This study operationalized the five dimensions of health care access in the context of contraceptive service provision and used this framework to examine access to contraceptive care at health department (HD) (Title X funded) and federally qualified health center (FQHC) (primarily non-Title X funded) clinics in South Carolina and Alabama. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2017/18 that assessed clinic-level characteristics, policies, and practices related to contraceptive provision. Provision of different contraceptive methods was examined between clinic types. Survey items were mapped to the dimensions of access and internal consistency for each scale was tested with Cronbach's alpha. Scores of access were developed and differences by clinic type were evaluated with an independent t-test. The overall response rate was 68.3% and the sample included 235 clinics. HDs (96.9%) were significantly more likely to provide IUDs and/or Impants on-site than FQHCs (37.4%) (P < 0.0001). Scales with the highest consistency were Availability: Clinical Policy (24 items) (alpha = 0.892) and Acceptability (43 items) (alpha = 0.834). HDs had higher access scores than FQHCs for the Availability: Clinical Policy scale (0.58, 95% CL 0.55, 0.61) vs (0.29, 95% CL 0.25, 0.33) and Affordability: Administrative Policy scale (0.86, 95% CL 0.83, 0.90) vs (0.47, 95% CL 0.41, 0.53). FQHCs had higher access scores than HDs for Affordability: Insurance Policy (0.78, 95% CL 0.72, 0.84) vs (0.56, 95% CL 0.53, 0.59). These findings highlight strengths and gaps in contraceptive care access. Future studies must examine the impact of each dimension of access on clinic-level contraceptive utilization.

This phenomenological study examined the perceived influences that male graduates from Title I high schools attribute to their success. During the last 30 years the poverty gap has not narrowed and in some cases it has increased. This study hoped to provide evidence of supports needed by looking at males who overcame generational poverty. This study included qualitative data collection from interviews of 15 male participants. Nine themes emerged in the findings of perceived influences by these participants. The nine themes identified where 1) Success has two components; internal and external, 2) School personnel and programs guided success, 3) Change in mindset, 4) Changes in family structure and circumstances, 5) Lack of family financial resources, 6) Parents prioritizing success in school, 7) Being part of an athletic team/peer group, 8) Lack of experience affected college success and understanding, and 9) Credit difficulties from childhood for their success. The analysis of data collected supported the developed themes. Recommendations were made for further study and practice.

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant difference between the standardized reading and math test scores of 4th grade students in Title I schools and those in Non-Title I schools, following the implementation of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. This study focused on the following subcategories: male and female students, economically disadvantaged students, and students with disabilities. The results of the study were discussed within the framework of Bandura's social learning theory, Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, and Vygotsky's zone of proximal development. This study utilized a retrospective comparative design to gather, analyze, and interpret existing school data on student assessments of reading and math scores of 4th grade students from 86 Title I and 87 Non-Title I elementary schools in 7 Southeastern Virginia school divisions. The data were collected from the 2014 Virginia Standards of Learning assessment test scores. An ANOVA indicated significant differences in standardized reading and math test scores between students in Title I and Non-Title I schools. Non-Title I schools performed higher than Title I schools in the content area of reading in all three subcategories. Non-Title I schools performed higher than Title I schools in the content area of math in all three subcategories. This study contributes to social change by providing a better understanding of the academic differences among students based on their school setting as a result of the implementation of NCLB. The results of this study could motivate school policy makers to reevaluate current educational practices and funding allocations to improve student achievement in Title I schools.

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors contributing to the longevity of four early-career (5 to 10 years of experience) K–5 elementary general music teachers in Title I schools situated in four regions of the United States. The central research question was: How did early-career elementary general music teachers in Title I schools describe the opportunities and challenges that contributed to their decisions to continue teaching? Using Deci and Ryan's theory of self-determination as a theoretical framework, I analyzed how the four teachers reflected on the degree to which they each possessed autonomy, competence, and relatedness through recounting their perspectives, stories, and experiences. Although the participants shared many commonalities, they also experienced challenges and opportunities unique to their teaching environments. Results were mixed regarding their levels of autonomy and relatedness, but all four teachers possessed a high level of competence, which was likely a contributing factor to their longevity and potential to continue teaching. Nurture and care for children also emerged as a prominent theme from the results, which required the application of a separate theoretical framework. Noddings's theory of the ethic of care served as a lens for examining the myriad ways each participant demonstrated love, care, and concern for her students. All four teachers strongly expressed the important role their love of working with children and seeing them grow, progress, and learn played in their desire to continue teaching. Of all the contributing factors, the participants' ethic of care seemed to be the most significant influence on their decisions to continue teaching. They also spoke extensively about the role of their love for music as a subject. Conclusions address implications for the field and recommendations for future research.

