Digital Commons Network^™

Finding Motivation And Connectedness For Learning With Special Education Students Qualifying Under Emotional Disturbance, Nikole Denton

Education | Master's Theses

The purpose of this research seeks to understand the conditions for motivation among disengaged high school students in special education who qualify under emotional disturbance (ED) and support them in rediscovering their desire for learning while also determining how educators can be supportive in cultivating academic engagement and agency. The theoretical framework looks toward co-created curriculum through an understanding of intrinsic motivation (Ryan et al., 2021), self-Determination theory (Niemiec & Ryan, 2009), and critical pedagogy (Shih, 2018). Currently, there is a lack of empirical research on the effectiveness of pedagogical approaches in determining what works in engaging special education students …

Body Image Among High School And College Female Athletes, Mercedes A. Robinson

MSU Graduate Theses

This study examined body image among female high school athletes and college athletes across different sports. Athletes participating in track and field, tennis, cross country, dance, cheer, softball, golf, basketball, soccer, and volleyball completed self-report questionnaires assessing various components of body image including the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ), Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearances Questionnaire (SATAQ-4), and an edited version of the CHEER Survey. Responses on the questionnaires were analyzed to evaluate differences between high school and college athletes. No differences were found between high school and college athletes on measures of shape/weight concerns, sociocultural pressures for thinness, or internalization of the …

Factors Impacting Students’ Perceptions Of Mathematics, Amber Souza

Honors Program Theses and Projects

I want to be able to present math in a positive light to all of my future students, regardless of race, gender, and math background. However, for teachers as a whole to be able to take this important step, they must first develop a deeper understanding of why math is a sore spot for many students.

Developmental Predictors Of Adolescent Mental Health Stigma And A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial Of "Ending The Silence" In New York City, Joseph S. Deluca

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study explored predictors of mental health stigma among adolescents and the effectiveness of a school-based mental health stigma reduction and health promotion program, “Ending the Silence” (ETS), developed by the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Youth mental health service use is impacted by many factors, but concern about stigma and low mental health knowledge have been consistently identified as leading barriers to help-seeking. Beyond education and contact program components, existing research on how to design a successful adolescent stigma reduction intervention has been inconclusive. A diverse sample of 206 high school students in New York City participated in the …

The Signs Of Suicide (Sos) Prevention Program Pilot Study: High School Implementation Recommendations, Adam M. Volungis

Psychology Department Faculty Works

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for high school aged youth. There are many suicide prevention programs available, but few are evidence-based. The Signs of Suicide (SOS) Prevention Program is one of the few youth suicide prevention programs that have shown improvement in students’ knowledge and adaptive attitudes about suicide risk and depression, including a reduction in self-reported suicide attempts. With this being the high school’s first formal attempt at implementing a psychoeducation prevention program, they wanted to use an evidence-based program targeting a primary mental health concern – depression and suicide. One goal of the initial implementation …

Peer-Mediated Tootling With A Standardized Form And A Mystery Motivator In High School Classrooms, Sarah J. Wright

Dissertations

Peer-mediated tootling with a standardized procedure was implemented along with a mystery motivator component to determine the effects on academically engaged and disruptive behavior in three general education high school classrooms. The intervention used an A/B/A/B design across all classrooms. The goal of the study was to determine if these components would increase academically engaged behavior and decrease disruptive behavior. Students were trained on tootling procedures with a standardized format, which included reporting on peers’ positive, prosocial behavior on a premade tootling slip with various behaviors that they could select as being observed, reading five random slips aloud, totaling the …

Check-In/Check-Out With High School Students, Ashley Murphy

Dissertations

Check-in/Check-out (CICO) has been shown effective in reducing problem behavior (PB) and increasing academically engaged behaviors (AEB) for elementary and middle school students (Mitchell, Adamson, & McKenna, 2017); however limited research has included high school students. The current study sought to evaluate the effectiveness and social validity of CICO for four high school students in a general education setting. During the initial intervention phase, two students refused to participate in the CICO process (i.e., did not attend check-ins or check-outs despite multiple efforts); therefore, CICO was ineffective for these students. For two other students, CICO was ineffective for improving behavioral …

Character Strengths Of Ninth Grade Students In Accelerated Curricula: A Mixed-Methods Investigation, Hannah L. Gilfix

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Students in accelerated curricula tend to have greater stress when compared to students in general education (Suldo, Shaunessy, & Hardesty, 2008). It is important for stakeholders to be able to help these students reach their goals and attain happiness. One potential method to help these students is to attend to their character strengths. People who effectively utilize their character strengths have achieved numerous positive outcomes including greater levels of well-being, self-esteem, and positive affect (Proctor, Malby, & Linley, 2011; Quinlan, Swain, Cameron, & Vella-Brodrick, 2014; Wood, Linley, Maltby, Kashan, & Hurling, 2011). Unfortunately, there is a lack of research on …

