<p> This case study examined how the campus culture influences the existence of a Black cultural center and a multicultural center at a predominantly White university. A qualitative ethnography was conducted using focus group interviews, personal interviews, archival research, and anecdotal observation. The results of the study identified five themes: (a) from isolation to insulation, (b) opportunities for involvement, (c) the perception problem, (d) challenges of change, and (e) leadership commitment.</p><p> A Pinchback model of relevance for cultural centers for predominantly White campuses was created for practitioners and administrators seeking ideas for making cultural centers relevant at their respective institutions. The model features external forces that influence campus culture and the forces within the campus culture that influence the cultural centers. The role of the cultural center is shown as broadening the difficult conversations around race, diversity, and inclusion.</p>

<p> Academic advising has been touted as a key to student success and retention. Today's academic advising delivery models vary considerably and little is known about the efficiency and effectiveness of these models. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between how academic advising is delivered to first-year students at a four-year public, high research activity university located on the west coast and the students' satisfaction with advising, advising learning outcomes, and retention. In the study, responses of 628 first-year students to a survey which asked them about their attitudes toward and experiences with academic advising were examined. Results indicated statistically significant relationships between student satisfaction ratings and advising learning outcomes and how advising is delivered, specifically, who advises students, where students are advised, how frequently students are required to see an advisor, how frequently students choose to see an advisor, and how "mandatory" advising is implemented. Furthermore results showed that student retention was related to who advises students and how "mandatory" advising is implemented with peer-led advising processes showing higher student attrition rates than other processes. The overall advising delivery variable effect size was small. Implications for practice and suggestions for future research are discussed.</p>

<p> Higher education in the United States is replete with inventories and instruments designed to help administrators to identify students who are more likely to succeed in college and to tailor the higher education experience to foster this success. One area of research involves the Holland vocational personality type (Holland 1973, 1985, 1997) inventory, used to classify people into three-level personality types according to their work interests, behaviors, habits and preferences. This inventory has received a great deal of attention as a potential tool for steering college students into their optimal majors and thereby streamlining their college careers. Smart, Feldman and Ethington (2000) examined the Holland types as assessed through items present on the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Freshman Survey. Using both student and faculty data from a national sample, they argued that the Holland type can be generalized to students pursuing higher education through the academic department; departments are where students "work." This Holland/CIRP Freshman Survey inventory and the "factor structure" developed by Smart and associates was presented in the original work (2000) and a subsequent work sponsored by the National Symposium for Postsecondary Student Success (2006) but the evidence of the validity of their factors and analysis was never complete; no psychometric evaluation was done and their argument rests weakly on others' assessment of the constructs (Pike, 1996). </p><p> This study sought to provide validity evidence of the Smart, Feldman and Ethington (2000) estimation of the Holland vocational personality type provided to colleges and universities through the CIRP Freshman Survey. First, the model proposed by Smart and associates (2000) was examined through exploratory factor analysis to determine if the proposed factor structure could be reproduced with an independent single-institution sample of the same size used in the original research. Results showed that the factors identified by Smart et al (2000) could not be replicated, with the possible exception of the dimension of Artistic orientation. Next, items on the CIRP Freshman Survey were then used to attempt to make an independent alternative factor structure. Using a randomly split development sample, a factor structure was developed and validated with the remainder of the sample. Factor scores from the final structure were then used to classify students using cluster analysis, and the clusters were compared to their academic majors in an attempt to provide an alternative Holland model. The clusters did not capture trends in choosing either a freshman or a graduating major, and so does not provide a means of alternative estimation for the Holland vocational personality type. </p><p> Multiple arguments against the validity of the original Smart, Feldman and Ethington (2000) estimation of the Holland vocational personality type via the CIRP Freshman Survey with the exception of the Artistic orientation dimension are presented. More troubling are the questions raised by the lack of validity evidence, given that the authors suggest that these subscales can be used to optimize fit between students and academic departments&mdash;and that the information is used nationally at "face value." The information calls into question the use of such scales, even those which are nationally published and widely used, if validity evidence is not present. Discussion focuses on the institution's responsibility in establishing the usability of such forms to make advisement or other intervention decisions for individual students.</p>

