Digital Commons Network^™

Neighborhood Effects Of Social Captial On Children And Its Meaning For Adulthood Outcomes, Jinhee Yun

ETD Archive

Individuals’ residential location strongly affects their personal access to opportunity, such as obtaining sufficient public goods and services. In addition, the neighborhood environment shapes the outcomes of their children when they reach adulthood. One explanation for these neighborhood effects on children is social capital. This study reconceptualizes social capital based on Pierre Bourdieu’s Capital theory (1984; 2011) to resolve unexplained gaps in existing social capital theory and aims to analyze empirically the impact of various forms of neighborhood social capital in childhood on adult outcomes. This study categorizes social capital into two types: relation-based social capital (relationships within a neighborhood) …

Examination Of The Implementation Of A Mandated Attendance Policy In Ohio School Districts In The Midst Of Covid-19, Rene Teruko Molenaur

ETD Archive

This multi-site case study uses Policy Implementation Process Examination (PIPE) and a variegated diagram to represent the evolution of interpretations in a human sense-making framework as it relates to Ohio House Bill 410, legislated in 2016. The purpose of the research is to study how implementing agents such as school district personnel respond to legislation and carry out efforts to reduce chronic absenteeism while attending to local conditions. Because the COVID-19 pandemic occurred while this study was taking place, this study was able to include within its investigation how school district personnel responded to this crisis and changes in conditions …

Making Sense Of The Gutters: How Advanced-Level English Teachers Use Graphic Novels, Casey Posey Matthews

ETD Archive

The English Language Arts (ELA) canon has been continuously replicated in K12 education due to the tendency that teachers frequently teach what was taught to them. Current national and state curricula as well as the Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate guidelines and suggestions do not dictate specific texts to be taught, yet many of the suggestions given to high school English teachers perpetuate the use of the Western canon. Outside of the classroom, the world in which our students live is becoming increasingly multimodal which is a contrast to “verbcentric” classrooms. Graphic novels are one answer to integrating the increasingly multimodal world …

The Development Of A Systematic Discharge Planning Process For The Care Of Copd Patients In A Small Urban Community Hospital, Michele A. Barton-Verdi

ETD Archive

Background: Several attempts have been made to examine factors that influence 30-day readmissions in a hospital setting to ensure that inpatient care is accompanied by an effective post-discharge plan that can decrease 30-day readmissions to guide hospitals to use practices that increase hospitals ‘quality implications (Shah et al., 2015; Kripalani et al., 2007; Rinne et al., 2017, Jenks, Williams and Coleman, 2009, Shah, Press, Husingh-Scheetz & White, 2016; Sickler et al., 2015; Pruitt, 2018; Hansen et al., 2013; Simmering et al., 2016; Alper, O’Malley, & Greenwald, 2019). Purpose: To determine the role of post-discharge care in 30-day readmissions along with …

A Journey Toward Sustainable Behavior: A Project To Stimulate Reduced Electricity Consumption, Albert A. Bragg Jr.

ETD Archive

Housing organizations continuously face competition from other providers of low to moderate-income residential housing. That competition motivates those agencies to perpetually search for cost savings methods, which will enable them to continue providing supportive services to their residents. Additionally, the government has entrusted certain agencies with substantial funding that can inspire the organization to search for ways to demonstrate they are competent shepherds of those resources. Given that Alpha Homes’ residents do not pay their electric bills, the fundamental question guiding this research was: could a housing organization significantly reduce the average tenant electricity usage through a combination of resident-focused …

People, Place, Process: Unpacking Local Efforts To Produce Social Sustainability, Hannah Lebovits

ETD Archive

This three-paper dissertation seeks to understand the factors that drive social sustainability in local contexts, giving attention to institutional efforts of local governments and nonprofit agencies as well as the interdependence between the built environment and collective action efforts. It marries two separate literatures, in public affairs and urban studies, by conceptualizing the relationships between the way spaces have been planned and designed to function and they ways they are lived in and governed. The first paper measures the relationship between modes of housing settlement within a city and the number of social sustainability policies a city adopts, finding a …

