Digital Commons Network^™

Secondary School Principals' Perceptions Of The Value And Impact Of High-Stakes Tests On Content And Mode Of Instruction, Clifford Davis Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations

Critics of government policies that expand the use of high-stakes tests in public schools claim that these tests have a negative impact on student learning. At the building level, these policies have resulted in a great deal of pressure for educators to raise student performance on these tests.

The purpose of this study was to explore secondary school principals' perceptions of the value and impact of state-mandated tests on content and mode of instruction. The entire population of 541 middle and high school principals from public schools in Tennessee was selected to participate in this study.

Secondary school principals reported …

Weaving The Threads Of Relational Connectedness Between Women: Exploring How Women Make Meaning In Their Lives Through Relationships With Other Women, Lee Ann Alley Jolley

Doctoral Dissertations

The dearth of research on women's female friendships might suggest that a woman's relationships with her girlfriends are less important than her relationships with her partner, children, or parents. Few researchers have focused on the closeness of female friendships despite the fact that those studies that have been conducted have found those friendships to be significant, and over the course of a woman's life, of great importance to her growth and development.

This study took a phenomenological approach in order to understand the lived experiences of women regarding their female friendships, focusing on how women make meaning in their lives …

Not So Immaculately Conceived: Imagining The Protestant Madonna 1850-1910, Deborah Ann Scaperoth

Doctoral Dissertations

Pius IX in the 1854 Bull Ineffabilis Deus defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception as the belief that Mary; mother of Jesus, was from the moment of her conception free from the "stain of original sin." This idea was a part of ecclesiastical tradition, but prior to this time, the church had not officially defined Mary's sinless nature in writing. The publication of this definition, along with published accounts of Marian sightings, contributed to an already heightened awareness of her in a literate, culturally aware public. As a result, Protestant writers who sought to invoke her image interpreted a …

Facing Down Death And Moving Beyond: Strategies Utilized By Female Survivors Of Childhood Maltreatment, Tonya Barri Broyles

Doctoral Dissertations

This study is a secondary analysis of a federally funded study of survivors of childhood maltreatment, who now consider themselves to be successful and effective in their current environments as adults. The purpose of this secondary analysis was to identify strategies that female survivors of childhood maltreatment have used as children and as adults to move beyond the effects of the abuse. An in-depth analysis of 27 women who have completed three interviews over the course of a year has revealed a generative theme of “Facing Down Death” and two interconnected themes of “Purposeful Cognitions/ Emotions,” and “Purposeful Actions.” Each …

Community College Students’ Perceptions Of Their Rural High School Mathematics Experience, Caroline Munn Best

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study explores mathematics education from the perspective of community college students who are recent graduates of a rural high school. The research questions relate to the students’ perception of their understanding of rural, their rural high school experience, the factors that contributed to their preparedness or lack of preparedness for college-level mathematics, and the effect that their rural education had on their preparation for college. Students enrolled in a mathematics course at a suburban community college in East Tennessee were asked to complete a survey after midterm of fall semester 2005. Information about the location of their high …

Screening Mammography Compliance In Rural And Urban Women In Tennessee, Kathleen Conroy Brown

Doctoral Dissertations

Between 1990 and 2002, breast cancer mortality rates decreased by over 2% each year. Regular screening mammography is largely credited with the decline as it permits detection of breast cancer at its most treatable stage. In the United States approximately 75% of women over forty years of age report mammography screening within the past two years. However, rates vary by age, income, education, and residence.

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of screening mammography compliance in women living in rural and urban areas of Tennessee; as well as the associated risk factors with special emphasis on …

Psychological Adaptation Of Mainland Chinese Female International Students: A Phenomenological Inquiry, I-Wen Chan

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to obtain a description of Mainland Chinese female international students’ experiences of adjustment in the U.S. Thirteen participants were asked the one question that guided the study: “Please tell me in as much detail as you can, regarding being a female and originally from China, your process of adapting to your studies and living in the United States.” Participants described their experiences in individual audio-taped in-depth interviews. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, creating thirteen separate transcripts. These transcripts, serving as the primary data source, were analyzed using a phenomenological method. Analysis revealed six …

Political Advocacy On The Web: Issue Networks In Online Debate Over The Usa Patriot Act, Margot Leigh Emery

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines how people and organizations used the World Wide Web to discuss and debate a public policy in 2005, at a point of time when the Internet was viewed as a maturing medium for communication. Combining descriptive and quantitative frame analyses with an issue network analysis, the study evaluated the frames apparent in discourse concerning two key sections of the USA Patriot Act, while the issue network analysis probed hypertext linkages among Web pages where discussion was occurring. Sections 214 and 215 of the USA Patriot Act provided a contentious national issue with multiple stakeholders presumed to be …

