Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
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Item Principals' Leadership Styles and the Impact on Student Achievement(2015) Shortridge, Karim; Strein, William; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Title of Dissertation: PRINCIPALS' LEADERSHIP STYLES AND THE IMPACT ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT Karim K. Shortridge, Doctor of Education, 2015 Dissertation directed by: Dr. William Strein Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education As accountability efforts in education have increased, there has been an increased interest in the significance of effective instructional leadership. Policymakers have looked toward school-based leadership as a means to positively impact student achievement and to close the achievement gap. This political reliance on school-based leadership to accomplish the goals of school improvement can be seen in No Child Left Behind. The present research was based on the premise that specific leadership behaviors have been found to impact students' academic outcomes. The academic literature supports the view that school-based leadership influences student achievement. The purpose of the research was to examine the impact of middle school principals' leadership styles on students' academic achievement. Particularly, the study analyzed the leadership styles of middle schools principals that headed schools that have met or not met their school achievement indicators (AMO). Employing MLQ survey, the researcher examined principals' leadership styles. Moreover, the study examined whether AMO outcomes differed based on the principals' self-identifying characteristics of: age, gender, totals years of experience as principal, and years of experience in education. Transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership styles were singled out for investigation and these specific leadership styles were analyzed within the content of student achievement outcomes. Consequently, it was found that AMO status accounted for 22.4% of the variability in leadership style taken together; while AMO status accounted for 7.6% of the variability related to transformational leadership; and AMO status accounted for 5.7% of the variability on transactional leadership, laissez-faire had nearly no relationship.Item The Impact of Highly Qualified Teachers on Students' Academic Achievement and Graduation Rates(2014) Walker, Donald J.; Parham, Carol S; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)ABSTRACT Title of Document: THE IMPACT OF HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS ON STUDENTS' ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND GRADUATION RATES Donald Jay Walker, Doctor of Education, 2014 Directed By: Dr. Carol S. Parham, Department of Counseling, Higher Education and Special Education This study examined the relationship between the percentage of classes taught by highly qualified teachers (HQT) and students' academic achievement, as measured by students' passing rates on Maryland's High School Assessment (HSA), and graduation rates among secondary students for three academic school years (2011, 2012 and 2013) in the State of Maryland. All data relating to highly qualified teachers and students' academic achievement and graduation rates was collected from the Maryland's Annual Report Cards, published by Maryland State Department of Education for all 24 school systems in the State of Maryland during three consecutive academic school years (2011, 2012 and 2013). The individuals in this sample were 10th, 11th and 12th grade students from Maryland School System who participated in the Spring Maryland High School Assessment (HSA) for academic school years 2011, 2012 and 2013. A linear regression method was used to answer the question of possible relationships between the dependent variables, academic achievement test scores and graduation rates, and the independent variable, percent of courses taught by highly qualified teachers. System level performance data were analyzed in a descriptive fashion in order to show the percent of students passing each of the Maryland High School Assessments (HSA) in Math, Biology and English, and the percent of students graduating from high school. In addition to the descriptive statistics, Hierarchical Linear Modeling analyses were conducted in order to determine if (1) students performed better on High School Assessments (HSA) in counties having more highly qualified teachers (noted as Between Counties) and (2) if students performed better in years when there were more highly qualified teachers (HQT) in a county, than in those years when there were fewer highly qualified teachers (noted as Within-Counties or Between Years). Results of the data indicated that between-county or counties with more highly qualified teachers (HQT) than counties with fewer highly qualified teachers had a higher percentage of students who passed the Biology 10, 11 and 12, English 10, 11 and 12, and Math 10, 11, and 12 High School Assessments (HSA), over three consecutive academic school years (2011, 2012 and 2013). Within-counties, between-years or years when there were more highly qualified teachers (HQT) in a county compared to years when there were fewer (HQT) teachers, there was no significant relationships between the percentage of highly qualified teachers and students passing rates on the Biology 11 and 12, the Math 10 and 12, and the English 10 and 11 High School Assessments (HSA). However, for Biology 10, Math 11 and English 12 there was a significant relationship between the percentage of HQT in a county in a year, and the percentage of students passing the test that year. Counties where there were more highly qualified teachers (HQT), a higher proportion of students graduated than in counties where