Parental Decision Making Regarding Cochlear Implant Use In School-Age Children: A Self-Determination Perspective, Myrita S. Wilhite

ETD Archive

Hearing parents of children who are deaf face many complex decisions that have life long ramifications. The first decision is whether or not to pursue cochlear implantation, which has become a physician preferred intervention recommendation for deafness. Cochlear implants can provide access to sound that improves auditory experiences. This provides optimism for the facilitation of academic, social, and communication development. The problem lies in the variability found in the consistency of the use of cochlear implants. Non-use and inconsistent use of the device is related to less than favorable speech, language, and academic outcomes. There is little understanding of what …

Taking A Knee To “Whiteness” In Urban Teacher Education: An Abolitionist Stance, Anne Auburn Sheaffer

ETD Archive

In a qualitative narrative study of 11 urban teacher education faculty who teach courses that prepare teacher candidates for field immersions in metro-urban schools, I problematized “whiteness” by asking participants what it meant to them in the contexts of their work in contact zones were teacher candidates and K-12 students meet. The research was shaped as an abolitionist justice project (Tuck & Yang, 2018, p. 8) and considered how “whiteness” might be deconstructed and decentered in urban teacher education. Participants described whiteness as both fixed phenotype and historical and social construct which causes harm and which requires intervention. In scenarios …

The Spatial Spillover Impact Of Land Bank Properties On Nearby Home Sale Values In Cleveland, Oh, Chansun Hong

ETD Archive

The land bank is a government entity that focuses on the conversion of vacant, abandoned, and tax-delinquent properties into productive use. The object of the land bank is to gain control over the city’s problem properties to make possible their timely and productive reuse. The land bank has become a popular policy measure to control the distressed properties in the neighborhood following the foreclosure crisis across in the United States. The objective of this study is to evaluate the spillover effect of the land bank on nearby properties. The primary research question is as follows: has the land bank public …

Neighborhood Revitalization And Historic Preservation In U.S. Legacy Cities, Kelly L. Kinahan

ETD Archive

Legacy cities – also known as shrinking, rust belt, and post-industrial cities – are places facing persistent population decline, disinvestment, and structural economic challenges. Scholars and practitioners argue that historic buildings are among the key assets for neighborhood stabilization and revitalization, yet demolition of existing buildings is a dominant public policy approach in legacy cities. Using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods, this three-essay dissertation (1) develops a typology of legacy city neighborhoods across five cities (Baltimore, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Richmond, & St. Louis) and five census decades (1970-2010), (2) identifies patterns of federal historic rehabilitation tax credit (RTC) activity …

Green Buildings: Lease Structure, Productivity, And Regional Economic Impacts, Eun Kyu Lee

ETD Archive

In an effort to apply the sustainability movement to the built environment, sustainable construction has gained substantial strength and momentum in global society. A growing body of literature reveals the positive effects of sustainable, or green, buildings in terms of real estate market premiums, energy cost savings, employee productivity, and regional economic growth. In this context, my dissertation examines three research topics pertaining to sustainable buildings, and does so in three separate chapters.

The first study discusses the effect of lease structure on the tenant’s willingness to pay for energy-efficient building features, and compares the tenant’s stated willingness to pay …

From Planning To Action: An Evaluation Of State Level Climate Action Plans, Serena E. Alexander

ETD Archive

Climate change is one of the most daunting problems of our time requiring innovative responses to its causes and consequences. In the United States, the long absence of strong federal leadership along with growing public awareness of the problem created a fertile ground for state-level climate action planning. To date, 34 states have adopted Climate Action Plans (CAPs). The question that this study addresses is: Does state-level climate action have the potential to reduce carbon emissions significantly? This question was examined by assessing the relationships between CAPs, emissions reduction targets, plan implementation and emissions mitigation. My hypothesis was that CAPs …

