Digital Commons Network^™

Of "Illustrators," "Narrators," "Editors," And "Readers": Describing Relations Between Significantly Disabled Students And Their Peers, Srikala Naraian

Dissertations

This paper interweaves several theoretical strands—disability studies, narrative theories, and sociocultural perspectives on learning—both as a means to understand current practice in the education of students with significant disabilities as well as to envisage other forms of participation for them. The aims of the study are derived from the argument made by Ferguson (2003) that the narratives of others in the lives of severely disabled individuals are critical to the formation of their identities. Appropriating this idea to the classroom, this study explores the notion that the narratives of classroom peers are vital to the participation of the severely disabled …

Transition Activities And Their Effects On Middle School Students, Vicki Sue Vanlaere

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness that transitional activities have on student achievement and attendance when students moved from elementary school to middle school. The data were gathered from two school districts that are demographically similar. Data included average daily attendance rates, Terra Nova Achievement Scores from social studies in grades five, six, and seven, as well as math in grades five, six, and seven. There were 187 students in the Treatment Group and 147 in the Control Group for a total of 334 students. Comparison of means for demographic equivalency of the groups (t-test) and …

Separate And Unequal Risks For Victimization? An Examination Of The Relationship Between City-Level Conditions And Risks For Non-Fatal Victimization, Toya Z. Like

Dissertations

This investigation is an exploratory study of the relationship between city-level conditions and risks for non-fatal victimization. Specifically, city characteristics including residential segregation and economic equality between whites and minorities, the proportion of female-headed households, person unemployed and impoverished and the proportion of residents below age eighteen and their relation to non-fatal victimization is studied. Furthermore, individual and neighborhood correlates of non-fatal victimization are examined in addition to city conditions. Also of importance to the current study is examining these risks across racial and ethnic groups and across cities. The primary data is derived from the National Crime Victimization Survey …

The Challenges Of Implementing Privatization Reform Program Of State-Owned Enterpreises (Soes) In Kenya 1979 To 2002, Peter Kiiru Kariuki

Dissertations

Before any more sales o f public stakes in parastatals are carried out, we need a robust public debate. We also feel that the interests o f Kenyans, whose taxes built those parastatals, should be recognized. A new policy, which gives Kenyans the first right to buy parastatals, is needed. (Editorial-Daily Nation, Nairobi Publication, Retrieved 9/17/2006 http://www. nationmedia. com/dailynation)

This study reviews the progress and challenges of implementing privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) reform program in Kenya during the period 1979- 2002 as part of the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP). The impetus for implementing privatization reform program has two sources: …

Religion And Semiosphere: From Religious To The Secular And Beyond, Rajka Rush

Dissertations

Religion is a system of structural ideas that involve the natural ability of the mind to engage itself into the process of unlimited semiosis which can be defined as an existential openness of one's consciousness to the universe as a system. This primary religious consciousness becomes limited by language, symbolic, and cultural constraints. The religious semiotic space is a sub-cultural system open to culturally and cross-culturally encoded idioms and concepts. These cultural potentials are interpreted and settled by the religious exegesis expressed in the behavioral patterns of the symbolic actions that reflect a specific worldview of the closed community controlled …

African American Father-Child Reproductive Health Communication, Nnenna Ohalete Phd

Dissertations

African-American children have their sexual debut (first voluntary penile-vaginal penetration) earlier thus are at disproportionately greater risk for more sexual partners and sexually transmitted infections. Father-child reproductive health communication was found to influence the timing of sex in other children however, a dearth of studies in African-American fathers existed. In this qualitative study reproductive health communication was explored in tape-recorded interviews of 19 African-American fathers from the perspective of critical theory, with the use of critical ethnography as methodology. How the content and pattern of reproductive health communication influenced sexual debut, and how fathers' moral/ethical stances influenced reproductive health communication …

Factors Which Impact The Conduct Of Fifth Grade African-American Males, Derricka Bashetta Thomas

Dissertations

This study examines the factors that impact the conduct of fifth grade African- American male students who participated in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten (ECLS-K). The participants in this study are located throughout the United States of America. These students attend private and public schools. The data for this study were provided by the National Center of Education Statistics (NCES), a division of the U.S. Department of Education. The researcher utilized ECLS-K’s Public Use Data File and Electronic Codebook to create an SPSS syntax file in order to measure the factors that impact the conduct of fifth grade African- American …

An Examination Of Perception Toward Merit Pay In A Southern School District, Carol Lynn White Payne

