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Though the benefits of physical activity are numerous and well-known, very few adolescents are meeting physical activity recommendations. Moreover, past research shows that physical activity declines with increasing age with this decline beginning in adolescence. One approach to promote physical activity is through mobile technology such as a mobile phone. Since mobile phone ownership is relatively high (77%) and there is no digital divide by race/ethnicity or socioeconomic status, mobile phones may be suitable for physical activity promotion. Few studies have promoted PA using a mobile phone and those studies showed increased physical activity outcomes. However, more research is needed to explore the effectiveness of mobile phone physical activity promotion especially in more health disparate populations.  The purpose of this research was to develop and test smartphone game application for physical activity promotion in adolescents. The first study included various user-centered approaches (e.g. qualitative data, idea sessions) to get feedback on what was desired from the adolescents in terms of game development and design. The second study examined the degree to which mobile health studies reported on internal and external validity indicators. The last study evaluated the smartphone game applications through a mixed-methods approach. The results of this research showed that physical activity while playing smartphone game applications can yield moderate physical activity intensity. Moreover, adolescents had moderate perceptions of the games and recommended specific changes to the games. Likewise, the data suggest that smartphone physical activity game applications can be enjoyable if they are aesthetically appealing, easy to use, and foster social peer interactions. Overall, this research demonstrated that smartphone games that were developed and designed based on adolescents\' preferences and persuasive technology design principles could increase physical activity in adolescents and provides a tool for further exploration. / Ph. D.

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The purpose of this study was to identify which school divisions in the Commonwealth of Virginia have equitable representation of Culturally Linguistically Economically Diverse (CLED) students in gifted programs within their schools. Existing literature on CLED students was reviewed. Three years of data (school years 2016-2017, 2017-2018, and 2018-2019) obtained from the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) were analyzed to determine whether equitable representation exists within gifted education programs in each of the 132 Virginia school divisions. Furthermore, the researcher used the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to acquire longitudinal gifted data from each school division 2016-2019. The Relative Difference Composition Index (RDCI), Equity Allowance Formula (EAF), and Representation Index (RI) formulas were used to determine, which schools have equitable representation within their gifted programs. This study sought to answer the following questions: 1. What school divisions have proportional representation of economically disadvantaged students? 2. What school divisions have proportional representation of Black or African American students? 3. What school divisions have a proportional representation of Hispanic or Latinx students? At the conclusion of the data collection process, the researcher examined (1) which school divisions have equitable representation of gifted students in their gifted programs in schools using the EAF, and (2) What schools have equitable representation utilizing the RI. The analysis revealed the majority of the school divisions in the Commonwealth of Virginia had equitable representation when the EAF was applied to the economically disadvantaged students. When the EAF was applied to the 2016-2019 school years data for the Black or African American students and Hispanic or Latinx students the range of 33%- 42% were proportionately represented. The English Language Learner students were not proportionately represented when the EAF was applied. When the RI formula was applied to the data, none of the school divisions had perfect proportion in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In 2016-2017, Halifax school division had a score of .86 which translates to proportionate representation when the EAF and RI formula were applied to the data. The findings of this study provide educational leaders with relevant research toward equitable representation for CLED students in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The VDOE and school leaders could offer professional development regarding equitable representation for teachers and staff that work with CLED students to resolve disproportionality. School divisions could benefit from the implementation of equity allowance goals to help reduce inequitable representation of CLED gifted students. / Doctor of Education / The underrepresentation of students with low incomes in gifted education is a persistent problem (Ford, 2013a; Hamilton, McCoach, Tutwiler, Siegle, Gubbins, Callahan, Brodersen, and Mun, 2018). In recent times, researchers have started to discuss educational access and outcomes for low socioeconomic students (Goings and Ford, 2018). According to VanTassel-Baska and Stambaugh (2018), there is a need to address economically disadvantaged for students who attend public schools in the United States. In particular, there are problems formally identifying economically disadvantaged students for gifted services (VanTassel-Baska and Stambaugh, 2018). Researchers seldom focus on gifted students that live in low-income households. The purpose of this study was to identify which school divisions in the Commonwealth of Virginia have equitable representation of Culturally Linguistically Economically Diverse (CLED) students in gifted programs within their schools. Existing literature on CLED students was reviewed. Three years of data (school years 2016-2017, 2017-2018, and 2018-2019) obtained from the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) were analyzed to determine whether equitable representation exists within gifted education programs in each of the 132 Virginia school divisions. Furthermore, the researcher used the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to acquire longitudinal gifted data from each school division 2016-2019. The RDCI, Ford Equity (EAF), and RI formulas were used to determine, which schools have equitable representation within their gifted programs. At the conclusion of the data collection process, the researcher examined (1) which school divisions have equitable representation of gifted students in their gifted programs in schools using the EAF, and (2) What schools have equitable representation utilizing the RI. The analysis will reveal which school divisions have equitable representation within the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The development of children’s language skills during the preschool years plays a crucial role in subsequent reading and school success. Some children may enter kindergarten with oral language skills that lag behind their peers’. Two such groups are children from low-socioeconomic status (SES) families and those who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). Study 1 considered parents’ linguistic input during interactions with their Head Start pre-kindergarten children in two conversational contexts. The first, shared storybook reading, has featured prominently in early language interventions but proven less efficacious among low-SES samples. The second, shared reminiscing, offers a theoretically promising setting in which to promote child vocabulary skills but lacks empirical support. This study examined features of parental language known to relate to children’s vocabulary, including parents’ quantity of speech, lexical diversity, syntactic complexity, and intent to elicit child language. Parents’ and children’s expressive vocabulary knowledge was also considered. Forty parent-child dyads’ conversations during storybook reading and shared reminiscing were audiorecorded, transcribed, analyzed, and coded. Paired t-tests revealed that, while parents talked more during book reading, they used greater levels of syntactic complexity and language-eliciting talk during shared reminiscing. Parents’ own vocabulary knowledge was related to their children’s but not to linguistic input in either context. Study 2 considered the oral narrative skills of DHH preschoolers relative to language-matched hearing children. School-age DHH children often experience delays in the development of narrative skills compared to their hearing peers. Little is known about the narrative abilities of DHH children during the preschool years. This study examined 46 DHH and 58 vocabulary-matched hearing preschoolers’ overall language production, lexical diversity, syntactic complexity, and narrative comprehension skills. DHH children produced a similar number of words and demonstrated similar levels of narrative understanding compared to their hearing peers. However, DHH children’s narratives contained significantly less complex syntax. Gains in lexical diversity differed by group, with DHH children demonstrating less growth over the course of the school year despite making more gains on a standardized measure of vocabulary. Implications for instruction, assessment, and future research are discussed for both low-SES and DHH children.

