When multiple clients are collaboratively learning and training a shared model, incentives problems can arise. The clients may have different learning objectives and application domains, or they may be competitors whose participation in the learning system could reduce their competitive advantage. While collaborative learning is a powerful…

Modern-day educators often share a sense they lack voice and agency with school administration. A classic example is curriculum development, where third-party designers develop uncontextualized curricula, and teachers then must implement the design even if inefficient and ineffective. What happens if this identical situation occurs at the program…

Education is a moral enterprise, and higher education has the accountability to produce skilled learners with cognitive, psychological, and social-emotional competences. Formal and informal approaches of character education increase in demand. On the one hand, students should be guided to gain character strength and moral compass to confront the…

The purpose of this mixed methods dissertation is to examine the impact of the Professional Learning Community Continuous Improvement Model (PLCCIM) on school-based instructional coaches (SBICs) within a large school district in one of the nation's southeastern states. The effect of the implementation, along with coaches' perceptions, was measured…

Collaboration among teachers positively affects both teachers' professional development and students' reading achievement. However, teachers face challenges in collaboration with colleagues. Current research focusing on the collaboration experiences between general education classroom teachers and reading interventionists is absent. The purpose of…

Special education team members have shown an inability to write rigorous individualized education program (IEP) goals that meet students' needs. Researchers have focused on special education team members' ability to write IEP goals, and the phenomenon continues to be a vital concern. This basic qualitative study was conducted to examine the…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how high school teachers describe problem-based learning as an instructional model for student learning in various academic disciplines in the United States. The research was grounded in constructivist learning theory and Problem-based learning (PBL). The study addressed two research…

The University Center Model was designed to serve as an option for attainment of baccalaureate and master's degrees by making 4-year institutions accessible through partnerships with a community college. This model has been prevalent on select community college campus for almost 20 years, with little research to substantiate the effectiveness of…

Teacher evaluation has been a topic of conversation at the federal, state and local level in recent years. While commonly viewed as a way for administrators to inform their personnel decisions, teacher evaluation is rarely assessed on its ability to support teacher growth. The purpose of this study is to investigate the Connecticut SEED model of…

This dissertation is a program evaluation of an apprenticeship program operated by Siemens Energy, Inc. in Charlotte, North Carolina. The evaluation was based on Stufflebeam's CIPP model of context (C), input (I), process (P), and product (P). The CIPP sought to evaluate (C) current and future objectives, (I) various strategies use to achieve the…

Achievement goal theory and thus, the empirical measures stemming from the research, are currently divided on two conceptual approaches, namely the reason versus aims-based models of achievement goals. The factor structure and predictive utility of goal constructs from the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Strategies (PALS) and the latest two versions…

Visuals (maps, charts, diagrams and illustrations) are an important tool for communication in most scientific disciplines, which means that scientists benefit from having strong visual communication skills. This dissertation examines the nature of competence in visual communication and the means by which scientists acquire this competence. This…

This qualitative multi-site case study's purpose was to prove that the crafting coherence process was evident when three suburban Midwestern school districts implemented schools' goals while experiencing reductions in instructional programming, staffing, and facilities resources along with school closings due to significant declining student…

The purpose of this study was to clarify the ways that a district used its teacher staffing and professional development policies to increase the supply of effective teachers in high-poverty schools, to determine the efficacy of these policies in the view of district administrators and teachers, and to identify the facilitators and constraints to…

Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) is a federal program aimed at equalizing access to higher education for low-income students. GEAR UP, created in 1998, attempts to provide information and support about higher education to students beginning no later than the seventh grade while promoting lasting…