This dissertation is guided by my driving research question: what works for whom in education and why? I examine issues of instruction, assessment, and research approaches that begin to answer this question. Study 1 examines a classroom intervention's child x instruction interactions. Study 2 examines underlying cognitive factors, including…

The purpose of this quantitative comparative study was to determine the differences in literacy and mathematics pass rates between AY 2021-2022 and AY 2022-2023, whether a 21st CCLC Program contributed to score differences and whether there is an interaction between them in a southeastern state. A two-way mixed ANOVA was used to answer the…

Institutions of higher education both value and need student assessment data. Faculty, as seen in numerous studies, however, have generally negatively received the formalization and reporting of student assessments to gather this assessment data. If we could better understand faculty experiences and perceptions of student assessment data within…

This action research study examined the effectiveness of the process implemented by Partnerships to Uplift Communities (PUC) Schools Charter Management Organization to develop their school leader evaluation system in collaboration with current PUC school leaders. The development of the leadership evaluation system included the collective voices of…

This mixed methods study explored the nature of a benchmark assessment program and how well the benchmark assessments predicted End-of-Grade (EOG) and End-of-Course (EOC) test scores in an American Indian school district. Five major themes were identified and used to develop a Dimensions of Benchmark Assessment Program Effectiveness model:…

Universitas Terbuka (UT), the Indonesia Open University and the 45th state university in the country, is the only one that uses distance learning as its sole mode of delivery and instruction. Although UT has operated for 28 years, unlike face-to-face classroom-based education, distance education has not been considered as a fully legitimate…

This dissertation describes a design for training, in accordance with probability judgment heuristics principles, for the Angoff standard setting method. The new training with instruction, practice, and feedback tailored to the probability judgment heuristics principles was called the Heuristic training and the prevailing Angoff method training…

In an effort to find evidence of the effectiveness of an accommodation which students with reading based disabilities are allowed to use on state assessments, a group of 11 fifth graders identified as having a reading based disability and having at least one reading goal in their Individual Education Programs (IEP) were given a series of short…

Based on current research and seminal theories on learning, quality, and academic persistence, this study sought to establish the core components of academic quality in higher education and to determine if these components can be used to predict students' intention to persist. This study also looked at differences between traditionally aged…

The purpose of this study was to identify the impact the implementation of the Baldrige Education Criteria had on the mathematics portion of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) for eighth grade at-risk students. The three research questions (a) examined the effects the Baldrige Education Criteria had on individual institutions over…

Current National Assessment of Educational Progress results continued their 40-year pattern with two-thirds of U.S. 8th graders not proficient in reading, yet formal reading and literacy instruction ends in elementary school. Lack of reading proficiency can undermine academic progress in high school. Elementary literacy instruction provides…

The purpose of this study was to identify and design standards and procedures for creating easily interpreted accountability reports cards, consistent with the requirements spelled out in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). The use of public report cards was first raised during the debate that took place immediately prior to the passage…

This study examined the initially intended outcomes of the 2001 Florida Senate Bill 1162, a Florida law that established an educational policy granting community colleges the ability to confer baccalaureate degrees in teacher education programs. The intended outcomes included teachers filling growing vacancies statewide. This study found that 69%…

The purpose of this study was to determine the physical, social, cognitive, and language outcomes of targeted Title I preschool students participating in programs not meeting and programs meeting Nebraska Department of Education, Early Childhood Evaluation Rating Scales-Revised (ECERS-R) requirements. As more requirements are being required for…

The purpose of this study was to analyze a prominent alternative education practice in the Commonwealth of Virginia through an analysis of the Virginia Department of Education's Individual Student Alternative Education Plan (ISAEP) program and the alternative education environment it provides. This was a descriptive study using non-experimental…