School Psychology Commons^™

Comparison Of The Executive Function Profiles Of Child And Adolescent Groups Diagnosed With Adhd And Matched Controls, Jenna Inglese

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The current study examined teacher ratings of the executive capacities of child and adolescent groups of ADHD-diagnosed students and matched controls. Teacher ratings of each clinical group were compared with the teacher ratings of a group of matched nonclinical peers, then the teacher ratings of the child and the adolescent clinical groups were compared. The data for both clinical groups and their respective matched control groups were part of the data collected during the standardization of the McCloskey Executive Functions Scale – Teacher Report Form (MEFS-TR). It was hypothesized that when compared to their matched control groups, teacher ratings of …

Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Techniques To Improve Socialization Skills For High School Students With High Functioning Autism, Erika D. Wood

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The literature on the use of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) suggests that it is a well researched and evidenced-based viable intervention in teaching and improving social skills for children with high functioning autism (HFA). Autism is a prevalent diagnosis for children and adolescents as school settings struggle with how to provide effective interventions and support to address students’ deficits with communication and social skills. Students with HFA may not have difficulty with verbal language skills; however, there is the expectation of being able to navigate social relationships, use social communication and be aware of social cues and rules which are …

Executive Functioning For Students With Educationally Significant Hearing Impairment Who Use The Auditory-Oral Approach: Program Development, Lauren Walker

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Research has suggested that children with hearing impairment have delays and difficulties with several areas of executive function. These deficits are believed to be related to delays in language development and other areas of cognitive functioning impacted by impaired access to language, particularly in the early years of childhood. However, ongoing impaired access in students who access auditory information with cochlear implants may also contribute to these deficits. In order to address these skills, existing research addressing executive functioning in students with hearing impairment was reviewed, and a program was formulated to address the common areas of deficit in these …

Does Early Screening Predict Special Education Placement By Age Five?, Samuel Josef Friedman

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The Early Screening Inventory-Revised is an early childhood assessment used to screen three and four-year-olds entering preschool. This screener assesses basic skills and one’s level of functioning as he or she begins to learn in an academic environment. The purpose of this screener is to alert the school district about students who may struggle academically in a school- based setting. Based on the results of the assessment, students can receive academic or behavioral support from the school if the teacher and parents of the child deem the support necessary. Students who receive support from the school may or may not …

How African American Men From Challenging Backgrounds Beat The Odds And Graduated From College, Valisha Terry

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

While Bettis and Sternod (2009) asserted the notion of boys being in crisis as not a new phenomenon but a historically cyclical one, present research contends that African American men are one of the most at-risk groups in the United States. School and criminal-justice systems show similar results. African American men continue to lag in terms of graduation rates and college enrollment, while being overrepresented in victim violence and the criminal justice system. They also lead the nation in homicides as both victims and perpetrators. Despite these obstacles, many at-risk African American men graduate from college and excel in life. …

Parental Availability As A Predictor Of Academic Success Among Students Of A Private Residential School, Lesley Kubisiak Logan

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

A private residential school in the northeast United States provides a cost-free coeducation to qualifying pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade students. One of the most important application factors is need, which is measured by a scale for parental availability. For a parent to be considered unavailable, any or all of the following areas could be present: limited physical capacity to effectively parent the child, limited mental capacity to effectively parent the child, active abuse of drugs or alcohol or ongoing substance abuse history, inadequate supervision, chronic neglect, incarceration, death, no contact or sporadic contact (e.g., not on a regular basis or …

Student Participation In School Sponsored Extra-Curricular Activities At The Elementary School Level And The Impact Of Student Engagement, Kirsten D. Myers

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Getting students involved in their day to day educational processes is often challenging and, in some schools, systems appear almost unrealistic. Students in school do not often see the value of or make the connection with the importance of education. Students see movie stars such as Jennifer Lawrence drop out of school at fourteen, singers, rappers and others in the entertainment industry who are successful and make millions without an education. The potential of a YouTube posting, turning someone into a star looms in their imaginations and they think it could happen to them. Students today are even more enticed …

Examining The Impact Of Educational Modules On Self-Care, Burnout, And Professional Impairment On Graduate And Medical Students, Samantha Giangrande

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Graduate school is a time of academic rigor, personal growth, stress, change, fear, and confrontation. It is important for medical and other graduate students to prepare themselves to serve and treat their patients effectively. An important part of this involves learning skills to better manage challenges and demands through ongoing self-care. However, little research has examined what knowledge students have of self-care strategies and burnout or whether education about these constructs is lacking in higher education. The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of self-care and impairment modules for medical and other graduate students enrolled in an …

