EXPLORING THE EFFECTS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCHOOL CHARACTERISTICS, TEACHER CHARACTERISTICS, ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT, AND SCHOOL CLIMATE ON VOLUNTARY INTRA-DISTRICT TEACHER MIGRATION

This quantitative research study utilized a binary logistic regression in a block design to investigate exogenous and endogenous factors influencing a teacher’s decision to make an intra-district move. The research focused on the following exogenous factors: classroom characteristics (size of class, percent minority, percent of students with an individualized education plan, and percent of students that are English language learners) and teacher characteristics (experience and gender). The following endogenous factors were examined: direct administrative influence (administrative support, rules enforced, school vision, teacher recognition, and job security) and indirect administrative influence (school climate, student misbehavior, parental support, materials, staff collaboration). The research was conducted by using information available from the National Center for Educational Statistics, the SASS from 2011-2012 and TFS from 2012-2013. The 2012-2013 Teacher Follow-up Survey identified 60 teachers who made a voluntary intra-district move. Results illustrate there is a statistically significant relationship between percentage of English Language Learners and overall job satisfaction and teachers choosing to make an intra-district move.

Childhood Attention Problems and the Development of Comorbid Symptoms at the Transition to High School: The Mediating Role of Parent and Peer Relationships

Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are at increased risk for the development of depression and delinquent behavior. Children and adolescents with ADHD also experience difficulty creating/maintaining high quality friendships and parent-child relationships, and these difficulties may contribute to the development of co-morbid internalizing and externalizing symptoms in adolescence. However, there is limited research examining whether high quality friendships and parent-child relationships mediate the relation between ADHD and the emergence of these co-morbid symptoms at the transition to high school. This study examines the mediating role of relationship quality in the association between ADHD and depressive symptoms/delinquent behaviors at this developmentally significant transition point. Results revealed significant indirect effects of grade 6 attention problems on grade 9 depressive symptoms through friendship quality and quality of the mother-child relationship in grade 8. Interventions targeting parent and peer relationships may be valuable for youth with ADHD to promote successful transitions to high school.

ASSESSING THE LEVEL OF TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION OF TITLE I TEACHERS IN A LARGE URBAN SCHOOL DISTRICT

By law, Title I schools employ teachers who are both competent in their subject knowledge and State certified. In addition, Title I teachers receive ongoing professional development in technology integration and are equipped with the latest innovative resources to integrate technology in the classroom. The aim is higher academic achievement and the effective use of technology in the classroom. The investment to implement technology in this large urban school district to improve student achievement has continued to increase. In order to infuse current and emerging technology throughout the curriculum, this school district needs to know where teachers have, and have not, integrated technology. Yet the level of how technology is integrated in Title I schools is unknown. This study used the Digital-Age Survey Levels of Teaching Innovation (LoTi) to assess 508 Title I teachers’ technology integration levels using three major initiatives purchased by Title I— the iPads program, the Chromebook initiative, and the interactive whiteboards program. The study used a quantitative approach. Descriptive statistics, regression analysis, and statistical correlations were used to examine the relationship between the level of technology integration and the following dependent variables: personal computer use (PCU), current instructional practices (CIP), and levels of teaching innovation (LoTi). With this information, budgetary decisions and professional development can be tailored to the meet the technology implementation needs of this district. The result of this study determined a significant relationship between the level of teaching innovation, personal computer use, and current instructional practices with teachers who teach with iPad, Chromebook, and/or interactive whiteboard. There was an increase in LoTi, PCU, and CIP scores with increasing years of experience of Title I teachers. There was also a significant relationship between teachers with 20 years or more teaching experience and their LoTi score.

A Figured Worlds Perspective on Middle School Learners' Climate Literacy Development

The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of the relationship between middle school science learners’ conditions and their developing understandings of climate change. I applied the anthropological theoretical perspective of figured worlds (Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, & Cain, 1998) to examine learners’ views of themselves and their capacities to act in relation to climate change. My overarching research question was: How are middle school science learners’ figured worlds of climate change related to the conditions in which they are embedded? I used a descriptive single-case study design to examine the climate change ideas of eight purposefully selected 6th grade science learners. Data sources included: classroom observations, curriculum documents, interviews, focus groups, and written assessments and artifacts, including learners’ self- generated drawings. I identified six analytic lenses with which to explore the data. Insights from the application of these analytic lenses provided information about the elements of participants’ climate change stories, which I reported through the use of a storytelling heuristic. I then synthesized elements of participants’ collective climate change story, which provided an “entrance” (Kitchell, Hannan, & Kempton, 2000, p. 96) into their figured world of climate change. Aspects of learners’ conditions—such as their worlds of school, technology and media use, and family—appeared to shape their figured world of climate change. Within their figured world of climate change, learners saw themselves—individually and as members of groups—as inhabiting a variety of climate change identities, some of which were in conflict with each other. I posited that learners’ enactment of these identities – or the ways in which they expressed their climate change agency – had the potential to reshape or reinforce their conditions. Thus, learners’ figured worlds of climate change might be considered “spaces of authoring” (Holland et al., 1998, p. 45) with potential for inciting social and environmental change. The nature of such change would hinge on the extent to which these nascent climate change identities become salient for these early adolescent learners through their continued climate change learning experiences. Implications for policy, curriculum and instruction, and science education research related to climate change education are presented.