Dissertations

The use of merit pay systems has been a part of educational history for one hundred years. States across the country have utilized different forms o f merit pay systems to increase student achievement. Career ladder merit pay systems may base teacher salary on the attainment of additional degrees, additional responsibilities and an increase in student achievement. School-based performance awards may reward all staff members of a school based on achievement of goals set by the school board. Individual teacher financial awards may be based on administrative evaluations, student achievement, attainment of additional degrees, and participation in professional development sessions. …

Crossing The Bridge From Eighth To Tenth Grade: Can Ninth Grade Schools Make It Better?, Eddie James Peasant Ii

Dissertations

Ninth grade is a complicated time period in the school years of young adolescents, They face many social, emotional, physical, and academic issues during the transition from eighth grade to the freshman year. In some cases, these problems in ninth grade lead to increased dropout rate. This matter is addressed in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). School districts across the country are establishing programs to deal with this dilemma of students transitioning from the middle grades to high school. One such program is the ninth grade school or academy. The general purpose of this study was to investigate …

Regulation Of A Dna-Compacting Plastid Nucleoid Protein, Steven William Adamson

Dissertations

DCP68, a DNA-compacting nucleoid protein, was further characterized in order to understand how plastid nucleoid proteins affect the structure and function of chloroplast DNA. Previously, DCP68 was identified as ferredoxin: sulfite reductase, an enzyme that participates in reductive sulfur assimilation and inhibits chloroplast DNA replication and transcription in vitro [1, 2]. In this study, the portion of SiR that was found to be present in soluble and plastid nucleoid-enriched fractions indicated that most SiR was stromal in Arabidopsis and soybean plants. Although SiR was detected in Arabidopsis chloroplast nucleoid-enriched fractions, the study of nucleoid dynamics proved to be difficult due …

A Laptop-Learning Initiative: Relationships With Student Achievement, Technology Proficiency, And Attitude Towards Technology, Kevin Scott Nicholas

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between a laptop learning initiative, student achievement, technology proficiency, and attitude towards technology. The initiative, Project One-on-One, was designed to provide teachers with the ability to teach technology integrated lessons in classrooms with a student-to computer ratio of 1:1. This was accomplished by utilizing two mobile laptop labs that were financed through a national grant competition. The variables that were examined in the study were three years of eighth-grade student achievement scores from the criterion-referenced Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) test and the Louisiana Center for Educational Technology’s Technology Proficiency …

Trends In Historic And Modern Performance Practice For The Trumpet In Richard Wagner’S Der Ring Des Nibelungen, Michael Ryan Ellzey

Dissertations

The purpose of this document is to compare the Alto F trumpet used by the players of Richard Wagner’s orchestra to the modem trumpet, with reference to specific excerpts from Der Ring des Nibelungen. It will discuss topics pertaining to transposition, range, keys, timbre, and crooking. Other elements that will be explored are the evolution of the valved trumpet and how it led to the Alto F trumpet. The document will also discuss the eventual replacement of the Alto F trumpet by the modem C and B-flat trumpets. Included in this section will be a historic study of the …

Teaching Music Theory In The Traditional Wind Band Rehearsal: A Rationale, Survey Of Materials, And Recommendations, Eric Lynn Harris

Dissertations

Band programs in today’s schools are facing pressures unheard of in the early days of the public school band movement. While budget limitations have always been a part of the public school dilemma, never before have directors been forced to fight so hard for the very existence of their programs. School administrators facing district, state, and federal testing pressures are spending more and more of the annual budget in an attempt to raise test scores. This means programs in the arts and even athletics are being greatly reduced (and in some cases eliminated) in school systems across the country. To …

Best Practices Within Mediation Programs, Warren L. Hills

Dissertations

Mediation Centers have been introduced to college and university campuses in recent years as a cost effective method to deal with a variety of conflict issues. These centers offer a variety of services to students, faculty, and staff including mediation, facilitation, and training. Campus mediation centers that report various levels of success and growth serve as an example for operations to their peer institutions. Yet for a lack of previous research, little information is known about the actual operations of campus mediation centers and the systems and processes they follow.

An internet-based survey was sent to campus mediation centers staff …

Problem-Based Learning: An Attitudinal Study Of Police Academy Students, Gregory P. Vander Kooi

Dissertations

Policing strategies have gravitated toward a consensus paradigm model, commonly referred to as "community policing." This is a significant paradigm shift, yet most police academies continue to use traditional lecture-based pedagogical methods to train police officers. One possible alternative to passive lecture-based teaching is a more active problem-based learning. Problem-based methodologies consist of presenting ill-structured problems whereby an instructor facilitates and directs the students in active inquiry toward possible solutions for a specific problem.

