Library: Education

The role of the school board in public K-12 schools is considered from the agency and the stakeholder perspectives. A new theoretical model for the school board members practice of due diligence encompassing content and process issues is developed from empirical literature on agency and stakeholder relationships, vision content and process, and strategy-making process capability. A four pronged methodology is used to test the model and resolve research issues on the practice of due diligence: 1) Development of an accountability measure of student performance using the Accountability Repor...

This thesis describes the theory and methods of an original somatic approach to movement education. Based on the five Elements of ancient philosophical tradition, Elemental Movement integrates somatic and alchemical principles, processes, and practice. It employs movement as the primary vehicle for a wide range of personal explorations, using the Elements both as a framework and as a set of symbolic tools. The first two sections offer a review of the literature on Elemental, alchemical, and psychological theory related to the development of Elemental Movement. The third section outlines a b...

The purpose of this study was to identify what were Taiwanese University English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ perceptions about learning communication strategies. This study collected qualitative data about students’ beliefs and attitudes as they learned communication strategies. The research question guiding the study was: What are Taiwanese University EFL learners’ perceptions about learning communication strategies? Twenty-four university students were trained for 10 weeks to use strategies in Faerch and Kasper’s (1983a) taxonomy, and seven volunteers were interviewed. None of the...

The goal of this dissertation is to provide research on the educational and societal needs of incarcerated youth by examining teachers' perceptions, both academically and socially, which will result in successful student transition into the traditional environment. Many of the educational approaches within incarceration school settings are instituted using the traditional school model, which is not conducive to the needs of incarcerated youth. Within incarceration educational pedagogy, youths also need socio-emotional skills when faced with the transition into the traditional environment in or...

Private Higher Education and the Labor Market in China focuses on Chinese private higher education institutions and investigates their institutional management efforts in linking private higher education to the labor market. The dissertation firstly describes and analyzes how these mostly demand-absorbing institutions include elements aimed at meeting labor market demands in their mission statements, and how they improve student employability and bridge graduates and employers through job-oriented fields of study provision, educational delivery, career services, as well as networking and partn...

Individualized Education: Understanding in Light of the Introduction of the Progressive/Regressive Forming and Establishing Developmental Model, as a Human Right That Ultimately Promotes Higher Quality of Life Globally Through Local Practices is an interdisciplinary Ph. D. thesis that analyzes and discusses the importance, influences, and practicality of IEPs (Individualized Educational Programs) in global terms. Furthermore, this thesis statement introduces the Progressive/Regressive Forming and Establishing Developmental Model. This model is a theoretical tool for analyzing individuals in ...

Many school districts across this great nation are facing serious patterns of underachievement of students who do not fit well in a mainstream educational environment. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological research study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of graduates from a credit-recovery nontraditional alternative high school that influenced his or her graduation. Nationally, many high school students are not earning sufficient credits to remain on grade level with their freshman level cohort. These at-risk students need options with stronger incentives to obtain high...

This dissertation is an interpretive case study that examines alcohol use by a specific subculture of undergraduates, a college fraternity. Based on nearly three years of investigation using interviews, observation, and document analysis, this study takes a detailed look at the organization's indoctrination process and the ways that their practices are explained by its most astute observers, specifically high-status insiders. Various elements of the author's biography are integrated into the text and used to enhance understanding of the phenomenon under investigation. The multiple purposes of ...

Social indicators such as low socioeconomic status, minority status, battering, chronic illness, trauma, drug and alcohol addiction, and poor social environment are negative predictors of educational and social success. Why is it that some people, however, overcome adversity and succeed despite the odds? This study identifies and describes the context and factors involved for an ethnically diverse group of twenty adult women from low socioeconomic status being able to "succeed" despite the odds. Using qualitative in-depth oral history interviews, this study includes women whose voices ar...

Little is known about student success in online learning environments, especially how the predisposing characteristics that the learner brings to the learning environment may differentially affect student outcomes. This study explored the question of whether a student's "readiness" to be a self-directed learner is a predictor of student success in an online community college curriculum. The specific goal of this investigation was to determine whether there was a significant relationship between self-directed learning readiness-as measured by Guglielmino's (1977) Self-Directed Learning Readin...