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Focus On Youth: Awakening Youth Voice & Engagement In Community Heritage Through The Implementation Of A Youth Participatory Empowerment Model, Amber T. Hurd

Dissertations

Citizen engagement in community and public life is vital to a healthy democracy. Young people have a unique place in community citizenry; they are often not yet able to vote or serve in powerful roles, but they have much at stake for the future. Youth can be powerful allies to a participatory culture. The purpose of this qualitative, action research study was to arm youth and youth mentors with a Youth Participatory Empowerment Model (YPEM) to identify and address a community heritage or social justice need. This study used interviews and observations with individuals and focus groups to observe and …

The Development And Validation Of A Tool To Measure Self-Confidence And Anxiety In Nursing Students While Making Clinical Decisions, Krista A. White

Dissertations

Clinical decision making (CDM) is a cornerstone skill for nurses. Self-confidence and anxiety are two affective influences that impact the learning and adeptness of CDM. Currently, no instruments exist that measure perceived self-confidence and anxiety level of undergraduate nursing students related to CDM. The purpose of this research was to develop, test, and establish psychometric properties for a quantitative instrument that measures the levels of self-confidence and anxiety experienced by undergraduate nursing students while making clinical decisions. The new tool is entitled the Nursing Anxiety and Self-Confidence with Clinical Decision Making (NASC-CDM) scale. The tool is a self-report, Likert-type instrument …

Against The Wind: A Study On Aviation As A Female Career Choice, Bonnie Gagliardo

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study is to identify and describe the educational and social experiences that sparked the interest of female pilots as young women to pursue a career in aviation.

Methodology: This qualitative phenomenological study utilized semi- structured interviews to explore the lived experiences of female pilots, to understand if there were common social and educational factors which influenced them to become interested in aviation. Using convenience sampling, eleven pilots who hold a Federal Aviation Administration Commercial or Airline Transport Pilot’s License were selected to participate in this study.

Findings: The findings from this …

Music Education As A Strategy To Narrow The Achievement Gap: A Causal-Comparative Analysis Of Band And Choir Enrollment And Academic Achievement Of Low Socioeconomic Status Students, William Zwikelmaier

Dissertations

There is a gap in the knowledge pertaining to socioeconomic status as a variable in academic achievement among students those who enroll in band and/or choir in public high schools in America. Research has shown that students who engage in music study consistently show higher levels of academic achievement in other subjects compared to their non-music study peers. It is necessary to study those who typically do not perform at the same academic levels as their peers (low socioeconomic status (SES) students) and determine if the formal study of music alone can serve as a strategy to contribute to closing …

A Phenomenological Study Of Teacher Perceptions Of Blended Learning: Definition, Adoption, And Professional Development, Gregory A. Katzin

Dissertations

Blended learning has become a popular alternative to traditional instruction. Professional development that supports teachers’ practice of the phenomenon continues to evolve (Shand & Glassett Farrelly, 2017). The purpose of this phenomenological, mixed method study was to investigate high school teachers’ perceptions, through the lens of Knowles’ adult learning theory (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 2015), of the definition of blended learning, the impact previous professional development had in shaping definitional understanding and implementation of blended learning, and perceptions of future professional development needs. Few studies have focused on secondary blended learning professional development and the impact shared definitions of blended …

A Classical Delphi Study: Identifying The Essential Skills Educational Leadership Experts Perceive As Crucial For Novice Elementary School Principals To Support Students Towards The Every Student Succeeds Act (Essa) Goals, Jocelyn Johnson

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this Classical Delphi study was to identify the essential skills educational leadership experts perceive as crucial for novice elementary school principals to support students towards the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) goals of preparedness for college, career, and life success and the key steps to acquire the identified skills.

Methodology: This descriptive, mixed-method Classical Delphi research involved gathering qualitative and quantitative data from 17 educational leadership experts regarding the most essential skills needed by novice elementary school principals to meet the ESSA goals for students’ college, career, and life success. Respondents acknowledged as experienced principals were …

The Efficacy Of The Co-Principal Model Of School Administration As Viewed Through The Lens Of The California Professional Standards For Education Leaders, Jennifer Slater-Sanchez

Dissertations

Purpose: It was the purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study to examine the experiences of K-12 school principals who participated in the co-principal model viewed through the lens of the California Professional Standards for Education Leaders (CPSELs). No such study specifically focusing on the CPSELs has been conducted, even though the co-principal model has been implemented in various forms for over forty years. It is important to determine if the co-principalship is an effective alternative for schools and districts.

