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This study sought to understand the perspectives of young Black males toward post-secondary education. A qualitative case study research design was selected because it allowed the researcher to examine in a holistic fashion the complexities of how the issues of school, home, community, and peers function in the life of a young Black male in St. Thomas, USVI; and how these issues in his life yield a perspective on and a decision about participating in higher education. A case study using taped interviews and observations of one high school Black male and his mother was conducted. Data were analyzed using Ethnograph and a coding matrix based on the tenets of grounded theory. The findings showed that the young man was ambivalent about the educational process and about his plans concerning his preparation for the future. In high school he saw three options: enlisting in the military, engaging in full-time employment, or pursuing a college education at the University of the Virgin Islands as long as he could achieve success. He viewed all three paths as equal. His family's influence had a profound impact on his decision to participate in advanced education despite his lack of commitment and his underachieving high school career. The educational issues in the territory signal the need for territorial policy makers to initiate educational improvements in the public schools and to mandate, at the university level, an information and recruitment program for young males to improve the demographics of post-secondary education in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Recommendations for further research are offered. / Ph. D.

Anorexia nervosa is a serious problem that affects over one million males yearly. It is often misdiagnosed and overlooked completely in clinical, medical and school settings because of the misperception that it is a disorder exclusively present in females. The DSM-IV largely contributes to this misnomer due to the gender-biased criteria. The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify the etiology and clinical characteristics of male anorexia and devise a more comprehensive definition of anorexia nervosa that encompasses both males and females. An additional purpose was to develop an instrument that identifies risk factors associated with anorexia nervosa in males and aid mental health and medical practitioners in making this diagnosis. A review of literature illuminated unique features of the male anorexic as well as characteristics shared with females. The Assessment of Anorexia Nervosa in Males Questionnaire (AANMQ) was developed for this study to assess an expert panel's clinical observations regarding potential misdiagnosis and treatment gaps among males with anorexia nervosa. This panel included one male anorexic, one parent of an anorexic male, and eight mental health and medical practitioners who were selected based on personal and clinical experiences working with male anorexics. Data were collected via face-to-face and telephone interviews. A compilation of literature and the expert panel's responses to the AANMQ resulted in the content suggested for the Assessment of Male Anorexia Nervosa (AMAN), a diagnostic inventory that provides a comprehensive profile specific to male anorexics. This instrument is to be used by mental health and medical practitioners for the diagnosis of this disorder. Even when anorexia nervosa is correctly diagnosed, services for males are selective and inadequate due to treatment models being geared toward a female population. The AMAN compensates for the missing elements and gender-biased nature of DSM-IV and permits accurate assessment and diagnosis of male anorexia. / Ph. D.

African American males in all socioeconomic levels are underperforming in school. Many researchers have conducted studies hoping to find reasons for the underperformance. This study focused on three middle class African American males in a suburban school district. These African American male students took upper level math courses that included Algebra III, Math Analysis, AP Calculus, and AP Statistics. This study modeled the study by E. Wayne Harris. He believed students were influenced by eight factors to include parents, past and present achievement, teachers, love of math, counselors, high school graduation/college admissions requirements, peers, and future plans. I conducted a qualitative case study in which students, parents, teachers, counselors, and the math department supervisor were interviewed. The interview questions provided data that were analyzed to determine the influences of the factors listed above. The data gathered during the interviews was used to assess the influence of the factors in the decision making process of the middle class African American males in the study to take upper level math classes. This researcher concluded 1) The parents expected their children to attend college, but the school staff did not have goals that directed the students to take courses that would prepare them for college, 2) Students had post secondary plans. 3) Two of the three parents advised their sons on what math classes to take, 4) There were no policies or practices in place to influence African American males to take more than the required three years of math or upper level math classes, 5) The school culture did not encourage student to take more academic classes, 6) There was no negative peer pressure for taking upper level math classes, and 7) Parents, teachers, counselors and the math department supervisor need to provide more input to African American male students to increase their participation in upper level math classes. In addition, factors such as love of math, high school graduation/college admissions requirements, peers, and future plans must also be addressed if schools hope to increase the number of African American males taking upper level math classes. / Ed. D.

