Research Papers, Essays, Term Papers.
Education
Type: thesis. Topic: Education. Code: educ0034.
Format: pdf. Pages: 119
Format: pdf. Pages: 119
A Case Study of the Impact of Zero-Based Staffing and the Teacher Selection Process in the Improvement of Academic Success Indicators in an Underachieving Elementary School in Maryland
This case study examined the process of zero-based staffing as a reform model for
improving academic achievement at an underachieving elementary school in a county
school system in Maryland. The process of zero-based staffing involved the involuntary
transfer of all professional staff from the building. This study examined the zero-based
process used to restructure the school, the teacher selection process, and the
characteristics of the teachers selected for the school. A qualitative design methodology
was employed to examine the processes through a naturalistic inquiry approach. Four
semistructured interview instruments were utilized to gather data from the
superintendent, principal, teachers, and the teacher selection committee. Superintendent,
principal, and teacher interviews were conducted in a one-on-one setting. The teacher
selection committee was interviewed as a group. The researcher attended a variety of
school meetings and visited classrooms as an indweller to gain perspective regarding the
school culture. In addition, Maryland State Assessment data was examined to compare
student achievement before and after the new teachers were hired for the school. The
comparison of Maryland State Assessment data from one year to the next indicated
improvement in both reading and math. This improvement was significant enough to
remove the school from the state list of failing schools. Results of the study indicated that
the use of zero-based staffing as a reform model was effective in facilitating the hiring of
teachers with common characteristics and values. Primary characteristics and values of
these teachers included the belief that all children can learn and a positive and caring
attitude. These attitudes combined with the willingness and expectation to engage in
continuous and collaborative learning improved student performance.
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Type: thesis. Topic: Education. Code: educ0015.
Format: pdf. Pages: 206
Format: pdf. Pages: 206
A Comparative Study of Family-Centered Home Based and Traditional Addiction Treatment Approaches
The primary focus of this study emphasized a family-centered home based addiction treatment approach which resulted in diverse outcomes than traditional addiction treatment. A secondary focus involved quality of life (QOL) using the Multidimensional Life Quality (MILQ) instrument, which examined QOL for clients and key family members. QOL results were inconclusive in this study. Client engagement in the treatment process was measured using a checklist adapted from DiClemente‘s (2003) and Connors, Donovan, and DiClemente‘s (2001) work on stages of change in addiction treatment. Eighty-two case records were examined for individuals that participated in a family-centered home based approach, referred to as Rehab at Home (RAH) while simultaneously participating in single or various combinations of traditional treatment modalities as well as individuals who exclusively participated in single or a combination of traditional treatment modalities. The predictors of engagement that emerged from the study included (a) RAH, (b) family involvement, (c) treatment intensity, (d) gender, (e) use of marijuana, and (f) past alcohol and other drug treatment. The odds of engagement for clients in RAH were 6.30 times greater when compared to traditional treatment only. Results showed that females who reported using drugs other than marijuana with no previous treatment episodes had the highest probability of engagement in the treatment process. Marijuana users, regardless of gender, had the lowest probability of engagement. A converse relationship between treatment intensity and engagement was also noted, signifying that shorter bursts of treatment over a longer period of time led to a higher probability of engagement. This study supports that RAH was significantly responsible for client engagement and provides empirical support for implementing interventions based on the chronic care model.
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Type: thesis. Topic: Education. Code: educ0041.
Format: pdf. Pages: 94
Format: pdf. Pages: 94
A Study Examining the Effects of Transformational Leadership Behaviors on the Factors of Teaching Efficacy, Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment as Perceived by Special Education Teachers
The purpose of this study was to examine whether transformational leadership behaviors were significantly related to the variables of teaching efficacy, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment as perceived by special education teachers. One hundred twenty-one special education teachers from region seven of the Commonwealth of Virginia completed surveys for this study. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that administrative support was the transformational leadership behavior most frequently recognized by participants of this study. Pearson correlation analysis indicated that administrative support was significantly related to the factors of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. However, administrative support was not significantly related to teachers` sense of teaching efficacy. Teaching efficacy did share a significant relationship with teachers` job satisfaction. This finding suggests that the higher teachers report their perceived their sense of teaching efficacy, the higher they report their level of job satisfaction. The highest correlation in this study was between the factors of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. These findings suggest that as special education teachers` perceptions of administrative support increases, so do their levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment; thereby increasing the likelihood that special education teachers will remain in their current teaching positions.