High School Teachers’ Roles And Needs In Addressing Students Experiencing Trauma, Katherine Flemister

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Childhood trauma is a hidden epidemic that can have profound impacts on children including significant educational impact. Teachers are responsible for the academic success of all of their students, so it is critical for teachers to be prepared to help a student who has been exposed to trauma to reintegrate back into the classroom. Almost all of the limited research available regarding a teacher’s role in helping students experiencing trauma has been conducted within the elementary schools, so the current study aimed to further the literature by exploring the role of high school teachers in helping students who have experienced …

Examining The Temporal Directionality Between Teaching Behavior And Affect In High School Students., Bridget Cauley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous empirical studies demonstrate a cross-sectional association between teaching behaviors and students’ positive and negative affect and depressive symptoms. However, only one study comprised only of middle school students has examined the temporal direction of these associations, meaning the temporal direction of associations for high school students remains unclear. Therefore, this two-wave study with high school students investigated the temporal direction of the associations between teaching behaviors and students’ positive and negative affect. Participating students from one public high school (N = 188; 88.8% White; 69.7% female) completed the Teaching Behavior Questionnaire and the Positive Affect and Negative Affect …

The Impact Of Mental Health Issues On Academic Achievement In High School Students, Patricia Lea Sutherland

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

An adolescent’s time in school is not merely academic; they are developing socially, physically, and emotionally. Prior research has demonstrated a correlation between a student’s poor academic performance and his/her need for emotional and mental health support. This research project sought to answer the following research questions: 1) Do mental health services in a high school setting help facilitate students’ academic achievement? and 2) Does a focus on mental health issues improve overall health and well-being in high school students? Participants for this study are 10 staff members (including teachers, administrators, counselors, and others) of a high school in San …

High School Peer Counseling: Understanding The Impact Of A Systemic Training Incorporating Bowen Concepts, Christina Elizabeth Berdebes

Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

Peer counseling programs benefit peer-to-peer relationships in schools through students providing active support for one another. Literature shows that peer counseling programs are effective with adolescents, especially in school-based settings. Bowen family systems theory is a model that focuses on the importance of emotional and relationship systems. Differentiation of self, a key concept in Bowen systems theory, is described as the balance between emotional and intellectual functioning; the higher the level of differentiation, the less likely one is to experience emotional and social difficulties. This dissertation I explored the potential for training high school senior counselors from a Bowenian perspective. …

Professional School Counselors And Motivational Interviewing With Student Clients, Robert Pincus

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mental health counselors who counsel adolescents suffering from substance abuse and obesity issues have successfully used motivational interviewing with their clients; however there is little data that has explored motivational interviewing when it has been used to address academic concerns in schools. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of school counselors who have used motivational interviewing to improve student academic performance. This heuristic phenomenological qualitative study examined the perceptions and experiences of professional school counselors who had used motivational interviewing in their schools. Criterion sampling was used to recruit 9 middle and high schools counselors from …

A Story To Tell, Megan Rose

Occasional Paper Series

Rose recounts her experience on September 11 while being the teacher of an eleventh grade class. This essay demonstrates a teacher's need to be a leader and caregiver in the face of disaster, and subsequently allow for reflection and processing of emotions. Initially, her job stifled her own emotional response to the attack, but she was eventually able to use curriculum and creativity in the classroom to help herself and her students engage and reflect on their experiences.

Examination Of The Effects Of Computer Assisted Mindfulness Strategies With Adolescents In An Alternative High School Setting, Justin A. Moore

Dissertations

Based on growing evidence that suggests mindfulness practices may improve psychological functioning, recent decades have seen a surge in mindfulness interventions and the use of technology as a means for teaching them. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effects of four weeks of (twice weekly) training sessions using two computer-based strategies for teaching mindfulness-related skills to adolescents. The strategies included Breath Counting Training (BCT; Levinson et al., 2014) and Self-Compassion Training (SCT; Weng et al., 2013; Alberston, Neff, and Dill-Shackleford, 2014). Twenty adolescents (M age = 17.30; 40% male, 55% female, 5% gender neutral; 60% …

Understanding Gender Differences In Sports-Related Concussions Among High School Athletes: Implications For Diagnosis, Treatment, And Management, Hillary Grady-Speckhals

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Growing research on both the immediate and long-term effects of sports-related concussions (SRCs) in professional athletes has called attention not only to understanding the impact of concussions in high school athletes, but has also focused on understanding how SRCs may impact female athletes differently than male athletes (Covassin & Elbin, 2011; Kirkwood, Yeates, & Wilson, 2006). There are many studies that have highlighted the neurocognitive, academic, and socioemotional implications of these brain injuries on developing youth, but there are few studies that focus on gender differences in adolescent athletes (Daneshvar, Nowinski, McKee, & Cantu, 2011; Kirkwood, et al., 2006). Understanding …

