The primary objective of this study is to introduce Creative Dramatics as a tool for effective English language instruction in the Lake Shore Junior High Bilingual Center of the Duval County Schools. Therefore, the ultimate purpose of this study is to develop the English vocabulary of these students, which will in turn, increase their level of understanding and performance in English. A modified version of the Hoffman (1934) Bilingual Schedule has been applied for measurement. In order to develop a meaningful vehicle for the project, an original ten-part play was written by the author. It is called: "Journey to the Matto Grosso." This play is designed to promote the feelings of adventure present in every adolescent, and to awaken his/her self-identity.

It has been found that most at-risk students have a very low self-esteem, which contributes to the sense of failure these students feel about their academic life. This study explored the use of bibliotherapy with secondary students in an effort to raise their self-esteem to a level which would counteract the frustration these students feel as they continually find themselves in failing situations in school. Extensive review of available literature on the topics of self-esteem, motivation, at-risk students, and bibliotherapy resulted in the compilation of an annotated bibliography, complete with suggested uses for the works found therein, selected for the secondary student, with the understanding that at-risk students often function academically below grade level.

The focus of this paper is the problem of comparatively quantifying questionnaire information in terms of which approach; traditional hospital or certified nurse-midwifery, is more conducive to optimal maternal-infant bonding and attachment. Clarification of the percentage results evince that certified nurse-midwifery is 33% more conducive to optimal maternal-infant bonding and attachment than the traditional hospital approach. Research indicates that certified nurse-midwives birthing approach already promotes positive phenomenons of bonding and attachment whereas traditional hospital practices are just now incorporating maternal and family birthing plan choices to enhance maternal-infant bonding and attachment possibilities.

Because the teaching of spelling to students above the seventh grade is not a universally endorsed curriculum, it is the purpose of this study to explore varied opinions concerning the reasons and methods for teaching spelling, to develop a specified six week curriculum for the teaching of a spelling unit to eighth graders, and to evaluate the curriculum and its relevance to students of this age. Study and research reveal that most students of middle school age do have spelling difficulties which can be overcome. This curriculum utilizes methods suggested in the related literature for enhancing the study of specified word lists. The resulting data indicates that additional classroom activities do produce positive increases in the attainment of the knowledge of hard-to-spell words. However, the retention level appears to be the same, regardless of the methods of teaching.

This research was designed to explore the learning experiences of state college students using mobile e-book readers. The purpose of the study was to build a rich description of how students used electronic textbooks delivered on mobile computing devices for college-level, introductory sociology courses. This research employed a multiple case study design that thoroughly investigated and documented student experiences with this instructional technology. The bounding frame was comprised of the literature on mobile technology, mobile learning theories, and e-books. Situated within the mobile learning framework was a theoretical lens of learning theories commonly found in the literature on mobile learning (constructivism, social cognitive theory, self-efficacy theory, expectancy x value theory, self-determination theory, and situated cognition). This lens was used to provide insight into the student’s learning experiences. This study was comprised of data from a variety of sources that were chosen for their ability to produce insight into the learning experiences of mobile e-book students taking introduction to sociology courses at a Southeastern public state college. The data analysis was comprised of three levels of increasing stages of granular examination. These included level one: descriptive summaries of student cases, level two: student and instructor interview data and excerpts from audio recording transcriptions organized by topical categories, and level three: cross-case synthesis relating to the theoretical framework and research questions. Students were found to be competent with the e-books, confident, metacognitive, and desirous of more social learning opportunities within their e-books. By addressing the primary research question and the subquestions, six major conclusions were reached. These were: (a) students expressed competence in their use of the mobile e-books, (b) students expressed feelings of high self-efficacy when using the mobile e-books, (c) students overall valued the use of the e-book for their learning, (d) students were individualized and metacognitive in their learning with the mobile e-books, (e) students enhanced their learning socially and within situated learning opportunities, and (f) the students and the instructor had divergent views on the value and utility of social, interactive textbooks. Increasing understanding of the use of electronic and mobile instructional technologies such as e-books may better assist educational leaders with preparing students for today’s global knowledge economy. Based on the conclusions of this study, recommendations for future research and educational leadership were addressed.

The purpose of this study was to examine how school reform design, English speakers of other languages (ESOL) instruction, and socioeconomic status (SES) impact the academic achievement of ESOL students in Grade 2. Gains in lexile scores on the Scholastic Reading Inventory were used to measure one aspect of academic achievement, namely, general reading ability. The primary research question was: To what extent can gains in lexile scores on the Scholastic Reading Inventory be explained by the independent variable set of school reform design (America's Choice/Direct Instruction), ESOL instruction (ESOL instruction/no ESOL instruction), and SES (free and reduced lunch/no free lunch). Participants were 204 ESOL students enrolled in Grade 2 in Duval County Public Schools during the 2003-2004 academic year, including 53 in Direct Instruction and 151 in America's Choice school reform designs; 151 receiving free and reduced lunch and 53 paying full fee for lunch; 139 receiving ESOL instruction and 65 receiving no ESOL instruction. Findings indicated that students in the Direct Instruction school reform design had greater gains in lexile scores on the SRI than students in the America's Choice design. SES and ESOL instruction were not statistically significant predictors of academic achievement. Further, there were no statistically significant interactions among any of the predictor variables (between school reform design and ESOL instruction; between school reform design and SES; between SES and ESOL instruction; or among school reform design, SES, and ESOL instruction).

