This applied dissertation was designed to describe and explain the dropout phenomenon occurring in a rural high school in southeastern North Carolina. Caucasian students were dropping out at a disproportionate rate compared to other ethnic groups in the school. Over the last 4 years, 68 students did not graduate with their prospective class at the…

This research serves as a mixed methodological study that presents a conceptual framework which focuses on the relationship between professional learning communities, high yield literacy strategies, and their phases of change. As a result, the purpose of this study is threefold. First, a conceptual framework integrating professional learning…

High school students with Learning Disabilities (LD) often have difficulty expressing their thoughts in writing. At the secondary level, writing becomes paramount to successfully navigating the curriculum and expressing knowledge. In this study, the effectiveness of Self-Regulated Strategy Development for POW ("P"ick my idea, "O"rganize my notes,…

Both Thompson and the duo of Confrey and Smith describe how students might be taught to build "ways of thinking" about exponential behavior by coordinating the covariation of two changing quantities, however, these authors build exponential behavior from different meanings of covariation. Confrey and Smith advocate beginning with discrete additive…

The purpose of this investigation is to describe the outcomes of a multi-state study of written discipline policies in a high school setting. This study examines discipline codes of conduct and analyzes the content for behaviors ranging in severity (mild, moderate, and severe) while specifically examining the use of suspension as a punitive…

Building on the literature on epistemic cognition, epistemic beliefs, and historical thinking, three class-level case studies were conducted to investigate features of historical thinking and history-specific epistemic beliefs of high-school students and their teachers. These cases also considered teachers' pedagogical practices and the potential…

The purpose of this research study was to quantitatively examine South Carolina high school instrumental music students' self-efficacy as measured by the Generalized Self-Efficacy (GSE) instrument (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1993). The independent variables of age, experience, gender, ethnicity, and type of instrument played) were correlated with…

While research supports that formative assessment can improve student learning, it is rarely used and difficult to implement. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate the use of student handheld response systems (SRS) as a tool for formative assessment in high school classes as well as teachers' attitudes towards this…

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that influence first-year nonmusic majors' decisions regarding participation in music ensembles at small liberal arts colleges in Indiana. A survey questionnaire was used to gather data. The data collected was analyzed to determine significant differences between the nonmusic majors who have…

This causal-comparative study investigates the differences in the End of Course Examination Program (EOCEP) test scores of ninth grade students in English I and Algebra I/Math for the technologies, as influenced by schedules used in South Carolina public high schools during the 2005-2006 academic year. Framing this study is the previous…

This study investigated the extent to which there were statistically significant relationships between school administrators' systemic implementation of student voice work and student perceptions (i.e. achievement, motivation, attachment and school climate) and PLAN performance. Student voice was defined as students being equal partners in school…

In schools, like many business organizations, the establishment of mission statements has become common practice. In fact, many high schools are required to establish mission statements as part of an accreditation process. The intent of mission statements is to establish organizational purpose, and theoretically, once established the practice of…

This study investigated the effect of electronic communication has on parent's involvement with their high school child's education. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) specifically requires that schools find ways to increase parental involvement; this requirement stemmed from evidence that involvement tends to decline as the students…

Classroom teachers draw upon a variety of discourses to understand and make decisions about the students they teach. This case study investigation explored the discourses at work in inclusion classrooms, with particular attention paid to the way in which discourses may impact the problem of overrepresentation in special education. Frameworks that…

Educators have recently come to consider inquiry based instruction as a more effective method of instruction than didactic instruction. Experience based learning theory suggests that student performance is linked to teaching method. However, research is limited on inquiry teaching and its effectiveness on preparing students to perform well on…