The Seminole County Georgia Board of Education has made a special effort to provide adequate educational opportunities for all the children of the county. An important phase of this effort has been the provision of building facilities to house the children. Three years ago a new consolidated county-wide high school building was completed, along with a new elementary building in Donalsonville, and needed improvements in all the other elementary schools. / Typescript. / "August, 1952." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science."

"The desire to live, to love, to be with people, to excel or achieve, and to believe in something lasting leads to problems, each of which requires a struggle of some type, either slight or great. It is during the period of life called adolescence that many human beings either successfully or unsuccessfully solve some of these problems. A teacher or parent will be more capable of helping the adolescent through this phrase of life if he understands the mental, motor, social, and emotional development of the adolescent. Therefore, the teacher and parents must not only be interested in the adolescent during school time, but must also have a knowledge of the activities in which the adolescent participates and of the facilities offered by the community which affect his out-of-school life"--Introduction. / "July, 1951." / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: H. W. Dean, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-105).

The current belief that fashionable clothing worn to school by students influences their attitude and behavior is the major impetus behind the adoption of stricter dress policies, including uniforms (Behling, 1994). Data available in the United States do not support any specific conclusions about the effects of school uniforms (Palikos & Rist, 1996). A mandatory uniform dress policy was implemented at an urban middle school located in southeastern Virginia. Students in the 9th grade during 1997-98, who also completed three consecutive years at this middle school from 1994-95 through 1996- 97 were the participants in the study. Information was collected and analyzed using an Analysis of Variance for attendance, discipline, grade point average, and self-esteem data using an alpha of .05. The sample of 146 students included 96 Black students (48 men and 48 women) and 50 White students (27 men and 23 women). Independent variables were race, gender, and time. Findings revealed that uniforms had a negative impact on attendance, grade point average, and self-esteem. Discipline indicators (total number of referrals, rule violations, and out-of-school suspensions) showed mixed results. The first year of uniform implementation showed a significant decline in the number of referrals, rule violations, and suspensions for study participant. During the second year of implementation, however, the trend reversed with an increase in all discipline categories exceeding the baseline or non-uniform year. / Ed. D.

As the COVID-19 pandemic progressed, professionals in the field of behavior analysis and education have continually asked how to help students access quality education while still keeping them safe and healthy. There have been multiple options presented that allow students to access their education, such as being fully in-person, fully virtual, and a hybrid option that includes both in-person and virtual learning. Due to different factors, families may choose a full virtual option for their children. But then the question becomes, “how do we make sure they log into their classes on time?” School attendance continues to be an issue across the country and adding in a virtual element to education is something that hasn’t been dealt with in a large-scale effort before. The current study attempted to increase attendance for middle school students that were learning in a full virtual format by means of sending email reminders to the student and their parents, setting daily goals with the student, and providing positive reinforcement by delivering items to the student’s home. Results indicated that this specific intervention package, as outlined, was not an effective method to help middle school students increase their virtual class attendance. Future studies should focus on other intervention packages that can help students learning in a full virtual format to attend their Zoom sessions and access the quality education they deserve.

This project will begin to close the gap between traditional methods of spiritual formation and the digital evolution by offering a framework for virtual spiritual formation based on digital and social media trends, the reimagination of traditional spiritual formation practices, Linda Harasim’s “Online Collaborative Learning Theory,” Carey Nieuwhof’s insights on the digital church, and Julie Lytle’s methods for effective social and digital media use. Spiritual formation can be defined as the process one undergoes to develop their religious beliefs, understanding of God, spiritual practices, and identification of self in the world. Whereas individuals have customarily participated in this process through in-person practices, this project seeks to hone in on virtual methods faith leaders may use to guide one’s spiritual development. Through one’s participation in corporate virtual practices of worship, discussions, classes, small groups, and other exercises, they are invited to gain knowledge of principles and rituals that guide their embodiment of Jesus’ teachings. Alongside being engaged in the life of the church in new ways, individuals will be supported in forming their spirituality apart from participating in a community of faith’s in-person programming. / 2024-05-13T00:00:00Z

