Doctor of Education / Department of Educational Leadership / W. Franklin Spikes / In the United States, foster care is provided to children to avert maltreatment and abuse of children in distressed families by providing a temporary home or a foster home. Courts with jurisdiction over families have been charged by Congress to find appropriate homes when necessary circumstances occur. In fiscal year 2009, there were 423,773 children in foster care (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). When the term “foster child or foster care” is used, most individuals view the term as negative. Most statistical data reaffirms this belief and casts a negative light on the foster care system in the United States. Foster children exit the foster care system and face higher rates of substance abuse, unemployment, and incarceration, and lower educational attainment. Though foster children do suffer from uncertainty of shattered relationships, there are success stories that arise from foster care. This study examines the discovery of strengths and emerging possibilities in the State of Kansas foster care system and the conditions that make them possible. This study identifies and examines success stories of 15 former foster children in the State of Kansas and analyzes how to build on those success stories. This case study uses qualitative methods such as audio-taped interviews and an interview protocol with a pre-determined set of open-ended questions. This study identifies stories of effectiveness in the State of Kansas foster care system.

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This thesis is about the Reading and Writing for Filmmaking Afterschool program, an extracurricular focus group centered around engaging urban immigrant and minority working-class high school students in a discussion about high school dropout using participatory video as a methodological tool. The program was created under the assumption that, (1) within 'free spaces' students who are encouraged to express themselves and explore their social realities through innovative methods will reveal their understanding of high school dropout and the factors contributing to it, and (2) the way these students conceptualize and talk about high school dropout is significant to understanding this phenomenon. Through participatory video, observation, interviews, and storyboard narratives, I examine the discourse of minority and immigrant students as a means of understanding their cultural assumptions and observations of school dropout. As a result, this paper illuminates the issue of immigrant educational retention and attrition in an urban public school setting.

This study examined whether the demand for more educated science and engineering workers outweighed longstanding practices of discrimination in hiring in high technology industries and science and engineering occupations. The study focused on the effects of education on the distribution of employment and wages among four racial and ethnic groups (non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, Hispanics and Asians), for the period 1992 to 2002. The main data used in the analyses came from the March Annual Demographic Survey. Multinomial logit analyses were used to determine the probabilities of employment, and ordinary least squares, non-parametric regressions and t-tests were used to examine wages. The analyses showed that education was more important in determining employment in S &E occupations, when compared to its effects in other occupations; and compared to race, other demographic and labor market characteristics. The effects of education were greater in S &E jobs in the high technology sector when compared to S &E jobs elsewhere in the economy. However, the effects of education varied with race, the level of education, and the industry/ occupational group under consideration in ways that suggest that both employment and wages continue to be influenced by correlates of race. Based on the findings, the study provides recommendations for policy and future research.

Previous research in the spatial assimilation of racial and ethnic groups has not assessed trends over time due to methodological difficulties and data limitations. I use an innovative method to assess the intercensal changes in neighborhood spatial attainment for African Americans, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic whites in Houston, Texas, between 1970 and 2000. I extend the current literature by showing that an accepted and commonly used method for assessing longitudinal change in spatial attainment is flawed and yields incorrect results. I highlight an alternative approach which makes use of data readily available in Census Summary Files to estimate individual-level spatial attainment regressions. I also show that the choice of neighborhood size affects estimates of spatial attainment effects. Although the influence of spatial scale has been demonstrated in the segregation literature, its consequences for spatial attainment research have not. I investigate and report findings from four geographic scales useful to and commonly used by spatial attainment researchers: the block group, the Census tract, the Zip Code Tabulated Area, and the Public Use Micro Data Area. I compare the benefits and drawbacks of estimating spatial attainment at each level of geography.

Insufficient physical activity is a serious concern for the youth of this nation. In 2008, more than one third of children and adolescents could be classified as either obese or overweight (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). Poor nutrition and lack of physical activity are two major factors contributing to this epidemic. A physically active lifestyle during youth not only improves physical health, but has also been shown to improve emotional health, behavior, and academic performance. It is important that this area of research is continued and expanded so appropriate educational policies that support the health and well-being of America’s youth can be established. No research to date has explored the long term impact of physical activity levels in adolescence on educational outcomes in adulthood. The purpose of this proposed study is to address this research gap by investigating the longitudinal relationships between physical activity in adolescence and physical activity in adulthood, educational ambition, and educational attainment. In order to achieve these research goals, secondary analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health was analyzed. Results revealed that higher levels of physical activity during adolescence are associated with higher levels of physical activity during young adulthood. Higher levels of physical activity during adolescence were also negligibly and weakly correlated to higher levels of academic ambition and later academic attainment. A discussion of the results and the limitations of the current study follow.

Thesis (M.S. in Leadership and Human Resource Development)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2005. / Thesis Advisor(s): Alice M. Crawford, William R. Bowman. Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-79). Also available online.

Thesis (M.S.)--Naval Postgraduate School, 2005. / Title from title screen (viewed 05/10/2006). "June 2005." Includes bibliographical references.