Methodology: To investigate the co-principal model of school leadership in California schools and districts, this study followed a phenomenological qualitative research …

Leading For Excellence: Leadership Behaviors That Support A High-Achieving School Environment, Amy Parangan

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine the degree of importance for the 12-step principles proposed by Harvey, Drolet, and DeVore (2014) to create a K-12 school environment that fosters high student achievement as perceived by public school elementary principals in Northern California. A secondary purpose was to explore and describe the leadership strategies for implementing the 12-step principles proposed by Harvey et al. (2014) to create a K-12 school environment that fosters high student achievement as perceived by public school elementary principals in Northern California.

Methodology: The researcher used sequential explanatory mixed methods for this …

Political Strategies Used By Regional Occupational Program Superintendents To Work Effectively With The Different Political Styles Of Their Board Members: A Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods Study, Maura Murabito

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed methods study was to identify the political styles of exemplary Regional Occupational Program superintendents and school board members as perceived by Regional Occupational Program superintendents. In addition, the purpose was to identify and explain the political strategies exemplary Regional Occupational Program superintendents use to work with the different political styles of school board members.

Methodology: In this sequential explanatory mixed methods study, both electronic surveys and face-to-face interview data were collected from five exemplary ROP superintendents and analyzed to identify the political strategies used to work successfully with their boards of education. …

How Do Student Nurses Of English Language Learner Populations Experience Nclex-Rn Style Questions?, Shawne Manies

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how student nurses of English Language Learner (ELL) populations experienced National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) style questions. Evidence has suggested difficulty in improving the nation’s diversified nursing workforce, resulting in concerns over minority nurse representation. Student nurses of ELL populations are more likely than non-English language learner student nurses to be out of sequence or released from a nursing program. The extant literature has shown that this population of students struggle with NCLEX-RN style questions and that they have significantly lower pass rates than their English-speaking counterparts. Literature …

An Examination Of Social Support And The Academic Performance Of Saudi Arabian Students In The United States, Yaser Abdulrahman Alghamdi

Dissertations

Saudi Arabia is among the top 10 countries from which students have enrolled in U.S. universities. The scarcity of research about Saudi students in the USA was the inspiration for this study. Previous researchers have examined Saudi students’ challenges and adjustment issues in the USA, but the topic of social support and academic performance remained lacking. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived social support (PSS) and academic performance among Saudi international students in USA. This study was a cross-sectional quantitative survey design with a sample of 384 Saudi students enrolled in USA universities and …

A Study Of The Impact Of Site-Based Mathematics Professional Development On Student Mathematics Achievement, Christine Attenhofer

Dissertations

Student achievement at one suburban elementary school under study dropped notably in mathematics in one school year, as measured by the state standards assessment. The purpose of this inquiry was to determine what impact ongoing, on-demand, job-embedded, site-based professional development opportunities provided by a full-time, site-base math content area specialist had on teachers' instructional practices and students' mathematics achievement. I implemented a mixed methods approach to this inquiry. I analyzed the end of the year state mathematics standards assessments for second through fifth grade students following the implementation of full-time, site-based professional development provided by a math content area specialist …

A Meta-Synthesis Of The American And The European Standards For The Accreditation Of Counseling Training Programs, Natalia Zapolsky

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how the European Standards for the accreditation of counseling training programs compare to CACREP standards and to each other. The differences and commonalities between standards have been defined through a meta-synthesis of integrated findings from a large body of inter-related qualitative studies and reinterpretation of the synthesized data.

This qualitative meta-synthesis research was intended to contribute to the process of counseling globalization by exploring the unique cultural features and aspects of the European and the U.S. accrediting systems for counseling training programs. This research revealed 1) the commonly recognized areas that …

Impact Of Grit And Emotional Intelligence On Longevity Of Expert Principals, Marcia Hamilton

Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine what relationship exists between emotional intelligence (EI) and grit of expert principals with three or more years’ longevity. This study was conducted to deeply understand the relationship between these variables and to discover expert principals’ perceptions of how these personal attributes impacted their longevity.

Methodology. This study followed a sequential explanatory design model whereby quantitative methods were used initially to collect baseline data via electronic surveys followed by qualitative methods, which were used to dig deeper into the results via in-depth, semi-structured interviews.

Findings. The major …

The Impact Support Staff Has On School Climate At Comprehensive High Schools From The Perspective Of Principals, Melissa Bako

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify and describe how high school principals perceive the actions of support staff impact school climate in the areas of safety, teaching and learning, interpersonal relationships, and the institutional environment in comprehensive public high schools in Riverside County, California.

