The purpose of this study was to confirm the structural relationship of goal setting variables to performance. Performance was measured in learning mathematics lessons. Linear structural modeling techniques were used to evaluate the goal setting model. The exogenous variables were prior performance, goal difficulty, and self-evaluation. The endogenous variables were self-expectancy, self-efficacy, personal goal, and performance. There was support for the model of goal setting as proposed in this study. The nested alternate structural model for goal setting was the most parsimonious model. This model evidenced a negative effect of easy specific assigned goals on self efficacy. Vague and challenging specific goals had a positive effect on self efficacy. Prior performance, assigned goal, and self evaluation had positive path coefficients to self efficacy which, in turn, had a positive path coefficient to performance. Descriptive univariate statistics tended to support the theory of goal setting. These findings corroborate the results of the structural equation analysis.

The Florida Articulation Agreement and common course numbering make transferring from a Florida College System (FCS) institution to a Florida State University System (SUS) institution almost seamless. With 28 state colleges across the sunshine state, many students opt to begin their college careers in these institutions that were all once known as community colleges. The purpose of this study was to examine if transferring from an FCS institution after the first two years of undergraduate study and earning an associate's degree negatively affects student success in terms of bachelor's degree attainment, academic performance, and time to bachelor's degree. Students that earned an associate of arts (AA) degree from any of the 28 FCS institutions and then transferred into the University of Florida (UF) were compared with their native rising junior counterparts at UF. This study found that overall rising juniors did outperform the associate of arts degree FCS transfer student peers. Rising juniors did better in overall graduation grade point average (GPA), time to degree, and in bachelor's degree attainment in six years or less. African American associate of arts degree earning transfer students however, did earn higher GPAs than their African American rising junior counterparts. College personnel and student affairs professionals should continue to study the transfer student population as a unique subset of students to better understand the different challenges they face at the university level and how they can be best prepared for academic success. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2015. / October 6, 2015. / Articulation, Junior, Rising, Student, Success, Transfer / Includes bibliographical references. / Shouping Hu, Professor Directing Dissertation; Lance Dehaven-Smith, University Representative; Robert Schwartz, Committee Member; David Tandberg, Committee Member.

Several waves of calls for writing centers to address digital and multimodal texts exist, dating back to the 1980s. While these conversations gained momentum at the turn of the century with the popularization of multiliteracy centers and scholarship supporting them, most of the scholarship in this area focuses exclusively on individualized, practitioner inquiry. This dissertation embraces a descriptive methodology by mixing qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection to gain a more complete view of the practices currently in place to educate tutors in a wide variety of academic support structures so they can assist with digital multimodal compositions. Chapter 1 provides both the context for this study and a literature review. In this chapter three key terms— multimodal writing center, digital multimodal composition, and tutor education— are all given context and working definitions. After introducing these key terms and their associated definitions, this study poses the three main research questions that drive the descriptive inquiry into tutor education methods detailed throughout the remainder of this study. After introducing and defining the key concepts and questions informing this study in the first chapter, Chapter 2 provides an explanation and rationale for the methods employed in this study. This study utilizes a nationwide survey and a series of semi-structured interviews conducted with the director, a more experienced tutor, and a less experienced tutor at three different targeted locations— Northern University, Southern University, Western University. This chapter also details the development of and final contents for the coding scheme employed throughout this study. Chapter 3 presents the results from the survey and interview responses. This chapter begins by discussing the survey responses. Next, the results are presented and sample responses are provided for each interview participant at the targeted locations, for all of the codes identified in the interviews, in the order of most-frequently used codes to least-frequently. Chapter 4 looks more closely at the responses across the interviews and case studies. This chapter is structured around the 3 main questions informing this study, broken into 6 overall answers. The answers to these questions lead to the development of an initial framework for describing the landscape of tutor education for assisting with digital multimodal compositions that I call the “AAA Framework.” The final chapter of this dissertation— Chapter 5— outlines the implications and limitations of this study, and the need to continue exploring the ways tutor education for digital multimodal compositions is being conducted, so as to continue (re)shaping the framework developed in response to the data collected in this study. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 6, 2018. / Composition, Digital, Education, Multimodal, Tutor, Writing Center / Includes bibliographical references. / Michael Neal, Professor Directing Dissertation; Gordon Erlebacher, University Representative; Kathleen Yancey, Committee Member; Kristie Fleckenstein, Committee Member.