A Case Study Of The Efficacy Of A University Cohort Group In A Small Urban School District, Ann Rea Kopy

Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to explore the processes followed in an educational partnership and to describe the changes in the participants' beliefs, practices, and sense of efficacy as a result of their participation. This study described and analyzed an educational partnership between a large university and the staff of a small, urban school district. The goals of the partnership were to provide the participants the knowledge to enhance student achievement as well as to develop educational leaders throughout the district. The participants consisted of educators of the district that enrolled in the educational partnership that existed for …

Success In The First Year: Impact Of Alternative Advising On Students At A Liberal Arts College, James E. Swanson

Dissertations

Small faith-based liberal arts institutions are increasingly focused on recruitment and retention because it is critical to their existence. Because these institutions are completely enrollment driven, the numbers of students who persist through to their second year of college is a necessary administrative focus. Scholars have found that interactions between students and members of the institution, especially faculty, are critical to student persistence during the first year of College. Research has also demonstrated that academic advising plays an important role in first-year student persistence. A question remains, however, whether students are retained because of time spent with faculty or because …

Job Tasks Performed By Career Preparation System Administrators: Implications For Leadership Development, Julia K. Vandermolen

Dissertations

This study represents the results of a quantitative survey measuring the importance and frequency of job tasks performed by Michigan's Career Preparation System (CPS) administrators. The census consisted of 120 (n = 120) CPS administrators. Eighty-six (n = 86) or 72% of CPS administrators participated in the study. A mailed survey was used to collect data to determine the importance and frequency of 51 job tasks performed by career and technical education (CTE)administrators identified by a previous DACUM study for a leadership development program. Quantitative methods were used to seek an improved understanding of the job tasks performed …

Funding Michigan K-12 Educational Adequacy Without Rewarding Inefficiency, James J. Walters

Dissertations

Resource equalization represents the historical and theoretical basis for American school finance and its ideals continue to dominate discussion and practice. During the last decade and a half, the national aspiration for equitable distribution of school finance resources has started a transformation into a derivative notion of adequacy. This equity policy derivative embraces the idea of sufficiency, which in turn implies a standard. The concept of educational adequacy has grown to mean the achievement of high absolute standards. Equity (equalization) theorists measure resource level on a relative basis; each student relative to all others. Adequacy adherents measure student achievement against …

Investigation Of Oxy-Anion Legand Adsorption Onto Surfaces Of Iron Oxide And Bacteria In Groundwater Aquifers, Haile Mengistu

Dissertations

We have measured adsorption of dissolved phosphate onto synthetic hydrous ferric oxide (HFO), dissolved arsenate and chromate onto the cell membrane of a bacterium species, S. putrefaciens as a function of pH, ionic strength, and relative concentrations of the respective oxy-ligands. Our experimental data were used to constrain optimal values for surface complexation reactions involving dissolved oxi-ligands (phosphate, and chromate) and the HFO surface and the cell membrane of S. putrefaciens respectively according to the diffuse layer model.

Our results provide a more accurate fit to experimental measurements over a broader range of pH (3 - 12), ionic strength and …

Results Of Early Implementation Of Governmental Acounting Standards Board Statement No. 34 In 15 Ohio Public School Districts, Michael Bennett Amspaugh

Dissertations

The study researched the experience of treasurers in 15 Ohio public school districts in implementing Governmental Accounting Board Statement No. 34 in the districts' annual financial reports prior to the required implementation date. Statement No. 34 is intended to make government annual financial reports more useful for and comprehensible to members of three user groups---the financial community, legislative and oversight officials, and citizens. In the study, treasurers of the 15 school districts were interviewed regarding their experience in implementing Statement No. 34, the changes in school operations resulting from implementation, and changes in questions from the three user groups about …

A Delphi Survey Of Experts’ Opinions Regarding Prevention Of Impairment In Professional Psychology Training, Kin-Ming Chan

Dissertations

This study sought to identify the most important measures that may be implemented in professional psychology training to prevent the future impairment of professionals. An adjunctive research question of this study addressed how these important measures can be successfully implemented. A 2-round Delphi method was conducted. Twenty-eight experts in impairment prevention participated in the first round study, and 20 of them continued to participate in the second round. In the first round, the experts rated the importance of an original list of 38 preventive measures, suggested additional important preventive measures, and provided considerations for successful implementation of their most important …

Synthesis And Fundamental Characterization Of Nanoparticles And Their Clusters, Ke Du

Dissertations

Nanoparticles of gold derivatized with monolayers of thiocarboxylic acid ligands, core/shell nanoparticle composites of gold and silica, gold-glutathioneclusters, and titania nanoparticles were synthesized and their surface properties (extent of ligand coverage, net negative charge, and zeta potential) characterized by capillary electrophoresis as a function of pH, ionic strength, and dielectric constant for the first time. The hydrodynamic radii of thenanoparticles were determined by dynamic laser light scattering and used to calculate the net surface charge, extent of ligand coverage, and zeta potentials ofthe nanoparticles from electrophoresic mobilities. The ligand derivatized nanoparticles had similar hydrodynamic radius of about 20 nm which …

