Digital Commons Network^™

A Study Of The Application Of A Bring Your Own Device Strategy In An Elementary School, Carol Louise Scholz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Numerous studies have been published on the efficacy of a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) at the U.S. secondary and postsecondary school levels to increase student access to technology. However, there is a lack of data on the efficacy of a BYOD AUP to increase elementary student technology access. The purpose of this descriptive case study was to determine if a BYOD AUP at the U.S. K-5 level would increase students' access to technology as necessitated by the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). This study was grounded in social transmission and transformative theories. …

Chronic Disease Management Of The Uninsured Patient At Ohio Free Clinics, James Benedict

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Management of chronic disease requires a different service delivery model from that of acute illness. The uninsured population experience poorer health status and increased incidence of chronic disease than do the insured population. The purpose of this study was to identify the supports and barriers present in providing chronic disease management to patients at Ohio free clinics. Wagner's theory of chronic disease management served as the theoretical lens. The sequential, exploratory mixed methods study collected data from 13 free clinics belonging to the Ohio Association of Free Clinics (OAFC). Quantitative questions focused on processes in clinics with high and low …

Evaluating A Student Leadership Program's Impact On Elementary Students' Behavior And Academic Achievement, Stephanie Caracelo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Faculty members at a rural elementary school in a southeastern U.S. state have implemented a student leadership program called Leader in Me (LIM) in order to address increased behavioral disruptions and declining academic achievement scores and also better prepare students for the workforce. To determine the efficacy of the intervention, a mixed methods bounded case study of LIM was conducted. Watson's and Hull's theories of behaviorism support the objectives of the program. The focus of the research questions was on determining whether students' behavior, academic achievement, and leadership skills had changed based on their participation in the program. Quantitative data …

Barriers High School Teachers Encounter In Teaching Critical Thinking In Writing, Monica Murray

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In an urban high school in California, students are generally unskilled in critical writing. The problem has been associated with instructional barriers encountered by teachers. In this qualitative case study, English Language teachers provided their perceptions of such barriers and shared perspectives for solutions based in professional development. Grounded in the theories of Halpern, Saiz and Rivas, Weigle, and Harris and Graham, the conceptual framework emphasized instructional models that develop metacognition in writing, which can increase students' critical thinking. Selection criteria required participants who were English Language Arts teachers of writing critical thinking. Data from 4 participant interviews were coded, …

Academic Outcomes Of A Precollege Intervention Program, John Tri Phung

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 demanded that public schools demonstrate adequate yearly progress by increasing student educational achievements. In 2014, the local high school at this study enrolled 62.7% socioeconomically disadvantaged students and implemented a precollege intervention program; however, little is known about its efficacy due to a lack of a formal evaluation, prohibiting an informed approach to continual improvement. The purpose of this program evaluation was to determine if program participation resulted in the higher academic outcomes. Guided by the theory of change, the program evaluation was used to assess the efficacy of the local high …

Supporting The Professional Needs Of Alternatively Certified Secondary Education Teachers, Michelle Latrice Washington

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The reliance on alternative teacher certification to address teacher quality and quantity is an educational issue worthy of study because non-traditionally prepared teachers fill the nation's classrooms. This qualitative case study explored the experiences of secondary education teachers with no preservice training who earned a professional educator certificate in Alabama through the alternative baccalaureate-level program. The central research questions of this study related to the professional needs of alternatively certified teachers and how educational leaders supported those professional needs. The conceptual framework of this project study included the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education's differentiated induction model based …

Middle School Teachers' Professional Development Needs For Ict Literacy Integration, Melanie Lynn Park

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This qualitative case study explored U.S. middle school teachers' professional development needs in Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) literacy integration. Past literature has suggested that teachers should improve classroom practices that promote ICT literacy, but few studies have addressed educators' specific training needs. This study was designed to identify the unique professional development needs of academic teachers in a Midwestern middle school using focus groups and interviews to explore teacher perceptions of current technology usage as well as the barriers and/or facilitators of ICT literacy integration. The conceptual framework was based on Knowles's theory of adult learning, which suggested that …

Perceptions Of Homeless Individuals Regarding Public Housing Use, Shirley Elaine Hicks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research on how homeless individuals perceive shelters, housing programs, and their agents has been limited, especially in relation to the reasons for engaging in or avoiding programs. This phenomenological study explored the perspectives of chronically homeless individuals in Wake County, North Carolina, regarding shelters and housing programs, examining their reasons for using or not using shelters or public housing. Using Glidden's structuration theory as the framework, the research questions for this study were based on exploring the perceptions of homeless individuals use of public resources related to housing and shelters to better understand why some use, and perhaps more importantly, …