THE EFFECT OF SCHOOL CLIMATE (STUDENT AND TEACHER ENGAGEMENT) ON STUDENT PERFORMANCE

Title of Dissertation: THE EFFECT OF SCHOOL CLIMATE (STUDENT AND TEACHER ENGAGEMENT) ON STUDENT PERFORMANCE Kenneth L. Marcus, Doctor of Education, 2016 Directed By: Dr. Thomas Davis, Assistant Professor, Education Policy and Leadership, Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership This quantitative research study was designed to compute correlations/relationships of student engagement and student achievement of fifth grade students. Secondary information was collected on the relationship of FARMS, type of school, hope, and well-being on student achievement. School leaders are charged with ensuring that students achieve academically and demonstrate their ability by meeting identified targets on state and district mandated assessments. Due to increased pressure to meet targets, principals implement academic interventions to improve student learning and overlook the benefits of a positive school climate. This study has provided information on the impact of school climate on student achievement. To conduct this study, the researcher collected two sets of public fifth grade data (Gallup Survey student engagement scores and DSA reading, mathematics, and science scores) to determine the relationship of student performance and school climate. Secondary data were also collected on teacher engagement and the percentage of students receiving FARMS to determine the effect on students. The findings from this study reinforced the belief that school climate can have a positive effect on student achievement. This study contributed quantitative data about the relationship between school climate and school achievement.

Beethoven's Violinists: The Influence of Clement, Viotti, and the French School on Beethoven's Violin Compositions

Over the course of his career, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) admired and befriended many violin virtuosos. In addition to being renowned performers, many of these virtuosos were prolific composers in their own right. Through their own compositions, interpretive style and new technical contributions, they inspired some of Beethoven’s most beloved violin works. This dissertation places a selection of Beethoven’s violin compositions in historical and stylistic context through an examination of related compositions by Giovanni Battista Viotti (1755–1824), Pierre Rode (1774–1830) and Franz Clement (1780–1842). The works of these violin virtuosos have been presented along with those of Beethoven in a three-part recital series designed to reveal the compositional, technical and artistic influences of each virtuoso. Viotti’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in E major and Rode’s Violin Concerto No. 10 in B minor serve as examples from the French violin concerto genre, and demonstrate compositional and stylistic idioms that affected Beethoven’s own compositions. Through their official dedications, Beethoven’s last two violin sonatas, the Op. 47, or Kreutzer, in A major, dedicated to Rodolphe Kreutzer, and Op. 96 in G major, dedicated to Pierre Rode, show the composer’s reverence for these great artistic personalities. Beethoven originally dedicated his Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, to Franz Clement. This work displays striking similarities to Clement’s own Violin Concerto in D major, which suggests that the two men had a close working relationship and great respect for one another. The first recital was performed in Ulrich Recital Hall; the second and third recitals were performed in Gildenhorn Recital Hall at the University of Maryland. All three performances were collaborations with pianist, Hsiang-Ling Hsiao. A Recording of the first program can be found in the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM). Recordings of the second and third recitals can be accessed at the University of Maryland Hornbake Library.

Knowing What to Do: School Focus, Teacher Morale, and Teacher Turnover

This study explored how schools’ focus – the collective perception among teachers of clarity and consistency regarding school goals, expectations, and priorities – related to schoolwide morale and school turnover rates. I examined the hypothesis that focus attenuates the deleterious effects of student misconduct on teacher morale and the contributory role of student misconduct leading to teacher turnover. In addition, I examined climate strength regarding perceptions school focus as an indicator of focus itself, as well a potential moderating effect of climate strength on the magnitude of school focus-school morale and school focus-turnover relationships. Data from a national sample of middle and high schools (N schools = 348, N teachers = 11,376) were analyzed using school-level multiple regression models. Schools with higher focus had significantly higher morale, independent of related perceptions of administrative leadership. No significant relationship was found between school focus and school turnover rates. The hypothesized moderating effect of focus on student misconduct and morale was not supported, though there was a significant indication that focus attenuated the positive relationship between student misconduct and turnover. Climate strength of school focus ratings significantly correlated with focus scores, but did not moderate relationships between focus and predicted outcomes. Findings suggest that school-level focus does represent a characteristic of schools that has a meaningful positive relationship with teacher morale but do not necessarily clarify how that relationship manifests in schools or if that relationship presents an avenue for intervention.