<p> Adolescent boys without strong and healthy male role modeling are more likely to act out, dropout, and be behavior referrals at school. A literature review revealed that fatherless (physically or emotionally) boys are two times more likely to drop out of school, which leads to greater opportunities to participate in antisocial behaviors. Identification of this knowledge gap revealed a potential solution as to what adolescent boys are going to receive, and the process designed to meet those missing developmental needs. The research question that was asked and answered: Is there a statistically significant difference in behavior between adolescent boys who attend a 10-week counselor-facilitated group, and adolescent boys that do not attend the adolescent boys&rsquo; group? The introduction of a rite of passage program using an operational model based on psychosocial theory and bioecological theory of human development provides an avenue to redirect fatherless adolescent boys toward healthy emotional adulthood and stay in school. The problem statement outlined Erikson&rsquo;s and Bronfenbrenner&rsquo;s theories of development and offered the pedagogy in the form of a rite of passage to address the healthy developmental needs of adolescent boys. The intervention group and the untreated group had 50 participants. A paired sample t test analyzed the data to determine if there is a difference in the variable before and after treatment comparing all subjects on five different variables. This result showed that boys&rsquo; behavior on average was better after attending the 10-week program. The untreated group effect was significant in a negative direction during the 10 weeks without treatment reflected in the after scores of each dependent variable. The meaningful change in higher scores indicated the effect on boys&rsquo; behavior in school getting worse. Future research could include studying a larger group of boys from a more diversified population and to continue collecting data for a longer time to study staying power of the changes.</p><p>

<p> This study follows incoming freshmen students for three semesters, tracking their GPA along with several psychological constructs. Theory of Intelligence, Performance Goals, Learning Goals, Confidence in Intelligence, Campus Connectedness, Sense of Belongingness: Antecedents, School Coherence, Leadership, and Followership were assessed. Results are discussed for each semester, along with the three-semester differences in scores and GPA. Retention is addressed in correlation with the measures.</p><p>

<p> The development of a website and application for use by recovering alcoholics/substance abusers as an aftercare support.</p><p>

<p> The primary purpose of this study was to determine if a correlation exists between teacher dispositions, grounded in Perceptual Psychology, and student results on the Kentucky Student Voice Survey (KSVS), a 25-question survey adapted from Cambridge Education&rsquo;s Tripod survey. A correlation was found between teacher dispositions and KSVS question number 25 which states &ldquo;my teacher gives us time to explain our ideas.&rdquo; Except for this question, no correlation was found between teacher dispositions and KSVS results. </p><p>

<p> Many educational researchers have advocated for the inclusion of prosocial behavior instruction and practice in K5 public schools along with rigorous academic knowledge. Empathy is considered a foundational social emotional skill, vital for school and life. There is positive correlation between the inclusion of empathy instruction and practice in the classroom with increased prosocial skills, school climate, and engagement. The purpose of this qualitative interpretative phenomenological study was to explore working elementary teacher perceptions of empathy instruction and practice in K5 classrooms in the Northwest United States to better understand the essence of what teachers believed to be the current situation regarding administrative support, resources, and teacher skill and knowledge related to empathy instruction and practice in the classroom. The problem was that many K5 teachers did not include explicit instruction of empathy in the classroom, even though effective empathy instruction and modeling has been shown to improve academic achievement scores, improve teacher measures of positive social emotional behaviors, and decrease negative antisocial behaviors. This qualitative interpretive phenomenological study explored practicing teacher perceptions of empathy instruction and practice in K5 classrooms in Northwestern Oregon through in-depth interviews, non-verbal communication observation notes, and researcher reflection journal. NVivo 11 software was used to analyze themes, with validation of data collection and analysis by member checking of individual data and analysis offered to participants. Study results may advance the understanding of factors that inhibit or enhance teachers&rsquo; ability to teach and practice empathy in the classroom, and aid in the development of empathy instruction and practice methods, designs, and professional development.</p><p>

Recent investigations of children's arithmetic strategy proficiency have revealed disparate results; some suggest that first grade boys are more accurate math-fact retrievers than are first grade girls, while others suggest first grade girls are the more accurate math-fact retrievers. The present study was designed to assess whether gender differences in math-fact retrieval do exist among kindergarten and first grade students and to assess the circumstances under which those differences might be observed. In two experiments, kindergarten and first grade children were asked to solve a series of simple addition and subtraction problems. Solution strategies were restricted and children were required to use either fact-retrieval or overt counting to solve the problems. Problems were presented in one of two modes, visual or auditory, via a laptop computer; half of the problems in each mode required the fact-retrieval strategy and half required the overt counting strategy. Performance was measured in terms of accuracy and solution time. No female advantages were observed on any of the tasks in either grade. When accuracy and time were collapsed to create composite proficiency scores, male advantages for the fact retrieval strategy and the visual mode of presentation were revealed in both grades.

