In 2018 we continue to live in a divisive society, including divisions across racial and gender boundaries and among those with different sexual orientations. Athletes today, partially as a result of the pervasiveness of social media, are choosing to be more visible, and share more of their personal lives, many times in an effort to use sport as a platform for change. This study investigated whether athletes’ personal lives, particularly their sexual orientation, effects their ability to serve as a brand endorser. Historically, Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender-Queer (LGBTQ) athletes have chosen to refrain from discussing their sexual orientation. LGBTQ athletes from across the spectrum, both out and closeted, have expressed that a main reason for not “coming out” at all, or coming out after gaining a level of celebrity, typically post retirement from their sport, is a fear of losing endorsements and/or sponsorship deals. Data was collected from a group of students (n=217) from a large public university in the Southeastern United States. A 2 (Male/Female) x 2 (Heterosexual/Homosexual Athlete) between-subjects experimental design was used to examine perceptions of endorser fit, attitudes and purchase intentions. The results signaled that public knowledge of an athlete’s sexuality does not have a significant effect on the athlete’s ability to serve as a brand endorser, in the context of attitude towards the endorser, brand, product, and purchase intent. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Sport Management in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Summer Semester 2018. / July 23, 2018. / Cause Related Marketing, Consumer Behavior, Endorsements, LGBTQ Studies, Marketing, Sponsorship / Includes bibliographical references. / Jeffrey James, Professor Directing Thesis; James W. Du, Committee Member; Amy Chan Hyung Kim, Committee Member.

Every year, more students in the United States participate in international service learning (ISL) programs through their universities (IIE, 2016; Boone, Kline, Johnson, Milburn, & Rieder, 2013). Over the past two decades, the participation rates of international education programs have more than tripled (IIE, 2016). The students participating in these programs, however, are not representative of the student bodies at these universities (IIE, 2016). While ISL programs have been touted as a powerful, transformative experience for students, not much is known about how students’ sociocultural identities are influenced (Bringle, Hatcher, & Jones, 2012; Crabtree, 2008). This study examined how the process of literally crossing boundaries between countries, as part of an ISL program, related to the figurative crossing of sociocultural identity boundaries for a cohort of students traveling to Ghana. Through the use of qualitative research methods, the purpose of this study was to shed light on how students negotiate the sociocultural identities, so ISL programs can support students, from all identity backgrounds, in their identity development. It examined how students negotiated their sociocultural identities throughout an ISL program and compared the identity negotiation experiences of traditionally represented and underrepresented students. Participants included a cohort of eleven students, five who were traditionally represented within ISL and six who were traditionally underrepresented within ISL, along with members of their host families and the directors of the organizations where they served. Interviews, observations, focus groups, and documents such as student blogs and reflective essays were all used as sources of data. Through utilizing the concept of boundary crossing and the theory of intersectionality, this study found that students tended to negotiate their identities 1) through confronting the notion that they could be wholly defined by one identity, 2) by grappling with the narrow boundaries of various identity categories, and 3) through romanticizing their new context’s culture. The study also found that traditionally represented and underrepresented students differed on how they tended to negotiate their identities with the former focusing inwardly for their identity negotiations and the later focusing outwardly. Implications for policy and practice and directions for future research are discussed in light of these findings. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 2, 2018. / boundary crossing, Ghana, identity, identity negotiation, international service learning, intersectionality / Includes bibliographical references. / Helen Boyle, Professor Directing Dissertation; John Myers, University Representative; Ayesha Khurshid, Committee Member; Stacey Rutledge, Committee Member.

