The consequences of less than proficient reading skills are well documented. In educational settings, as children progress through the grades, the expectation that they acquire content knowledge through reading continually increases. However, many children lack the proficient reading skills that would enable them to acquire content knowledge…

Since the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), one state has implemented a standardized test to track and report student progress to the federal government. One school district has developed a class to assist students in improving their score and ultimately the passing rate on the state's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS)…

The nation is challenged with improving the mathematics achievement of its students. No Child Left Behind holds schools, districts, and states accountable for improving student achievement. Because high stakes tests are given at the end of the school year, schools are presented with the challenging task of developing or purchasing reliable…

This interpretive study asked the question: "What education and literacy insights can be gained from the studies of the life stories of illiterate Oraon women in Jharkhand, India?" Life history methodology was used to gain insights into the lived experiences of illiterate women. I hoped to provide meaning and give voice to the voiceless.…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of explicitly teaching for transfer of PALS, and to examine whether transfer training helped participants maintain the strategy taught. Sixty-two participants from two third-grade classrooms and one fourth-grade classroom participated in the study. A pretest-posttest-maintenance control group…

The key to improving education is the classroom teacher. Students must have skillful, highly effective teachers who have consistent access to on going professional development. NCLB offers guidelines for effective professional development. States interpret these guidelines and add their own varied legislative requirements. The current result is an…

High school graduates continue to enter post-secondary education lacking in basic mathematical skills and thus not academically prepared to enroll in college-level mathematics courses (ACT, 2010). Although it can be argued that those mathematical concepts should have been mastered in grades K-12, educating those students in basic skills…

Although the public school district under study values technology, the district did not have a measurement tool specifically designed to determine motivators of teacher usage of technology and what technology is being used. Such a tool could be used to make informed decisions about technology purchases and professional development opportunities.…

The purpose of the study was to examine teachers' perceptions of the impact of high stakes testing on instructional content, instructional strategies, motivation and morale, and pressure to improve student performance in relation to their views on accountability. It also sought to identify teachers' perceptions of the effect of high…

In the early 1980s, the University of Notre Dame Law School's Center for Constitutional Studies surveyed 801 religiously affiliated colleges to determine which federal laws and regulations had a "serious potential" of interfering with the character and mission of the schools. From the 226 responses, the Center identified 11 issues,…

Effective professional development has been shown to improve instruction and increase student academic achievement. The Train the Trainer professional development model is often chosen by the state Department of Education for its efficiency and cost effectiveness of delivering training to schools and districts widely distributed throughout the…

In recent years, an unstable funding environment for state higher education systems has led to a trend of increasing institutional fiscal autonomy in exchange for reductions in appropriations. With the growing concern that reducing state oversight will result in increased tuition and spending levels, this study was designed to provide a clearer…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the transfer of learning by uncovering how various factors supported the integration of knowledge and skills gleaned from the Faculty Development: Integrated Technology into Nursing Education and Practice Initiative (ITNEP) programs into nursing education curricula. Through interviews…

This sequential explanatory mixed methods study tested the learning effectiveness of a codex book against a convergent media resource based on the same content. It also investigated whether users of the two formats reported any differences in their liking of the two formats, or in their tendency to be persuaded to the degree that they altered…

Research has been conducted on the effectiveness of formative assessments and on effectively teaching medical terminology; however, research had not been conducted on the use of formative assessments in a medical terminology course. A quantitative study was performed which captured data from a pretest, self-assessment, four module exams, and a…