Digital Commons Network^™

The Role Of The School Administrator In Building A Positive Culture In A New Elementary School Setting, Amy R. Davis

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to study the role of the school administrator in building a positive school culture in a new setting. As an administrator in a newly established elementary school, the writer found that, with staff coming from various prior work settings, set rituals and culture were nonexistent. The applied dissertation was designed to provide a vehicle for establishing a positive school culture in this setting.

The writer provided opportunities for staff to plan collaboratively and to develop collegial relations over a 9-month period of time. Staff development that focused on team building and collaboration was planned and …

An Overview Of Special Education Designed For Caretakers, Parents, And Professionals, Diane C. Sherkow

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This practicum was designed to provide daycare owners and directors with the required training in the area of Special Needs in order to maintain their accreditation and licensure. The module that was being used by the state for child care instruction on special needs was not current with Federal rules and regulation. A manual, materials, and activities were developed and implemented to increase the knowledge and understanding of the area of mainstreaming children with disabilities into the daycare setting. Information regarding the current rules and regulations that impact the child care center when working with special needs children was researched …

Molding Minds, Making Links: Mentoring And Staff Development To Reduce Suspensions For Major Offenses At The Secondary Level, Ginger W. Hamilton

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was two-fold. The first part addressed school-based administrators. They were offered opportunities for professional development programs to help them improve intervention services at the school level. The second part was a mentoring program designed to provide students who seemed to be on a path leading to serious behavior problems at school with an adult who provided daily guidance and assistance.

The writer designed and implemented a professional development program for school-based administrators. Seven sessions were held to assist with improvement of their knowledge of school discipline and intervention. In addition, fifteen students from three secondary schools were …

Development Of A Comprehensive Professional Education, Implementation, And Evaluation Plan For Part-Time Faculty At South Puget Sound Community College, Lee Paavola

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The problem under investigation was the lack of a process to enhance the knowledge, skills, and abilities of parttime faculty at South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC). The purpose of this study was to produce a comprehensive professional education, implementation, and evaluation plan for part-time faculty.

The following five research questions were investigated as part of this study: (a) What is the current status of faculty development at SPSCC? (b) At the national level, are there models for part-time development programs that could establish a benchmark for the SPSCC program? (c) What are the essential elements of a professional development …

Providing Character Education Towards Resiliency For An Alternative Education High School, Anita L. Herron

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to address the need to improve the educational profile of an urban alternative education high school that failed to meet one or more of the state's standards for achievement, attendance, and school performance. A character education curriculum holistic case management program was developed to address this problem.

The program provided students with a three-focus educational strand instructional program: Case management intervention, academic diagnostic assessment, and an individualized planning and instructional curriculum to achieve school success. The writer presented a comprehensive intervention service that required all participants to attend a mandatory orientation, community-based involvement, consultation, and …

Creating A New Reporting System For Effective Communication Between The School And The Home, Dennet John Sidell

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to create and use a new reporting system that would better communicate with parents how their child was performing in school. The system used before the implementation was fragmented (each grade used a different reporting system), outdated (not complementing what was happening in the classroom), used confusing codes (parents not receiving a clear message), and unreliable (teachers used the reporting systems for different purposes). The new reporting system would have a common purpose, be consistent in format between grades, and use vocabulary that was clear and easy to understand.

Three solution strategies were incorporated into …

Ninth-Grade Transition: A Program To Ensure An Effective Transition To High School, Steven Ellis

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

Freshman performance at Hunt High School was unacceptable. The 1999-2000 school year records revealed that 16% of freshmen had a grade point average of below 1.0. A total of 68 students dropped out of school during the 1999-2000 school year; 33 of these students were freshmen. In addition, 35% of freshmen failed 1 or more subjects during the 1999-2000 school year. Freshmen were also 3 times more likely to be given referrals for discipline than older students and 4 times more likely to be suspended.

