It is the purpose of this study to compose a bibliography of primary level books and/or stories that depict a positive image of the elderly. Various procedures were used to gather selections of reading material for primary level children which portray this image. The following were the methods used for this compilation. Numerous reference books which categorize children's books under related topics were examined. Approximately thirty-five letters were submitted to various organizations which deal with the elderly population asking for information or sources regarding this topic. Letters were also sent to thirty-five randomly selected publishing companies requesting suggested literature. Several teacher's magazines occasionally sighted books of interest. The results are a compilation of seventy-two primary children's books and nine short stories that depict a positive image of the elderly.

Science teachers have a unique place in education due to their academic discipline and the fact that the public ties teacher accountability to student performance. One major measure of teacher accountability in the State of Florida is the end of course examinations (EOC). The purpose of this study was to examine selected high school Biology teachers’ perceptions about how their instructional practices have been affected by the administering of an EOC in comparison to other high school science teachers who are not required to administer an EOC. The overriding research question for this study was: What are the perceptions of selected high school science teachers whose students are subject to an EOC, as well as those whose students are not subject to an EOC? This qualitative study used a grounded theory, phenomenological approach to first elicit the perceptions of selected science teachers regarding how their instructional practices have been affected by the implementation of an EOC. These perceptions were examined within the context of other science teachers in the same school who were not subject to EOCs. Emergent understandings of these teachers’ perceptions were then used to build a theoretical understanding of the phenomena surrounding their construction. The sites for this research are science departments from high schools in a mid-sized central Florida school district. This research was accomplished by gathering data from preliminary surveys with open-ended responses, then followed up with more in-depth interviews constructed from the initial survey responses. Key findings from this study were the teachers’ need to cope with the pressure of time constraints on their instruction and working within the curriculum map as mandated by the county offices. Additionally, results of this study also indicated that teacher accountability and the pressures it engenders to increase student achievement are more pronounced for those teachers administering EOCs, who subsequently believe student learning is diminished. Importantly, teachers of subjects that include EOCs in this study themselves expressed understandings that these accountability pressures distorted their teaching practices to focus more on less cognitively complex classroom learning activities such as fact-based questions than their non-EOC teacher counterparts, although they knew these approaches to be less effective. Although this phenomenon of the unintended consequences of EOCs has been explored before, this study highlighted it from the vantage of teachers who were aware of its occurrence, but felt powerless to stop it.

The purpose of this thesis focused on a literature curriculum designed to improve reading comprehension through the stimulation of the right hemisphere of the brain. A case study of this curriculum development effort involved a third-grade student from a local public 2 school. He was a part-time Specific Learning Disability student with weaknesses in visual organization, visual concentration, and reading comprehension. A time span of six weeks was dedicated to increasing the child's reading comprehension within a literature framework through the use of right-brain stimulants, specifically, color and visualization. The Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, Level C, administered at the conclusion of the instructional sessions, and teacher observation provided the evaluation of the curriculum. Results of the study proved inconclusive. Further field study was recommended.

This study focused on the needs of 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students who have I.Q. scores of roughly 75-95. These students often function two or more years below grade level in school and are referred to as Marginally Learning Disabled (MLD), or slow learners. Factors which contribute to the existence of this situation were discussed as were problems of accurate identification. It was found that most school districts do not provide special help for these students. MLD students are usually placed in the regular classroom. A few school districts have experimented with special resource classes or self-contained classes. Parental involvement was found to be a major factor in the academic progress of the slow learner. Teacher effectiveness is also extremely important. An effective teacher was found to, (a) believe the child could learn, (b) be organized and run a structured program, and (c) provide direct, group instruction rather than individualized lessons.

Aliteracy, the term used to describe those who can read but choose not to do so, has become a grave concern in this country. A review of the literature indicates Americans are choosing to use their leisure time to interact with the electronic media to gather information instead of reading to gain knowledge. The skills of critical thinking and decision making are at stake. Schools and homes who have been successful in teaching the skill or reading must now instill the value of reading in order to preserve the democratic process upon which this country was founded.

This qualitative study represents an examination of the perceptions of 18 recent business college graduates of their transition experiences from college to the workplace. The participant’s ages ranged from 23 to 28 years including 4 males and 14 females of diverse racial and ethic groups. One-on-one, semi-structured, open-ended interviews were the primary method for data collection. Using excerpts from the participants’ interviews, the data were examined and analyzed using content analysis (Patton, 2002) and educational criticism (Eisner, 1998). The data were organized into three main topics: the importance of organizational socialization, the complexity of mentoring in the workplace, and the continuation of young adult development. The findings include the newly hired graduates’ feelings regarding the support received from educators and employers in their transition into the workplace, what should be done to assist them in the transition process, and their continued optimism about their futures with their employers and their desire to succeed.

