This article is part of The Weekly Qualitative Report's occasional series on "How-To Collect Qualitative Data." The qualitative data collection method described is that of focused discussion groups (FDG's). This method involves the moderator, or scripter as is the preferred term in focused discussion groups, to move beyond that of a…

Policymakers, administrators, and institutional researchers should recognize the critical stakeholders in the area of institutional effectiveness at the community college, their differences in perceptions about institutional effectiveness, and ways to negotiate these differences in perception. This article identifies the different stakeholders in…

Stressful events early in life can affect children's mental health problems. Collecting valid and reliable information about children's bad experiences is important for research and clinical purposes. This study aimed to (1) investigate whether mothers and children provide valid reports of bullying victimization, (2) examine the inter-rater…

Many 21st century careers rely on geospatial skills; yet, curricula and professional development lag behind in incorporating these skills. As a result, many teachers have limited experience or preparation for teaching geospatial skills. One strategy for overcoming such problems is the creation of a student/teacher/scientist (STS) partnership…

For identifying children with four major kinds of verbal learning disabilities viz. reading disability, speech and language comprehension disability, writing disability and mathematics disability, the present task was undertaken to construct and standardize verbal learning disabilities checklist. This checklist was developed by keeping in view the…

Tufts University Hirsh Health Sciences Library created a Facebook page and a corresponding managing committee in March 2010. Facebook Page Insights data collected from the library's Facebook page were statistically analyzed to investigate patterns of user engagement. The committee hoped to improve posting practices and increase user engagement…

Out of School Time (OST) programs have been shown to promote positive personal, academic and social development (Huang, Gribbons, Kim, Lee, & Baker, 2000; Welsh et al., 2002). The Family League of Baltimore City works with partners to sponsor a range of after-school programs in Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) to provide healthy…

The 2012 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education was designed to provide up-to-date information and to identify trends in the areas of teacher background and experience, curriculum and instruction, and the availability and use of instructional resources. A total of 7,752 science and mathematics teachers in schools across the United…

Bullying is considered one of the most prevalent and potentially damaging forms of school violence. Each year, more than a quarter of middle and high school students are subjected to some form of bullying in their school environments. Research has identified potentially harmful immediate and long-term consequences for bullying-involved youth and…

More than 25% of new college students begin their higher education careers outside of the traditional fall start date (National Student Clearinghouse, 2012). This study examines the social, personal, and academic experiences of spring admits at a large, private research institution in the western United States. In this study, a spring admit is…

This study provides an in-depth analysis of whether students who take dual enrollment and/or AP classes have higher ACT test scores compared to a group of their peers that did not take dual enrollment or AP courses. The study also identified the demographic characteristics (ethnicity, gender, and socio-economic status) of students with a 3.0 or…

This paper presents an easy-to-use and flexible approach for data collection supporting the ABET-CAC accreditation cycle. This approach to accreditation requires program objectives, program outcomes and continuous improvement. ABET-CAC accreditation requires continuous improvement between accreditation visits. Closing the loop on Outcome-Based…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine current academic practices of compensation, workload, rewards, and tenure and promotion for nursing faculty who teach graduate and postlicensure programs that are delivered 50% to 100% online. Deans and directors who are members of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) were the…

This study examined the self-perceived leadership orientations of headmasters of independent schools. This research expanded the current body of work that supports Bolman and Deal's (2003) multi-frame explanation that leaders use different orientations (frames) to understand their roles, clarify organizational situations, and make decisions. Using…

The internationalization of distance learning in special education is at a pivotal point in expansion. Even with concerted efforts through traditional means to increase the supply of special educators, shortages persist; therefore, teacher preparation programs are turning to online education. This dissertation study was a formative program…