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Type: thesis. Topic: Education. Code: educ0008.
Format: pdf. Pages: 104
Format: pdf. Pages: 104
An Analysis of Tribal College Student Backgrounds, Motivations, and Attitudes: The Relationship to Classroom Retention
The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between students` backgrounds, motivations, and attitudes and their academic successes or failures while enrolled in a single core level general education class at the Blackfeet Community College. The study examined indicators as identified in the literature and as identified through a pilot survey given to students at the Blackfeet Community College. A literature review yielded little research on student classroom retention in tribal colleges. The population for this study was n=113 students enrolled in core level academic courses. These students responded to a survey developed specifically for this study and were subsequently tracked through the semester to determine academic success or failure. The survey responses were then analyzed to determine which student indicators or groups of indicators were indicative of student academic success or failure. The significant findings of this study revealed that students who were academically unsuccessful were less likely to re-enroll in the next year. Specific indicators were identified to suggest that students who had not completed high school or their GED were at-risk. Male students without school-age children are more likely to be academically unsuccessful than female students without school-age children and female students with school-age children are more likely to be academically unsuccessful than male students with school-age children. Also identified as at-risk were students who did not drive themselves to campus.
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Type: thesis. Topic: Education. Code: educ0042.
Format: pdf. Pages: 91
Format: pdf. Pages: 91
Autism Programs in the Commonwealth of Virginia: From Theory to Practice
Educational law did not recognize autism as a disability category until the passage of The Education for all Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 101-476) in 1990. More recently, in 2005 the federal government issued a report from the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) detailing rising prevalence, expenditures that exceed general education per pupil spending, and multiple educational services. Furthermore, the Virginia Department of Education created an ad hoc committee to study autism in the Commonwealth. Therefore, the study sought to answer: (1) What programs are being used in the Commonwealth of Virginia to serve children identified with the educational disability label of autism? (2) What is the degree of effectiveness of these programs as perceived by directors of special education? and (3) Do selected demographics of the school division influence the types of programs that are delivered? A survey instrument was used to answer the research questions. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 14.0 (SPSS 14.0) resulting in descriptive statistics and One-Way ANOVA with post hoc Multicomparison.
Analysis revealed that 48.4% of school divisions responding primarily rely on traditional special education to serve children with autism. Post hoc testing revealed that the mean score for school divisions using a combination of specially designed programs (M = 3.38) were statistically significantly different from the mean score of school divisions that primarily use traditional special education services (M = 2.9).The results of this study may be used to promote the use of specially designed programs for children with autism in school divisions in the commonwealth of Virginia and focus training for school divisions that serve metro, urban, and rural areas.
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Type: thesis. Topic: Education. Code: educ0046.
Format: pdf. Pages: 270
Format: pdf. Pages: 270
Barriers to Internet-Based Learning Systems in a Select Virginia Agricultural Population
The purpose of this study was to identify the barriers Virginia agricultural producers encounter when using the Internet and their preferences when seeking information delivered via the Internet. The results are expected to provide Extension educators needed information about producer Internet use patterns and their preferences related to Internet-based learning systems.
The survey population (N = 370) consisted of Virginia agricultural producers currently known to be using the Internet as identified by the county Agricultural
Extension agents. Data were collected online via an interactive, encrypted Web site and analyzed with SAS/STAT software.
The 186 usable producer responses indicated that they were predominately white (98.36%), males (82.87%) averaging 51 years of age with some college education. Their primary occupation was farm or ranch work (41.71%) with a gross value of agricultural sales of $100,000 - $249,999. Nearly 60% conducted Internet agricultural marketing activities; three quarters purchased agricultural supplies, 43.17% conduct non-agricultural Internet business, and 50% use dialup services to access the Internet. In total, 95.68% of the responding producers access the Internet at least once a week and 31.60% reported previous participation in Internet-based learning.
