Education Commons^™

High School Sophomores' Perceptions Of The Role Of Extra-Curricular Activities As Preparation For College Admission, John Earl Wyble

Dissertations

While there is significant interest and emphasis on student participation in extra-curricular activities, limited research on such participation and the benefits it may possess toward preparing students for college admissions exists. A survey of 312 high school sophomores in a rural, southeastern Louisiana school district was conducted. Data were collected through the survey on the students' participation in extra-curricular activities and their perceived value of such participation toward gaining admission to a postsecondary institution. The purpose of the study was to analyze the relationship between participation in extra-curricular activity and the perceived value of such participation toward gaining admission to ...

Determinants Of Resident Assistant Job Satisfaction In Privatized University Housing, Jennifer Lynn Casey

Dissertations

The general purpose of a residence life program is the improvement of the oncampus student experience in hopes of promoting personal growth, development, and education as well as bolstering retention rates and cultivating future alumni relationships. A residence life program can be found on most four year college and university campuses. Many colleges and universities facilitate their own residence life programs in whole or in part. Other colleges and universities outsource their residence life programs, in whole or in part, to what is called a privatized university housing company. The goals of a residence life program, be it facilitated by ...

Multiple Interpersonal Traumas And Specific Constellations Of Trauma Symptoms In A Clinical Population Of University Females, Abby Marie Myers

Counseling and Psychological Services Dissertations

Female survivors of multiple forms of trauma are increasingly found to be a significant portion of the university population (Briere, Kaltman, & Green 2008). While there is a strong literature base for understanding the effects of individual trauma on psychological functioning (e.g., Briere, 1992; Kaltman, Krumnick, Stockton, Hooper, & Green, 2005), little is known about specific symptom constellations for those who have experienced multiple traumas (Rich, Gingerich, & Roseìn, 1997). Using a clinical population of 500 female university students, this study explored the rates of multiple interpersonal traumatic experiences, the connection between multiple traumas and symptom severity, and the association of specific constellations of multiple types of traumas with specific constellations of trauma symptoms. The Trauma Symptom Inventory-Alternate (Briere, 1995) and self-report measures of demographic ...

African American School Psychology Program Leavers, Sherrie L. Proctor

Counseling and Psychological Services Dissertations

This phenomenology used 21 in-depth interviews to explore seven African Americans’ experiences at the school psychology programs they left. The purpose was to investigate what experiences contributed to participants’ decisions to leave programs; if programs used retention strategies and if so, participants’ view of the strategies; and what participants believe might have encouraged their retention. Findings indicate that misalignment between participants’ career aims and their perceptions of school psychology practice as well as poor relationships with faculty and peers contributed to decisions to leave programs. Five participants reported that programs did not utilize retention strategies. Two reported that a sole ...

Perceptions Of School Psychology Supervisors And Practitioners About Supervision Practices In The Southeastern Region Of The Us: An Exploratory Study Using Concept Mapping, Brandi J. Wells

Counseling and Psychological Services Dissertations

Supervision is essential to the development of school psychologists. Effective supervision cultivates professional competence and objectivity, enhances service delivery, encourages critical thinking and problem solving, and supports school psychologists to engage in continuous professional development activities. Yet, there is little information available about how school psychology practitioners and supervisors view supervision and in what ways actual supervision practices can improve. This study employed concept mapping, which is a structured analytic methodology that allows qualitative and quantitative data to be expressed as visual models to explore practicing school psychologists’ and supervisors’ perceptions about supervision by: (a) investigating what impediments hindered supervision ...

Quantifying Social Justice Advocacy Competency: Development Of The Social Justice Advocacy Scale, Jennifer Kaye Dean

Counseling and Psychological Services Dissertations

Social justice advocacy has been a force throughout the history of Counseling Psychology and has been described as more critical to the field than any other time in its long history (Toporek & McNally, 2006). Accordingly, in 2002, the American Counseling Association endorsed the Advocacy Competencies in an effort to advance the status of social advocacy by defining competency for counselors engaged in social advocacy (Lewis, Arnold, House, & Toporek, 2002). However, at the writing of this article, these competencies had not yet been operationalized. Therefore, a comprehensive review of the multidisciplinary literature was conducted and seventy- three skills consistent with these ...

The Moderating Role Of Adult Connections In High School Students' Sense Of School Belonging, Amy Dutton Tillery

Counseling and Psychological Services Dissertations

Researchers have demonstrated that students who had a strong sense of school belonging exhibited greater academic motivation and performance (E. Anderman, 2002; Faircloth & Hamm, 2005), had fewer emotional and behavioral difficulties (Furrer & Skinner, 2003; McMahon, Singh, Garner, & Benhorin; 2004), and were less likely to dropout of school (Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004; Knesting, 2008). Limited attention has been given to the potential factors that promote school belonging, especially in high school students. The purpose of this research was to examine the unique influence of adult connections on high school students’ sense of school belonging utilizing the framework of self-determination theory. The role of adult connections was examined as a moderator of the relations between five ...