Scenes From The Margins: A Participatory Action Research Study About The Praxis Of Womanhood As A Different Way Of Working In Male-Dominated Professions, Jane Bingham Henry

Doctoral Dissertations

“Scenes from the Margins” is about the experience of women working in male-dominated jobs. Jobs are gendered. They are not gender neutral as we had supposed, as the people who hired us had supposed. Jobs that have traditionally been done by men are done in a masculine way. The masculine “way of working” is not a way that women can work: either it doesn’t fit them (as in what to wear and where’s the restroom) or it doesn’t suit them (as in not conditioned to act that way) or it represents behavior expectations contradictory to expectations for female behavior (as …

Analysis And Control Of Nonnegative Systems, Jayanthy Ramakrishnan

Doctoral Dissertations

Nonnegative systems are dynamical systems with nonnegative states for random non- negative initial conditions. A subclass of nonnegative systems are compartmental systems characterized by conservation laws.Nonnegative and compartmental systems have widespread applications in biological systems, medical systems, thermodynamic systems, network systems, economic systems, etc.

In this dissertation we have investigated the applications of nonnegative systems in biological and network systems. The specific focus in biological systems has been in the area of pharmacokinetics and we have addressed the consensus problem in network systems. We have specifically focused on the time-delay present in compartmental systems and have investigated the behavior of …

Understanding The Role Of The School Resource Officer (Sro): Perceptions From Middle School Administrators And Sros, Teresa Renee Robinson

Doctoral Dissertations

The safety of school children is on the forefront of American’s minds. Recent sporadic shooting of innocent children while they were in the care of school officials is once again raising concerns about the level of safety and security on school campuses. It is apparent that it is increasingly difficult to protect these children while they are at school and it is almost impossible for school administrators to do this alone. It is essential that community leaders, school officials, and school communities acknowledge the necessity of intervention programs to ensure that school campuses are safe and secure. One such intervention …

Implementation Of A Special Education Parent Advisory Committee: A Mixed Methods Investigation Into The Members’ Experience Of Parental Involvement With The School System, Jeffrey Brian Romanczuk

Doctoral Dissertations

This research was intended as a mixed methods case study of the initial effectiveness of one school system’s Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (PAC). It was not until well into the study that it became clear the phenomenon at the root of the this research was actually the broader one of special education parental involvement in the schools, with the Rush County (a pseudonym) School System’s Department of Special Education as the case study. Although phenomenological inquiry is primary, the mixed methods research design employed included both thematic development and verification based on data obtained by both qualitative and quantitative …

The Effects Of Consumer Perceived Value And Subjective Norm On The Adoption Of Mobile Data Services: A Cross-Cultural Comparison Of American And Korean Consumers, Kiseol Yang

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite the explosive growth of mobile phone subscribers and rapid adoption of mobile data services worldwide, the usage of mobile data services is highly variable across countries. This study attempted to reveal the differences in mobile data service adoption behavior between American and Korean consumers since it has been reported that the national culture and usage of mobile data services between the two countries is different, but mobile penetration rate is similar between the two countries. This study attempted to explain the differences in mobile data service adoption behavior between American and Korean consumers in regarding the effects of consumer …

An Investigation Of Sense Of Identity Among College Students, Christine Susie Wu

Doctoral Dissertations

In this study the construct, Sense of Identity was examined. Specifically, variables conceptually related to Sense of Identity will be described, and the nature of any relationships with personality traits including the Big Five personality traits of agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, extraversion, and openness were explored. Additionally, the study examined the nature of the relationships between narrow personality traits and Sense of Identity. Lastly, the relationships between Sense of Identity and extracurricular activities were investigated. Sense of Identity was positively related to the Big Five personality traits with a range of r=.32 to r=.46 with p<.01. Additionally, the selected …

Gender Differences In The Preferred Methods Of Training, Needs And Interests, And Hindrances And Motivators For Sexual Harassment Training, Heather Monique Whaley

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess employees’ preferences regarding sexual harassment prevention training (SHPT), compared by gender. A convenience sample of city/county governmental employees from a mid-size metropolitan city in the southeast representing multiple occupational groups consisted of 1387 employees. A response rate of 12% represented 169 respondents.

A modified Sexual Experiences Questionnaire - Department of Defense (SEQ- DoD) and the SHPT Preferences Climate Survey were completed. Frequency counts, descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, factor analysis, MANOVA tests, ANOVA tests, and a Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel (CMH) test allowed for hypotheses testing.