High school males from fatherless households are less likely to receive the needed support to succeed in school than their peers from two parent households (Astone and McLanahan, 1991). Research indicated that the biological father's influence will sway the male child's overall development (Jones, 2004). This qualitative study explores the connections between fatherless households and school achievement among high school males. Its purpose is to enlighten school leadership about strategies for assisting high school males from fatherless households with obstacles that may affect their school performance. The grounded theory study includes findings from one-on-one interviews of seven adult males from fatherless households, ages 28 and older, with varying careers, education, and marital status backgrounds who currently work or previously worked in some capacity with high school males from fatherless households. During the interview, common words, responses, shared experiences, and patterns emerged that identified factors that contribute to the academic outcomes of high school male students. Findings include the following: 1) Relationships with the biological father, biological mother, as well as the relationship between the father and mother, have a positive or negative emotional effect on high school males; 2) High school experiences and factors, such as academics, attendance, discipline, and various obstacles were impacted by fatherless households; 3) The influences of biological and other adult males are critical to the academic success of high school males from fatherless households; 4) There are positive and negative factors that affect high school males from fatherless households; and 5) Various roles, strategies, and programs contribute to the academic success of high school males from fatherless households. In addition to these findings, this study identifies further research needed for educators to explore other facets of high school males from fatherless households and school performance. / Ed. D. / This research study explores the connections between fatherless households and school achievement among high school males. Its purpose is to enlighten school leadership, parents, and community about strategies for assisting high school males from fatherless households with obstacles that may affect their school performance. The study includes findings from one-on-one interviews of seven adult males from fatherless households, ages 28 and older, with varying careers, education, and marital status backgrounds who currently work or previously worked in some capacity with high school males from fatherless households. During the interview, common words, responses, shared experiences, and patterns emerged that identified factors that contribute to the academic outcomes of high school male students. Findings include the following: 1) Relationships with the biological father, biological mother, as well as the relationship between the father and mother, have a positive or negative emotional effect on high school males; 2) High school experiences and factors, such as academics, attendance, discipline, and various obstacles were impacted by fatherless households; 3) The influences of biological and other adult males are critical to the academic success of high school males from fatherless households; 4) There are positive and negative factors that affect the high school males from fatherless households; and 5) Various roles, strategies, and programs will contribute to the academic success of high school males from fatherless households. In addition to the findings, this study identifies further research needed to explore other facets of high school males from fatherless households and school performance.

The purpose of the investigation was to compare mean voice onset time in young and old male subjects, as well as to examine variability of VOT productions with age for prevocalic bilabial, alveolar, and velar voiced and voiceless stop consonants. Forty-five Caucasion.males were divided equally into three.age groups. Ten tokens of six stimulus words were recorded and wide band spectrograms were made. Results of an analysis of variance revealed no significant differences in VOT with age when averages of the phonemes were used for analysis; however, a significant interaction between age and voiced phonemes was found when individual trials of phoneme productions were used for analysis.

Thesis advisor: Ana Martinez-Aleman / Abstract Black and Latino men have the lowest college enrollment rates among traditional college-aged students. Using a qualitative method, this study examined first-year students' perceptions of factors that influenced their plans to pursue a college education and actual enrollment. The factors this study explored were family support activities as defined by the Hossler college choice model and college aspirations factors. Currently, the experiences of first-year black and Latino men enrolled at four-year postsecondary institutions have been limited. These firsthand accounts will provide useful information to guidance counselors, school and university administrators, and policy makers interested in increasing the number of black and Latino men at four-year colleges and universities. The literature on college enrollment shows that black and Latino men have the lowest enrollment rates of all college-aged students. The college choice literature suggests that family support activities such as saving for college, visiting colleges, and attending a financial aid workshop all are influential in students' decision to enroll at a postsecondary institution. In addition, the literature on college aspirations shows that factors such as family encouragement, peers, and schools can either aid or hinder a student's plans to go to college. Yet, Hossler's college choice model and the college aspirations literature usually do not explain the college enrollment decisions of black and Latino men. In particular, a specific aim of this study is to investigate whether the college choice and college aspirations literatures' conclusions hold true for black and Latino men. In addition, this study explores whether participants' decisions to enroll are influenced by gender expectations. The results of this study were examined using a critical theory lens. The study's findings reveal that black and Latino men's college enrollment decisions are influenced in much the same ways as those of other high-school students. Parents provided the foundation along with early academic success that instilled ideas about the benefits of a college education and supported the attainment of that goal. Furthermore, participants rejected negative stereotypes associated with men of color and saw the pursuit of a postsecondary education as a challenge to these common beliefs. These findings show that men of color's college enrollment decisions are impacted by parents as well as multivariate factors that work to sustain their college enrollment goals. This information can provide school and college administrators as well as policymakers with strategies that could successfully address the problem of college transition and access for this population. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Administration and Higher Education.

