Digital Commons Network^™

Unequal Educational Opportunities For Gifted Students: Robbing Peter To Pay Paul?, Charles J. Russo

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Brown ushered in an era that has led to admirable, yet arguably incomplete, gains in equal educational opportunities for all children, most notably minorities, females, and students with disabilities. However, despite the progress that has been made in the struggle for educational equality, many exceptional students are not being fully served. Aside from commission reports and rhetoric, little has been done at either the federal or state level to offer appropriate programming for gifted and talented children's educational needs. It is questionable whether educational leaders and policy makers have taken sufficient steps to meet the educational needs of gifted children. …

An Idea Schools Can Use: Lessons From Special Education Legislation, Terry Jean Seligman

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (the “IDEA”) has been a part of our public education system since 1975. The IDEA was enacted in response to the exclusion and inadequate education of children with disabilities. The IDEA is widely viewed as having opened the doors to education to previously excluded children. During the summer of 2001, as Congress labored to pass new standards for public education, the Secretary of Education under President George W. Bush's administration resisted efforts to increase funding for special education, asserting that the IDEA needed reforms that money could not address. This article argues that the …

Diversity Efforts In Independent Schools , Michael Brosnan

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In recent years, independent schools have begun committing themselves to diversity. Schools are recruiting more students and teachers of color and have transformed their curriculum to better address race, gender, class religion, and sexual orientation. Schools must start marketing themselves to a broad spectrum of families, teachers, and administrators, and have done so in order to prepare students for the adult world to come. Schools need to hire and retain teachers of color. To achieve this, some overlapping efforts by schools include: creating the need to hire teachers of color with the school's mission, clarifying the school's climate and culture, …

Effects Of Selctive Lesions Of The Nucleus Basalis Magnocellularis On Working Memory In Rats., Michelle Marie Noble

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) of the rat brain is analogous to the nucleus basalis of Meynert found in humans. Alzheimer's disease patients have working memory impairments, which may be attributable to damage to the basal nucleus of Meynert. Excitotoxins such as quisqualic and ibotenic acid have been previously used to make lesions of the NBM in research animals. NBM lesions made with ibotenic or quisqualic acid are known to impair working memory. However, in addition to damaging the cholinergic neurons of the NBM, the lesions made by these excitotoxins also destroy cells of other nearby structures, and it is …

The Relationship Between Income And The Ability To Follow The Prescribed Medication Plan In Elderly Persons With Heart Failure, Lori Houghton-Rahrig

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a relationship between income, and obtaining and taking of medications as prescribed. The conceptual framework used for this study was Madeleine Leininger's cultural care diversity and universality theory. This secondary analysis used the initial data from the primary study. “ Home Care Outcomes for Heart Failure: A Test of Two Nursing Approaches" (Kline, 1999). A convenience sample of 70 home care clients with heart failure were interviewed using a Likert scale format. A non-parametric correlation using Spearman’s rho depicted a weak relationship between annual income and taking the medication …

The Effect Of Supportive-Educative Nursing Interventions On The Hospital Readmission Rates Of Patients With Heart Failure, Patrice M. Whitaker

Masters Theses

The prevalence of heart failure (HF) is increasing and patients with HF are frequently readmitted to hospitals soon after discharge, at great cost. Improving self-care and reducing hospitalizations in this group is vital. This study, based on Dorothea Orem’s ( 1995) self-care deficit theory, evaluated supportive-educative vs. placebo nursing interventions. The study results were drawn from a larger longitudinal study done by Dr. Kay Setter-Kline, Ph.D., R.N.

