Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Parental Involvement On The Homework Of Fifth-Grade Students, Chiron White-Legree

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to help students achieve better homework grades. Previous attempts at getting students to return their homework assignments had been unsuccessful. Parents did not know what the homework assignments were. Parents needed more information on grade-level standards.

The writer developed a weekly report of student progress that was sent home each week with the students. The report was to be signed by a parent and returned to the school. Students used homework logbooks to record daily assignments to inform parents of their assignments. A homework rubric was developed for students to inform their parents of the …

Behavior Management Classes: A Study Of Control For Students With Conduct Disorders, John W. Vernon Jr

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to provide methods to control anger in students who had records of inappropriate behavior. This study was conducted at Temporary Intervention Program (TIP), which is a school for students with severe behavior problems. This study showed the significant effects that a planned program of anger management had on adolescent children despite socioeconomic status, lack of parent participation, conduct disorders, or other obstacles.

The writer developed specific lesson plans to introduce methods that had proven effective in other institutions. Specific skills, such as relaxation, assertiveness, anticipation, self-instruction, self-evaluation, role playing, and problem solving, were emphasized. Students …

Improving Reading Instruction Through Staff Development At Putnam County Elementary School, Kirk D. Mallette

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The problem addressed was low reading achievement for Grade 2 students at Putnam County Elementary School. Reading comprehension and vocabulary skills were not being demonstrated by Grade 2 students to a satisfactory level according to the test data. Teachers in the school expressed frustration about how to help students achieve higher levels. One variable that impacts reading achievement is teacher instruction. This study addresses that variable.

The intervention was a staff development training program to help Grade 2 teachers at Putnam County Elementary School learn to implement a balanced approach to literacy through guided reading and guided writing. The quasi-experimental …

Effective Leadership Skills: The Development Of A Professional Improvement Plan, Maxine Woodside

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation represents a study of personal and professional leadership development. The study consists of reflective chronological accountings of influences on the writer from infancy to adulthood. The analysis highlights the opportunities in the early and formative years that support the development of a professional improvement plan.

The framework of this study was based on assessment results taken from the Florida Principal Competency Assessment (Florida Department of Education, 1995) and the Educational Leadership Appraisal (A. Ellis, 1993). More specifically, previous evaluations and reflections on previous leadership positions were used as a focus of professional growth. Based upon the results …

Development And Evaluation Of A Certified Educational Program To Insure Dental Provider Compliance With Federal And State Health And Safety Law, Cathy Turbyne

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was to design, develop, pilot test, and evaluate an educational process and product that would assist dental care providers in the state of Maine to effectively comply with federal and state health and safety laws. Dental care providers faced many types of workplace injuries in the form ofneedlesticks, dental instrument injuries, ergonomic illnesses, and latex allergy/asthma. Changing federal and state laws, lack of knowledge, interest, and/or inability to self-manage compliance implementation of OSHA and state of Maine laws increased the risk of employee workplace accidents, illnesses, and OSHA inspection. Other potential risks of non-compliance included employee disability, …

Development Of A Web-Based Distance Education Course For Scuba Divers With An Implementation And Evaluation Plan, Drew Richardson

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to identify the elements of a Web-Based distance education program and apply that knowledge to the development of an organizationally specific course plan for the PADI Worldwide organization to sanction for training scuba divers. A plan for implementation and evaluation was also developed.

The problem under investigation was that the PADI Worldwide organization wished to offer a Web-Based distance education program for one of its courses; however, the existing curriculum and related educational tools were designed for a program in which students completed all of their cognitive course work development in a non-Web-Based environment.

Development …

Women's Beliefs Regarding Food Restrictions During Common Childhood Illnesses: A Hospital Based Study, Niloufer Sultan Ali, Syed Iqbal Azam, Rahat Noor

Community Health Sciences

Background: Malnutrition continues to be a major problem in Pakistan. Inadequate nutrition contributes substantially to childhood death and disease. Restriction of diet during common childhood illnesses further compromises the nutritional status of the child. The present study aims to determine the beliefs and practices regarding food restrictions during common childhood illnesses.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted at Community Health Centre (CHC), of The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi to understand the beliefs and practices regarding food restrictions in common childhood illnesses. Four hundred adult females were interviewed from July-September 2000. A self-administered questionnaire was filled by the respondent.Results: Major sources …

Harnessing Information Technology To Improve The Environmental Impact Review Process, Michael B. Gerrard, Michael Herz

