Digital Commons Network^™

Parent-Focused Interventions, Family Need, And Family Adjustment For Parents Of Children With Autism, Sara Alexandria Carse

Theses and Dissertations

Children with autism often have disability-specific deficits such as delays in communication and social interaction, restricted interests, rigid thinking patterns, repetitive behaviors, atypical responses to sensory experiences, and challenging behaviors (Balbouni et al., 2016; Bishop et al., 2012; Chistol et al., 2017; Anixt et al., 2018). As a result, parents of children with autism face unique challenges compared to parents of neurotypical children and report high levels of stress, especially towards their child’s challenging behaviors (Stadnick et al., 2017). Parent stress has been shown to cause dysfunction in family adjustment (Keen et al., 2010). Families may seek child-focused or parent-focused …

Impact Of Teacher Cognition On The Implementation Of Social- Emotional Learning Practices For El Students, Madeline Bliske

Theses and Dissertations

There is a well-established achievement and graduation rate gap between English Learner (EL) students and their monolingual English-speaking peers (U.S. Department of Education, 2020). The current study focuses on teacher cognition and characteristics that may impact the likelihood that they will implement culturally and linguistically sustaining (CLS) social-emotional learning (SEL) practices for EL students within their classroom. Specifically, I descriptively analyze whether personal, professional, or school characteristics are associated with teachers’ perception of EL students SEL competencies or implementation of CLS SEL practices. Utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), I evaluate whether teacher cognition (i.e., behavioral attitudes, subjective norms, …

The Almost Perfect Scale In Medical Students: Model Confirmation, Measurement Invariance, And Differential Item Functioning By Gender, Elizabeth Hollenback Ellinas

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the factor structure of two common perfectionism scales – the Almost Perfect Scale – Revised (APS-R) and the Short Almost Perfect Scale (SAPS) - in medical students. It was found that both two-factor models hold for them, albeit marginally for the APS-R. Measurement invariance by gender showed that while configural invariance and metric invariance hold, scalar invariance does not, indicating that the means for men and women may not be meaningfully compared by using these scales. Additionally, several items exhibited differential item functioning, most of which are in the Discrepancy scale of the APS-R. Overall, the SAPS …

Anxiety And Social Withdrawal Among Children: Associations With Emotion Awareness And Emotion Regulation Strategy Use At The Intra- And Interpersonal Levels, Janae Ellen Teer

Theses and Dissertations

Anxiety and social withdrawal are two frequently experienced internalizing conditions among children. These early-onset challenges are associated with numerous maladaptive outcomes in the academic, social, and psychological domains (Levitt & Merrill, 2009; Long, 2018; Sanchez et al., 2018; Shernoff et al., 2017). While identifying anxious and socially withdrawn children in the classroom is difficult as symptoms generally occur internally, distinguishing between the conditions is perhaps more challenging as the two are closely associated, oftentimes overlapping constructs (Barzeva et al., 2019; Rubin et al., 2009). Particularly, it is unclear whether anxiety and social withdrawal are similarly or differently associated with key …

Evidence-Based Practice Or Practice-Based Evidence? A Qualitative Examination Of School Psychologists’ Implementation Of Trauma-Informed Interventions, Abigail Lopez

Theses and Dissertations

Children who experience traumatizing life events are reported to be at greater risk for behavioral and emotional impairments that can diminish school performance. To address this, school psychologists can implement trauma-informed evidence-based interventions (TI EBIs), or treatments with an empirical basis that support the unique psychosocial needs of traumatized children in schools. However, a research-to-practice gap is described as negatively impacting school psychologists’ implementation of empirically-based direct intervention services. The present study aimed to examine the TI EBI implementation experiences of 16 novice school psychologists with regard to the distinct barriers and facilitators experienced within the in vivo school context, …

Latinos Raising Academically Gifted Middle School Students: Parental Academic Socialization And Consejos, Martha Aracely Lopez

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative research study sought to understand how Latino parents use parental academic socialization (Hill & Tyson, 2009) and consejos (Delgado-Gaitán, 1994; Alfaro et al., 2014) as forms of home-based parental involvement to converse about education. A phenomenology approach was used to research and analyze data to describe the lived experiences of Latino parents raising academically gifted children middle schoolers while engaging in academic discourse. This study used semi-structured interviews with sixteen Latino participants who were US-born (n=7) and Mexico-born (n=9) from a large urban school district in a Midwestern city. The following major themes emerged: 1) parental academic socialization, …

Effects Of A Mindfulness-Based Program On Children’S Social Skills, Problem Behavior, And Emotion Regulation, Jessica Bartley Willenbrink