The study sought to determine if supportive-educative nursing interventions reduced the rehospitalization rate for patients with HF. The Self-Management Tool was utilized for data collection, after being adapted from the Chronic Disease Self-Management …

Implementation Of Middle -Level Programmatic Characteristics And Their Impact On Eighth-Grade Istep+ Scores, Mark Alan Baker

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study's purposes were to (1) analyze the difference among the level of implementation of middle level programmatic characteristics (Advisor/Advisee guidance program, cocurricular activities, exploratory classes, flexible scheduling, interdisciplinary teams, and integrated curriculum) and middle level grade configuration (K–8, 6–8, 7–8, 7–12); (2) analyze the relationship between the level of implementation of middle level programmatic characteristics and 8 th Grade ISTEP+ scores; (3) analyze the difference in 8 th Grade ISTEP+ scores among middle level grade configurations; (4) analyze the linear composite of middle level programmatic characteristics which explains the amount of the variance in 8 th Grade ISTEP+ scores; …

Standardized Group Achievement Tests And The Accommodation Of Additional Time, Kevin Lance Buehler

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Statewide assessment test data are increasingly being used to make important decisions for students and teachers. Since the re-authorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (PL 105-17) in 1997, states are mandated to include students with disabilities in state and district assessment programs, using appropriate accommodations. Research on the value of specific accommodations, and on the effects of accommodations on test data, though, is scarce. Studies conducted on the accommodation of additional time have not consistently found that students with disabilities obtain greater benefit from this accommodation than students without disabilities. In addition, school personnel have few objective methods to …

Judgment Proofing The Profession, Poonam Puri

Articles & Book Chapters

In the law of business organizations, individuals have generally been unrestrained in choosing which legal form they will use to carry on productive endeavors. Professionals, however, have not been afforded such freedom. They have found themselves prohibited by their self-regulatory bodies from practicing their profession in a corporate form. As a result, members of professions have practiced either as sole practitioners or in partnership with other members of the same profession. Professionals practicing in partnership expose themselves to personal liability for the obligations of the partnership and wrongdoing by their partners. This Article analyzes the rise of limited liability partnerships …

Hierarchical Classification And The Integration Of Self-Structure In Late Adolescence, Eric B. Elbogen, Gustavo Carlo, William D. Spaulding

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

A number of empirical studies have demonstrated that one’s self-concept is multidimensional in nature, varies according to social context, and shows increased differentiation throughout adolescence. There has been relatively less work, however, examining the integration of multi-dimensional social selves. Rosenberg and Gara’s (1985) model of the multidimensional self (a model that utilizes a statistical procedure called “hierarchical classification” or HICLAS) was employed to investigate the integration of social selves during late adolescence. First- and fourth-year college students (n = 128) completed a computer program designed to collect data required to construct HICLAS “self-structures.” The findings indicated that the social selves …

Taking Stock Of Taking Stock, Poonam Puri

Articles & Book Chapters

Silicon Valley law firms were among the first to experiment with taking stock in their technology start-up clients. They were followed by law firms in other financial centers in the United States and Canada, as well as more conservative law firms in England and the rest of Europe. This Article critically analyzes the practice of lawyers taking equity in their clients as compensation for legal services. First, it explains that equity billing can provide significant private benefits to law firms and clients, and can also provide indirect public benefits. Second, it argues that equity billing can be usefully analogized to …

Vireo Song Repertoires And Migratory Distance: Three Sexual Selection Hypotheses Fail To Explain The Correlation, D. James Mountjoy, Daniel Leger

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Previous studies have found a relationship between migration and the degree of elaboration of sexually selected traits, but investigators have differed in the mechanisms they proposed to account for this association. We examined the relationship between song repertoire size and distance migrated among birds in the genus Vireo. There is a strong positive relationship between migratory distance and repertoire size in this genus, but our data do not support the specific predictions of any of the three proposed mechanisms (the “rapid pairing,” “good migrations,” and “territory lottery” hypotheses). Migration distance is presumably correlated with other life-history characteristics that influence the …

The Entrepreneurial Aptitude Of Prison Inmates And The Potential Benefit Of Self-Employment Training Programs, Matthew Sonfield, Robert Lussier, Robert Barbato

Articles

Using newly collected data, and building upon previous research, this study compared a sample of prison inmates with various other entrepreneurial and non-entrepreneurial groups with regard to entrepreneurial aptitude, as measured by the Miner MSCS-T test. Results show inmates scoring higher than "normative" entrepreneurs, "slow-growth" entrepreneurs and "manager-scentists," but lower than "high-growth" entrepreneurs. Also, inmates score the same regardless of type of crime, first-time versus repeat conviction, or enrollment or not in small business/self-employment training programs. The implications of these findings, including the potential benefits of post-prison self-employment and of training programs for inmates, are discussed.