This retrospective study used the language of political ecology to describe the dynamics of a school board decision to hire a nontraditional superintendent. Those dynamics were described as contextual variables that existed within the community as well as mediating variables that were negotiated among the key players who were part of the selection process. This study confirmed that the school board did not make the decision in isolation from the community power structure. The methodology of this descriptive case study was qualitative, using a basic interpretive design informed by symbolic interactionism. Data were collected primarily through interviews with key players of the superintendent selection event, as well as from local news articles and artifacts. This research identified variables that were part and parcel of the superintendent selection process. It also helped to explain why most of Jacksonville, Florida, favored a candidate with a military background over three other candidates who had served as superintendents of other large, urban school districts. The environmental and mediating variables were presented as key constructs that affected the superintendent selection process and influenced the final decision to hire a nontraditional superintendent.

Medical residency is a time of high stress, long hours, high case loads, fatigue, and lack of free time. Burnout rates among residents have been reported to be between 25-76%. Scant literature exists in regard to resident stress and its impact on learning and attrition during residency. The theory of margin posits that a healthy margin is necessary for adults to learn. Healthy margin exists when a person’s ratio of burdens over resources creates a surplus of energy. This study sought to determine if there was a difference between emergency medicine (EM) residents’ margin in life scores and remediation, at risk for remediation, and those considering leaving their emergency medicine residency training. Volunteer EM residents (n = 279) completed the Margin in Life Scale for Emergency Medicine (MILS EM) questionnaire, which measures six life areas: Health/Body, Religion/Spirituality, Self-Confidence, Interdependence, Parenting, and EM Work. Residents self-reported if they were considering leaving EM training and program directors provided remediation, at risk for remediation, and attrition rates. The mean MILS EM score among the 273 included EM residents was .64, which is within the recommended healthy range of .30 to .80. Additionally, all mean subscale scores fell within the healthy range. Only 13% of residents were reported as being on remediation, MILS EM (M=.63) with no statistically significant differences between those on remediation versus those not. Only 6% of residents were reported as being in jeopardy of remediation, MILS EM (M=.63) versus those not at risk (M=.64). Finally, only 5% of EM residents self-reported considering leaving EM training and no residents left their training program. Women scored lower on the MILS EM, and the life areas Health/Body (p Results of this study suggest that EM residents appear to have sufficient margin overall and in each of the life areas. Few were on or at risk for remediation and even fewer reported they were considering leaving EM residency training. As females scored lower in some of the life areas, further investigation is needed to determine if there are characteristics in the work environment that affect women differently than men.

The purpose of this study was to determine which factors and the degree to which these factors influenced the Joint Committee when deciding how much money should be allocated to the different services funded by the Ryan White CARE Act. This study focused on the possible explicit and implicit factors influencing the decision-making process and interactions of the members of the HIV/AIDS Joint Prioritization & Allocation Committee in the decisions that were being made on behalf of the people who are infected and affected by this disease. The methodology included a combination of quantitative and qualitative data, utilizing surveys, coding of communicative behavior, one-on-one interviews and researcher observations. The surveys and interviews were the primary sources of data. The findings indicated that both explicit and implicit factors influenced decisions. A significant difference was found to exist between clients and committee members for the priority ranking of services. A significant difference also existed between the committee's perception and staffs perception of which factors were most important. The influence that the committee members may have had with one another during discussions was not enough to cause any significant changes in the way they weighed the importance of the factors. The majority of the committee members reported that they relied on recorded data sources such as the needs assessment, epidemiological data, and client utilization of services, rather than their personal experience or HIV status, however this was not totally substantiated by the interviews. Persons living with HIV admitted that their HIV status was a strong factor influencing their decisions. Most participants reported feeling respected and empowered in the surveys, however during the interviews some felt that they were not being listened to adequately. This finding was supported by the interaction analysis. The results indicated that there is a need for more training and mentoring, particularly for those who are new to the process. Some participants reported there is a need to conduct more business on a joint basis to reduce redundancy and duplication of effort. There is also a need to recognize the importance of the influence of the staff members who provide the committee with the information that is used to make the decisions.

The main thrust of this study, therefore, revolved around the "scale-up" of the Case Instructional Sequence into a classroom size application able to be implemented by instructors with little additional practice in employing thistype of instructional sequence. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the Case type treatment on the performance of two successive ninth grade physical science classes at a private, college-preparatory, secondary school in northeast Florida. These groups were to be assessed using the Tobin and Capie Test of Logical Thinking, a measure which could help assess their respective Piagetian stage.