College access programs like Upward Bound, GEAR UP, and AVID have long histories in education. Each of these have been thoroughly researched. This research shows mixed results on their effectiveness to improve the college-going nature of their respective participants. Most of the research on these programs is focused on academic outcomes rather than the curriculum taught in them and how that curriculum serves students once they graduate. There were three goals of this comparative, sequential, mixed methods study. The first goal was to determine the usefulness of the WICOR (Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading) components of the AVID Curriculum to graduates of the program from the research district. The second goal was to discern differences in responses between AVID graduates who matriculated into post-secondary institutions and AVID graduates who did not matriculate into post-secondary institutions. The final goal was to find any suggestions for improvement the AVID graduates may have regarding the program. The findings of the study show that AVID graduates from the research district use the WICOR components to varying degrees. The findings also show that there is no discernable difference between the responses of AVID graduates who matriculated and those who did not. Finally, the findings indicate that AVID graduates would like to see the curriculum be differentiated in the later years of the program. Themes emerged from the research including the importance of the role of the AVID Coordinator and the community that is created within the AVID classroom. Implications for practice include ensuring program requirements are met, revisiting the WICOR components, and the need to cultivate community in the AVID classroom. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. / Spring Semester 2018. / March 22, 2018. / AVID, Community, Coordinator, Curriculum, Relatedness, WICOR / Includes bibliographical references. / Linda Schrader, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Robert Schwartz, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Jeannine Turner, University Representative; Toby Park, Committee Member; Patrice Iatarola, Committee Member.

This is an applied research study, designed to understand the college readiness skills and protective factors (i.e. non-cognitive skills) of rural high school students, who participated in different types of federal college preparedness programs. This investigation compares the college readiness experiences of three groups of twelfth graders, which are as follows: those who did not participate in any college preparedness program; those who participated in Federal TRIO programs, which are designed to assist low-income and potential first-generation college students with college enrollment; and lastly, those who participated in the school’s dual enrollment program, and completed college courses. This research is significant because rural students have lower college enrollment rates compared to other non-rural students nationally. Rural students are behind because they are typically minorities, from low-income households, who attend low performing schools. This study is framed by resiliency theory, which was used to understand how academic resiliency occurs for research participants in the study, in spite of the aforementioned drawbacks. An online survey and focus group interviews were the research methods used, which led to evidence that the rural students in this study had lower academic outcomes compared to the national statistics for college readiness indicators, such as ACT and SAT scores, grade point average, completed college applications, and knowledge of Federal student aid. Additionally, rural students in this study had very low non-cognitive skills (i.e. protective factors), which are predictors for success in college. Lastly, this study also provides practical steps that can be implemented to create a college readiness culture within the research setting. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. / Spring Semester 2018. / March 22, 2018. / College Readiness, First-generation College Students, Noncognitive skills, Rural students, TRIO programs, Workforce Development / Includes bibliographical references. / Linda B. Schrader, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Robert Schwartz, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Jeannine Turner, University Representative; Patrice Iatarola, Committee Member; Toby Park, Committee Member.

