Previous research has demonstrated that various reading intervention strategies have shown improvement over time. In a rural south central Pennsylvania school district, 25% of the third grade students are not proficient in reading, leading to possible disadvantages throughout life. This study investigated whether the theory of automaticity…

Theatres provide artistic value to many people and generate revenue for communities, yet little research has been conducted to understand or support theatrical designers. Over 1,800 non-profit theatres and 3,522 theatre companies and dinner theatres operate in the United States. In 2008, 11 million people attended 1,587 Broadway shows for a total…

Urban youth in the United States often experience daily human rights violations such as racism and violence. Therefore, Human Rights Education (HRE) can strengthen their understanding of these issues and unleash their power to act toward positive change. This qualitative study attempted to gain a deeper understanding of the use of performance arts…

An estimated 75% of students who are poor readers in third grade continue to be lower achieving readers in ninth grade. The National Reading Panel has identified fluency as a prominent cause of reading comprehension problems which ultimately affect overall reading development. The purpose of this study was to test the theoretical framework of…

The present study focuses on the need for sexual assault prevention interventions among college student populations. A review of the literature indicates that theatre-based prevention interventions are effective in preventing sexual violence among student populations. Chapter 2 of this dissertation is a literature review synthesizing scholarship…

The transfer student phenomenon in higher education is as increasingly complex as the transfer students causing the phenomenon. The collection of narratives in this study reflected transfer experiences of theatre students who were navigating the educational pipeline from community colleges to four-year institutions to major in the theatre…

This study examined the relationship of the achievement of African American male students enrolled in an early college high school to those enrolled in a performing arts high school. The Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT) scores of the 11th-grade African American male students from an early college high school were compared to the GHSGT…

The purpose of this study was to explore the benefits of arts-based education for adolescents with learning disabilities (LD) placed in an inclusion program. The goal was to examine the potential of arts education as an inclusive curricular component that enhances students' engagement in learning. The study is framed within the education policy…

The purpose of this study was to take a look at the academic achievement of students who are involved in co-curricular when statistically compared to the performance of their peers who are not involved in co-curricular activities. The scope of the investigation only includes high school students and the relationship between their involvement in…

With budget cuts and the heavy emphasis placed in recent years on student achievement in language arts and mathematics, arts instruction has been greatly reduced in California elementary schools. Yet the research literature has shown arts instruction to be associated with improved literacy skills (Bransford & Schwartz, 1999). Podlozny (2002),…

Serious reading problems exist among middle school learners as evidenced by declining national reading scores and increased dropout rates. In response to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) expectations in reading, several experts have promoted a scripted repeated reading strategy such as readers' theater as a possible approach to improving student…