2020 Doctoral Capstone Projects

This Capstone Project investigates the relationship between the use of Edmentum's Courseware Math Library software and students' math achievement in the middle school mathematics classrooms of a small school district in southwestern Pennsylvania during the 2019 -2020 school year. Grade level data was collected regarding the use of a supplemental math software program called Edmentum's Courseware Math Library. Data on students' mathematics achievement was collected from the Study Island Benchmark Assessments version 4 that acted as a pretest and posttest. The data were compared to determine mean differences in achievement between the students who were provided the Edmentum Courseware Math Library in a blended learning environment ( experimental group) and those who did not ( control group). Data were analyze using a two-sample ttest for independent samples to determine the possible relationship between the use of the Courseware Math Library and students' math achievement on these measures. The Capstone Project results can be utilized to inform school educational leaders as they invest in technology tools and integrate technology into the mathematics classroom. Regardless of using Edmentum's Courseware Math Library in 2019-2020, the achievement of the experimental group was not significantly higher than that of the control group. Several variables should be taken into account, such as limited data, teacher training in blended learning and the Edmentum Courseware Math Library and time intervals that the students access the modules. Another factor that could have played a significant role in the results is the interruption of the educational process due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak that forced the school to enter into a Continuity of Education plan that altered the blinded learning environment for a part of the project.

Using teacher evaluation score averages, Instructional Rounds data, and student assessment score averages from the Northwest Evaluation Association Measures of Academic Progress (NWEA MAP) assessment at two elementary school campuses in a large West Texas city, this research study investigated the affects that effective professional development planning and teacher effectiveness had on student achievement. This study is a quantitative action research project utilizing archival data from the 2018 – 2019 school year as a baseline, as well as 2019 – 2020 data collected throughout the entirety of the research study. The data was collected after each professional development training in order to identify the utilization of the targeted instructional strategies implemented to analyze the relationship between teacher evaluation scores and the implementation of targeted professional development. NWEA MAP assessment averages from students were collected and analyzed in order to identify the relationship between the implementation of effective professional development and targeted instructional strategies, and teacher evaluation scores. The results of this research study indicated an increase in teacher evaluation score averages with increased usage of the targeted instructional strategies and fidelity to the professional development trainings. In addition, the findings indicated that groups of students and teachers had higher increases in overall teacher evaluation averages and student NWEA MAP Rasch Unit (RIT) score averages when implementing the targeted instructional strategies with more fidelity to the professional development trainings. Also, the results indicated consistency at both campuses in the use of the teacher evaluation rubric, since both of the focus campuses in his research study used the same teacher evaluation rubric and received the same calibration training at the beginning of the 2019 – 2020 school year. The recommendations discussed within this research study include; encouraging fidelity to the professional development training and the implementation of the targeted instructional strategies, including additional campuses to add more teachers and students to the focus groups, additional time parameters, and a structured testing protocol in order to have a testing environment conducive for student concentration. In addition, it was recommended to include individualized teacher evaluation scores and student NWEA MAP RIT scores to identify more individualized increase or decreases on teacher evaluations and student assessment scores.

For years, students with mental health diagnoses have encountered many barriers in their respective education programs. Teachers and other professionals have been unsure and unaware of many of the successful strategies to engage these students in learning and providing essential skills for success in life. All too often, medication has become the primary way to alter behaviors and symptoms of students who suffer from mental health issues. This study focuses on a group of students who have at least one mental health diagnosis. Through reviews of literature, a historical timeline is presented on strategies provided to these students, as well as a definition and overview of many of the common types of mental health diagnoses. Students are observed in both the traditional classroom environment and the Fab Lab. The purpose of this study is to determine if student behaviors, attendance, and mental health symptoms can be minimized and altered in the Fab Lab setting which could promote more learning opportunities. The study also includes analyzing teacher and social worker perceptions on both learning environments.

