The ubiquity of data in various forms has fueled the need for advanced data-mining techniques within organizations. The advent of data mining methods used to uncover hidden nuggets of information buried within large data sets has also fueled the need for determining how these unique projects can be successful. There are many challenges associated…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which professional development predicts principals' instructional leadership in order to identify whether a relationship exists between the duration of principals' participation in distinct professional development activities and their perceived practice of instructional leadership while…

The objective of this study is to investigate the factors influencing the integration of ICT of starting teachers in lower secondary schools in the Turkish context. Both quantitative and qualitative research was implemented for this objective. The participants were selected according to a stratified two-stage sampling design. That is, they were…

Past research have pointed out that excellent strategies have been written but extremely small have been accomplished in their implementation. It has additionally been proposed that only 10% of formulated strategies are successfully implemented. However, crafting the best strategy is not the end in itself but the ultimate result will only be…

This study investigates a novel approach to automatically assessing essay quality that combines natural language processing approaches that assess text features with approaches that assess individual differences in writers such as demographic information, standardized test scores, and survey results. The results demonstrate that combining text…

Smoking, drinking, and illicit drug use are leading causes of morbidity and mortality, both during adolescence as well as later in life. The determination of how well national and local policy and intervention efforts address teen substance use depends largely on the collection of valid and accurate data. Assessments of substance use rely heavily…

This study combined demographic and institutional explanations of women's employment, describing and explaining the degree to which mothers in industrialized societies are less likely to be employed than women without children. A large number of cross-sectional surveys were pooled, covering 18 Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development…

This paper reports the findings of research on relationships between depression and participation in learning using data from a large sample of older adults. The objective was to establish whether learning can reduce the risk of depression. Data were obtained from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a nationally-representative sample of…

Objective: To examine the association between child care practices and child care provider knowledge and beliefs about their role in supporting children's healthful eating. Design: Longitudinal design using survey and observation data from baseline and year 1 of the Encouraging Healthy Activity and Eating in Childcare Environments (ENHANCE) pilot…

This study examines associations between binge drinking and other substance use and perpetration of violence against self and others. Data were pooled from the 2003, 2005, and 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Surveys, yielding a sample of 43,172 U.S. high school students. A typology was constructed to reflect four categories of behaviors: other-directed…

Educators are increasingly pressured to raise standardized test scores. Test-focused school leaders, however, may neglect school climate factors associated with positive student development and increased student achievement. The California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) and its Resilience Youth Development Module (RYDM) represent a research-based,…

As Web 2.0 tools and technologies increase in popularity in consumer markets, enterprises are seeking ways to take advantage of the rich social knowledge exchanges that these tools offer. The problem this study addresses is that it remains unknown whether employees perceive that these tools offer value to the organization and therefore will be…

Purpose: We examined the relationship between the quality indicator for decline in activities of daily living (ADL) and the use of the Minimum Data Set (MDS) for determining Medicaid skilled nursing facility reimbursement. Design and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using the 2004 National MDS Facility Quality Indicator reports as…

Learning is an important aspect of active ageing, yet older people are not often included in discussions of the issue. Older people vary in their need, desire, and ability to learn, and this is evident in the context of technology. The focus of the data analysis for this paper was on determining the place of learning and technology in active…

The importance of attudinal and motivational dispositions and of external influences on the academic achievement of students completing the final year of secondary schooling in three Australian states is examined. A model of academic achievement is proposed, and step-wise multiple regression is used to analyze the data. (Author/MLW)