Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Prenatal Development: Annotated Bibliography, Victoria J. Molfese, Amanda Prokasky, Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Ibrahim H. Acar, Xiaoqing Tu, Kate Sirota, Brian Keiser

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

For decades, researchers have investigated how events in the prenatal period impact women and their infants. These studies, particularly by researchers in the medical, neuroscience, and behavioral science fields, led to discoveries of important information regarding the prenatal events that were strongly associated with mortality (or death) and morbidity (or incidences of injury, pathology and abnormalities/anomalies, and neurobehavioral sequelae) in the neonatal and infancy periods. Among the many common findings from early research studies, two are particularly noteworthy. First, maternal and fetal risk conditions arising in the prenatal period do not do so in isolation. Sameroff and Chandler characterized this …

The Varieties Of Individual Engagement (Vie) Scales: Confirmatory Factor Analyses Across Two Samples And Contexts, Lisa M. Pytlikzillig, Myiah J. Hutchens, Peter Muhlberger, Shiyuan Wang, Rebecca Harris, Jayme Neiman, Alan Tomkins

Lisa PytlikZillig Publications

The field of public engagement, participation and deliberation is fraught with conflicting results that are difficult to interpret due to the very different methods and measures used. Theory advancement and consistent operationalization and assessment of key public deliberation and engagement variables will benefit considerably from standardized measures of constructs and the ability to compare across studies. In this article, drawing from social and educational psychology, we describe the theoretical bases for scales assessing eight varieties of participant engagement that may be experienced during participation activities: Active learning, conscientious, uninterested, creative, open-minded, closed-minded, angry, and social engagement. We describe our development …

An Unholy Alliance: The Connection Between Foster Care And Human Trafficking, Michelle R. Lillie

Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking: 5th (2013)

It is general knowledge within the anti-trafficking community that children facing abuse, neglect and parental substance abuse are at the greatest risk for human trafficking. Yet very little research has connected these same abused and neglected children that are currently in foster care with human trafficking. This paper examines the connection between foster care and human trafficking in the United States with special emphasis on sex trafficking. Within the human trafficking literature there is a very large gap regarding foster care and wards of the state. Very little statistical data are available on the prevalence of foster care children involved …

Librarians As Advocates For Scholarly Authors: A Presentation And A Dramatization, Sue Ann Gardner

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Presentations

Scholarly authors today are faced with unprecedented choices and, paradoxically, increasing barriers to publication. For example, the author-pays financial model of funding open access (also sometimes called Gold OA) is one of many such innovations that thwart authors who are not currently Federally funded or otherwise sponsored. As academic librarians, we need to be aware of the scholarly publishing infrastructure so we can advise authors how to make decisions about where to publish, what terms to agree to, and how to best leverage their written scholarly output.

Regarding the scholarly publishing financial market, I will describe how, effectively, the “tail …

Suddenly...I'M Consulting On Data Management Plans! Data Management Plan Consultant Checklist, Kiyomi D. Deards

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Presentations

This webinar will outline the most important questions to ask, and the best resources available, for those who "suddenly" will be consulting on data management plans.

Perceptions Of Parental Awareness Of Emotional Responses To Stressful Life Events, Lisa Jobe-Shields, Gilbert R. Parra, Kelly E. Buckholdt

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

There is a need to better understand family processes related to recovery from past stressful life events. The present study aimed to investigate links between perceptions of parental awareness regarding stressful life events, continued event-related rumination, and current symptoms of depression. Students at a diverse, urban university completed a life events checklist and a semistructured interview regarding family processing of stressful life events, as well as self-report measures of event-related rumination and depression. Results indicated that perceptions of mothers’ and fathers’ awareness of sadness regarding stressful life events as well as mothers’ and fathers’ verbal event processing predicted symptoms of …

Tiers 2 & 3 Intervention: Restorative Practices, Emily Moss, Ann O'Connor, Reece L. Peterson

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Conclusion

Restorative practices include a variety of different specific practices. A substantial number of studies that have been conducted on these practices, and the research has shown positive results. This framework and these practices have been used in a variety of settings including schools. These programs are concerned with repairing the harm to the victim and helping the victim and the offender to heal so that relationships can be restored. To implement, schools must assess what their needs are, implement the philosophy , and then choose the specific practices that best fits those needs.