The Job Of Human Capital: What Occupational Data Reveal About Skill Sets, Economic Growth And Regional Competitiveness, Lillian Frances Stewart

ETD Archive

A region's workforce has been described as its greatest asset. Guided by human capital theory and new growth theory, regions have pursued economic development policies to increase the number of college-educated workers and expand the pool of STEM -- science, technology, engineering, and math -- talent. Academic literature and policy interventions have focused on a region's human capital in terms of educational attainment instead of a more fine-grained definition of human capital based on skills and competencies. This dissertation integrates economic and business theory and combines three federal databases to explore regional human capital assets. Findings suggest that policymakers may …

The Portrayal Of Force, Fraud, And Coercion Within Northern Ohio Federal Sex Trafficking Trials -- 2010-2013, Jesse E. Bach

ETD Archive

Human trafficking is often considered to be one of the three largest criminal enterprises worldwide, ranking beside the sale of illegal drugs and illicit firearms (Bales, 2004, 2007 Bales & Doodalter, 2009 Hussein, 2011 Schauer & Wheaton, 2006 Skinner, 2008). National estimates suggest that 100,000-300,000 American, school-aged children are at-risk for sex trafficking (Department of Homeland Security, 2014) while there is only a one percent arrest and conviction record for traffickers (Bales, 2007). This dissertation explored the portrayal of force, fraud, and coercion within federal domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) trials of Northern Ohio from 2010-2013 so as to gain …

The Impact Of A School Gardening Program On Nutrition Attitudes, Behaviors And Interests Amongst Fourth Grade Students, Anjali Barnick

ETD Archive

This study intended to examine the impact of the gardening curriculum in an urban elementary school in Cleveland, Ohio. This yearlong gardening education program is introduced to the students in the 4th grade and incorporates a curriculum that includes gardening, nutrition, community service and experiential learning. With ample support from the community and from parents, this school provided the ideal setting to research the topic of how school gardening programs influence the students, their families and the community.The study used a series of questionnaires administered to the students in the fall of August 2013, early winter December 2013 and February …

Policy Without Purpose: The Misalignment Of Policymakers' And Students' Perceptions Of The Goals Of Education, Carly Shannon Evans

ETD Archive

This dissertation focused on understanding high school students' perception of the goals of education as they relate to those of policymakers, as these perceptions have largely been absent in the dialogue of education reform and policy. These goals may compete with each other, as do broader educational goals, reflecting different societal views of the purpose of education. Understanding students' perception of the goals of education (as framed by the goals of policymakers) may provide greater insight into current policy, and serve as a compass in directing future reforms that is inclusive of all stakeholders involved in this complex system. Using …

Reform Where Is Thy Victory? :A Study Of The Reform Efforts In Summit, Allegheny And Cuyahoga Counties, Vincent D. Holland

ETD Archive

Reform is a concept that public administration has struggled to define since its inception. The corruption crisis in Cuyahoga County led the region to vote to implement a home-rule government, and replace the three commissioner system with a single county executive and an eleven-member county council under the guise of reform. In addition, Allegheny and Summit Counties each previously implemented similar executive-council elected reform governments for reasons akin to Cuyahoga. Reform efforts are often the product of crises in the government process, and open doors for researching the process of how power works, is implemented, co-opted and consolidated. These events …

How Ohio Adult Literacy Instructors View Themselves As Adult Learners Within Professional Development: Learning Style And Motivation Assessment In The Negotiation For Activity Selection, Rosary-Joyce Melonie Kennedy

ETD Archive

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of the Adult Basic Literacy Education/Adult Basic Education and Literacy educators as adult learners and participants in professional development and continuing professional education, their motivation for participation, and the types of activities in which they engaged. The sample consisted of eighty adult literacy instructors who taught in various educational and institutional settings. This mixed method research design included questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to collect data. This study revealed that Adult Basic Literacy Education/Adult Basic Education and Literacy teachers were aware of their various learning styles, acknowledged the benefit of using …

