The primary goal of this dissertation is to develop and provide preliminary validation for a new measure of culturally responsive practice. This instrument, which is called the Culturally Responsive Practice Scale (CRPS), includes items that reflect ways that teachers teach multicultural students in their classrooms. To accomplish the goal, three…

This study investigated the viability of an instrument called the Biophilic Attitudes Inventory (BAI), a pen-and-paper instrument intended to measure attitudes toward nature that, according to naturalist Edward O. Wilson, are rooted in an innate predisposition that humans possess to connect with other forms of life. Utilizing confirmatory factor…

Extensive research has been conducted on the relationships of Chinese-character recognition to reading development; strategic competence to reading comprehension; and home linguistic exposure to heritage language acquisition. However, studies of these relationships have been marked by widely divergent theoretical underpinnings, and their results…

This quantitative study examined the structure, validity, and reliability of the "Three-Dimensional Worldview Survey-Form C" ("3DWS-Form C") for potential use in postsecondary Christian institutions. This instrument delineates from other worldview instruments in that it purports to measure three components of a person's…

Teaching is a complex and fundamentally collaborative process, through which knowledge and skills are acquired as a result of repeated interactions between teachers and students. The effectiveness of these interactions depends on both the instructional environment created by the teacher and the extent to which students engage with that…

The United States needs workers with more than technical skills to meet the demands of global competition; more specifically, a new breed of engineer is necessary, one who possesses leadership skills and business acumen in addition to the technical engineering skills. One Midwestern foundation has recognized this challenge and is working with…

In this study, I examined the relation between various construct relevant and irrelevant variables and a math problem solving assessment. I used independent performance measures representing the variables of mathematics content knowledge, general ability, and reading fluency. Non-performance variables included gender, socioeconomic status,…

In this paper, the Classroom Learning Activities Checklist (CLAC) is proposed as a classroom observation measure that effectively captures the classroom environments and strategies that support self-regulation via task-oriented learning in young students. The CLAC's dimensionality, reliability, and concurrent and predictive validity evidence are…

"Data modeling" is an approach that helps students to transform initial, and often misguided, understandings of variability and chance to forms of reasoning that coordinate chance with variability by designing learning environments that support this reasoning by allowing students to invent and revise models. The Assessing Data Modeling…

The concept "academic culture" has been used as a framework to understand faculty work in higher education. Academic culture research builds on organizational psychology concepts of culture and climate to better understand employee practices and work phenomenon. Ample research has investigated faculty teaching at the disciplinary and…

This study investigated philanthropic giving to higher education among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) alumni. The primary purpose was to create a multi-institutional survey instrument that operationalizes philanthropic involvement and motivation among LGBTQ alumni. Additional objectives included creating factors and items…

This dissertation is composed of four stand-alone yet linked chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the theoretical underpinnings of the constructs of adaptive behavior and support needs and their evolution throughout history. There is also a review of the limited literature available examining the relationship between the two constructs that…

Because of the critical function of the IEP in the planning and implementation of effective instruction for students with disabilities, educators need a reference to determine the standards of a quality IEP and a process by which to compare an IEP to those standards. A rubric can support educators in examining the quality of IEPs. This study used…

The purpose of this study was the creation of an instrument to assess perceptions of job satisfaction for professional staff fulfilling the role of residence directors. With many costs associated with the exit of an employee (Cascio, 1987), it is hoped that the instrument may be used by the senior housing administrators to limit lateral turnover,…

The purpose of the mixed methods study was to develop and validate the CSIS-360, a 360-degree feedback assessment to measure competencies of school improvement specialists from multiple perspectives. The study consisted of eight practicing school improvement specialists from a variety of settings. The specialists nominated 23 constituents to…