Fulfilling The Bargain: How The Science Of Ergonomics Can Inform The Laws Of Workers’ Compensation, Jason M. Solomon

Faculty Publications

In the last decade, cumulative trauma disorders have become a significant percentage of reported workplace injuries and litigated workers'compensation claims. Arising from the accumulated impact of daily work activities on the body, these injuries do not fall neatly within "disease" categories which comprise workers' compensation laws. As a result, courts and legislatures have struggled to properly evaluate workers' compensation claims for these injuries. This Note looks at the legal treatment of cumulative trauma injuries in light of the "original bargain" of workers' compensation, where workers give up a tort remedy against their employers in exchange for guaranteed, but limited, compensation …

Tax Shelters, Tax Law, And Morality: Codifying Judicial Doctrines, Ellen P. Aprill

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Civil Evidence, Michael W. Shore, Kenneth E. Shore

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Family Law: Parent And Child, James W. Paulsen

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Personal Torts, David S. Coale, Jennifer Evans Morris

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Alcoholism And The Ada: Divergent Treatment By The Federal Courts, Carrie A. Thornton

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Extinguishing Inheritance Rights: California Breaks New Ground In The Fight Against Elder Abuse But Fails To Build An Effective Foundation, Kymberleigh N. Korpus

UC Law Journal

This Note examines the elder abuse problem in the United States by describing: state responses to its "discovery" in the late 1970s as well as the debilitating reliance upon reporting; the currently available remedies and the hurdles to using those remedies; the ethical challenges to the states' primary abuse prevention tools, and the dramatic explosion in elder abuse that is already underway. Then, this Note describes American descent doctrines, and philosophies underlying exceptions to the doctrinal testamentary freedom and value-neutrality of intestate succession statutes. It proposes the Chinese behavior-based model of inheritance as an alternative inheritance scheme that, with its …

Lying, Misleading, And Falsely Denying: How Moral Concepts Inform The Law Of Perjury, Fraud, And False Statements, Stuart P. Green

UC Law Journal

This Article seeks to describe the relationship between the criminal law and various concepts of deception. Deception is defined as the communication of a message that is intended to cause a person to believe something untrue. Three different kinds of deception are identified: (1) lying (deception that involves an assertion and is literally false); (2) non-lying deception, or mere "misleading" (deception that requires neither an assertion nor literal falsity); and (3) falsely denying (deception that occurs in the context of a person's denying some accusation of alleged wrongdoing). This Article argues that, other things being equal, non-lying deception tends to …

Protecting Children From Exposure To Domestic Violence: The Use And Abuse Of Child Maltreatment Statutes, Lois A. Weithorn

UC Law Journal

In the past two decades, researchers have amassed an impressive body of empirical data demonstrating the deleterious impact of exposure to interparental violence on children. Policymakers are now confronted with the question of how society can best prevent children's exposure to domestic violence and assist those children already exposed. A range of policy initiatives aimed at promoting the well-being of exposed children have emerged in the last several years. Whereas some statutory trends have been lauded by a broad range of constituencies, others have engendered substantial controversy. There is particularly vociferous debate about statutes that bring children exposed to domestic …

Values Education Influence On Elementary Students' Self-Esteem, Ron W. Germaine Edd

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine if there was a significant difference in measures of self-esteem between elementary school students to whom specific values were formally taught in their school as part of the curriculum and those who did not receive such instruction. The setting for the study was a school district in Canada that had identified sixteen values through community consensus. The district developed curriculum and lessons for the teaching of these values. A quasi-experimental research design was utilized. The treatment group was taught values as a formal part of their curriculum for a period of four …

Teachings From Cree Elders: A Grounded Theory Study Of Indigenous Leadership, Leona Makokis Edd