The writer first conducted a preliminary investigation to find answers to this problem. As a …

Development Of A Plan To Address Evaluation Issues Associated With The Nursing Curriculum At Elgin Community College, Maryann K. Vaca

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

There were six research questions for this study. First, "What are the essential criteria/components of a systematic plan to address evaluation issues in the nursing curriculum?" Second, "What is the appropriate and valid format for a systematic plan to address evaluation issues in the nursing curriculum?" Third, "What types of data exist, where were the data located, how can the data be accessed for evaluation of the curriculum, and what essential data still needs to be collected?" Fourth, "What research techniques or strategies are most effective to evaluate the data collected on the nursing curriculum?" Fifth, "What types of recommendations …

Evaluation Of The Utilization And Usefulness Of Chaos Theory In Human Services Education And Professional Practice At Western Washington University, Trula Morehead Nicholas

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The study evaluates the utilization and usefulness of chaos theory in human service education and professional practice. One purpose of this study was to determine if current and former students in the Human Services Department at Western Washington University use the concepts outlined in chaos theory in the delivery of human services. A second purpose was to discover if chaos theory is being incorporated into the curriculum of other human service education programs that grant four-year degrees.

Methodologies used in this study included the summative evaluation methodology, the development methodology, and the ex post facto research methodology. Surveys were sent …

Improving School Attendance Of Special Education Students Through Tangible Rewards And Concrete Incentives, Lenell Q. Navarre

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to provide concrete incentives and tangible rewards for the special education students in a high school. Mediocre attendance is a serious problem in many schools with students identified as meeting the criteria for special education. It impacts the student, school, parents, and community. Research shows that poor attendance can be associated to behavioral problems, academic failure, and leading to dropout tendencies.

The writer developed a program that provided concrete incentives and tangible rewards. Planned solution strategies to improve attendance included (a) distributing concrete incentives to students, (b) distributing tangible rewards to students, (c) forming an …

Development And Evaluation Of A Certified Educational Program To Insure Dental Provider Compliance With Federal And State Health And Safety Law, Cathy Turbyne

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was to design, develop, pilot test, and evaluate an educational process and product that would assist dental care providers in the state of Maine to effectively comply with federal and state health and safety laws. Dental care providers faced many types of workplace injuries in the form ofneedlesticks, dental instrument injuries, ergonomic illnesses, and latex allergy/asthma. Changing federal and state laws, lack of knowledge, interest, and/or inability to self-manage compliance implementation of OSHA and state of Maine laws increased the risk of employee workplace accidents, illnesses, and OSHA inspection. Other potential risks of non-compliance included employee disability, …

Physician Assistant Programs In The U.S., Stephan M. Cohen

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

The Association of Physician Assistant Programs (APAP) released the 18th Annual Report on Physician Assistant Educational Programs for the years 2001-2002 in the Winter of 2002. The annual report is the most comprehensive view of physician assistant educational programs produced today and gives great insight into the Physician Assistant system of education. The Association of Physician Assistant Programs serves as the national organization representing physician assistant educational programs in the United States. This article will review the highlights of this study.

Providing A Curriculum In Kindergarten That Develops Reading Skills For Students Prior To Their Entrance Into First Grade, Linda J. Fouse

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This report describes programs and activities to assure the development of reading readiness skills in kindergarten students in a suburban elementary school. Kindergarten students were entering 1st grade with little or no reading readiness proficiency. This was apparent by their lack of skills on the 1st-grade entrance survey test developed by the 1st-grade teachers. This report examines research on reading techniques and the effects of early training on reading success.

Strategies included in this report are (a) early phonological awareness, (b) using both whole-language and skill-based instruction through a computerized program, (c) use of centers in the classroom, (d) peer …

Development Of Strategies To Increase The Enrollment And Retention Of Female Engineering Honor Students At Purdue University With A Plan For Evaluation And Implementation, Gayle E. Hartleroad

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The Purdue University Schools of Engineering committee, charged with development of a new strategic plan, set a recruitment and retention goal to “. . . increase the percentage of women undergraduates in engineering to 30 percent” (Purdue University Schools of Engineering Compton Committee, 2002).

A ten-year decline in female enrollment at Purdue University’s Schools of Engineering became a topic of true concern, especially to the Freshman Engineering Honors Program. This enrollment decline is exceedingly problematic because the Schools of Engineering has had a reputation of graduating a nationally known, large population of female engineers. The previously noted goal of 30% …

Development Of A Sports Management Option To The Associates Degree In Health And Exercise Science At Camden County College, With A Plan For Implementation And Evaluation, Nicholas J. Dicicco

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The department of health and exercise science at Camden County College (CCC) offers certificate, and degree programs. The degree program is its largest. The problem is that the curriculum in this program has not evolved to keep pace with advances in the field. This has led to a disconnect between the four-year institution program offerings in this field, and the program offerings at CCC, a trend of declining enrollments, and the loss of credits upon transfer by students in the degree program.