This study evaluates the predictive capacity of sociodemographic variables of the mother over the level of maternal secure base scripts. The participants were 83 mothers from 15 to 45 years old (M = 24.72, SD = 8.70).The level of maternal secure base was evaluated through the Narratives of Adult Attachment (Waters & Waters, 2006). The results show that the participants do not have an adequate level of secure base script. It was found that interaction between the age of the mother and the educational attainment level, partly explains the level of the maternal secure base script (R2 = .19). The protector role of the level of educational attainment for older mothers to have a higher level of secure base scripts isproposed. / Este estudio evalúa la capacidad predictiva de variables sociodemográficas de la madre sobre sus guiones de base segura. Participaron 83 madres de 15 a 45 años de edad (M =24.72, DE = 8.70). El nivel de base segura materno fue evaluado a través de las Narrativas de Apego Adulto (Waters & Waters, 2006). Los resultados muestran que las participantes no cuentan con un adecuado nivel de base segura. Se encontró que la interacción entre la edad y el nivel de instrucción materno explica en parte el nivel de base segura de las madres (R2 =.19). Se postula el rol protector del nivel de instrucción para que las madres mayores, tengan un mayor nivel de base segura en sus guiones. / Esta pesquisa avalia a capacidade preditiva das variáveis sócio-demográficas da mãe, a partir de seu script de base segura. Participaram 83 mães com idades entre 15 e 45 anos (M = 24.72, DE = 8.70). O nível de script de base segura materno foi avaliado através das Narrativas de Apego Adulto (Waters & Waters, 2006). Os resultados mostram que as participantes não apresentam um nível adequado de base segura. Encontrou-se que a interação entre idade e grau de instrução da mãe explica, em parte, o nível de base segura das mães (R2 = .19). Propõe-se que um grau de instrução maior constituiria um papel protetor nas mães mais velhas, para elas apresentarem maior nível de base segura nos seus scripts.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-01-29T14:48:13Z No. of bitstreams: 1 vanessagomesdecastro.pdf: 1011845 bytes, checksum: 91c51035ad7c87b2a95a33b68b1a7bf8 (MD5) / Rejected by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br), reason: Adicionar instituição on 2016-02-01T15:46:51Z (GMT) / Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-02-01T16:25:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 vanessagomesdecastro.pdf: 1011845 bytes, checksum: 91c51035ad7c87b2a95a33b68b1a7bf8 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-02-01T20:14:02Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 vanessagomesdecastro.pdf: 1011845 bytes, checksum: 91c51035ad7c87b2a95a33b68b1a7bf8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-01T20:14:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 vanessagomesdecastro.pdf: 1011845 bytes, checksum: 91c51035ad7c87b2a95a33b68b1a7bf8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-13 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Este trabalho investiga os possíveis determinantes do sucesso educacional, considerando como tal a chegada do aluno ao terceiro ano do ensino médio em idade apropriada, sem ter sido reprovado e sem ter abandonado a escola durante sua trajetória. Observam-se os alunos em condições sociais de desvantagem que realizaram, com sucesso, sua trajetória escolar. Investiga-se o perfil e as características do background familiar dos alunos não brancos, com mães menos escolarizadas e com pior nível socioeconômico que chegaram, com sucesso, ao terceiro ano do ensino médio. Para tanto, são revistos alguns argumentos sociológicos sobre a educação na sociedade moderna, pontuando-se, parcialmente, suas finalidades, atribuições e implicações que fornecem os problemas desta pesquisa. Parte-se dos autores clássicos da sociologia, Marx, Weber e Durkheim, em direção às teorias do capital humano, teorias reprodutivistas, teorias neoweberianas e pesquisas empíricas realizadas no Brasil sobre as desigualdades perante o ensino, seguidas de revisão teórica sobre a expansão das políticas públicas para a educação no Brasil e sua relevância para a realização de trajetórias escolares de sucesso. Na parte empírica, os dados utilizados são do Sistema de Avaliação da Educação Básica (SAEB) 2011. Os resultados revelam o perfil e as características do background familiar dos alunos em condições sociais de desvantagem que atingiram o sucesso escolar. / This study investigates the possible determinants of educational success, considering as such the student’s incoming third year of high school at the appropriate age, without having been disapproved and without having left school during his career. Observe students in disadvantaged social conditions that successfully undertook their academic trajectory. Investigates the profile and characteristics of the family background of non-white students, mothers with less education and lower socioeconomic level that successfully reached the third year of high school. To this end, some sociological arguments about education in modern society are reviewed, punctuating partially their purposes, roles and implications that provide the problems of this research. It is part of the classic authors from sociology Marx, Weber and Durkheim, toward theories of human capital, reproductivist theories, neo-weberian theories and empirical research on education inequalities conducted in Brazil. Followed by theoretical review of the expansion of public policies for education in Brazil and its relevance to the achievement of successful academic career. In the empirical part, the data used are from Sistema de Avaliação da Educação Básica (SAEB) 2011. The results show the profile and characteristics of the family background of students in disadvantaged social conditions that hit school success.