The Relationship Between Competitive State Anxiety And Imagery Ability In High School Track And Field Athletics, Bryson Thomas Grondel

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between imagery ability, subcomponents of competitive state anxiety, and performance outcomes in high school track and field athletes during the competitive season. Following IRB approval and parental consent, sixteen participants were recruited to participate in a four-week study using two thoroughly validated assessment tools: The Sport's Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ) and The Competitive State Anxiety Inventory #2 (CSAI-2). This study explored imagery ability by qualifying several aspects of imagery ability. Instead of focusing exclusively on frequency, (a commonly cited limitation to the applicability of the SIQ) the SIQ was modified to …

The Goal-Driven, Resilient, And Influential Teens Program In Kentucky High Schools: The Impact On Social And Emotional Learning And Influencing Factors, Brant Von Goble

Dissertations

In order to assess the effects of the Goal-driven, Resilient, and Influential Teens (GRIT) program on social and emotional learning and academic performance in high schools throughout Kentucky, data from several sources were compiled and analyzed. These sources included results from the Student Engagement and Performance (STEP) survey, an instrument developed by the Rock Solid Evaluation Team at Western Kentucky University and administered yearly to high school students and teachers, and school-level academic and socioeconomic data from the Kentucky Department of Education. Additional data on fidelity of GRIT program implementation were obtained from FranklinCovey, the GRIT program’s developer and publisher. …

Teaching Behavior Questionnaire : Verifying Factor Structure And Investigating Depressive Symptoms In Catholic Middle And High Schools., Caroline M. Pittard, Patrick Pössel, Rosamond J. Smith

Patrick Pössel

Teaching behavior impacts student psychopathology. This study explored the associations between teaching behavior types and depressive symptoms in students. The Teaching Behavior Questionnaire (TBQ) and the Center for Epidemiological Studies – Depression Scale (CES-D) were completed by 763 middle and 976 high school students from private Catholic schools. In the middle school sample, a confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the four-factor structure of the TBQ previously found in public high schools. As predicted, a two-level hierarchical linear model (HLM) analysis with the high school sample found that only the Negative Teaching Behavior scale of the TBQ was positively related to CES-D …

Combatting The Core Of Sexual Assault: Training Youth To Become Transformational Leaders In Sexual Assault Perpetration Prevention, Sage Marissa Warner

Senior Projects Spring 2017

Sexual assaulters develop from a culture of learned norms, misunderstanding of consent, and inefficacy in bystander intervention. The most significant sexual assault prevention programs teach individuals to dissociate from this culture, by changing their perceptions, knowledge, and behaviors. However, the lack of long-term effects in these programs depicts a vital loophole in their design. In order to change the culture that breeds sexual assaulters, a program cannot focus solely on individuals’ growth, but must ensure a movement of change in the culture itself. Transformational Leadership (Bass, 1985), a style of leadership in which leaders inspire their followers to become leaders, …

The Effects Of Tootling Combined With Public Posting In High School Classrooms, Sarah Joan Wright

Master's Theses

A traditional tootling procedure was implemented along with a public posting component to determine the effects on academically engaged, disruptive, and passive off task behaviors in four general education high school classrooms. The study employed an A/B/B+C multiple baseline design across classrooms. The primary focus of the study was to assess potential increases in academically engaged behavior across intervention conditions. Students in the traditional tootling phase (B) were instructed to report on their peers’ positive, prosocial behaviors. At the end of the class period, the teacher silently read through the tootles and added the total toward the group goal. When …

What Are Factors Of An Effective Parent And Family Involvement Program Within High School?, Nicole Walsh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

According to the literature, parents or guardians of high school students will participate within the high school—though their participation is dependent on many factors. Parents with a higher social capital tend to be the most involved, while parents with lower social capital tend to be less involved. In other words, generally parents or guardians with high social capital would be much more likely to be involved in their child’s school, whereas parents with low social capital would not be involved in their child’s school at all (Goodwin, Rothon, Stansfeld, 2012). In this study, the researcher formulated and analyzed the following …

Evaluating The Effects Of Strong Teens On High School Student Levels Of Internalizing Symptoms And Resilience, Austin J. Millet

Theses and Dissertations

Many adults suffering from mental health problems often report that the onset of these concerns began in adolescence, highlighting the importance of identifying and treating mental health concerns from an early age. In high schools, some students are identified as having externalizing or internalizing disorders. The majority of these students, especially those with internalizing symptoms, go untreated. One potential reason may be that limited school resources are used to correct behavior problems, leaving those with internalizing disorders to silently suffer, which often exacerbates the issues. Recent research suggests many individuals have high levels of resilience which can be taught, and …

