In this paper we compare two approaches to measuring the average rate at which students learn in a given school or district. One type of measure--longitudinal growth measures--relies on student-level longitudinal data. A second type--cohort growth measures--relies only on repeated aggregated, cross-sectional data. Because student-level data is…

This paper compares the perceptions of two groups of students who participated in the first cohort of the WebIT online Master of Science Degree in Instructional Technology at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville over a two-year period. The program completers (n=11) are the students who completed and graduated from the WebIT program. The…

Large numbers of young people in the United States were in foster care or in juvenile justice custody as teenagers, and many of them have a difficult time making a successful transition to independent adulthood as they leave these systems. Most of them faced a number of disadvantages during childhood and often have poor outcomes across several…

The "Experimental Evaluation of the Tools of the Mind Pre-K Curriculum" study was designed to compare the effectiveness of the "Tools of the Mind" ("Tools") curriculum to the curricula the school system is currently using in enhancing children's self-regulation skills and their academic preparation for kindergarten.…

As part of a nationwide effort to increase the postsecondary educational attainment levels of citizens, community colleges have expanded offerings of courses and programs to more effectively meet the needs of students. Online courses offer convenience and flexibility that traditional face-to-face classes do not. These features appeal to students…

The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is a quantitative metric used by MD and MD-PhD programs to evaluate applicants for admission. This study assessed the validity of the MCAT in predicting training performance measures and career outcomes for MD-PhD students at a single institution. The study population consisted of 153 graduates of the…

A 20-year retrospective study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and published in the July 2015 issue of the "American Journal of Public Health," suggests that kindergarten students who are more inclined to exhibit "social competence" traits--such as sharing, cooperating, or helping other kids--may be more likely to…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine perceptions of East Tennessee State University (ETSU) cohort members on the experience of redesigning the leadership preparation program requirements. Particularly, cohort participants in the "Greene-King" cohort were chosen by an admission process to participate in a grant…

The purpose of this study was to examine the academic performance of the first-time, full-time, traditional-aged students in the Student Support Services program at East Tennessee State University. This was accomplished by comparing their academic performance with the academic performance of first-time, full-time, traditional-aged non-SSS…

Black middle school students in the United States continue to perform poorly on standardized reading achievement tests in comparison to other racial and ethnic groups. The purpose of this research study was to examine the effectiveness of a vocabulary-focused test preparation program for Black middle school students. The theoretical framework…

This paper describes results from a case study that focuses on the initial implementation of a new, online instructional program, the WebIT M.S. in Instructional Technology, offered at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville during 2008-2010. Survey data were collected from two groups of students: a self-selected sample of those students who…

Teachers spend most of their time in school in classrooms, and their instruction and teaching practices may be affected by classroom context such as class size. We examine whether teacher effects interact with classroom context such as class size. Specifically, we seek to determine whether teacher effects are more pronounced in small classes than…

Over the past few decades thousands of special education teachers have been teaching students with disabilities on emergency or temporary certificates (Barnes, Crow, & Schaefer, 2007). The majority of these teachers entered the field of education with little to no preparation. Most of these under qualified teachers were hired in rural areas.…

The experimental evaluation of the "Tools of the Mind Pre-K Curriculum" described in this report was designed to examine the effectiveness of the "Tools of the Mind" ("Tools") curriculum for enhancing children's self-regulation skills and their academic preparation for kindergarten when compared to the usual…

We examined the persistence of teacher effects from grade to grade on lower-performing students using data from Project STAR. Teacher effects were computed as residual classroom achievement within schools. Teacher effects in one grade predicted achievement in following grades using quantile regression. Results consistently indicated that all…