Education Commons^™

Place Matters: The Role Of Public Libraries As Change Agents In Central Appalachia, Jasmyne R. Lewis

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The role of public libraries is changing in response to a multitude of influences and trends. The exponential growth of technology as the primary method of information access, funding challenges, changing demographics, and other mitigating factors have forced public libraries to become more than book repositories. Community library leaders and governing board members are faced with challenges such as decreased funding, community division regarding library services, and soaring costs for library materials and services, as they develop and adopt policies and practices to navigate this ever-changing environment.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to collect data from the public …

The Impact Of Opioids On Students And Schools In Appalachian And Non-Appalachian Ohio: Educational Leader Perspectives On The Crisis, Charles L. Lowery, Chetanath Gautam

Journal of Research Initiatives

Over the last several decades, the opioid crisis has had an increasing impact on the educational environment of schools. The role that principals and superintendents have in leading schools that have been affected by opioids has been mostly overlooked in the research. The present study was conducted in Ohio, a state with areas that have some of the highest death rates due to opioid-related incidents in the nation. Purpose: This study collected data on the perspectives and perceptions of school leaders in Ohio to better understand how principals and superintendents frame their decisions regarding the opioid crisis. Design: We analyze …

When A Saunter Starts To Taunt Her: Exploring The Outdoors With Disabilities, Jessica Cory

The Goose

This first-person creative nonfiction piece examines engaging with the outdoors, primarily through walking and hiking, while struggling with diagnoses of Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos (hEDS) and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS). The author also considers how growing up with a parent whose disabilities made it more difficult to enjoy hikes impacted her own perception of the ableism inherent in the design, architecture, and infrastructure of many state and local parks. The author discusses the importance and struggle of teaching environmental literature through the lens of Disability Studies and advocates both for visibility as well as concrete changes to make hiking and sauntering …

Engaging Rural High School Youth In E-Cigarette Prevention And Advocacy, Melinda J. Ickes, Olivia Zidzik, Nathan L. Vanderford

Journal of Interprofessional Practice and Collaboration

Introduction: Recent national data reinforce over 3.6 million young people across the United States are currently using e-cigarettes, but little research exists on prevention and/or youth engagement strategies.

Purpose: Pilot a peer led e-cigarette prevention and advocacy training and determine attitudes and self-efficacy among participating rural high school leaders post-training.

Methods: The study incorporated a one-group, post-test design. Participants were recruited from an existing student leadership program (N = 16) which provides advanced cancer education and training to high school students who are from Appalachian Kentucky who participated in an e-cigarette prevention and empowerment training in December 2019. Data …

Narratives From Appalachia: The Current Stories Of Lgbtq Community College Students, Todd A. Cimino-Johnson

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

LGBTQ students are ubiquitous on community college campuses across the United States. The exact number of LGBTQ students is unknown and often their needs are ignored. LGBTQ students face harassment and discrimination at higher rates than other minority groups. This study was conducted to gather the current narratives of LGBTQ students attending community colleges in the Appalachian Region. This study aimed to determine what LGBTQ students are experiencing on community college campuses across Appalachia. Fifteen students took part in a one-on-one semi-structured interview for this qualitative study. All students were currently enrolled in a program of study when the interviews …

Place-Based And Non-Place-Based Performing Arts Experiences And First-Generation, Appalachian College Student Engagement, Rachel Schott

Ed.D. Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the pre-college arts experiences of Appalachian college students who participated in place-based and non-place-based performance arts ensembles and, using a qualitative research approach informed by Kuh et al.’s (2005) study on positive student engagement, understand the influence that participation in these ensembles might have on Appalachian students who are the first in their generation to pursue higher education. In this study, the researcher examined student data from 28 first-generation, Appalachian college students who responded to an online survey, and 11 who volunteered to participate in-depth, personal interviews. All the student participants were …

Food Insecurity Among College Students With And Without Medical Disorders At A University In Appalachia, Laura Mcarthur, Melissa D. Gutschall, Kimberly Fasczewski, Anna Jackson

Journal of Appalachian Health

Objective: This study compared severity of food insecurity, characteristics, and behaviors of college students with and without diagnosed medical disorders.

