Digital Commons Network^™

An Intern's Experience In Educational Leadership At Salem County Special Services School District, Kathleen A. Mccarthy

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was in fact a growing number of minority students in special education, if minority staff in special education were being hired in proportion to the number of minority students coming to this particular school district, and finally, whether or not the district was addressing cultural diversity among the staff and student populations due to the increase in minority students.

Initially, a questionnaire was developed for the students. One site in the district was targeted because it had thirty-five emotionally disturbed students. Nineteen emotionally disturbed high school minority students were interviewed. …

A Mentorship Study Program At Monongahela Middle School, Carolyn Morehead

Theses and Dissertations

A mentorship program for ten students was established at Monongahela Middle School. The purpose of this program was for ten at risk students to pass all their subjects through the motivation of a mentorship program. The sample population consisted of those students that failed three or more subjects in the seventh grade. As a result they were either socially promoted, sent to summer school, or retained. The mentors consisted of seven classroom teachers, two guidance counselors, and one librarian. Mentors were encouraged to meet with their students twice a week for approximately ten minutes and make some form of contact …

Introduction To The Fundamentals Of Chemistry, Rose C. Knowles

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis designs a curriculum to fulfill the charter of the Community college in providing an opportunity for an individual student whether traditional or non-traditional to prepare to become more proficient in chemical understanding and be able to apply the concepts and knowledge taught to a career or advanced study. The curriculum should benefit those individuals who either lack or have a poor background in chemistry and strengthen their reasoning ability. This paper presents a comprehensive comparison of textbooks currently being published for introductory chemistry. Texts reviewed were readily found on library shelves and supplied through major distributors; chemical journals …

A Systemic Plan To Improve The Writing Skills Of Students In A Secondary Computer Writing Laboratory, Cherie L. Hill

Theses and Dissertations

This report describes the process used, for an urban high school with a student population of approximately 1,250 students, to investigate the existing writing programs offered to students. The preliminary research indicated a 10% decline in the number of students who pass the writing component of the New Jersey High School Proficiency Test.

Proposed preliminary investigation strategies include (a) interviews with writing teachers, regular English teachers, and teachers in other academic disciplines; (b) a review of documents such as district writing test results, courses of study, individual student writing reports, and grade point averages and English course grades; (c) observations …

An Internship Experience In Educational Leadership At Berlin Community School In Berlin, New Jersey, Kathleen L. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop a district-wide grading policy to create consistency and fairness among grading procedures.

The intern developed a grading policy committee which included both male and female, veteran and first year teachers. It had a teacher from each grade level.

This committee developed guidelines and criteria for issuing grades for students in Kindergarten through 2nd grade and 3rd through 8th grade.

Data collection was obtained by using three instruments. The first instrument was the policy development committee which, through communication with their colleagues, established a grading policy. The second instrument was a staff survey …

An Internship Experience In Educational Leadership At Cherokee High School In Marlton, New Jersey, Jeffrey S. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to implement an in-school suspension program to change students' attitudes and provide alternatives to negative behavior. This was achieved by obtaining information from other schools about their ISS programs. It was then determined what would constitute an effective program at Cherokee. Meetings were held with every department to explain how the program would operate and the teachers' role for the success of the program. The various elements of ISS were explained. They included students being in the safe environment of the school, students not missing school work, not providing for a mini-vacation, and follow-up …

An Internship Experience In Educational Leadership In The Pitman School District, Eileen P. Roberts

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to study the observation instrument and job description of an instructional aide, evaluating each for its relevancy and updating where necessary. Instructional aides and administrators were inserviced to ensure everyone's understanding of job expectations and indicators for evaluation. Classroom instruction would be enhanced by achieving uniformity in evaluation and knowing the value of the job.

