Education Commons^™

A Phenomenological Study Of Parent Experiences With Postsecondary-Admission Counseling, Anthony Espitia

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to better understand parent experiences with the postsecondary-admission counseling of high school students in California. As a state, California exceeds the ASCA’s student-to-counselor national recommendations, impacting the delivery of postsecondary-admission counseling on high school campuses. To understand the postsecondary-admission counseling experiences in California, a qualitative phenomenological study consisting of 12 parents of current or recently graduated high school students was utilized. Open-ended interviews captured parents’ lived experiences with the postsecondary-admission counseling of California high school counselors. The data analysis for this study was accomplished by utilizing a four-step process outlined by Moustakas (1994), which …

Toward Critical Counseling: A Content Analysis Of Critical Race Theory And Culturally Relevant Pedagogy In Community College Counselor Education, Lyman A. Insley

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Background: Prior to the early 1990s, most counselor preparation programs did not have multicultural competencies. Therefore, a call was made for the use of multicultural competencies in counselor preparation programs. Yet, the popularization of multicultural competencies of this time in education had a Eurocentric bent, a kind of colorblindness

More recently, scholars confirmed that these Eurocentric multicultural competencies had become the primary template from which counselor preparation programs taught culturally responsive and relevant pedagogy. Therefore, a call was made for the use of critical race theory (CRT) in counselor preparation programs to challenge and change Eurocentric cultural competence.

Purpose: This …

The Use Of Video-Based Instruction To Teach Life Skills To Individuals With Developmental Disabilities, Kori Paige Esplin

Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with developmental disabilities struggle to learn important life skills. This deficit impedes their ability to function in the community and live meaningful lives. Video prompting (VP) is an evidence-based practice that has been used to teach a wide variety of skills to individuals with disabilities. VP utilizes technology to create step-by-step videos to teach academic, social, vocational and other life skills This article extends the current literature on VP interventions to hygiene skills and investigates the efficacy, skill maintenance, social validity, and level of independence that can be achieved using VP to teach hygiene skills. Three participants with developmental …

Death Of The Clinic: Trans-Informing The Clinical Gaze To Counter Epistemic Violence, Diana E. Kuhl

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This case study research (Patton, 2002, 2014; Flyvberg, 2006) has grown out of an awareness of deep resistance from the psy disciplines to trans-informed epistemologies as a source of legitimate knowledge (Tosh, 2015, 2016; Winters, 2008). It focuses on examining how the closure of The Gender Identity Clinic (GIC) for Children and Youth at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, signaled a paradigm shift from the ‘treatment model’ to the ‘affirmative model’ with respect to clinical approaches for supporting trans and gender diverse children and youth. As such the case study involved tracing the …

Treatment Integrity Of Behavior Intervention Plans (Bips) In Public School Settings, Danielle Marie Rigby

Theses and Dissertations

Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs) are intended to guide educators’ efforts to help struggling students succeed in school by reducing the frequency of problem behavior and teaching appropriate, pro-social responses. The impact of a BIP, however, depends on the degree to which the plan is implemented with fidelity. In practice, there are many factors that prevent teachers and other practitioners from strictly adhering to the BIP including having multiple plans to follow, inexperience with the specified intervention(s), or particularly challenging behaviors in the classroom. The purpose of the study was to identify the factors that contribute to the treatment integrity of …

Simple Behavioral Interventions For Typically Functioning Adolescents With Work Refusal In A Classroom Setting, Kerry J. Farr

Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to test the effectiveness of 2 different behavioral interventions: a high-probability request sequence and a differential reinforcement of alternative behaviors (DRA) procedure in a classroom setting. The aim of the interventions was to reduce the frequency of task refusal as well as increase the frequency of task compliance in adolescents in a general education setting. The study included 4 adolescents with the same teacher who were reported by their teacher as completing 50% or less of their course work since the beginning of the school year. The teacher implemented the interventions with the participants to test …

Psychotherapy Presenting Concerns And Utilization Trends Among Latino-American And International Latino Students In A University Counseling Center, Jessica Ann Kirchhoefer

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines current trends of university counseling center utilization among Latino students at a large, private, western university. We examined counseling center data for Latino (n=1,231) and European American (EA) (n=18,125) students who presented for counseling services from 1996-2013. Latino students were divided into three subgroups, U.S. born Latino students (USB), international Latino students (IB), and Latino students who were born internationally but who are now U.S. citizens (IBUS). These three subgroups were compared with the EA student group on multiple variables; therapy utilization, length of treatment, Outcome Questionnaire (OQ) score at intake, OQ change, therapy usage by gender, …

The Effects Of Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Teams In Two Middle School Art Classrooms, Kimberly Davis Monson