Theses and Dissertations

This quasi-experimental wait-list control study examined the effects of a mindfulness-based program on students in two open-enrollment public charter schools located in a mid-sized urban city. Participants (n=176) were 3rd through 6th grade students. Students were identified as 54% Hispanic/Latino, 39% African American, and 7% other (e.g., White, Asian, American Indian). Three classrooms at each school served as the treatment group, and three classrooms at each school served as the control group, for a total of 12 participating classrooms. Students and teachers reported on students’ social skills, problem behavior, emotion regulation, and mindfulness before and after the program. The mindfulness …

The Relationship Between Teacher Accountability Measures And Self-Efficacy, Charisse Ann Kroner

Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to critically analyze teacher accountability and evaluation systems that are being utilized nation-wide, to discover how the systems impact teacher self-efficacy. One hundred thirty-two teachers from a large, diverse Wisconsin school district participated in a longitudinal study. The participants completed surveys at two time points (fall and spring) including collective efficacy, teacher self-efficacy, and sources of efficacy measures. A 2 x 2 mixed ANOVA showed no significant interaction between summary year status and changes in teacher self-efficacy. A multiple regression analysis revealed that sources of teacher self-efficacy included in the evaluation system positively predicted teacher self-efficacy …

Perceptions Of Belongingness In Stem Subjects And Career Development For Middle School African American Girls, Anya Woronzoff Verriden

Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses the hypothesis that African American girls’ early perceptions of support in middle school influences their narrowing or broadening of interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) subjects and careers. As previously researched the belief that boys excel at math and science while girls do well in the humanities is not supported by findings. Therefore the purpose of this study is to investigate the interaction of contextual factors such as teacher, parent, and peer support for African American middle school girls and their interest in STEM subjects utilizing a qualitative research method. Students are making decisions about their …

A Qualitative Study Of Instructional Coaching Based On An Analysis Of Interviews From Teachers, Coaches, And Administrators, Samuel Reese Purdy

Theses and Dissertations

The “transfer of training problem” refers to the difficulty professionals have in adopting evidence-based practices after they receive training on those practices. This “transfer of training” problem is especially important to consider for educational professionals in urban settings where students are more likely to not meet grade level academic expectations and where teachers often report feeling underprepared to teach in diverse, dynamic classrooms. Instructional coaching is a type of ongoing, job-embedded professional development that may help teachers overcome the “transfer of training” problem. This study examines exit interview data from teachers, instructional coaches, and administrators who participated in pilot programs …

Case Study Examining The Treatment Effect Of Trainee Psychologists In Schools, Elliot Broch

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

CASE STUDY EXAMINING THE TREATMENT EFFECT OF TRAINEE PSYCHOLOGISTS IN SCHOOLS

The effects of school- based therapy carried out by trainee psychologists were examined in four urban schools (k4-8th grade) in socio economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Additionally, the treatment effects were compared between students serviced by trainees compared to those receiving treatment from licensed professionals. Trainee psychologists obtained moderate effect sizes (equivalent to that procured by licensed professionals) on measures of social emotional functioning. Discipline problems did not increase or decrease at a different rate for those receiving counselling from trainees and licensed professionals compared to their same age counterparts. …

Predictors Of International Students’ Socio-Cultural Adjustment, Wen-Hsin Chang

Theses and Dissertations

International students’ well-being and their adjustment have gained interest from researchers in different areas, including educational psychology, social psychology and counseling psychology. By using the social cognitive model, this study focused on finding the relationships among English fluency, social self-efficacy, cultural values, perceived social support, perceived discrimination and conflict handling styles and how they affect international students’ sociocultural adjustment. A hierarchical regression model found that international students with high social self-efficacy have less socio-cultural adaptation difficulties when they perceived low discrimination. However, when these students perceived high discrimination, they experienced higher socio-cultural adaptation difficulties. International students who valued openness to …

Transitioning Into Adulthood: Exploring The Educational Trajectories Among Undocumented Latinos, Michelle G. Parisot

Theses and Dissertations

The following qualitative study used semi-structured qualitative interviews to investigate the educational trajectories of five undocumented Latinos who were either in the process of transitioning into a college program or had recently enrolled in a college program. An initial interview was conducted with each of the participants followed by a follow-up interview about 3-months after the initial interview was conducted. A Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach was used to carry out this research study. Therefore, collaboration with participants and key community members was essential throughout the entire research process. A research team was created to perform thorough data analysis and …

Perceived Climate In Urban Schools: An Examination Of Risk-Taking Behavior And Self-Reported Beliefs Regarding Educational Attainment, Caitlin Elizabeth Reynolds

