Digital Commons Network^™

Mental Health Services And Alternative Schools, Chasity D. Johnson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

With the number of children being placed into alternative school settings growing, it is of interest to know if mental health services are a beneficial addition to the traditional alternative programs. To research this issue, case studies of 48 children who had attended an alternative school were assessed. Participants included 48 students, half of whom had received only alternative school services while the other half had received alternative school services in addition to mental health services during their alternative school placement. Findings show no significant correlation between the hours of mental health services received and any of the following variables: …

Girls' Secondary Education In Uganda: Assessing Policy Within The Women's Empowerment Framework, Shelley Jones

Institute for Educational Development, East Africa

This paper makes the case that policies, such as the National Strategy for Girls' Education in Uganda (NSGE), intended to achieve gender equity in education for girls in developing countries, have limited relevance to, and impact on girls' actual educational experiences. Recent considerations of girls' education acknowledge that gender equity within education is more than access to schooling; it entails the cultivation of capabilities necessary for girls to participate fully, actively and equally in all aspects of their societies. Drawing on a longitudinal, ethnographic policy research case study with 15 Ugandan schoolgirls in rural Masaka District, Uganda, from August 2004 …

Experiences And Perceptions Of Pregnant Unmarried Adolescent Girls In Nigeria, Priscilla N. Asonye

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Sexual activity among unmarried adolescents is a major public health problem in Nigeria, because unmarried pregnant girls are more likely to have multiple sex partners and are less likely to use contraceptives, putting them at greater risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STD), unplanned pregnancy, abortion, social isolation, and poverty. Teen pregnancy and STD rates are on the rise in Nigeria, yet few data exist on the experience of the adolescents themselves. This phenomenological study was designed to explore the in-depth experiences of 10 pregnant, unmarried adolescent girls aged 16-19, including the factors contributing to their sexual activity. An ecological model …

The Effectiveness Of Response To Intervention To Improve High School Students' Reading Skills, Ann-Marie Popwell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

High School students in a local school district were having reading-related difficulties in certain subject areas and were at risk of failing high school courses. Success in reading is important because students must read the content within the End of Course Test in core content subjects, and their success on this test determines their eligibility for high school graduation. The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of a Response to Intervention (RTI) reading class designed to improve reading skills for at-risk high school students. The constructivist learning theory was the theoretical framework for this study. The research …

Impact Of The Study Island Program On Students' Reading Comprehension, Rodney L. Gernert

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

School administrators at the research site, which is a public school district, had been under pressure to improve low reading state scores of Grade 11 students as measured by Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) tests. A web-based reading software called Study Island was integrated into the literacy curriculum for students to increase their reading proficiency and pass PSSA state tests. The research problem was that the integration of Study Island had not been evaluated and students were not meeting adequate yearly progress (AYP). The purpose of this study was to provide research-based evidence on whether Study Island helped students …

Effect Of Political Skill On Perception Of Organizational Politics And Work Withdrawal Among Community College Employees, David John Ross

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Community college student support services are an important aspect of success among community college students. Theoretical and empirical models of organizational politics and withdrawal guided the expectation that community college employees who perceive their organizations as political may withdrawal from their organization, diminishing the services delivered to students at the institution. A multisite cross-sectional survey design was utilized to gather quantitative data via Survey Monkey from national professional organizations. Two-hundred seventeen usable surveys from community college administrators (executive, mid-level managers, and administrators) were gathered. Data were analyzed via correlation and regression models to examine if political skill reduced or moderated …

The Impact Of Industrial Technician Skill Losses At A West Tennessee Manufacturer, Kenneth W. Moten

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Business survival requires that decision makers understand the critical knowledge resources that support the business' core competencies, while also facing the challenges of current labor trends. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of the management staff at a west Tennessee manufacturing facility about industrial technician skill losses. This phenomenological design included semistructured interviews of 20 managers, supervisors, and engineers and was an exploration of the potential losses from skilled worker attrition. The foundations of labor theory; knowledge management; and accounting measurements of intangible assets in advanced technology, communications, and economic systems provided the key elements …