Working With Transgender And Gender-Variant Youth: Teacher Knowledge, Attitudes, And Perceived Competence, Charla J. Curtis

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Despite the fact that research shows that access to supportive adults within the school is consistently associated with better outcomes for LGBTQ students (McGuire, Anderson, Toomey, & Russell, 2010; Kosciw et al., 2018), most teachers do not receive significant training—either preservice or post-certification—about some diversity issues, including gender and sexual orientation (Jennings, 2005). Consequently, many educators lack knowledge about transgender individuals, their needs, experiences, and the unique challenges they face. This survey study explored teachers’ perspectives about working with transgender and gender-variant children and adolescents. A total of 76 teachers in the Greater Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, serving students in public …

A Survey Of Teacher Receptiveness Regarding Inclusive Education Within A New Jersey Urban School District, Tammy Hobbs-Ginsberg

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The inclusion model is being implemented on a national scale in response to the United States Department of Education’s mandate that all pupils with special needs be integrated into the general education classroom. For the inclusion model to yield adequate yearly progress for all pupils, it must be appropriately applied. Research has indicated that an important factor in adequate implementation is an understanding of teachers’ initial attitudes concerning inclusion. The propose of this study is to survey the receptiveness of kindergarten through high school special and general education teachers in an urban New Jersey school district concerning inclusion. More specifically, …

Investigating Variation And Strength In Social Networks, Timothy D. Immelman, Richard M. Wielkiewicz

Psychology Faculty Publications

Participants were 318 college students from two small, Catholic liberal arts institutions in the Upper Midwest. Variation (i.e., having friends with varied interests and activities) of an individual’s social network was measured by a researcher-developed inventory, the Social Network Variation Scale (SNVS). Social network strength was measured by the researcher-developed Social Network Strength Scale (SNSS). People with more variation or more strength in their social network had higher levels of happiness and lower levels of stress. Autonomy mediated the relationships between variation and stress and strength and stress. Personality moderated the relationships between variation and happiness and variation and stress.

Effects Of Homework On American Elementary-School Students' Subjective Well-Being, Emma Waldspurger

Scripps Senior Theses

Homework has always been a hotly-debated issue in the US because of the significant role it plays in children’s lives. Despite the wealth of research conducted on the relationship between homework and academic achievement, there has been almost no research on the relationship between homework and student well-being. The purpose of this proposed study is to investigate how homework affects American elementary-school students’ subjective well-being. Utilizing a correlational longitudinal design, students aged 6 to 10 will respond to orally-administered subjective well-being measures at three timepoints throughout the school year, and parents will submit online weekly reports of how much time …

Effects Of A Comprehensive Nutrition Education Programme To Change Grade 4 Primary-School Students’ Eating Behaviours In China, Lian Qian, Ian M. Newman, Lok-Wa Yuen, Weijing Du, Duane F. Shell

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objective: As part of a national initiative to reduce child obesity, a comprehensive school-based nutrition education intervention to change eating behaviours among grade 4 primary-school students was developed, implemented and evaluated. Design: The intervention was developed by school staff, with technical assistance from outside health education specialists. The programme included school facility upgrades, school teacher/staff training, curriculum changes and activities for parents. Student scores on nine key eating behaviours were assessed prior to and after the programme. The quality of programme implementation in the schools was monitored by technical assistance teams. Setting: Shandong Province (high household income) and Qinghai Province …

The Nebraska Prevention Center For Alcohol And Drug Abuse, 1980-2019, Michelle R. Maas, Ian M. Newman

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The Nebraska Prevention Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NPCADA) was established at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1980 with federal and state funds for substance use research. The Center operated in the UNL Teachers College (now the College of Education and Human Sciences) under the directorship of Professor Ian Newman for 39 years, until the Center closed in 2019.

Selected publications by faculty and graduate students of the NPCADA can be retrieved from UNL Digital Commons by searching on “Nebraska Prevention Center.”