Factors Related To Prescription Drug Abuse Among Young Adults In Florida, Mabel Gonzalez Gonzalez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A lack of available data exists regarding environmental factors related to prescription drug abuse (PDA), which could explain the ineffectiveness of efforts to reduce PDA in Florida. Prescription drug abuse among adults older than age 18 varies with the level of education achieved, and these metrics potentially reflect socioeconomic differences. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the connections between contextual aspects of prescription opioid abuse among Florida's middle and high school students to understand youth PDA in relation to their environments. This study consisted of a secondary analysis of existing PDA data (dependent variable) in relation to …

Teachers' Perceptions Of Elementary School Principals' Leadership Attributes And Their Relationship To School Effectiveness, Dyana Ontai-Machado Ontai-Machado

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Schools in Hawaii are continuing to struggle with low student performance on their state's mandated test. Principal leadership has been found to have a direct impact on school effectiveness and researchers have indicated that school effectiveness can also be predicted by teachers' perceptions of principal leadership. This quantitative study was an examination of the relationships between teachers' perceptions of their principals' leadership attributes and school effectiveness as measured by the Strive HI Index in the state of Hawaii. The theoretical framework was grounded in Leithwood's core effective principal practices. A 41-item questionnaire from Colorado Education Initiative with a Cronbach's alpha …

Absenteeism In An International Custom Software Engineering Company, Jennifer M. Mudek

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Absenteeism has a negative impact on organizational output in the form of lost productivity and profit reduction for software engineering companies. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive case study was to explore the strategies that software engineering managers utilize for reducing absenteeism. The theory of planned behavior formed the conceptual framework for this study. Data were collected through semistructured interviews from a purposeful sample of 11 managers at an international custom software engineering company. Data collection also included organizational data on employee absences for the past 5 years (2011-2015), e-mail memos, newsletters, employee handbook, and employee performance reviews. Based on …

Tier 1 And Tier 2 Reading Interventions In English Language Arts Classrooms At A Rural High School, Irene Barry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Average scores from the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress in reading for Grade 12 students indicated only 38% of Grade 12 students were proficient in reading. Even though significant research has been conducted on reading interventions for elementary and middle school students, little is known about how teachers implement reading interventions at the high school level. The purpose of this study was to explore how teachers implemented Tier 1 and/or Tier 2 reading interventions in high school English language arts courses. The conceptual framework was based on Vygotsky's (1929) theoretical research about scaffolding instruction in the zone of proximal …

Kindergarten Teachers' Perspective On Guided Reading, Mary Epperson Carrasco

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Within a Southwestern school system, deficits in early literacy skills exist as is illustrated by kindergarten students not meeting the requirements on the Phonological Awareness and Phonics Inventory (PAPI). To address this deficit in early literacy skills, the school system instituted the use of the Guided Reading Approach (GR); however, it was unknown how the kindergarten teachers were implementing GR. The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences and challenges of kindergarten teachers who implement GR. Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of learning and constructivist theory provided the conceptual framework. Research questions explored the thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs teachers hold …

User Adoption Of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems In The Public Sector, Lionel O. Wright

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The importance of aligning information technology and business strategies to exploit capabilities and change business practices has increased as firms strive for competitive advantage in a diverse and changing marketplace. Nevertheless, over 50% of firms implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems ranked expected process and value enhancements as inadequate, whereas only 13% indicated that implementations met their needs. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model formed the conceptual framework of this single case study. The study comprised a purposeful sampling of 8 business managers in Southeast Alabama working in related job roles and based on established …

Socioeconomic Status Mobility And Lifetime Exposure To Discrimination On Cardiovascular Disease Events, Nkenge H. Jones-Jack

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Blacks in the United States have the highest rates of hypertension in the world, and their cardiovascular disease mortality rates are higher than for any other population group as a result of traditional risk factors such as obesity and stronger family history. However, additional underlying factors, such as social determinants of health (e.g., socioeconomic status [SES]) and macrosocial factors (e.g., racism), also correlate with adverse health outcomes. This study investigated whether the interaction between SES mobility over the lifecourse and lifetime racial discrimination influenced the extent to which hypertension contributed to the cardiovascular disease health disparities observed among Blacks in …

