This dissertation examines the process of informal situated learning and conscientization in a Florida coastal community that faced rapid environmental change from 1989 to 2003. By examining this poorly understood process of learning in the face of sudden and sporadic (lurching) change, and transformational change, I clarify those conditions and characteristics that fostered learning and the process of individual and collective conscientization. The study period encompassed the closure of local oyster harvesting areas, the decline of the oyster industry, the Florida net ban and decline of commercial net fishing, the collapse of wild clam harvesting in the state, and the emergence of clam farming. Two theories, panarchy developed by the Resilience Alliance (1999) and Gunderson and Holling (2002) and communities of practice developed by Lave and Wenger (1991), provided a conceptual framework for the study. I used an ethnographic approach, conducted life-learning interviews, and shared transcriptions with participants to foster conscientization. Direct and participant observations were made, and documents were collected. I used the constant comparative method to analyze data, mapped social ties and stakeholder characteristics. Data were plotted spatially and temporally to determine conditions and characteristics affecting learning and conscientization. Interaction, communication and collaboration increased during the adaptive phase of reorganization, fostering intense learning and innovation. Individuals – primarily women – denied ready access to resources by cultural structures and/or environmental events were involved in conscientization first. The participation of greater numbers of women and outsiders in clam farming during the adaptive phase of reorganization modified cultural structures and patterns of interaction with the social and bio/physical environment. Women (many former oysterers) and outsiders were able to play an influential role in collective conscientization through the retelling of their personal experiences. As the community of practice moved into the adaptive phase of utilization, cultural structures and patterns rigidified and learning slowed. Decreased access to resources due to steeper hierarchical structures perpetuated the process of conscientization. A series of crises accelerated the process. I found that individual conscientization occurred when individuals perceived action was in their best interest. I also confirmed that individual conscientization is a prerequisite for collective conscientization. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Education Foundations and Policy Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2003. / October 6, 2003. / Panarchy, Environmental Change, Communities Of Practice, Conscientization, Informal And Nonformal Learning, Aquaculture / Includes bibliographical references. / Vandra Masemann, Professor Directing Dissertation; Rebecca Miles, Outside Committee Member; Peter Easton, Committee Member; Steven Klees, Committee Member; Karen Monkman, Committee Member.

A nursing home includes a mixture of for-profit, nonprofit, and government-owned organizations as service providers. These organizations compete with each other to provide a better service quality. Thus, the nursing home service provides a good domain in which to compare the relative quality of services provided by these three different organizational ownerships. The existing empirical literature on the effect of ownership type on nursing home quality has suffered from lack of a theoretical framework and a systematic comparison of their relationship. This study addresses these gaps in the literature by providing a structure, process, and environment (SPE) framework and by comparing the relative influences of different organizational ownerships on nursing home quality. The data for this study was obtained from the Online Survey Certification Reporting (OSCAR) system database, the Minimum Data Set (MDS) repository, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Thirteen thousand six hundred eleven nursing homes were finally used for analysis after the data was cleaned. Based on theoretical knowledge of organizational ownership and literature reviews on the relationships between ownership type and nursing home quality, I developed 16 hypotheses and tested them with multiple regression models and linear structural equation models. The key findings of this study are that the SPE framework provides a useful tool for explaining nursing home quality, and nonprofit nursing homes have a higher quality than for-profit nursing homes in a regression analysis measured by a dummy variable. In particular, nonprofit nursing homes have a stronger influence on environmental factors than for-profit nursing homes. But, the nonprofit nursing homes do not have superiority to the for-profit nursing homes in process factors measured by nursing care deficiencies and physical restraints. Considering that these process factors lead to improve service quality through adequate nursing care, effective strategies of nonprofit nursing homes for improving the process factors are required. This study also examines the influence of nonprofit nursing homes on for-profit and overall nursing home quality by investigating an increase in nonprofit market share. As a result, the study finds that the increase in the nonprofit market share has a positive effect on both for-profit and overall nursing home quality. This result implies that a competitive spillover effect from the nonprofits leads to higher quality by encouraging the service improvement of for-profit nursing homes. As another significant finding, this study concludes that there are positive and negative effects of intersectoral competition among different organizational ownerships. While such competition has a beneficial effect on service quality by facilitating a profit motive in for-profit nursing homes, excessive competition may weaken nonprofits' ability to serve a socially-beneficial role in nursing home services. As a result, market competition does not always have a positive effect on service quality. Its effect is varied by different organizational ownerships and different service types provided. This study has some limitations. First, the study measures nursing home quality with three quality measures: pressure sores, bladder or bowel incontinence, and urinary tract infections. But, it does not seem that they provide a comprehensive set of quality measures. Considering that the effect of organizational ownership on service quality produces different results with different quality measures, the selection of such comprehensive quality measures by some clear criteria would be necessary to understand fully the relationship between organizational ownership and nursing home quality. Second, this study examines the relationship between organizational ownership and quality with a nursing home service. While major findings of the study have important implications, it does not seem appropriate to apply these findings to all health care services. The nursing home industry may be less relevant for understanding broader trends in the health-care sector. Thus, future research needs to explore how the effect of organizational ownership is varied by different service areas such as economic services, social services, and health care services. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2006. / April 25, 2006. / Service Quality, Market Competition, Health Care Service, Organizational Ownership, Nursing Home, Nonprofit Organization / Includes bibliographical references. / Frances S. Berry, Professor Directing Dissertation; William G. Weissert, Outside Committee Member; Mary E. Guy, Committee Member; Samuel M. McCreary, Committee Member.

