Evaluation

The evaluation of archaeological sites is an essential, routine, and commonplace part of archaeological practice. Evaluation is usually a preliminary step carried out prior to a decision about preservation, destruction, or more intensive investigation. In most cases, archaeologists sample sites when conducting evaluations, often to reduce the cost of the research, but also to minimize the adverse effects to sites that may be significant.
The literature on sampling in archaeology, with a few noteworthy exceptions, does not address critical issues concerning how much to sample to achieve a valid and reliable evaluation of a site, or, alternatively, how much material must be recovered for that same purpose. This thesis studies the spatial and numerical distributions of ceramic material recovered from three prehistoric archaeological sites that have undergone several phases of intensive testing to understand the variables that influence effective sample sizes for evaluation.

This study explored how contextual factors influenced the effect of educational practices on student reading achievement and describes an alternative means of assessing educational programs under conditions of multiple-treatment interference and innovation diffusion. Over 1,500 reading teachers at 69 elementary schools within a large diverse district completed surveys regarding multiple aspects of the reading program, actions of their reading leaders, and instructional program coherence at their schools. Nearly 13,000 students in grades 2 through 5 were assigned to those teachers. Factor analyses were used to separately identify patterns within survey items that measured educational practices, leadership actions, and instructional program coherence. Then, the students' achievement gains were adjusted for the effects of fixed demographic and organizational variables through hierarchical linear modeling. Finally, classroom level relationships between the adjusted achievement gains, and subscales computed from the factors that were identified, were examined through a path analysis. Educational practices were found to align to six factors labeled Technology, Training Utility, Advanced Skills, Basic Skills, Grouping, and Assessment. Leadership actions were found to align to two factors labeled Relationship and Task. Fixed effects at the student, classroom, and school levels were found to have an impact on both the initial status and growth components of student achievement. In the path model, Task was found to have a significant direct effect on Advanced Skills, while the effect of Relationship on educational practices was partially mediated by Instructional Program Coherence. Both Advanced and Basic skills were found to have positive effects on Adjusted Gain when taught at the appropriate level, and negative effects, when taught at the inappropriate level.

The face of North America's public education system is changing. Across the United States, hundreds of thousands of students have migrated away from traditional public school into charter schools. While both are considered public schools, often that is where the similarity ends. Claims and counter claims have been made about the virtues and advantages of a charter school versus the traditional public school. This study, focused on the nation's sixth-largest school system in Broward County, Florida, compares comments from stakeholders involved in charter programs to feedback from those still involved in the traditional public system. Three hypotheses are evaluated including: whether traditional schools are not adequately serving the needs of students; whether charter schools are better at serving student needs; or people believe that charter schools are doing a better job at serving the needs of students. Evidence suggests that while each model of education has its advantages and disadvantages, neither clearly provides a ""better" opportunity for students. Conclusions are that consumer perceptions are driving the shift in enrollment. This is attributed to the narrative about "choice" created by charter school advocates that aligns with American ideologies of liberty, freedom and independence. Ultimately, it is argued that the deconstruction of the traditional public education system is part of a larger effort to shift selected rights and privileges out of the public sphere and back into private control. For traditional public schools to regain momentum, they must learn to control the narrative and ultimately public policy and public opinion about our nation's public schools.

The purpose of this descriptive quantitative and basic qualitative study was to examine fifth and eighth grade science teachers' responses, perceptions of the role of technology in the classroom, and how they felt that computer applications, tools, and the Internet influence student understanding. The purposeful sample included survey and interview responses from fifth grade and eighth grade general and physical science teachers. Even though they may not be generalizable to other teachers or classrooms due to a low response rate, findings from this study indicated teachers with fewer years of teaching science had a higher level of computer use but less computer access, especially for students, in the classroom. Furthermore, teachers' choice of professional development moderated the relationship between the level of school performance and teachers' knowledge/skills, with the most positive relationship being with workshops that occurred outside of the school. Eighteen interviews revealed that teachers perceived the role of technology in classroom instruction mainly as teacher-centered and supplemental, rather than student-centered activities.

This mixed-methods study investigated the relationship between Advanced Placement (AP) social studies teachers' utilization of academic course blogs and student achievement. Simultaneously, the study examined the participating teachers' perceptions on the use of course blogs and other social media as supplemental learning resources. The study further explored a possible moderating effect of the social studies subject on student achievement and a possible moderating effect of students' previous academic blog usage on student achievement within the study. Quantitative data were collected from students' pre-tests and unit tests scores and analyzed for statistical significance. Qualitative data were collected through teacher-generated notes during the blogs, individual interviews, and a follow-up focus group interview. The results of this study indicated that there was no overall significant difference in student achievement between the blogging and non-blogging groups. On the contrary , a significant interaction between the social studies subject area and the use of academic course blogs was found when examining student achievement. However, this practical interaction was revealed to be a weak one. Further findings indicated that there was no significant interaction between students' previous blog usage and academic achievement during the study. From the qualitative data, participating teachers perceived the course blogs to be potentially advantageous for students and themselves, yet expressed frustration when implementing the course blogs with their students. Instead, they endorsed the academic use of Facebook, a resource that some students from two participating courses separately utilized instead of (or in addition to) the course blogs during the study. Teachers further expressed concern about relinquishing their subject knowledge and AP expertise to readily available course content on the Internet. Implications and suggestions for future f or AP social studi