Theses and Dissertations

Classroom management is a common challenge in middle schools. Class-wide Function-Related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT) is a multi-tiered intervention designed to decrease problem behaviors at the classroom level (Wills et al., 2010). It is comprised of evidence-based practices such as teaching classroom expectations, increasing teacher praise, and using positive reinforcement in an interdependent group contingency. CW-FIT has shown promise in a variety of school settings, but it has not been tested in middle school art classrooms. This was initial investigation examining the effects of CW-FIT using a single-subject ABAB design in two middle school art classrooms. Results indicated that class on-task …

Is It Enough? Challenges Generalizing Social Skills Gains Into Community Settings, Taylor William Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

Group social skills training (GSST) is an important intervention approach to help children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to find more success in social engagement and inclusion. However, there is a lack of research using direct behavioral observations, especially in generalization of acquired skills to settings other than the treatment setting. We provided social skills training to 25 adolescents with ASD using a curriculum shown to have positive effects (the UCLA PEERS® curriculum). We also administered the Autism Social Skills Profile (ASSP) and Social Communication Questionnaire – Current (SCQ-Current) to the parents of participants before and after the …

The Effect Of The Precision Request On Compliance In An Elementary Classroom For Students With Emotional Behavior Disorders, Marcie Carol Calder

Theses and Dissertations

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of the Precision Request as a behavior intervention on the compliance behavior of students in a self-contained class for students with emotional-behavioral disorders. The Precision Request is an intervention commonly used by teachers to decrease noncompliance. The study took place in an elementary school behavior unit classroom. The participants included one special education teacher and the eight students in his class. A single subject reversal design was used to track student percentage of compliance, latency to compliance, as well as teacher use of praise and reductive consequences as part of the Precision …

Latino Immigrant Children’S Perspectives On Homesickness In Bilingual Picture Books, Kelly Beus Thorpe

Theses and Dissertations

When Latino children immigrate to the United States, they encounter challenges and opportunities associated with immigration (Alba & Foner, 2015; Arbona et al., 2010). Although there were nearly 2.5 million foreign-born children living in the United States in 2016 (U.S. CensusBureau, 2016), little is known about these children’s perspectives on immigration, particularly their perspectives on homesickness. The current research study investigated Latino immigrant children’s perspectives on homesickness and bilingual picture books containing stories of homesick Latino immigrant children. The children’s experiences were compared with current theories ofacculturative stress.Through semi-structured interviews using the hermeneutic method, the researchers interviewed 12 Latino children, …

Ethnoracial Comparisons In Psychotherapy Outcomes Among Native Hawaiian And Pacific Islander College Students, Jared Isaac Cline

Theses and Dissertations

Variables such as stigma, weak ethnic identity, and cultural mistrust have been linked to the underutilization of therapy amongst ethnic minority populations. As such, ethnic minority populations may reach a higher threshold of distress-including areas such as anxiety and depression-before seeking professional help. While there is substantial research documenting ethnic differences among various ethnic minority populations (e.g., African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics) very little research has been conducted exploring differences among individuals from Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) backgrounds. For the current study, we explored differences in distress upon intake as well as the change in anxiety and depression …

Sexual Violence Prevention Education For Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities: The Social Validity And Effect Of Disability Impact On Parent Perception, Katherine Mizue Willden

Theses and Dissertations

Children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities are sexually abused or assaulted at a rate seven times greater than those without disabilities (Shapiro, 2018). There is a lack of education and prevention programs specifically for this vulnerable population. The purpose of this study was to explore parental perceptions about the need for sexual violence prevention education, based on their child's disability type, severity, and communication level. A 33-item online survey was completed by parents of children with intellectual disabilities (n=61). The majority of parents valued the social validity of providing sexual violence prevention education. A child's disability type did not impact …

Self-Control Training For Parents Of Children With Autism And Related Disabilities In Albania, Amanda Jane Petersen

Theses and Dissertations

Self-control can be defined as the ability to select a larger, later reward over a smaller, sooner reward. This ability, also known as gratification delay, has been highly correlated with academic competence and success. Studies that examine gratification delay have identified strategies that have been observed to increase the delay time to reward. This study examined the extent to which parents of children with Autism or a related disability could be trained to teach these strategies. Participants were seven mothers who were all ethnic Albanian. The results indicated that these mothers were able to teach the three strategies they were …

School Psychologists’ Perceptions Of Selecting Divorce-Themed Books For Elementary-Aged Children Experiencing Parental Divorce, Tarryn Elizabeth Roberts

Theses and Dissertations

Divorce is a common event in the United States; an estimated 50% of marriages end in divorce. With so many divorces each year, a substantial number of children are impacted. Divorce can have negative effects socially, behaviorally, emotionally, and academically, in both the short term and the long term. Bibliotherapy is a therapeutic tool centered on the use of books and stories to assist in the understanding and expression of an event. Bibliotherapy has been shown to be effective for children who have experienced similar traumatic events such as loss. Research suggests that bibliotherapy could be a flexible, cost efficient, …

