Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Building A Knowledge Economy Index For Southern Metropolitan Areas, Kristine Koutout

All Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to determine if the methodology used to build the South Carolina Research Authority Knowledge Economy Index (KEI) for states can be replicated and applied to Southern Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). Data to imitate the KEI measures for workforce education and fast growth firms were available at the MSA-level; however, academic R&D was used as a proxy for industrial R&D in this index because data was not available for MSAs. An index for Southern MSAs was built based on the coefficients from the OLS results. Workforce education was the most important factor for increasing mean …

Mentoring Dialogues: An Investigation Of The Dialectical Tensions And Management Strategies In Mentoring Relationships, Paul J. Kosempel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the past 30 years, mentoring has gained perhaps the largest recognition of any phenomenon related to career success. Much of the current research that has explored mentoring relationships has been conducted in fields other than communication studies, although better communication is often the recommended solution to improve mentoring. The majority of research has focused on the outcomes of mentoring relationships, rather than the process of mentoring relationships. Mentoring has also not been studied through a relational dialectics perspective. This study explored the communication dynamics within mentoring relationships through a relational dialectics theoretical lens. The study utilized multiple methods including …

Academic Achievement Of Students In A Charter Homeschool, Mary A. Leeds Edd

Dissertations

A recent development in education is the public charter school as a homeschool model. In several states across the nation, a child may enroll in an independent study program of a public charter school and base his or her studies in the home. This model in the realm of education is called charter homeschool. The state of California has over 120 operating charter homeschools, also known as independent study programs or non-classroom based charter schools. The delivery of instruction from non-classroom based programs has begun to challenge traditional definitions of public schooling. The increased state accountability demands of student academic …

Program Approach For Childheaded Households In Zambia, Samson Chama

Theses and Dissertations

Using an emergent design, this study developed a program approach for young people in the child headed households of Zambia. Phase I dealt with prior ethnography, Phase II focused on independent living services, and Phase III concerned translation to Zambia. A total of 36 participants from Richmond, consisting of 20 Richmond Department of Social Services workers and youth and 16 Africans, were recruited. Three major themes emerged: feasibility, content, and quality. Lessons learned about translational research highlight the need for uniformity in a cultural screen’s composition. This might enhance the richness of perspectives on young people. Lessons for the Department …

Reproduction Of Cultural Knowledge And Practices Interviews With Spanish-Speaking Parents Of Deaf Children In South Texas, Christina J. Quilantan-Cavazos

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The Hispanic population is the largest and fastest growing cultural and language minority group in the United States (Figueroa et al. 1989); consequently, "as the number of Hispanic individuals in the United States increases, so does the number of Hispanic hearing impaired children" (Walker-Vann 1998: 46), making them the fastest growing population among deaf and hard of hearing school age students (Gerner de García 1995b). Yet, little is known about Mexican families raising a deaf child because "there is a shortage of research that looks at Hispanic deaf children in their home environment or in the community of their families" …

Academic Writing And The Pedagogical Practices Of Effective Teachers, Thomas Devere Wolsey Edd

Dissertations

Composition, particularly when academic register is required, is a complex task. Because cognitive flexibility theory explains how humans can spontaneously restructure knowledge and adapt to situational demands, it is ideally suited to the ill-structured domain of transactional writing. Global aspects related to paragraph and whole-text structure and local operations related to word and sentence-level features define academic writing. A mixed-methods design used quantitative methods for investigation of five corpora of 10th grade students' work. Qualitative methods were used to explore the means teachers used in promoting academic writing and the interactions they intended to promote via teaching cues, including prompts. …

A Historical Analysis Of The Creation Of A Cabinet-Level Department Of Education, Shayla Lois Marie Mitchell

Educational Policy Studies Dissertations

This dissertation uses historical analysis to understand the political and social conditions that allowed for the creation of a cabinet-level Department of Education when many congressional representatives, state governments, and citizens of the United States were ideologically against federal involvement in education. A cabinet-level Department of Education posed problems for the United States because nowhere in the nation’s Constitution is education mentioned, thus leaving education to be a function of the states according to the 10th Amendment. This dissertation looks at calls for a department of education leading up to and including the one initiated by Jimmy Carter. Conducting a …

The Creative Economy In Small Places: Eight Cases And A Developmental Model, Jennifer L. Hutchins

