Digital Commons Network^™

Superintendent Beliefs About The Assessment And Use Of School Climate Data For Continuous Improvement, Anji Buckner-Capone

Dissertations

Academic outcomes and health outcomes are interconnected and reciprocal and school climate has emerged as a way to capture some of this relationship. An increasing trend in education policy is using multiple measures of school success, including school climate, such as California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). As school climate evolves as a critical component in state accountability there is a need to better understand the role of leaders in facilitating the implementation processes for school climate assessment accountabilities, including their beliefs and their practices. This mixed methods study explored the practices and beliefs of California Superintendents in their efforts …

Bridging The English Language Divide And Building Self-Confidence In Marginalized Communities: An Exploratory Study In Tamil Nadu, India, Radha Aravamudhan

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to critically evaluate the implementation of a community based English program in villages in Tamil Nadu, India and examine their model from the perceptions of students, parents, teachers, program tutors, trainers and administrators. The study using visual qualitative research methods describes the experiences of various stakeholders in the program. The data for the study was collected in video format through in-person interviews and site observations and edited to produce the documentary film “I Can!” Findings demonstrated that an asset based approach utilizing strengths in the community, culturally responsive teaching practices and a positive teacher …

Experiences Of Adolescent Refugee Students Who Attend Afterschool Programs For Literacy Support, Analiza Filion

Dissertations

Studies on the academic achievement of refugee students cite continuous underachievement in literacy skills. Due to trauma from fleeing their countries of origin, limited school experiences, and language barriers, refugee students struggle with demonstrating progress in academic achievement. Learning challenges continue to take place when classroom teachers are not equipped with the knowledge, skills, and resources to support students with their unique learning needs. Through the use of a documentary research method, this dissertation investigated the experiences of five adolescent refugee students who attended afterschool programs as an additional resource for developing literacy skills.This study also explored how students perceived …

“Goth Barbies”: A Postmodern Multiperspective Analysis Of Mattel’S Monster High Media, Danianese Woods

Dissertations

This research examines the historical, cultural, and social context in relation to the monster characters of Mattel’s Monster High, a franchise about animated dolls that are the offspring of famous horror monsters. The animated dolls are an intersection of complex gender and racial identities that are constructed in a postmodern reality. The goal of this research is to formulate a more complex understanding of the social and cultural contexts, relationships, interactions and meanings within production, circulation, and distribution of Monster High media.

The preferred reading of the Monster Highseries is postmodernism. Monster Highdisplays a multitude of postmodern …

Development And Validation Of New Models And Metrics For The Assessments Of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss, Wisam Subhi Talib Al-Dayyeni

Dissertations

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is one of the most common illnesses that is frequently reported in the occupational and military sectors. Hearing loss due to high noise exposure is a major health problem with economic consequences. Industrial and military noise exposures often contain high-level impulsive noise components. The presence of these impulsive noise components complicates the assessment of noise levels for hearing conservation purposes. The current noise guidelines use equal energy hypothesis (EEH) based metrics to evaluate the risk of hearing loss. A number of studies show that the current noise metrics often underestimates the risk of hearing loss in …

Education And The Art Viewing Experience: The Evolution Of Learning In Museums And Corporate Art Collections, Piper Hutson

Dissertations

By investigating the history of corporate art collections and the evolution of educational frameworks in museums, this case study questions the differences between exhibition formats to illuminate possible areas of improvement. Museums were initially formed to display collections donated by wealthy or royal families and constructed around the ‘Curator’s Gallery’ format. This exhibition type focused on the aesthetic arrangement of objects based on the established art historical canon hierarchy and were accompanied by minimal ‘tombstone’ labels with little, if any, didactic information. Science museums emerged in the middle of the 19th century and were among the first informal learning institutions …

A Mixed Methods Study Comparing Nursing Preceptored Clinical Learning Experiences And Nursing Simulation Clinical Learning Experiences Of Nursing Students In A Midwest Community College, Teresa R. Hamra

Dissertations

Among schools of nursing nationwide, the competition for clinical sites, and insufficient numbers of nurse preceptors led nursing schools to turn away thousands of qualified applicants. Due to a shortage of clinical sites, shortage of nurse preceptors, and an increase in simulation technology, nursing schools used simulation clinical in place of traditional clinical experiences. Much of the literature supported using simulation as a replacement for traditional clinical hours. The literature discussed a gap in transition to practice from student nurse to professional nurse and pointed to safety issues as the highest concern in practice settings. One Midwest community college faced …

The Influence Of Media Consumption On Trust, Political Efficacy And Social Media Activism Among Young Adults, Kerra Mccorkle- Akanbi