Structural Extension Of The Cattell-Horn-Carroll Cross-Battery Approach To Include Measures Of Visual-Motor Integration, Janell Hargrove Brooks

Counseling and Psychological Services Dissertations

In spite of the long-standing tradition of including measures of visual-motor integration in psychological evaluations, visual-motor abilities have not been included in the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of cognitive abilities or its complementary cross-battery approach to assessment. The purpose of this research was to identify the shared constructs of a popular test of visual-motor integration and a test of intellectual functioning, and to investigate how a test of visual-motor integration would be classified within the CHC model. A large normative sample of 3,015 participants that ranged in age from 5 to 97 years completed the Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test, Second ...

The Relationship Between Intrinsic Motivation, Motivational Interviewing And Physical Activity In An African American Church Population, Simone S. Rahotep

Counseling and Psychological Services Dissertations

African Americans carry a disproportionate amount of the health burden for chronic disease in the United States (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007). Diabetes, heart disease and cancer, to name a few, are diseases which prematurely capture the lives of African Americans. While chronic, these diseases are preventable with the advent of behavioral change. Physical activity is a primary contributor to longer life expectancy and fewer health concerns (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 1996). While American society, as a whole, struggles to incorporate more physical activity in their lifestyles, African Americans exhibit higher levels of physical ...

An Exploration Of The Coping Strategies In Female Counseling Doctoral Students' Marriages, Jung H. Hyun

Counseling and Psychological Services Dissertations

The growing literature on the impact of doctoral programs on marriages has identified four major areas of concern: financial difficulties, change of lifestyle, lack of time, and communication issues (Bergen & Bergen, 1978; Cao, 2001; Giles, 1983; Middleton, 2001; Norton, Thomas, Morgan, Tilley, & Dickins, 1998; Williams, 1977). In addition, Looney, Harding, Blotcky and Branhart (1980) found that psychotherapists were more likely to have marital discord and failure in their marriages than in the general population. Moreover, studies have shown that female doctoral students reported more stress compared to male students (Mallinckrodt, Leong, & Kralj, 1989). With the recognition that marital conflicts are a significant indicator for lower persistent rates for married graduate students, it is critical to examine how married counseling doctoral students cope with their marital conflicts during the program. Following a constructionist philosophical stance, this exploratory study examined how married female counseling doctoral students cope with marital conflicts during their program using a phenomenological method approach. Fourteen married female counseling doctoral students in the development of competence stage of their program of study (Bowen & Rudenstine, 1992; Lovitts, 2001) were interviewed, and 13 interviews were analyzed in a recursive manner ...

A Phenomenological Investigation Of Supervisors' And Supervisees' Experiences With Attention To Cultural Issues In Multicultural Supervision, Amy L. Mcleod

Counseling and Psychological Services Dissertations

This study investigated the experiences of supervisors and supervisees involved in multicultural supervision, specifically regarding how cultural issues are addressed in supervision, the impact of attention to cultural issues on the supervisory relationship, and the impact of attention to cultural issues on supervisees’ development of perceived multicultural counseling competence (MCC). Six supervisors and nine supervisees who differed from each other on at least one cultural variable (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, spiritual identity, age, ability status, and socioeconomic status) participated. The participating supervisees were receiving supervision from one of the participating supervisors at the time this study took ...

International Students' Psychological And Sociocultural Adaptation In The United States, Seda Sumer

Counseling and Psychological Services Dissertations

International students constitute an important cohort in the United States (U.S.) colleges and universities. In order for the U.S. colleges and universities to better accommodate the significant number of international students and to recruit them in the future, it is critical to identify factors that influence these students’ acculturation and adjustment processes and provide professionals with guidelines for creating culturally appropriate services and programs for them. Therefore the current study examined international students’ adaptation to the U.S. in relation to their acculturation levels, coping processes, and intent to stay in the U.S. after their graduation. Center ...

Preservice Teacher Perspectives On Prereferral Intervention And Student Support Teams, Kathryn Rogers Grogg

Counseling and Psychological Services Dissertations

This qualitative inquiry evaluated the Student Support Team Project and its effects on preservice teachers’ knowledge and perceptions of prereferral intervention and student support teams. This investigation is important because prereferral intervention and student support teams have been used increasingly to provide assistance to teachers and to students who need assistance with academic, social and emotional problems. This has created a need to provide preservice education that helps to prepare teachers to use these resources to help their students. This investigation demonstrated a specific approach to such instruction for preservice teachers (i.e., the Student Support Team Project), including an ...

