This study examined the impact of a specific form of intervention on the school performance and behavior of students to determine if such intervention can influence achievement. Students perceived as needing help were referred to a support group in their school led by a psychologist and a teacher, assisted by a team of school staff volunteers. The intervention consisted of giving three sets of sixth to twelfth grade students a support group to deal with the children's everyday issues and problems using a combination of human relations and group therapy techniques. The groups met weekly for ten weeks. Activities were designed to focus on self-esteem and problems affecting school behavior. The sample was composed of 100 high school and middle school students. Participants represented a cross-section of the population, both ethnically and socioeconomically. A control group of similar students also met weekly, using an open discussion format and worksheet projects. For evaluation purposes, the Metropolitan Achievement Test, the Student Rating Scale, attendance records and records of staff observation were used. Significant changes were observed, suggesting that this type of intervention made a major difference in the way these adolescents perceived school and themselves. Even students who had not been expected to benefit from the intervention responded and, further, showed improvement in several areas in a short time period. The comparison for pre- and post-measures of school behavior showed that the procedure had influenced students' school performance. Of the factors measured, attendance was most positively affected by intervention, although reading scores also rose. Gains in reading achievement as well as attendance were made in 10 weeks by Black males who had previously failed to respond to more traditional approaches to student improvement. The experimental students' attendance improved, while the control group attendance did not. The study results indicate that intervention has an impact on attendance and influences achievement to some degree. Intervention is therefore suggested as a useful alternative to traditional methods of dropout prevention and performance improvement.

In the last decade there has been a surge of interest in preservice teachers' thinking. By and large, research studies have focused on the final student teaching period of preservice teacher education. However, little is known about future teachers' perspectives on teaching and the self prior to student teaching. This study--based on social constructivism and dialectical approach to teacher socialization--examined the biographies, notions of identity, epistemological perspectives, and current views about teaching of 15 entering preservice teachers at a large state university, using qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews. Interview questions focused on participants' interpretation of their educational experiences, their perspectives of themselves as learners, and their ideas about teaching. The results are presented in relation to the three themes: images of the self, images of teachers and teaching, and towards the image of self as a teacher. Participants' perspectives of themselves as knowers as well as their social group memberships significantly affected their notions of themselves as teachers, their perceptions of their future students, and their priorities in teaching. The results indicate the importance of opportunities to experience mastery in the domains preservice teachers would teach like math, science, or writing, and the need for inquiry into metaphors describing teachers and images of teaching during teacher education. The case is made for including epistemology in the content of teacher education curricula.

Much of the literature about teachers' lives and careers is problematic. It often fails to involve teachers themselves (Schubert, 1991), specifically women (Miller, 1993; Noddings, 1989). Moreover, it is often written from an administrative, thus frequently white male perspective (Casey, 1992). If documentation about teachers may be race and gender biased, teachers' voices must be included more if we are to interrupt inequities in schools and education research. Women teachers--the majority of whom are now 43 years of age (National Education Digest, 1996)--represent an important population. Their own experience with possible educational and professional inequities and the transitions typical of midlife and midcareer all could add interesting dimensions to their pedagogy and role modeling for adolescent students, particularly girls. This was a qualitative research project based phenomenological interviews (Seidman, 1991) with eighteen participants. In three ninety minute segments, participants were asked to relate how they became teachers, to describe their jobs, and to reflect on the meaning they make of their careers. The diverse women were between thirty-five to forty-eight years old and have taught full time for at least fifteen years in urban and suburban high schools. Interviews were taped, transcribed and analyzed for thematic similarities and differences. Peer debriefing sessions were held at intervals. Major themes from the data included women teachers as care-givers, their growing frustration with administrators over the course of their careers, and a perception that their achievements, experience, and professional opinions are often ignored. Participants expressed feeling powerlessness in often racist, sexist, homophobic work places frequently influenced by "good ol' boy" networks. On the other hand, at midcareer these women have more confidence in their teaching and with themselves than ever before, and at midlife have developed a greater awareness of their own needs. Some have sought professional development and mentoring to stave off the effects of a flat line career and monotony which can typically accompany midcareer. To prevent "burnout" which can affect human service professionals (Maslach, 1981) most are redirecting energy from careers to self-care. The relationship between midlife teachers as models for adolescents in transition was not clearly established.

This study examines the impact of affective reactions on corporate managers' risky decision making when using accounting data. While prospect theory and considerable research indicate that decision makers are often risk averse (taking) when deciding between decision alternatives that result in gains (losses), some work suggests that other factors can significantly impact such risky behavior. It is argued here that managers consider their affective reactions when making risky financial decisions, and as a consequence, they may exhibit decision behavior that is contrary to the predictions of prospect theory and that results in the selection of low economic value alternatives. Corporate managers were asked to choose between investment alternatives that varied in degree of risk. For each decision scenario, an affective context was constructed to elicit a negative or positive affective reaction toward one of the alternatives. Each of the scenarios investigated had a gain and a loss version. The financial data were also constructed to examine whether affect impacted managers to choose alternatives with lower economic value. Experimental and control subjects' choices were compared to determine if affective reactions to specific data within a decision context can impact risky decision making. The results indicated that affect can significantly impact managers' risky behavior. Managers were generally more risk taking in gain conditions when the less risky alternative had a negative affect associated with it, or when the risky alternative had a positive affect associated with it. Alternatively, managers were generally more risk averse in loss conditions when the risky alternative had a negative affect or the less risky alternative had a positive affect. Therefore, affective reactions impacted managers' risky decision making to such a degree that the resulting decision behavior was contrary to the predictions of prospect theory. In addition, results indicate that affect influenced managers to choose alternatives with lower economic value, suggesting that managers consider affect when determining the overall utility of an outcome. These results suggest that the consideration of affect's role in judgment and choice is necessary to gain a more complete understanding of financial decision making.