All twelve instructional aides completed a survey and were interviewed, answering questions about the responsibilities of his/her job. Through this process, the intern determined the need for a revised job description and evaluation instrument. Samples of job descriptions and …

An Internship Experience To Improve The School Climate At Upper Pittsgrove School Through The Teaching Of Courteous Behaviors And Service, Susan Perna

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to provide evidence to support the statement that all students will be able to follow a basic code of courteous behaviors and participate in service learning during school to improve the climate of the school and to produce a caring community. Surveys were administered to the staff and students at the beginning, midpoint, and end of the year to assess the current school climate conditions. A daily tabulation of behavior incidents was used as a statistical comparison to last year's to determine whether the program had any effect on reducing the number of behavior …

An Examination Of The Positive And Negative Effects Of Retention, Michelle M. Sabia

Theses and Dissertations

Each year many students are misplaced in grade levels and are unable to meet academic expectations. As a result, school administrators, teachers and parents are faced with finding a solution to these children's educational problems. Retention is one alternative that is often considered. Due to the frequency of this practice along with limited options, it is important to look at the academic effects of retention on students. Using teachers' report cards and standardized test results, the effects of retention were studied in six elementary school students. Using a combination of factors including literature reviews and the results of this study, …

Do Smaller Classes Mean Greater Academic Achievement In High School Biology Classes?, Elaine Awalt

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if students in small classes would show greater academic achievement in high school biology classes. The study involved two high school biology classes, one with an enrollment of 20 students, and one with an enrollment of 25 students. Both groups of students were given pretests on the subject of invertebrates. A four week study of this topic followed. Teaching techniques and assignments were identical for the two groups. At the end of the four week study a posttest was given to all students.

The results of the pre and posttest were then …

The Effects Of Tactile/Kinesthetic Instructional Strategies In The Biology Classroom, Janice Batten Sees

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the addition of tactile/kinesthetic instruction to the biology classroom could significantly increase learning. Various kinds of tactile/kinesthetic lessons were taught to three experimental groups who also received visual and auditory instruction. These tactile/kinesthetic lessons included task cards, task puzzles, manipulatives, total body movement, and large floor games. The control group only received visual and auditory instruction. The subjects were 84 College Biology students from Buena Regional High School, a school in rural South Jersey. The classes varied in gender and race. The same instructor taught all classes and the length of …

Political Science 997, Robert W. Kweit

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Sun, Moon, And Star, Christopher Kimball Bigelow

Theses and Dissertations

This fictional novella takes place during the narrator Smoot's two-year mission to Melbourne, Australia. It chronicles the intertwining of the lives and destinies of three main characters: Smoot, a Utah native who struggles with carnality and lack of conversion and spirituality; Babakian, an Australian convert who used to be a punk rocker and has become frustrated with Mormonism's blandness and conformity; and Samantha, a nonmember part-Tongan Utahn with whom Smoot was involved before his mission. Speaking generally, the novella is about how Babakian misuses his creative powers of art and sexuality, how Samantha explores the gospel and changes her life, …

The Politics And Administration Of Privatization Of Residential Solid Waste Collection Operations Bismarck, Nd, Keith Hunke

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify the administrative and political costs associated with providing solid waste collection service to the residents of Bismarck, N.D. The independent study was to also determine whether and at what price the City of Bismarck (the City) should consider the privatization of the City's solid waste collection services.

A Current Study Of Sexual Harassment In The Military: Women's Career Opportunities At Risk, Jill M. Kukuk

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Investigation Of Sources And Expenditures Of Revenues In The North Dakota Department Of Transportation, Tim Horner

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Parallel Implementation Of An Artificial Neural Network Integrated Feature And Architecture Selection Algorithm, Craig W. Rizzo

Theses and Dissertations

The selection of salient features and an appropriate hidden layer architecture contributes significantly to the performance of a neural network. A number of metrics and methodologies exist for estimating these parameters. This research builds on recent efforts to integrate feature and architecture selection for the multilayer perceptron. In the first stage of work a current algorithm is developed in a parallel environment, significantly improving its efficiency and utility. In the second stage, improvements to the algorithm are proposed. With regards to feature selection, a common random number (CRN) addition is proposed. Two new methods of architecture selection are examined, to …

The Application Of Statistical Sampling Techniques To The Operational Readiness Inspection, Troy L. Dixon, Timothy S. Madgett