Generational Cohort Differences In Types Of Organizational Commitment Among Nurses In Alabama, April Lavette Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In hospitals in the United States, the ratio of nurses to patients is declining, resulting in an increase in work demands for nurses. Consequently, organizations face challenges with nurses' organizational commitment. Studies have revealed generational differences, as determined by birth year, in employee levels of organizational commitment in a number of organizational settings. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding the impact of generational cohorts on the organizational commitment of nurses. The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental, cross-sectional design was to address whether generational cohorts of nurses differed in their levels of organizational commitment, and to investigate whether …

Standardized Professional Development Content Validation For Educators, Sara J. Sharp

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Educators in a low socioeconomic urban school district have been concerned with the quality of professional development (PD) training provided by the district. This issue affects students, parents, and teachers. Guided by the educational philosophy of inquiry and community, which hold that empowering teachers with validated PD could improve teacher pedagogy and perhaps academic outcomes, this project study examined (a) what benefits a standardized professional development content validation program for the 21st century can provide and, (b) what standardized professional development content validation for the 21st century looks like. A sequential exploratory mixed-methods design was used on a purposive sample …

Discrete Trial Instruction: Comparing The Abbreviated Performance Feedback And Lecture Test Models, Tammy J. Dobbs

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Growing media attention and a high diagnosis rate of autism places significant demand on the service industry to provide qualified staff to work with individuals who have autism. Discrete trial instruction (DTI) is one of the most sought-after treatment approaches for those individuals. However, there is a gap in research regarding the efficacy of training methods for those who train direct staff to implement DTI. This quantitative study used an applied behavior analysis basis, deriving from foundations of behavior theory, to compare the abbreviated feedback form (AFF) to the lecture test model (LTM) to understand which will improve direct staff's …

Improving Community College Faculty Effectiveness Through Technology-Based Learning Communities, David Mark Peter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

College faculty members are often inadequately prepared to use technology in their classrooms. They often learn technology without institutional support, and without understanding technology's impact on student learning. As a result of these shortcomings, the use of technology in the college classroom is often not systematic or focused on improving learning. This study used a conceptual framework based on Wenger's learning community or community of practice idea. This study examined a Midwestern university where faculty made only limited use of classroom technology and did not demonstrate contemporary approaches to student learning. The study set out to determine the impact of …

So That Love May Be Safeguarded: The Nature, Form, And Function Of Obedience As A Heuristic Device For The Theology Of Hans Urs Von Balthasar, Daniel Paul Burns

Dissertations

Hans Urs von Balthasar's literary body of work is enormous. His style is erudite and often abstruse. As a result, it is often difficult to systematize and arrange his work into coherent and consistent categories. This dissertation offers the singular category of obedience as a heuristic device to help render the entire von Balthasarian corpus more understandable. For von Balthasar, the word "obedience" is multivalent and rich in meaning. It cuts across all aspects of human relationships, of human relationships with God, and even God's relationship with Himself. This dissertation claims that the meaning of the word "obedience" is central …

Theology As Improvisation: Using The Musical Metaphor Of Attunement To Think Theologically, Nathan Crawford

Dissertations

This project places itself within the tradition of Christian theology which has sought to think about its thinking of God. In so doing, the tradition has seen it necessary to do this thinking in light of one's contemporary situation. Thus, this project carries this line of thought through by thinking the thinking of God within the contemporary context. The thesis of the project is that theology is improvisation. This thesis is advanced through an analysis of the idea of attunement in both theology and improvisation.

The project articulates the nature of theology as improvisation by analyzing the nature of attunement …

Service-Learning And Jesuit Pedagogy: A Critical Analysis, Nichol Elizabeth Hooker

Dissertations

Service-learning and Jesuit pedagogy have each been the subject of numerous studies and journal articles, particularly throughout the last 40 years. The purpose of this study was to connect these two bodies of research and identify fundamental characteristics that must be present in order for service-learning to conform to Jesuit pedagogy. This study includes an analysis of the core documents of Jesuit education, an examination of research pertaining to service-learning, and a review of literature related to identity development, reflection, social justice, and cultural immersion. The result is a framework of five characteristics (social justice, solidarity, service, reflection, and academic …