Promoting Resilience In Economically Disadvantaged Adolescents Through School-Based Expressive Arts Groups, Bailey Knox

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Since 2013, the majority of students served by the public school system in the United States have been considered “low-income” by the federal government. The stressors associated with low socioeconomic status significantly increase risk for social, emotional and behavioral challenges at all age levels, but can be particularly damaging to adolescents coping with heightened stress levels related to the intense multi-dimensional changes that define this developmental period. As the correlation between economic disadvantage and negative socio-emotional and academic outcomes is increasingly evidenced, schools have begun to recognize their responsibility for providing preventative mental health care to high-risk students. Over the …

Empowering The Plus Size Body Using Dance As Therapy, Ashley Sampson

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

In Western society, having the “ideal” body image and size is a societal issue. It is advertised throughout media outlets that the “ideal” body is what should be desired, and any other body type is “abnormal”. This capstone thesis focused on the effectiveness of dance as therapy and changing the perspectives of all body types, to support and empower all bodies including plus-sized bodies. The use of individual interviews, in an open dialogue model, with a select few members (3) of Soul thru Sole, including the CEO of the dance company; which focuses on empowering women no matter their age, …

Dmt And “The Man Box:” Provoking Change And Encouraging Authentic Living, An Arts-Based Project, Steven Reynolds

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis explores the mind-body experience through an arts-based research approach to examine, and redefine the emotional capacity and usefulness of males through societal determinants that limits and hinders men from living their authentic selves. Through the lens of a metaphoric “Man Box” 112 men participated in a workshop recreating their personal narratives of socialization through, style of dress, coping mechanisms, belief systems and who they should be as men through society's standards. In the “Man Box,” male bonding, and emotional feelings are discouraged, while the objectification of women, material property and physical/emotional strength are encouraged. This research investigates the …

Affecting Social Change For Transgender And Gender-Expansive Children: Exploring Advocates' Perspectives, Cortny Stark

Individual, Family, and Community Education ETDs

This interpretive case study explored the experience of advocates as they pursue social change for transgender and gender-expansive children (ages 4-12). The aim of the study is to improve current understanding of the process of advocacy for this population, as well as the context in which advocacy efforts occur. Data consisted of hour long interviews, advocacy artifacts as recommended by participants, and the researcher’s field journal. Participants included 12 advocates from a variety of backgrounds and geographic locations within the United States, to include educators, community advocates, and helping professionals. Implications of this study may include increased understanding of the …

Substance Use Helpers: An Exploration Into The Relationship Between Professional Quality Of Life And Posttraumatic Growth, Denise Haggerty

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There has been limited research on the potential for substance use helpers to have positive experiences as a result of their therapeutic work, previous research on the field of substance use treatment and the impact of working with individuals whom struggle with substance use disorders has been explored. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between substance use helpers’ professional quality of life (compassion satisfaction, secondary traumatic stress, and burnout) with posttraumatic growth. In addition, this study also sought to determine if a relationship exists between personal and professional characteristics of substance use helpers and …

Black Female Graduate Students' Experiences Of Racial Microaggressions At A Southern University, Kendra Elizabeth Shoge

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have found that microaggressions can cause psychological distress, frustration, avoidance, confusion, resentment, hopelessness, and fear. Previous studies from Southern universities have addressed the adjustment experiences of Black women in graduate programs, obstacles faced by Black women in higher education and strategies to overcome those obstacles, and factors associated with Black student motivation and achievement. Discrimination and racism are factors identified in those studies, however, there is little research on the experiences of Black women in graduate programs and the impact of racial microaggressions on them.

The purpose of this study was to examine Black female graduate students’ experiences of …

Do Booster Emails Improve Learning Transfer Among Parenting Professionals?, Benjamin C. Stout

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Parenting professionals play a key role in helping parents have a positive influence on their children, which is why it is important to ensure that professionals have and use research-based information and materials. Using data from 96 parenting professionals from Utah and Missouri, who completed a 4-hour Strong Parents, Stable Children training, we examined the effects (at 2-months post training) of reflective reminder emails on parenting professionals’ utilization and learning transfer of training materials. Results from independent samples t tests show that participants who received “booster” emails at 1-week and 1-month post training shared some information and some materials with …

The Effect Of A Training Clinic On The Self-Efficacy Of Counselors In Training, Jihene Ayadi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The primary focus of this study was to examine the differences between trainees’ perceived self-efficacy when they graduate from a counseling program that has a community based mental health training clinic versus a program without a training clinic. A web-based survey was developed with the questions from the Counseling Self-Efficacy Inventory (COSE) (Larson et al., 1992) and 45 (N = 45) participants took the survey online. Participants were students enrolled and taking a practicum or internship class in a counseling program with a training clinic (WTC) or in a counseling program without a clinic (WTTC). Mann-Whitney Wilcoxon test, a non-parametric …

Master’S-Level Counseling Students’ Experience Of Expressive Arts Techniques In A Cacrep Multicultural Counseling Course, Cameron Houin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Counseling governing bodies have defined what should be prioritized in multicultural counseling courses, including students’ multicultural knowledge and awareness; however, best practice regarding how to teach these multicultural concepts has largely been left up to the counselor educator. Counselor educators have begun implementing expressive arts techniques in the classroom, but very little literature exists related to using such techniques in a multicultural course in a manner that positively influence counseling students’ multicultural competency.