The goal of this study was to provide insight into the experiences of first-generation students by learning how the participating group of first-generation students viewed their leadership identity development and what factors had the biggest influence on that development. This was a qualitative study that used the Leadership Identity Development model (Komives, Owen, Longerbeam, Mainella, & Osteen, 2005) and the Input-Environment-Outcome model (Astin, 1984) to inform its’ conceptual model. Fifteen first-generation students, who had taken at least one leadership education course, participated in the study. Findings from the study aligned with current research on first-generation students and leadership identity development. The factors that had the greatest influence on the first-generation student experience were parental involvement, high school expectations, the influence of mentors or diverse peers, and the knowledge of how to get involved in engagement activities. Students also shared feelings about the negative consequences of being a first-generation student, including the fact that their parents often don’t understand their experience, they often experience financial struggles, and feel pressure to succeed. Some students, though, derived motivation from their first-generation student status. In addition to factors that influence a student’s first-generation student experience, the study revealed three factors that exhibited the greatest impact on a student’s leadership identity development. These factors were whether a student initially enrolled in leadership education out of an interest in leadership, the number of leadership classes a participant had taken, and whether or not a student was involved in engagement activities. The study furthermore revealed that both leadership education and participation in engagement activities were influential in participants’ leadership identity development. / 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. / Fall Semester 2017. / November 6, 2017. / first-generation, identity, leadership / Includes bibliographical references. / Kathy L. Guthrie, Professor Directing Dissertation; Gerald Ferris, University Representative; Tamara Bertrand Jones, Committee Member; Robert A. Schwartz, Committee Member.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Syracuse University, 2009.. / "Publication number: AAT 3385833."

Thesis (PH.D.) -- Syracuse University, 2006 / "Publication number AAT 3251798."

This study records the perceptions of special education administrators, building principals and regular and special education teachers in four neighboring North-of-Boston communities as to how each has: viewed the evolution of the special education law and its implementation process; included or excluded students with disabilities in local public schools during 15 years of state and federal mandates; mainstreamed students with disabilities; dealt with the fiscal restraints of Proposition 2 1/2; become more or less concerned with "due process" than with quality education. Twenty-one special and regular educators from two cities with large low income populations and two smaller, more affluent towns provided data responding to multiple choice questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews. Results indicate all four systems have adopted special education mandates incorporating change at varying degrees of implementation. The two multi-ethnic and socio-economically diverse cities have been assisted with compliance through state and federal regulators and the courts, overseeing procedural implementation. The smallest affluent suburban community studied continues to resist mainstreaming. While their affluent neighbor has successfully upheld a strong commitment to mainstreaming, evident in a more unified education system, where principals and the special education administrator share the role of gatekeeper of the regulations. Three communities' respondents described a separate system of education for students with disabilities where the special education administrator is considered the ultimate gatekeeper of the regulations. Compliance continues to dominate and concern school administrators. Legal and technical issues are reported to overwhelm the mainstream educator who, generally, has abdicated responsibility for the student with disabilities to the specialist. The specialist has all too readily accepted this assignment. Decentralization of special education and restructure of the mainstream, as recommended in the Regular Education Initiative, will require a metamorphosis of the gatekeeper to collaborative consultant and eventual elimination of the position special education administrator. The transition from policy to practice will occur only to the extent that regulatory agencies view educational outcomes and quality of programs as a priority, and when all educators apply the standards for special education to all education.