This study was designed to examine the influence of different media presentations on children's comprehension and memory of a story. Sixty-six first grade children experienced a well-structured story presented either by audio, audio-visual, or interactive CD-ROM media. Within the interactive CD-ROM condition, children either controlled the interactions (participant) or observed another child's interactions with the program (observer). The interactive CD-ROM contained a wide variety of animations and sound effects that were considered mostly irrelevant to the story content. All children received a memory and comprehension interview containing a free recall question, specific factual and inference questions, a picture sequencing task, and media preference questions. Results indicated no difference among the media conditions in terms of children's free recall of the story. However, children's recall of the story categories fit the pattern established by story grammar theory. In terms of the specific memory questions and picture sequencing task, children who just heard the story (audio) performed significantly worse than the children in the other media conditions, even when the questions were based on information that was contained in the narration. All children performed better on the inference than factual questions. Interestingly, there were no differences in terms of memory or comprehension among the audio-visual, participant, and observer interactive CD-ROM media conditions. It appears that watching irrelevant objects and animations did not distract children from comprehending the story. The presence of a well-established story grammar structure may have facilitated children's ability to retain the basic story components despite interruptions. In addition, explorations within the CD-ROM were documented and described for children in the participant interactive media condition. Although there was a surprising amount of variability in children's interactive behavior, it appears that gender may have influenced both the amount and type of interactions with the story program. Results are discussed in terms of the implications for children's multimedia design.

In this project, I used an object relations model to examine the benefits of the relationship between athletes and influential coaches. To accomplish this task, I examined the formative experiences of five men who were varsity athletes in college and focused on two questions: (1) In what ways can an athlete's relationship with his coach compensate for deficits resulting from parental inadequacies or empathic failures? (2) In what ways can an athlete's emotional bond with his coach enhance his self-esteem and facilitate his transition from adolescence to adulthood? In addition to interviewing these athletes, I interviewed the coach designated by each athlete as the most influential in his personal development. Subjects participated in a semi-structured interview, and the data from these interviews were qualitatively analyzed. Seven themes emerged from the stories told by these five athletes and their coaches: (1) the coach/player relationship as a "good fit" for the athlete, given his circumstances and psychological needs; (2) the coach/player relationship as reparative of the player's early childhood deficits; (3) the coach/player relationship as an opportunity to help the player to modulate his aggression; (4) the coach/player relationship as a facilitation of the player's experience of separation-individuation; (5) the coach/player relationship as a medium for identification with an important adult male role model; (6) the coach/player relationship as a means to enhance the player's achievement; and (7) the coach/player relationship as a context in which limits are set on the player's behavior. From these ten interviews, a template emerges in which the coach/player relationship can be seen as a therapeutic construct in which caring and strong role models can have lasting effects on the lives, values, and successes of young men.

Four elementary teachers were interviewed in a qualitative study to determine how gender was reflected in their thinking. All four teachers, three female and one male, had been at their job for 20 to 25 years and were designated by their colleagues as sensitive to issues of gender in the classroom. They grew up in the 1950's when gender roles were rigidly defined and were young adults when the women's movement began to challenge the traditional roles of women and men in society. During the past decade these teachers worked in an area in which gender equity training and resources were readily available. Although there were no references made by the teachers to the cultural changes that occurred during their earlier years or to the current emphasis on gender equity in education, the data did indicate three ways that gender was reflected in the teachers' conversations. Sometimes it was implied. At other times, although gender issues were explicitly described, they were not identified as relating to gender. There were also instances in their interviews where the teachers directly described bow gender issues affected them or their students.

State-mandated standardized testing comprises a significant component of student outcome measures utilized by the state and federal government to assess school district performance. Failure to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) on standardized assessments can result in negative consequences for districts both systemically and financially. The current study analyzes the transition from the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJ ASK) to the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) for the 2014-2015 school year. Among the differences between the two assessments is a change in modality, with students completing their PARCC English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics assessments via computer rather than the traditional paper-pencil administration on the NJ ASK. Outcome data for students from Vernon, New Jersey indicate that students performed significantly better on the NJ ASK than the PARCC for both ELA and Mathematics both in terms of score and proficiency level for the overall sample as well as a subset of students with disabilities. Familiarity with computer-based assessment from a cohort of students provided individual laptops for the duration of the school year did not improve student performance.