Global ETD Search

171	CALIFORNIA TURNAROUND SCHOOLS: AN ANALYSIS OF SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT GRANT EFFECTIVENESS Graham, Khalil 01 January 2013 (has links) The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of School Improvement Grants (SIGs) in the state of California (CA) in increasing student achievement using the turnaround implementation model. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) included educational priorities focused on fixing America’s lowest achieving schools. SIGs (i.e., up to $2 million per school annually over 3 years) to the nation’s persistently lowest achieving public schools required schools accepting these awards to implement a federally prescribed school-reform model. Of these models, the school turnaround model is the most aggressive and least used. Using data from CA, the researcher analyzed student achievement results in reading and mathematics at six high schools in CA over a three-year span between their pre- and post-SIG-award year. Turnaround School Reform SIG
172	SUPPORT SERVICES AND PROGRAMMATIC INTERVENTIONS FOUR-YEAR INSTITUTIONS HAVE IN PLACE TO ASSIST AND GRADUATE STUDENTS WITH LOW ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS: A MIXED METHODS STUDY El Majzoub, Nada 01 January 2013 (has links) This mixed methods study investigates the influence of student characteristics and institutional support services and interventions on graduation rates. Regression analysis was conducted using a dataset constructed from multiple publically available resources to estimate graduation rates. Regression results showed High School Grade Point Average to be the highest estimator of graduation rates, among other student and institutional characteristics. The results confirmed existing findings on the influence of student pre-college and demographic characteristics on graduation rates for students with academic needs. Content analysis of survey data from office of support service personnel at public four-year institutions shows institutions implement a wide array of support services, with a focus on Summer Bridge Programs to support college readiness in underprepared students. Content analysis of interviews with Academic Support Staff indicates institutions focus attention on students with low academic credentials through support services and interventions practiced in unique ways at the institutional level. Findings from the study were used to construct a model for use by institutions to improve support services and programs provided to students with low academic credentials regardless of their pre-existing characteristics. college academic underpreparedness mixed methods research methodological eclecticism regression analysis Educational Leadership
173	On Making a Difference: How Photography and Narrative Produce the Short-Term Missions Experience Jennings, Joshua Kerby 01 January 2017 (has links) Short-term missions participants encounter difference in purportedly captivating ways. Current research, however, indicates the practice does not lead to long-lasting, positive change. Brian M. Howell (2012) argues the short-term missions experience is confined to the limitations of the short-term missions narrative. People who engage in short-term missions build assumptions, seek experiences, understand difference, and convey meaning, as a result of this narrative. The process of telling and retelling travel stories is integral to the short-term missions experience. Drawing upon literature on tourism, narrative, development, and photography, this study intends to evaluate the inefficacy of short-term missions through the stories which produce and are produced by photography. Through storytelling and photography from 21 short-term missions participants who have served in Ouanaminthe, Haiti, this project deconstructs the short-term missions narrative to understand, what is the relationship between the use of photography and the short-term missions experience? The results indicate a unique relationship between people, photography, and experiences within the framework of short-term missions. Short-Term Missions Photography Narrative Image Haiti Charity-Based Development Caribbean Languages and Societies Communication Technology and New Media Critical and Cultural Studies Journalism Studies Latin American Studies Leadership Studies Leisure Studies Mass Communication Organizational Communication Organization Development Photography Public Relations and Advertising Rhetoric Social and Cultural Anthropology Social Media Sociology of Religion Speech and Rhetorical Studies Tourism
174	EXPLORING THE QUALITY OF LIFE IMPACT OF THE BLUEGRASS DOUBLE DOLLARS PROGRAM Warta, Rebecca L. 01 January 2017 (has links) Food Security is a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (FAO, 1996). 17% of Kentuckians are food insecure (Kentucky Department of Agriculture, 2016). This study explored the quality of life (QoL) impact of the Bluegrass Double Dollars (BGDD) program on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants through secondary data analysis. Utilizing the categories of quality of life indicators established by The Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress (CMEPSP) the results from this study concluded that participating in the BGDD program provides some level of quality of life benefits. Incentive Programs Quality of Life Food Insecurity Food Studies
175	ANALYSIS OF STRUCTURAL AND CULTURAL CHANGES WITHIN AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION FROM 2009-2014 WHICH COINCIDE WITH A REDUCTION OF MALE PRE-SERVICE AGRICULTURAL EDUCATORS Tingle, Alexander 01 January 2017 (has links) Changes within and outside of agricultural education were analyzed between 2009-2014 which coincided with a reduction of male pre-service agricultural teachers. Under the lens of the Theory of Gender Re-alignment, special attention was given to changes in legislation, curriculum, recruitment, and economic factors which relate to structural and cultural changes within agricultural education. The Changes identified in this study explain why male students are being outperformed by female students at a two to one ratio in regards to agricultural education degrees obtained. Male Pre-service Agricultural Educators Gender Re-alignment Teacher Recruitment Gender Gap Agricultural and Resource Economics
176	Feeding the Soul: Voices of Kentucky Women Combating Child Hunger Price, Mya Oneisha 01 January 2017 (has links) This study addresses the overarching topic of food insecurity by giving voice to individuals who are dedicating their careers toward combating child food insecurity throughout their communities. Voices are uplifted through the representation of narratives by volunteer coordinators overseeing child feeding programs, which have been established throughout Kentucky as an effort to help alleviate child hunger. This study is guided by London’s theory on career motivation, with the outcomes of this study serving as a pilot for future research centered around individuals working to combat child food insecurity. The narratives collected from this study will be used as a resource for generating public conversation, spreading awareness, and to “tell the story” in regards to child hunger across Kentucky. Food insecurity child hunger alleviate narratives Food Science Life Sciences