No statistical differences between genders exist in SHPT …

Female School Superintendents In Tennessee: Overcoming Barriers, Vicki Cameron Violette

Doctoral Dissertations

The school superintendency is the most gender stratified executive position in the United States, with men 20 times more likely than women to advance from the level of teacher to the top leadership role in a school district (Skrla, 1999). Although the majority of teachers in public schools are women, the majority of superintendents are men (Bell & Chase, 1993; Blount, 1998; Brunner, 1999; Grogan, 1996; Mertz, 1991; Shakeshaft, 1989; Skrla, 1999; Young, 1999). Though women have made slight progress in moving into superintendent positions during the past few years, there is still a disproportionate under representation of females nationwide …

Boffin's Books And Darwin's Finches: Victorian Cultures Of Collecting, Michael W. Hancock '89

Doctoral Dissertations

Although wealthy continental virtuosos had passionately and selectively accumulated a variety of natural and artificial objects from the Renaissance onwards, not until the nineteenth century did collecting become a conspicuous national pastime among all classes in Britain. As industry and empire made available many new and exotic goods for acquisition and display, the collection as a cultural form offered the Victorians a popular strategy of self-fashioning that was often represented in the literature of the age as a source of prestige and social legitimation. Through interdisciplinary readings of Victorian fiction, narrative nonfiction, and poetry, my study examines how textual representations …

A Content Analysis By Political Cultures And Values Of State Compliance Documents For The Federal Legislation, No Child Left Behind, Constance Didlake Cole

Doctoral Dissertations

Education policy designed at reforming the public schools in the United States has been a central concern in the policy arena for several decades. Most of the school reform policies have not provided the desired results. The federal mandate called No Child Left Behind, signed into law in 2002, promised school reform for all fifty states in terms of accountability for the achievement of all students, improvement of teacher quality, empowerment of parents, and promotion of school safety.

The intent of this study was to analyze state educational documents that have been developed to comply with the No Child …

Teachers' Classroom Food-Related Practices And Perceptions Of The School Nutrition Environment, Marsha Lynn Spence

Doctoral Dissertations

Objective: This research project consisted of three studies designed to investigate intermediate school teachers’ classroom food-related practices and perceptions of the school nutrition environment

Setting: The setting for this project was a rural county in the southern region of East Tennessee

Design: This project used a mixed-methods approach to investigate teachers’ food-related practices and perceptions of the school nutrition environment, including grounded theory methodology, secondary data analysis, and a cross-sectional survey.

Analyses: For the first study, the transcribed data were coded using open, axial, and selective coding and constant comparison of data. For the second study, descriptive and inferential statistics …

An Examination Of Competitiveness And Personality In Relation To Academic And Sales Performance, Matthew Charles Valenti

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate potential non-linear relationships between competitiveness as measured by the Revised Competitiveness Index and performance in both college students (Study 1) and insurance agents (Study 2). In addition, relationships between competitiveness and personality were explored. All participants completed the 16PF Fifth Edition to measure personality and the Revised Competitiveness Index to measure self-reported competitiveness. Study 1 consisted of 188 undergraduate students, and performance was defined as college GP A. Study 2 consisted of 30 licensed insurance agents and performance was measured by raw sales, sales efficiency, cross sell, average commission earned, and commission …

Embodying History: Women, Representation, And Resistance In Twentieth-Century Southern African And Caribbean Literature, April Conley Kilinski

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation illustrates how twentieth-century Southern African and Caribbean authors of English fictions recuperate the metaphorical and material female body from the male-centered project of British colonization by employing the female body as a site of resistance through representations of illness, eating disorders, and racial and gender performance. I include works by men and women as well as white and minority authors to illustrate how the female body becomes a point of convergence for narratives of resistance in these postcolonial works. Since each narrative is informed by hybridity--through syncretism, miscegenation, and contact with the metropolis through immigration--I argue that each …

Molar And Molecular Perspectives On Mothers' Responsiveness To Their Clinic-Referred And "Normal" Children, Vanessa Ann Vigilante

Doctoral Dissertations

An abundance of research has investigated the mother responsiveness construct as an aggregate measure of the degree to which mothers react sensitively to what their children say and do. While the aggregate measure has proven useful in accounting for the ways mothers and children join in dyadic harmony, there is a dearth of information regarding the aggregates’ components. Twenty clinic-referred and thirty-two volunteer mother-child dyads were observed in their home settings for 1 hour per dyad. Observers monitored mother and child responsiveness during the dyadic interactions and childrens’ neutral, positive, and negative responses were recorded. The mother’s responsive social reactions …

Attachment Styles And Use Of Defense Mechanisms: A Study Of The Adult Attachment Projective And Cramer's Defense Mechanism Scale, Paul Matthew Hoffman

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between adult attachment and maturity of defense mechanisms. 100 undergraduate students were given both the Adult Attachment Projective (AAP) and the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), which was scored for defense mechanism use with Cramer's Defense Mechanism Manual (DMM).