Dissertations

For many years, trust in government and political efficacy has increasingly been an area of interest for political scientist. Recently, social media activism has become just as intriguing. With social media playing such a dominant role in society, individuals are consuming news through their social media timelines, without having to seek it out themselves. This is especially true for young adults. Through the advancement of non-traditional media outlets, this generation is submerged in endless Facebook statuses, tweets, and television coverage of civil unrest and political polarization that has certainly had both social and political implications. While past studies conducted by …

Understanding Chinese International Undergraduate Students’ Experiences At The University Of Missouri - St. Louis, Yujia Wang

Dissertations

This study examines the challenges and stressors Chinese international undergraduate students face while attending the University of Missouri - St. Louis (UMSL) in relation to their study abroad experience. Surveys were initially used to gather information and to gauge students’ familiarity and use of university support services available to help with specific challenges and stressors. Follow-up interviews were conducted to collect additional in-depth data. As consistent with the literature review, the study found that UMSL students confronted language barriers, academic challenges, and cultural differences when transitioning to UMSL’s academic culture and social environment. Additionally, financial stresses were exacerbated by issues …

High Resolution Near-Infrared/Visible Intracavity Laser Spectroscopy Of Small Molecules, Jack Harms

Dissertations

Intracavity laser spectroscopy has been used to study the electronic structure of several small molecules. The molecules studied as part of this dissertation include germanium hydride (GeH), copper oxide (CuO), nickel chloride (NiCl), platinum fluoride (PtF), platinum chloride (PtCl), and copper hydroxide (CuOH). This work encompasses five peer-reviewed publications and two submitted manuscripts.

“I Am Whatever You Say I Am”: The Social Construction Of Identity In Rural Drug-Using Women’S Narratives, Amanda Bolton

Dissertations

Previous narrative criminology research has examined how drug users manage their identities through discussions of themselves, while providing little insight into how they manage their identities through discussions of others(McIntosh & McKeganey, 2000; Rødner, 2005; Sandberg, 2009).It is important to consider others because according to many symbolic interactionists (Cooley, 1902; Goffman, 1959; Mead, 1934), identity is a social product that is constructed and maintained through social interaction with others and is based on perceptions of others. Cooley (1902) more specifically argued that one’s primary group (i.e., those that are relationally or proximally close to an individual) are even …

Peroxisomal Protein Defects Disrupt Coordinated Peroxisomal Processes And Affect Early Seedling Development Through Accumulating Toxic Catabolic Intermediates, Ying Li

Dissertations

Many peroxisomal proteins act in β-oxidation processes on a range of substrates. It is unclear how these proteins are coordinated to determine the flux of peroxisomal processes and meet the requirements for plant growth and development. Using mutant analysis and metabolic profiling, I examined proteins predicted to act in fatty acid and indole-butyric-acid (IBA) β-oxidation. ECH2 confers enoyl-CoA hydratase activity for the auxiliary β-oxidation of fatty acids with an even cis-unsaturated bond. ECH2 was suggested to function in IBA β-oxidation, as ech2 seedlings have altered IBA response. ech2 seedlings have reduced root length and cotyledon area. ech2 seedlings accumulate 3-hydroxyoctenoate …

An Examination Of Disingenuous Deeds By St. Louis Public Schools 1945-1983, Michael Brown

Dissertations

The Saint Louis Public Schools (SLPS) St. Louis, Missouri, operated a de facto segregated school system for three decades after the United States Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education. National and local media outlets celebrated St. Louis Public Schools for their desegregation plan in response to the 1954 United States Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education decision. However, the counter narrative to media celebration is that the St. Louis Public Schools system practiced de facto segregation. In reality the St. Louis school district officials protected school segregation for half a century. In this research, I will …

How Exemplary Rural Superintendents Build Trust With And Between School Board Members, Edwin Cora

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was to identify and describe what strategies exemplary rural superintendents perceive as most important to build trust with school board members using the five domains of competence, consistency, concern, candor, and connection.

Methodology: This explanatory sequential mixed-methods case study combined both quantitative and qualitative approaches, also known as an explanatory sequential mixed-methods study. Numerical data (quantitative), through use of a survey, were used to provide the researcher a broad perspective on how exemplary superintendents build trust with and between school board members. Also, narrative data (qualitative), in the form of select …

The Muzzling Of The Sheepdog: A Mixed-Methods Case Study Of The Impacts Of Media Reporting On Police Officer Performance, Christopher Landavazo

Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this mixed-methods case study was to understand:

Questions 1 and 2: How do police officers in major metropolitan law enforcement organizations experiencing crime spikes since 2008 perceive the impacts of the media coverage on them personally/professionally?

Questions 3 and 4: Is there a significant difference about the perception of how media coverage impacts patrol officers personally and professionally in major cities experiencing crime spikes since 2008 based on gender/race?