A música percorre a obra de Mário de Andrade como matriz de seu fazer poético. Harmonizando as diferentes faces do poeta arlequinal, sua face musical aparece em Paulicéia desvairada (1922) e em Losango cáqui (1926), assim como nos versos de Clã do jabuti (1927), permanecendo, ainda, em Remate de males (1930) e nos volumes de poesia posteriores. O estudo detido de três grupos de poemas do livro de 1930 Tempo da Maria (1926), Poemas da negra (1929) e Poemas da amiga (1920-1930), realizado nesta tese, permite perceber em que medida a música e a retomada de formas populares, como a estrutura das Danças Dramáticas, moldam os poemas de Mário de Andrade, em que dilemas amorosos do eu lírico são encenados. / The music is the matrix of the poetic work of Mário de Andrade. Harmonizing the different faces of the multiple poet, his musical face can be seen in the books Paulicéia desvairada (1922), Losango cáqui (1926) and Clã do jabuti (1927), as well as in the verses of Remate de males (1930), and in the posterior works of the author. A detailed study of poems that are organized in tree groups of Remate de males Tempo da Maria (1926), Poemas da negra (1929) e Poemas da amiga (1920-1930) , accomplished by this thesis, allows us to notice how the music and the popular forms, as the structure of the Danças Dramáticas, mould the poems of Mário de Andrade, in which appears amorous dilemmas.

This qualitative study was conducted with a sample of five (5) middle school African American adolescent men from two different schools in the same school district to explore their perceptions of and experiences with their professional school counselors. Phenomenological qualitative methodology was used to complete this study. To gather research data, two semi-structured interviews with open ended questioning were conducted. Phenomenological data analysis was performed, which included the creation of meaning units, preliminary and then more detailed themes; ultimately five themes emanated from the data. These five themes include An Understanding of the Role of the School Counselor; Effective and Ineffective Performance of the School Counseling Roles; Factors Contributing to a Positive School Counselor/Student Dynamic; Personal and Social Factors Encouraging or Deterring Interactions with the School Counselor; and The Students' Tentative Occupational Interests. The themes suggest that participants have beliefs about the purpose of school counseling which align with national and state guidelines for the school counseling profession. In addition, themes reveal that the relationship between school counselor and student is extremely important and that this relationship is cultivated and nurtured in a number of ways. Data also indicated that depending on how well school counselors perform these duties and connect effectively with students, participants are able distinguish between effective and ineffective performance of the school counselor role. As important as these variables are, data also indicated there are personal and social variables which can encourage or deter participants' contact with their school counseling. The last theme details the participants' occupational interests. Implications for professional school counselors in these two schools and the school counselor education profession more generally are also provided. In conclusion, limitations and suggestions for future research are explored.

A música percorre a obra de Mário de Andrade como matriz de seu fazer poético. Harmonizando as diferentes faces do poeta arlequinal, sua face musical aparece em Paulicéia desvairada (1922) e em Losango cáqui (1926), assim como nos versos de Clã do jabuti (1927), permanecendo, ainda, em Remate de males (1930) e nos volumes de poesia posteriores. O estudo detido de três grupos de poemas do livro de 1930 Tempo da Maria (1926), Poemas da negra (1929) e Poemas da amiga (1920-1930), realizado nesta tese, permite perceber em que medida a música e a retomada de formas populares, como a estrutura das Danças Dramáticas, moldam os poemas de Mário de Andrade, em que dilemas amorosos do eu lírico são encenados. / The music is the matrix of the poetic work of Mário de Andrade. Harmonizing the different faces of the multiple poet, his musical face can be seen in the books Paulicéia desvairada (1922), Losango cáqui (1926) and Clã do jabuti (1927), as well as in the verses of Remate de males (1930), and in the posterior works of the author. A detailed study of poems that are organized in tree groups of Remate de males Tempo da Maria (1926), Poemas da negra (1929) e Poemas da amiga (1920-1930) , accomplished by this thesis, allows us to notice how the music and the popular forms, as the structure of the Danças Dramáticas, mould the poems of Mário de Andrade, in which appears amorous dilemmas.