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between school climate and the outcomes of risk-taking behaviors and self-reported beliefs regarding educational attainment. A school climate survey was administered to students attending an urban high school, and three perceptions of school climate were measured: Teacher-student relationships, safety, and attitude toward the school environment. Students also completed measures of self-reported risk-taking behaviors and beliefs regarding educational attainment. A total of 456 students were included in the current sample. Preliminary analyses indicated that a higher GPA was significantly associated with lower risk-taking behaviors, and also with self-reported beliefs regarding better …

Using Differential Item Functioning To Test For Inter-Rater Reliability In Constructed Response Items, Tamara Beth Miller

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

USING DIFFERENTIAL ITEM FUNCTIONING TO TEST FOR INTER-RATER RELIABILITY IN CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE ITEMS

by

Tamara B. Miller

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2015

Under the Supervision of Professor Cindy M. Walker

This study used empirical and simulated data to compare and contrast traditional measures of inter-rater reliability to a novel measure of inter-rater scoring differences in constructed response items. The purpose of this research was to investigate an alternative measure of inter-rater differences, based in modern test theory, that does not require a fully crossed design for its calculation. The proposed, novel measure of inter-rater differences utilizes methods that are …

Predicting Outcome At Posttreatment For Adolescent Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder In A Residential Treatment Setting, Heather M. Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Exposure and response prevention (ERP) paired with psychopharmacological interventions are considered first line treatments for pediatric obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Recent literature has emphasized the importance of investigating effectiveness and treatment outcomes for difficult-to-treat cases of pediatric OCD who do not respond to outpatient treatment. Effectiveness studies have found that adolescent patients treated in residential settings have demonstrated gains comparable to those patients included in published outpatient outcomes studies (Bjorgvinsson et al., 2008; Leonard et al., 2014). Current research efforts are needed to 1) better predict gains in real-world clinical settings and 2) identify risk factors for difficult-to-treat patients who …

Dissecting The Impact Of Dif/Dbf On Ability Estimation And Person Fit, Kevin Cappaert

Theses and Dissertations

Prior research has shown that differential item functioning (DIF) and differential bundle functioning (DBF) can influence ability estimation in unidimensional item repose theory (IRT); however, the relationship between ability estimation and uniform and non-uniform DIF/DBF has not been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, a simulation study was conducted to more thoroughly investigate how DIF/DBF and other related factors influence ability estimation in IRT. The factors examined included bundle size, the sum of uniform DIF in a bundle, magnitude of non-uniform DIF in each item in a bundle, balance of reference and focal group examinees, test length, and impact. Results indicated that an …

Asian Parents And Their College Age Children: Examining Family Influence On Careers, Arpita Ghosh

Theses and Dissertations

There is a significant amount of literature on the role of family for Asian Americans' career development process. However, there is limited research examining how both Asian and Asian American college students and their parents view the role of family influence on careers. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the congruence of family influence on careers among Asian and Asian American parent and their college age children dyads, specifically examining congruence of acculturation, cultural values, and intergenerational conflict among the dyads. There were 30 Asian and Asian American parent and college age child dyads. Multiple regression analyses …

The Role Of The Personal And Contextual Factors On Emergent Literacy Skills, Leah Brittnacher

Theses and Dissertations

Academic readiness skills for preschool aged children have recently become a focus for researchers and professionals. In particular, researchers have sought to better understand and identify the factors associated with academic performance for children who live in poverty. Researchers have identified broad constructs for the personal variable of social competence along with the contextual variables of the home environment that play a role in the acquisition of emergent literacy skills. To better understand the relationship between these variables and emergent literacy this study included 121 preschool aged children attending a Head Start program in the Midwest. Hierarchical regression analyses were …

Division I Collegiate Women Athletic Directors' Perceptions Of Sexism And Career Experiences, Ashley L. Kies

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated eight Division I (DI) collegiate women athletic directors' (ADs) career experiences and perceptions of sexism within their careers and athletics as a whole. Over the last century, women's sports have made great strides toward equality in athletics. Specifically, the last four decades have yielded notable progress including the amendment of Title IX in 1972, which allowed women and men equal access to federal funding for sports, as well as the creation of women's professional sports leagues, increased numbers of girls and women participating in athletics, increased numbers of women's collegiate teams, and increased rates of women employed …

Examining The Relationship Between Affective School Engagement And Behavioral School Engagement Among Black High School Students: Do Black Racial Identity Attitudes Make A Difference?, Amy Cynthia Nelson Christensen

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was twofold: 1) to examine whether affective school engagement predicted behavioral school engagement among Black high school students and 2) to examine whether Black racial identity attitudes moderated the relationship between affective engagement and behavioral engagement. School connectedness and perceived school support were used as indicators of affective school engagement, and school attendance was used as an indicator for behavioral engagement. A total of 272 students in grades 9-12 were recruited for this study, and 105 of these students self-reported as Black, Biracial, or Multiracial. The results of regression analyses showed that school connectedness and …

The Effects Of School Type On Kindergarten Reading Achievement: Comparing Multiple Regression To Propensity Score Matching, Farrin Denise Bridgewater

Theses and Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Students taught at private schools by and large attain higher marks on reading achievement tests than do students taught at public schools. This difference is further aggravated by race, socioeconomic status, and reading ability at the entry of kindergarten.

