Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Playful Aggression And The Situational Contexts That Affect Perceptions, Jennifer Hart

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Play is considered a fundamental tool for early childhood education practices as it provides numerous developmental benefits for young children. However, not all play is viewed by children, parents, and early childhood educators the same, especially playful aggression. For example, rough-and-tumble play, risky play, superhero play, “bad guy” play, active pretend play, play fighting, big body play, war play, gun play, and physically active and imaginative play are types of playful aggression that benefits young children’s development; but are often viewed negatively by the adults who observe it. The contextual factors that influence the development of these conflicting perceptions—the motivation …

The Attitudes And Beliefs Of Special And General Educational Professionals Concerning Alcohol And Drug Problems, Troy Wayne Kieser

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Drug and alcohol abuse is one of the greatest challenges of public education. Substance abuse affects student academic performance. Teacher attitudes concerning substance use are linked to drug and alcohol use by students. The purpose of this study was to assertion teacher attitudes and beliefs about drug and alcohol use. The data were collected using a questionnaire. The questionnaire was a modified version of the Addiction Belief Inventory (ABI) based on the five constructs (e.g., coping, efficacy, disease, lack of efficacy, moral weakness) of substance abuse (Broadus, Hartje, Roget, & Cahoon, 2010; Luke, Ribisi, Walton, & Davidson, 2002). The participants …

Digital Behavior Intervention Plans: Effects On General Education Teacher Fidelity Of Implementation, Christopher G. Holcomb

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Students with disabilities often have behavior that interferes with classroom learning. Serious problem behaviors are identified as the most significant factor interfering with learning in the classroom. Unfortunately, chronic behaviors often lead to a student dropping out of school. Current research typically focuses on areas of intervention for these students with little attention towards teacher fidelity of implementation of these interventions. Because of this, student's behavior intervention plans may not show effectiveness (e.g., progress monitoring, data driven decisions). It is important that researchers begin to explore systematic improvements in fidelity of implementation of behavior intervention plan components for general education …

School Counselor Assignment In Secondary Schools: Replication And Extension, Jennifer L. Williamson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Before school counselors can carry out the duties and responsibilities outlined as part of a comprehensive school counseling program, they must know which students they are responsible for helping. The topic of assigning students to school counselors has only recently been seen in the educational research arena in a study by Akos, Schuldt, and Walendin (2009). The current study attempts to replicate and extend the findings of Akos, Schuldt, and Walendin by addressing the questions of how secondary school counselors are assigned and what are their perceptions of their assignment. In addition, the study attempts to determine whether a particular …

In Quest Of A Dropout Theory: Examining The Utility Of An Ecological Approach Through Survey Research, Tiffany G. Tyler

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examined the utility of Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory as a metatheory of dropout. Using the NELS: 1988 dataset, the present study examined the relationship between dropout attributions and Bronfenbrenner's construct, the microsystem. Attention was given to accounting for students' attributions regarding their identity (e.g., demographic and profile characteristics) with environmental and regional contexts as possible moderators. In particular, the present study examined the responses given as reasons for dropout in view of how those responses could be categorized with Bronfenbrenner's theoretical structure and the extent to which the resulting categorization could predict dropout, considering related demographic variable.

This study …

Processes Of Disposition Development In K--5 Teachers, Deborah A. Obara

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Educators concur that teacher competency requires more than teaching knowledge and skills; competency requires appropriate professional dispositions. The development of professional dispositions is an expected outcome of teacher education programs. Since 2002, program accreditation has been contingent on documentation that prospective teachers have met national standards for dispositions. The body of educational research on disposition assessment has been growing. Research on disposition learning and development, however, has been impeded by the prevailing conceptualization of dispositions as fixed traits resistant to change. The present study conceptualized dispositions as malleable constructs within a theoretical framework that synthesized a cognitive model of thinking …