Preventive Health Education Media And Older Worker Health Literacy, Lori Michelle Williams-Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The United States has experienced an increase in older workers as individuals born between 1946 and 1964 have remained in the labor force. Preventive health screening education, such as an immunization flyer, is necessary to avert preventable illness among older workers. Based on previous research, there is a gap regarding age-specific methods for educating the older worker about preventive health. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between various media providing preventive health screening information and the assessed health literacy of the older worker. Based on the health belief model, a quantitative, cross-sectional method was used. …

Cacrep's Relevance To Effective Implementation Of Comprehensive School Counseling Programs, Cynthia Lee Taylor

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Comprehensive School Counseling Programs (CSCP) are data driven programs utilized by school counselors to ensure the students they serve receive measurable benefits in academic, career, and personal/social development. The purpose of this study was to better understand if differences existed in the perceptions of graduates from school counseling programs accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) and non-accredited programs regarding effective implementation of CSCP. This study is relevant to counselor educators, university administrators, and aspiring school counselors who are stakeholders in the decision to pursue CACREP accreditation or attend a CACREP accredited school …

Successful Strategies Used To Increase The Reading Comprehension Of Second Graders, Patricia Reda Reda

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A southeastern elementary school evidenced many students with a consistent decrease in oral reading fluency (ORF) rates as the 2nd grade year progressed, leading to weakness in reading comprehension in the 3rd grade. Reading comprehension is critical for academic success, as students who merely decode words do not gain knowledge from the text. This qualitative case study explored the successful strategies, both inside and outside of the classroom, used by parents and teachers of this southeastern elementary school to positively impact the reading comprehension rates of 2nd grade students. Constructivism and transactional learning served as the conceptual frameworks for this …

An Exploration Of Leadership Styles And Motivation In Egyptian Business Organizations, Nady Ahmed El-Zayaty

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Leadership styles can have a profound impact on employee motivation and performance. The changing global business landscape has drawn much attention to transformational leadership as an approach that addresses the demands of organizations in this complex environment. The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to understand the nature of employee motivation with regard to leadership styles and the role of transformational leadership in Egyptian business organizations. Seventeen Egyptian professionals were recruited through a combination of e-mail and telephone procedures and were interviewed regarding their experiences with organizational leaders; their perception of the ideal organizational leader; their feelings about …

Transition And Transformation - From Military Combat To College Classroom: Strategies For Success, Charles Mark Brewer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research shows that faculty, staff, and administrators at institutions of higher learning have a fundamental responsibility to create a safe and effective learning environment for returning military combat veterans. Studies of student veterans have shown that combat veterans have both unique strengths and barriers that must be taken into account if they are to complete an advanced degree. This study contributes to the literature on educational barriers faced by student veterans and their educators. Knowles' andragogy theory provided the theoretical framework for this transcendental-phenomenological research study. Ten randomly chosen student military veterans from Tacoma Community College in Tacoma, Washington, participated …

Teacher Education In Central Equatoria, South Sudan, Catherine Hahs Brinkley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Without education, many South Sudanese will continue living in poverty. There are numerous factors that limit their educational opportunities including tribal warfare, colonialism, missionary malpractice, civil wars, a high illiteracy rate, low government funding, and threats of war. These factors have left a substantial deficiency in available training for teachers. The purpose of this study was to determine the pedagogical needs of the teachers of South Sudan. Within a conceptual framework of participatory action research, this qualitative study examined educators' view of the effectiveness of the teacher education that they had received, the pedagogical needs of teachers, and the ideal …

A Concurrent Mixed Method Study Exploring Iraqi Immigrants' Views Of Michigan, Kerry Luise Chamberlain

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Failure of emergency response personnel to communicate effectively with different cultures can have dire consequences during an emergency, including loss of lives and litigation costs. For emergency response personnel to communicate the risk of an emergency, it is important to understand how different groups, especially newly arrived foreign immigrants, perceive warnings and related messages. This study addressed how one of the largest category of immigrants in Michigan perceived severe tornados, influenza pandemics, power outages, severe floods, and snowstorms. The research question examined the degree to which the equation, Risk = Hazard + Outrage, explained perceptions of these hazards in Michigan …

The Impact Of Transformational Leadership Style On The Success Of Global Virtual Teams, Shery Wojtara-Perry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Organizations in the age of modern technology have a diverse workforce, who are spread around the globe, and the business leaders of the 21st century need to understand how best to manage, overcome new challenges, and know the various skills of team members to capitalize on their differences and unique skills. To allow those geographically dispersed workers to reach their full potential and facilitate team success. Global virtual teams (GVTs) operate in complex environments characterized by diverse cultural and organizational elements. The primary purpose of this correlational and nonexperimental quantitative research was to examine the impact of transformational leadership on …

