The quest to improve student achievement has been the catalyst for some of the most significant education reform in the last century. From the earliest school structures of the 19th and 20th century; initially created to assure the ideals of the Americas were translated to new immigrants, to the most recent laws of the 21st century; systems for…

This research study examined the effects of hybrid course format as compared to face-to-face instruction format in a high school setting. At this time, there is little research on hybrid courses in the secondary schools. The quantitative portion of this ex post facto study utilized causal comparative design. Student data was collected from teacher…

Social promotion is an ongoing issue in education and is frequently seen as a dichotomy with retention. While retention is a commonly researched topic, the information regarding the academic and behavioral outcomes of socially promoted students is much sparser. The problem is that many students who are socially promoted into high school after…

This study examined the effectiveness of READ 180, a computer based reading intervention on Lexile reading levels, Standardized Test of Reading Achievement (STAR) score, and attendance rates students in grades 3-5 who participated in the READ 180 program. The study compared the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) scores of each group administered…

This dissertation consists of three separate essays on the economics of education. In the first chapter, co-authored with Esteban Aucejo, studies the relative effectiveness of reducing absences to extending the school calendar on test score performance. Using administrative data for North Carolina public schools, we exploit a state policy that…

Community colleges have changed notably over the past quarter century, as have the demographics and educational trajectories of the growing proportion of traditional-age college students who attend them at some point along their transition to adulthood. This dissertation extends the literature on how institutional attendance intersects with change…

This paper is a project report of a policy analysis of state attendance information available to public schools. Current state attendance information rarely expands beyond compulsory attendance law. It is vague, non-existent or difficult to find. Research provides strong links between student attendance and achievement. Informed school leaders…

This dissertation is focused on intentional intervention strategies adopted in a prior five-year period by Denver Area High School for the purpose of reducing suspensions, expulsions, referrals, other minor disciplinary infractions, and reduced failure rates. Those strategies included implementing a Culture of Care, which included (a) Restorative…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the type of grade configuration and racial climate of a school on the academic performance and discipline of middle school aged students. Specifically, this study was concerned with the predictive power of the type of grade configuration (stand-alone middle school vs. non-transition…

The purpose of the study was to determine if parents' military deployment had an impact on the academic achievement of their children. The study examined if there were a parallel between parental military deployment and absenteeism, parental deployment and discipline, and parental deployment and counselor visits. The study also examined if…

Public awareness of the severity of the high school completion problem in terms of its educational, social, psychological, and economic impacts has grown in recent years. Using ex post facto data, this non-experimental, correlational study was designed to determine whether there are differences in academic performance and school attendance between…

The purpose of this relational, non-experimental, explanatory, cross sectional study with quantitative methods was to explain the influence of length of school day, if any, on Grade 4 and Grade 5 student achievement in Language Arts and Mathematics as measured by the high-stakes New Jersey standardized test entitled New Jersey Assessment of Skills…

The purpose of this study was to examine third-grade student achievement in mathematics and reading for students who were in skill groups, as compared to those who were traditionally grouped, with student attendance being taken into consideration as a variable of additional comparison. Skill groups are a type of flexible ability grouping, where…

This study involved a mixed design to generate the perceptions of students and teachers about failing ninth-grade students and the impact of learning resources. The participants in this study were a purposive selection of ninth-grade students and ninth-grade teachers in one Missouri school district. The conceptual framework of this study was based…

This study was designed to investigate if a statistically significant variance exists in African American and Hispanic students' attendance and Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test scores in mathematics before and after the implementation of a standardized dress code. For almost two decades supporters and opponents of public school…