Behavior problems impact student performance and the overall climate of a school building. Current school codes of conduct and discipline programs do little to improve behavior. Schools need a way to put interventions in place to help students who show behavioral difficulty. These interventions need to be supportive rather than punitive. The research questions; 'how do behavioral interventions impact student behavior and school climate in third through fifth grade students?' and 'how do teachers perceive the impact and effectiveness of the intervention?' provide the basis of the study. The purpose of this research study is to determine how Check-in/check-out as a behavioral intervention impacts student behavior and school climate. Student behavior was charted daily to monitor their progress toward goals established at the onset of the program. Students also completed the School Climate Survey {La Salle, McIntosh, & Elaison, 2018) before beginning the intervention and at the conclusion of the study timeframe. Teachers also completed a survey at the conclusion of the intervention to determine its impact from their perspective. The data was analyzed by looking for trends in behavior, trends in climate ratings, and trends in teacher ratings to determine effectiveness. The data showed that the intervention was effective from the teacher's perspective, had inconsistent results between increasing student positive behavior and decreasing negative behavior, and had no positive impact on the school climate rating. Further research is need to determine ways to increase behavioral consistency and to determine other factors contributing to school climate rating.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to analyze the predictors of teacher absences between the 2016-19 school years and the impact of teacher absences on student achievement scores at Derry Township School District (DTSD), a school district located in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The objectives of the study included: (a) an analysis of the predictors of teacher absenteeism, (b) examining the costs associated with teacher absenteeism, (c) analyzing the impact on student achievement, and (d) recommendations to reduce the frequency of teacher absences and the associated costs. The desired outcome of this action research project was to provide substantial recommendations to DTSD and other public school systems to meaningfully address the problems associated with teacher absenteeism. The results of the study indicated that more than 62% of teachers at DTSD were considered to be chronically absent. The cost associated with securing substitutes between the 2016-19 school years exceeded $2.1 million. In addition, the substitute fill rate in the district continued to decline. Although, the study determined that there were little to no significant differences between the achievement scores for students instructed by chronically absent teachers and those who were instructed by teachers who miss fewer than 10 days. The results of the study suggested that significant relationships between the number of teacher absences and student achievement scores did not exist. However, the demographic variables of age, gender, and years of experience were all determined to be significant predicators of teachers absences.

Academic achievements and regular attendance are considered to be two important indicators of college and career readiness. Students who are economically disadvantaged and do not have regular attendance in school do not achieve at the same rate as their peers (Garcia & Weiss, 2018). Additionally, attendance in middle school is considered a reliable predictor of high school success. This project was designed to determine if regular communication and engagement strategies with parents of economically disadvantaged students is effective in promoting regular attendance and preventing truancy, or habitual truancy, for students in this at­ risk population. An additional inquiry was sought to determine if improved attendance then increased student performance on standardized tests. Tier 1 strategies were applied to all middle school students in a high poverty, rural school district. Tier 2 and Tier 3 strategies were implemented for some students and proved to be successful in remediating truancy issues and preventing habitual truancy from occurring. School records from before and during the intervention year were compared to determine any differences in attendance rates and achievement. While some of the data was interrupted due to a national pandemic, it was determined that a tiered system of support was effective in promoting regular attendance for all students and even more so for students who are economically disadvantaged. Three recommendations for future action are provided for educational leaders who wish to improve attendance statistics.

Considerable amounts of financial resources and human capital are dedicated to school improvement efforts in the state of Pennsylvania each year. The factors that guide school improvement designation stem from federal education legislation, and include achievement, academic growth, attendance, graduation, EL proficiency, and career readiness. At the same time, many of the schools designated for school improvement also experience high rates of student transiency. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect that mobile students have on school accountability indicators, and by extension, on school improvement designations. The school improvement accountability data from two school districts with a combined total of eight schools was examined. Transient students were identified, and mock school accountability indicators were calculated, controlling the percentage of transient students in the group to the regional average of 8%. These controlled-score accountability indicators were then compared to published all-student group values in an effort to identify the impact of high percentages of mobile students using a bivariate correlation analysis. The results of the study suggested a strong correlation between transiency rate and change in school accountability indicators for attendance, math growth, math achievement, and ELA achievement, and a moderate correlation with career readiness benchmarks. Of all the school accountability factors examined, the only factor with which student mobility had a small correlation was ELA growth.