Perceived Effectiveness Of Hall Director Leadership Style On The Satisfaction Of Resident Assistants In Mississippi, Rheo Joelyn Avorice Morris

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to ascertain which leadership style correlates most with RA satisfaction in residence halls at three public universities in Mississippi. When satisfied, RAs will be more efficient in their roles and this will transfer to students residing in the halls. As a result more students in the residence halls will become more satisfied with their living environment and residence hall experience. Schroeder and Mable (1994) have stated that residence halls lack strong internal direction and a solution to this problem is to encourage the development of effective leadership skills! Instead of addressing the lack of ...

A Program Evaluation Of School-Wide Positive Behavior Support In An Alternative Education Setting, Elana Rachel Weinberger

Open Access Dissertations

The current program evaluation of school-wide positive behavior support (PBS) in an alternative education setting was conducted in three phases (Phase 1: initial evaluation; Phase 2: intervention; Phase 3: follow up evaluation). The purpose of the evaluation was to identify strengths and weaknesses of the PBS program and to implement changes to improve program effectiveness and positive outcomes for students. An exploratory case study design was used to achieve an in-depth understanding of the program through the use of quantitative and qualitative data collection. The evaluation was completed within one school year, between November 2007 and May 2008. The participants ...

The Effects Of A School-Based Motivational Intervention On Adolescent Substance Abuse, Elizabeth Gates Bradley

Open Access Dissertations

Substance abuse is the foremost health problem in the United States, with an estimated annual cost of over $400 billion and is linked to over 400,000 preventable deaths each year. Adolescents are among those abusing drugs and alcohol. Approximately one-half of high school students use alcohol and one-fourth smoke marijuana, and by their senior year of high school, over half will have used an illicit drug. Effective substance use interventions for young adults are important in preventing the progression toward other drug use disorders and harmful consequences of frequent drug use. Schools have been identified as a viable setting ...

Assessing Completion Rates Of Emt-Basic Students Using The Self-Directed Search, Rod Hackwith

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With shrinking budgets and a need to demonstrate accountability to legislaturesand boards of higher education, retention rates of students have been utilized byinstitutions of higher education to demonstrate their effectiveness and value. Thepurpose of this descriptive, exploratory study was to determine if specific personalitytypes as identified by the Self-Directed Search (SDS) were more successful in completingan EMT-Basic course at the local community. Secondary data, collected as a pilot for thepurpose of improving program retention, was based on information gathered fromstudents (n=47) enrolled in an EMT-Basic class over the course of one semester wheresuccess rates were tracked in accordance with ...

Exploration Linking Self-Reported Disordered Eating And Wellness In Undergraduate Health Students, Pamela K. Owens

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

An applied project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Education Specialist at Morehead State University by Pamela K. Owens on April 29, 2009.

Key Challenges Facing Student Athletes And Connections To Their Choice Of Major, Kimberlee J. Henrion

Dissertations

This study examines the reasons student athletes choose their major and the challenges they face creating a successful student identity, and ultimately graduating with degrees of value to them. A survey was created utilizing themes from previous studies, and distributed at one Midwestern Division I university. Questions regarding time management, academic conflicts, health issues, service usage, selection of major, career aspirations, and perceptions of identity, following Arthur Chickering's theory of College Student Development were asked.

Results show the majority of the 171 student athlete respondents indicated few conflicts with time management (e.g., they generally have time to complete ...

A Pilot Study To Explore The Use Of Expressive Writing To Reduce Anxiety And Psychological Threat In An Academic Setting, Cynthia Delores Jenkins

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate if the use of Pennebaker's short-term expressive writing intervention would have a positive effect on the academic performance of a group of third semester underperforming freshmen. This is a relatively brief and simple intervention pioneered by J. W. Pennebaker (1997) who conducted numerous studies using the procedure. Most of the research has involved having subjects write about traumatic, stressful or emotional events for 15–20 minutes (the maximum) over 3–5 days. In contrast, the studies by Wilson (2006) and Cohen et al (2006) used self-affirmations for writing. For this study ...

A Phenomenological Case Study Of The Multicultural Counseling Experience Of Students And Faculty In Relation To Their Perceptions Of Their Multicultural Competency And Cacrep Standards, Nial P. Quinlan

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The shifting population demographics of the United States are an unmistakable sign that the work of professional counselors and educators will continue to see an increase in the diversity of their client populations. It can be surmised, that paralleling this population change will be a subsequent increase in the demand for multicultural sensitive education and counseling, with particular attention being given to oppressed and marginalized groups who have been traditionally underserved. The counseling profession, guided by the American Counseling Association's (ACA) Code of Ethics, has unequivocally stated that professional counselors need to be proficient at providing multicultural competent counseling ...

