2024 Doctoral Capstone Projects

School buses are responsible for transporting millions of children to and from school each year. The drivers of these buses have accepted a huge responsibility and must ensure the safety of all students on the bus; however, this is not always an easy task, especially when students exhibit negative or unsafe behaviors on the bus and create distractions for the driver. To address this concern, the researcher developed a mixed-methods action research project that would utilize the perceptions of school transportation personnel, elementary school parents, and school transportation administrators on student bus behaviors to create professional development opportunities for school transportation personnel. The goal of these trainings was to provide additional support and knowledge for school transportation personnel and decrease negative behaviors on their buses and vans, which would then decrease the number of bus misconduct referrals submitted to the elementary school. Qualitative data was collected in the form of survey responses and analyzed to guide the two days of professional development trainings for school transportation personnel. Quantitative data, in the form of bus misconduct referrals, was then collected from the 2022 – 2023 school year and compared to the number referrals from the 2023 – 2024 school year. When compared, the researcher found that the desired affect was achieved and there was a decrease in bus misconduct referrals from one year to the next.

This Doctoral Capstone Research Project investigated the effectiveness of the AP exam fee reimbursement incentive at Thomas Jefferson High School (TJHS) in the West Jefferson Hills School District. The financial incentive program reimbursed AP students their AP exam fee(s) for each qualifying score of a three or higher. Three years of AP exam results (2018-2020) when no financial incentive was available, was compared to three years of AP exam results (2021-2023) when the reimbursement incentive was offered. Additionally, AP students and parents were surveyed to gather their perspectives of the reimbursement incentive and how it impacted AP exam registration and AP exam preparation. The average number of AP exams administered, the average number of qualifying scores, and the average AP exam pass rate were all higher during the reimbursement incentive years. The survey results indicated that AP exam participation was mostly driven by the opportunity to earn college credit, and the reimbursement incentive was viewed as a secondary bonus. The survey results supported the rise in AP exam performance since a large majority of the participants viewed the financial reimbursement incentive as influential and motivational. The research findings suggest that the AP exam fee reimbursement incentive was an effective strategy to improve AP exam results at TJHS.