The AAP's four scoring categories were condensed into two groups reflecting secure and insecure attachment. These were then compared to the three levels of defenses that the DMM scores for: denial, projection, and identification. These defenses exist on a hierarchy with denial being the most primitive and identification being the most mature. …

Crises, Deficits, And Ideologies In The Congressional Debates Of The Nclb: How Presidential Influence Impacted Early Childhood Education Initiatives, Winnifred Diane Hall

Doctoral Dissertations

The No Child Left: Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, was proposed by President George W. Bush in January 2001, debated by the 107^th Congress of the United States throughout the following spring, and signed into law on January 8, 2002. The need for reform was predicated on the belief that there was a crisis in education and that our schools were failing to adequately prepare children to succeed and compete on a global level. Reading was singled out as a particular area of concern that the new legislation would address. This qualitative study sought to discover how the Bush …

From The Voice To The Violent Act: Language And Violence In Contemporary Drama, Richard A. Bryan

Doctoral Dissertations

Aleks Sierz coined the phrase "In-Yer-Face Theatre" to categorize a new generation of plays written by a group of upstart playwrights in Britain and America. In addressing these plays, I draw upon recent contributions within the social sciences in order to understand better the interstices of language and violence in this drama. This interdisciplinary approach underscores the social considerations at the heart of these plays. Although frequently criticized for a perceived lack of social consciousness and a seemingly gratuitous use of profanity, prurient sexuality, and graphic violence, these writers in fact continue, and contribute to, a tradition of theater that …

The Impact Of Societal Values On Kuwaiti Women And The Role Of Education, Zaha F. M. M. Alsuwailan

Doctoral Dissertations

Schools, as vital transmitters of societal values, help to shape students’ values and personalities. In Kuwait, female students are subjected to a continuous stream of messages from teachers and textbooks regarding the social roles they are expected to occupy. The school system, however, is a reflection of a larger Kuwaiti society that emphasizes the value of appropriate gender roles. This societal norm has its roots in Kuwait’s history and past traditions. In order to understand the effects of this value on Kuwaiti women, I have probed the past of Kuwait while tracing the ways in which the roles of Kuwaiti …

Investigating Forgiveness In Relation To Offensive Experiences Among Black And White Respondents, Allen R. Bellamy

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary focus of this dissertation was to investigate the degree to which Blacks and Whites are able to forgive their own and other ethnic groups for those who have offended them. In relation to forgiveness, furthermore, this project examined psychological and emotional variables such as anxiety, anger, racism, and forgiving personality among the participants. Four-hundred and eighty two participants were recruited for this study. Personal narrative accounts were obtained from participants who were asked to describe an offensive act committed by another person(s) with specifying details of the offender. Findings indicate that when controlling for Forgiving Personality and rated …

Relationship Of Service Coordinators’ Family-Centered Service Delivery And Maternal Empowerment In Tennessee’S Early Intervention System, Fred W. Coulter

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to assess mothers’ perceptions of family- centered practices and how these practices influenced their feelings of empowerment. The review of literature included examining the basis for family-centered practices and the conceptualization of empowerment. Twelve studies that reported a relationship between family-centered practices and empowerment were reviewed in detail.

The current study was conducted as a component of the Pathways to Family Empowerment Project, whose purpose is to evaluate service delivery and family empowerment of Tennessee’s Early Intervention System. The collected data were responses of 370 mothers to the Family-Centered Program Rating Scale (FamPRS) …

Empathic Accuracy And Adolescent Romantic Relationships, Peter T. Haugen

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation describes a study that seeks to understand the role of empathic accuracy in adolescent romantic relationships. Such relationships are important in their own right and play a central role in shaping the general course of development in adolescence. Five specific questions are examined in this project. First, is there a gender difference in empathic accuracy? Second, does empathic accuracy improve over the course of a relationship? Third, does empathic accuracy improve with age? Fourth, is empathic accuracy related to relationship satisfaction? Fifth, is an individual’s hiding something when discussing disagreements related to a decrease in the partner’s empathic …

Effect Of Speech Presentation Level On Acceptance Of Noise In Listeners With Normal And Impaired Hearing, Melinda Carol Freyaldenhoven

Doctoral Dissertations

Experiment I investigated the effects of speech presentation level on acceptance of background noise in listeners with normal (N = 30) and impaired hearing (n = 69); Experiment II investigated the potential for the effects of speech presentation level on acceptance of noise to differentiate full-time (N = 25), part-time (N = 21), and non-users (N = 23) of hearing aids; and Experiment III investigated the predictive probability of acceptance of noise measured at multiple speech presentation levels. Conventional ANL (i.e., ANL at MCL), global ANL (i.e., ANL averaged across speech presentation levels), and ANL growth (i.e., the slope of …