Methodology: The researcher identified comprehensive public high schools within the state of California. Of this target population, purposeful sampling was applied to identify participants that were rich with information and that met specific criteria, and 12 principals were identified. The researcher collected and coded data from in-depth interviews; interview protocol directly …

Staffing Patterns Before And After Mandated Nurse-To-Patient Ratios In California's Hospitals, Teresa D. Serratt

Dissertations

This study identifies and describes changes in nurse staffing that may have occurred as a result of the enactment of nurse-to-patient ratios and whether these changes were associated with particular hospital characteristics, controlling for market factors and population factors.

The Paradox Of Respect And Risk: Six Lakota Adolescents Speak, Mary J. Isaacson

Dissertations

Adolescence is a time of turbulence as young people stretch parental boundaries, seeking where they fit in society. For many American Indian adolescents this time involves the initiation of dangerous high-risk behaviors. Potential causes posed for this are: loss of identity, loss of cultural values and traditions, lack of positive role modeling and feelings of hopelessness. Survey research has been the predominant method of data collection. Very few studies of Native American youth use storytelling, even though stories are a part of many Indian cultures. The primary purpose of this study was to describe the phenomena of respect and risk …

Contributions Of Three Nursing Leaders To The Development Of Registered Nursing Education In Jamaica, 1946-1986, Hermi Hyacinth Hewitt

Dissertations

The historical research design is used to document the contributions that Misses Ruth Nita Barrow, Gertrude Hildegarde Swaby and Julie Symes made in advancing the status of professional nursing education in Jamaica, between 1946 and 1986. Their roles in the Jamaica General Trained Nurses Association and the General Nursing Council of Jamaica in obtaining registration for nurses' education in Jamaica, reciprocal agreement with England and Wales and professional recognition from the International Council of Nurses are discussed. Since nearly two decades of Barrow, Swaby and Symes' contributions to professional nursing's development occurred while Jamaica was a British colony, the economic, …

Factors Influencing End-Of-Life Decisions Regarding The Living Will And Durable Power Of Attorney: An Application Of Roy's Adaptation Model, Weihua Zhang

Dissertations

Modern technology offers extraordinary life-saving opportunities that were not imaginable in old times. However, it also takes us to a new frontier where the challenge of life-saving becomes death-prolonging. More than a decade after the Patient Self-Determination Act which guarantees the individual's legal right to decide the end-of-life care, the utilization of this right has seen no significant increase. The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify the variables that influence the decision-making responses related to Advance Directives (ADs). A path model applying Roy's Adaptation Model was developed for the study. Publicly accessible data collected for the Longitudinal Study …

Psychometric Evaluation Of A New Pressure Ulcer Skin Risk Assessment Scale For The Pediatric Burn Patient, Mary D. Gordon

Dissertations

Prevention of pressure ulcers is a primary goal in nursing practice, and achievement implies excellence in clinical care. One component of prevention is to understand the risk for pressure ulcer development. The benefit of knowing risk is to initiate pressure ulcer preventive interventions. Pressure ulcers are a significant problem in the pediatric burn patient population. Unfortunately, no skin risk assessment scale exist that capture the unique risk indices of the burn injury, thus the Pressure Ulcer Skin Risk Assessment Scale (PrUSRAS) was developed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity, reliability and predictability of scores from the …

Siblings Of Children With Down Syndrome: Voices Heard, Kimberlee A. Sutter

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the meanings of the relationship of school-age siblings of brothers or sisters with Down syndrome in order to gain a greater understanding of the lived experience from the view point of the school-age sibling. Sibling spend more time together than any other family subsystem and siblings actively shape one another's lives and prepare each other for future experiences. With children with Down syndrome living into their 60's, the question regarding the sibling relationship is becoming an important focus due to the possible demands on the sibling to care for the individual with …

Nurses, Philanthropies, And Governments: The Public Mission Of Chilean Nursing 1900-1945, Jeannine M. Uribe

Dissertations

This dissertation examines the role of nurses in Chile during the transformation of the health care system from charitable benevolence to duty of the state. The first secular nurses trained to assist physicians in 1902 and were educated, middle class women. The Constitution of 1925 made public health a state responsibility and created a middle class bureaucracy. A U.S. model of public health nursing started in Chile in 1927. In 1941, the International Health Division of the Rockefeller Foundation was invited to improve public health and to build the public health leadership of physicians and nurses in Chile. A demonstration …