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

Eight case studies across New England offer understanding of the role of the creative economy in the community and economic development of rural towns and small cities. The cases include Providence and Pawtucket, RI; Burlington, VT; and Portland, Bangor, Norway, Dover-Foxcroft, and the St. John Valley, ME. Ten elements or “building blocks” are observed to be important, leading to an explanatory model for the development of the creative economy in small communities. These elements include creative people, education centers, cultural and natural amenities, business engagement, infrastructure, leadership, networks, strategies, time, and money. The creative economy in the eight communities has …

Teachers' Beliefs About The Factors That Support Successful Second Language Acquisition Of Elementary School Students, Joann M. Mcdonald Edd

Dissertations

Second language acquisition has increased in importance in elementary schools throughout the United States due, in part, to the growing numbers of English Language Learners (ELLs) as well as an economic and social demand for native English speakers to learn world languages. The purpose of this study was to investigate elementary teachers' beliefs regarding the factors that contribute to successfully learning a second language, whether students are ELLs learning English as a new language or English speakers learning a new language. More specifically, this study compared the opinions of elementary teachers of successful ELLs with teachers of English speakers successfully …

Intergenerational Educational Mobility And Child-Parent Relationships: A Response To Absolute Or Structural Mobility?, Eric Willis

All Theses

Research exploring the negative effects of intergenerational educational mobility is very common throughout the social science literature. The primary question driving this research is whether those who exceed the highest level of education attained by either of their parents have less cohesive ties with their parents than those who do not. Most of this research uses a metric of absolute mobility which directly compares the child's education to the education of their mother and father. However, if more people are receiving a college degree in the child's than in the parents' generation, it is possible that the child's mobility will …

Asian American Children's Literature: A Qualitative Study Of Cultural Authenticity, Virginia S. Loh Edd

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to systematically analyze Asian-American children's trade books in terms of their cultural authenticity and to examine the perceptions of producers (authors) and consumers (teachers) as related to the cultural authenticity of such books. I wanted to understand the role of Asian-American children's trade books in research and classroom practice and also to understand the perspectives and preconceptions of these producers and consumers. By conducting this qualitative study on the cultural authenticity of Asian-American children's trade books, I hoped to fill a gap in the current discourse knowledge which does not adequately include the Asian-American …

Who's Caring For The Kids? The Status Of The Wages And Working Conditions Of The Early Childhood Workforce In Minnesota, Jennifer L. Andres

Culminating Projects in Child and Family Studies

The purpose of this study was to determine the wages and benefits that Minnesota center-based early childhood teachers received during 2007. The study utilized a questionnaire that was distributed to a random sample of licensed, center-based child care programs in Minnesota. Five hundred programs were randomly selected and surveyed with a response of247 programs (48.4%). The results were compared to the results of a similar study completed in 1996.

Results of the study indicated that a large percentage of the teachers (45%) still received less than $10.00 per hour for their work. Only 5% of the teachers earned $18.00-$20.00 per …

Sex Education Policy In Florida: Strategies For Change, Jenna Cawley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sex education policies and programs in Florida are largely dominated by the abstinence-only approach. This paper makes the case that abstinence-only education is a failing policy in Florida, and evaluates strategies advocates may use in order to accomplish reform. Three different strategies are evaluated: countywide school district reform, statewide rejection of federal abstinence-only funding, and statewide standardization of sex education via legislation. Contrasts are drawn between all three strategies with regard to their potential impact on sex education policy in Florida, viability, and the challenges they present to advocates. This paper concludes that statewide standardization of sex education in Florida …

Learning African-American History In A Synthetic Learning Environment, Adams Greenwood-Ericksen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Synthetic Learning Environments (SLEs) represent a hybrid of simulations and games, and in addition to their pedagogical content, rely on elements of story and interactivity to drive engagement with the learning material. The present work examined the differential impact of varying levels of story and interactivity on learning. The 2x2 between subjects design tested learning and retention among 4 different groups of participants, each receiving one of the 4 possible combinations of low and high levels of story and interactivity. Objective assessments of participant performance yielded the unexpected finding that learners using the SLE performed more poorly than any other …

The Effect Of Teach For America Teachers Outside Their Classrooms, Sarah Prenovitz

Honors Papers

Teach for America (TFA) aims to some day make it possible for every American child to receive a great education. As means to that end TFA attempts to get teachers "willing to go above and beyond the constraints of the system to ensure that their students excel" into classrooms, to encourage "long-term, sustained leadership in education;" and to "change the prevailing ideology around educational inequity," which supports a rationalization that poor children achieve less than others because they are unmotivated and do not receive support at home (see www.teachforamerica.org). The organization argues that teachers alone cannot change the system, but …