<p> College student mental health is a significant issue for educational leaders, as mental health needs are increasing in prevalence and severity (ACHA, 2013; Gallagher, 2013). Eisenberg, Downs, Golberstein, and Zivin (2009) note that mental health issues cause adverse occupational, academic and social outcomes, impacting student success, retention, and persistence (Belch, 2011; Cleary, Walter, &amp; Jackson, 2011). Anxiety and depression, which are more prevalent in women (ADAA, 2007; APA, 2013), are the most common mental health issues affecting college students (ACHA, 2013; Gallagher, 2013). </p><p> Coyne and Downey (1991) correlated social support with improved mental health outcomes. Baron (2010) indicated that involvement in student organizations may promote development and connection, thereby enhancing learning and retention (Chambliss &amp; Takacs, 2014). Female students may engage in campus life by joining sororities, which are prominent and influential on many campuses (Lien, 2002). The purpose of this research was to investigate sorority member mental health, specifically anxiety and depression. The relationships between anxiety, depression, and student characteristics were examined. </p><p> This correlational, ex-post facto study explored the presence and severity of anxiety and depression of women (N =72) who self-identified as living in sorority housing. Permission was obtained to review data from the 2013-2014 Healthy Minds Study (Eisenberg &amp; Lipson, 2014), including demographic information and results from the PHQ-9 (Kroenke, Spitzer, &amp; Williams, 2001) and the GAD-7 (Spitzer, Kroenke, Williams, &amp; L&ouml;we 2006). Data analyses produced frequencies, correlations, and t-tests. </p><p> Findings revealed the following: 20% of respondents reported anxiety, with 8% percent reporting severe anxiety; 15% of respondents reported depression, with 5% reporting major depression. Financial difficulty was correlated with depression (<i>r</i> =.27, <i>r²</i>=.07, <i> p</i>=.008) and a significant relationship existed between the presence of anxiety and depression (<i>r²</i>=.36, <i> r</i>2=.13, <i>p</i>=.004). No statistically significant difference existed in reported symptoms of anxiety and depression of women residing in sorority housing compared to those residing elsewhere. Information about mental health may assist sororities in providing support and resources to members. Educational leaders, mental health practitioners, faculty, and student affairs staff can also benefit from this information as they work to help address student mental health needs, student retention, persistence, and success. </p>

<p> The cry continues with A Nation at Risk, No Child Left Behind, and now the Common Core State Standards. There are groups of students who are finding success within public education and groups who are not. The groups who are not finding this success continue to be minority students who continue to run into the public education system rather than running with it. African American males seem to experience running into the system at greater number than other racial and gender groups. However, there are African American males that are finding success in public education. This study looks at the schooling and educational perspectives of twenty-four African American male K-12 public education students. Using grades and standardized assessments as a criterion, fifteen of the students were considered academically successful and nine were not. Twenty-two of the males were 18 years of age and two were 12 years old. Nineteen participants were high school seniors, one was a sophomore, and two were in middle school. Looking through the lenses of Critical Race Theory and Resiliency Theory using qualitative inquiry and data derived from interviews, data was collected to determine what contributed to the success of some participants. First both successful and non-successful groups were able to speak about having goals for the future and the importance of working hard in school. Secondly, relationships were also seen as essential to academic success, whether these relationships were with parents, teachers, or mentors for academic success to occur. Racial stereotypes were seen as something to overcome by the academically success. Race was viewed as a road block difficult to overcome by less successful participants. Having a father and mother or frequent access to more than one caring adult increased an African American male&rsquo;s ability to be academically successful. Even having two parents that may not have been supportive of the African American male appeared to be more beneficial than having supportive friends.</p><p> Recommendations to help African American males to be academically successful include starting early with relationship support and mentoring, life skills courses, and increased interaction with successful African American males. </p>

<p> The 2011 East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami suddenly took the homes, family members, friends, and familiar neighborhoods away from the children of Iwate. In the midst of this difficult situation, early childhood development (ECD) programs provided protective environments for the young children to access continuous care and development opportunities. This case study examines how these daycare centers in Iwate prepared for, responded to, and coped with the severe natural disaster, providing physical, cognitive, and psychosocial protections to these children.</p><p> The study re-affirmed that daycare centers in Iwate had integrated the national standards for disaster risk reduction (DRR). On the day of the disaster, personnel safely evacuated the children while practicing monthly drills. Despite the challenges, the daycare programs quickly re-established normalcy in children&rsquo;s lives, ensuring continuous access to care. Not only did daycare personnel act in loco parentis for these children, but also re-installed daycare programs during the recovery.</p><p> The study revealed that local governments also faced serious challenges in their leadership and coordination roles. Their response capacities had been severely affected by the disaster. Governments&rsquo; appropriate and timely guidance was most beneficial for the daycare providers. Among other recommendations, I assert that in the future, local governments could take more active roles in coordinating the massive influx of humanitarian organizations. </p><p> This interpretivist research was based on my one-year fieldwork in Iwate immediately after the disaster, and employed a series of survey instruments (questionnaires and interviews). This case study contributes to the field of education and ECD in emergencies through the use of qualitative, ethnographic research. It also recognizes significant and complimentary contribution of qualitative inquiry methods, including on-site fieldwork, ethnographic analyses, and follow-up interviews, for better understanding of crisis situations.</p><p> While pre-school programs are not compulsory in Japan, the study calls attention to the valuable protection that they provide for both young children and their childhoods in emergencies. A recovery strategy that focuses on protective environments for children has great potential as a harmonizing approach, rather than as a parallel one, in the complex nature of humanitarian assistance. </p>