Producers below 30 years of age considered their lack of experience/training to be less of a barrier than older producers. Time constraints associated with job responsibilities, isolation from other program participants, and their ability to learn at a distance were seen as greater barriers by males than females. Producers listing their primary occupation as other than farming saw time constraints associated with their job as a greater barrier than those retired but still farming. Producers with a high school education generally rated barriers associated with Internet-based learning as greater obstacles than those with advanced degrees. Following an exposure to an Internet-based learning experience, no differences were observed related to the producers’ age, gender, primary occupation, and the operation’s gross value of agricultural sales and the selected factors.
Producers making agricultural Internet purchases, perceived their motivation to participate in Internet-base learning as less of a barrier than those that did not. Generally, as the producers’ Internet use frequency increased, their perception of the barriers was reduced and those with previous Internet-based learning experience saw their ability to learn at a distance as less of a barrier than did those with no experience.
A comparison of pre- and post-exposure data, revealed time constrains associated with job responsibilities, access to instructors/specialists, feedback/instructor contact, and the motivation to participate as the greatest barriers to Internet-base learning. Differences in pre- and post-exposure assessments confirm that producers’ perception of the barriers were worse than actuality.
Extension’s Internet-based learning experiences should be accessible from a familiar Internet location. The learners’ abilities and connectivity should be considered when developing systems to minimize barriers associated with these factors. Internet-based activities should be relevant to the learner. Experiences should be available in multiple formats including video, audio, print and combinations of the aforementioned. Learners should be afforded the opportunity to interact with the presenter/instructor via the most acceptable and timely means.
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Type: thesis. Topic: Education. Code: educ0001.
Format: pdf. Pages: 250
Format: pdf. Pages: 250
Borrowing Modernity: A Comparison of Educational Change in Japan, China, and Thailand from the Early Seventeenth to the Mid-Twentieth Century
In the pre-modern era, the Japanese, Chinese and Siamese sustained sophisticated educational systems that buttressed complex political, social, and cultural institutions. In the nineteenth century, the rise of Western imperialism threatened the survivals of all three realms. Unlike their East Asian neighbors, Japan, China, and Siam preserved a large measure of self-rule though they had to cede significant amounts of sovereignty. To defend their societies`s interests, their leaders sought to modernize their political, social, and economic structures. In the process, they abandoned existing educational systems in favor of Western models and practices. The purpose of this comparative study was to better understand the motivations, methods, and results of their educational modernizations by examining their educational development from the seventeenth to the mid-twentieth century. The study answered four main questions: (1) What motivated these societies to modernize their educational systems using Western models and practices? (2) How did they accomplish their educational modernizations? (3) How did they adapt Western models to suit their political, social, economic, and cultural circumstances? (4) What were the broad results of their educational modernizations? Although the inquiry heavily relies on English secondary sources, some primary-source and Japanese materials were considered. The analysis employed such recognized qualitative/historical methods as constant comparison, triangulation, negative case analysis, and internal criticism. The study found that the Japanese, Chinese, and Siamese made the adoption of European and American educational approaches a central component of their modernization strategies. While employing similar borrowing methods, namely textual study, foreign experts, study abroad, and external help, they incrementally rebuilt their educational systems through trial and error experimentation. In adapting Western models, all three added elements of their traditional ideologies. Although each nation recovered their full sovereignty, the political, social, and economic consequences of their educational modernizations differed. Nonetheless, educational reform was uniformly a catalyst for far-reaching change. Ultimately, their eclectic borrowing and shrewd adaption of foreign ideas and practices allowed the Japanese, Chinese, and Thais to create their own versions of modernity. Without the successful creation of modern educational systems, these three societies could not have become the strong nations they are today.
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Type: thesis. Topic: Education. Code: educ0036.