Faculty Scholarship

In 1970, when the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was enacted, the new and exciting information management technologies were the handheld four-function calculator and the eight-track tape cassette. Three decades later, after the personal computer, the digital revolution, and the World Wide Web, the implementation of NEPA is still stuck in the world of 1970. Other aspects of the bureaucracy have seen reform-the E-Government Strategy, an E-Government Act, the creation of a new Office of Electronic Government within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and, to focus on the environmental arena, the breathtaking success of the web-based Toxic Release …

Relationship Between The Knowledge Of Sexually Transmitted Disease And Sexual Behavior, Kong Chen

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Undergraduate college students, despite widespread prevention and education efforts, still engage in sexual behaviors that place them at risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The hypothesis of the study was that higher levels of knowledge of STDs were associated with positive sexual behavior. Thus, sexual behavior, knowledge of STDs, and the relationship between those two aspects among 103 undergraduate students (70 women and 33 men) at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) were examined in the study.

No statistical significance was found in terms of college students' knowledge of STDs and their sexual behavior. This study showed that female students …

Functional Hamstring:Quadriceps Ratio: Does It Differ Across Year Of Athletic Eligibility?, Scott L. Dack

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to collect descriptive functional Hamstring to Quadriceps (H:Q) ratio data, as defined by Aagaard, Simonsen, Magnusson, Larsson, and Dyhre-Poulsen (1998), and determine if differences exist in the functional H:Q ratio between Division I-AA college football athletes that are in different years of athletic eligibility. The primary research hypothesis was that there would be a statistically significant difference across the different years of eligibility. The population tested included 47 male Division I-AA college football players between the ages of 18-23. The functional H:Q ratio for extension was executed on the Biodex System 3 Pro (Shirley, …

The Concept Of Authorship In Comparative Copyright Law, Jane C. Ginsburg

Faculty Scholarship

In contemporary debates over copyright, the figure of the author is too-often absent. As a result, these discussions tend to lose sight of copyright's role in fostering creativity. I believe that refocussing discussion on authors – the constitutional subjects of copyright – should restore a proper perspective on copyright law, as a system designed to advance the public goal of expanding knowledge, by means of stimulating the efforts and imaginations of private creative actors. Copyright cannot be understood merely as a grudgingly tolerated way station on the road to the public domain. Nor does a view of copyright as a …

A Question Of Sanity: Women And In/Sanity In Bessie Head’S A Question Of Power And Sylvia Plath’S The Bell Jar, Amanda Lynn Graeber

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The use of female mental illness in fiction has previously been characterized as a subversive act. Theorists such as Juliet Mitchell, Susan Gubar, and Sandra Gilbert have advocated the use of madness as a way of protesting patriarchal systems and language. Female madness in many cases has been viewed not only as a conscious choice, but as an option that is preferable to sanity. In their view, mental illness is an embodiment of a woman's rejection of the patriarchal order. I would suggest that mental illness is actually about powerlessness. The madwoman is placed in a space outside of normal …

Damage To Family Relationships As A Collateral Consequence Of Parental Incarceration, Philip Genty

Faculty Scholarship

The most obvious and perhaps most serious collateral consequence of incarceration is family separation. Imprisonment undermines families and has a detrimental impact upon children, caretakers, and the communities in which they live. Unlike other collateral consequences, family separation has an irreversible impact upon both parents and children. The time apart is lost forever because a childhood can never be recovered.

This Essay will review the available statistical information about incarcerated parents and their children and discuss the detrimental effects of parental incarceration upon families. The Essay will conclude with some reflections about why the adverse consequences of incarceration for prisoners' …

The Effects Of Music Paired With Story Book Reading On Kindergarten And First Grade Children’S Comprehension Of Narrative Text, Karen Kay Fatka

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of music paired with story book reading on young children's comprehension of narrative text. More specifically, children's abilities to verbally retell stories, answer questions regarding explicit text based story facts, and attention levels were compared when stories were orally read or presented through audio-recorded sung versions of each story. Thirty kindergarten and first grade students who exhibited a speech and/or language impairment, had a history of a speech and/or language impairment, or were at-risk for reading difficulties participated in the study. Subjects were identified through a local university speech and …

Incomplete Law, Katharina Pistor, Chenggang Xu

Faculty Scholarship

This Article develops a framework for analyzing the relation between basic features of statutory and case law and the design and functioning of institutions that enforce this law. The basic premise is that law is inherently incomplete and that this has important implications for law enforcement. In particular, when law is incomplete, special emphasis needs to be placed on the allocation of lawmaking and law enforcement powers (LMLEP) to different institutions such as legislatures, courts, or regulators, in order to attain optimal levels of law enforcement. Using the development of the legal framework governing financial markets as an example to …