177	Most Likely to Succeed: The Exploration of Factors Affecting Successful Completion of a Practical Nursing Program Shoemake, Jennifer J. 01 January 2017 (has links) In the realm of higher education, retention is a concept vital to the progression and security of all institutions. This remains true for all nursing programs as well because reports have shown an attrition rate as high as 50% in some nursing programs across the globe. Along with the nursing shortage projected in the next 20 years, retention in nursing programs poses a massive problem for not just higher education but healthcare as well. Therefore, it is important for nursing educators to understand the factors affecting student completion of a nursing program. This two-phase, mixed-methods study sought to answer the overarching research question: What factors contribute to completion of the Southcentral Community and Technical College (SKYCTC) Practical Nursing (PN) program within three semesters? Since the majority of nursing programs utilize a selective admission process for accepting students, the first phase of the study gathered admission criteria on six cohorts of students accepted into the SKYCTC PN program from August 2008 through May 2015. This quantitative data was analyzed to determine if any of the admission criteria were related to completion of the program. For the second phase, qualitative data was gathered through a focus group attended by 11 graduates of the SKYCTC PN program between August 2008 and May 2015. The purpose of the focus group was to gather environmental or academic influences that graduates attributed to their success in completing the program. Nursing Program Retention Nursing Program Attrition Practical Nursing Programs Nursing Shortage Selective Admissions Adult and Continuing Education Community College Leadership Health and Physical Education Nursing
178	FAST FRIENDS: IMPLICIT BIAS OF CROSS-GROUP FRIENDSHIPS IN A COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE Harper, Tiffany 01 January 2017 (has links) Cross-group paired individuals were administered an intervention to measure impacts of inmate interactions and friendships on anxiety and implicit bias among participants. Researchers predicted the intervention would decrease levels of racial anxiety, implicitness, prejudice, and racial color-blindness among entering freshmen in the College of Agriculture, Food & Environment at the University of Kentucky. Results indicated that the control group had no change in implicitness. The treatment group yielded no change in implicitness on four out of five experimental measures with the exception of decrease in communal orientation, thus altering the implicit bias of participants. Cross-Group Implicit Attitude Implicit Cognition Racial Anxiety Racial Color Blindness Social and Behavioral Sciences
179	COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP PRACTICES THAT ASSURE HIGH LEVELS OF STUDENT LEARNING FOR ALL: HIGH SCHOOL IMPLEMENTATION OF RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION Wainwright, Melissa E. 01 January 2016 (has links) Twenty-first century schools are complex organizations that serve individual students’ needs while meeting accountability and assessment demands. Effective leadership balances these diverse responsibilities through collective work of the shareholders in order to assure high levels of learning for all. This qualitative study examined Response to Intervention (RTI) implementation in two high performing high schools in Kentucky. Both schools were classified as distinguished on the 2014-15 Kentucky School Report Card. One school has a long-standing tradition of high performance. The other school’s journey to high performance involved moving from a Needs Improvement School to a School of Distinction. The 4-D Appreciative Inquiry (AI) Theory was used to explore the collective leadership practices of the two high schools. Data collection instruments and protocols followed the four AI phases (discover, dream, design, and deliver). Data were collected through observations, site visits, artifact reviews, individual interviews and and focus groups. The effective schools characteristics, RTI core traits, and collective leadership practices provided the context for the study design. In studying the RTI implementation process, evidence of effective schools characteristics, RTI core traits, and collective leadership practices were observed. Both schools focused intentionally on core instruction as an integral part of the RTI implementation process. The data concluded that the schools continue to make progress in meeting more students’ needs. Both schools have strategic plans to discover, dream, design, and deliver new ways to maximize the collective strengths of the school community. Evidence of each phase of AI emerged in the stories, conversations, and artifacts at both schools. Appreciative Inquiry Positive Organizational Scholarship Effective Schools Response to Intervention Collective Leadership Practices Team Leadership Educational Leadership
180	BUILDING TEACHER EFFICACY: CHALLENGES OF CREATING COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE AMONG NEW TEACHERS AND VETERAN TEACHERS IN A TOXIC WORK ENVIRONMENT Lail, J 01 January 2018 (has links) Recently, changes in graduation requirements in some states have made it more important than ever for students to be literate in all content areas. State assessments not only measure student academic ability, but they are a necessary component of graduation from high school. After completing required courses, students are expected to take assessments covering the content of those courses. In order to safely meet the graduation requirement, students must score at least 3 points per assessment on a 5-point scale. This has proven difficult for over 50% of students expecting to graduate. Students at Midwestern-American High School (MAHS) have been struggling to achieve the required minimum scores on the state achievement assessments, as have many others in the region. A review of the report card data for MAHS reveals the area of greatest need (i.e. category of lowest performance) is in science. Research suggests a leading cause for these struggles is waning teacher efficacy and lack of ability to build capacity in staff members due to high mobility in teacher populations, especially in urban communities serving high-poverty and minority populations. For these reasons, it is necessary for leaders to have the skill to quickly build effective instructional teams. During the 2017-2018 schools year, I utilized the Community of Practice (CoP) framework to establish entities that align closely with the criteria of CoPs. I used mixed methods research throughout the bounded period (August 2017 – May 2018) to conduct the proposed study. Data sources included: meeting agendas and minutes, participant interviews, survey results and reflections on the action by researcher and participants. I used the information gathered from this study to continue or modify the action and/or propose new strategies for the capacity building of staff. Communities of Practice Collective Efficacy Teacher Self-Efficacy Focus Groups Maturing Coalescing Educational Leadership

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