To Advance A Race: A Historical Analysis Of The Intersection Of Personal Belief, Industrial Philanthropy And Black Liberal Arts Higher Education In Fayette Mckenzie's Presidency At Fisk University, 1915-1925, Christopher Nicholson

Dissertations

This dissertation used archival and historical methods to examine Fayette Avery McKenzie's tenure as President at Fisk University from 1915-1925. Specifically, this project investigates the influence McKenzie's work with Native Americans, industrial philanthropy, and American culture of the period played in McKenzie's administration. The research seeks to provide a more complete narrative of McKenzie's administration that is absent from current scholarship, and examine how McKenzie's work at Fisk helped advance Black liberal arts higher education. Analysis of McKenzie's personal papers and other primary and secondary sources provide a strong scholarly basis to examine his administration from multiple perspectives. Through an …

The Relationship Between Transformational Leadership And The Emotional And Social Competence Of The School Leader, David Saxe

Dissertations

Sustainable school reform efforts are needed to move schools closer toward the ideals of equity, justice and success for every student. The success or failure of a school and its students often hinges on the effectiveness of leadership. Research reveals that transformational school leaders become effective change agents by developing a shared vision for the school, building consensus around key priorities, holding high expectations, providing support, modeling appropriate values and building collaborative cultures and shared leadership. The purpose of this study is to examine the predictive relationship between the emotional and social competence and transformational leadership behaviors of school principals. …

A Diachronic Analysis Of The Use Of Scripture In The Variant Versions Of The Apocryphon Of John, David Creech

Dissertations

This dissertation explores at length the Apocryphon of John's ambivalent treatment of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. Although Moses is explicitly corrected at five points in the text--four times mentioned by name (NHC II 13,18-21; 22,22-25; 23,3-4; and 29,6-10) and one time by inference (NHC II 21,9-14)--the Genesis account of creation is nonetheless the basis for the Apocryphon's cosmogony and anthropogony. It is argued that the Apocryphon's uneven treatment of the Bible is the result of a development of the text in the midst of a dispute with other early catholics.

Tax Expenditures, Reform, And Distributive Justice , Linda Sugin

Faculty Scholarship

Tax reform is coming, and it will be an important part of any plan to avert national fiscal disaster. The President's Fiscal Commission recently presented a proposal for comprehensive tax reform that will form the basis for serious legislative discussion. At the center of that proposal is elimination of "tax expenditures, " which are provisions in the tax law that operate like direct government spending. They include the charitable deduction, the home mortgage interest deduction, the exclusion for employer provided health insurance, the child credit, the earned income credit, education credits and deductions, the tax preference for retirement savings accounts …

Work Friends: A Commentary On Laura Rosenbury's Working Relationships, Ethan J. Leib

Faculty Scholarship

Knowing that work is a site of intimacy between coworkers does not tell us--as lawyers and public policy designers--what should change to accommodate this new knowledge. Rosenbury rightly emphasizes that this deeper understanding of intimate networks at work should enrich and modify our pursuit of antidiscrimination norms in the workplace. On the one hand, we might wish to allow friends to prefer one another at work in order to reinforce the social institution of friendship that does so much to sustain us. On the other hand, the dangers of homophily--the robust sociological finding that we tend to sort ourselves into …

Introduction, Alan Mcmahan

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Multicultural And Racial Reconciliation Efforts Fail To Attract Many In The Black Church, Dirke D. Johnson

Great Commission Research Journal

The Racial Reconciliation (RR) movement of today fails to attract the Black church. Pastors express the need to value Black monocultural churches. The push by RR adherents to suggest churches “should be” multiracial may be more harmful than helpful. Distinguishing race and culture exposes the reality that most multiracial churches are monocultural. Research of Black college students reveals the desire for monocultural settings. Historical research of the first century church gives biblical validity to monocultural fellowships. Unity will not occur if motivation is reduced to color. Monocultural and multicultural fellowships are needed to reflect an infinite-faceted God.

