This dissertation focuses on three manuscripts all related to bolstering science achievement through recommendations from the National Research Council (NRC) regarding the teaching and learning of science. The manuscripts address meeting the NRC's call to incorporate curriculum and assessment that lead to more in-depth knowledge that can be…

Research on 1:1 laptop implementations is missing key information about student achievement on high-stakes assessment. This post hoc, quasi-experimental, quantitative study explores how 1:1 laptop access affects student achievement on the mandated eighth-grade online science assessment in five Mississippi school districts throughout the state.…

This research study is an investigation of student-laboratory (i.e., lab) learning based on students' perceptions of experiences using questionnaire data and evidence of their science-laboratory performance based on paper-and-pencil assessments using Maryland-mandated criteria, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) criteria, and published…

The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to investigate the relationship between the instructional effects of the interactive whiteboard and students' proficiency levels in eighth-grade science as evidenced by the state FCAT scores. A total of 46 eighth-grade science teachers in a South Florida public school district completed…

The purpose of this dissertation was to utilize the ELS: 2002 longitudinal data to highlight the achievement of African American students relative to other racial sub-groups in mathematics and science and to highlight teacher oriented variables that might influence their achievement. Various statistical tools, including descriptive statistics,…