Education Commons^™

The Investigation Of First-Year Wellness Programming In College To Reduce Stress And Anxiety Levels, Charlotte Muriel

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The COVID-19 pandemic brought mental health to light, although college students have long been experiencing mental health struggles. First-year experience courses have been shown to relieve some of the stresses associated with the college transition (Holliday, 2014); however, the existing programming does not meet the needs of college students affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the increased need for mental health services and counseling on college campuses, there is a need for additional support for students dealing with wellness concerns.

This action research study used a three-phase exploratory sequential mixed methods design. Phase One included two audio-recorded focus group …

Muslim Women: A Phenomenological Study Of The Effects Of Identity On Pursuing Higher Education, Rafael E. Harley

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The purpose of this study was to examine and explore the meanings, patterns, and essence of the lived experiences of Muslim women pursuing higher education, while developing a foundation for Muslim Women's Educational Identity Theory. The goal of the study was to develop a thorough and inclusive description of how identity formation affects the pursuit of higher education in order to increase awareness and develop programs that could improve the rate of pursuit of higher education for Muslim women. The importance of lessening gender bias amongst Muslims motivated this researcher to undertake this study. The research study involved a qualitative …

Teacher, School, And Student Characteristics, Theoretical Orientations Toward Reading, Attitudes Toward High Stakes Testing, And Reading Performance In Grades K-6, Dianne Memmer-Novak

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

High stakes testing and accountability has become a hotly debated topic among politicians and educators since the bipartisan passing of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in 2002. With the goal of having all students reading at or above grade level by the end of the 2013-2014 school year Reading First was developed as part of NCLB, to provide schools and teachers with scientific research-based reading instruction.

More than districts or schools, it is the classroom teacher that bears the ultimate responsibility for increasing reading performance. Effective teachers of reading must face the demands and challenges of NCLB while …

Stressful Educational Phenomena That Led Teachers To Separate Voluntarily From A South Florida School District, Michael Raymond

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

In 1999, the Florida State Legislature passed a statute that provided funding to all Florida school districts for recruitment and retention (Florida Department of Education, Teacher Exit Interview Information, 2000-01 [FDOETEII], 2001). This statute required all districts to document teacher attrition with exit interviews. In the two years that exit interviews have been conducted, 11 1 of the 655 teachers left the district voluntarily due to stress on the job, equating to 16.9% of the total number of voluntary separations (FDOEETEII, 200 1,2002).

When a teacher suffers from burnout they at first could develop increased feelings of emotional exhaustion and …

A Case Study Of Secondary School General Education Language Arts Teachers' Attitudes Concerning Teaching Mainstreamed English To Speakers Of Other Languages (Esol) Students, Aurora Francois

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The purpose of this case study was to explore, through naturalistic inquiry, the events that contributed to general education language arts teachers' attitudes regarding teaching mainstreamed ESOL students. Four sources of data were utilized to analyze five indicators which were: a) previous educational experience, b) specific ESOL training, c) personal contact with diverse culture, d) prior contact with ESOL students and e) demographic characteristics. This study employed a purposeful sample and included eight high school general education language arts teachers. The study's methodology included a demographic questionnaire, a self-assessment checklist, multiple observations and in-depth interviews. Participants in this study displayed …

Parent Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of Therapeutic Horseback Riding For Children With Varying Disabilities, Anita L. Scialli

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Disabilities affect 54 million people and 4.4 million children in the U.S. and are of importance to special education faculty (Center for Disease Control 2000). A survey design examines the effectiveness of human-animal interaction, specifically horseback riding, in children with varying disabilities.

Therapeutic horseback riding as an animal assisted therapy, aims to promote mind and body integration through movement (psychomotricity) and the human-animal bond (Delta Society, 2001a; Spink, 1993, All, Loving & Crane, 1999). Effectiveness is measured by parent assessment of improvement in 67 child behaviors resulting from child participation in horseback riding, using a new Horseback Riding Survey. Behaviors …

The Impact Of Teacher Termination On The Level Of Stress Of Elementary Principals, Lawrence A. Heiser

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Considering the key position principals hold and the impact that this has on all aspects of school life, it was reasonable to argue that better understanding of the problems and stresses they face would shed more light on the complex nature and dynamics of stress. Walter Gmelch maintained that sources of stress for the school principal were divided into four broad categories: role-based, taskbased, boundary-spanning, and conflict-mediating. Public and political pressure to improve student performance coupled with the arduous task of removing tenured incompetent teachers poses pressing problems for school principals.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine …

Sexual Harassment Policies And Procedures In South Florida Community Colleges: Perceived Affects On Teaching Learning, Lyn J. Pont

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The purposes of this research were to determine: 1.) if sexual harassment policies, content, communication and subsequent related training, or lack thereof, subject South Florida community colleges to legal risk; and 2.) the perceptions of how sexual harassment policies and procedures affect students and faculty, their interactions, and how students learn and how faculty teaches, being mindful of a possible cultural component.

In determining if the sexual harassment policies and training subjected the colleges to legal risk, a sexual harassment policy and procedural grid was used to analyze the policies in place at all four South Florida community colleges. The …