Note: See related Strategy Briefs on …

Risk Factors For Overweight/Obesity In Preschool Children: An Ecological Approach, Dipti A. Dev, Brent A. Mcbride, Barbnara H. Fiese, Blake Jones, Hyunkeun Cho, Strong Kids Research Team

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Background—Identification of risk factors is critical to preventing the childhood obesity epidemic. Risk factors that contribute to obesity are multifactorial. However, limited research has focused on identifying obesity risk factors using an ecological approach.

Methods—Baseline self-report survey data from the STRONG Kids program were used. The sample consisted of 329 parent-child dyads recruited from childcare programs in east-central Illinois. Child height and weight were measured and converted to age- and sex-specific z-scores using standard growth charts. An ecological model provided the theoretical framework for the selection of 22 previously reported childhood obesity risk factors. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used …

Strategies For Strengthening The Great Plains Oral Health Workforce, John Reinhardt, Kimberly Mcfarland

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

The looming shortage of dentists in rural communities throughout the Great Plains is a well-documented concern. Access to care can be a problem, and the lack of dental care is generally most acute among those with low income, those with complex health issues, and minorities. Studies are finding that there are significant associations between poor oral health and the occurrence of systemic diseases or problems. Examples include cardiovascular disease, stroke, and preterm delivery of low-birth weight infants. The two primary diseases of the oral cavity-dental caries and periodontal disease-are not only treatable but also preventable with adequate care.

The University …

Ensuring Mathematical Learning In Rural Schools Investing In Teacher Knowledge, Wendy M. Smith, W. James Lewis, Ruth M. Heaton

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

In this research article we share our vision of how to improve student mathematics success in rural districts. Good teaching matters. We have found two recurring features that can support teachers' success in effectively teaching students mathematics: high-quality, longitudinal professional development and professional connections. We partner with rural districts and master teachers to offer local high-quality professional development for mathematics teachers to strengthen their mathematical knowledge for teaching. We have substantial evidence that participation in longitudinal, high-quality professional development significantly increases teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching, as well as improves their confidence in teaching. Bringing teachers together for professional development …

School Consolidation And Community Development, Gary Paul Green

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

The linkages between schools and community are seldom discussed in the research on school consolidation. Most of the focus of this body of literature is on the effects of school consolidation on efficiency and equity. In this essay I discuss the importance of school-community relationships and the critical role schools can play in community development. School consolidation can have several negative impacts on the local economy, social capital, and community identity. Assessments of the benefits and costs of consolidation need to consider more carefully the impacts on communities and the potential of building a stronger relationship between schools and communities.

Ell High School Students Of Mexican Ancestry: A Phenomenological Study Of Language Ideologies, Kristine Sudbeck

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

The formation of languages and dialects is frequently considered a social process (Gal & Irvine, 1995). As such, humans form their own ideologies about particular language varieties, placing values on certain ones in a given context more than others (Greenfield, 2010). The development of a person’s language ideology can be influenced by the profit of distinction, which Pierre Bourdieu (1984) describes as the “noted margin of difference for usefulness and prestige of a particular language” (p. 55). It is through the process of misrecognition (Bourdieu, 1984) that a particular language is “recognized as legitimate and appropriate for discourse in official …

Atmosphere For Learning Undistracted Rural Schools Of Nebraska, Charles W. Guildner

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

In the spring of2002, while traveling in Nebraska making images for my "Lives of Tradition" photography project, I saw a small rural school. It occurred to me that there could be no more traditional lives than those of people attending a small rural school. This one, Round Hill School, is located about 15 miles south of Broken Bow, Nebraska.

I stopped to ask if! might visit and photograph. Mary Jane Graham, the teacher, welcomed me in to meet the students, learn about their school, and make photographs.

During the four years that followed, after researching the locations of other still …

Rural Communities And School Consolidation--Introduction To Special Issue, Richard Edwards, Peter Longo

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

This special issue of Great Plains Research focuses on rural communities and school consolidation. It publishes some of the contributions, both essays and research articles, first presented at the Center for Great Plains Studies' 39th Annual Symposium at the University of Nebraska at Kearney on April 5-6, 2013. It also includes some images from a special Chuck Guildner photographic exhibition staged at the Museum of Nebraska Art. The symposium broadly addressed the connection between rural schools and rural communities, including a particular focus on the gains and losses from school consolidation. Good schools are essential to the good life. Americans …

Demographic Foundation Of Rural Education In The Great Plains The Impact Of Urbanization, Robert Blair, Jerome Deichert, David Drozd

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Demographic factors have been transforming the Great Plains for decades. Although the region increased in population from 1950 to 2007, closer analysis reveals that much of that growth took place in the Core Based Statistical Areas. These population trends reflect the broader impact of urbanization. This article provides a contextual perspective of critical demographic factors influencing the structure of educational systems in rural communities in the Great Plains region, helping administrators and decision makers understand the impact of demographic forces on the delivery of rural education.