As a response to this problem, a sport management option to the curriculum was developed, along with a …

Improving The Academic Achievement Of Sixth-Grade Students Who Do Not Perform At Grade Level In Mathematics, Eileen M. Bond

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to assist 6th-grade students who were not performing at grade level in mathematics. Students entered the 6th grade with a great disparity of skills and abilities in mathematics and then progressed through the middle school grades unable to complete tasks appropriate to their grade level as outlined by the state-mandated mathematics curriculum. These findings were documented both by report card grades and by standardized test scores.

The writer developed a cross-age tutoring program that paired 6th-grade students with 8th-grade students who were trained as tutors. The program was executed as an extra-subject period to provide …

Improving Teachers’ Skills When Dealing With Grieving Children Through A Grief-Training Program, Mark A. Hale

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation proposal was designed to help teachers have better skills and expertise for when they are dealing with children who are grieving and have experienced loss in their lives. The teachers for whom the program, “Grief Brief” was designed, suggested they felt as though their lack of training in this area left them without the needed tools for helping the children in their classes.

The writer proposed Grief Brief as a strategy that used brief instructional units over the course of 8 months in order to educate the teachers in various methods having to do with children and …

Addressing The Training Needs Of Educational Professionals Related To Students With Special Needs, Sue E. Bast

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was developed to provide a solution to the problem of the lack of training for teachers, regular and special education, related to students with special needs. Though the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act specifies that training should be provided to staff working with students having special needs, on-going trainings were not occurring in this writer’s district. Teachers expressed frustration and negativity related to having students in their class who have special needs. Often this was due to the fact that they had not received any training in their undergraduate courses.

To address this problem, an in-service of …

A Plan To Retain A Greater Number Of Probationary Teachers In The Aspen School District, Thom H. Farrell

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

With a teacher shortage sweeping the country and an estimate that over 200,000 new teachers will need to be hired yearly for the next decade (Darling-Hammond, 1999), the Aspen School District took steps to address this potential crisis of hiring and retaining qualified teachers. Located in an isolated, expensive, mountain community, this District was facing a major challenge that is not easily solved. This applied dissertation studied the causes of probationary teacher resignations in the Aspen Schools, identified new teacher needs, and instituted programs that led to an increase in the retention of probationary teachers. The study examined numerous factors …

Poetry: An Intervention To Improve The Fluency And Comprehension Skills Of Reluctant Readers In The Primary Grades, Monica A. Boyko

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation provided third grade reading students an opportunity to develop reading fluency and comprehension skills. These students had poor literacy skills as evidenced by their scores on standardized reading proficiency exams, report card ratings and reports from their previous instructors. The fluency and comprehension instruction that students received was not effective. Students were not making an emotional connection to the material they read.

Third-grade students were taught ways to apply both comprehension and fluency enhancing strategies to their reading. This was accomplished through weekly lessons focused on the poetry genre that enabled students to practice these skills in …

Graduate Education Students Attitudes And Sense Of Preparedness To Teach Emotionally Disturbed Children, Ruth Klein

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to provide graduate students with skills and strategies to better prepare them to teach students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) in the general education classroom. Graduate students at a small liberal arts college in an eastern upstate community were requesting courses to provide them with skills to enable EBD students to be successfully included in the general education classroom. Graduate students, depending on their undergraduate degrees are required to take 12-18 credits in special education courses to qualify for a permanent teaching certificate. This provided them with limited options to take electives. For EBD …

A Plan For The Development, Implementation, And Evaluation Of A Global Entrepreneurship Adult Credit Program At Suffolk County Community College, Dorothy J. Laffin

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

During an environmental scan Suffolk County Community College’s (SCCC) business faculty determined that employed, adult learners, seeking part-time, flexible academic schedules, were unable to enroll in the limited, traditionally delivered course offerings in entrepreneurship and international business. In order to meet the identified learning need, this project was designed to develop a curriculum plan for an innovative, credit-bearing, international business program for adult students engaged in a variety of small business activities. Additionally, proposed steps for implementing and evaluating the program were included in the project.