Distance learning components are being added to many undergraduate and graduate curricula in various academic fields. Nurse-midwifery has been a pioneering field in distance learning and the experiences of faculty and administrators with adding DL components to master's degree curricula provide insight for other administrators and faculty pursuing DL components for traditional master's degree programs. Through this study the researcher examined the conditions that facilitate the implementation of DL components into three master's degree programs in nursing. Faculty and administrator interviews were conducted and documents were analyzed through using NVivo 2.0 as a tool. Donald Ely's theoretical framework was employed, and findings indicate that the two most important conditions for implementing curricular change are Resources and Funding and Knowledge and Skills. The least important of the conditions was Incentives and Rewards for Participants. The study results show that there are similarities with the public universities which are divergent from the private university, which the researcher asserts relates to the differences in institutional missions. More research should be done with larger samples to determine the generalizability of these results across all specialty areas of nursing education as well as other academic fields. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring semester, 2004. / March 5, 2004. / Nursing Education, Organizational Change, Organizational Culture, Higher Education, Curriculum Change / Includes bibliographical references. / Dale. W. Lick, Professor Directing Dissertation; Anne E. Rowe, Outside Committee Member; Hollie B. Thomas, Jr., Committee Member; Beverly L. Bower, Committee Member.

The topic of municipal incorporation is increasingly reemerging as a topic dissevering of our attention. Metropolitan regions continue to grow and residents maintain a desire to live beyond the cities' borders. As these processes continue, we must recognize that individuals will seek to create new municipal governments that fulfill the wishes they hold for the new communities. Theories of incorporation rests on a great deal of theorizing, but have not been the subject of numerous attempts to empirically test these theories. One treatment, however, that involved extensive testing of theories of incorporation was provided by Burns (1994). While Burns' work has received a great deal of recognition, the work displays significant flaws which limit the conclusions that can be drawn from the findings presented by Burns. These shortcomings are taken as an opportunity to recast the research approach taken when investigating this topic. I argue that qualitative research methods offer the best mechanism to uncover the true meaning of incorporation. I use these methods to conduct several interviews with participants of an on-going incorporation effort. These interviews highlight two facts. First, people behave based on value rationality, rather than instrumental rationality. Second, people will support incorporation when they spend less time outside the community. The implications of these findings for the literature are discussed. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Ruebin O'D. Askew School of Public Administration and Policy in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2008. / June 9, 2008. / Municipal Government, Unincorporated Communities, Incorporation / Includes bibliographical references. / Lance deHaven-Smith, Professor Directing Dissertation; Charles Connerly, Outside Committee Member; Richard Feiock, Committee Member; Ralph Brower, Committee Member.

