The purpose of this professional practice dissertation (PPD) is to examine and provide Fluvanna County Public Schools practical and real-world solutions with regards to continuous improvement within its performance evaluation platform. This process was examined and analyzed through a qualitative action research approach and design and presents a…

One purpose of this study was to determine whether patterns existed in pre-high school students' motivation-related perceptions of their science classes. Another purpose was to examine the extent to which these patterns were related to their science identification, gender, grade level, class effort, and intentions to persist in science. We…

Teacher education faculty developed an innovative immersion-based professional development initiative termed High Impact Immersion Experience (H.I.I.E.) to address the problem of novice preservice teachers' lack of experience working in high-poverty schools with significant cultural diversity. A qualitative action research approach was designed to…

The purpose of this mixed-methods explanatory case study was to determine the impact of a reduced school calendar on student achievement for students in grades 9 through 12 in two rural school districts in Virginia and to explore meanings associated with this change. The study focused on two research questions: how does student performance during…

This study focused on current practices of character education in Virginia secondary schools and intended to establish baseline data. The research was conducted in two phases and used a mixed methodology. Of the 621 secondary schools in Virginia, a combination of 243 urban and county schools were randomly selected to participate in Phase One of…

As Internet technology encroached on the public school classroom about a decade ago, Kim Ross, superintendent of the Houston School District in Houston, Minnesota, saw an opportunity. At first, he and his administrative team simply wanted to offer students in the district of 1,300 access to more classes via the web than what a district that size…

This document provides educational researchers with the locale type for every public school in Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee as of 1995-96. The classification system used to assign locale types was developed by Frank H. Johnson and had been adopted by the National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, Public…

The past and present situation of the segregation academy movement in Prince Edward County, Virginia, is discussed. (NQ)

The rural economy has performed badly during the 1980s. While the recession of the early 1980s was responsible for much of the trouble, the slow rural recovery demonstrates the fundamental hurdles facing the rural economy. Central among these are economic disadvantages, including remote locations isolating rural producers from their markets, low…

Although there are many sources of information about "effective schools" programs, those that specifically address the needs of rural areas are often overlooked. This document offers a collection of program descriptions to help educators determine programs and practices that appear to be effective in rural and small schools. Program…

The improvement of the rural schools of the United States is the most important school problem. The most important factor in their improvement must be better educated and better trained teachers. The education and training of teachers should always have some special reference to the work of the schools in which they are to teach. Therefore any…