Examining U.S. Middle School Students' Achievement In A Blended Learning Environment, Bernadette Ortiz-Brewster

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract

U.S. middle schools are increasing offering blended learning curricula that integrates virtual and face-to-face instruction, but the effectiveness of this mode of instruction at the middle school level has not been adequately explored. This investigation provides additional data to the current body of knowledge related to blended learning as a viable option for middle school students. The theoretical framework for this investigation derives from Lev Vygotsky's social development theory and Jean Piaget's constructivist theory of knowledge. The central research question focused on the difference in achievement scores between 6th grade students participating in a virtual course as compared to …

Toward Excellence: A Study Of Public Sector Department Of Defense Teams, Denise Marie Miller

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Department of Defense's (DoD's) budgetary and personnel challenges are affecting readiness, thus encouraging the use of effective teams to improve efficiency. This qualitative, descriptive case study examined how public sector DoD members experienced characteristics of high-performing teams (HPTs), defined by their members' shared sense of purpose, interdependent commitment, and exceptional team effectiveness. The documentation of these experiences may aid other DoD teams seeking to improve performance. Lewin and Sherif's theories on group dynamics, Johnson and Johnson's theory on groups, Katzenbach and Smith's theory of HPTs, and Edmondson's work on teams comprised the theoretical framework. Thirty-nine public sector DoD members …

Hypertension Management Through Community Outreach Services For Inmates Released From Jail, Janet Baby Wurie

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Hypertension (HTN) is the most common chronic disease among jail inmates. Many inmates treated for HTN while incarcerated in the Fairfax County Jail do not continue treatment when they return to their communities. Factors that contribute to discontinuing HTN management once the inmate returns to the community include homelessness, low income, and lack of access to care. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to educate inmates with HTN about community-based outreach services for HTN management and continuity of care while in the community. The outcome measured was the number of inmates who returned to jail reporting use of …

The Relationship Between Physical Fitness And Academic Achievement In Sixth Grade Students, Shannon Usco Shook

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have reported on the relationship between academic achievement and physical fitness levels. At one rural middle school, 25% of the students enrolled were either overweight or obese and failing at least one course. Educators at the local site were seeking methods to improve the academic achievement of their students. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between academic achievement and physical fitness of middle school students at the study site. Framed by the theoretical connection between improved physical fitness levels and academic achievement, the research questions examined the relationship between physical fitness levels of 6th …

A High School Dropout Prevention Program For At-Risk Students, Cynthia M. Wallace

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Dropping out of high school is an issue that has faced the educational system for years. At a high school in Mississippi, the dropout prevention plan implemented was not beneficial to all at-risk students because it mainly focused on academic issues. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand why students dropped out of high school and to gather strategies for a dropout prevention plan. The conceptual framework was based on 5 factors: general deviancy, deviant affiliation, family socialization, structural strain, and academic quandary. The research questions inquired about experiences that caused students to drop out and suggested …

Direct-To-Consumer Advertisements And Medical Services Utilization Among Adult Dermatology Patients In The United States, Heribert Zouetchou

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Pharmaceutical product claim and help-seeking advertisements have prompted the types and purposes of medical dermatology service(s) that patients have used in the United States. Indeed, researchers have demonstrated that 94% of working nurse practitioners affirmed receiving from their patients a request for a cancer drug advertised. However, adult dermatology patients members of Saint Nicholas Catholic Church or/and patients at MedStar Clinic in Houston, Texas, have not been of interest for any study so far. The purpose of this quantitative study was to assess the relationship between product claim, help-seeking, types, and purposes of medical dermatology services used amongst males and …

Health System Predictors Of Antenatal Care Compliance Among Rural Congolese Women, Ngashi Ngongo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Fewer rural Congolese women complete 4 antenatal care (ANC) visits than do urban women, despite high maternal and child mortality rates. This quantitative cross-sectional survey applied Andersen's behavioral model of service utilization to examine whether the ANC facility type, provider type, provider gender, time to ANC facility, cost, and number of services can predict ANC compliance among rural women. The study was a secondary analysis of the 2015 Maternal and Child Health (MCH) survey, which comprised 1,280 eligible women selected through stratified random sampling. The analysis included bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions. The findings showed that women seen in private …