The Association Between Supervisory Alliance, Counterproductive Events During Psychotherapy Supervision, And Trainee Self-Efficacy, Holly E. Kirk

ETD Archive

The supervisory alliance between psychology trainee and clinical supervisor plays an important role in the growth and development of the psychologist in training. There are numerous factors that relate to the supervisory alliance. Previous research has indicated that both positive and negative supervision experiences occur during supervision and they act to influence the supervisory working alliance. A counterproductive event is an example of a negative supervision event in which the trainee perceives that an experience in supervision either harmed or hindered his or her growth and development as a therapist. Because counterproductive events regularly happen during a supervision experience, it …

The Aesthetic Experience And Artful Public Administration, Justin Thomas Piccorelli

ETD Archive

As Maurice Merleau-Ponty pointed out, a work of art allows us to explore our sense for meaning in the world. It not only allows us to translate our perceptions, but it allows our perceptions to speak to us through what he called a "respiration in being" (Merleau-Ponty, 1964). In this process of respiration, artists and artful public administrators alike are inspired by what they see, and expire that which is seen (Merleau-Ponty, 1964). This research suggests that what Merleau-Ponty described is an element of the aesthetic experience that enables a person to explore the world and what it means to …

A Meta-Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of Stem-Programs In The United States, Dayoung An

ETD Archive

The federal government has been spending a large amount of funds on STEM programs. It is important to examine the effectiveness of such spending. Much research has been conducted in the past 30 years for this particular purpose however, the results of such evaluations have not painted a clear picture of the effectiveness of STEM programs. The goal of this meta-analysis is to investigate whether STEM programs are successful in the outcomes they claim to achieve. Such a meta-analysis must integrate all of the empirical studies which reported their effort in evaluating the effectiveness of STEM programs, based on measures …

Factors That Contribute To Effectiveness Of Foster Care Networks In Securing Permanency For Children: An Exploration Of Network Participants' Perceptions In Urban And Rural Settings, Reza M. Khoramshahi

ETD Archive

The purpose of this study was to identify possible factors that may contribute to the variations in effectiveness of foster care networks in a rural and an urban Ohio county. The effectiveness of the networks was assessed based on the success of the foster care networks to provide permanency for children who are placed in out-of-home care. For the purpose of this study the foster care network organizations in each county included the child welfare agencies, the juvenile courts, private foster care agencies and foster families. The child welfare agencies in each of Ohio counties operate independently, and their success …

The Influence Of State-Level Renewable Energy Policy Instruments On Electricity Generation In The United States :;A Cross-Sectional Time Series Analysis, Sunjoo Park

ETD Archive

Since the late 1990s, state governments in the U.S. have diversified policy instruments for encouraging the electric power industry to deploy renewable sources for electricity generation. While observing the increasing number of new renewable energy policies at the state level governments, this study raised two research questions: (1) how do state governments intervene in the renewable energy market? and (2) how do various policy approaches taken by state governments affect renewable energy development? To answer for these questions, this study attempts to identify the trends and variations in renewable energy policy designs among states in terms of the combination of …

Effects Of Spatial Structure On Air Quality Level In U.S. Metropolitan Areas, Chang-Shik Song

ETD Archive

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate relationships between metropolitan spatial structure and air quality across U.S. metropolitan areas. Debates over compact city and sprawling development models as alternative patterns of metropolitan development and planning remain unsettled. This dissertation works from the hypothesis that compact regions with high-density, concentration, mixed land use, and better accessibility improve air quality. To test the compact city hypothesis, this dissertation uses a combined spatial data of population, employment, government, land use, and air quality in 610 counties in U.S. metropolitan areas and their neighboring areas for 1990, 2000, and 2006. Indicators identified widely …