Methodology. The study used a phenomenological mixed-methods case study approach collecting both quantitative and qualitative data.

Findings. An analysis of the data resulted in ten major findings …

The Lived Experiences And Perceived Challenges Of Young Arab Muslim Females With The Hijab In Southern California In The Contemporary Era, Sepideh Baniani

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences and perceived challenges of Southern California Arab Muslim females who wear the Islamic head covering (18–40 years old) in the contemporary era.

Methodology: A phenomenological approach was utilized to capture the essence of the participants’ lived experiences while identifying the researcher as the instrument. Data collection was through in-depth, phenomenological, semistructured, and face-to-face interviews with 12 participants who were Arab, Muslim, female, wear the hijab, between 18 and 40 years old, and lived in Southern California.

Findings: This study revealed Arab hijabi women generally feel safe and …

The Attitudes And Learning Styles Of Adult Learners To E-Instruction Of The Spanish Language, Brian Santos

Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between adult learner attitudes toward technology and learning style. A sample of community college Spanish students in a Midwestern city in the United States was surveyed to determine (a) an attitude score toward Spanish E-Instruction based on the Lukow ATUTS (Attitudes toward Using Technology Survey) and (b) a learning style measured by the Kolb LSI (Learning Style Inventory). The majority of participants (n = 151) were aged 18-29 (95%), used between one and five software programs on a daily basis (88%), spent at least 11 hours a week online (88%), and reported an "Accommodating" …

Conversational Leadership Behaviors Of Exemplary Unified School District Superintendents, Jacqueline A. Cardenas

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to describe the behaviors that exemplary unified school district superintendents practice to lead their organizations through conversation using Groysberg and Slind’s (2012b) 4 elements of conversational leadership: intimacy, interactivity, inclusion, and intentionality.

Methodology: This study utilized a qualitative phenomenological inquiry methodology to study the behaviors of 10 unified school district superintendents in Southern California. Semistructured interviews followed a peer researcher-developed guide and were used in conjunction with observations and artifacts to learn about the lived experiences and perspectives of conversational leadership. Data collection and analysis was facilitated by NVivo software to …

Descriptive To Substantive Representation: A Study Of Gender Quotas In The National Assembly Of Pakistan, 2002-2018, Ameena Zia

Dissertations

Women’s political representation is linked to the empowerment of women in society. In efforts to alleviate women’s disenfranchisement from the political discourse, the international development framework included gender quotas as mechanisms to facilitate an increase in the presence of women in parliaments. Existing research has examined the link between Hanna F. Pitkin’s conceptualization of descriptive representation and substantive representation with a focus on performative measures of women parliamentarians. This longitudinal study expands the scope of existing inquiry and captures the transformational change in power relations as an outcome of the increase in women members of parliaments. This research provides an …

A Mixed-Methods Study Of How Elementary Principals Build Trust With Staff Using Weisman's Five Domains Of Trust Model, Cynthia Smith-Ough

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to identify and describe how elementary principals establish trust with staff using the 5 domains of trust: connection, concern, candor, competence, and consistency (Weisman, 2010). In addition, it was the purpose of this study to determine the elementary principals’ perceived degree of importance of the 5 domains for building trust.

Methodology: This mixed-methods research design used quantitative and qualitative data to analyze the research questions related to trust between elementary principals and their staff. The study combined surveys and in-person interviews. The quantitative data were gathered via a 10-question online Likert Scale …

A Mixed-Methods Evaluation Of The Pilot Program Paws For Reading In A Midwest Public Library, Marie T. Baine

Dissertations

This was an evaluation of the pilot program Paws for Reading along with other children’s programs ages 5-11 or Kindergarten through fifth grade, according to their mission in a Midwest public library setting. Public libraries were incorporating more programming into the schedules for the benefit of the patrons and growing communities. In this mixedmethods study, the researcher created instruments including a survey, questionnaire, and observation form to evaluate library programming. The library patrons, staff, and managers gave their opinions about the children’s programs provided by the library and the Pilot Program Paws for Reading. Questions included preference in library schedule, …

Using African Cultural And Liberating Concepts, Sean Nichols

Dissertations

Abstract The purpose of this autoethnography is to explore the impact on learning for a delineated cultural and ethnographic student population when the instructional process is interwoven with a plethora of student-reflective cultural and ethnic information and knowledge gained through the process of in plethora of knowledge and valuable information of retelling rich stories of students, parents, teachers, and stakeholders conveyed from an emancipatory perspective. I believe that these stories can assist in improving the educational conditions of children of African descent in the United States and the diaspora. Throughout my life, I have wondered about the absence of my …

Evolution Of The Professional Nursing Organization: Development Of Power, Lorraine Freitas