This project focuses on the intergovernmental relationship between states and their local communities in environmental policy in the United States. The dissertation examines both state and local policy tool choices using a single theoretical framework recently developed by Avinash Dixit – a neoinstitutional transaction cost politics framework. Transaction cost politics (TCP) is a positive analytic approach to the study of public policy that combines elements of organizational economics and public choice. The theoretical framework argues that state-local relations can be thought as contracts between a principal (the state legislature) and a series of agents (local governments). This agency relationship is characterized by information asymmetry and different preferences between the principal and the agents. As a result, I argue that each state legislature will tailor the legislation to the specific characteristics of the state, including local institutions and sociodemographic characteristics. The match between the features of the approved legislation and state characteristics assures the minimization of economic and political transaction costs by state legislators. In other words, the legislation approved depends on a series of economic and political efficiency variables which, ultimately, determine the content and features of the law. With this in mind, the dissertation addresses two subjects within the environmental policy area: solid waste management and growth management. The first question I attempt to answer is: "To what extent do transaction costs of intergovernmental relations determine the degree to which states attempt to constrain and direct the behavior of local governments in environmental policy making?" The results of the empirical analysis indicate that state legislators share the risks of policy choices and decisions with local level officials and consider past and present local government practices when adopting specific legislation. In addition, the degree of professionalism of state legislatures seems to be an important factor in the approval of state environmental policy. Finally, the political transaction costs arguments are confirmed by the results regarding the influence of local institutions in state level policy making. The empirical findings indicate that, when one considers the effect of local institutions in the aggregate, the impact on state environmental policy is important, affecting the expectations and monitoring costs of state legislators. The second major question this project attempts to answer is: "To what extent do transaction costs of local politics affect environmental policy instrument choices made by local governments?" I employ the concept of policy instrument/policy tool to convey the idea that local government officials have goals that are pursued by using certain means ("tools"). The policy instruments enacted by local governments are specific of each policy area. Accordingly, the dissertation discusses the use of a group of solid waste management instruments (recycling, incineration, landfilling, and source reduction) and a group of growth ontrol/management tools (population/building caps, large lot zoning, urban service boundaries, impact fees, transfer of development rights, and incentive zoning). The preferences of local officials for one or several instruments depends on a series of factors. First, the choice can be motivated by economic efficiency reasons. In this case, the adoption of specific policy instruments helps local governments to deal with local market failures. Second, local officials choose the instrument or combination of instruments that allows them to minimize political transaction costs. In other words, local officials aiming at reelection choose the tool(s) that closely mirror the sociodemographic composition of each community. Finally, policy instrument choice is influenced or constrained by local institutions (form of government, system of election, and home rule status) and state level constrains (state grants to local governments). The empirical findings reveal that none of these factors can be ignored in explaining local environmental policy options. In both local level analyses, it is possible to verify a pattern in terms of community characteristics which favors both recycling and growth management programs. In general, wealthier, more educated and racially homogeneous communities are more likely to engage in environmental policy programs, perhaps because the concern of local officials is to maintain a high quality of living for their constituents and this can be best accomplished using specific policy tools. For the first time, this project applies the policy instruments approach to local policy choices. From this perspective, I was able to show the vast number of tools at the disposal of local officials to address each jurisdiction's specific problems while reaching their political goals in the process. There is also potential for future work to extend this research to a larger set of policy instruments that communities employ in their efforts to control or manage development and to examine the influence of various interest groups and organizations in the community. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Reuben O’D. Askew School of Public Administration and Policy in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2003. / October 9, 2002. / State and Local Environmental Policy / Includes bibliographical references. / Richard Feiock, Professor Directing Dissertation; Charles Barrileaux, Outside Committee Member; Richard Chackerian, Committee Member; Lance deHaven-Smith, Committee Member.

The purpose of the study is to examine the relation between the ethnic identity status and other-group orientation of Chinese young adolescent immigrants who currently live in the U. S. and their psychological adjustment. Psychological adjustment is reflected by two indicators: self-esteem and depression. From four selected cities, twenty-three 12-15 years old Chinese immigrant youth who were born in China and currently lived in the U. S. participated in the study. The results indicate that Chinese youth immigrants with higher ethnic identity have higher self-esteem and lower depression. The results also indicate that Chinese youth immigrants' ethnic identity is more relevant to their psychological adjustment than other-group orientation. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Family and Child Sciences in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science. / Fall Semester, 2006. / August 22, 2006. / Chinese Youth, Psychological Adjustment, Ethnic Identity / Includes bibliographical references. / Christine A. Readdick, Professor Directing Thesis; Ronald L. Mullis, Committee Member; Alysia D. Roehrig, Outside Committee Member.