Theses and Dissertations

A Blue Ribbon Commission report to the Air Force Chief of Staff in February 1997 makes several specific recommendations on the conduct of Operational Readiness Inspections. This thesis develops a solution to one of the recommendations of that report; utilize scientifically based sampling techniques to reduce the footprint of the inspection on an evaluated unit. Acceptance sampling, common in industry, is developed for use in the environment of the Operational Readiness Inspection. The time saved from this more efficient sampling practice reduces Inspector General time at an evaluation, decreases the footprint, and answers the specific recommendations of the Blue Ribbon …

Using Simulation To Model Time Utilization Of Army Recruiters, James D. Cordeiro Jr., Mark A. Friend

Theses and Dissertations

It is a well-known fact Army recruiters work very long hours in a demanding environment. In many cases, recruiting stations are geographically isolated from military bases, with recruiters often tolerating a high cost of living, crime, and other such adverse conditions that characterize the communities they work in. The job itself demands self-starting, motivated individuals with a wide range of skills, from street-savvy to salesmanship, in order to succeed. A number of factors in recent years have made military recruiting more difficult, which include scandals involving highly-placed soldiers and changes in attitudes towards military service among eligible men and women. …

Sensitivity Analysis Of The Thunder Combat Simulation Model To Command And Control Inputs Accomplished In A Parallel Environment, David A. Davies

Theses and Dissertations

This research had two objectives. The first was to develop a methodology to demonstrate the parallel processing capability provided by Air Force's Aeronautical System's Command (ASC) Major Shared Resource Center (MSRC) and apply that methodology to the SIMAF Proof of Concept project. Secondly, AFSAA/SAAB requested a sensitivity analysis of THUNDER to the modeled command and control (C2) inputs. The power of parallelization can not be overemphasized. The data collection phase of this thesis was accomplished at the MSRC using a script developed to automate the processing of an experimental design, providing the analyst with a launch and leave capability. On …

Real Time Detection Of Anomalous Satellite Behavior Has Ground Based Telescope Images, Geoffrey S. Maron

Theses and Dissertations

Air Force analysts are faced with the task of monitoring satellites with ground based telescopes. Images are collected and analyzed in a time consuming and subjective effort to detect any behavior that is anomalous. This research maximizes use of a priori information to create an automated, real time satellite behavior classification tool. Using modeling software and knowledge of a satellite's orbit, reference imagery is created for each measured image in a satellite pass. Features are extracted from the measured and reference image pairs that provide good overall Gaussian classification accuracy (85%), reduce the dimensionality of the problem (from 32,768 down …

Improving Algorithmic Efficiency Of Aircraft Engine Design For Optimal Mission Performance, Paul T. Millhouse

Theses and Dissertations

Automated techniques for selecting jet engines that minimize overall fuel consumption for a given aircraft mission have recently been developed. However, the current techniques lack the efficiency required by Wright Laboratories. Two noted dependencies between turbine engine fan pressure ratio, bypass ratio, high pressure compressor pressure ratio and overall engine mass flow allows for a reduction in the number of independent design variables searched in the optimization process. Additionally, through the use of spatial statistics (specifically kriging estimation), it is possible to significantly reduce the number of time consuming response function evaluations required to obtain an optimal combination of engine …

Improved Mathematical Modeling For Gps Based Navigation, Salvatore Nardi

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is concerned with the development of new closed form GPS position determination algorithms that work in the presence of pseudorange measurement noise. The mathematical derivation of two closed form algorithms, based on stochastic modeling and estimation techniques, is presented. The algorithms provide an estimate of the GPS solution parameters (viz., the user position and the user clock bias) as well as the estimation error covariance. The experimental results are analyzed by comparison to the baseline results from the conventional Iterative Least Squares (ILS) algorithm. In typical GPS scenarios, the closed form algorithms are extremely sensitive to noise, making …

Optimizing The Efficiency Of A Multi-Stage Axial-Flow Compressor: An Application Of Stage-Wise Optimization, Shawn A. Miller

