The United States Armed Forces have sponsored off-duty voluntary higher education programs for fifty years. The investment in these programs by the Armed Services is substantial. In 1996, Department of Defense (DOD) expenditures for Tuition Assistance programs totaled $121 million. The longevity and scope of these military programs make them an ideal special case through which to study the outcomes of employer sponsored off-duty education. This study looked at the relationship between participation in military sponsored off-duty education programs and enlisted retention in the service. The data for the study was from a large (60,000 respondents) survey conducted by the DOD in 1992. Both univariate and multi-variate statistical analysis techniques were used. Additionally, over thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted with service members. The quantitative analysis supports the conclusion that long-term participation in off-duty education is significantly and positively related to intention to reenlist in simple bi-variate models. However, when several other variables thought to be related to retention are controlled the overall education participation effect is very small, accounting for little of the variation in intention to reenlist. A comparison of the education participation pattern in this data with previous studies leads to the conclusion that there has been a fundamental change in the relationship between off-duty education and retention in the last ten to fifteen years. The qualitative data suggest that the military places a high value on educational participation exhibited in formal and informal policies, the organizational reward system, promotions and attitudes. The opportunity to participate varies by location, specific job and military specialty. Servicemembers' attitudes toward education appear to evolve. Early participation seems to be extrinsically motivated with an intrinsic motivation developing as the servicemember continues to participate. The quantitative and qualitative data support the conclusion that the military has changed in its view of educational participation. The data point to the conclusion that the military has adopted educational participation as an integral part of the military culture. This value is so embedded within the environment that the effect of educational participation may be masked by other variables such as satisfaction with the military way of life.

In order to help myself overcome several frustrations which had arisen in my secondary classroom, I began looking for teaching techniques that would motivate both myself and my students. The Kodiak Island Borough School District Inservice trainings led me to the use of drama as an instructional tool. In order to understand how drama and theatre differed, I began my research with a phenomenological study of the directorial staff for the play Peter Pan. That research showed me that I needed more information about how the drama techniques could be applied. Therefore, I conducted semi-structured depth interviews with seven teachers who had also attended the training in order to compare how they had utilized drama techniques in their classrooms. I discovered an amazing variety in the types of drama these teachers used as well as the ways that they applied their knowledge to their teaching practices.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether two different approaches to increased instructional time led to a statistically significant increase in math achievement of fifth grade students. The null hypothesis stated that there would not be a statistically significant difference at the .05 level of significance between the math scores of the fifth grade students at schools A and B, as measured by standardized test scores. Data consisted of standardized test scores of annual statewide assessments. The test results were collected and analyzed using SPSS software. The null hypothesis could not be rejected. The results indicated that the largest gains were made by the lowest achieving students. Additionally, in both schools, the students who had scored in the highest quartile on the pre-test were not able to maintain their quartile ranking, and slipped into lower quartile rankings after the different time treatments were applied.

This research project followed an ethnically and culturally diverse, sixth-grade classroom as they shared and constructed meaning from a selected text through a variety of drama activities. Unlike most studies on drama in the classroom, this research project examined the relationship between social construction of meaning through multiple literacies and the influence this has on student engagement. This study is centered in sociocultural theory, the central premise of which describes human thought as constituted by and originating from language-based social interactions with others. This research project also addressed the concept of multiple literacies and how it applied to the extension of communication choices beyond that of just language. It included drama, film, video, computer technology, visual arts, and music. As traditional forms of reading, writing, and communicating take on new literary forms, students need to be prepared and encouraged to critically think about the information they are exploring, especially in the area of media literacy. Through participant observation, field notes, fieldwork journal entries, audio and video recording, and interviews, I analyzed the students' social learning experiences, and their use of a variety of literacies to enhance and extend the traditional methods of reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

This study measured the acceptance of evolutionary theory by science teachers in an Alaskan urban city. Acceptance was assessed by a sample of 59 high school science teachers through use of the Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution (MATE) instrument. This was incorporated into a booklet, which included survey items about teacher experience, education, and classroom practices. Descriptive statistics indicated the majority of teachers have an extensive amount of academic and classroom experience and a high level of acceptance of evolution. Assumptions about these characteristics correlating with an adequate treatment of evolution in the classroom were not confirmed when 60% of teachers reported spending two weeks or less on evolution in class. Further research is needed to clarify the factors influencing the teaching of evolution in this school district.

This yearlong ethnographic case study documented the implementation of a 'moving' writing workshop at the first year of the Barnette Magnet School. This study focused on selected students in the 5/6 grades at the magnet school. In the moving writing workshop, the students changed rooms and worked in a variety of writing rooms that coincided with the writing process. The traditional writing process steps are prewriting/brainstorming, drafting, revise and response, editing, and publishing. The classroom teachers and staff at the school assisted students in the various writing rooms. This study looked at the benefits students gained by participating in the moving writing workshop. It addressed whether or not participation in the moving writing workshop improved the students' quality of writing and attitude toward writing. The writing quality and attitude of the students in the study did improve. However, after analyzing the data, with the research that was conducted, it was impossible to determine whether moving during the writing process was the factor that caused the improvements. The data did however show that the physical act of moving mostly had a positive impact on the students' writing.

