Background: In recent years, social work has become increasingly concerned with efforts to produce professionals capable of effectively supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) clients. Research examining LGBT-competence in social work remains limited, however, because it often neglects to address the role social work education…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies and student academic performance. Academic performance was measured by final grade (out of 100 points) in courses that were part of the study, and self-regulated learning strategies were assessed by the Motivated Strategies for Learning…

This study explores the extent to which a high school's organizational contexts and individual students' characteristics are related to adolescents' school bond in multiracial schools. It first examines how the racial heterogeneity of a school is associated with the levels of students' school bond, and then explores the roles school climate plays…

This study tested a hypothesis derived from Holland's (1997) theory of personality and environment that congruence between person and environment would influence satisfaction with doctoral training environments and career certainty. Doctoral students' (N = 292) vocational interests were measured using questions from the Interest Item Pool, and…

Children and adolescents are exposed to multiple contextual influences along their development towards adulthood. Before they transition to adulthood, adolescents acquire skills and knowledge usually in schools, which are one of the most influential contexts during adolescence. During school years performing well academically can generate better…

Because results from TIMSS 2007 showed a gap in mathematics and science achievement between students in the United States and those in the top-performing countries, TIMSS 2007 data were used to investigate how school effectiveness factors known to be strongly associated with higher STEM achievement operated in the United States compared to Chinese…

Mathematics performance in the U.S., relative to other developed countries remains unsatisfactory despite the emphasis on teacher training, rigor in teaching, and provision of physical resources, adjustments in curriculum and utilization of modern technology. Psychological aspects such as motivation and self-efficacy, which are known to have…

This study examined the relationship between teacher perceptions of the degree to which a principal displays the factors of transformational leadership (idealized attributes, idealized behaviors, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulations, and individual considerations) and the perceived school climate (supportive principal behavior,…

This study was aimed to investigate the potential negative impact that positive (e.g., praise and rewards) and punitive (e.g., sending students to the office) disciplinary techniques, commonly used within the Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) approach, have on students' prosocial motivation, and how aspects of…

Since the 1990s, many states have started implementing standards-based reforms and developed their own accountability systems. Each state established academic content and performance standards, implemented test for all the students in grades 3 through 8 annually, and set up annual measurable objectives in reading and mathematics for districts,…

This dissertation is comprised of three manuscripts and presents a line of research aimed at improving the measurement of bullying in schools. The first manuscript investigated the impact of an educational video on self-reports of bullying. A sample of 1,283 middle school students in randomly assigned classrooms either watched or did not watch an…