The purpose of the present research was to examine the predictive validity of curriculum-embedded mastery-check measures (CEMs) for kindergarten students in Tier 2 intervention. Two studies examined the predictive validity, parsimony, and changing role of CEMs using a structural equation modeling (SEM) framework. Study 1 examined the ability of CEMs gathered throughout the kindergarten year to predict end-of-kindergarten latent reading outcomes. Study 2 examined the ability of kindergarten CEMs to predict end-of-first and end-of-second grade latent reading outcomes. Study 1 used SEM with two latent outcomes (i.e., phonemic and decoding) composed of diverse measures of early reading skills gathered at the end of kindergarten. Findings indicated moderate to large effects, as measured by variance explained, for CEMs on predicting phonemic and decoding outcomes. For CEMs gathered at four time points throughout the kindergarten year, a parsimonious set of subtests emerged. In addition, the role of CEMs changed throughout the year as predictors reaching statistical significance were increasingly difficult. Findings indicated that an increased amount of variance could be explained on the outcomes measures as the year progressed. Study 2 used one latent reading outcome factor gathered at the end of first and second grades. Findings for the end of first grade indicated that parsimonious sets of predictors from CEMs administered at three times during the kindergarten year predicted end-of-first grade outcomes. Additionally, the role of indicators changed during the year and the amount of variance explained increased from the first to third CEM. Results for the end of second grade indicated the variance explained on the outcome measure increased from the first CEM to the third CEM. When considering near-significant results, a pattern emerged demonstrating parsimonious subsets of indicators that changed during the kindergarten year. Findings from both studies provided support for the predictive validity of CEMs gathered during kindergarten for students in Tier 2 intervention. Results from both studies demonstrated statistically significant subsets of predictors that emerged and changed during the kindergarten year congruent with reading development, which can be useful for informing educational decisions.

Syftet med denna pilotstudie var att skapa hypoteser om vilken påverkan en internetbaserad återhämtningsfokuserad stressintervention kan ha på beteendemönster och generellt hälsotillstånd. 22 vuxna svenskar rekryterades initialt till studien. 15 individer valde att fullfölja hela interventionsprogrammet. Mätningar med internetbaserade frågeformulär genomfördes innan interventionens start och efter interventionens slut. De primära ändpunkterna för mätningarna utgjordes av beteendeförändringar (frekvens av återhämtningsbeteenden) och kliniska effekter (upplevelser av stress och återhämtning). Resultatet visade att deltagarna vid interventionens avslut hade ökat frekvensen återhämtningsbeteenden samt förbättrat sina upplevelser av stress och återhämtning. Majoriteten av resultaten frambringade stora effektstyrkor. Resultatet visade även att inga signifikanta effektskillnader av interventionen kunde observeras mellan könen sett över studiens två primära ändpunkter. Rekommendationer gjordes till framtida forskning om att tydligare klargöra hur internetbaserade metoder med primärt fokus mot beteendeförändringar inom domänen återhämtningsbeteenden på bästa sätt kan bidra till prevention och behandling av stressrelaterad ohälsa.

Levels of participation in physical activity and sport by the New Zealand population are in decline, whilst the levels of sedentary behaviours are rising. Developing positive physical activity experiences, perceptions and habits in childhood may provide an effective approach to decrease the burden of inactivity. The purpose of this thesis was to improve knowledge of the efficacy of a sport-based intervention to increase physical activity levels of New Zealand children from a low socio-economic background. This was achieved by implementing an after-school soccer intervention at two low decile schools in Auckland, New Zealand. To determine current levels of physical activity, fifty-eight children wore a NL-2000 pedometer for four consecutive days (three weekdays and one weekend). Mean step counts (± SD) for boys were 17018 (± 4640) and for girls 12415 (± 4329) on weekdays, and for boys 12507 (± 4338) and girls 9537 (± 4421) on weekends. Nearly 50% of girls and 37% of boys were not reaching previously published daily step count recommendations of 15,000 for boys and 12,000 for girls during weekdays. The feasibility and efficacy of a six-week after-school soccer programme (2/hr.wk-1) on physical activity levels of 70 children (43 boys, 27 girls) compared to a control group of 25 children (23 boys, 2 girls) was determined in a randomised controlled trial. Measures of physical activity (4 day sealed pedometry), mass and height were completed at baseline, Week 6 (end of the intervention), and at three-month post-intervention. Compared to control, participants in the soccer programme attained higher weekday step counts after 6 weeks (treatment 16980 ± 4515; control 15021 ± 3783) and these were sustained three months post-intervention (treatment 16218 ± 4591; control 14591 ± 3488). However, these step count differences were not statistically significant. When children were grouped into activity tertiles (low, moderate and highly active) the intervention effect was more evident in the low to moderately active children. Further analysis revealed that the treatment groups’ moderate activity tertile was significantly more active than the control at follow up (p = 0.0399). This programme may offer a viable alternative to traditional physical activity interventions which concentrate on other forms of physical activity accumulation such as active transport and physical education. However, additional research needs to be carried out to determine whether the absence of statistical differences is simply a lack of statistical power.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 217-225).

Thesis (Ph.D) -- Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, 1989. / Typescript (photocopy). Vita. Bibliography: leaves 545-564. Access restricted to members of the Tufts University community. Also available via the World Wide Web;

Zugl.: Münster (Westfalen), Univ., Diss., 2006

Zugl.: Potsdam, Univ., Diplomarbeit, 2006/2007

Konstanz, Univ., Diplomarb., 2007.

Zugl.: Frankfurt (Main), Univ., überarb. Diss., 2003

Thèse (M.A.) -- Université Laval, 2007. / Bibliogr.: f. 91-104. Publié aussi en version électronique dans la Collection Mémoires et thèses électroniques.