Refocusing On Adult Probation: Theory Versus Practice, Paul David Gregory

Dissertations

This dissertation is a case study of an adult probation department in a southern state. Adult probation is an important part of the criminal justice system, as it provides a reduced program cost compared with incarceration. Current literature proposes that adult probation is in crisis due to poor to sub-standard performance by probationers, a collapse in supervision, and decline in probation funding. This dissertation attempts to answer the question of possible causes for problems in the adult probation system. To accomplish this, this work focuses on how probation officers and clients are affected by contradictions occurring between the theory and …

Determining The Probability Of The Visual Detection Of Sink Marks On Differently Textured Injection Molded Products, Kurt Frederick Hayden

Dissertations

The injection molding segment of the plastics industry has historically exhibited an environment of intense competition. To remain competitive, manufacturers must ensure that molds will produce defect-free parts without multiple design revisions. Designers often use computer simulations to predict design problems before the construction of tooling. These sophisticated software applications will soon have the ability to simulate the final appearance of products. However, the effects of aesthetic defects such as sink marks and splay are often difficult to simulate accurately and effectively.

It is understood that surface textures can conceal minor aesthetic defects. A well-known example is the concealment of …

Nongovernmental Program Replication And Implementation: What Can Community-Based Programs To Support The Uninsured Learn From Other Communities?, Raymond J. Higbea

Dissertations

This research study evaluated the replication and implementation of Project Access (a nongovernmental, structured program providing physician and health care services to the working-poor) in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A mixed methodological approach was used and included quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The qualitative method used was a self-administered mailed survey of all Project Access enrollees. This survey evaluated the enrollee's perceived health and lifestyle function, access to physician services, access and adherence to prescribed medication regimen, and barriers to physician services during the year pre- and post-enrollment in Project Access. The survey also evaluated the amount enrollees were able or willing …

Retaining Information Technology Employees In Higher Education, Mary Holmes

Dissertations

The retention of qualified Information Technology (IT) employees is at an all time low within higher education institutions. IT personnel are essential for higher education institutions to effectively integrate technology into their educational programs. These IT employees contribute to their institution's teaching/learning mission, while simultaneously supporting complex and highly visible administrative operations. Yet, all previous research regarding IT employee retention issues had only been conducted within corporate settings.

To examine factors related to IT employees' retention within public higher education, an internet-based study was sent to IT employees in all four-year public universities throughout Michigan. The survey included questions within …

Counselor Education And Peace Building: Current Status And Future Direction, Jenny Ritha Keller

Dissertations

Counseling professionals are informed and guided in professional development, research and practice by the relevant professional organizations that endorse the field’s professional, ethical, and competency standards. Amidst the contemporary professional proclamations of multicultural- and social justice counseling as professional grounding principles, is also the directive to promote and engage in peace building. Although the notion of peace building appear to be conceptually congruent with the multicultural and social justice counseling competencies; peace building concepts and issues, and research on nonviolence, reconciliation, democratization, and conflict transformation, are as yet unchartered notions in the counselor education literature.

The purpose of this study …

Examination Of The Impact Of Age, Family Conflict, And Perceived Parental Involvement On Treatment Adherence For Children And Adolescents With Cystic Fibrosis And Diabetes, Blake M. Lancaster

Dissertations

The success of medical interventions for patients with diseases that require consistent adherence to a medical regimen is largely contingent upon the patient’s ability to consistently follow medical recommendations. Medical regimen adherence significantly influences the patient’s health and impacts the health care providers’ ability to treat any disease or medical problem. Adherence levels are particularly low in the pediatric population among young patients with diabetes and cystic fibrosis. Researchers and clinicians hypothesize that levels of adherence are particularly low during adolescence (ages 11-15) because this may be the period in which primary responsibility for daily adherence is transferred from the …

The Cover-Up Is More Damaging Than The Sin: Sexual Scandals At The Cabinet And Sub-Cabinet Levels, Craig Korpela

Dissertations

Based on the sexual scandals of Alexander Hamilton, John Eaton, Sumner Welles, and the recently concluded investigation of Henry Cisneros, this research provides an initial, and subsequently revised, set of phases and factors that describe sex scandals of Cabinet and sub-Cabinet secretaries. Garnered from these historical cases and other scandal literature are factors that impact the development of a sex scandal. Presidential support, traits of the indiscretion, relationships between executives, public opinion, legal matters, Congressional oversight, and efforts to cover-up a sexual affair are just a few of the factors that could impact the tenure of an appointee.