This study investigated school characteristics that were predictive of high school dropout rates for Black and White students using a sample of 289 public high schools from the Virginia High School Safety Study. School structure (consistency and enforcement of school rules and discipline) and support (availability of caring adults) were tested for…

Perceptions of faculty development practices and structures were compared between 13 high performing schools identified in the DEEP study (Kuh, Kinzie, Schuh, Whitt, 2005) to clarify the relationship between faculty development variables and effective teaching. A phenomenological design was employed to triangulate quantitative and qualitative data…

This qualitative phenomenological study used a modified Groenewald's five steps method with semi-structured, recorded, and transcribed interviews to focus on the underrepresentation of females in science-related careers. The study explored the lived experiences of a purposive sample of 25 senior female college students attending a college in…

This study identifies the major characteristics of "effective" primary schools in isolated areas in Vietnam. It suggests areas in which the implementation of beneficial changes can occur. Pupils in isolated areas of Vietnam are, in many respects, educationally disadvantaged. Usually, these pupils are in schools that have fewer…

Two recent pieces of federal legislation have greatly influenced how schools educate students with disabilities. While Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004) requires that schools assess students with disabilities using the same assessment instruments with which their non-disabled peers are tested, the No Child Left Behind…

Recent school reforms such as NCLB have focused on standardizing learning outcomes, and in the process have stimulated many schools to standardize curricular content, particularly if those schools are in Program Improvement (PI) status as a result of not meeting testing targets. But these attempts at standardization have ignored the fact that…

Purpose, scope, and method of study: Considered a significant strategy to foster school readiness and close the achievement gap, efforts to increase the education level of preschool teachers have garnered widespread support. Research pointing to the inadequate and outdated preparation of preschool teachers as well as a shortage of baccalaureate…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate ways in which six teachers in the intermediate grades at one urban and one rural school enabled their African American male students to be successful in their literacy efforts. It was my assumption that successful teachers of African American males would also be teachers who integrated…

In this study I examine the manner in which high-achieving African American undergraduate men negotiate cultural challenges in a predominantly White institution (PWI). Cultural theory underpins the conceptual framework of this case study. Basing the study in cultural theory provided a lens through which to view the lived experiences of the twenty…

Peer tutoring at the postsecondary level has been studied extensively, particularly over the last twenty years. Peer tutoring programs are common across institutional type and size in the United States (Boylan, Bonham, Bliss, & Saxon, 1995; Maxwell, 2001) given students' preferences for tutors who share age and status similarity (Cohen, 1986;…

Parent involvement has been the focus of many educational research studies since the release of "Equality of educational opportunity" (1966), which concluded that parents and home environment determine students' academic success. Since that time, educators have worked toward identifying effective strategies to increase home-school collaboration in…

In many rural school districts in a midwestern U.S. state, special education service implementation conflicts with initiatives to improve and maintain an effective school-wide educational environment. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate how differences in levels of teacher training in special education affected the…

Contractor performance evaluation enables agents to make informed purchasing decisions, provide feedback to contractors/vendors, and help improve service quality and customer satisfaction. However, both public and private organizations sometimes fail to do so, as is the case at a division of a government organization located in a northeastern U.S.…

A decade of research studies document that while blended learning has experienced rapid growth on K-12 campuses, little is known about its diverse impacts on teachers in secondary schools. Narrowing this knowledge gap was the purpose of this study, as it addressed questions relating to the extent to which high school practitioners blended subject…

Urban districts suffer from a severe shortage of qualified science teachers. Therefore, many new science teachers will need to take positions in urban districts with little or no exposure to urban communities. As a result, prospective teachers find it difficult to learn how to negotiate the cultural contexts of urban teaching. Consequently, it is…