The Global Entrepreneurship Program plan was developed around the answers to six research questions. …

Improving Student Behavior And Decreasing The Rate Of Violence-Based Suspensions Through The Use Of Peer Mediation, Anthony Threets

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to improve student behavior and provide a reduction in violence-based suspensions through the use of peer-mediation. Students at the secondary grade levels were being removed out of their regular classroom at an alarming rate because of their disruptive behavior. School administrators had few alternatives except to suspend or place these disruptive students in “In School Suspension”.

The writer implemented a peer-mediation program to provide another alternative to allow students involved in conflicts to remain in their regular classroom These students were given the opportunity to work through their own conflicts with the assistance of other …

Development, Implementation, And Evaluation Of A Strategic Planning Process For Flagler College, William T. Abare Jr

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The underlying problem for this project was that the planning process at Flagler College was more internally focused, did not take into account the external forces that could impact the institution, and did not address the strategic issues confronting the institution. The purpose of this project was to develop, implement, and evaluate a strategic planning process at Flagler.

There were five research questions. First, “What are the different approaches to strategic planning, including general principles that should guide the development and implementation of the planning process?” Second, “What is an appropriate strategic planning model or approach to strategic planning for …

Implementation Of Measures That Establish An Atmosphere Of Safety, Order, And Discipline On School Grounds, Robert N. Baldwin

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to determine the effects that specific interventions have on student behavior change regarding drug and alcohol use on school grounds. A change in leadership philosophy, drug and alcohol survey results, and school community input were the impetus for a study as to the effectiveness of interventions of behavioral indicators. The researcher was clearly interested in systematically reducing alcohol and other drug use on school grounds in order to promote an environment of high-level learning. School accountability was focused on increasing student achievement levels in English language arts and math. A review of related research substantiated …

Identification Of Competencies Required For Clinical Education In Therapeutic Recreation With The Development Of A Continuing Education Plan To Enhance Competence Of Clinical Educators, Deborah A. Hutchins

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The applied dissertation was designed to identify the competencies necessary for the effective supervision of internship students in therapeutic recreation, and to develop a continuing education plan to enhance the competence of therapeutic recreation professionals who provide internship supervision. The competencies required of internship supervision in therapeutic recreation had not been systematically identified. This problem led to the inconsistency of therapeutic recreation professionals providing supervision to students during the internship experience that resulted in poor student outcomes. This problem has a potential effect on the overall competence of entry-level therapeutic recreation professionals.

A literature review and input from both formative …

Improving The Reading And Writing Skills Of Retained Eighth Grade Students, Beverley Mckenzie

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to assist eighth grade students who were retained in improving their Reading and Writing skills. These students failed school courses and did not meet the required standards for promotion to high school. The students were previously in large classes with other low-achieving students, were not given individualized attention, were not exposed to the use of technologies, were not given adequate support services, and were not taught by experienced teachers.

The writer designed an after-school program to assist the students with Reading and Writing skills. An experienced Language Arts teacher was asked to work with the …

Connected Math Program: A Math Intervention Program For Sixth-Grade Students, Kathleen Mrozak

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The objective of this study was to find a means of increasing math achievement in the middle school grade levels of the City School District of Albany. Low math achievement was documented on the Grade 8 math assessment of the New York State Testing Program for 1998-2001. Possible causes include poor alignment of the curriculum to the state learning standards and the state testing program in math. In addition, professional development on topics of math reform needed to be made available to middle school math teachers.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a program of math reform …

Development Of A Training Program On The Policies At Mohave Community College With A Plan For Evaluation, Susan Looney

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The purpose of this applied dissertation project was to develop a training program on the policies at Mohave Community College. In May, 2001, the Institute of Research at Mohave Community College created a survey to determine both the importance and understanding of college policies. The survey, which was distributed to all full-time and part-time faculty, as well as to staff members, indicated a gap between the importance of college policies and the understanding of college policies. Ultimately, the results of the survey indicated a need for training in the areas concerning the sexual harassment policy, copyright laws, the intellectual property …

Program Logic For Automatic Teaching Operations: The Effects Of Plato On High-Stakes Testing In Mathematics, Tammy A. Malich

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation describes the use of the Program Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations (PLATO) software to improve student scores on the mathematics high school exit examination in an urban comprehensive high school with a student population of approximately 2,400. Data were collected and analyzed for the same students’ mathematics exit examination scores from their junior year prior to using the PLATO lab and their senior year after using the PLATO lab. A correlation was performed and reported for the time spent in the PLATO laboratory for each student and the increase in his or her mathematics examination score. Student …