This is a qualitative study examining the experience of students currently enrolled in Steppin' Stone Farm, a residential treatment center in central Florida. In addition to building a more solid foundation of literature in this field, this study investigates at-risk teenage female residents' perceptions of educational experiences within a residential treatment environment. The relationship between formal, informal, and non-informal experiences, preferred learning strategies, and success patterns were explored. This phenomenological study utilized a lens of critical theory to understand the meaning of girls' educational experiences at a residential treatment center. The design includes studying 16 girls' formal, non-formal, and informal educational experiences as well as utilizing the Assessing the Learning Strategies of AdultS (ATLAS) tool to assess learning strategy preference. Results of the study determined student preceptions regarding various educational environments and learning strategies at a residential treatment center. Analysis of interviews and data collected led to many significant findings. Additionally, this study enhances knowledge in the field of residential treatment and has implications for those seeking residential treatment, working in residential treatment, and educators. Research in this field often focuses on outcome and effectiveness literature. This study provides insightful information incorporating the voice of students into the research.

atisfaction with diabetes care, perceived feelings of empowerment to participate in self-care management, and glycemic control in a sample of older African American men and women with diabetes. A descriptive correlational quantitative design was used. The participants in this study were 73 men and women of African descent who were at least 50 years, English speaking, and diagnosed with diabetes for at least one year. The participants were asked to complete three survey instruments: the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire-18 (PSQ-18), which measured how satisfied the participants were with their medical care; the Diabetes Empowerment Scale-Short Form (DES-SF), which measured attitudes towards diabetes and self-management of diabetes; and a demographic form, which collected data on the demographics of each participant. The most recent hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) of each participant was obtained from the medical records. The correlations between HbA1c, DES, and the PSQ-18 subscales were exam ined. The study data indicated all correlations were statistically significant and negative with one exception. There was no correlation between HbA1c and time spent, a satisfaction subscale. Approximately half the participants were high school graduates, married, and reported being born in the Caribbean. Most had primary care physicians, but less than half reported attending a diabetes education program. The average BMI was 33.0. The findings of this study indicated older African adults who reported higher satisfaction with the care provided by their health care provider reported feeling more empowered to participate in diabetes self-care and reported lower HbA1c levels, suggesting better glycemic control (R2 = .39; P=<.001).

The design, implementation, and testing of an experimental setup intended to evaluate the dynamic maneuvering performance of the Wave Adaptive Modular Vessel (WAM-V) class USV12, a 3.7 meter unmanned surface vehicle (USV) is described. A comprehensive sensor package was designed, fabricated and assembled to record the vehicle's dynamic response to various control inputs. All subsystems were fabricated and installed on a test vehicle, GUSS, and full system, open-loop maneuvering tests were conducted to show validity of data collection technique. Simulations were performed using model parameters found in the literature to create a "simulated experimental" data set, upon which system identification techniques were used to rediscover a suitable model with similar parameterization. Combined, the sensor package and the method for creating this model support future work in the design of automatic control, navigation, and guidance systems for the WAM-V USV12.

This study investigated performance based accountability in Florida's system of workforce education in Florida's state colleges and school districts. In Florida, workforce education is governed by Florida State Statute (K-20 Education Code Chapter 1004). The purpose of this study was to determine the cost-effectiveness of Florida's performance accountability policy as applied to workforce education. Additionally, it analyzed the impact of performance accountability on performance by the providers of workforce education - state colleges and school districts, and the value for investment achieved by the policy over the time period. The study was guided by three questions: (a) What is the relationship between effectiveness and year? (b) Is the relationship between effectiveness and year moderated by each of the contextual variables? (c) To what extent does each of the contextual variables predict performance and effectiveness? This study utilized a non-experimental quantitative research design and a costeffectiveness analysis framework. The unit of analysis was the providers of workforce education in the State of Florida. This study was framed by the outputs and outcomes the workforce education service providers achieve and the alterable and unalterable variables which might influence the provision of workforce education. Performance was measured through two measures: quantity of outputs, and quality of outcomes. The alterable and unalterable variables included: the type of institution delivering the service, either state college or school district; the delivery model used in each delivery area, either single or dual-delivery; and population characteristics, the percentage of students economically disadvantaged, the percentage of minorities, and the percentage of males. The study used correlation and regression techniques to analyze the longitudinal impact of the performance accountability system.

This mixed methods study investigated 5th-grade teachers' reported use of computer technology and variables that have been identified by researchers as affecting teachers' use of technology, including professional development activities, physical access to computer technology, and technical and instructional support provided for teachers. Quantitative data were collected from 80 5th-grade teachers from a Florida public school district through an online survey in which teachers reported how frequently they used and had their students use computer technology for 27 different purposes. The teachers also reported the amount of emphasis those 27 different topics received during their technology-related professional development experiences, the number of hours they participated in technology-related professional development, the number of months they participating in a technology coaching/mentoring program, the access their students had to computers in the classroom and in a one-to-one co mputing environment, and the frequency that they received technical and instructional support. Information from the school district's technology plan provided a context for the study. Qualitative data were collected through interviews with seven of the survey participants. The findings indicated that for 18 different purposes of technology, there was a significant correlation between how frequently teachers used and had their students use technology and the teacher-reported emphasis those topics received during technology related professional development. Self-reported frequency of support, student-to-computer ratio in the classroom, hours of professional development, and months of mentoring did not moderate the relationship between frequency of technology use and the content of professional development.