models: hierarchical linear model (HLM), value-added model (VAM), and student growth percentile model (SGP). Comparisons across these three growth models were conducted to investigate the…

This dissertation contributes to the research and discussion of high rates of teacher attrition and migration from our nation's high poverty schools. This study examines a select group of suburban teachers who work in high poverty schools within one of Kansas's wealthiest and often rewarded school districts in order to better understand…