Children who have Nonverbal Learning Disabilities (NLD) exhibit strengths in verbal domains and deficits in perceptual reasoning domains. These children are often seen as bright and may even be identified as gifted due to their superior decoding proficiency, expansive vocabulary, and remarkable rote memory skills. Conversely, psychosocial difficulties such as acquiring self-help skills and interacting with others appropriately often present serious challenges. Children with NLD may also vacillate between internalized (e.g., anxiety) and externalized (e.g., acting out) behaviors and are commonly seen as unmotivated, defiant, and oppositional. Given the potential psychosocial difficulties that children who have NLD experience, it is imperative that early and effective interventions are accessed. In order to provide appropriate treatments, the identification of factors that occasion psychosocial difficulties is warranted. Thus, the primary purpose of the study was to identify specific NLD characteristics based on specific demographic variables of age, gender, parent education, and number and types of other diagnoses. Further identification efforts compared the Pediatric Behavior Scales (PBS) of Conduct, Attention, Depression, Anxiety, and Deviation to both General Ability Index (GAI) scores and Verbal Comprehension and Perceptual Reasoning (VCI/PRI) discrepancy scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Fourth Edition (WISC-IV). Identical analyses were performed for a Dysphasia contrast group. A secondary purpose of this study was to add to the growing body of evidence suggesting the existence of NLD subtypes. Analyses conducted indicated that children in the NLD group had significantly more diagnoses, higher mother and father education, and higher VCI and GAI scores than those in the Dysphasia group. In addition, children in the NLD group held substantially more ADHD diagnoses whereas the Dysphasia group supported more Dyslexia and Dysnomia diagnoses. Further analyses showed relationships between GAI and the PBS Depression scale, GAI and both mother and father education, and VCI/PRI discrepancy and number of diagnoses for the NLD group. PBS Conduct, Attention, and Deviation scales and VCI/PRI discrepancy were correlated for the Dysphasia group. Overall, results revealed that NLD and Dysphasia groups presented different social and emotional symptomology. In addition, there is tentative support for the presence of NLD subtypes. Future areas of research and treatment recommendations are provided.

It has only been recently that research in childhood psychopathology has focused on a group of disorders referred to as internalizing disorders. Internalizing disorders can include such problems as depression. anxiety, social withdrawal, and somatic complaints. Even though research has begun to focus on internalizing disorders with majority children. there has been very little research conducted on ethnic minority children, Native American children in particular. The present study involved obtaining a Native American sample and determining their internalizing symptomology utilizing the Internalizing Symptom Scale for Children (ISSC), the Reynolds Child Depression Scale (RCDS), and the State Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (ST AIC). The study sample was compared to a matched normative sample from the ISSC database. Statistical procedures included bivariate correlations, analysis of variance (ANOV A), and discriminant function analysis. Correlations between the ISSC and the two comparison measures (RCDS and ST AIC) were in the expected direction and of moderate to strong magnitude. The total internalizing symptoms scores of the Native American (Lakota Sioux) sample were similar to those of a matched comparison group from the ISSC national normative database. However, the study sample evidenced a unique pattern of responses on the ISSC subscales, reporting lower rates of both internalizing distress and positive affect. Teacher nominations of potential "internalizers" proved to be a poor predictor of their self-reported symptoms. Implications of this study for clinical practice and future research directions in this area are discussed.

This capstone project was part of a group project completed by five school and district administrators in Hillsborough County, Florida. The project began because of our passion for teachers who are able to establish a culture of care in their classrooms that support students academically but transform their learning through experiences that enable them to be more highly engaged and productive students, regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, perceived academic abilities, and backgrounds. My focus in this group project looked at social emotional learning, student behavior, and student achievement in high needs schools. Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and its related activities and lessons were once a foundational piece of the middle school program. Over the years, increased accountability and legislative mandates have made it very challenging to include dedicated time in a student’s daily schedule for SEL lessons and activities. In Hillsborough County Public Schools, a summer program for retained sixth graders served as a launching ground for the re-introduction of SEL activities. The positive impact of the SEL activities were immediate and the SEL lessons, delivered through daily Community Building Sessions (CBS), were received well by teachers and students. How can the overwhelmingly positive results of the use of SEL activities with students in a summer program be replicated during the regular school year? Literature supported the growing need for social emotional learning, positive impacts of SEL on student behavior and academic learning, the importance of positive classroom climates as a school-wide strategy, and the importance of leadership support.