Dissertations

The issue of power of the nursing profession has been an ongoing concern to nurses. Early nursing leaders believed that the most effective way to obtain power was through the formation of organizations for nurses. They also believed that collectively nurses could address such issues as self-regulation of nursing education and nursing practice. The attainment of this regulation would give both the profession and the association power. Thus in 1896, the American Nurses' Association (ANA) was organized as the association to represent professional nursing in the United States. Today, it represents the largest group of registered nurses. The purposes of …

Exploring The Perceptions Of Citizens Of The Impact Of Community Policing In Two Ethnically Diverse, Low-Income Communities That Have National Safety Ratings Between 0% And 25% In San Diego County: A Phenomenological Study, Eric O'Neal

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to describe citizen perceptions of the impact of community policing in 2 selected, ethnically diverse, low-income communities that have national safety ratings between 0% and 25%. The study explored the 8 pillars of community policing: partnerships, problem solving, procedural fairness, proscribed scope, protection, professionalism, purpose, and principles and their impact on citizens’ perception of their local law enforcement agencies.

Methodology: The study was qualitative with a phenomenological approach to research.

Findings: Findings from this study revealed that examination of study participant interviews, observations, and artifacts resulted in 22 themes and 689 …

The Rebel Made Me Do It: Mascots, Race, And The Lost Cause, Patrick Smith

Dissertations

Public memory is commonly tied to street names, toponyms, and monuments because they are interacted with daily and are often directly associated with race, class, and regimes of power. Mascots are not thought of in the same manner although they are present as part of everyday life. The childish or sometimes comedic nature of the mascot discounts it from many considerations of its influence, symbolism and history. Nonetheless this research focuses on the term “Rebel” as a secondary school mascot. The term possesses the trappings of race because the American vernacular ties the word to the Confederate States of America …

Identifying Potential Predictors Of Health Literacy And Steps Taken To Pursue Kidney Transplant Among African-Americans On Dialysis, Stacy Skelton

Dissertations

The dissertation attempts to address the disparity seen in all transplant centers today, the low number of African-American end-stage renal disease(ESRD) patients pursing kidney transplant as renal replacement therapy. Currently, there are two renal replacement options, dialysis or a kidney transplant. Research has shown that kidney transplant provides the best health care outcomes in terms of quality of life and decrease mortality. While African-Americans carry the burden of the disease by being four times more likely to have ESRD they only represent 1/3 of the kidney transplants done in the United States. There have been three attempts to increase access …

Physician Stress: Is The Electronic Health Record To Blame?, Zack Ward

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the potential relationship between Family Medicine physician burnout and the electronic health record. To do so, this study utilized the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory to assess burnout among physicians, along with specific questions regarding usage of the electronic health record and measurement of physician perceptions of the electronic health record. Members of the Kentucky Academy of Family Physicians were sent two separate invitations to participate in the study twice over a one-month period via email.

The study yielded no significant differences in Family Medicine physician demographics and their degree of burnout, or the …

Technology, Professional Development, And Student Achievement: Using The Tell Survey In A Study Of Low Socioeconomic Schools In Kentucky, Holly Mcleod Ross

Dissertations

In order to compare the accessibility, need, and extent of professional development, technology, and its relationship to low socioeconomic (SES) schools and achievement, data were accessed from the Kentucky Department of Education, Division of School and Community Nutrition Qualifying Data Report to identify schools with a greater than 50% free and reduced lunch rate. Data also came from the TELL Kentucky survey instrument results specific to questions related to professional development and technology. Kentucky Performance Rating for Educational Progress (KPREP) school rankings were also utilized to determine the highest and lowest ranked schools among those with greater than 50% free …

A Case Study Of A Jail Participating In An Animal-Assisted Crisis Response Program, Erica Schlau

Dissertations

A crisis state is often the result of being admitted to jail, due to the catastrophic impact incarceration can have on personal and professional lives. Unlike other studies, the present study focuses on inmates in jail rather than in prison. To address jail inmates in a crisis state, the current best practice is suicide prevention, which does not effectively consider the needs of jail inmates. Recently emerging in the literature is the use of animal-assisted crisis response (AACR) to serve individuals experiencing a crisis. There is a lack of research on the use of animal-assisted interventions (AAI) with the population …

Are We Globalized? Transformative Education And Internationalization Within Naspaa Programs, Li Cheng

Dissertations

In a globalized world, curriculum internationalization is gradually becoming important to higher education institutions. The importance of teaching and learning with a global perspective has been addressed in public service education. In particular, the purpose of having a global perspective in public service education is to broaden the knowledge, open the mind, and guide the future actions of public service students. Transformative learning theory has been developed over the past three decades to study the transformation of people’s perspectives and actions through learning experiences. The primary goal of this study is to understand the efforts that American public service programs …