This sequential mixed method study (Creswell, 2003) compared the adjustment process of community college transfer students who began in the fall to those who began mid-year, beginning with a quantitative phase and extending to a qualitative phase of data collection in the fall semester and repeating this same sequence of data gathering with…

The purpose of this study was to examine the proportional reasoning skills of Turkish middle school students. It was also aimed at revealing the differences in students' performances in terms of their gender, grade level, and problem types--missing value and numerical comparison. The study was conducted with two sixth and seventh grade classes…

Three main purposes provided the foundation for this study. The first purpose was to investigate academic achievement through analyses of data obtained through formal and informal assessments among kindergarten through eighth grade students who participated in a Head Start program, center-based care program, or home-based care prior to school…

Alternative certification programs (ACPs) have been proposed as a viable way to address teacher shortages, yet we know little about how teacher knowledge develops within such programs. The purpose of this study was to investigate prior knowledge for teaching among students entering an ACP, comparing individuals with teaching experience to those…

The problem investigated in this research study relates to the referral rate for special education evaluations between students of teachers who were exposed to the professional development and resources associated with the federally funded Reading First program and students of teachers who were not exposed to the program. The purpose of this study…

This study investigated two hypotheses regarding the mapping of perception to action during imitation. The first hypothesis predicted that as children's cognitive capacities increase the tendency to map one goal and disregard others during imitation should decrease. This hypothesis was tested by comparing the performances of 168 4- to 7-year-olds…

The goals of this research are two-fold: (1) to survey the literature comparing the effectiveness (as measured by student achievement on state tests) of scripted language arts/reading programs in low-performing schools, and (2) to compare middle school teachers' attitudes (measured in questionnaires, interviews and surveys) on implementation and…

The image of "the scientist" and its effect on the willingness to be a scientist and to follow a career in science were investigated in two different cultural populations of elementary and junior high school pupils in Israel: Hebrew-speaking (secular) pupils (N = 390) and Arabic-speaking Bedouin pupils (N = 185). Five different tools…

Plant growth, development and reproduction are fundamental concepts in biology; yet there is a recorded lack of motivation for young people to grapple with these concepts. Here we present the "DigitalSeed" toy for making investigations around these concepts more accessible to children through hands-on digital interaction. This is part of an…

This study examined the impact that a year-round school calendar and a traditional school calendar may have on student achievement at selected elementary schools in North Central South Carolina. Specifically it investigated mean differences in academic achievement between elementary students at two year-round schools versus two traditional…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the low participation rate among high school students 18 years of age or older in Advanced Placement courses. The subjects in this study were 129 Advanced Placement Students and 129 non-Advanced Placement high school students 18 years of age or older in five high schools in two Louisiana parishes.…

The purpose of this study was to investigate elementary teachers' and principals' perceptions of working conditions and academic achievement in selected regions in North Carolina public schools. The participants in this study were North Carolina principals and elementary teachers from the north and south central school regions. These educators…

In a research collaboration with government biologists and university educators, K-12 students in the Cle Elum-Roslyn (CER) School District in eastern Washington are investigating where cougars ("Puma concolor") go when their habitat gives way to new housing developments. Now in its seventh year, Project Cougars and Teaching (CAT) is taking the…

This paper initiates an investigation of the college students' MI (multiple intelligences) distribution in English class. The participants are a group of Chinese sophomores from different majors: city planning, tourism, software engineering, financial administration and arts of English. With a view to make the investigation more specified in…

Children with autism experience difficulties in understanding social affective cues, and it has been suggested that such deficits will generalize to music. In order to investigate this proposal, typically developing individuals and children with autism and Down syndrome were compared on tasks measuring perception of affective and movement states…