Educational Psychology Commons^™

Examining Predictive Validity And Rates Of Growth In Curriculum-Based Measurement With English Language Learners In The Intermediate Grades, Ella Farmer

Dissertations

In the current educational climate, school districts and states are being held accountable for the progress of all students. Students who speak another language at home and have limited English proficiency, known as English Language Learners (ELLs), continue to underperform when compared to English proficient peers. The purpose of the study was to determine whether a brief, standardized reading fluency probe (R-CBM) is an effective tool for measuring growth over time and identifying students at risk of failure of a state standards test, considering ELL status. Archival data was used with a sample of 1,056 students in fourth through sixth …

A Survey Study Of Prepare Workshop Participants' Application Of Knowledge, Confidence Levels, And Utilization Of School Crisis Response And Recovery Training Curriculum, Brian Richard Lazzaro

Dissertations

This survey study investigated the effects of the National Association of School Psychologists PREPaRE Workshop 2 training on workshop participants. PREPaRE is a comprehensive crisis prevention and intervention model that is specifically designed for schools. This study evaluated the impact of the PREPaRE model and the training of school psychologists in terms of (a) can school psychologists apply the knowledge gained when responding to crisis situations as a result of the PREPaRE training? (b) what are school psychologists' perceptions of their confidence in responding to an actual crisis situation? (c) and have school psychologists utilized PREPaRE response and recovery techniques …

Effectiveness Of Graduate Training In School Psychology: Perspectives Of Graduate Practitioners, Mary S. Satchwell

Dissertations

While trends in graduate training in school psychology indicate a movement towards an increasing emphasis on consultation and decreasing emphasis on assessment (Anton-LaHart & Rosenfield, 2004), there remains a gap between training and practice for professional school psychologists (Harrison, et al., 2004). The present study provided an examination of practitioner views for graduates of both specialist and doctoral training programs from 2006 through 2011 at a single NASP-approved, NCATE-accredited university setting. The primary purpose of this study was to examine alumni practitioners' perspectives of the effectiveness of their coursework and fieldwork experiences in preparing them for their professional roles as …

A Meta-Analysis Of School Belonging And Academic Success And Persistence, Isabel Moallem

Dissertations

According to the U.S. Department of Education (2012), 7.4 percent of 16- to 24-year-olds in this country were out of school without a GED in 2010. Numerous studies have found evidence that supports the relationship between school belonging and academic achievement and persistence. This dissertation statistically summarizes these studies to better understand this relationship. This study finds evidence to support the existence of a positive small-to-moderate relationship between school belonging and academic achievement. The operationalization of school belonging and the operationalization of academic achievement were found to be partial moderators. Gender and race/ethnicity were not found to be moderators. The …

Predicting Students’ Confidence: How Teacher Feedback And Other Sources Influence Self-Efficacy In Mathematics Classrooms, Megan Kleine-Kracht Thomas

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

In this two-part dissertation, the sources of self-efficacy were investigated for elementary and middle school students in mathematics classrooms. In the first study, the Sources of Middle School Mathematics Scale (Usher & Pajares, 2009) was validated with a younger sample. Participants included 367 fourth- through sixth-grade students; these participants completed two surveys investigating their beliefs regarding their capabilities to perform successfully in mathematics. This study included an examination of the psychometric properties and a confirmatory factor analysis of the Sources of Middle School Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale, and an investigation into the relative power of mastery experience, vicarious experience, social persuasions, …

Relations Of Parenting Quality, Interparental Conflict, And Overnights With Mental Health Problems Of Children In Divorcing Families With High Legal Conflict, Irwin N. Sandler, Lorey A. Wheeler, Sanford L. Braver

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

The current study examined the associations between child mental health problems and the quality of maternal and paternal parenting, and how these associations were moderated by three contextual factors, quality of parenting by the other parent, interparental conflict, and the number of overnights parents had with the child. Data for the current study come from a sample of divorcing families who are in high legal conflict over developing or maintaining a parenting plan following divorce. Analyses revealed that the associations between child mental health problems and positive maternal and paternal parenting were moderated by the quality of parenting provided by …

Mexican-Origin Youths’ Trajectories Of Depressive Symptoms: The Role Of Familism Values, Katharine H. Zeiders, Kimberly A. Updegraff, Adriana J. Umana-Taylor, Lorey A. Wheeler, Norma J. Perez-Brena, Sue A. Rodriguez

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Purpose—To describe Mexican-origin youths’ trajectories of depressive symptoms from early to late adolescence and examine the role of three aspects of familism values: supportive, obligation, and referent familism. Methods—Mexican-origin adolescents (N = 492) participated in home interviews and provided self-reports of depressive symptoms and cultural values at four assessments across an 8-year span. Using a cohort sequential design and accounting for the nesting within the 246 families (2 youth per family), we examined depressive symptoms from ages 12 to 22 years and the within-person, between-sibling, and between-family effects of familism values. Results—Mexican-origin males’ depressive symptoms decreased across …