This thesis provides a comparative analysis of the educational funding systems in Ghana and Alaska. The issues discussed in this thesis include the equitable and adequate distribution of funding for the educational needs of the various school districts in both countries. This study will focus on three areas : (1) Review of the history and foundation of education in the Alaska, and Ghana ; (2) Study of education funding for K-12 education in Alaska and Ghana; (3) Making a determination on whether educational funding in Alaska and Ghana is sufficient to meet the funding needs of K-12 schools. In this study I will be attentive to two major areas : (1) Adequacy - Is the money being spent sufficient? (2) Equity- Is there equal funding for all K-12 schools in Alaska and Ghana? The goal of this research is to learn through this research more about adequacy and equity.

Research was conducted to find a link between student seating patterns and levels of classroom interaction and participation. Two classrooms were observed in the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District over ten days of the spring semester of 2007. Observations were conducted in two English classes at Lathrop High School. A total of 53 students and two teachers took part in the study. The primary research question centered on the relationship between seating location and classroom interaction and/or participation. Further questions dealt with student grouping according to race, gender, academic ability and age as well as other factors that may influence student interaction and participation. The teacher's role in encouraging interaction and participation through changing the seating arrangement was also analyzed. Results indicate that while seating location played a role in classroom interaction and participation, it may be more important to look at who a student is sitting next to as a predictor of the level of interaction and participation. Grouping patterns exist to some extent for gender, race, academic ability and age. Other factors that can influence student behavior included the absence or tardiness of students. Teachers were also shown to play a role in influencing behavior.

This dissertation reviews the implementation of the Quality Schools Model (QSM) of educational reform in three rural Alaska school districts. This research examines the fit between the theoretical model of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) program and actual practice in the context of rural Alaskan school districts implementing the QSM. Specifically, I sought to determine the perceived levels of importance and practice of leadership practices to form conclusions about the role of leadership. I examined the systematic creation of conditions within the studied districts to foster the transformation from traditional hierarchical leadership to distributed leadership with ownership throughout the system. The results of this mixed-methods study come in part from an analysis of quantitative survey data from a sampling of the three districts' certified and classified staff. Using a concurrent nested design, I triangulated these data with qualitative data gathered through semi-structured interviews of a criterion-based sample of staff and community members within the districts. I conducted this research in collaboration with three cohort members. The following are summary statements of the principal quantitative findings for the common research question: (1) The QSM survey data confirmed the theory that as an independent construct, Leadership drives the remaining Baldrige constructs within the QSM. Derived from the QSM survey, it is therefore a valid Leadership Model for rural Alaskan educators. (2) Through principal component analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling, we found that within the QSM school districts studied, leadership had significant direct causal effect upon two Baldrige constructs (Staff Focus and Knowledge Management) and an indirect causal effect upon the remaining four constructs (Process Management; Strategic Planning; Student, Stakeholder, and Market Focus; and Results). The fit indices from structural equation modeling show the alternative QSM Leadership Model to be a statistically acceptable alternative to the Baldrige (MBNQA) model. This research illustrated that staff of the three districts in the study perceived the MBNQA leadership concepts within the QSM to be important. While these districts may not have fully implemented these concepts, this study indicates each district is well on its way toward putting them into practice.

This study used a mixed-methods approach to analyze the implementation of the Quality Schools Model through the lens of the seven Malcolm Baldrige Education Criteria. Specifically, this study was an inquiry to determine the beliefs and practices of one of the criterion, Staff Focus, and the effect on these perceptions of professional role, years of education experience and years of experience working with the Quality Schools Model. Through structural equation modeling, this research also examined the fit between the Baldrige in Education theoretical model and actual practice of the Baldrige concepts in the three studied school districts implementing the Quality Schools Model. A 72-item questionnaire with two response scales was used to measure staff members' perceptions of the importance and practice of Staff Learning and Staff Motivation. The questionnaire was administered to 212 administrators, teachers, and classified staff in three rural Alaska school districts. Qualitative data about the implementation of the model was gathered through 14 semi-structured interviews with community members, Elders, school board members, parents, and school staff. Results from the questionnaire data showed that Staff Learning and Staff Motivation were considered very important by staff members irrespective of job classification, years of educational experience, or years of QSM experience. While the majority of staff members perceived Staff Learning and Staff Motivation as practiced frequently or always practiced, they perceived them as significantly more important than in practice in their district and schools. Administrators' perceptions of the frequency of practice of Staff Motivation were significantly higher than those of teachers or classified staff. Qualitative data revealed that learning required by staff for QSM implementation is demanding and complex, particularly during initial implementation of the model. However, staff and community members attributed improvements in student learning and the increased participation of students in their learning to implementation of the QSM, and these were motivating factors for staff members, as were the shared vision and shared leadership components of the QSM. The structural model corroborated the importance of Staff Focus showing that it was directly, positively effected by Leadership and that it had a direct, positive effect on Results.