Dissertations

For the past two hundred and fifty years, the relationship between First Nations and Euro-Canadians, has shifted from an equal partnership to one of colonized and colonizer. Despite this history, First Nations people have shown resiliency, continuing to honor beliefs, values, and traditions. Constrained by Euro-Canadian government Indian Affairs polices, First Nations have not progressed economically or politically, but have been caught in the trap of administering their own poverty. The First Nations people are dying a slow death; thus, it is critical to examine their current reality, acknowledging that history does not begin with the arrival of the Europeans, …

Changes In Navy Leadership Theory And Practice: Post-Vietnam, Nicholas A. Trongale Edd

Dissertations

Since the Vietnam War, Navy leadership theory and practice has changed, becoming more like current civilian leadership theory and practice than traditional leadership of old. Indicators of this change have been seen in journal writings, the new Navy performance evaluation structure, current Navy leadership training, and by the birth of a Navy Command Leadership School. This study was designed to explore the evolution and recent history of the Navy's leadership theory and practice for indications of change. Combining a qualitative and quantitative methodology, this study used a 5-point Likert-type scale survey that included a written comments section. Over 70% of …

Faculty Perceptions Of Dean Transitions: Does Trust Matter? An Interpretive Case Study Of Organizational Trust And Organizational Culture, Rebecca L. Woolston Edd

Dissertations

This study looked for factors that might have influenced faculty perceptions of new deans at a professional school in the western part of the United States. More specifically, the study explored the question of how organizational trust may have influenced perceptions of new deans and faculty willingness to trust new deans. A single case study used guided interviews as data for the interpretive analysis. The study sought to provide insight into the phenomenon of dean transitions. The study also endeavored to add new dimensions to current conceptualizations of organizational trust and culture by highlighting a previously underexplored but potentially relevant …

Vcu Media Lab, The Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute At Virginia Commonwealth University, Cheryl Al-Mateen, Marcia Carney, Susan Diehl, Laura Jean Moriarty

GEHLI - 2026 VCUL Team Project Publications

We propose the establishment of a VCU Media Lab – a professional creative media technology unit whose mission is to support the development, design, production and delivery of innovative media, multimedia, computer-based instruction, publications and tools in support of VCU education, research and marketing initiatives. This centrally administered, budgeted and resourced facility will acknowledge, refine, focus and expand media services that are currently being provided at VCU in a decentralized manner.

A Concept Paper For A Vcu Social Sciences Initiative, The Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute At Virginia Commonwealth University, Susan Kornstein, Shelly Lane, Allen Lewis, Lydia Thompson

GEHLI - 2026 VCUL Team Project Publications

This project proposes the development of a Social Sciences Initiative at the undergraduate and graduate levels that will provide educational, research and service opportunities for faculty and students. These opportunities are envisioned as interdisciplinary, with a focus on community issues and priorities, and with the potential to create new links among existing educational/research units within the University. The development of a Social Sciences Initiative provides a direct link to the Mission of VCU through several of the Mission’s intents:  “activities that increase knowledge and understanding of the world and inspire and enrich teaching” The Social Sciences Initiative will expand …

Working Partnerships, Partnerships Working, The Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute At Virginia Commonwealth University, Robert Higgins, Catherine Howard, Njeri Jackson, Nancy Scott, Veronica Shuford

GEHLI - 2026 VCUL Team Project Publications

Involvement in community partnerships at Virginia Commonwealth University has its roots in the institution's history. The Medical College of Virginia, founded in1838, and the Richmond Professional Institute, founded in 1917, both sought to extend knowledge into the community to change peoples' lives for the better. Today, the VCU campuses are even more entwined with the City of Richmond -- physically, and increasingly so as a partner in the economic and social challenges and opportunities facing the City.

Taking It Personally: The Role Of Memoirs In Teacher Education, Sharon A. Hollander

Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education

The current popularity of memoirs and book groups is a cue to education faculty. When complemented by discussion groups and writing assignments, memoirs can be used to facilitate the process of inclusion in the schools by teaching both general and special educators about children with disabilities and their families. These works can also promote quality reading and writing, inspire original and insightful responses from students, and foster a sense of community in class. Some advantages and previous applications of this method are described and recommendations for implementation are made.