Five-Minute Cognitive Test As A New Quick Screening Of Cognitive Impairment In The Elderly, Jie Zhang, Lijun Wang, Xia Deng, Guoqiang Fei, Lirong Jin, Xiaoli Pan, Liuhan Cai, Anthony D. Albano, Chunjiu Zhong

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

This study aims to develop a new evaluation method for quickly and conveniently screening cognitive impairment in the elderly. The five-minute cognitive test (FCT) was designed to capture deficits in five domains of cognitive abilities, including episodic memory, language fluency, time orientation, visuospatial function, and executive function. Subsequently, FCT efficiencies in differentiating normally cognitive ability from cognitive impairment were explored and compared with that of the Mini-Mental Status Evaluation (MMSE). Equipercentile equating method was utilized to create a crosswalk between scores of the FCT and MMSE. Further, the association of scores of the FCT and MMSE with hippocampal volumes was …

Contemporary Approaches To Qualitative Research: Andragogical Strategies For Teaching And Learning, Tiffany T. Young, Wayne A. Babchuk

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

This inquiry provides practical suggestions for teaching and learning qualitative research methodology. Important components of qualitative research design/implementation are identified and strategies to guide novice qualitative researchers are outlined.

Nebraska Prevention Center For Alcohol And Drug Abuse — Bibliography Of Publications

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

5 Ways To Develop Children's Talents, Kenneth A. Kiewra

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Some people think talent is born. The often-told story of Mozart playing piano at 3 and composing at 5 reinforces such beliefs.

What’S Past Is Prologue: Advancing Feminist Psychological Research On Lgbtq+ Genders, Elliot A. Tebbe

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

In my introduction to the special section on LGBTQ genders in this issue of the Psychology of Women Quarterly (PWQ), I highlight and place in context the significant contributions of this special section to theory and the broader psychological literature on gender. For several years now, the Society of Psychology of Women’s Section 4 (Section on Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns) of the American Psychological Association (APA) has invited authors of ground-breaking empirical research on gender and sexuality to submit papers to present at the annual APA convention. Through the years, we have seen cutting edge research presented …

Stress, Cognitive Distortions, Engagement In Self-Care, And Burnout In Psychology Graduate Students, Lauren Matturro

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Psychology graduate students are tasked with finding a balance between academic responsibilities, clinical training, home life, time constraints, and financial concerns. These competing demands lead to stress, which is well documented in medical students with similar workloads, but understudied in psychology graduate students. Previous studies indicate that perceived stress can be linked to prevalence of an individual’s cognitive distortions. Additionally, stress within the human service fields often leads to burnout. Self-care is widely recognized as a preventative effort against developing burnout. However, as students have limited time, they may find engaging in self-care activities to be difficult. The purpose of …

Teachers’ Perception Of A Cooking Intervention To Increase Social Skills In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder And Behavioral Disabilities, Jennifer Malik

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

This study explored teachers and school staff’s perceptions of the impact of participation in a food-based social skills intervention for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder and behavioral challenges. 1st-5th grade students who received special education and related services and were placed in self-contained programs in a suburban school district in New Jersey were eligible to participate in the intervention. The intervention consisted of a food-based social skills intervention in which students prepared food ordered by staff members. The students’ job duties included taking orders over the phone and in person, preparing requested food items, taking payments and counting change, and …

Executive Capacities For Students Diagnosed With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder And Learning Disability, Kate Boccella-Perras

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

All students in this study were rated by teachers with the McCloskey Executive Function Scale (MEFS) to identify executive function deficits (EFDs; not knowing when) and executive skill deficits (ESDs; not knowing how). Significantly larger proportions of students in the ADHD-diagnosed (ADHD) group than in the matched control group were rated by teachers as having either an EFD or an ESD within all seven self-regulation clusters, with more deficits identified within the Academic Arena than within the Self/Social Arena. In contrast, significantly larger proportions of students in the LD-classified (LD) group than in the matched control group were rated by …

Messages Of Meaning: African American Ethnic-Racial Socialization Practices Of Fathers And Paternal Definitions Of Academic Success, Sharon Coley-Wilson

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

This research explores the unique experiences of African American fathers, their ethnic-racial socialization practices, definitions of academic success and the intersectionality of the three concepts. Through a semi-structured interview, the present study explored how African American fathers socialize their children to understand how being Black fits into the larger context of society. The primary focus is to explore what types of racial socialization messages are used, how they are delivered, and if/how the fathers’ academic expectations are a part of the conversations. Implications for how school systems can utilize African American fathers’ perspectives in supporting positive home-school collaboration and promoting …

An Exploration Of Law Enforcement Officers’ Training Experiences, Training Needs, And Interactions Related To Autism Spectrum Disorder, Kirsten Scheil Railey