Reforming Campaign Finance Reform: A Review Of Voting With Dollars, Richard Briffault

Faculty Scholarship

On March 27, 2002, President George W. Bush signed the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 ("BCRA") into law. The culmination of a six-year legislative and political struggle, BCRA works the most comprehensive change in federal campaign finance law in nearly three decades. BCRA addresses a broad range of issues, including soft money, issue-advocacy advertising, fundraising on federal property, campaign activities of foreign nationals, and penalties for violation of campaign finance laws. Enacted in the face of intense political opposition, BCRA, if it stands up in court, is a significant reform achievement.

Or is it? BCRA closely follows the main …

Depression And Cognitive Changes In Dementia Of The Alzheimer’S Type And Normal Aging, Emily A. Carr

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Past research has identified a relationship between depression scores and memory functioning in "normal" populations. However, findings in the dementia of the Alzheimer's Type (DAT) population have been inconsistent, at best. The purpose of the present study was to further investigate whether Depression affects cognitive functioning in individuals with DAT to the same extent as it affects those without DAT. Depression and cognitive functioning was investigated in two groups of subjects: individuals diagnosed with DAT (N = 27), and older normal controls (N = 24). Cognitive functioning was operationalized as scores achieved on recent memory measures. Each group was assessed …

From Realism To Minimalism And Back Again: A Comparison Of Anton Chekhov And Raymond Carver, Olga Olegovna Cherchesova

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This thesis involves a comparison of two short story writers: Anton Chekhov and Raymond Carver. Anton Chekhov has been acknowledged as one of the most significant influences upon the American literature; in particular, he had a strong personal and professional influence on Raymond Carver. Examination of these authors' works traces the tradition of literary inheritance and the development of the short story genre itself in the twentieth century. This thesis explores the survival of Chekhovian narrative tradition in American postmodern short story as epitomized in the work of Raymond Carver.

Engineering A Venture Capital Market: Lessons From The American Experience, Ronald J. Gilson

Faculty Scholarship

The venture capital market and firms whose creation and early stages were financed by venture capital are among the crown jewels of the American economy. Beyond representing an important engine of macroeconomic growth and job creation, these firms have been a major force in commercializing cutting-edge science, whether through their impact on existing industries as with the radical changes in pharmaceuticals catalyzed by venture-backed firms' commercialization of biotechnology, or by their role in developing entirely new industries as with the emergence of the Internet and World Wide Web. The venture capital market thus provides a unique link between finance and …

Why Defenders Feel Defensive, Jane M. Spinak

Faculty Scholarship

The newest version of problem-solving courts has scarcely reached adolescence. Many of these courts remain in the "model" stage, attempting to create a structure and vision that will have a transformative, systemic effect. Others, drug courts in particular, have proliferated across the country and are on the verge of going to scale in many states. Lawyers representing individual clients in these courts are struggling to identify, define and perform their professional duties, at the same time that the courts are being created. To understand why it is a struggle, we need to contextualize the lawyers' experiences: what is it about …

What Did They Do And What Does It Mean? The Three-Judge Court's Decision In Mcconnell V. Fec And The Implications For The Supreme Court, Richard Briffault

Faculty Scholarship

My role at this symposium is to provide a brief overview of the three-judge court's decision in McConnell v. FEC, review the opinions, piece together what the court actually decided, and see how the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 ("BCRA") now stands. I will try to do that briefly, while giving a few general comments about what the court's opinions tell us about the state of campaign finance law today. As a preliminary matter, the three-judge court's opinions provide us with two radically different world views – almost two different intellectual universes – for thinking about campaign finance …

Selected Influences On The Smoking Behavior Among Female And Male College Students Of The University Of Northern Iowa, Evelyn Adom-Boateng

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study primarily, was to investigate and identify the influence of the four focus areas (media, family, peer, and psychological coping technique) on the smoking behavior among female and male college students of the University of Northern Iowa. A description of differences in the influences of the focus areas on the smoking behavior on gender was included in the study. A non-random (convenient) sample of 100 students was drawn from the various Departments and Schools from five colleges in the University (57% males and 43% females).