Theory Guided Professional Development In Early Childhood Science Education, Soo-Young Hong, Julia C. Torquati, Victoria J. Molfese

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

The importance of early and developmentally appropriate science education is increasingly recognized. Consequently, creation of common guidelines and standards in early childhood science education has begun (National Research Council (NRC), 2012), and researchers, practitioners, and policy makers have shown great interest in aligning professional development with the new guidelines and standard. There are some important issues that need to be addressed in order to successfully implement guidelines and make progress toward accomplishing standards. Early childhood teachers have expressed a lack of confidence in teaching science and nature (Torquati, Cutler, Gilkerson, & Sarver, in press) and have limited science and pedagogical …

Effective Co-Viewing: Preschoolers’ Learning From Video After A Dialogic Questioning Intervention, Gabrielle Strouse, Katherine O'Doherty, Georgene Troseth

School of Education Faculty Publications

Young preschoolers rapidly acquire new information from social partners but do not learn efficiently from people on video. We trained parents to use Whitehurst’s dialogic reading questioning techniques while watching educational television with their children. Eighty-one parents coviewed storybook videos with their 3-year-old children in 1 of 4 conditions: dialogic questioning (pause, ask questions, and encourage children to tell parts of the story), directed attention (pause and comment but do not ask questions), dialogic actress (show the videos with dialogic questioning by an on-screen actress embedded in them), or no intervention (show the videos as usual). After 4 weeks, children …

A Critical Review Of Reflectivity, Andragogy, And Confucianism, John A. Henschke Edd

IACE Hall of Fame Repository

The link between Confucian humanism, Mezirow' theory of reflectivity, and the convergence of a worldwide concept of andragogy (the art and science of helping adults learn) articulated by Savicevle, Knowles, Mezirow's theory has increasingly developed to integrate inner reflection expressed through transformed perspectives and decision and action, and andragogy has focused on facilitation of collaborative interaction and self-direction in learning involving the whole person. To appreciate the basis of these three schools of theory, this chapter presents a discussion of these originating theorists. As an introductory thought, the following quotations illustrate how Confucius' thought has long been valued and aspired …

Super Andragogy, John A. Henschke Edd

IACE Hall of Fame Repository

This presentation looks at the History, Philosophy and Major Themes of Andragogy that have emerged in the author’s research and practice. It explores those aspects of andragogy within the context of the theme of this Conference – Lifelong Learning for All in 2013 – and indicates how the expanding scope of this investigation offers a frame for carrying forward an inspirational concept to the great benefit of lifelong learning constituencies around the globe.

A 2013 Update Of Research In Andragogy Has Revealed Some New Dimensions And Another Era As We Looked Toward Andragogy's Future, John A. Henschke Edd

IACE Hall of Fame Repository

This paper on the History and Philosophy of Andragogy is mainly limited [with a few exceptions] to a chronological history and the accompanying philosophy of andragogy, in line with when the English language documents were published and personal descriptions of events were written down. Some of these documents, however, present aspects of the events and ideas which recount the years and contexts in which they appeared in published form. This will not be an exact history of the events and philosophy as they appear in chronological order. But, this will be presented in the general sequence of the years that …

Detecting Low Incidents Effects: The Value Of Mixed Methods Research Design In Low-N Studies, Isadore Newman, Carolyn Ridenour, Carole Newman, Shannon Smith, Russell C. Brown

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Many important educational situations such as traumatic brain injury among preschoolers, school gun violence, preadolescent eating disorders, and adolescent suicide happen relatively infrequently. In this article, the authors explain why mixed methods research designs offer more meaningful empirical results than do qualitative or quantitative designs alone when asking research questions about low incident situations. The authors present and explain three mixed methods models applicable to low incidents situations.

An Examination Of Education Services For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders In Rural Areas, Melissa A. Murphy

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Much research and media attention in recent years has focused on Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), a pervasive developmental disorder that impacts children in multiple areas of their lives. Early identification and intervention, as well as access to mental health, behavioral, and pediatric services for this population are crucial to their later outcomes and quality of life (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2001; Blane & Borden, 2008; Jacobson & Mulick, 2000; Rogers & Vismara, 2008). Unfortunately, research suggests that access to educational services may be complicated for individuals living in rural areas (Applequist, 2009; Collins et al., 2005, Ludlow, Conner, & Schechter …

Content Learning And Identity Construction (Clic): A Framework To Strengthen African American Students’ Mathematics And Science Learning In Urban Elementary Schools, Maria Varelas, Danny B. Martin, Justine M. Kane