The membership numbers of most of the Protestant denominations in the United States have been decreasing for a number of years. Much of the research studying this phenomenon has used demographic data and surveys of former members to understand reasons for leaving. This qualitative study uses a phenomenological perspective to understand the lived experience of eight former members of the Sunrise Mennonite Church. One former leader and three current church leaders from the Sunrise Mennonite Church were also interviewed for their perspective of the costs and benefits of church membership. The findings of this study were consistent with the literature across two main themes. First, a significant attraction and benefit of church membership is the support and fellowship experienced from close friendships within the church. Relationships as a whole are important, and negative interactions within the church can serve to damage one's satisfaction with a church as a whole. A second factor affecting church membership is the change experienced by church members and the change that occurs in the culture of the surrounding community. These changes lead to new and different preferences of the church members, and if these can not be incorporated into their churches, these members may leave their church. / Master of Science

No description available.

No description available.

The Preparatory Academy was established in September, 1999 to improve academic achievement and reduce the dropout rate of at-risk high school students in a mid-Atlantic state. The study looks at the Preparatory Academy as a dropout prevention program for high school students. Students attending the Preparatory Academy are one or more years behind grade level and have not been successful in a general education setting. In addition, the students are identified by the school division as being at-risk of not graduating from high school. The Preparatory Academy was designed to address the increasing drop out rate and to advance students one or two grade levels in one school year, whereby giving them an opportunity to reach their age appropriate grade. A qualitative design methodology was chosen to evaluate the Preparatory Academy effectiveness from the eyes of the students who were successful in the program. Eight participants who successfully completed the Academy during the 2004-2005 academic year were selected from each participating high school. Students participated in focus groups and answered questions about their experiences, their beliefs, and their perceptions while in the Preparatory Academy. Seven staff members, three administrators, two teachers, and two guidance counselors, were interviewed to clarify Academy procedures and policies. The results of this study show that the Preparatory Academy is perceived by students to be an effective dropout prevention program. Students reported an increased commitment to graduation from high school and reported an increase in grade point average. In addition, data revealed students having a positive change in their attitude toward themselves and their education. When asked about the reason, the students gave credit to the Preparatory Academy. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this research was to evaluate outcomes of a single-sex program at an elementary school in Portsmouth, Virginia. Evaluation criteria were (girls' and boys' feelings about being grouped into single-sex education and coeducational classes, (teaching behaviors, (3) student achievement, (4)student attendance, and (5) student misbehaviors. There were four measures of feelings in this study: feelings about the teacher, feelings about relationships with classmates, feelings about school work, and feelings about the classroom climate. Four one-way ANOVAs with Scheffe's post-hoc comparisons were conducted. Results of the post-hoc analyses revealed that the single-sex male class had more positive feelings about the classroom climate than the single-sex female class. Teaching behaviors were evaluated through the use of the Hopkins Observation Report Form. Teaching behaviors in two single-sex classrooms and coeducational classrooms were observed and reported using one-way ANOVAs in three areas: interaction, influence, and non-verbal messages. No differences were found in the frequency of teaching behaviors used in single-sex and coeducational classes in any of the areas. Student achievement was evaluated using pre- and post-test scores from the Tests for Higher Standards by Flanagan and Mott (1999). The single-sex female, single-sex male, & coed A classes had higher science scores than students in the coed B class. Students in the single-sex male and single-sex female classes had higher social studies scores than the students in the coed B and coed A classes. No differences were found in the performance of the three class types on the math achievement test. A one-way analysis of variance was conducted to identify differences in absences among the four class groups. Results of Scheffe's post-hoc comparisons showed a difference in absences between the coed A class and the single-sex female class, the single-sex male class, and the coed B class. In all cases the coed A class had more absences per student. Student misbehavior was reported in four categories: (1) opposition to authority, (2) disrespect, (3) disturbance to the class and peers, and (4) altercation. More misconduct referrals were reported from the two coeducational classes when their data were combined. / Ed. D.