School garden programs have become increasingly popular for their diverse, positive benefits. School gardens are often promoted as a relatively low cost means to offer hands-on learning opportunities that may foster academic achievement, particularly in the sciences, however only six studies have been published on the impact of garden education programs on science achievement. Five out of six of these studies focused on elementary age students. One study has identified motivational engagement as the mechanism responsible for fostering academic success. School gardens are more common in elementary schools. However, they may be most beneficial in a secondary school setting, when students tend to lose interest in academics and often perform poorly on national assessments of science. Thus, in this study we evaluated adolescent students at three schools with well-established garden education programs. We used pre-test and post-test measures to see how students' levels of various predictors of engagement (e.g. autonomy, competence, relatedness, and intrinsic motivation), actual engagement (in the realms of academics, science, and the garden), garden learning, and academic achievement measures (e.g. overall grade point average and science grade point average) would change over the course of this study. We also assessed how the different realms of engagement correlated with predictors of engagement, with garden learning, and with academic achievement measures. In addition, we examined correlations among the different realms of engagement. At one of the schools, a non-gardening group participated in the study as a control group. Thus, we also compared the gain scores in predictors of engagement, engagement, and academic achievement between the control and garden group from that school. At all three schools, academic or garden engagement significantly increased for the garden groups. Garden engagement was significantly correlated with academic engagement, science engagement, or both, at each of the three schools for post-test measures. Predictors of garden-based engagement were significantly correlated with academic and/or science engagement at each school, at least for post-test measures. These results show that gardening may have the potential to be a contributor to positive motivational changes that in turn can be related across academic domains. The non-gardening group showed significant gains in predictors of- and engagement itself, while the gardening group either marginally declined or maintained its level. However, the non-gardening group had significantly lower pre-test scores in comparison to the gardening group, which in part accounts for their comparative significant gain. The garden group showed significant increases in predictors of garden engagement and garden engagement itself. These results show that the garden group, comprised of at-risk students, are experiencing positive motivational benefits, which can possibly prevent further decline in their general performance. The lack of improvement in academic achievement suggests that the full academic benefit of garden education programs has yet to be consistently reached. We recommend that researchers use a more refined evaluation test and survey, specific to the garden program at hand and include qualitative measures. / Graduation date: 2013

This research study analyzed the results of the Jesuit Universities Consortium in comparison with the results of the Catholic Colleges and Universities and the Council for Christian Colleges Consortia as measured by the 2005 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) in order to determine and identify any statistically significant differences between the consortia. One-way ANOVA analyses and Tukey HSD post hoc comparisons were conducted on the data from freshmen/first year students and seniors/fourth year students on each of the five clusters of the NSSE to determine any statistically significant difference and, subsequently, the effect size of any found differences. The study found that there were statistically significant differences on the following: 1) freshmen/first year students in the Jesuit Universities Consortium and the freshmen/first year students in the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities Consortium on the NSSE cluster of Academic Challenge, 2) freshmen/first year students in the Jesuit Universities Consortium and the freshmen/first year students in the Catholic Colleges and Universities Consortium on the NSSE cluster of Enriching Educational Experiences, 3) freshmen/first year students in the Jesuit Universities Consortium and the freshmen/first year students in the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities Consortium on the NSSE cluster of Supportive Campus Environment, 4) seniors/fourth year students in the Jesuit Universities Consortium and the seniors/fourth year students in the Catholic Colleges and Universities Consortium on the NSSE cluster of Active and Collaborative Learning, and 5) seniors/fourth year students in the Jesuit Universities Consortium and the seniors/fourth year students in both of the Catholic Colleges and Universities and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities Consortia on the NSSE cluster of Supportive Campus Environment. While statistically significant differences were found in the aforementioned analyses, effect sizes were small for all. Future research studies, including longitudinal studies, are needed to fully investigate levels of student engagement within the three consortia.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Population estimations for the year 2000 indicate an increase in poor and minorities in the United States (Loden & Rosener, 1991). In view of this growth trend, Berger (1989) suggests a need for social workers with sensitivity to such populations. The presence of minority perspectives provides a valuable contribution to service delivery (Mullen et al., 1993). Efforts to enhance student persistence in graduate schools of social work will contribute to the pool of social workers available in the next century. The purpose of this study is to determine the factors that contribute to African American student persistence in graduate schools of social work. This study applies aspects of Astin's, Tinto's and Green's theories of persistence. Astin's theory of involvement (1975) considers student investment of time in educational pursuits. Tinto's (1975) theory of departure includes background, social and academic aspects in persistence decisions. Green's (1997) theory focuses on the ability of the student to cope with racial issues (racial resilience) and the racial climate of the school (racial responsiveness). One hundred and thirty-five students from two predominantly white and two historically black universities participated in surveys administered to determine the effect of involvement, background, academic, social, resilience factors, and college type upon student persistence outcomes. Interviews held with administrative personnel at each institution provided contextual data. Correlations were used to examine the relationships among all of the variables in the study. T-Tests were conducted to compare outcomes due to university type. Multiple regressions were used to explore the relationships between significant independent variables and persistence. The findings of this study indicate that persistence outcomes of African American graduate social work students are influenced by: (a) academic performance, faculty-student relationships, (c) health, (d) the ability to deal with stress, and (e) ethnic pride (impressions of ethnic group). These findings suggest that social work programs that incorporate aggressive grade monitoring practices, provide diverse opportunities for student-faculty interaction, offer opportunities for health care, stress alternatives, and a culturally relevant curriculum, may positively influence African American student persistence.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This study explored the lived experiences of family case managers who routinely work with families who are culturally different from themselves. The purpose was to understand and interpret the meaning of culture and cultural difference as it relates to the engagement process with families. The research also sought to understand whether cultural insensitivity or bias may contribute to the overrepresentation of children of color in the child welfare system. The author conducted 10 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with graduates of a large, research-intensive Midwestern university’s Title-IV-E Social Work Program, who also were employed as family case managers in public child welfare. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and the analytic process of the hermeneutic circle. Results suggest the concept of culture is a complex term that encompasses many characteristics and a number of dimensions. In addition, four themes were identified as underlying the engagement process with culturally different families. These themes routinely overlapped, and family case managers often had to attend to each of the thematic areas simultaneously. At nearly every step in the engagement process, family case managers modulated their interactions in order to find balance and stability in their relationship with the family. Finally, poverty was revealed to be the most salient cultural difference in working with families involved in the child welfare system. These results have important implications for social work education, child welfare practice, and research on the overrepresentation of children of color in the child welfare system.