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

We present a theoretical framework that views learning as a process involving content learning (CL) and identity construction (IC). We view identities as lenses through which people make sense of, and position themselves, through stories and actions, and as lenses for understanding how they are positioned by others. As people become more (or less) central members of a disciplinary community (e.g., a science or mathematics classroom) and engage (or not) in various cultural practices, changes in identity and knowledge accompany changes in position and status. Identity construction (IC) and content learning (CL) share an important characteristic: they both involve meaning …

Risk Taking Behaviors In Emerging Adults And Peer, Sibling & Parental Relationships, Malasri Rani Chaudhery-Malgeri

Wayne State University Dissertations

Research shows emerging adults are more likely than younger and older cohorts to engage in such risky behaviors. However, research on the outcomes of emerging adults and their relations with peers, parents, and siblings is less conclusive. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between emerging adults' perceptions of peers', siblings', and parents' risk-taking behaviors, and risk behavior after controlling for participants' sensation seeking tendencies. This study explored the moderating role of emerging adults' relationships with peers, siblings, and parents in the relation between these models' risk taking behaviors and emerging adults' risk taking behaviors, The mediating …

Child And Family Predictors Of Bullying In Middle School Students, Rene Michele Nota

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the shared variables that contribute to direct and indirect aggression, specifically bullying and to explore the role of family context, and adolescent personality characteristics on predicting bullying behavior. The theoretical framework of this study was based on evidence that no specific element can describe why some individuals are at risk for behaving aggressively and other are more resilient. The study included 259 middle schools students in grades six through eight. The students were enrolled at a single middle school located in a suburban area. The largest group of students was African American, …

The Mediating Influence Of School Engagement Between An Adolescent's Contextual Environment And Academic Accomplishment, Najim Uddin Ahmed

Wayne State University Dissertations

The current study explored several contexts that may influence an adolescent's academic performance in school, including school engagement, parenting behaviors, teacher behaviors, peer relationships, and academic self-efficacy. The outcome of interest was academic performance.

Participants in this study were 332 ninth through twelfth grade high school students (159 males and 164 females) from a suburban public high school in the midwestern United States. The average age of the students was 16.5. The participants completed seven surveys to measure academic performance in school, including school engagement, parenting behaviors, teacher behaviors, peer relationships, and academic self-efficacy.

Mediational analyses were used to investigate …

Dispositional Mediators Of Burnout Syndrome In A Sample Of Direct Care Staff Employed At Group Homes In A Midwestern State, Cristovao Bartolo Carreira

Wayne State University Dissertations

The current research examined the dispositional characteristics that mediated burnout syndrome in a sample of direct care workers who were employed in group homes for the mentally ill in a Midwestern state. Specifically, the indirect effects that the direct care staff's attachment systems and problem solving ability were examined as they applied to their potential burnout status. Attachment theory, a contemporary psychodynamic theory of personality, was used to provide a context for the study. The researcher studied the interactions between construct subcomponents to address a criticism in the literature stating that only total scores were used to study burnout and …

Ethnic Identity Among Arab Americans: An Examination Of Contextual Influences And Psychological Well-Being, Rand Ramadan Fakih

Wayne State University Dissertations

Existing theories and research have indicated that ethnic identity is crucial for ethnic minority young adults because ethnicity is an important component of their personal identity that is likely to influence various aspects of their development. Given the centrality of this construct, the overarching aim of the present study was to examine ethnic identity and psychological well-being among members of an ethnic group that have long been ignored in the psychological literature: Arab Americans.

Specifically, the goals of the study were threefold. The first goal was to examine the association between multiple contextual factors (such as students' perceptions of their …

Digital Peers To Help Children's Text Comprehension And Perception, Yanghee Kim

Yanghee Kim

Affable Reading Tutor (ART) is an online reading lesson designed for children who start reading to comprehend. A digital, human-like character (virtual peer) in ART serves as a peer model that demonstrates the use of the reading comprehension strategy questioning to help improve the learners’ comprehension of expository texts. This study, with 141 boys and girls in the fourth and fifth grades in the United States, examined the effects of virtual-peer presence (presence vs. absence vs. control) on learners’ text comprehension and also the effects of learner gender and virtual-peer attributes (human-like male vs. human-like female vs. robot still image) …

Anthropological Evidence Of The 15 Intended Itaukei Tapa Cloth (Masi) Motifs Pre-Dating The Creation Of The Air Pacific/Fiji Airways Logo, Cresantia Frances Koya Vaka'uta