Over the past 10 years, there have been significant movements in the area of contemplative education. Of particular interest is how these contemplative education approaches can be leveraged to provide tools for supporting youth in emergency settings, dealing with difficult backgrounds that include violence, conflict, and poverty. Within contemplative education exists the growing mindfulness movement, emerging as an exciting supplement to existing programs that work with vulnerable populations, focusing on developing positive self, moral, social, and emotional understanding. This paper argues that a mindfulness-based intervention, as a part of an educational program for street children in Mexico could help them deal with their daily stressors and their socioemotional barriers to education, allowing them to truly benefit from the programs being made available to them. Mindfulness, therefore, can be understood as a capability that helps to achieve functionings- real freedoms or opportunities. In this ethnographic case study, for a twelve week period, I lived with a group of youth in situ, at the orphanage where they reside, participating in daily life at the IPODERAC program in Atlixco, Mexico. Two groups of youth between the ages of 12 and 18 were assessed at this all-boys institution. One group was provided an eight-week mindfulness-based curriculum, while the control continued with standard programming. After a year, I returned for four weeks, again living at the orphanage, participating in daily life. The qualitative methods employed were: participant observation, regular recording of field notes on daily life and events, interviews with youth, interviews with their educators, and student journal entries. The supporting quantitative component consisted of a pretest/posttest, using the Child and Adolescents Mindfulness Measure (CAMM) given to both treatment and control groups. The first manner in which the boys lived and understood mindfulness after the intervention was through behavior change and the decision making regulated behavior. The subjects felt that through this practice they could overcome the impulsive behaviors they typically acted with and that they could provide more conscious responses. The boys embodied this idea through self-regulating actions by using mindfulness as a mediator between stimulus and response. The second manner in which mindfulness was lived was through dealing with the difficulties of the sadness, anger, and traumatic memories and remnants of their pasts. Based on the intervention, they were not then free of all emotional problems they face, rather, it pointed to the fact that the boys believe that through these exercises they found a tool for managing their often clouded minds. As a result of the practice, the boys' envisioning of their future was also tied directly to the themes of lived experience, embodiment, self-regulation, and emotional regulation, as the boys felt that in order to reach a point in life where able to keep a job, have better relationships, and most importantly be good fathers and husbands, they had to regulate themselves and their emotions. Therefore, mindfulness became a viable tool to reach that future. Educators corroborated these findings, talking about how the boys would sometimes use a language in the homes at the orphanage to better describe their actions and how they wished to avoid their impulsive behaviors. On the 10-item CAMM, the mean difference in mindfulness gain scores between the two groups was -3.45, with the treatment group demonstrating larger average gains (2.35) than the control group (-1.10). After a t-test it was determined that the difference in gain scores between the treatment group and the control group was significant (p =.019), supporting the claims the boys were reporting. My return a year later found that the mindfulness practice had largely not been sustained, although some did continue the breathing exercises and recollection of the curriculum was largely limited to simply better decision making. This follow up visit and the somewhat disappointing findings from it led to the several recommendations, which could help sustain the positive results documented during the first four months of this study. First, the institutionalization of a plan that involves mindfulness at all level of the organization, especially those working directly with the youth, is imperative. Second, given the trauma that this population of boys has suffered, an increased dosage is likely warranted and particularly important. Third, future studies on the application and impact of mindfulness in contexts such as IPODERAC should continue to be qualitative in nature, in order to get to a deeper understanding of the population and their engagement and understanding of the material. A quantitative assessment is useful in measuring learning gains and is an appropriate supplement to the qualitative work. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Education Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2018. / November 1, 2018. / Contemplative Education, Education in Emergencies, International Development, Meditation, Mindfulness, Street Youth / Includes bibliographical references. / Helen Boyle, Professor Directing Dissertation; Neil Abell, University Representative; Toby Park, Committee Member; Jeffrey Ayala Milligan, Committee Member; Flavia Ramos-Mattoussi, Committee Member.

The purpose of the study is to explore an international development assistance project in the education sector in Ethiopia, with an explicit focus on inclusive education for students with disabilities. In particular, the author explores the critical role of the principal as a leader who has the ability to maximize his or her school's ability to include and develop the capabilities of students in Ethiopia. Findings from this study can derive lessons that could be useful for designing and implementing locally tailored and driven inclusive education programs in other resource-lean contexts. The author will specifically examine perceptions of principals towards students with disabilities in Ethiopian primary schools. The perceptions will be used to better understand the conditions, including supporting factors, necessary to successfully implement an inclusion program in Ethiopian schools, many of which have no history of inclusion and are resource poor. Thick and rich description of principal perceptions will be provided through a qualitative case study approach. The case was bounded by the participation in an Assistive Technology Capacity Building Initiative (ATCBI), situated within a larger mother tongue education development project in Ethiopia. Principal participants were interviewed twice during this initiative. Each of the principals had at least one teacher at his/her school who was participating in the ATCBI and these teachers in the initiative were interviewed and observed by the researcher as part of this study and the larger project. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Education Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2018. / November 14, 2018. / Ethiopia, Inclusive Education, International Development, Principals / Includes bibliographical references. / Helen Boyle, Professor Directing Dissertation; Sandra Lewis, University Representative; Stephanie Zuilkowski, Committee Member; Patrice Iatarola, Committee Member.