Social class may impact the ways people are perceived and treated by others. The social class attributions of therapists may influence the manner in which they conceptualize their clients' problems and their relationship with their clients. There is a gap in the literature concerning the link between therapists' social class attributions and their responses toward low socioeconomic status (SES) clients in actual clinical settings, which could impact the therapists' interaction with their clients and the treatment process. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive case study was to examine the links between therapists' social class attributions and their experiences with low SES clients in clinical settings. The rationale for this study was based on treatment exhibited by therapists towards their low SES clients as evidenced by their treatment plans and peer interactions. Guided by attribution theory, research questions inquired into the attributions of 10 purposefully chosen masters- and doctoral-level therapists concerning the issues of social class, their low SES clients, and treatment outcomes for those clients. Interview data were interpreted using a cross-case synthesis technique and content analysis. The participants related to the issue of poverty in the way it impacted them or the way it impacted their clients. Findings could contribute to social change by increasing awareness among therapists concerning the impact of poverty, reducing bias and misconceptions among therapists, improving training of students and therapists, and improving understanding among therapists of the way social class attributions could impact their work with low SES clients.

Despite substantial evidence linking improved pregnancy outcomes with receipt of prenatal care and recent improvements in prenatal care utilization, specific subpopulations continue to receive late prenatal care and experience adverse birth outcomes. This study will use the Health Belief Model and the Intersectionality Framework to examine the timing of prenatal care utilization, prenatal care compliance, and adverse birth outcomes within a group of low-income, black women in the South. Black women have worst rates of late prenatal care utilization and compliance than any other racial group. This late prenatal care utilization and compliance leads to adverse birth outcomes. A secondary data analysis was conducted using binary logistic regression and OLS regression to examine agency factors, structural factor, and risk health behavior in predicting timing of prenatal care utilization and compliance. In addition, this study also examines timing of prenatal care utilization and compliances and its effects on preterm birth and low birth weight. The results show that family size and knowledge/attitude significantly influences timing of prenatal care. Prenatal care compliance is influenced by church social support and low birth weight is influenced by private insurance. The results of this study show that although much is known in comparing different racial groups, more investigation is needed to explain why low income black women still experience less prenatal care use and compliance and worse adverse birth outcomes than any other racial group in the United States.

A concerning public health issue in America is about food deserts urban and rural communities that lack grocery retailers that offer affordable, nutritious, and diverse foods. Empirical evidence has shown significant associations between neighborhood disadvantage/disorder risk factors of high poverty and high percentages of ethnic minority residents with presence/ absence of healthy food retailers in food deserts. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study, framed by the disparities in food safety conceptual model, was to examine if county-level poverty, number of African American residents, number of elderly (i.e., age 65 or older) residents, vehicle ownership, and crime rates were significantly associated with presence/absence of healthy food retail environments in a stratified random sample of 160 Mississippi Delta Region counties. Variables were measured using SPSS 25.0 data set from federal sources. Data were analyzed using binary logistic regression. Findings indicated that the percentage of households below poverty level was significantly associated with absence of healthy food retailers, (Wald X2 = 7.62, p = .006). Logistic regression findings further showed that the county percentage of households with at least one vehicle was significantly associated with the presence of healthy food retailers, (Wald X2= 8.75, p = .003). As a result of this study, residents of the Mississippi Delta Region (MDR) may begin to petition their local, county, and state governments to enhance access to healthy foods, and in turn, such government institutions may develop programs and initiatives that help to make healthy foods affordable.

The problem investigated in this study is that U.S. minority and low socioeconomic status (SES) student participation in advanced academic classes continues to lag behind that of Caucasian and economically advantaged students. The purpose of this project study was to investigate the participation gaps between minority and low SES students compared with non-minority and high SES students in advanced mathematics courses in the study district's middle school. The theoretical framework for the study was gap-analysis theory. A quantitative gap analysis of existing student test score data was conducted, utilizing a secondary analysis of existing Iowa Test of Basic Skills data from 347 middle school students, with 196 students classified as low SES and 129 as minority. Descriptive statistics and 2 one-sample chi square tests were used to examine differences by ethnicity and SES subgroups and to test whether the distributions of students who met the district's 70th-percentile cut-score were different than the hypothesized distribution of equal proportions. The results demonstrated significant enrollment gaps between minority and low SES students versus non-minority and high SES students. The study findings informed a policy recommendation project that offered suggestions for the current mathematics testing and enrollment program at the study site. Implications for social change include providing research-based findings to the administration at the local site on the enrollment gaps for minority and low SES students which may inform future decisions about enrollment policies for advanced mathematics courses.

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