Impact On Self-Esteem By Cultural Differences In Educational And Interpersonal Contexts, Naoko Oura, Terry Chi

Northwestern Review

The current study investigated the effects of cultural self-construal, interpersonal relationship harmony, and high school environment on self-esteem. One-hundred and one American participants and 99 Japanese participants completed self-report surveys to assess each construct. Results showed that self-esteem of students who value harmonious relationships was protected from controlling teaching in both American and Japanese students, whereas self-esteem of students who value personal interests over harmonious relationships was protected in the same context, but only among Japanese and not American students.

Moving Beyond The Emphasis On Bullying: A Generalized Approach To Peer Aggression In High School, Christopher Donoghue, Alicia Raia-Hawrylak

Department of Sociology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Heightened attention to bullying in research and in the media has led to a proliferation of school climate surveys that ask students to report their level of involvement in bullying. In this study, the authors reviewed the challenges associated with measuring bullying and the implications they have on the reliability of school climate surveys. Then they used data from a sample of 810 students in a large public high school in New Jersey to evaluate the merits of using a more generalized definition of aggression in school climate research. Similar to national surveys of bullying, the authors found that boys …

Teaching Behavior Questionnaire : Verifying Factor Structure And Investigating Depressive Symptoms In Catholic Middle And High Schools., Caroline M. Pittard, Patrick Pössel, Rosamond J. Smith

Faculty Scholarship

Teaching behavior impacts student psychopathology. This study explored the associations between teaching behavior types and depressive symptoms in students. The Teaching Behavior Questionnaire (TBQ) and the Center for Epidemiological Studies – Depression Scale (CES-D) were completed by 763 middle and 976 high school students from private Catholic schools. In the middle school sample, a confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the four-factor structure of the TBQ previously found in public high schools. As predicted, a two-level hierarchical linear model (HLM) analysis with the high school sample found that only the Negative Teaching Behavior scale of the TBQ was positively related to CES-D …

Effectiveness Of A Peer-Delivered Dissonance-Based Program In Reducing Eating Disorder Risk Factors In High School Girls, Anna C. Ciao, J. D. Latner, K. E. Brown, D. S. Ebneter, Carolyn Becker

Psychology Faculty Research

Objective

This pilot study investigated the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of a peer-led dissonance-based eating disorders (ED) prevention/risk factor reduction program with high school girls.

Method

Ninth grade girls (n  = 50) received the peer-led program within the school curriculum. A quasi-experimental design was used to assess changes in ED risk factors preintervention and postintervention compared with waitlist control. Participants were followed through 3-month follow-up.

Results

Peer-leader adherence to an intervention manual tailored for this age group was high. The intervention was rated as highly acceptable, with a large proportion of participants reporting that they enjoyed the program and …

The Effects Of Tootling On Disruptive And Academic Behaviors In High School, John Dylan Ken Lum

Master's Theses

Considered the opposite of tattling, tootling is a procedure where students report their classmates’ positive behavior instead of inappropriate behavior. This study examined the effects of tootling on students’ behavior in three general education high school classrooms. An A-B-A-B withdrawal with follow-up design was used to assess the effects of the intervention on decreasing classwide disruptive behavior and increasing academically engaged behavior. Students wrote tootles anonymously on paper slips, and deposited them into a marked container. An interdependent group contingency procedure was used to create a class goal for the number of submitted tootles, which led to a class reward …

School Resource Officers' Perceptions Of In-School Graffiti: Disciplinary Measures And Prevention Efforts, Bobbi Sue Van Leuven

Theses and Dissertations

The term graffiti has been adapted to mean any type of writings on a surface area that have been scratched, painted or marked. These writings, which are typically perceived from a negative point of view, may be something as small as doodles on a paper or something as large as paintings on a wall or the side of a building. Because graffiti is often part of gang culture and identified as criminal activity, when graffiti enters into a school the school's atmosphere and graffiti deters from a positive educational environment. In this study, five School Resource Officers from urban secondary …

Identifying Knowledge And Understanding Of Learning Disabilities In High School Students Classified With Learning Disabilities, Kylie Ann Roth

Theses and Dissertations

Research indicates that students with learning disabilities know little about their condition. The purpose of this study was to investigate the depth and breadth of high school students' understanding of their learning disabilities. Using semi-structured individual interviews, the researcher collected, transcribed, and analyzed data to determine 12 participants' knowledge of learning disabilities, about how they learn, and about their potential to succeed in school and adult life. Results indicate varying levels of self-knowledge and varying perceptions of future success.