The purpose of this study was to compare vocational and non-vocational education students in public secondary schools in Leon County, Florida, to see whether high school graduates who were in vocational education programs in their 9th through 12th grades had more advantages in graduation, postsecondary school enrollment, employment, and wages, over their non-vocational education counterparts. In order to achieve this purpose, data for Godby, Leon, Lincoln, and Rickards High Schools' May 1999, and May 2000, high-school and post-highschool were collected, analyzed, and compared. Eighth grade data were also collected to determine the subjects' socioeconomic status. A sample of 2,698 students was obtained from the four high schools involved in this study. The data for the investigation were obtained from the Florida Department of Education's (FDOE) "Florida Education and Training Placement Information Program" (FETPIP) and "Educational Information and Accountability Services" (EIAS) databases. Through "skewed" (rearranged) students identification numbers, it was possible to track each high school graduate to their eighth grade data. The analytical method heavily relied on descriptive statistics with intensive use of tables. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to summarize and analyze the data. Findings The study indicated that students in high school vocational education programs may have some advantages over non-vocational education students in terms of high school graduation, postsecondary school enrollment, employment and probably wages. The data indicated that participation in vocational education programs were distributed among the students that were representative of both the lower socioeconomic status (LSES) and the higher socioeconomic status (HSES) categories, male and female, black and white. The data further indicated that vocational education programs may have motivational values to the advantage of academically disadvantaged students, especially those within the LSES category, thereby enabling them to remain in school and graduate. Analyses of the data showed that in most cases, vocational education students, especially within the LSES, reported a higher rate of graduation from high school than their non-vocational education colleagues. The data further showed that in some cases, especially among the LSES black students, the more vocational education credits or courses a student earned in high school, the more likely the student graduates from high school. The study also indicated that vocational education high school graduates were very competitive against their non-vocational education high school counterparts in terms of college enrollments. In some cases, especially among the LSES students, vocational education high school graduates reported higher rates of university enrollments than non-vocational education students. Regarding community college enrollment, the study indicated that both vocational and non-vocational education high school graduates were more attracted to the Associate in Arts (AA) degrees (college transfer option) than the Associate in Science (AS) degree programs (more professional and work option). The study further indicated that most vocational education high school graduates who enrolled in undergraduate BS degree programs were majoring in the fields similar to the vocational education programs in which they were trained in high school. Higher rates of employment were also reported among vocational education high school graduates than among non-vocational education counterparts. The study further showed that high school graduates who had participated in a Diversified Cooperative Education vocational program (internship or on-the-job training program), Business Technology Education, Computer Science Education, and Family and Consumer Science Education in high school were more likely than were non-vocational education colleagues to be employed in professional fields such as banks, doctors offices, law enforcement, hotels, and with more hours, and presumably better wages. The study also indicated that in some cases, vocational education high school graduates who were working in the fields for which they were trained in high school earned more wages with more working hours than did their non-vocational education colleagues. Since these were only high school graduates with limited occupational skills and job experience, the wage differences between vocational and non-vocational education high school graduates may not be very wide. Conclusions: Participation in vocational education enhanced the chances of high school graduation, especially if the students earn two or more vocational education credits or courses, improved the chances of enrollment in undergraduate BS, AA, and AS degree programs, and also improved the prospect of job opportunities and higher wages, especially among the students and high school graduates who worked in the fields for which they were trained in high school. These benefits of vocational education over non-vocational education were more noticeably among lower socioeconomic status black male and female, and white female students and high school graduates. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. / Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2005. / Date of Defense: June 6, 2005. / Vocational, Non-Vocational, High School Graduates / Includes bibliographical references. / Hollie Thomas, Professor Directing Dissertation; Marsha Rehm, Outside Committee Member; William R. Snyder, Committee Member; Bonnie B. Greenwood, Committee Member.

