The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether factors of social comparison theory influence public school choice in Indiana. There were two arms in the study. One arm used three district-level variables (parent education level, socioeconomic status, and homogeneity of race) associated with social comparison theory (SCT) and five…

Today's schools emphasize the use of student data to make instructional decisions. Standardized tests determine funding and teacher advancement (Datnow, Park, & Wholstetter, 2007; Gullo, 2013; Marchant & Paulson, 2009; Schraw, 2010). To evaluate learning before these tests, teachers must utilize their own assessments and data. Formative…

Higher education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) faces a number of challenges. There are many calls for STEM education to make significant changes moving forward, including calls for competency-based learning and greater integration of the humanities. These efforts require systemic change. Systemic change has significant…

The purpose of this study was to understand the organizational functions of student-affairs at Indiana University and to understand the nature of the conflict between student-affairs and the larger organization. This study utilized the case-study research design. Much of the data collected and analyzed during this case study were of a historical…

This study is an exploratory case study on supervisors' and front line managers' current practices towards the promotion of the socialization of employees with disabilities with their non-disabled peers. The researcher interviewed eight participants, four men and four women, purposefully selected from Connecticut and Indiana in person or over the…

The participants in this study were 10 African American male college mentors at Indiana State University who participated in the Indiana State University Student African American Male Mentor Program, one school counselor, and two members of the Student African American Brotherhood administration. The study examined potential benefits to mentors,…

Working under classical test theory (CTT) and item response theory (IRT) frameworks, this study investigated psychometric properties of the Revised Purdue Spatial Visualization Tests: Visualization of Rotations (Revised PSVT:R). The original version, the PSVT:R was designed by Guay (1976) to measure spatial visualization ability in…

This research project focused on explaining the decision making process of K12 Christian school superintendents whose schools belong to the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) organization. In spite of their similar religious and philosophical beliefs, ACSI K12 Christian school superintendents differed significantly in…

Problem. Some Catholic schools report high teacher attrition rates. Understanding reasons for teacher attrition and responding to those issues is one of the many responsibilities of principals. However, it is unclear what Catholic principals understand about teacher attrition. Ingersoll's extensive research on teacher attrition has provided a…

Establishing effective transition programs for students entering high school is an ongoing process. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore best practices transition programs employ to aid student's success. The participants in this study were six administrators chosen from a population of administrators at 60 central Indiana high…

For educators in the field of higher education and judicial affairs, issues are growing. Campus adjudicators must somehow maximize every opportunity for student education and development in the context of declining resources and increasing expectations of public accountability. Numbers of student misconduct cases, including matters of violence and…

This study compared the model-data fit of a parametric item response theory (PIRT) model to a nonparametric item response theory (NIRT) model to determine the best-fitting model for use with ordinal-level alternate assessment ratings. The PIRT Generalized Graded Unfolding Model (GGUM) was compared to the NIRT Mokken model. Chi-square statistics…