Multifamily Units In Dispersed City: Measuring Infill And Development By Neighborhood Type In The Kansas City Region, Andrew J. Mcmillan

ETD Archive

Multifamily development patterns remain an overlooked aspect of the research examining urban growth and morphology. This study examines multifamily development patterns in the Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area from 1990 to 2010. Additionally, this study examines patterns of multifamily infill in order to determine (1) the growth rate of multifamily development within four infill scenarios, (2) whether high density neighborhoods receive disproportionate amounts of multifamily development, and (3) the rates of development in inner city, inner-ring, and outer-ring neighborhoods. This study found that rates of multifamily development were grew at up to twice the rate of single-family development in certain …

The Impact Of Plans, Policies And Practices Of Metropolitan Planning Organizations On The Design And Implementation Of Streets For All Users, Deborah Riemann

ETD Archive

Since the rise of the automobile, urban planners, and traffic engineers were confronted with the question of balancing the different needs of all users of the street. Over the last decades that balance tended to favor car-oriented street designs. Health and air quality concerns, as well as an aging population have started to challenge the old ways of transportation planning. The heavy reliance on the private vehicle in the U.S. is facilitated by local land use decisions and investments in the public street and highway network were made. As most road projects are funded by federal dollars, metropolitan planning organizations …

The Local Economic Growth Impact Of Broadband Infrastructure 1998 To 2008, Karen A. Gurney

ETD Archive

This dissertation presents estimates of the relationship between early investment in broadband infrastructure and a number of local economic indicators using a data set of communities (by zip code) across the U.S. Data is matched from the FCC (Form 477) on broadband infrastructure availability with demographic and other socio-economic data from the U.S. Population Censuses and Business Trends Surveys. Spatial econometric techniques are utilized. Even after controlling for community-level factors known to influence broadband availability and economic activity, it was found that between 1998 and 2008, communities in which broadband was available by 1999, compared to those that did not, …

Do The Causes Of Poverty Vary By Neighborhood Type?, Uday Bhaskar Kandula

ETD Archive

Increasing our understanding about the nature of poverty is important due to its severe consequences at the individual, neighborhood and community levels. The purpose of this dissertation is to understand whether, or the degree to which, the causes of poverty vary across different types of neighborhoods. To accomplish this goal, cluster analysis was used to identify unique types of metropolitan neighborhoods. Next, variables that correspond to the causes of poverty were identified and entered into a factor analysis. The resulting factors were used as explanatory variables in a regression analysis explaining the variation in poverty across the different types of …

A Survey Of The Structural Determinants Of Local Emergency Planning Committee Compliance And Proactivity;Towards An Applied Theory Of Precaution In Emergency Management, Erica M. Matheny

ETD Archive

Millions of factories, chemical facilities, and highways store or convey extremely hazardous substances (EHS) in proximity to populated residential and commercial areas. The proliferation of hazardous chemicals in manufacturing has led to thousands of facilities that store and utilize them throughout the United States. There is inherent risk to neighborhoods and populated areas located near facilities that use and store hazardous chemicals. Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs) were created in 1987 as stakeholder based, primarily volunteer organizations that address hazardous chemical accident mitigation. In addition, LEPCs were mandated with the intent of engaging communities in the debate about hazardous materials. …

The Public Education Of Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders In Northeast Ohio;The Examination And Comparison Of Current Practices To The Perspective Of Parents And Professionals, Jocelyn M. Geib

ETD Archive

This study examined the perceptions of professionals and parents of children with autism regarding quality indicators of successful educational practices in Northeast Ohio and compared this information to current literature trends. The study used questionnaires and interviews to look at these topics and compare them to the perceptions of stakeholders. Results indicate that stakeholder perceptions are similar to those promoted in the literature. Parents and professionals perceived methodology based interventions that are individualized and delivered by highly trained and qualified personnel to be the most important components of an educational program for students with autism. Barriers to delivering these services …