Theses and Dissertations

The development of jet engines has become an integral part of maintaining air superiority. In order to achieve the most advanced engine, research has turned to traditional optimization methods to aid in creating new engine designs. To develop simplified mathematical models representative of the engine, the engine can be separated into its components. A jet engine has three major elements, the compressor, combustion chamber and turbine. This research attempts to make an initial analysis of a two stage compressor to determine values of blade angles and spacing to chord ratios for both stages that produce the highest possible efficiency for …

Preliminary Design Of A Joint Simulation, Analysis, And Wargaming Center For The Turkish General Staff, Oguz Okuyucu

Theses and Dissertations

This study develops a framework for the design of a Joint Simulation, Analysis, and Wargaming Center (JSAWC). JSAWC is proposed as the primary decision support center for the Turkish General Staff. The complexity of warfare systems and the fog of future wars make military planning, problem solving, and decision making processes difficult to accomplish without using computerized analysis support tools. The proposed JSAWC will use modeling and simulation technology to provide analytical support for Turkish military decision-makers and planners in operations planning, force structuring, and training. An iterative systems engineering process is defined and applied to the primary design of …

An Advanced Visualization Method For An Operations Research Analysis, Steven C. Oimoen

Theses and Dissertations

Visualizing multidimensional data using only two dimensions and conventional visualization techniques limits the understanding of the data set. Underlying structures or patterns within the data can easily go unnoticed. In order to gain additional insight into an analysis, incorporation of visualization and multidimensional graphics into the analysis results should be accomplished. The results must ensure that the information portrayed is not misleading or misunderstood. The integrity of the data must be preserved throughout the transformation. The primary objective of this research effort is to identify techniques to visualize multidimensional data and then develop a software tool to display the multidimensional …

Nationalism In Spain: Is It A Danger To National Integrity?, Fernando Pastor Villar

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years there has been a worldwide resurgence of ethnic nationalism as ethnic minorities have seen in this ethnic differentiation a better way to increase their political power within the states where they reside. Spain is a complex country divided into a number of contrasting regions with widely varying economic and social structures as well as different historical, political, and cultural traditions that includes different languages. This extreme complexity is related to its national diversity and also to the political and social articulation of nationalist claims within the state. This study arrives at five conclusions. First, Basque and Catalan …

A Variable-Complexity Modeling Approach To Scramjet Fuel Injection Array Design Optimization, Michael D. Payne

Theses and Dissertations

The analysis of fuel air mixing in a scramjet is often accomplished either with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) algorithms or through experimental research. These approaches, while accurate and reliable, are extremely expensive and thus not well suited for use with conventional design optimization methods. In this investigation, Variable Complexity Modeling (VCM) is used to significantly reduce the number of complex, expensive analyses required to optimize the design of a scramjet fuel injection array. A design problem formulation for a lateral transverse injection array is developed and a VCM approach to design optimization is conducted in two stages. Initially, a simplified …

Verification And Validation Of Faarr Model And Data Envelopment Analysis Models For United States Army Recruiting, Gene M. Piskator

Theses and Dissertations

This research has two objectives-to verify and validate the U.S. Army's Forecast and Allocation of Army Recruiting Resources (FAARR) model and to develop a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) modeling strategy. First, the FAARR model was verified using a simulation of a known production function and validated using sensitivity analysis and ex-post forecasts. FAARR model forecasts were not accurate and were extremely sensitive to any changes in the model's linear programming constraints and to changes in recruiting resource levels. Second, this research describes a three phase modeling strategy to build accurate DEA models. DEA has become a popular tool to evaluate …

A Comparison Of Advect Cloud Model And Fifth-Generation Mesoscale Model Total Fractional Cloud Forecasts, Brian D. Pukall

Theses and Dissertations

Total fractional cloudiness (FC) forecasts from the advect cloud (ADVCLD) model and total FC forecasts diagnosed from the relative humidity and total cloud condensate (snow, ice, rain water, and cloud water) fields from the fifth generation mesoscale model (MM5) were statistically and subjectively compared to determine which model produced the better total FC forecasts from August through November 1997 for a forecast window centered on Bosnia. The real time nephanalysis (RTNFPH) model was used to represent the true state of the atmosphere. ADVCLD and MM5 forecasts were also compared against a persistence forecast to provide a minimal skill baseline. The …