Patient safety (i.e., the degree to which patients are free from accidental injury) has received a great deal of media coverage during the past few years. Professional and regulatory agencies have indicated that patient safety education should be provided to healthcare workers to improve health outcomes. The primary purpose of this exploratory study was to gain a better understanding of the current status of patient safety awareness among pre-licensure nursing students. To this end, six research questions guided the study: 1. Will interpretable item constructs be identified when responses to the Healthcare Professional Patient Safety Assessment Curriculum Survey (HPPSACS) are intercorrelated and factor analyzed using R-technique exploratory factor analysis? 2. Will responses to items on the HPPSACS yield scores that are intemally consistent as indicated by alpha reliability coefficients? 3. What are the perceptions of nursing students about their awareness, skills, and attitudes regarding patient safety? 4. (a) To what extent is there a relationship between the demographic variables of age and gender and nursing students' perceptions of their patient safety awareness, skills, and attitudes? (b) To what extent is there a relationship between the demographic variable of race/ethnicity and nursing students' perceptions of their patient safety awareness, skills, and attitudes? 5. To what extent is there a relationship between the type of collegiate nursing program and nursing students' perceptions of their patient safety awareness, skills, and attitudes? 6. To what extent are there discernable program curriculum and instructional methodologies that have been traditionally associated with more positive nursing student perceptions of awareness, skills, and attitudes regarding patient safety? Phase I was a pilot test for reliability and construct validity for the HPPSACS. Data were factor analyzed to determine factor constructs for the purpose of identifying the key themes accounting for the variation in response across 23 survey items. Three factors with themes that were found to relate to perceptions of patient safety among a scholarly professional group of nurses were identified as comfort, error reporting, and denial. Findings in Phase II of the study indicated that there were four identifiable constructs with the study data: the themes of comfort, error reporting, denial, and culture. Older male participants had higher comfort subscale scores and lower culture subscales scores than did younger female participants. The Asian American participants were clearly distinguished from the combined set of African American and Hispanic participants on the denial and culture scores. The "other" ethnic identity was clearly distinguished from the combined set of Caucasian and Hispanic participants on the comfort and error reporting scores. The associate nursing degree programs were clearly distinguished from the combined set of the accelerated and traditional nursing degree programs. Findings in Phase III of the study indicated that all seven of the participating nursing schools included at least three of the Institute of Medicine's six core competencies, with one school exhibiting all of the core competencies.

Case study research on enterprise systems in higher education organizations has shown that the challenges associated with implementing enterprise systems in higher education occur when unique organizational characteristics found in universities do not align with the standard characteristics built into the software programs. Based on such findings, the purpose of this study was to further explore the interaction between higher education organizations and enterprise systems during Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementations in order to gain insight into the effects of ERP implementations in higher education. Through the theoretical lens of actor-network theory, the purposes of this comparative case study at three universities were to identify (a) how higher education organizations re-structured to the standards of the enterprise software, (b) how ERP software was customized in order to adapt to the characteristics of higher education organizations, and (c) how the enterprise software and higher education organizations interacted and translated into a unique identity as a result of ERP implementation. The data for the study were collected through semi-structured interviews and institutional artifacts at three universities which were commonly bound by similar institutional characteristics and the same enterprise software. Further, the study was limited to the examination of the interaction between individuals associated with the registrars' offices at the three institutions and the student module found in each instance of the software. The data revealed that, while the institutions did not organizationally restructure or make policy changes in order to adapt their institutions with the infrastructure of the software, the registrars' offices made many reactionary changes in their business processes, procedures, and nature of work as a result of the enterprise system implementation. The data also revealed that the software customizations, developed to account for unique statutory requirements, caused overwhelming implementation challenges during the enterprise software implementation and post-implementation phases.

The intent of this study was to examine the leadership behaviors and learning strategies of Successful Small Business Leaders (SSBLs) in Northeast Florida. Information gathered during this study may help current and future small business owners develop, maintain, and make their organizations more productive through the use of the learning strategies and leadership behaviors employed by SSBLs. Through a two-prong approach, the study examined both leadership and learning. The study addressed the following two questions: 1) What learning strategies are used most by successful small business leaders? and 2) What leadership behaviors are exhibited most by successful small business leaders? The Delphi method was selected as the research approach for this study because it provides the most flexible approach to seeking the perspective of SSBLs. The Delphi method uses a group of experts who anonymously discuss and respond to the research issue. A two-phase Delphi study design utilized both participant surveys and interviews. An analysis of the data collected during Phase 1, or the survey phase, identified seven leadership behaviors and six learning strategies. Examination of the seven leadership behaviors and six learning strategies by the participants demonstrated agreement among the behaviors and strategies identified. However, participants did not reach an agreement in the ranking of the leadership behaviors or learning strategies. The study contributes to the research of leadership behaviors and learning strategies of leaders as the focus was solely on those in a small business setting. The best practices and other data discovered during this Delphi study on small business may be used to better define and understand the characteristics of SSBLs.

Teachers for generations have struggled with the challenge of motivating students to learn in their classes. Literature suggests that a positive way to increase student motivation and academic achievement in science is with the laboratory experience. With the lack of adequate laboratory space in our schools, teachers are having to "make do" in science classes with limited space and budget. A need exists for 9th grade Earth Science laboratory activities that meet county course objectives and yet are simple enough to be used in a classroom setting, thereby eliminating the need for extra expenses for the science department. This project has developed a set of laboratory experiences appropriate for 9th grade Earth Science courses in Duval County.