Following the booming of global e-business, the demand for online negotiations is growing apparently. Recently, instant messaging (IM) software such as Microsoft MSN, Yahoo messenger has become very popular synchronous communication tool. Although the instant messaging tools make people can negotiate or communicate with each other synchronously over the Internet, in terms of the richness of communication media, instant messaging is leaner than that of traditional face-to-face. Previous studies have demonstrated that the media richness of communication has effect on negotiation behavior and result. To improve the richness of the instant messaging, many instant messaging tools have provided a variety of emoticons for user. Due to the popularity of instant messaging and emoticon usage, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of emoticons on synchronous e-negotiation environment. In this study, we conducted a lab experiment to simulate synchronous negotiations. The findings reveal that emoticons have effects on negotiation process and negotiators¡¦ communication ability.

This dissertation describes the results of two studies that examined preservice and inservice teachers' knowledge of social and emotional learning (SEL) and its impact on academic achievement. Components of SEL, such as self-efficacy and self-regulation, play an important role in academic attainment and can be especially beneficial to young readers. One hundred and seventy inservice and 155 preservice teachers completed surveys that measured their overall knowledge of SEL concepts and perceptions regarding their preparedness for teaching SEL, its importance, and implementation. The descriptive results indicated both inservice and preservice teachers had some underlying knowledge regarding SEL, but performed poorly in identifying definitions of fundamental SEL terms. The large majority of preservice and inservice teachers felt SEL was important to academic achievement, but seemed conflicted about the role of SEL in classroom instruction. Responses from inservice and preservice teachers indicate they may feel underprepared for teaching SEL in their classrooms. Multiple regression analyses revealed preservice teachers' responses to items on the perceptions scales predicted overall knowledge scores. Analysis of Variance results indicated there were no differences by demographic variables on overall teacher knowledge scores and responses to perceptions scales. The results are consistent with previous findings on teachers' perceptions of SEL's importance. Implications for teacher preparation programs and classroom instruction are discussed along with directions for future research.

The Hispanic population is becoming increasingly prevalent in the United States, facing not only many sociodemographic risks, but academic risks as well. A large number of Hispanics are entering school unprepared to learn. While the importance of school readiness for academic success and achievement has been established, research focusing on school readiness in the Hispanic population has been limited. Furthermore, while research has established the importance of social-emotional skills for school readiness, these have been insufficiently studied in this population in how they relate to school readiness. This study examined school readiness in Hispanic preschoolers and the impact of sociodemographic, cultural, and socio-emotional variables on school readiness. A total of 162 children ages 3 to 5 years old were assessed by a school readiness measure in a Head Start program in central Texas. Children were assessed during the first 45 days of school. Teachers and caregivers completed a social-emotional rating scale on each student’s social skills and problem behavior during the first 45 days of school. In addition, caregivers completed a questionnaire that addressed cultural and sociodemographic factors. The purpose of this study was to fill the gaps of the literature by examining factors that impact school readiness among Hispanic preschoolers. The goal of this study was to determine the extent to which cultural variables can predict school readiness and social-emotional competence, above and beyond sociodemographic factors. This study also sought to determine the extent to which social-emotional competence can predict school readiness above and beyond sociodemographic factors and cultural factors. This study hypothesized that cultural factors and social-emotional competence would have an impact on school readiness, above and beyond sociodemographic factors. This study used hierarchical regression analyses. Results suggest that cultural variables were not good predictors of school readiness or social-emotional competence. Sociodemographic variables were good predictors of social-emotional competence. In addition, social skills were significant predictors of school readiness. Results suggest that Hispanic preschoolers are not that unlike other preschoolers when it comes to factors that have an impact on their school readiness and social-emotional competence.