The Importance Of Being Emily Lessons From Legislative Battles Over Forced School Consolidation, Marty Strange

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Pressure to force or induce the consolidation of rural schools through legislation is common across the United States. Whereas consolidation was once chiefly about school improvement, today it is more likely to be about fiscal savings. Legislative battles have produced many lessons for rural school advocates which are discussed here. Consolidation is also on the agenda of many of the school reform movements at work in the United States, many of which see rural schools as too numerous, too attached to the communities they serve, and too democratically managed to reform from without. As reformers grapple with the resistance to …

Tiebout In The Country The Inevitable Politics Of Rural School Consolidation, Steven L. Willborn

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

This essay explains why school consolidation issues are especially difficult in rural America. Consolidation is most appropriate when adjacent districts have similar preferences for taxation and spending on schools. In that case, economies of scale can be reaped without interfering much with resident preferences on taxes and school quality. In urban areas residents signal these preferences by moving into (or out of) school districts that match their preferences, a process known as Tiebout sorting. As a result, school consolidation decisions can be based on good information about resident preferences. The basic claim of this essay is that Tiebout sorting works …

Place-Based Civic Education And The Rural Leadership Crisis In Nebraska, Christie L. Maloyed, J. Kelton Williams

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

The Great Plains is facing a pending leadership crisis as rural depopulation decreases the number of residents who are available to serve in civic and government positions. This problem is compounded by the loss of youth populations in rural areas. In this essay, we offer a cross-disciplinary analysis of avenues for addressing the rural leadership crisis. We bring together work from rural demography, education policy, and civic studies to argue that civic education in rural areas needs to be reformed specifically to train and retain rural youth for leadership positions. We use Nebraska as a case study as it has …

Considering Native American Students In Rural School Consolidation, Andrea Miller

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

When discussing school consolidation it is important to consider the educational effects on Native American students. Many Native American students live in homes of poverty, deal with difficult home lives, and struggle academically. While there are many areas of concern in discussing consolidation, loss of a low student-teacher ratio, loss of connection with the school community, and loss of autonomy or control of schools are of particular importance. Consolidation efforts may bring some positive education opportunity for Native students which may include offering a diversified and expanded curriculum, specialization for staffing, and specialized resources for students. Discussing the potential effects …

Economic Issues In School District Consolidation In Nebraska, Bree L. Dority, Eric C. Thompson

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

This research article examines how per-pupil spending on public primary and secondary education in Nebraska varies by school district size, and whether expenditures are expected to rise or fall after districts consolidate. We find a U-shaped relationship between per-pupil spending and the number of students per school district in Nebraska. We also find a similar relationship between property tax base and the number of students per school district. However, our analysis of perpupil spending before and after consolidation fails to find consistent evidence that consolidation lowered per-pupil spending, in either rural or non-rural districts. The gains from consolidation become even …

The Racial And Ethnic Identity Formation Process Of Second- Generation Asian Indian Americans: A Phenomenological Study, Derek Kenji Iwamoto, Nalini Junko Negi, Rachel Negar Partiali, John W. Creswell

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

This phenomenological study elucidates the identity development processes of 12 secondgeneration adult Asian Indian Americans. The results identify salient sociocultural factors and multidimensional processes of racial and ethnic identity development. Discrimination, parental, and community factors seemed to play a salient role in influencing participants’ racial and ethnic identity development. The emergent Asian Indian American racial and ethnic identity model provides a contextualized overview of key developmental periods and turning points within the process of identity development.

Great Plains Research, Volume 23, Number 2, Fall 2013 (Complete Issue)

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

CONTENTS

Introduction — Richard Edwards and Peter Longo

School Consolidation and Community Development — Gary Paul Green

The Importance of Being Emily: Lessons from Legislative Battles over

Forced School Consolidation — Marty Strange

Tiebout in the Country: The Inevitable Politics of Rural School Consolidation — Steven L. Willborn

Place-Based Civic Education and the Rural Leadership Crisis in Nebraska — Christie L. Maloyed and J. Kelton Williams

Considering Native American Students in Rural School Consolidation — Andrea Miller

Photo Essay: Atmosphere for Learning Undistracted: Rural Schools of Nebraska — Charles W. Guildner