Design: Data were collected using a cross-sectional online questionnaire. Variables measured were food security status, disorders, coping strategies, and perceived barriers to food access. Descriptive and inferential statistics examined associations and compared groups. Statistical significance was p≤0.05.

Setting: Data were collected at Appalachian State University in North Carolina.

Participants: The sample was 247 food insecure students, of whom 60% were females, 50% 3rd- and 4th-year students, and 75% whites.

Results: Medical disorders were reported by 67.2% of food insecure students, …

Dropping The Invisibility Cloak: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of Sense Of Belonging And Place Identity Among Rural, First Generation, Low Income College Students From Appalachian Kentucky, Brenda Abbott

Doctoral Dissertations

In a country that once was 95% rural in the late 1700s, only 19.3% of the population of the United States now live in rural areas (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). The shift in population from rural to urban areas is not simply demographic; it imbues a shift in who and what matters. Only 13.6% of adults over 25 in Appalachian Kentucky have earned bachelor's degrees, 18.9% below the national average (Appalachian Regional Commission, 2016). This phenomenological study seeks to understand how rural, first generation, low income college students from Appalachian Kentucky experience a sense of belonging in their first year …

Collectivism In Central Appalachia: Educational And Career Implications, Heidi Leigh Creamer

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Individualistic cultures tend to focus on freedom, individuality, and personal autonomy. Mainstream America is found to be a vertical individualistic society, but research has shown there are pockets of collectivistic cultures within the US. Collectivistic cultures, in contrast, tend to focus on family, conformity, and thinking of the group before one’s self. Collectivism arises due to a population’s need to rely on one another for resources. As such, low resource environments are subject to having collectivistic values. Research suggests that collectivism rates are higher in impoverished areas, such as Appalachia. This investigation focused on central Appalachia and the attributes that …

Bible Belt Gays: Insiders-Without, Bernadette Barton

The Chautauqua Journal

During a Spring 2012 visit to a university nestled in the Appalachian Mountains, my hosts introduced me to an openly gay Episcopalian priest active in a variety of local progressive causes, including gay rights issues. While enjoying a buffet luncheon of Indian food, I learned that Father “Joe” (all the names are changed) had lived many years in Central Kentucky and we knew several people in common. After a run-through of our personal connections, Father Joe shared other tidbits of his life story, including that he had not been raised Episcopalian. He explained, “I grew up in a fundamentalist family …

Invisible Outsiders: Developing A Working Alliance With Appalachian Clients, Jake Protivnak, Cassandra Pusateri, Matthew Paylo, Kyoung Choi

Faculty Publications

Appalachian clients are often ‘invisible’ within the majority culture and possess characteristics unique to the region that must be considered within the counseling relationship (Tang & Russ, 2007). Individuals in Appalachia have higher incidences of certain mental health disorders and substance use as compared to the national average (Appalachian Regional Commission [ARC], 2008). Although the need for mental health services is evident, limited research exists to inform mental health professionals how to deliver culturally competent interventions to build a working alliance with Appalachian clients. The authors will discuss a framework for mental health professionals to develop a strong working alliance …

Invisible Outsiders: Developing A Working Alliance With Appalachian Clients, Jake J. Protivnak, Cassandra G. Pusateri, Matthew J. Paylo, Kyoung Mi Choi

Kyoung Choi

Social Support For Physical Activity For High Schoolers In Rural Appalachia, Pooja M. Shah

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of the present study is to conduct a secondary qualitative analysis to examine parent, teacher, and high school adolescents’ perceptions of social support for physical activity (PA) for high schoolers in Southern Appalachia. Social support for PA is linked to higher rates of PA participation in adolescents. Parents, siblings, and peers provide key sources of support. Social support for PA may be even more important in under-resourced communities such as Appalachia, where geographic, economic, and environmental barriers negatively impact PA engagement. During 2013-2014, focus groups and semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents of adolescents (n=39), high school teachers …

Progressive Education In Appalachia: East Tennessee State Normal School And Appalachian State Normal School, Holly Heacock

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this thesis, I am examining how East Tennessee State Normal School in East Tennessee and Appalachian State Normal School in Western North Carolina interpreted progressive education differently in their states. This difference is that East Tennessee State began as a state funded school to educate future teachers therefore their school and their curriculum was more rounded and set to a structured schedule. Appalachian State Normal School was initially founded to educate the uneducated in the “lost provinces” therefore, curriculum was even more progressive than East Tennessee State’s – based strongly on the practices of farming, woodworking, and other practical …