Middle School Teacher Acceptance Of Interventions For Adhd, Linda Latsko Castenova

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The study explored the relationship between middle school teacher knowledge of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), their knowledge of common interventions for ADHD, and their perception of treatment acceptability. The study also investigated teacher characteristics and their relationship to teacher knowledge of ADHD and their ratings of acceptability of interventions. Fifty-eight general education middle school teachers completed a survey containing demographic information, an ADHD knowledge scale, and a survey on interventions for students with ADHD. Results indicated that teachers scored an average of 58% correct on the Knowledge of Attention Deficit Disorders Scale (KADDS), scoring significantly higher on the Symptoms/Diagnosis subscale compared …

What Contributes To Academic Achievement Among Elementary Grade Students: A Needs Assessment, Adriana Chavez, Martha Tinehyn Glomah

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the needs of parents and teachers to identify factors that contributed to academic achievement among elementary grade students. Data was collected from a total of 65 parents and teachers of elementary grade students from Rowland Elementary School in Rowland Heights.

The Day The River Ran Away: The Impact Of A Children's Literature Book And Accompanying Curriculum Upon Student Perceptions Of The Salton Sea, Kathryn Ann Schofield

Theses Digitization Project

This project is focused on an author-created children's literature book about the Salton Sea called "The Day the River Ran Away". An accompanying curriculum has been developed for third grade students to increase knowledge of ecological foundations and conceptual awareness

Qualitative Analysis Of The Implementation Of An Autism Program Within A Public School District, Lucila F. Hernandez

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The study analyzed the development, implementation and success of an educational program for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis within a public school structure. Records reviewed for a two year time period identified four phases to program development and implementation, as well as identifying themes and barriers for specific roles, administration, staff and parents. The success of the program is evidenced by growth in the children and by reported satisfaction of parents and staff. A program blue print offers an outline to program development and implementation. Necessary ASD program components, based on literature reviewed are summarized. This study highlights …

Qualitative Study Of Male Asperger's Syndrome Students : Transition From High School To College, Jon Alan Lyman

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

This study examines the narrative statements of individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome concerning their recollections of the transition from high school to college. Nine male college students are led, via interviews, starting with their experiences in high school, to the initial stages of preparing for college life, and ending with current experiences in college. Analysis of the data focuses on the factors that have impact on this transition. The study is intended to contribute to the development of qualitative data about Asperger’s Syndrome, informing students with Asperger’s Syndrome who intend to apply to college, and providing recommendations for parents, and professionals …

The Impact Of Higher Education On The Job Preparedness And Job Performance Of Turkish National Police Officers, Erhan Beyhan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Turkish National Police converted its 9-month Police Training Schools to 2-year college degree programs in 2001 in their pursuit to improve the quality of police officers' job performance, police job preparedness levels, and the police service as a whole. The purpose of this study is to investigate the actual benefits of this higher education policy by empirically measuring and comparing the job preparedness and job performance of police officers with higher education and police officers without higher education. This study consists of two quantitative parts. The first part measured the job performance construct with multiple indicators, including performance evaluation …

Student As Active Agent: A Grounded Theory Of The Postsecondary Transition Experiences For Students With Psychiatric Disabilities, Christina Garczynski Liparini

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

.

A Descriptive Case Study Of Homeschooling And Implications For The Future Of Public Schools, Jean W. Scheriff

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

.

Growing Up Biracial And Gay In The Deep South: Living Between The Color/Gender Lines, Theresa S. Hoogacker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is a critical inquiry into the stories of three generations of women living in the South. Through the stories my mother, my daughter and I have lived through, I critically reflect on my experience of being a first generation doctoral student growing up in-between the color lines of Black and White and raising a biracial and gay daughter growing up in the deep South. Building on the works of Kincheloe and Pinar (1991), Frantz Fanon (1963), Maria Root (1996), Henry Giroux (1992), Paul Gilroy (1993b), Phillion, He & Connelly (2005), and He & Phillion (2008), I explore the ways …

A Qualitative Analysis Of The Integration Of Technology At The School District Level In Terms Of The Technology Leadership, Management, And Policy Pyramid: A Theoretical Model Developed By Dr. John Collins, Through The Perceptions Of Technology-Using Teachers, Mark A. Connolly

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

.