This study investigated the effects of two different classroom contexts, sociodramatic play and a teacher led activity, on children's use of verbal and non-verbal communication. Additionally, the effect of children's gender on their use of verbal and non-verbal communicational modes was examined. Participating in the study were 24 children between the ages of 37 and 55 months old, who were attending two preschools. The data collection was completed through observation of children's play and teacher-led reading-retelling -drawing activities. Children were observed on two occasions for each activity, and the total observation time was 40 minutes per child. The observations were conducted during a three week period. Data analyses were completed by using Descriptive and Repeated measurement ANOVA statistical techniques. The study's findings, consistent with current thinking, showed that in the two preschool contexts (open and closed field) the young children used multimodal communication when interacting with their peers. The observations illustrated that children used their facial expressions to communicate their willingness or unwillingness to start or continue playing, or participating in teacher-led activities. While the pointing gestures were used to accompany requests, or direct the attention of others; the metaphoric gestures were used to supplement language when explaining. According to the findings, children use language to serve a variety of functions during different classroom activities. In the play context, language is used mostly to serve imaginative and interactional functions. In the closed-field context, where the interaction was led by the teacher, the most common language function used by the children was informative language. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Teacher Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2010. / Date of Defense: June 24, 2010. / Preschool, Classroom, Nonverbal, Verbal, Multimodal, Children / Includes bibliographical references. / Ithel Jones, Professor Directing Dissertation; Stacey Rutledge, University Representative; Diana Rice, Committee Member; Joseph Valente, Committee Member.

This study examines the determinants of earnings and gender wage differentials for Florida's IT graduates and IT workers by using the Mincerian regression model and the Blinder-Oaxaca wage decomposition model. Florida Education and Training Placement Information Program (FETPIP) data and Census Microdata (PUMS) are used in both models to shed some light on the increasing under-representation of women in the IT workforce. The study finds that there has been little or no gender wage difference for IT graduates from the Community Colleges (CC) and Post-Secondary Education (PSE) programs, while there has been an increasing gender wage difference for the Public University (SUS) IT graduates since 1993. The gender coefficients from the Mincerian regression models indicate that the rate for the SUS IT graduates increased from its low value of 2% to the high value of 12% in the year 2002. The gender wage differential rates for the SUS IT graduates measured from the Blinder-Oaxaca model are consistent with the Mincerian Regression results. The wage decomposition model reveals that the gender wage differentials for SUS IT graduates increased from 10% in the year 1996, to 18% in the year 2002. The model further indicates that 30% of this wage gap in the year 2002 was due to gender discrimination. The study finds that a proxy experience variable overestimates the impact of experience on earnings for female workers. The study presents a notable difference between the impact of the actual experience variable based on FETPIP data and that of a proxy variable based on the PUMS data. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Middle and Secondary Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2003. / Date of Defense: November 11, 2003. / IT workers, Gender wage differentials, Discrimination, Earnings, Women / Includes bibliographical references. / John P. Lunstrum, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Victoria M. MacDonald, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; James H. Cobbe, Outside Committee Member; John H. Hansen, Committee Member; Douglas N. Harris, Committee Member.

The study assessed the attitudes of preservice teachers in the state of Florida by using the African American Teacher Attitude Scale (AAETAS), a four point 46-item Likert Scale designed by Hoover et al (1997). This study also sought to determine which nine demographic variables were associated with the preservice teachers attitudes. The demographic variables were comprised of 1.) race, 2.) university attended, 3.) hometown size, 4.) gender, 5.) age, 6.) socio economic status, 7.) primary language spoken at home/ in community, 8.) exposure to AAVE through high school course work, and 9.) exposure to AAVE through university course work. The Likert Scale (questionnaire) was comprised of statements that were made by educators during the 1970s. The questionnaire was graded and the researcher used the standard deviation and mean to set the ranges of under 110 (low), 110-153 (middle), and 154 or above (high). Furthermore, the researcher compared the ranges of the current study with the ranges (under 120/deficit, 120-159/difference and 160 or above) set by Hoover et al (1997). The researcher conducted a multiple regression analysis on the scores (dependent variable) and the demographic variables (independent variables). The subjects for this study were preservice teachers as well as education majors at two large universities in North Florida. The sample was a sample of convenience. A total of 153 preservice teachers completed the surveys. The results of the study indicate that language spoken at home and hometown population are closely associated with preservice teachers' attitudes. In addition, the results revealed that suburban bidialectical preservice teachers (i.e. those who speak both Standard English (SE) and AAVE as their primary languages at home) viewed AAVE more positively than preservice teachers from rural and urban areas who either speak SE, AAVE or both. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Middle School and Secondary Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Education. / Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2002. / Date of Defense: December 13, 2002. / Florida, Teachers, English language, African American, Vernacular / Includes bibliographical references.