The purpose of this study is to examine, gain, and ultimately share an understanding of certain cognitive differences, similarities, intelligence patterns, and preferences between competent monolingual (English) and multicompetent bilingual/multilingual first-year composition (FYC) college students. Within this project is an attempt to address the following questions: Do monolingual and bilingual/multilingual FYC students show different strengths and weaknesses in their cognitive abilities? Are there learning preferences and literacy differences or similarities between monolingual and bilingual/multilingual FYC students? Primarily, two cognitive concepts were used in this examination to provide perspectives and quantitative data in response to the above questions. First, is Vivian Cook’s (1992, 1999) multicompetence theory, which involves cognitive differences between monolingual (L1) and bilingual/multilingual (L2/L3) speakers/users; and second, Howard Gardner’s (1999, 2004, 2006) multiple intelligences (MI) theory, whereby two types of MI assessments were used to study any such differences and similarities among FYC students. To fulfill the requirements for this particular thesis, included is a conference proposal (abstract), a conference paper, and a publishable scholarly article. The necessary charts, graphs, tables, and appendices are provided, accordingly.

High school writing teacher self-efficacy has suffered because the workload and emotional energy of grading papers is arduous, and despite their efforts to provide formative written feedback, many teachers believe students ignore or misunderstand it. Although audio feedback holds promise for improving the clarity of instructor feedback and the self-efficacy of writing instructors in higher education, its usefulness for improving high school teacher self-efficacy has remained unexplored. This multiple case study investigated how high school teachers believed Kaizena, a digital audio feedback technology, influenced their writing instruction and self-efficacy. Participants, who were drawn from the global Kaizena user base, included a user group of 3 United States teachers and a user group of 3 international teachers to determine how both groups used Kaizena and whether differences in use occurred in either environment. Data sources included individual teacher interviews, participant journals, and artifacts such as teacher-created writing assignments and rubrics. Data analysis included both single case and cross case analyses. Single case analysis included coding and categorizing of interview and participant journal data and content analysis of artifacts. Cross case analysis included identifying emerging themes and discrepant data. Results indicated that all 6 teachers both believed they gave more high quality, personalized feedback to students in less time with the audio feature of Kaizena than with written feedback and did, in fact, provide documents confirming this higher quality. As a result, using Kaizena positively influenced their self-efficacy. This study contributes to positive social change by providing insights into a feedback tool that could improve high school writing instruction.

Public-private partnerships in emergency management are widely encouraged in the academic literature, yet the government of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) tends to view collaboration from the private sector as an impediment to good policy. This occurs in spite of the island nation's geography that makes it susceptible to natural and human caused disasters. The purpose of this correlational study was to use public choice theory to explore, from the perspective of potential private sector collaborators, whether sufficient support exists in the private sector to support the USVI government in emergency management efforts. A modified version of the Mulhearn Sustainability and Community Collaboration Survey was distributed to business owners (n = 156). These data were used to determine whether a statistically significant relationship between USVI preparedness and collaborative governance exists. The results of the linear regression were significant, (p < .001) and suggest private sector company owners believe that collaborative governance can increase USVI preparedness. The recommendation is that the USVI government and the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency involve the private sector in the planning, operations, and logistics of emergency management to prepare for any emergency such as natural disaster or terrorist action. The positive social change implication is based on the recommendation to the USVI government that the private sector be more involved in the planning, operations, and logistics of emergency management, thereby potentially improving emergency response in the event of a catastrophic event.