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Outcomes related to academic and social engagement for boys identified by their teachers as being disengaged and requiring tier two instructional supports were investigated when the Three Block Model of Universal Design for Learning (Katz, 2012a) was implemented. The mixed-methods study involved twelve grade 3 boys and their teachers in a rural school division in Manitoba, who were divided into treatment and control groups. Students were assessed pre and post intervention for the development of general self-esteem, academic self-esteem, liking of school, enjoyment of school, and engaged behaviour. Ecobehavioral measures of task assigned, groupings, and interactions were also taken. Data were collected and analyzed using both thematic analysis for qualitative data and a MANCOVA for quantitative analysis. The intervention significantly increased students’ engaged behaviour, particularly active engagement and promoted social engagement through increased peer interactions, student autonomy, and inclusivity.

Outcomes related to academic and social engagement for boys identified by their teachers as being disengaged and requiring tier two instructional supports were investigated when the Three Block Model of Universal Design for Learning (Katz, 2012a) was implemented. The mixed-methods study involved twelve grade 3 boys and their teachers in a rural school division in Manitoba, who were divided into treatment and control groups. Students were assessed pre and post intervention for the development of general self-esteem, academic self-esteem, liking of school, enjoyment of school, and engaged behaviour. Ecobehavioral measures of task assigned, groupings, and interactions were also taken. Data were collected and analyzed using both thematic analysis for qualitative data and a MANCOVA for quantitative analysis. The intervention significantly increased students’ engaged behaviour, particularly active engagement and promoted social engagement through increased peer interactions, student autonomy, and inclusivity.

This thesis examines the effects of a Bibliotherapy based intervention on literacy, behaviour, and self-efficacy of disaffected adolescents. This exploratory study sought to understand how the intervention was experienced by disaffected adolescents (RQ1/RQ2) and whether it revealed any changes in their responses to the texts (RQ3). It contributes to the existing knowledge and literature by demonstrating how Bibliotherapy, implemented in an educational context, can be a useful tool in designing an intervention for disaffected students at the secondary level by linking emotional development to development in literacy and overall learning. To begin, the purpose and study aims were to develop an intervention based on the principles of Bibliotherapy in order to address the challenges of literacy and behaviour among disaffected adolescents; to evaluate the various outcomes, which may influence the design or effective implementation of the programme; to revise and make changes based on the evaluation to produce a usable programme. From this, the study aimed to answer the following research questions: how useful is Bibliotherapy and/or its principles as a tool in designing a literacy programme for re-engaging disaffected adolescents? What is the perspective of the students in undertaking the programme in means of the process involved? What changes follow this programme in regards to the improvement of literacy and enhancement of attitude and interest in reading amongst disaffected adolescents? This study used a longitudinal mixed methods approach, taking place over three cohorts (school terms), and involving thirty two Year 9 students from five secondary schools in the United Kingdom. The design and evaluation of the Bibliotherapy intervention was underpinned by both a concurrent triangulation model and action research. The evaluation of the programme involved the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data; therefore, a pragmatic stance to the research was adopted that was positioned as mixed-methods. Qualitative data was analysed using a thematic approach and merged to complement the Quantitative findings offering a more thorough and valid interpretation. The qualitative analysis revealed four overarching themes from the participation in the programme: positive developments in Power Over Learning, Emotional Intelligence, Peer Impact to Learning, and New Reader Identities. The quantitative findings, for the most part, did not reveal any statistically significant changes in reading, self-efficacy, or behaviour; however, there were isolated cases among individual cohorts where the findings did reveal significant changes in fluency, reading, reading difficulty perception, behaviour, and with personal resiliency such as increased optimism, tolerance, and adaptability. This study supports findings from earlier studies suggesting that disaffected adolescents at secondary school levels can benefit from reading and behavioural intervention. It offers new knowledge regarding the effectiveness and use of Bibliotherapy as a tool to design an intervention for re-engagement, social and emotional growth through peer support, development of a deeper understanding of self, and reinforcement of reading skills necessary to achieve literacy.