In this dissertation, I describe patterns of educational placement for students with disabilities, test the degree to which placement is impacted by student and school variables, and offer practical guidance for how schools can promote the principle of least restrictive environment (LRE) to promote access to general education classrooms to the…

The Impostor Phenomenon (IP) is a psychological construct that causes high-achieving individuals to doubt their competence, intelligence, and sense of belonging. IP has only recently been examined among people in the music education community. The student teaching experience is a time of transition and professional identity development for…

Relatively little research focuses on the incidence of declassification among young children who are transitioning from a special education preschool program to kindergarten. The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the continuity of eligibility for special education from preschool to kindergarten as well as to determine whether or not…

In this dissertation, acceleration in developmental mathematics at Utah Valley University through compression of a 4-course sequence into a 2-course sequence was examined to determine the extent to which sequence length predicted student success outcomes, including completion of, pass/fail grades in, and re-enrollment into subsequent developmental…

A significant number of students who enroll in community colleges are placed in remedial courses for which the credits do not count toward degree attainment. These remedial courses cost the same as first-year, credit-bearing college courses, and research indicates that students who enroll in these courses are less likely to finish their degree…

As per the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004), students who receive school-based special education services must be educated in the least restrictive environment and participate in the general education curriculum used for instruction of all students. This includes students with extensive support needs who may require…

Community colleges experience difficulties in effectively placing students in the first college-level, gateway mathematics course. The use of one standardized exam, such as the Texas Success Initiative Assessment (TSIA) has been proven ineffective. The effectiveness of using multiple measures is not known. This quantitative predictive…

Eighth-grade students who are placed into Algebra 1 but fail end-of-course exams may experience lowered grade point averages (GPAs) and loss of motivation for math or avoid taking advanced mathematics courses in high school. Middle-achieving students present challenges in terms of mathematics placement. Self-efficacy theory and locus of control…

This study is an investigation of the effects of linguistic features on quality of second language (L2) writers' essays for writing course placement at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB), and by implication at other universities and colleges. This study addresses the following research questions: (1) To what extent do selected linguistic…

At STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) focused higher education institutions, academics and retaining students are challenging. To uncover obstacles that prevent white male students, in STEM-focused programs, from retaining to their second year of college, a mixed methods approach using Astin's I-E-O model was used. A survey…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine which measures of technical skill attainment and program hours predict positive post-program placement of secondary Pennsylvania career and technical education (CTE) students who completed a Phase I or Phase II program of study. Predictor variables included performance on the end-of-program…

Nearly 14% of students in the United States receive special education services in public schools (NCES, 2017). Special education programs serve students with a wide range of developmental differences and vary considerably across schools and districts (National Research Council, 1997). Likelihood of identification for special education services…

Advisors use placement test scores as a means of predicting students' proficiency in mathematics; however, there is a debate about how accurately these scores predict students' success. This nonexperimental quantitative study focused on one test, the Texas Success Initiative (TSI). The purpose of the study was to determine whether the test is an…

This non-experimental quantitative study examined the following question: What is the relationship, if any, between COMPASS placement scores and the student success in the first online course during the students first semester? Discriminant function analysis was used to examine the relationship. This study used existing data from new students, who…

Burnout is a common problem in practicing social workers. This study investigated the effect of burnout, role ambiguity and coping strategies among graduate social work students in field placement. This was accomplished through the usage of the Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS), the Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity…