Education Commons^™

Autherine Lucy & The University Of Alabama Integration At U Of A 1952-1956, Tamera Lott

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the University of Alabama was chartered in 1820 and is Alabama’s oldest public university. Prior to 1956, the University was segregated; admission was limited to white men and women. On February 3, 1965, Miss Autherine Lucy stepped foot on campus for the first time to attend classes at the University; history was made as she was the first African American present. Lucy’s attendance stirred conflict throughout campus and the state of Alabama. Unbeknownst to many, Lucy’s attendance garnered both national and international attention. The central argument here is that Lucy’s experiences at the University of Alabama …

College Students Level Of Educational Success And Social Capital: A Comparison Of Traditional And Nontraditional Students, Travis Jacklyn

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The present study investigated how female/male nontraditional and traditional college students’ educational success could be influenced by both the social capital their family and friends provide and the responsibilities those close to them require. However, gender socialization may influence how certain networks, such as family and peers can help or hinder college students. Previous research found family and peers could help college students’ educational success (Betts et al., 2013; Seon, 2019), however, they can also be detrimental (Dill & Hayley, 1998). This study examined whether (1) gender and traditional/nontraditional student status are associated with educational success; and (2) whether support …

Knowledge Is Power: A Study Of Juvenile Justice Facilities And Educational Programs, Molly Anne Latham

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The Juvenile Justice System is established to maintain public safety, as well as rehabilitate youth that have involved themselves in criminal activity. The overall goal is to create a better future for these individuals and transform them into law-abiding citizens for the good of society. In order to understand where the system has failed in doing this, we must first examine what opportunities and programs these individuals have to help them succeed. The current study will employ a secondary analysis of a cross-sectional survey through which the United States Bureau of the Census (1995) collected data on the characteristic of …

From Education To Incarceration: A Study Of School Process Affecting Disproportionate Minority Contact Within Hardin County’S Juvenile Justice System, Krystal Carver-Dickens

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study seeks to understand how school processes affect disproportionate minority contact within the Hardin County Juvenile Justice System. A study completed by Lovell and Drummond (2016) in conjunction with the Hardin County BRIDGES Council, is used as the foundation for the current research. The original research, along with several others, examined disproportionate minority contact (DMC) after the student had been referred from their respective schools to the juvenile court system. The current study investigates 858 juvenile court records, with permission of the Hardin County Juvenile Judges, and examines school information included in the court records related to the student …

Middle School, School Culture, Parental Involvement, And The Academic Index, Jacob L. Clute

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This research examines two possible influences of student achievement at the middle school level: school culture and parental involvement. The study investigates Kentucky Scholastic Audits of 90 middle schools from 2001 through 2005. The purpose of the study is to identify whether school culture and parental involvement affect student performance. The results of this study suggest that demographic variables account for most of the variance in the Academic Index. Controlling for demographics, parental involvement does not affect the school Academic Index, while school culture does add significantly to the variance explained.

Overcoming Barriers To Teaching Action-Based Environmental Education: A Multiple Case Study Of Teachers In The Public School Classroom, Terry Rachael Adams

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

As the human population increases, it becomes increasingly more important for society to understand the impact of humans on the environment. Preserving fixed resources by engaging in sustainable practices is necessary to ensure those resources are available for future generations. Since the early 1960s, policy makers and educators alike have sought to ensure that students graduate environmentally literate. Previous research has identified a multitude of barriers that limit classroom teacher’s ability to integrate environmental education into their curriculum. The purpose of this study was to investigate how teachers overcome those barriers that restrict the integration of action based environmental education …

High School Seniors' Plans After Graduation: The Decision To Go To The Military, College, A Trade School, Or Work, Yasamin Shariat

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This research analyzes the decision process of high school seniors in their postgraduation plans. Most of the participants are college bound, so students were compared and analyzed according to their preparedness for college as measured by the ACT. It seems that students go to college whether or not they are actually prepared for the experience. They seem to be more influenced by a societal push towards attending college than by anything else.

The Influence Of Situational Organization, Age Gender, And Peer Group Interaction On The Emergence Of The Early Social Self, Phillip Williams

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The objective of the present study was to investigate the influence of preschool learning environments on the frequency of prosocial behaviors. The analyses were conducted according to gender, age, and whether the activity was child-chosen or teacher-imposed. The behaviors for analysis included responding prosocially to verbal massages from other children, engaging in cooperative play, attending to cries and pleas of others, and commenting on behavior of others when potentially dangerous. The data were gathered through nonparticipant observations, teacher interviews, and a behavior checklist. Nonparametric statistical analyses were used to analyze the data. Results indicated that older girls were more likely …

Course Content Of Sociology Of Aging And Social Gerontology Syllabi: Interdisciplinary Relations, Paula Newby

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The United States is undergoing a major increase in a segment of the population we socially define and understand as aged. By the year 2030 approximately one in every five Americans will be 65 years or older. Because the concept of age is encompassed in our everyday world of social reality, it is a subject matter for the discipline of sociology. Aging is also recognized as a subject matter for courses in social gerontology, which incorporates a multidisciplinary approach with material from social, psychological, and biological areas. This research endeavor constitutes a content analysis of course syllabi found in the …

High School Teachers' Perceptions Of School-Related Violence: Effects On Fear Of Victimization And Perceived Risk, Brandon Ungetheim

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Using a sample of 204 high school teachers from nine different counties in Kentucky, this study examined the predictors of both teachers1 fear and perceived risk of victimization at school in an attempt to learn more about this adult population. The predictors that were analyzed on both fear and perceived risk of victimization are as follows: age, sex, school location (metropolitan/nonmetropolitan), victimization experience, indirect victimization experience, and perceived seriousness of school violence. Results indicate that, sex, school location, victimization experience, and perceived seriousness of school violence were all significant predictors of both teachers' fear and perceived risk of victimization. Females …

A Survey Of Minority Students Who Use Retention Program Services At A Predominantly White Institution, Jamalya Luney

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This researcher seeks to examine the characteristics of those minority students, at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI), who frequently use retention program services versus those who do not frequently use retention program services. Frequent use of retention program was considered to be every other week or more. Infrequent user of retention program was considered once a month or less often. Data analysis revealed many similarities between the groups relating to grade point average (GPA), marital status, and housing status. Despite the similarities between the groups, there were some differences, although not significant. The mean age of the frequent users was …

Social And Cultural Influences On Nontraditional Students' Decision To Seek Higher Education, Mose Bullington

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine some of the social and cultural influences on nontraditional students' decisions to seek higher education. The thesis of this project is that nontraditional students are reacting to changes in the occupational structure of the United States. The six propositions of social exchange theory developed by George Homans were used to guide the research. A questionnaire was distributed to the entire population of full-time nontraditional undergraduate students at a comprehensive university in the Southeast. A total of 430 students over the age of 25 responded to the questionnaire. Frequency distributions and crosstabulations were …

Assessing The Persistence To Graduation Of Students Joining Fraternities At Western Kentucky University, Charles Pride

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In the study, I assessed the persistence of students who joined fraternities at Western Kentucky University. Also included is a comparison between them and the general student population. The study includes 1467 students who joined fraternities between the Fall 1986 to Spring 1991 semesters. A five-year time period was used as the benchmark for graduation from the institution. Factors that were explored included race, initiation status, year in school when pledging, and organizational affiliation. Pearson Product-Moment Correlations and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the data. The results illustrated that students who join fraternities graduate at a higher …

A Survey Of Black Student Perceptions And Attitudes On The Utilization Of Academic Retention Programs, Beora Willams

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In this study I examine the perceptions and attitudes of black students attending a predominantly white institution (PWI) concerning student support services designed to assist them in achieving social and academic success. PWIs have established minority retention programs with an overall mission of recruiting and retaining black students; however, program use is minimal and black students continue to depart college prematurely. This research seeks to assess the perceptions and attitudes of black students to determine if program ambiguity, lack of faculty involvement or available mentoring, campus affiliation, racism, or time taken away from academic pursuits has a role in whether …

Marital And Personal-Life Satisfaction Among Married, Female Graduate Students: A Qualitative Analysis Of Value Conflicts, Alecia Gall

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Fifteen married, female graduate students enrolled full-time during the fall of 1994 were interviewed and audio-tape recorded, guaranteed confidentiality, and assigned pseudonyms. Questions covered the topics of values, experiences in graduate school and marriage, the impact of children, pressures, conflicts, support systems, and coping strategies. I obtained a listing of all married, female graduate students enrolled at a regional state university located in the south central United States during the fall semester of 1994. From this list I identified and contacted those fulltime students who had taken no more than a five-year break between degrees and were under the age …

Does Sex Discrimination Exist In Faculty Salaries At Western Kentucky University? An Empirical Examination Of The Wage Gap, Reed Vesey

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis examines wage differentials between male and female faculty salaries at Western Kentucky University. A human capital model of salary determination is examined by using regression analysis on relevant personal and job characteristics of faculty members. A large portion of the wage gap between men and women is explained through differences in the personal and job characteristics. A portion of the wage gap remains unexplained, however, the probability of discrimination playing a substantial role in salary is very small.

A Study Of The Relationship Of Socioeconomic Status & Student Perceptions Of School Effectiveness To Academic Achievement Of Engineering Students, Geronimo Mendoza Meraz

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the relative contribution of socioeconomic status and student perceptions of school effectiveness to academic achievement in engineering students. The variables representing the general factor of socioeconomic status were 1) father’s occupation, 2) father’s schooling, 3) mother’s schooling, 4) family income, and 5) family’s community population. The variables representing student perceptions of school effectiveness were: 1) help seeking factor, 2) professional preparation factor, 3) experience factor, 4) outside classroom activity factor, 5) personal encouragement factor, and 6) delivery factor.

A question was developed for this specific study and was completed by 110 senior …

A Comparative Study Of Academic Achievement Of Students From Phased-Elective Social Studies Curriculum With Students From A Traditional Social Studies Curriculum, Dennis Minnix

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In this study, the academic achievement of two groups of University students was compared. The control group consisted of 15 students who had attended a traditional high school. The experimental group consisted of 25 students who had attended a high school which utilized a phased-elective curriculum design.

The students were observed at three points in their schooling. First, students were compared at the end of the eighth grade to determine if any significant difference existed prior to their exposure to the two high school programs. Next, students were observed at the end of their high school education by comparing scores …

The Perceived Role Of The University Residence Hall Director, Jan Akers

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study was concerned with locating areas of differences in residents' perceptions of the role of the director --either a young professional or a "dorm mother" type--in their own residence halls on the 'estern Kentucky University campus. The perceptions were obtained through the use of a twenty-one item instrument (developed by the researcher) to which 1,111 students responded. The data were tabulated by sex, by residence nails, by halls with young professional directors, by halls with older "dorm mother" directors, and by a total overall. Slight differences were found between male and female students and between the various groups. However, …

An Approach To Meeting The Educational Needs Of A Select Group Of Migrant Children, Ruth G. Cornelius

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Children in grades one through six who were identified as children from migrant agricultural families in a specific country in South Central Kentucky were compared to non-migrant children in the same specific county. A determination of the educational needs of these migrant children was made by a comparison of their standardized test scores to similar test scores of children from non-migrant families in the areas of Reading, Math, AND Total Battery scores. Resultant data from the test scores indicated that migrant children generally do not have achieve as high academically in the areas tested as do children from non-migrant families. …

The Relationship Of Educational, Economic & Social Characteristics Of The Degree Of Desegregation In The Public Schools Of Kentucky, J. Frank Yeager

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The problem in this study was to examine the relationship of social-climate to the degree of desegregation in the public schools of Kentucky. This study attempted to determine the relationship of educational, economic and social characteristics of those school districts with bi-racial student bodies operating in Kentucky and the degree of desegregation experienced voluntarily by those districts during the period from 1955-56 school year through the 1963-64 school year.

A Program Of Improvement For Union County Kentucky Schools, Thomas Fortenbery

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The problem presented in a Program of Improvement for Union County Schools deals primarily with future school buildings. The problem is threefold:

1. The location of future school buildings must be determined in the light of population trends and economic developments.
2. The size of the buildings must be determined.
3. A plan to finance the program must be developed.

A Study Of The Effect Of Home Environment Upon The Reading Abilities Of Elementary School Children, Beulah Campbell

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study is to determine to what extent reading ability is related to certain factors in the home environment of children.

A Study Of The Attitudes & Contributions Of Organized Labor To Education Prior To 1860, H. B. Mcalister

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study presents a somewhat connected narrative of the attitudes and contributions of organized labor to education prior to 1860. It has a twofold purpose: first, it is concerned with a consideration of the psychological, economic, social and political background which provided and shaped the determining factors of organized labor's earlier educational attitudes and contributions; and second, with an investigation for evidences as to the nature, extent and significance of these attitudes and contributions in evaluating labor's part in establishing our system of free public school education.