“I Wonder What You Think Of Me”: A Qualitative Approach To Examining Stereotype Awareness In Appalachian Students, Chelsea G. Adams

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Historically, Appalachia has been stereotyped as being a culture bred in poverty and ignorance. Much research has shown that stereotyping reveals a pattern of behavioral change and an impact on psychological well-being for the stereotyped (e.g., Pinel, 1999; Woodcock, Jernandez, Estrada, & Schultz, 2012), and has largely been centered on race and gender (e.g., Byrnes, 2008; Tuckman & Monetti, 2011). Less is known about the development of culture-specific stereotypes such as those related to Appalachians – a highly stigmatized group (Daniels, 2014; Otto, 2002). The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of how adolescents in rural Appalachia …

Teacher Perception Of Principal Leadership Practices: Impacting Teachers' Sense Of Self-Efficacy In Rural Appalachia Kentucky, Brandon Lee Hibbard

Online Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if a significant relationship existed between principal leadership practices, as perceived by teachers, and teacher’s sense of self-efficacy. The target population was rural Appalachian teachers that worked for a principal that had been in administration for at least three consecutive years. This study utilized teacher responses from a survey consisting of the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES, Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk-Hoy, 2001) and the Leadership Practice Inventory – observer (LPI, Kouzes & Posner, 2003).

Results from the survey categorized levels of self-efficacy for teachers based on the works of Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk-Hoy …

The Relationship Between Intercultural Communication Experience And College Persistence Among First Generation Appalachian Students, Meredith A. Garrison

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

This study seeks to explore the relationship between intercultural communication experiences and college persistence in first-generation college students from the Central Appalachian region. Because Appalachia has a rich and unique culture, which is often misunderstood, the literature review seeks to establish a basis for studying this relationship as a way to understand the multi-dimensional nature of low-educational attainment in the Appalachian region, particularly Eastern Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Using a survey-based quantitative method this study examines Appalachian first generation students attending college as an intercultural communication process through the frame of acculturation theory. Specifically, the study seeks information …

The Relationship Between Self-Directed Learning And Information Literacy Among Adult Learners In Higher Education, Tiffani Reneau Conner

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between self-directed learning and information literacy. Participants completed the Personal Orientation in Self-Directed Learning Scale ([PRO-SDLS], Stockdale, 2003) and the Information Literacy Test ([ILT], James Madison University, 2003). The PRO-SDLS is a self-report scale consisting of 25 statements about self-directed learning preferences in college classrooms. The ILT is a 60-item multiple-choice test that assesses the information literacy skills of college students. Correlation, ANOVA, and multiple regressions were used to test relationships and differences between self-directed learning and information literacy. Despite claims that teaching information literacy creates self-directed learners, composite scores …

Factors That Contribute To Student Graduation And Dropout Rates: An In-Depth Study Of A Rural Appalachian School District, Ann Lyttle-Burns

Online Theses and Dissertations

There has been a wealth of research conducted on the national epidemic of high school dropouts spanning several decades. It is estimated that the class of 2009 cost the nation $335 billion in lost wages, taxes and productivity over their lifetimes (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2009). The citizenry of the country suffers not only because of the loss in revenue but also as a result of the education level of the population. Individuals who choose to drop out of high school are not prepared for the most basic minimum wage jobs available, much less well paying jobs that sustain livelihoods. …

Quicksand Craft Center: Documentation & Analysis Of A Handweaving Program In Vest, Kentucky, Deborah Champion

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Data on the handweaving program at the Quicksand Craft Center in the Appalachian Mountains of Eastern Kentucky were compiled and analyzed. Four areas--history of the craft program, business organization and financial structure, weave patterns of goods woven and sold by the craft center, and weavers employed in the program --were examined to assess the success of the program in the local community. Factors in the four areas examined contributed to the success of the program. The benevolence, perseverance, and co-operation of the founders, directors and community members involved with the craft center have been largely responsible for the continued success …

Appalachian Studies Conference Newsletter, Appalachian Studies Association

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No abstract provided.