The purpose of this quantitative study was to measure the change in mathematics self-efficacy of students enrolled in a college mathematics course at a community college in Missouri. The change was measured over a single semester as a pre-test and post-test. The timing of this study is significant, given that it follows statewide changes in…

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of the Leader in Me philosophy to students' equitable achievement in school, by measuring the academic achievement of third through fifth graders in suburban Missouri public schools. A secondary purpose of the study was to inform teachers and school leaders of effective strategies for…

This dissertation assesses the relationship between homelessness and socioeconomic status, minority, and student achievement. This study is motivated by four research questions. (1) What is the relationship between the percent of homeless students and socioeconomic rate in a district? (2) What is the relationship between the percent of homeless…

The divide of America and the racial injustices occurring support the need for ensuring faculty development to confront race and racial inequities in the classroom (Hughey, 2012). This study explored the experiences of White faculty members who incorporate racial dialogue in their courses. Based on ten interviews, one focus group, and a…

This study used student suspension data from one suburban and one rural school district in Missouri to describe the relationship between participation in long-term suspension credit-recovery programs and graduation rates of those same suspended students. Students who participated in a long-term suspension credit recovery program were 8.8 times…

There is a lack of knowledge in whether there is a difference in results for students on paper and pencil high stakes assessments and computer-based high stakes assessments when considering race and/or free and reduced lunch status. The purpose of this study was to add new knowledge to this field of study by determining whether there is a…

This dissertation examined the perceptions of ten African American male college students persisting in an undergraduate degree program within the state of Missouri. According to Carnegie foundation reports, the campus attended by the ten research participants has a total student population of just over 16,000 students (majority undergraduate &…

Contrary to what supporters of the "No Child Left Behind" Act (P.L. 107-110, 2001) would have us believe about the effects of this legislation, the academic achievement gap between students of color and White students, and between economically disadvantaged students and students from higher socio-economic backgrounds is not closing.…

The purpose of this quantitative, causal comparative study was to examine the extent to which attending an alternative educational program at some point during high school could likely influence the graduation rate of at-risk students in an urban school district in the state of Missouri. Four years of nonrandom samples of graduation data from 2006…