Cresantia Frances Koya Vaka'uta

This short paper examines the history of Tapa in order to show that the fifteen kesakesa designs identified as trade mark worthy by Air Pacific/Fiji Airways are a significant part of the cultural heritage of the iTaukei peoples of Fiji. It will also show that Tapa and the designs/motifs found within tapa are often shared cultural designs across the Pacific. The position taken is that all forms of cultural heritage expressions must remain the intellectual property of their indigenous owners from whom this knowledge, skills and art forms originate. NO COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE can or should claim the right to this …

The Effect Of The Visual Gender Of An Embodied Agent: A Cross-Cultural Comparison, Yanghee Kim, A Guiz, A Silveryarg, M Haake, T Chen, N Kim

Yanghee Kim

This study explored if the visual gender representations (androgynous, male, or female) of an embodied agent would influence students’ perceptions of their agent and their attitudes toward the agent as their conversational partner. The study also explored if students’ gender and cultural background would interact with the agent’s visual gender to influence their perceptions and attitudes. Participants were 208 early-teen students sampled from US and South Korea. The results revealed that student gender was a significant factor for influencing students' perceptions and attitudes and that the students showed positive attitudes toward an androgynous agent more than toward a gendered agent …

Digital Peers To Help Children's Text Comprehension And Perception, Yanghee Kim

Yanghee Kim

Affable Reading Tutor (ART) is an online reading lesson designed for children who start reading to comprehend. A digital, human-like character (virtual peer) in ART serves as a peer model that demonstrates the use of the reading comprehension strategy questioning to help improve the learners’ comprehension of expository texts. This study, with 141 boys and girls in the fourth and fifth grades in the United States, examined the effects of virtual-peer presence (presence vs. absence vs. control) on learners’ text comprehension and also the effects of learner gender and virtual-peer attributes (human-like male vs. human-like female vs. robot still image) …

School Consolidation And The Politics Of School Closure Across Communities, Zorka Karanxha, Vonzell Agosto, William R. Black, Claudius B. Effiom

Vonzell Agosto

This case involves dilemmas for educational leaders who may face the process of school consolidation brought on by decreased funding and demands for accountability. We highlight the challenges and opportunities to collaborate within and across diverse communities and schools with varying expressions of cultural, political, ethical, and organizational power and interests. The teaching notes coincide with aspects of the case that involve principal responsibilities, equity concerns, and negotiations amid the demands of multiple constituencies. Theoretical frameworks highlighting asset-based approaches, leadership for social justice, and micropolitics are emphasized.

Adaptation Of The Child - Parent Relationship Therapy Model For Use With Senior Citizen Volunteers In School Settings: A Pilot Study, Angela M. Yoder, Fred Washburn, Shannon Mills, Danessa Carter, Brian Brausch, Jiwon Lee

Angela M Yoder

This study provides a proposal for crucial volunteer services to fill the gap for overburdened school counselors when parents are unable to engage in Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT), a highly effective intervention for childhood problems. CPRT has been successfully adapted for use with individuals other than the child’s parents. The researcher in this pilot study adapted CPRT for use with senior citizen volunteers who often possess untapped abilities and talents. Seniors received several weeks of training, and then met with children for 1/2 hour supervised, video-taped play sessions for several weeks. Childhood adjustment problems were assessed before and after the …

A Journey Without A Roadmap, Geraldine French

Reports

No abstract provided.

Mental Health Treatment Effects In An Alternative Middle Schools, Beth Devilla

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of an alternative school in West Virginia. The school enrolled sixth to eighth grade students who had been suspended, expelled, or were facing expulsion. Using archived data, the academic performance of students who were in a mental health treatment program was compared to the performance of students who were in the alternative school but were not enrolled in the mental health program. All archival data was de-identified by the Psychologists on staff at the agencies so there were no identifiable human subjects. The research staff was provided access to existing …

The Impact Of A Grade Nine Transition Program On Student Success In The Piedmont Region Area Of North Carolina, Phillip Jermaine Johnson

Education Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Grade 9 transition program at an urban high school in the piedmont area of North Carolina. Grade 9 is a pivotal year that determines which students prevail and which students fail to finish high school (Hertzog, 2003). It is essential that schools put in place components that ease the transition into high school and provide ongoing support.

Investigation measuring instruments that were used by the researcher included a student survey and a teacher survey which involved Grade 9 students and those teachers who taught Grade 9 students. The data that …

Bullying, The Law, And Safe Schools, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Few issues have generated more interest from educators in the last decade than bullying. And with good cause: various sources report that approximately 160,000 students avoid school every day for fear of being physically or emotionally abused by their peers.

Prevention strategies are difficult to develop without first understanding why bullies act as they do. Research suggests that bullies may be influenced by such factors as the personal characteristics and physical appearances of their victims, including their race, clothing, size, gender, sexual orientations (actual or perceived), general “look,” and family socioeconomic status. Some bullies, who typically lack social skills and …