This exploratory study investigated the effects of principal implementation behaviors, specifically those influencing early reading programs, on student growth in oral reading fluency (ORF) of first grade students in Florida's Reading First schools. This study examined the relationship between the principal's role in the implementation of effective reading programs and student achievement in reading. Data consisted of (a) responses to the Principal Implementation Questionnaire (PIQ), and (b) student reading achievement records as measured by DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) scores. A three-level growth curve model was used to determine the amount of student-level variance that can be explained by the five dimensions measured by the PIQ. Positive, statistically significant relationships were found between selected principal implementation practices (as measured by the PIQ) and student growth in oral reading fluency. This study concluded that certain principal behaviors associated with implementing effective reading programs display a direct, linear relationship to student achievement. Further, while these relationships account for a small proportion of the total student achievement variability in reading, they are of sufficient magnitude to be of interest and additional investigation. Findings should be used to develop professional development opportunities tailored to teach effective implementation of reading interventions for struggling readers across all subgroups to principals. Future research also has the potential to discriminate between students with differing classifications of disabilities in relation to principal effects on reading. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2005. / September 12, 2005. / Student Reading Achievement, Principal Leadership, Instructional Leadership / Includes bibliographical references. / Joseph Beckham, Professor Directing Dissertation; Stephanie Dent Al Otaiba, Outside Committee Member; Carolyn Herrington, Committee Member; Michael Biance, Committee Member; Laura Hassler, Committee Member.

This dissertation describes the nature of and causes of urban economic decline and highlights government policy strategies to address this problem. It reviews the policy adoption, policy tools, and policy reinvention literature. It develops a theoretical framework that incorporates tenets of each body of literature. This research integrates the policy innovation diffusion framework with the policy tools framework in order to test explanatory factors of why urban local governments in Florida adopt enterprise zone programs. In addition, the integrated framework allows for the assessment of the explanatory factors of policy tool adoption as well as changes in program incentives across adopting governments through a period of diffusion. With this, the framework provides a means to answer the following research questions: 1) What factors influence a government's adoption of an enterprise zone program; 2) What factors influence the adoption of specific types of policy tools as part of an enterprise zone program; and 3) What factors influence enterprise zone program reinvention? This research addresses these questions using four explanatory factors including: 1) Economic Need; 2) Institutional Arrangements; 3) Political Demand; and 4) Regional Diffusion. Further, it describes methodological approaches to test explanations for why and under what conditions an enterprise zone program and its various policy tools may be adopted and reinvented by Florida's local governments. This dissertation provides empirical support for some theoretical explanations of program adoption, policy tool adoption, and program reinvention. In particular, measures of fiscal stress, conservatism, and governmental locus of development decision making were found to positively influence enterprise zone program adoption. Relative to policy tool adoption, higher percentages of black residents were associated with grant and tax expenditure adoption. In addition, the adoption of grants was positively associated with their adoption by other regional governments. Research findings also suggest that fiscally stressed unreformed governments, fiscally stressed governments that make their own development decisions, and those governments with higher levels of median family income are associated with the provision of fewer local enterprise zone incentives. Local governments that adopt enterprise zone programs late in the diffusion process are associated with the provision of more incentives. / A Dissertation submitted to the Reubin O’D. Askew School of Public Administration and Policy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2005. / October 20, 2005. / Enterprise Zones, Spatially-Targeted, Policy Reinvention, Urban Development, Community Revitalizations, Policy Diffusion, Innovation Diffusion, Economic Development, Economic Distress, Targeted Programs, Policy Innovation / Includes bibliographical references. / Lance deHaven-Smith, Professor Directing Dissertation; Patrice Iatarola, Outside Committee Member; Frances S. Berry, Committee Member; Richard C. Feiock, Committee Member.