The Book Of Acts And Evangelism In Argentina, Steven L. Estes

Great Commission Research Journal

This article looks at platforms for the Gospel in the book of Acts and how they apply to evangelism in Argentina. A general overview of evangelism in Acts is discussed, and then specific platforms are presented. Those include the market place in Athens, the place of prayer in Philippi, and the many locations where the Gospel was presented in synagogues. An exposition of Acts 13 is included that helps explain why synagogues were natural platforms. The applications to Argentina include visiting those with a connection to a church. One example is visiting the parents of adolescents who attend church activities.

“The Word Became Flesh,” An Example Of Incarnational Ministry: The Norwegian Settlers Church, Port Shepstone, South Africa, John Easterling

Great Commission Research Journal

The Norwegian Settlers Church in Port Shepstone, South Africa, is a remarkable testimony of God’s faithfulness to His body. Starting as an ethnic immigrant’s church, this fellowship faced many struggles and hardships, including lacking a resident pastor for much of its history. In 1986, God brought Pastor Ernest Hack, whose solid Biblical teaching helped to rebuild the base. In 1995, God led Trevor Downham to reach out to the area’s many young people and to refocus outreach towards community transformation. John Easterling spent time in 2009 and 2010 interviewing and fellowshipping with members of this body as well as researching …

The Numbers To Know For Church Health, Danny R. Von Kanel

Great Commission Research Journal

The church growth movement has long been criticized as being only interested in numbers. However, this article goes beyond simplistic attention to worship attendance to quantify a series of indicators of church health and suggest proper ratios that are consistent with growing churches. The study concludes with a description of the stages of maturity and provides a self-administered diagnostic tool for gauging spiritual maturity in the life of the believer.

Book Review: Encountering Theology Of Mission: Biblical Foundations, Historical Developments, And Contemporary Issues By Craig Ott And Stephen J. Strauss With Timothy Tennent, R. Bruce Carlton

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Planting Churches In The 21st Century: A Guide For Those Who Want Fresh Perspectives And New Ideas For Creating Congregations By Stuart Murray, Steven L. Allen

Great Commission Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Who The Judge Ate For Breakfast: On The Limits Of Creativity In Animal Law And The Redeeming Power Of Powerlessness, Matthew Liebman

Animal Law Review

Drawing upon various schools of legal thought, this Essay explores how ideological and non-legal factors influence the adjudication process in animal law cases. The Legal Realist and Critical Legal Studies movements highlighted the indeterminacy present in legal doctrine and undermined trust in judges’ ability to arrive at “correct” answers to legal questions. In the midst of such indeterminacy, where legal texts do not predetermine legal outcomes, judges tend to render decisions that are consistent with pervasive societal norms and existing distributions of political power. Starting from these premises, the Author questions whether innovative and creative impact litigation by the animal …

An Analysis Of China’S Human Rights Policies In Tibet: China’S Compliance With The Mandates Of International Law Regarding Civil And Political Rights, Richard Klein

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

The Shifting Doctrinal Face Of Immutability, Tiffany C. Graham

Scholarly Works

This Article will examine the concept of immutability as it has been used in equal protection jurisprudence, particularly in the context of the gay rights movement. As a traditional matter, immutability was viewed as a doctrine that limited suspect and quasi-suspect classification status to those groups whose identities were fixed in some visible, often biological fashion. This narrow understanding of immutability served a purpose: it limited suspect or quasi-suspect status to those groups of individuals who were not at fault in some way for the subordinate condition in which they existed. Since the decisions in In re Marriage Cases, …

A Transformational Melancholy: One Law Professor's Journey Through Depression, Marjorie A. Silver

Scholarly Works

In the fall 2007 issue of the Journal of Legal Education, Professor James Jones shared his deeply personal, remarkable, ongoing, story of living, struggling and succeeding as a law professor with bipolar disorder (James T.R. Jones, Walking the Tightrope of Bipolar Disorder: The Secret Life of a Law Professor, 57 J. LEGAL ED. 349 (2007). His essay ended with an invitation to other members of the legal academy to contact him or Professor Elyn Saks, author of an extraordinary memoir about her life with schizophrenia, (ELYN R. SAKS, THE CENTER CANNOT HOLD (2007)) if interested in forming a confidential support …