The purpose of this study was to explore master’s-level counseling students’ experience of expressive arts techniques utilized during their multicultural counseling course. Ten student participants took part …

The Effects Of Stress Mindset Interventions On University Students' Health And Functioning, Abigail Fate

Undergraduate Honors Papers

In modern society, the overwhelming cultural narrative proclaims that stress is detrimental to health and should be limited and avoided at all costs. However, recent research has demonstrated that it is one’s stress mindset, rather than their stress level, that determines the psychological and physiological outcomes. Mindsets are lenses that simplify and order the world, and have been proven to influence daily behavioral and physiological responses to create cascading effects. Recent research has demonstrated that one’s mindset about stress is the demining factor in health, performance, and productivity in response to stressful conditions, and that these mindsets can be manipulated …

An Exploration Of Parental Perceptions Of Inclusive Services And Supports Provided By Faith Communities For Children Diagnosed With Autism And Their Families, Susan L. Moerschbacher

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The purpose of the study was to explore the perspectives of parents of children diagnosed with ASD regarding the inclusive supports and services provided by their congregations. Identifying supports and services that are deemed helpful by the parents of ASD children may assist faith communities in developing programs and ministries that address the unique needs of these families. The quantitative study utilized a survey research method to address eight research questions. At two sites in Florida, parents of children diagnosed with ASD were invited to complete a survey assessing the helpfulness of nine inclusive supports. Additionally, the availability of these …

A Comparison Of Special Admit And General Admit College Football Athletes’ Academic Progress And Perceptions Of Academic Support Services, Nicole Realle Mccullough

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the academic progress of special admit football players compared to general admit football players at a private, Division I university in the western United States. Using mixed methods, the researcher quantitatively compared the two groups in terms of credits enrolled, credits attained, GPA and progress toward degree. The researcher also interviewed special admit football players to determine their perceptions of academic support service. Data answer the quantitative and qualitative study questions. Most notably, the researcher found that, while general admit football players had higher GPAs than the special admit athletes, the special admit athletes experienced the same …

Teaching Conversation Skills To Adults With Developmental Disabilities Using A Video-Based Intervention Package, Kaitlyn Rayne Osborne

Theses and Dissertations

Social skills deficits may hinder learning, terminate relationships, and impede employment. Individuals with autism and intellectual disability are often characterized with difficulties in social judgement, emotions, and interpersonal relationships, all of which can lead to disruptive and aggressive behaviors. Explicit instruction, video modeling, and video feedback are research-based practices that have been used to teach conversation skills to individuals, particularly children with developmental disabilities and social impairments. This study examined the effects of explicit instruction combined with video modeling and video feedback in teaching six adults ages 18-20 with autism and intellectual disability skills for initiating a conversation. A multiple …

The Psychometric Properties Of The School Counseling Internship Competency Scale, Melanie Ann Burgess

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Counselor education programs aim to adequately train competent pre-service counselors to fulfill a myriad of roles and responsibilities associated with their specialty area. In accordance with professional organizations, gatekeeping is an ethical responsibility of counselor educators and supervisors to protect the welfare of clients and the health of the counseling profession through ongoing evaluation of pre-service counselors. Presently, no standardized evaluation tool exists to assess school counseling interns comprehensively, attending to school counseling competencies, dispositions, roles, and responsibilities. The purpose of the study is to attend to the gap in literature through the creation and validation of The School Counseling …

Comparing Higher Order Value Differences By Religious And Spiritual Association And Implications For Counseling: An Exploratory Study, Gregory C. Lemich

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The spiritual but not religious (SBNR) population in the U.S. has grown into a significant minority demographic (27%; Lipka & Gecewicz, 2017). Despite this emergence, scant literature has addressed this population and how it differs in values from others, specifically, how SBNR groups differ from those who identify as spiritual and religious (SAR), religious but not spiritual (RBNS), and not spiritual or religious (NSOR). To help this deficiency, this dissertation study explored the intersection of spirituality, religiosity, spiritual and religious categories (SRC; i.e. SAR, SBNR, RBNS, NSOR), and the theory of basic human values (Schwartz, 1992, 1994; Schwartz et al., …