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

Although research confirms the effectiveness of training to improve law enforcement officers’ awareness and knowledge of people with intellectual disability, learning disabilities, and mental health disorders (Bailey, Barr, & Bunting, 2001; McAllister, Bailey, & Barr, 2002; Scantlebury et al., 2017; Wood & Watson, 2017), research related to the efficacy of autism-specific law enforcement training is limited. In order to provide up-to-date information regarding training for LEOs related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a systematic review of the literature was conducted for the first study. Adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Protocols 2015 (PRISMA), a …

Exploring The Impact Of Autism Awareness Interventions For General Education Students: A Meta-Analysis, Olivia K. Lochner

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

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses are on the rise, increasing the likelihood of having a student with ASD in the general education classroom. Students with ASD may be included in the general education setting; however, inclusive educational experiences are negative for many students with ASD. ASD awareness interventions have been implemented to help general education students improve their attitudes, behavioral intentions, and understand their peers with ASD. In the current study, empirical articles evaluating the effectiveness of ASD awareness interventions were identified and quantified. Two research questions were addressed: (a)Are ASD awareness interventions effective for general education students? and (b) …

Predictors Of Adolescents’ Interest In Stem Majors And Careers, Ei Myint

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

Advanced Research Winner 2019:

The United States currently faces a shortage of qualified workers in fields related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The first critical step in preventing the labor shortage in STEM is understanding the factors that guide adolescents toward STEM pursuits. Drawing on Eccles’ expectancy-value theory (EVT), the current study aims to identify factors that are relevant to adolescents’ interest in STEM majors and careers. Data were collected from 629 adolescents (M_age = 16.09). Participants attended a high school in northern California and predominantly identified as Asian American (82% of the sample). Preliminary analyses …

Middle School And High School Teachers' Actual And Perceived Use Of Praise And Reprimand, Melissa Beaudoin

Masters Theses

This study aimed to examine teachers' natural praise and reprimand rates among 66 middle and high school teachers. In addition, teachers' perceptions of how often they praised and reprimanded were compared to their actual use of praise and reprimands. A total of 1,320 direct-observation minutes were collected using 20-min observations for each teacher. After teachers were observed they completed a survey rating their perceived use of praise and reprimand. Teachers were observed to use significantly more general praise compared to behavior specific praise. They were also observed to use significantly more mild reprimands compared to any other type of reprimand. …

The Impact Of Academic Enablers Instruction On Academic Achievement Of Elementary School Children, Bryce Kirk

Masters Theses

The present study investigated the relationship between Academic Enablers (AEs) instruction and student achievement. Specifically, whether such behaviors and attitudes explicitly taught in a small group setting would improve students' academic performance. Students struggle academically and behaviorally for a variety of reasons, poor or lack of instruction, lack of motivation, or related to a disability, to recognize a few. Existing literature has identified several factors, (e.g., interpersonal/social skills, motivation, study skills, and engagement), known as AEs, that meaningfully contribute toward students' academic success. However, unlike previous studies that focused on such AEs in isolation, this study addressed this limitation and …

Predictive Nature Of Teacher Traits On Academic Achievement Of African-American Students, Lacoñia Rayelle Nelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Historically, biases, a lack of cultural diversity in teacher and administrative staff and misunderstanding about methods for teaching low socioeconomic students have related to the underperformance of African-American students when compared with their European American peers. Therefore, this quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted to explore the impact of teachers' ethnicity, years of experience, and motives of hope and fear on the academic success of African-American students in reading and math. Data were collected from 55 7th- and 8th-grade teachers from a charter school system (25 reading teachers and 30 math teachers) using a survey and the Multi Motive Grid. Forward …

Board 141: Engineering Identity As A Predictor Of Undergraduate Students' Persistence In Engineering, Debra A. Major, Seterra D. Burleson, Xiaoxiao Hu, Kristi J. Shryock

Psychology Faculty Publications

Improving graduation rates of students who have selected and been admitted to engineering majors is a pivotal strategy in supporting national initiatives to increase the number of engineering graduates. Research suggests that the degree to which a student is attached to or belongs to engineering as a discipline better explains persistence-related outcomes than lack of interest and ability. As a result, identity frameworks have proven useful for furthering the understanding of engineering persistence. In this paper, we examine the relationship between undergraduate students’ engineering identity and persistence as an engineering major.

As part of an ongoing NSF IUSE project, a …