The paper reports results of three studies that used a formative assessment (FA) framework to compare schools that vary in their level of functioning as professional learning communities with respect to three processes: classroom assessment (study 1), development and implementation of school-based curriculum (study 2), and pedagogical…

Hispanic seniors who were on track to graduate in May 2006 were invited to participate in a program to help them make a successful transition from high school to college. Data indicated that this group might benefit from direct assistance in the college application process. The goal of the intervention was to work with the identified students…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a single-session peer-led safer sex intervention, based on the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills theoretical model, for college students residing in campus residence halls. Participants (N = 108) were assigned to either an hour long control or 5-module intervention session. Compared to the control…

A variety of approaches for addressing drug use and drug-related crime among the nearly 5 million offenders on community supervision in the United States has been tried and evaluated, but questions remain about which policies or programs are most effective. The authors use a large data set to assess the impact of residential and nonresidential…

Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's "Strategies for Addressing Asthma Within a Coordinated School Health Program" recommends a consulting physician for schools to help manage asthma. The literature examines the effects when a school nurse is present, but the addition of a consulting physician is not well understood. The…

This article provides an overview of the empirical effects of students' academic choices on academic performance (e.g., amount, quality, and rate of work). Twenty-nine separate experiments within 26 publications were included in the review. The choices involved performance goals and standards, the nature of assignments, instructional support…

The American Lung Association's Not On Tobacco (N-O-T) program is federally recognized as an accessible and effective option for teen smoking cessation. The program is the most widely used teen smoking cessation program in schools and communities across the U.S. Over a decade of research demonstrates the program's solid evidence base, with…

The research described in this dissertation explores the impact of utilizing a LEGO-robotics integrated engineering and mathematics program to support fifth grade students' learning of ratios and proportion in an extracurricular program. The research questions guiding this research study were (1) how do students' test results compare for students…

The purpose of this qualitative, comparative case study was to determine the extent to which learning and improvement cultures were perceived to be linked to the traditional and non-traditional accreditation and Program Outcomes Assessment paradigms in use in two university hospitality programs. The findings of this study revealed that the…

This dissertation is comprised of two manuscripts that resulted from a single study that tested the efficacy of teaching parents how to infuse comprehension strategy instruction into read alouds with their preschool-aged children. Twenty dyads, each composed of an incoming kindergartener and one of his or her parents, participated in this study.…

The need to address social and economic changes has focused greater attention on our public education system and the need to better equip students with the skills needed for a global society. This quantitative study was grounded in the principles of the constructivist learning theory. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the added…

This study explored teaching strategies for communication and literacy development in deaf-blind students by determining if there was a significant relationship between the instructional strategies practiced by Annie Sullivan in the early 1900s and the contemporary instructional strategies recommended by The National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness…

Congressional concern about homeless students resulted in the McKinney-Vento Act (MCKV) in 2001, which provides funds to local educational agencies (LEAs). MCKV is almost a decade old, yet no evaluations of its academic effectiveness have been reported. Using a systems theory framework, this study answered research questions (RQs) involving…

District Awards for Teacher Excellence (D.A.T.E.) is a state-funded program in Texas that provides grants to districts for the implementation of locally-designed incentive pay plans. All districts in the state are eligible to receive grants, but participation is voluntary. D.A.T.E. incentive pay plans were first implemented in Texas districts…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) focuses on accountability for student achievement by mandating higher educational standards that are monitored through required annual student testing. The Complementary Assistance Learning Program (CALP), a before and after school tutoring and mentoring service, offers a potential means of accelerating the…