Mental health professionals in all settings work with clients who are affected by trauma. Traumatic events expose mental health professionals to the negative psychological and emotional impact of witnessing and listening to client stories. Vicarious trauma is the emotional consequence of this empathic engagement with clients. The purpose of this correlational study was to identify predictors of vicarious trauma in mental health professionals that had not been studied before. The theoretical framework guiding the study was the Bowen family systems theory and the construct of differentiation of self. A regression analysis was conducted with a purposive sample of 83 licensed or certified mental health professionals from community counseling agencies in the Midwest. Five research questions were evaluated using multiple regression analysis and determined that subcomponents of differentiation of self (i.e., emotional reactivity, I position, emotional cutoff, and fusion with others) predicted vicarious trauma. An additional regression analysis showed that vicarious trauma was best predicted by 2 subcomponents of differentiation of self; emotional reactivity was the most significant predictor followed by I position. By identifying characteristics in mental health professionals that predict vicarious trauma, counselor educators and supervisors can better educate, train, develop programs, and advocate for the emotional welfare of mental health professionals in the field.

In the United States, approximately 7% of nonprofits' annual revenue is lost as a result of a lack of ethical financial operations among nonprofit executive directors (EDs). This represents $85 billion in estimated annual losses in available operating funds. This study addressed the problem of ineffective leadership in nonprofit organizations from the perspective of EDs responsible for ethical financial operations. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of nonprofit EDs who self-reported the use of 1 of Burn's and Bass' 3 leadership styles and whether leadership style influenced the use of the Sarbanes Oxley Act to manage the ethical financial operations of their human service nonprofit organization. Qualitative data were collected from 12 EDs through semi structured interviews and then coded and analyzed using a modified van Kaam procedure. The results of the study indicated that EDs who self-reported using transformational leadership style were more inclined to adhere to the Sarbanes Oxley Act. In addition, participants acknowledged the need for organizational support to improve leadership qualities in EDs, efficiency, and effective ethical financial operations in nonprofit organizations. The study provides a baseline for nonprofit organizations to increase positive social change by adding knowledge on implementing strategies that will result in the enhancement of quality leadership in EDs that may ultimately result in more efficient and effective ethical financial operations in nonprofit organizations.

Students, educators, and schools across the country have been presented with challenges as a result of rigorous standards and high-complexity tests. The problem addressed in this case study was that teachers in a rural middle school in a southeastern state were preparing students to take a new high-stakes state-mandated assessment in English language arts with very little information about what should be done to best prepare students to perform well. Danielson's work on instructional leaders, Webb's work on alignment of standards and assessments, and Tankersley's research on alignment of instruction and assessment provided the frameworks for the study. The participants were 6 teachers and 2 administrators at a local rural middle school who either taught English language arts or supervised those teachers before the first administrations of the new test. The research questions were designed to gather through interviews, local educators' descriptions of their test preparation methods, activities, the information and training provided to them prior to the new tests, and their views about what was needed to better prepare students. Interview data were coded and analyzed for common themes. Findings were that participants felt they had limited prior information about the tests, that their previous instructional methods were ineffective, and that local teachers needed training in order to design and implement effective reading instruction aligned with test objectives to better prepare students for more rigorous academic tasks. This study and the resulting professional development project for teachers have the potential to affect positive social change at the local level by helping teachers improve literacy instruction aligned with standards and assessments. Consequently, students will be better prepared to access the increased rigor of the standards and the assessments.

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is an increasingly popular form of public health research. However, little is known about the application of CBPR and the levels of involvement for partners in specific phases of the partnership. This phenomenological study addressed the application of CBPR from the perspectives of 7 academic researchers and 6 community members experienced in CBPR. Arnstein's ladder of citizenship participation and the community coalition action theory provided the framework for the study. Semi-structured interviews addressed participants' levels of involvement in the CBPR process, as well as challenges, concerns, successes, and recommendations for improvement. Interview transcripts were analyzed by identifying recurrent themes relevant to the experience of being a CBPR partner. These themes were then used to develop descriptions of their experience. Results indicated that participants knew the term CBPR and had experienced it, but not all participants understood the depth of CBPR and how much bargaining power they could have for their community. Sustainability of partnerships and programs was a major concern. Ethical problems were also raised regarding the long-term commitment to projects and the need for CBPR partnership evaluation. Results may be used to strengthen awareness of the principles of CBPR to advance culturally tailored public health interventions.