<p> The relatively little amount of time that some college students spend reading their textbooks outside of lectures presents a significant threat to their academic success. One possible solution to this problem is the use of digital games as an alternative to outside-of-class textbook reading, but a review of previous research did not reveal much information on their efficacy when compared to traditional textbooks. Using Astin's theory of student engagement as a framework, the purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to determine whether a significant difference in engagement, as indicated by mental effort and time on task, existed for college students who used a digital game-based textbook versus students who used a traditional print-based textbook. The 54 undergraduate college students in this convenience sample were randomly assigned to one of the two textbook types and completed an activity session at an individual workstation. Time on task was measured with a stopwatch and mental effort with the Mental Effort Scale. The results showed a statistically significant difference in engagement between participants in the digital game-based and traditional print-based textbook groups, Hotelling's <i> T</i>²(2, 52) = 25.11, <i>p </i>&lt; .001, D²=1.86. In the post hoc analyses, the digital game-based group had significantly higher time on task scores than the traditional print-based textbook group (<i>t</i> = 34.61, <i>p</i> &lt; .001). The mental effort difference was not significant, although the mean mental effort score was higher for the digital game-based group. These results provide evidence of a digital game-based textbook's utility, and may inform college educators in their efforts to support a more diverse group of learners.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of sleep schedule on the learning trajectories, acquisition, and consolidation for preschoolers participating in a training program targeting attention. This study expanded on current literature by examining the effect of training attention skills and focused on sleep in preschoolers using an experimental design. Explorations of how changes in bedtime play a role in training attention in preschoolers were made. </p><p> Sleep is important for daytime functioning and sleep loss has many implications, including risk for poorer academic performance and learning. Early intervention and preventive measures addressing executive functions can help children better manage their behaviors in work and play situations. Studies have shown that attention skills in children can be trained. This study expanded on current literature by assessing the generalization of attention training to other executive function skills, such as inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and working memory. Research has mainly focused on inhibition and working memory, and more recently, attention. To hopefully improve understanding of the attention skills in preschoolers, an additional variable of sleep restriction was evaluated. </p><p> Findings indicated, contrary to initial prediction, that children who were sleep restricted performed better during post-test assessment compared to children who followed their typical bedtime schedules. Sleep restricted preschoolers performed better in all executive function areas that were assessed in this study, which included inhibition, cognitive flexibility, working memory, and attention. Findings revealed that acute sleep restriction in preschoolers increased the effects of attention training. Differences in findings from this study and other studies are addressed.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study is to identify student characteristics and academic program factors, which influence the student's ability to persist through degree completion within healthcare-related, associate degree programs within four urban, community colleges. To achieve this outcome, the Bean and Metzner (1985) model of non-traditional student attrition was adapted to analyze academic and demographic variables which may lead to degree completion within healthcare programs of study. Records of 3,237 students from four urban, community colleges, with healthcare-related programs of study and prerequisites of English, anatomy and physiology, and mathematics, were analyzed to determine predictors leading to program completion. The study employed a quantitative, <i> ex post facto</i> design using descriptive statistics, correlation, and logistic regression models to analyze the sample of 552 students. Out of the twelve independent variables for the six programs of study (diagnostic medical sonography, echocardiology technology, invasive cardiovascular technology, nursing, radiologic sciences, and respiratory care programs), cumulative and program grade point averages were found to be significant predictors of program completion. Recommendations included adding shorter certificate options within the programs of study, consider reducing the length of associate degree programs, assessing licensure success and length of programs in the healthcare sector, applying similar studies in university or rural settings, assessment of financial aid and completion in healthcare programs, and establishing pre-advising opportunities to determine the best program fit for students within the healthcare sector, thus increasing the student's ability to persist to program completion or graduation.</p>

<p> This study investigated principals' perceptions in the hiring process of classroom teachers in high minority (Latino) schools. Nine secondary principals in five school districts in Washington state were interviewed regarding their perceptions of characteristics of high quality teachers in their school. Data gathered via personal interviews indicated that principals identified teachers who "fit" their schools and their current staff by focusing on state and federal highly qualified mandates and their own subjective criteria for desirable teacher characteristics. Participating administrators promoted what was described as a "colorblind" hiring process that would allow them to remain "ethnically neutral" when hiring teachers. Despite principals' professed desire to provide their students with same-race mentors, the process described had the effect of ensuring that the high percentages of white staff at high minority schools would persist in high minority schools, thus leaving little hope for a change in the ethnic or racial demographics of the teaching staff in these schools.</p>