American higher education has been affected by spiraling cost, declining college-age population, decreasing financial aid and defense grants, budget reductions from state governments and concerns about quality. The merging of two or more institutions into a single entity is one strategy to cope with these changes. The literature on the subject of merger, however, is fragmented and dwells mainly on the reasons why institutions merge. This study examines the tensions and elements that constitute the merger phenomenon in its totality and identifies implications for implementation. The study analyzed 18 doctoral dissertation case studies of 20 higher educational mergers that took place during the period 1964-1985. Similarities and differences were identified and the findings compared with the merger literature. The data were then interpreted from the perspective of organizational change. The analysis indicated that three major tensions shape the merger phenomenon: the clash between maintaining the status quo and implementing change; the emergence of one institution as the dominant party thereby exacerbating the change for the subordinate party; and the accomplishment of organizational objectives at the expense of individual needs. A pattern emerged indicating that change was not managed, decision-making was top down and self-centered, crisis was not anticipated, power was used to dominate, conflict was divisive, planning was non-existent or poorly done and implementation was characterized by limited strategies to facilitate the process. Several important distinctions were identified according to the type of control of the merging institutions. Differences were found in the impelling reasons, motivation, process stages, type of risk, degree of consultation and outcomes. Exceptions to the conventional wisdom that financially troubled institutions should not merge were noted. Also, a simple legal maneuver frequently employed in the corporate world was identified as an alternative to the standard merger approach. In order to facilitate the complex process of a merger and to address the identified problems, the application of the integrated frames approach for managing organizational change as developed by Bolman and Deal (1984) is recommended. Strategic planning is also recommended as an effective tool for coping with change.

The purpose of the study was to examine and compare the service delivery models of three students with severe disabilities in three different settings and to detail the benefits derived in each of the programs. The study included classroom observations, analysis of individual educational plans (IEPs), interviews with families and teaching assistants, and presentation of in-depth cost data. The study found three examples of unsuccessful inclusion, as determined by observed social isolation, documented skill loss, and feedback presented by the teaching assistants. Analysis further revealed a lack of staff support and training. Cost analysis found that the highest expenses incurred among the participants were for individual aides and transportation. Implications of the study focus on the importance of thoroughly assessing a child's needs prior to placement in an inclusive setting, and then comparing those needs with existing and potential programmatic resources. Finally, inclusion strategies deemed effective in serving students with mild to moderate special needs in all likelihood will provide insufficient support to youngsters with severe disabilities.

Although the need has been recognized for over two decades, ongoing, formative, and comprehensive assessment of college and university faculty development programs often does not occur in a systematic and thoughtful way. Furthermore, a review of the literature on faculty development shows that successful evaluation research has not been widely publicized to administrators of faculty development programs nor replicated by other researchers. The purpose of this research project was twofold--to design an assessment model and to test this model through actual data collection. The two-phase assessment process went beyond rating participant satisfaction with individual services offered by the Center For Teaching (CFT) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Phase I, quantitative in nature, is a statistical analysis of a range of demographic characteristics of faculty who had chosen to participate in campus-wide workshops over four academic years. In Phase 2, qualitative in nature, interviews were conducted with members of the instructional faculty representing both users and non-users of CFT services. The process was designed to assess benefits and behavioral changes that resulted from participation, to explore issues related to institutional impact, to uncover factors which influence participation and non-participation, and to evaluate services provided by the CFT. The quantitative analysis of the demographic characteristics of instructional faculty attending campus-wide workshops produced the following findings: there was a significant difference between expected and actual attendance for the Colleges of Nursing and Food and Natural Resources; for instructional faculty, males were under-represented and females over-represented; those holding the rank of Professor were under-represented and Assistant Professors and Lecturers were over-represented; and technology workshops attracted the largest average attendance. Through the qualitative analysis nine major categories of findings emerged; the major ones included: the CFT has helped the University make a legitimate claim that it has made a significant contribution to teaching, active learning strategies were incorporated into the curriculum as a direct result of CFT participation, insights were provided for extending the impact of the CFT on campus, motivations for participation and non-participation were uncovered. Triangulating methodologies resulted in a research design that functionally answered the research questions.