Experiences Of School Counselors During And After Making Suspected Child Abuse And Neglect Reports, April Sikes

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of school counselors during or after making suspected child abuse and neglect reports. The survey population for this study consisted of all members of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) who identified themselves as working in elementary, elementary/middle, middle/junior high, middle/secondary, secondary/high school, and K-12 work settings. Email addresses were obtained from the ASCA online member directory during the summer of 2008. A total of 847 surveys were completed and returned. A total of 11,113 ASCA members were sent surveys. Of those sent, 7,021 ...

Attitudes And Beliefs Of Counselor Educators Toward Gatekeeping, Joanna W. Campbell

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine attitudes and beliefs of counselor educators toward gatekeeping, which become overt in gatekeeping decisions in the context of stringent and less stringent decisions made at seven gates that counselors-in-training must pass though to graduate, and factors extraneous to counselor-in-training competence that may influence gatekeeping decisions. A total of 84 counselor educators participated in this study. Results showed that counselor educators are most stringent at the admissions gate; that less stringent gatekeeping decisions are made by counselor educators who have experience as a professional counselor prior to becoming a counselor educator at the ...

Efficacy Of A Secondary School Mentoring Program: Connecting Academic Achievement With Mentoring, Kimberly Olson

Theses and Graduate Projects

This study was created to determine if students at the middle school level would exhibit an increase in quarter grades in the areas of reading and mathematics throughout the year if they received mentoring from school personnel. In addition to student grades, attendance and behavior referrals throughout the year were also examined. This study involved fifty-two students in the study group and sixty-six students in the control group, all of whom attended the same public middle school in southeast Minnesota. Data were collected by school office personnel and was analyzed using the t-tests (to compare average means for analyzing academic ...

Perceived Closeness To The Deceased And Its Predictive Effect On The Development Of Prolonged Grief Disorder And Suicidality Among Bereaved College Students, Jeffrey Alan Rings

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A growing percentage of college students are experiencing severe and debilitating psychological problems (Caulfield, 2000; Douce, 2004; Kitzrow, 2003). Despite being a commonly-encountered stressor among undergraduates (Currier et al., 2006), the occurrence of bereavement is addressed rarely among the college mental health literature. However, bereavement has been shown to lead to increased suicidality and other problematic mental health symptoms (Prigerson, Bridge et al., 1999). Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD), a newly-defined mental health diagnosis, has been found to be a more accurate indicator of poorer mental health functioning among bereaved individuals than other mental health conditions (Silverman et al., 2000). Some ...

Enhancing Counselor Empathy To Promote Moral Development And Conceptual Complexity: A New Model For Counselor Preparation And Supervision, Patricia Adele Logan

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between Cultural/Ethnic Identity And Individual Protective Factors Of Academic Resilience, Dale E. Weaver

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Hurricane Katrina Families: Social Class And The Family In Trauma Recovery, Emilie E. Godwin

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Hurricane Katrina has profoundly altered the lives of New Orleans residents as they continue three years following the storm to attempt to rebuild their community and their lives. Natural disaster literature has historically focused on the impacts on individuals and correlating variables. Significant literature gaps exist regarding family systems and disaster and analysis of the relationship of social class to recovery. This qualitative investigation situated in an emancipatory paradigm investigated the relationship between social class and family changes for seven Katrina families self-identified as members of marginalized social classes. Study conclusions reveal significant shifts in family identities and a strong ...

Promoting Moral Reasoning And Ego Development Through The Use Of Deliberate Psychological Education In Family Counseling, Esther Benoit

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Families come to therapy wanting to know how to raise good citizens and address issues of justice and fairness in the context of their interpersonal relationships. Research literature suggests that the family may be the best context for moral learning. The implications of deliberately promoted developmental growth within the context of a family therapy intervention are explored. Specifically, the relationships between moral reasoning, ego development and relational functioning in family therapy are examined within a systems-based therapeutic approach.;Outcome research in family therapy suggests that there is at least a moderate positive effect of family therapy. This study examines the ...

More Than Just Books: Using Fiction To Help Young Girls Relate, Katie Michelle Simmons Laney

Honors Theses

In recent years, I have had the opportunity to work in a variety of ministry settings. One such setting brought me in contact with a girl who was in a bullying situation. In her case, she related to me action taken in her classroom by her teacher at the urging of her parents. The situation had been remedied, but she was still dealing with the emotional repercussions of having been a victim of relational aggression. In my acquaintance with the girl, I knew she enjoyed reading. Therefore, she helped to inspire my original thesis idea of learning more about the ...