Format: pdf. Pages: 123
Format: pdf. Pages: 123
Building Information Communication Technology Infrastructures for Economic Development
This paper analyzes the impact of Information Communication Technology (ICT)
Infrastructures on economic development through a statistical analysis of data from Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines, and a policy analysis of the Workforce Investment Act and
Ben Franklin Technology Partners programs in Pennsylvania. In the analysis of Saint
Vincent, significant relationships were found between all aspects of ICT programs and a
variety of measures of economic development, with the extent of Internet subscribers
showing the greatest impact. The analysis of the Pennsylvania programs found that
technology-oriented workforce education programs are only successful when there is a
demand for related labor skills in the job market. The overall recommendation of this
paper is to continue ICT development initiatives while also developing policies that
promote collaboration between the public and private sectors, promote development of
new technology-based businesses, and assess technology-oriented labor needs.
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Type: thesis. Topic: Education. Code: educ0002.
Format: pdf. Pages: 230
Format: pdf. Pages: 230
Campus Climate and Diversity Issues: Listening to Students
Our colleges and universities do not exist in a vacuum and, thus, the responsibility of higher education professionals to assure an accepting, supportive environment for all students is paramount. The first step toward achieving true pluralism on any college campus is to discover what the current campus climate for diversity is. Through listening to individuals, qualitative methods can allow the researcher to hear diverse perspectives that quantitative methods might likely miss. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences and perceptions of students at Montana State University-Bozeman (MSU-Bozeman) in order to assess the current campus climate, specifically with regard to diversity issues. The research design was a qualitative phenomenology triangulated with document analysis. The study focused on the phenomenon of campus climate as experienced by the students who were interviewed. Individual interviews performed during the 1997-98 academic year and supplemented with university-level document analysis allowed for comparison of student perceptions and University intentions and actions. A total of 68 undergraduate students who were enrolled for the 1997-98 academic year responded to open-ended interviews. These included students who identified themselves as African American (8), Asian American (12), Caucasian American (24), Hispanic American (12), and Native American (12). Bibliography Produced Tuesday, August 29, 2006 at 2:13 PM Findings include a brief overview of results for each of the student groups involved in the study, which highlight the differences among student groups. A discussion of the implications for practice tied to the improvement of general campus climate is included; these implications stem from the shared experiences across all groups of students interviewed and, thus, would improve not only the general campus climate for the entire student body, but at the same time also improve the campus climate for diversity. Finally, a discussion of specific implications for practice related to improving the campus climate for diversity is included. These recommendations are based on the experiences of each of the groups of students interviewed, the document analysis completed, and the review of the literature regarding the study of campus climate.
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Type: thesis. Topic: Education. Code: educ0029.
Format: pdf. Pages: 251
Format: pdf. Pages: 251
Casting for Leadership Talent: The Voices of Six Successful Women in the Banking Industry
This primary purpose of this study was to examine the roles of women in the American banking industry who have achieved the title of Senior Vice President or above and to determine why these women, in particular have attained senior leadership positions. This study explores the facilitating and inhibiting factors for women in the banking industry, in both an individual and institutional context, to determine whether there are goals in place that focus on the retention and development of the most talented people for their organizations; especially the women. A qualitative research design was used to analyze and interpret the six participants’ perceptions and reactions. After collecting data from multiple focus groups and in-person interviews, the transcripts were compiled and narrative portraits were written for each research participant. Next, a cross-case analysis was conducted to search for common themes or roles. Based on the results of this study, successful women in banking have a blended leadership style that includes exemplary, disciplined and servant leader characteristics. The common themes of these leaders are as follows: they report strong parental influence and a moral compass; understand that their voices matter for their own career progression, the value of raising their hand, and women need to ask; dare to explore their discomfort zone, by challenging themselves and the process; implement a holistic approach including heart, mind and spirit; believe in self, others and a higher calling; and believe in their ability to make a difference and leave a legacy of meaning by giving back. Recommendations for future research and practice include a review and response to both the institutional and individual factors that inhibit and facilitate women’s progress in the banking industry. Removing some of the barriers and reforming the exclusionary practices from an institutional and cultural perspective, will assist women in the future. In addition, women must recognize their own role in succession planning by implementing the themes that have emerged in this research and through other behaviors and actions such as emotional intelligence, self-efficacy and seeking mentors.
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