there were fewer highly qualified teachers (HQT), over three academic school years (2011, 2012 and 2013). There was no relationship between the percentage of highly qualified teachers (HQT) within a county in a particular school year and the percentage of students graduating in that year.Item An Analysis of the Relationship Between Elementary Princpal Self-Efficacy and 5th Grade Reading Achievement(2013) Lockard, Steven Andrew; Parham, Carol; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)ABSTRACT Title of dissertation: AN ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL SELF-EFFICACY AND 5TH GRADE READING ACHIEVEMENT Steven A. Lockard, Doctor of Philosophy, 2013 Dissertation directed by: Professor Carol Parham Department of Education Leadership, Higher Education and International Education Preparing students to be college or career ready in the 21st Century starts with the foundational skills they acquire in elementary school. Elementary school principals must work to ensure that, not only do they have a belief in their own abilities to provide this foundation, but that their school improvement efforts are reflected in the results of their students' achievement. This mixed-method study examines the relationship between elementary principals' perceptions of self-efficacy and student achievement scores in reading in a large suburban school district in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. In addition, the study explored leadership behaviors exhibited by principals in schools with high principal self-efficacy and high reading achievement. Data was gathered through the use of a survey (Principal's Sense of Efficacy Scale), principal interviews and teacher focus groups to answer the research questions. The researcher analyzed survey and interview data, utilizing the framework for the study -the triadic reciprocal causation model (Bandura, 1997). This framework provided a lens through which the construct of principal efficacy could be examined. The findings from this study revealed that there was limited evidence to suggest that principal self-efficacy and reading achievement were correlated. However, there was some evidence to support general common leadership behaviors of principals who report high levels of self-efficacy, in schools where high reading achievement exists. The teacher focus group responses validated the same behaviors selected principals identified. The common behaviors as described by teachers included the four larger themes of trust, empowerment, expectations, and collaboration.Item INSTRUCTIONAL BEHAVIORS AND STUDENT READING OUTCOMES IN A SCRIPTED TIER 2 INTERVENTION FOR FOURTH GRADE STRUGGLING READERS(2012) Montanaro, Elizabeth Ann; Silverman, Rebecca D; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examined instructors' spontaneous responses to student errors in a scripted Tier 2 reading intervention and the relationship between tutor responses and student comprehension outcomes. A sequential exploratory mixed-methods design was used to identify the types of behaviors tutors exhibited in response to student errors, using transcripts of lessons. Tutors used four types of off-script behaviors when reacting to students: (a) scaffolding, (b) telling, (c) unclear feedback, and (d) erroneous feedback. Differences in how tutors implemented the standard protocol were analyzed qualitatively and described using frequency counts. Tutors exhibited differences in the frequencies of each of the behaviors, and differed in how closely they adhered to scripted lesson. Although tutors overall exhibited 76.3% fidelity of implementation, certain components of the lessons were frequently omitted -modeling of the strategy, describing the purpose of the strategy, and providing opportunities for practice. These omissions may have influenced overall responsiveness for students receiving intervention. To determine how tutor differences might influence student outcomes, the frequency counts of the four spontaneous tutor behaviors were entered into regression equations to predict posttest scores on three measures of reading comprehension -Maze, Gates MacGinitie, and ASKIT. Findings indicate that scaffolding was related to student growth on one curriculum based measure of reading comprehension. The other three behaviors -telling, unclear feedback, and erroneous feedback -were not significantly related to student outcomes. Limitations, in light of these findings are considered. Implications for planning intervention studies and tutor training, as well as future directions for research, are discussed.Item Influence of Student Problem Behavior and Teacher Tolerance on Student Grades(2010) Bruckman, Katherine; Gottfredson, Gary; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The current study examines the influence of student problem behavior (as rated by teachers), teacher disposition to tolerate problem behavior, and interaction effects on student grade point average, reading grades, and math grades. The sample includes 3rd through 5th grade students (N = 12,993) and their classroom teachers (N = 562) from 45 schools. Multilevel models, with students nested within classrooms, test the influence of student problem behavior and teacher tolerance on student grades. Results imply that problem behavior negatively influences grades for students at each grade level, controlling for standardized academic achievement and other student and classroom-level covariates. Results also indicate that low teacher tolerance predicts higher current student grades in some analyses. Finally, tests for interactions of teacher tolerance with student problem behavior indicate that 5th grade students rated as having extreme problem behaviors receive lower grades in classrooms with more tolerant teachers, and higher grades in classrooms with less tolerant teachers.