PURPOSE: The goal of this nonexperimental study was to investigate whether students in either school type vary in reading achievement when they are measured on similar confounding variables (i.e., race, SES, and reading scores at the entrance of kindergarten).

METHODS: Propensity score matching, a method used to estimate causal treatment effect, was used to analyze the original sample of 12,250 …

The Effects Of Parental Literacy Involvement And Child Reading Interest On The Development Of Emergent Literacy Skills, Crystal Jayne Carroll

Theses and Dissertations

Acquisition of literacy is best conceptualized as a developmental continuum, with its origins early in the life of a child, rather than an all-or-none phenomenon that begins when children start school. How parents expose their children to literacy even before they enter school is important for the later development of reading. The home environment is an important setting for the acquisition of literacy knowledge because children have unique literacy opportunities at home such as observing literacy activities of others, engaging in joint reading and writing activities with other people, and benefiting from teaching strategies used by family members. Researchers suggest …

Males Experiencing Childhood Sexual Abuse And Their Associations With Psychological Distress, Brittney Holcomb

Theses and Dissertations

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is an important issue relatively recently beginning to gain attention from professionals. Studies show that males are underrepresented in the literature, although CSA is a prevalent problem for males as well as females. This study was developed to add to the existing literature on males and CSA, obtain prevalence rates from a nationally representative, epidemiological study, and find correlates between CSA and psychological distress factors. The epidemiological study used was the National Comorbidity Study-Replication (NCS-R). This was a large survey of U.S. households investigating correlates and comorbidities of psychological disorders. Secondary analyses were completed on the …

Resiliency Factors Among Transgender People Of Color, Maureen Grace White

Theses and Dissertations

Much of the research on transgender individuals has been geared towards identifying risk factors including suicide, HIV, and poverty. Little to no research has been conducted on resiliency factors within the transgender community. The few research studies that have focused on transgender individuals have made little or no reference to transgender people of color. This study utilized the Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) approach to examine resiliency factors among eleven transgender people of color. The data analysis process yielded a total of eleven domains including: (1) Adverse Conditions, (2) Coping Mechanisms, (3) Support, (4) Community Resources, (5) Perceptions of the LGBT …

Measuring The Effects Of An On-Line Training Module For School Psychologists Working With Traumatized Children: A Pilot Study, Kristin Dezen

Theses and Dissertations

The present study was designed to address the current lack of trauma training provided to school psychologists. Specifically, this study employed a randomized, controlled design to test the efficacy of an on-line training targeting school psychology graduate student trainees' awareness of the signs and symptoms of child abuse as well as their knowledge of mandated reporting responsibilities. Results indicated that school psychologist trainees who completed the on-line training module reported greater awareness of the signs and symptoms of child abuse after viewing the module than did those school psychologist trainees who did not view the module. Similarly, school psychologist trainees …

Effect Of Preschool Classroom Quality On Social And Language Development, Jennifer Marie Krzewina

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of child care classroom quality on language and social outcomes for economically disadvantaged preschool youth who have been enrolled in a high-quality preschool program for one year. The study investigated preschool children's receptive language ability and social development in relation to environmental quality and teacher-child interaction quality, while controlling for child and teacher gender, teacher level of education, children's dominant language, and children's initial performance on measures of receptive language and social development, as assessed by the PPVT-IV and DECA-C, respectively. The sample was drawn from a specific model of …

Rapid Knowledge Assessment (Rka): Assessing Students Content Knowledge Through Rapid, In Class Assessment Of Expertise, Erin Margaret O'Connell

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding how students go about problem solving in chemistry lends many possible advantages for interventions in teaching strategies for the college classroom. The work presented here is the development of an in-classroom, real-time, formative instrument to assess student expertise in chemistry with the purpose of developing classroom interventions. The development of appropriate interventions requires the understanding of how students go about starting to solve tasks presented to them, what their mental effort (load on working memory) is, and whether or not their performance was accurate. To measure this, the Rapid Knowledge Assessment (RKA) instrument uses clickers (handheld electronic instruments for …