This study identified characteristics and benchmarks of Athletic Training Education Programs (ATEPs) considered exemplary by a national sample of ATEP program directors. These exemplary characteristics and benchmarks can be used as models by program directors and administrators for program evaluation. The study also identified 10 ATEPs perceived as exemplary by a sample of program directors. The characteristics of those programs were compared to the characteristics identified as essential by the survey respondents. The identification of the characteristics found in an exemplary program is a critical step in the advancement of athletic training education. ATEPs are not currently ranked, and only subjective perceptions of professionals within the field have been available to identify distinctive ATEPs. The research study is descriptive by design, and examines specific characteristics of accredited entry-level ATEPs important for exemplary status. After the benchmark characteristics were identified, a comparison of the perceptions of the respondent's perceived characteristics versus the characteristics identified by the program directors of the 10 exemplary programs was evaluated. Finally, after the comparison, a model program was developed. The model program details the specific qualifications required for exemplary status. The perceptions of criteria essential for an ATEP to be classified as exemplary yielded 15 items. A majority of those 15 items were in the category of program resources (n=8), followed by evaluation (n=4), curriculum (n=2), and sponsorship (n=1). Thirty one criteria were identified as consistent (at least 7 of top 10 ATEPs met the criteria) among the top 10 ATEPs. Of the 15 items perceived to be essential for ATEP exemplary status, 14 correlated positively and were seen in a majority of the top 10 ATEPs. This indicates an agreement in perception versus reality in terms of what participants believe to be essential criteria/characteristics of an exemplary ATEP versus the actual criteria/characteristics of 10 exemplary ATEPs. Participants were asked two open-ended questions regarding other important criteria essential for ATEP exemplary status, and the important issues currently facing their ATEPs. Curriculum responses were most frequent as cited by participants among other criteria/characteristics essential for ATEP exemplary status. Didactic courses (n=18) and clinical experiences (n=18) were cited as the most frequent subcategories in curriculum. Resource responses were the most frequent category cited by participants among important issues currently facing their ATEPs. Program director responsibilities (n=21), ACI responsibilities/qualifications (n=18), and faculty to student ration in the ATEP (n=15) were the three most frequently cited subcategories in resources. Of the perceived resource, student, program evaluation, and curriculum characteristics that were deemed essential for exemplary entry-level athletic training education programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education, 24 criteria/characteristics correlated positively with the actual characteristics of 10 identified exemplary ATEPs. As a whole, the perceptions of the participants in this study of what constitutes an exemplary ATEP agreed with the actual characteristics of the 10 identified exemplary ATEPs. Meaning that perception of exemplary status meets the reality of the characteristics of exemplary programs in athletic training. A model for an exemplary entry-level athletic training education program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education has been identified. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education.. / Fall Semester, 2009. / July 1, 2009. / Athletic Training Education, Athletic Training, Education, Standards, Program, CAATE / Includes bibliographical references. / Robert A. Schwartz, Professor Directing Dissertation; Diana Rice, Outside Committee Member; Joseph Beckham, Committee Member; Jon Dalton, Committee Member.

This research has shown that the theory underlying the responsibility for government to report on its performance with both financial and nonfinancial information goes back over 100 years. Public reporting to citizens on government's performance is supported by efficient citizenship, bureaucratic politics, and democracy theory in public administration. Prior to the establishment of the GASB in 1984, the Financial Accounting Standards Board and leading governmental accounting organizations recognized that measures other than shareholder wealth were needed for government. The measures could be financial and nonfinancial and should focus on resources provided and services rendered. To manage the ambiguities inherent in performance reporting (also referred to as Service Efforts and Accomplishment reporting), the GASB has nurtured SEA reporting by calling for experimentation and conducting issuing research on the topic for almost 25 years. In 2003, the GASB identified sixteen suggested criteria for external SEA reporting. There have been significant objections to GASB's involvement in SEA notwithstanding authority granted to the Board by the Financial Accounting Foundation. In 2008, the GASB issued new and revised Concept Statements describing the GASB's role in SEA and providing guidance for governments that voluntarily choose to externally report SEA to citizens and others. The research has shown GASB's sixteen suggested criteria for SEA reporting are attainable as demonstrated by several local governments participating in the Association of Government Accountants SEA certificate program. At the same time, SEA reporting has not received widespread acceptance and adoption by local governments. Additional research is need to identify whether the lack of widespread reporting is related to resource availability, the lack of a model reporting format, reluctance to externally report the government's performance by management and/or elected officials, or a lack of demand on the part of citizens. It could be that citizens are not aware such information exists or governments may not be aware the information could be provided with some additional guidance and effort. New and revised Concepts Statement 5 and 2 have addressed many of the objections to GASB's involvement in SEA. In addition, this research has shown that several local government SEA reports have responded and/or overcome objections put forward by leading public organizations. However, there continues to be a need for verification of reported data. Lastly, both the GASB and the Government Finance Officers Association have defined the term "accountability" differently. The GASB definition more clearly identifies with issuing SEA reports for citizen consumption. Ways need to be identified to allow "an ordinary citizen" to be able to access and easily understand their government's performance. This research has significant implications for public administration, governmental accounting, budgeting, policymaking, accountability, and citizenship. / A Dissertation submitted to the Askew School of Public Administration and Public Policy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2009. / March 24, 2009. / Performance Reporting, Local Government, Governmental Accounting Standards Board, Performance Measurement / Includes bibliographical references. / William Earle Klay, Professor Directing Dissertation; Rhoda C. Icerman, Outside Committee Member; Frances Stokes Berry, Committee Member; Robert J. Eger, III, Committee Member.