The Sample responded to a 44-item self-report (survey) questionnaire. Overall means …

The Fragile Promise Of Provisionality, James S. Liebman, Charles F. Sabel

Faculty Scholarship

It is a pleasure to address such well-informed, insightful and well-intentioned responses to our Article. Intellectual predispositions and differing assessments of the prospects of reform aside, it is striking that so many participants have firsthand experience of the new model school, the new politics in all their mystery, and even non-court-centric judicial review. It is clear that something is afoot, and not just in academic circles, when observers as different as Diane Ravitch, the critic of Deweyan latitudinarianism, and Gordon Whitman, the community organizer, are both surprised to discover that standardized testing can go hand in hand with individualized education …

A Parental Involvement Initiative At Fews Alternative School, Lorenzo Harrison

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The major purpose of this study was to improve parental involvement at an alternative school in Montgomery, AL. Eighty-nine percent of the students indicated prior to the intervention that they believed their parents were not involved in their schooling. The intervention consisted of launching a media campaign to target and invite parents to the school and hiring a parent coordinator.

The design that was most conducive for this applied research is a descriptive design. Pre and post survey data was compared to determine if the students perception regarding their parents involvement improved. Logs of all parents contacted and how many …

Improvement In Early Childhood Education Strategies, Margaret Sylvia Mcdonald Collins

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The applied dissertation was designed to improve early childhood education strategies in Hardee County 4-year-old preschool programs. By comparing 2 preschool 4-year-old groups (N = 48), this study addressed the need to increase a child’s readiness for school. The purpose of this study was to determine if teachers who utilized the Florida Department of Education developed Expectations for School Readiness Checklist ratings results to develop individual instructional strategy plans would improve the effectiveness of teachers in preparing children for kindergarten (formal schooling).

The 2 school groups were nonequivalent but held similar characteristics and demographics. The study was a blind study …

Resiliency Training Of Sixth-Grade Students In An Educational Setting, Matthew K. Boggan

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This study was designed to investigate the effects that resiliency training had upon a selected group of students in a rural school with a student population of approximately 600. Planned solution strategies included staff development training and implementing activities to establish the school climate and student readiness.

Resiliency Skills and Abilities Scale was used as a pretest, a 45-item survey to determine resiliency scores, before implementing resiliency skills. Training from The Resiliency Training Program, a Training of Trainers by Nan Henderson, M.S.W. was used as an intervention strategy. The intervention strategies involved a section of sixth-grade students, teachers, counselor, administrators, …

A System-Level Comparison Of Cost-Efficiency And Return On Investment Related To Online Course Delivery, Thomas R. Ramage

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This study was concerned with identification, categorization, and calculation of course-level costs of online courses from community colleges of disparate size in terms of enrollment, support services, costing and accounting methods, and administrative structures.

A survey consisting of the Cost Identification Worksheet was administered to Chief Financial Officers at 12 community colleges in Illinois requesting data related to actual, direct, fixed, and variable costs related to online courses. Data were compiled into institutional spreadsheets for analysis and a composite developed of community colleges in Illinois.

The goal of the study was to compare costs and revenues of Illinois community colleges …

Development, Implementation And Evaluation Of A Minority Recruitment Plan For Faculty, Administrators And Staff At Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, Annie C. Jones

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to develop a minority recruitment plan for use by NWTC. The minority recruitment plan was created to increase the number of minority candidate applicants and eventually, new hires to the campus.

The project primarily utilized the development methodology to address the research questions. Eight procedures were employed including: review of the literature; collection of data from 15 colleges regarding their plans to diversify their workforce and review their plans as to how they relate to NWTC; selection of formative and summative committee to assist in the review of the minority recruitment plan; implementation and evaluation …

Implementing An In-School Suspension And Prevention Program For At-Risk Students In An Urban District, Carol F. Sam

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This practicum report was designed to increase the effective functioning of entry-level psychologists as members of the multidisciplinary team (MDT) through a redefinition and expansion of the traditional role of the school psychologist. A workshop explaining the model was designed and presented to the school psychologists of the writer’s school district, and interviews were conducted individually with both entry-level school psychologists and their members.

The writer developed guidelines to be utilized for training psychologists and providing their mentors with an evaluation technique for supervising them as effectively functioning members of the MDT. This information was also presented to the local …

Increasing Enrollment Sustainability: A Practical Model For A Community College’S Leadership, Dwight D. Dorman

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation describes an academic achievement program designed to keep 1st-year college students eligible for continued learning. At the onset of the program, results of the English department’s records indicated that approximately 60% of the students enrolled in English 101 were not eligible to continue to advance in a sequential manner. This study identified the problem areas that confronted 1st-year English 101 students who did not successfully complete the course.

A creative teaching model was developed that sought to improve the attendance and retention rate of students. The project also sought to empower the students to be responsible and …