The goal of this nonexperimental quantitative research study was to determine if the professional identity of a counselor educator (CE) predicted their perceived importance of professional advocacy. Social identity theory (SIT) constituted the framework for this study, which asked whether CEs would follow the established norms of the dominant professional group and thus consistently perceive the importance of professional advocacy. The Professional Counselor Advocacy Inventory (PCAI) was used to measure CEs' perceptions. The data of 92 participants were analyzed in SPSS 21 using an ordinal regression. Specialization, age, gender, primary setting, and years of experience were the predictor variables, and multiple elements of perceived importance were the outcome variables. While CEs overwhelmingly agreed that professional advocacy as a general concept was important as indicated by majority responses, there was less agreement on the importance of other elements, particularly concerning insurance coverage and job attainment. Of the five predictor variables examined, only gender and age produced significant results on study inquiries related to insurance, employment, and self-advocacy. The findings do not support SIT in the context of professional advocacy among CEs and additional research may be needed to determine if other variables predict the level of importance CEs assign to professional advocacy. As the results of this study demonstrated only age and gender produced a significant effect, this research could contribute to social change by sparking conversation about advocacy patterns and efforts in CEs, which may ultimately contribute to policy change and improve the reputation of the counseling and counselor education fields for its members and clients.

Teen dating violence is more prevalent among African Americans than any other racial group in the United States leading to serious health consequences for victims. However, limited data exists on how African American adolescents' attitudes and perceptions regarding dating violence are formed, and whether they are influenced by family members. The purpose of this nonexperimental correlational study was to determine whether nonverbal or verbal communication from family members predicted adolescents' attitudes and perceptions toward dating violence. Survey data from 84 African American men and women ages 18 to 24 were collected using the Normative Beliefs About Aggression Scale, the Acceptance of Couple Violence Scale, the Revised Family Communication Patterns Questionnaire, and a demographic questionnaire. Although past studies have shown that communication related to dating violence is important because it is essential to adolescents understanding and finding ways of coping with violence, this study could not confirm that conversation orientation, conformity orientation, discussion of dating violence, conversation types, facial expressions, hand gestures, and direct verbal communication were significant predictors of approval of aggression. In future research, conducting a mixed methods study or using a larger age range could provide more understanding about adolescents' attitudes and perceptions related to dating violence. Additionally, research on behaviors outside of the modes of communication measured in this study, is warranted. This study contributes to social change by helping to fill a gap in the research literature pertaining to African American teen dating violence and attitudes toward approval of aggression. Future researchers can use the results of this study to help formulate new research on this topic.

This qualitative case study addressed a suburban school district's placement of academically at-risk English language arts (ELA) 9th graders as the district transitions from the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJASK) to use of the unfamiliar and controversial Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). Based on the theoretical frameworks of the zone of proximal development, cognitive apprenticeship, and Bandura's model of self-efficacy, the purpose was to understand the characteristics of struggling (labeled 'academic') ELA students, placement practices and perceptions of these practices, and placement improvements. A purposeful sample was recruited of 7 staff members involved with placement and instruction of academic ELA students in Grades 7-10 for individual interviews. Using thematic data analysis, 4 themes emerged pertaining to the characteristics of academic students, placement practices, the efficacy of assessments used for placement, and improvements. Additionally, content analysis of data on academic students' standardized test scores and grades, collected from district reports, and research on reading assessments were conducted. Findings indicated consensus on the students' characteristics, but no standard procedure for placing academic ELA freshmen. A multiple measure placement matrix was created and incorporated in a white paper for the district's stakeholders, including administrators, teachers, guidance counselors, and child study team members. The implications for positive social change include a better understanding of academic students, their placement, and the benefits of communication, uniform policy, and the use of multiple measures to improve future placement practices.