A phenomenological study utilizing the Consensual Qualitative Research method was conducted to understand the motivation of high school students dually enrolled in high school and college, commonly referred to as dual enrollment, in relation to the Self-Determination Theory and to connect this motivation to research on personal calling. This…

Compared to other races, the college achievement gap is largest between Black men and women where females earn twice as many degrees as their male counterparts (National Center for Education Statistics, 2010, Status and trends in the education of racial and ethnic minorities). Many Black men attempt college and eventually drop out forfeiting their…

Mathematics learning is critical for student success, and frequently acts as a gatekeeper, preventing students from graduating from high school and pursuing higher education. While many districts have attempted to improve mathematics instruction by implementing some sort of reform, few districts have attempted to execute a multifaceted systems…

The purpose of this study is twofold. First, this research seeks to illuminate best practices of teachers who advance learning and achievement of African American students. Second, this study seeks to provide educators and administrators strategies they might utilize to increase the achievement of their African-American students in order to…

Having computer skills, let alone access to a personal computer, has become a necessary component of contemporary Western society and many parts of the world. Digital media literacy involves youth being able to view, participate in, and make creative works with technologies in personal and meaningful ways. Games, defined in this study as…

Few challenges facing America today are as vital as improving the educational attainment of low social economic and English Language Learners (language minority children). The United States' educational reform has brought forth numerous initiatives throughout the past decades to address the "Achievement Gap" between Latino students and their Anglo…

This study investigates faculty gender pay equity in higher education. Using data from the 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty and drawing on human capital theory, structural theory, and the theory of comparable worth, this study uses cross-classified random effects modeling to explore what factors may be contributing to the pay…

During these unprecedented complicated times, there is an equally unprecedented need for an informed citizenry. Many of us watch democracy get played out on the 24-hour news networks. Still others bear witness to it in the social commentaries embedded in the entertainment provided by late night comedians like Jon Stewart. Humor provides a largely…

In 1996 the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium, (ISLLC) a committee formed by the Council of Chief School Officers (CSSO) released a set of standards to guide the training of candidates for public school administrative positions. By 2008, when ISLLC released an updated set of standards, the standards had been adopted by at least 43…

Blogs, specifically special-interest blogs, generate in-depth discussions. These discussions offer a new window for researching emerging trends in both consumer behavior and social-political attitudes. Many people try to influence these discussions and trends via participation, but making an impact is not guaranteed. Not all comments have the same…

In an age where more people place emphasis on global competition, it only seems right to have students meet achievement in all subjects equally. However, that is not the case with the content area of social studies. In recent years, many people have been alarmed at social studies test scores as measured by student achievement. It is the goal of…

This study compared a stimulus fading (SF) procedure with a constant time delay (CTD) procedure for identification of consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) nonsense words for a participant with autism. An alternating treatments design was utilized through a computer-based format. Receptive identification of target words was evaluated using a computer…

The purposes of this study are to identify similar and different characteristics among middle and high school mathematics teachers who implement cooperative learning (CL) frequently, identify the factors that motivate them in continual employment of CL, and to examine how CL is implemented by frequent users of CL (i.e., components of CL used,…

This applied dissertation measured the degree to which students placed in alternative-educations programs for severe disciplinary problems demonstrate changed student behavior upon reentry into a mainstream setting. Placement in an alternative setting is often a result of numerous disciplinary referrals resulting in three suspensions or a single…

Educational research over the past 15 years shows that schools and school districts have, on a large scale, failed to translate reform goals into improved teacher practice and student learning. Although classroom teachers are central to successful school reform, research has rarely examined how teachers experience reform initiatives and how that…