Economic Issues in School District Consolidation in Nebraska — …

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring In Scotts Bluff National Monument, 2013 Annual Report, Isabel Ashton, Michael Prowatzke

United States National Park Service: Publications

Introduction

During the last century, much of the prairie within the Northern Great Plains has been plowed for cropland, planted with non-natives to maximize livestock production, or otherwise developed, making it one of the most threatened ecosystems in the United States. Within Nebraska, greater than 77% of the area of native mixed grass prairie has been lost since European settlement (Samson and Knopf 1994). The National Park Service (NPS) plays an important role in preserving and restoring some of the last pieces of intact prairies within its boundaries. The stewardship goal of the NPS is to “preserve ecological integrity and …

Tiers 1, 2 & 3 Intervention: Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports, Scott Fluke, Reece L. Peterson

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Conclusion

Given the extremely strong research base for positive behavior intervention and supports (PBIS), and the usefulness of the tiered model in making intervention decisions, and its widespread use (in over 18,000 schools according to its website), PBIS has become the pre-eminent strategy for improving student behavior in school settings. Its framework establishes a clear emphasis on prevention of behavior problems, but also permits data based decision making about the intensity of interventions needed when problems do occur. It has become the basic tool to address behavior in school settings.

Tier 2 Intervention: Saturday School, Emily Moss, Reece L. Peterson

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Conclusion

While there is little research on Saturday School and as a result it is difficult to judge its effectiveness, some schools have reported success in decreasing suspension and absences after implementing Saturday school. Given the alternatives, Saturday school may be a promising strategy.

Peer Support For Consumers With Psychosis, Elizabeth Ann Cook

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purposes of this project were: 1) to collaboratively adapt an existing cognitive-behavioral intervention for consumers with serious mental illness (SMI) so that it could be provided by peers, and 2) to evaluate the feasibility of the resulting group intervention and perform a preliminary analysis of its effectiveness. Focus groups consisting of 7 consumers with SMI and 9 peer providers assisted in the determination of group content and structure. Results from the focus groups suggested significant overlap between topics covered and educational strategies utilized in traditional psychosocial interventions and preferences for the peer-based group. However, participants expressed a preference for …

Embracing Change: Exploring How Creative Professionals Use Interactive Media In Advertising Campaigns, Adam Wagler

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Advertising agencies are incorporating new forms of interactive media into campaigns as media continues to rapidly change. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study is to explore how five creative professionals at leading advertising agencies in the Midwest are integrating interactive media into campaigns. Through a series of interviews this project helps solidify what it means to integrate interactive media. The findings illustrate a fundamental shift in an industry that is moving away from “advertising.” An industry built around traditional media now requires creatives to incorporate dynamic, mobile, and social media into the marketing mix. Advertising agencies must engage audiences …

Child Care Expansion Initiative: Ripple Effect Mapping: October 2013 Executive Summary, Kit Alviz, Tonia Renee Durden

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Ripple Effect Mapping (REM) sessions were conducted for the evaluation of the Childcare and Youth Training and Technical Assistance Project (CYTTAP) and in collaboration with the Military Child Care Liaison Initiative (MCCLI). The combined Child Care Expansion Initiative works to improve the quality and quantity of child care in states with high densities of off-installation military families through state systems building and provides professional development opportunities for early childhood professionals and child care providers. From September 2012 to February 2013, REM sessions were held in nine states. Future strategies recommended include identifying and bringing in the right Military Child Care …

Tiers 1, 2 & 3 Intervention: Middle To High School Transition, Janeen Erickson, Reece L. Peterson, Paige T. Lembeck

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Conclusion

Providing all students, but particularly students at risk of dropping out, with a variety of supports for the transition from middle to high school is an intervention with both strong research support as well as practical logic.

Note: Several examples of secondary school programs which focus on transition from middle to high school can be found in the Examples of Middle to High School Transition Programs, Program Description document which is also available from the Student Engagement Project.

Tiers 2 & 3 Intervention: Restitution, Ann O'Connor, Reece L. Peterson

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Conclusion

The restitution model may be a useful alternative to traditional punishment oriented discipline consequences. This model requires a different type of orientation that the traditional approaches, but might offer a better chance to bring about changed behavior and “healing”. Preliminary research shows much promise in this approach as a discipline alternative which will reduce the number and intensity of discipline incidents.

Note: See related Strategy Briefs on Family Group Counseling, Mediation, and Restorative Practices.