Factors Associated With Peer Violence Among Elementary, Middle And High School Students, Tracy J. Perron

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among perceived school climate, self-reported psychosomatic symptoms, visits to the school nurse for reported psychosomatic symptoms and reports of bullying behaviors among students' grades 3-12. In the study self-reported bullying behaviors were proposed to predict psychosomatic complaints at the school health office. Negatively perceived school climate was proposed to predict bullying behaviors. Lastly, the combination of bullying and negative school climate were proposed to predict psychosomatic complaints. The final convenience sample of 222 students, ages 8-18 years, was obtained from one elementary school, one middle school and one high school …

Brokering Student Well-Being: Understanding The Work Of School Health Administrators, Samantha Blackburn

Dissertations

Despite a well-documented need for school health programs (SHPs) among school children who have chronic conditions, require medically complex interventions at school, or experience socio-emotional health issues, there is little school health funding in California. There is limited research on the role of those who manage SHPs.

This qualitative study investigated the work of a selected group of school health administrators (SHAs) in California. Study aims were to explore SHA job pathways and responsibilities, the contextual factors influencing their work, and how they get their work done given limited funding for SHPs.

Predictors Of Success On The National Council Licensure Examination For Registered Nurses (Nclex-Rn) In A Traditional Baccalaureate Nursing Program: A Descriptive Study, Ana Stoehr

Dissertations

A major issue for most nursing programs is how to produce graduates who will be successful in the program and on the NCLEX-RN. Providing an optimal undergraduate education is made more difficult by issues such as limited clinical space for students' experiences, and the nursing shortage, which increases the pressure on nursing programs to accept more students and graduate all admitted students. It is imperative that nursing programs accept those applicants who are most likely to graduate, and in a timely manner. This study examined variables that have been suggested as predictors of success on the NCLEX-RN.

Missionary Nurse Dorothy Davis Cook, 1940-1972: "Mother Of Swazi Nurses", Susan E. Elliott

Dissertations

Dramatically absent from nursing's historical knowledge and professional recognition are the lives, roles, contributions, and legacies of Christian faith-based nurses. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ministry and service of Sister Tutor Dorothy Davis Cook, Church of the Nazarene missionary nurse in the African country of Swaziland 1940 to 1972. The multi-dimensional, multi-task expanded roles manifested in her integration of Christian missionary and nurse were explored and her legacy identified.

An Emergency Department Patient's Perception Of Safety, Paul R. Clark

Dissertations

Because the patient's perception of safety in the healthcare system has not been adequately examined, the purpose of this study was to discover an Emergency Department patient's perception of safety so as to add an element currently absent in safe patient care provision.

The Lived Experience Of Non-English And Limited English Speaking Hispanic Persons Associated With A Past In-Patient Hospitalization In The United States: A Phenomenological Study, Jana Goodwin

Dissertations

The Hispanic population in the United States faces many challenges such as differences in language, culture, education, and socioeconomics. Research findings suggest that poor acculturation, language barriers and healthcare provider biases are associated with decreased access to care, lack of insurance or underinsurance, underutilization of services, feelings of isolation and powerlessness, which may lead to poor health outcomes. This hermeneutical phenomenological study explored the lived experience of non-English and limited English speaking Hispanic persons associated with past in-patient hospitalization in the United States.

The Relationship Among School Playground Design And Conditions And Physical Activity Levels In Children, Ipuna Estavillo Black

Dissertations

Almost 20% of children aged 6 to 11 years are obese in the United States, tripling over the last ten years. The rise in childhood obesity challenges nurses in their efforts to improve community health and sustainability. A decrease in physical activity (PA) levels has been associated with an increase in obesity. Schools have been identified as a primary setting to provide children adequate amounts of daily PA, and nurses working in the area of child health promotion can work with schools to provide opportunities for children to increase PA levels. The playground is one environment where children can increase …

Trust And Leadership: How Exemplary Superintendents Build Successful Principal Teams In Elementary School Districts, Louann Carlomagno

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify and describe behaviors exemplary superintendents practice during leadership team meetings to build and maintain trust with their principals based on the facets of trust defined by Tschannen-Moran and Hoy (benevolence, reliability, competency, honesty, and openness).

Methodology: The qualitative use of phenomenology was utilized in this study. Respondents were able to tell their stories, providing semistructured feedback in order for the researcher to gain a deeper understanding of trust building during leadership team meetings. The researcher interviewed 16 principals from Sonoma and San Mateo Counties.

Findings: Examination of qualitative data from …