High Stakes and No Takers: The Impact of Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) Writing on Students’ and Teachers’ Perceptions of Writing

This ethnographic case study of ten students and their teachers concludes that the state writing test had a negative impact on students’ and teachers’ perceptions of writing in four categories: strengths and weaknesses in student writing, self-assessment of writing skills, factors impacting test scores, and motivation and attitudes toward writing.

Professional Growth and Performance Appraisals of School Administrators: A Contemporary Model

A sound performance appraisal process for school administrators contains key components in accordance with legislation, board policy and contractual agreements. This paper examines the performance appraisal process for administrators in one Canadian school district that may serve as a guideline for individual educators who are committed with on-going professional development.

Recruitment, Socialization, and Accountability of School Administrators in Two Urban School Districts

Due to the impending shortage of qualified candidates for administrator positions, school districts are faced with the challenge of attracting and preparing candidates for the administrator role. This empirical study focused on leadership succession planning and leadership development in response to meeting the demands of the social preoccupation of accountability.

Moral Leadership: A Model for Educational Leaders in the 21st Century

Furthering the understanding of and exploring the literature on moral leadership models is the purpose of this research paper. A review the literature was undertaken, synthesizing concepts and offering a new paradigm for educational leaders.

Reflections on the Writing Process: Guiding the Work of Writing

A heuristic process was used to examine the experience of teaching writing for publication. Faculty and student reflections are presented.

Decreasing Law Enforcement Applicants and Racial Profiling – Reversing the Trends

Valuing Polyrhythmic Realities and Critical Theories, specifically Critical Race Theory, is facilitated by Interdisciplinary inquiry. Racial Profiling will be utilized to demonstrate how acknowledging the lived experiences of individuals and viewing situations from the oppressed viewpoint will positively impact the number of Blacks in law enforcement.

A Study of Intercultural Adjustment Regarding Time Orientation of Russian Students in the U.S. Academic Environment

The study investigates intercultural adjustment (IA) of Russian students to the U.S. academic environment. IA is examined through the lens of the Time orientation (T orientation) of Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s (1961) theory of value orientations. The study reveals students’ T orientation and degrees, perceived difficulties, and strategies of adjustment.

Female Collegiate Volleyball Player with Celiac Disease: A Case Report

Estimates of one in every 200 to 400 individuals, including the athletic population, suffer from celiac disease. Elite athletes present a unique complication when implementing a gluten-free diet because of the need for a high energy fuel. Dietetic adjustments such as increasing the caloric content and frequency are necessary to meet energy needs of highly physically active individuals.

Changing Parental Perceptions of Math and Science Curriculum Through Hands-on Workshops

Many parents hold negative perceptions of math and science because they have never been taught these domains from a hands-on, constructivist approach. Only 20 - 30% of adults have actually experienced activity-based science inquiry. Instead, these individuals were exposed to didactic science programs that emphasize drill, skill and memorization (Shymanksy, 2000). This has had a negative impact upon their content knowledge in these areas and their perceptions of math and science. Consequently, parents are hesitant to incorporate math and science into their home life. There is a dire need to determine if parental perceptions of math, science, and their content knowledge will be positively effected as a result of participation in hands-on science workshops.

Educating Parents on the Accelerated Reading Program

The Accelerated Reader Program was developed by Paul, VanderZee, Rue and Swanson at the Institute for Academic Excellence. The intention was to provide a computer-based reading program that would be recreational for students and that would provide information to teachers about the students. The majority of the research conducted to date targets the use of the program within the classroom. Results of the program only mention the participation of parents in the program as merely being informed of its existence. Parents are not necessarily included as active players in the daily routines. In fact, it is the lack of research found on the relationship between parent participation and student reading success and reading motivation that fueled the direction of this research. Thus, it created the perfect scenario to investigate the possible connection between parental involvement practices and the success of the Accelerated Reader Program.

Parental Involvement between Two Different Urban Communities

Parent involvement is an integral part of a child’s educational progress. In some cases, students’ academic achievement can be directly related to the level of parental involvement exhibited in schools. Families’ perception of roles toward parental involvement in schools may vary among groups from diverse cultures. In today’s urban schools, the increasing diversity of cultures may contribute to differences in levels of parental involvement. The purpose of this research is to address the need to promote parental participation in the educational process of their children. This study will focus on three research questions: Are there differences in levels of parental involvement after participating in a program designed to assist them with their children’s reading skills? Are there changes in the attitudes of families towards parental involvement after participating in the instructional cycle? Is there a relationship between the level of parental involvement and student academic achievement?

A Model of Culturally-Diverse Patterns of Communication for Meaningful Learning

Teachers who address culturally-diverse classrooms using their own cultural ‘communication modes’ promote ‘communication dysfunctions’ which diminish the classrooms’ production of meaningful learning. A proposed interaction model of culturally-diverse patterns of communication supplies ‘cultural congruency’ at all levels of communication between teachers and students. The Model proposes that teachers address the culturally-diverse classrooms in as many diverse communication modes as culturally-diverse are the students. The Model was created as a response to the unsatisfactory Meaningful Learning efficiency of a traditional one-cultured-teacher, teaching to a Multicultural classroom.

Class Size Reduction: A Significant Option for Improving Student Learning

Raising academic standards is a driving force behind public school initiatives. True educational reform requires a data-driven approach to choosing valid options for student improvement. We discuss current and continuing research that provides evidence that class size reduction, with related variables, is a significant option for improving student learning.

The Impact of Quality Teachers on Student Achievement

Various research studies reveal that factors, such as teachers’ cognitive ability, subject matter knowledge, knowledge of teaching and learning, licensure, and teaching behaviors in the classroom, are related to teacher quality and increased student achievement. Through a literature review these five major themes emerged that support the research that quality teachers do matter.

When One Dimensional Models Fail: Complexifying Models of Knowledge Construction

One dimensional models of reflective practice do not incorporate spirituality and social responsibility. Theological reflection, a form of reflective practice, is contextualized by a vision of social responsibility and the use of spirituality. An alternative model of reflective practice is proposed for spirituality and socially responsive learning at work.