The current set of studies attempted to examine how particular interpersonal goals affected the displays of nonverbal behaviors during job interviews for men and women particularly high and low in self-monitoring needs, and how these nonverbal behaviors affected subsequent applicant ratings and hiring decisions. In Study 1, participants were assigned the role of interviewee for a mock job interview and interviewed for a position which emphasized either competence, ingratiation, or an unspecified self-presentational goal. Participants' interviews were coded for the performance of a number of nonverbal behaviors. While we predicted main effects of self-presentational goal on interviewees' nonverbal behaviors and levels of emotion, as well as interactions between self-presentational goal and gender and between self-presentational goal and self-monitoring, the majority of the effects found related to the interviewees' level of self monitoring; high self-monitors were perceived by judges as less anxious, by interviewers as more competent and hirable, and by both judges and interviewers as happier than low self-monitors. Based on the results of Study 1, prototypes of nonverbal behaviors were constructed. Male and female confederates were trained to produce the levels and combinations of nonverbal behaviors exhibited by those individuals rated the most and least likable in Study 1 while giving a scripted interview. These interviews were videotaped and shown to male and female participants who rated the interviews on a number of measures. Participants' ratings of interview performance, happiness, and anxiety were all significantly affected by nonverbal prototype, and ratings of likability were marginally affected by prototype. Interviewee gender significantly influenced ratings of competence and likability, and had a marginal effect on ratings of interview performance. Finally, nonverbal prototype and interviewee gender interacted to produce significant effects for interview performance, likability, competence, happiness, and anxiety. This interaction suggests that performance of the same sets of nonverbal behaviors by male and female interviewees are received and evaluated quite differently.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present with varying degrees of deficit in the broader areas of social communication and stereotyped behaviors, but emerging research proposes delayed motor skill and atypical sensory processing as additional factors worth closer examination. In the current study, I sought to investigate the impacts of visual motor skills and sensory differences on language ability in young children with autism. I hypothesized that young children with autism, atypical sensory processing (Short Sensory Profile, 2nd Edition), and impaired visual motor integration (Beery VMI, 6th Edition) would have the most impacted language ability scores (Differential Ability Scales, 2nd Edition). A total of 22 children, eight with autism (25% female; M age = 66 months or 5.5 years) and 14 with typical development (50% female; M age = 73 months or 6 years) between the ages of 3:0 and 9:6 and their parents completed measures for this study. Findings were significant for the relations of status (i.e., TD vs. ASD) on language ability [t(20) = 2.66, p = .015], status on visual motor integration [t(20) = 2.27, p = .035], and for status on sensory processing [t(20) = −5.35, p < .001]. Results of the three-way interaction indicated that 72% of the variance in language ability was accounted for by the key variables in this model, but this hypothesis was not supported: p = .09, B = .15, CI95 = −.031 to .33. Related hypotheses of visual motor integration on status and language, sensory processing on status and language, and between visual motor integration and sensory were also not supported. Ancillary analyses of individual moderation indicated significant status group (TD vs. ASD) differences for children with visual motor integration full form standard scores of 119 and below (p < .05) and for children with total sensory scores of 25 to 36 (p < .05). These post hoc findings are consistent with previous literature and demonstrate promise for replication in future research with a larger and more heterogeneous sample. Further research on these constructs is encouraged as it could inform meaningful pathways for early intervention.

As organizations struggle to become and remain competitive, the engagement of employees may be a critical enabler in achieving organizational goals, enhancing organizational competitiveness, and improving employee well-being. To this end, scholars have identified a continuing need for research focused on organizational factors within the purview of managers to improve the engagement of employees (Alagaraja & Shuck, 2015; Coyle-Shapiro & Shore, 2007; Eldor & Vigoda-Gadot, 2017; Oswick, 2015; Whittington et al., 2017; Whittington & Galpin, 2010). Using the employee engagement framework proposed by Shuck and Reio (2011), this research examined the relation among employee alignment, perceived organizational support, and employee engagement in an organizational context. The research site was the human resources department of a not-for-profit health care organization located in the southern region of the United States. Census sampling was used to identify the actual sample (Fritz & Morgan, 2010) of 109 full-time nonsupervisory employees whose data was used in the analysis. Three self-report survey instruments were used: (a) the Employee Engagement Scale (Shuck, Adelson, et al., 2017), (b) the Stringer Strategic Alignment Scale (Stringer, 2007), and (c) the Survey of Perceived Organizational Support (Eisenberger et al., 1986). Bivariate correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to test the research hypotheses. The results provided evidence of partial support for the researcher’s hypotheses, with four of the seven hypotheses supported. Evidence was found for a positive relation among employee alignment, perceived organizational support, and employee engagement, as well as the statistically significant contribution of employee alignment in explaining unique variance in employee engagement (i.e., 23.4%). Contrary to expectations, the results did not provide evidence that perceived organizational support had a statistically significant direct effect on employee engagement. Additionally, the results did not provide statistically significant evidence of either a moderation or mediation effect of perceived organizational support on the relation between employee alignment and employee engagement. This study provides preliminary evidence that suggests that employee alignment, and to a lesser extent perceived organizational support, are two factors within the purview of managers that can be useful in creating the requisite organizational environment in which engagement may thrive.

This study examines the overall effect of downsizing during the past five years on Extension Home Economists. Its objectives are to identify the downsizing strategies used in Extension organizations, and to determine the professional and personal effect of downsizing upon these respondents. The role of resilient behaviors, coping strategies, social support and life events in helping these professionals deal with downsizing is also examined. Data were collected and analyzed from 429 surveys sent to a random sample of Extension Home Economists, active members in their professional organization. The results show that the most prominent strategies used to downsize include attrition, changing traditional services and functions, financial incentives for workforce reduction, and transferring staff. Major work changes include an increased workload, loss of colleagues and involvement in more team efforts. These Extension Home Economists experienced downsizing more from a personal than a professional level. The majority rated the overall personal impact of downsizing as moderate to profound. Personal impact was alleviated by the use of resilient behaviors, the experience of a limited number of notable life events, and the quality of social support. The only variable which influenced the professional impact of downsizing was life events. While the use of coping strategies did not affect the professional and personal impact of downsizing, the use of these strategies influenced the overall ability to cope. Maintaining contact and communication with their colleagues was the most utilized coping strategy by these professionals. While those who felt satisfied with the current downsized organization indicated lower personal impact, having an accepting attitude towards downsizing did not affect these respondents personally or professionally. Of the demographic variables, only years of employment influenced the personal impact of downsizing. Neither age, relationship status nor years of employment affected the professional impact of downsizing. Downsizing will continue to provide challenges and opportunities for organizations now and well into the future. Although there is not one prescription for surviving it, there is evidence that those who exercise resilient behaviors, have a varied repertoire of coping strategies and a quality support system will have a greater capacity for reducing its side effects.

The purpose of this research was to commence the development of a Chinese Vocational Interests Inventory (CVII) which will assist Chinese secondary school students in the identification of their vocational interests. The inventory contains 323 items which include a variety of occupational activities and titles. The occupational titles were selected from Chinese Dictionary of Occupational Titles based on the popularity of occupations in PRC and categorized into 11 subgroups which represented a majority of occupational groups. The occupational activities which related to each occupational title were generated and refined from a description of the nature and work activities of selected occupations defined by occupational specialists in Occupational Outlook Handbook published by the U.S. Labor Department (1991). Further design of the study included establishing preliminary reliability and validity of the CVII, and confirmatory factor analysis to identify occupational interests areas. The CVII was administrated to 454 Chinese secondary school students who voluntarily participated in the project. The results of this preliminary study suggested the CVII have reliability (r =.98), concurrent validity (r =.65) between expressed occupation interests and inventoried interests, and internal validity (r =.81, occupational title versus occupational activities). Principal-component analysis extracted nine factors from 11 proposed subscales of the CVII. They are labelled as Artistic, Science & Technology, Business, Artistic creativity, Scholastic, Legal, Medical, and Service. The combination of some factors is compatible with John Holland's 6 occupational categories, indicating to a certain extent universal value of career interests. Gender difference was found in both factors clusters and occupation preference in which female students favored Liberal Art, Performing Art, and other language expressing related occupations, whereas male students were strongly interested in Science, Engineering, and Mechanical type of occupations. The homogeneous scales for female students and the combined-gender students were established throughout the factor analyses. More research will be needed to develop homogeneous scales for the male students, and to collect test-retest reliability and predictive validity by using criterion groups in order to develop a menu for the CVII.

Encouraging employees to contribute their unique creative outputs to an organization can be a pivotal source of innovation and continuous organizational growth. Cognitive diversity has been demonstrated to increase group creativity, but the same effect on an individual level at multinational corporations has not yet been tested. Using a sample of 122 employees currently employed at Japan-based organizations/companies in the U.S., this study theorized that cognitive diversity was predicted to significantly interact to influence individual creative performance, and that power distance orientation mediates such a relationship. Several simple and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to test the model. The results showed that cognitive diversity significantly predicted individual creative performance. Although the mediation effect of power distance orientation was not detected on a relationship between cognitive diversity and individual creative performance, a moderating effect was identified through an exploratory analysis. This study concludes with a discussion on the contributions to cognitive diversity and the implications of the results for research and potential future research objectives.