This descriptive study examines whether high school counselors are equipped to advise potential recruits on new NCAA academic eligibility regulations. It highlights the NCAA’s new Division I academic eligibility regulations in effect for current seniors in high school (entering collegiate class of 2016) and gives an overview of academic rule changes within the national governing body. The enhanced academic eligibility rules increase minimum GPA and test score as well as mandates strict core course requirements, prioritizing the role of a high school counselor in the entire process. The study will seek to examine the knowledge of high school counselors on new NCAA academic eligibility rules, the resources available to them and those needed to better assist potential recruits from underserved backgrounds. This study will focus on high school counselors employed in California at underserved schools characterized by those receiving Title I wide funding from the federal government. The majority of students at Title I wide institutions are minorities and first generation students and these populations rely heavily on their high school counselors for college knowledge. In many cases, athletic scholarships are these student’s only means of obtaining a collegiate degree; highlighting the need to examine the knowledge and resources high school counselors have and need to properly advise potential NCAA student-athletes. High school counselors need information and resources specific to NCAA academic eligibility regulations to help student-athletes from underserved backgrounds keep their collegiate dreams alive.

The objective of this thesis was to explore whether there are alternatives to the established search ranking algorithm Best Matching 25 (BM25) when searching for shorter documents, in particular for the search of titles. Five search engines were compared to BM25, three of them being variants of the BM25 algorithm and the other two being based on a binary independence model that does not take term frequency or length normalisation into account. The evaluation data consisted of titles of Wikipedia articles from the fair ranking track retrieved from the main conference in the field, Text REtrieval Conference (TREC), and user logs collected from user search queries from Spotify. It was found that none of the alternative models consistently outperformed the standard BM25 for a query q where the number of words in q ranges between 1 ≤ |q| ≤ 8. Yet, for shorter queries |q| ≤ 3, the binary independence model and BM25 adaptive term (BM25adpt) outperformed the standard BM25. Furthermore, a 1% increase in Mean Average Precision (MAP) score was acquired with a binary independence model and BM25adpt compared to BM25 when sampling queries from the user log data. However, because of the bias in the evaluation data together with the small percentage increase in MAP score, it was concluded that the potential benefit of using the methods explored in this thesis is not enough to justify switching from the BM25 algorithm when searching for titles. / Målet med avhandlingen var att undersöka om det finns alternativ till den vedertagna sökalgoritmen Best matching 25 (BM25) vid sökning bland kortare document, närmare bestämt vid titelsökning. Fem sökmotorer jämfördes med BM25, tre av dem var varianter av BM25 och de andra två varianter av en binär oberoende modell. Den senare modellen använder sig inte av ordfrekvens eller längdnormalisering i sin beräkning, till skillnad från de tidigare modellerna. Evalueringsdatan bestod av titlar från Wikipedia som hämtats från den främsta konferensen inom informationssökning, Text retrieval conference (TREC), och även användarloggar hämtade från användarsökningar från Spotifys datasamling. Ingen av de alternativa modellerna presterade konsekvent bättre än BM25 när antalet ord i söktexten q varierade mellan 1 ≤ |q| ≤ 8. För kortare söktexter |q| ≤ 3 kunde både en binär oberoende modell och en BM25 adaptive term-modell (BM25adpt) prestera bättre än BM25. Vidare så kunde man se en ökning på den genomsnittliga precisionen (MAP) på 1% både hos den binära oberoende modellen och BM25adpt-modellen jämfört med BM25 när flera stickprov från användarloggdatan gjordes. På grund av att evalueringsdatan har en bias tillsammans med att den potentiella ökningen av MAP endast når upp till 1% drogs slutsatsen att fördelen med att använda en annan modell inte rättfärdigar bytet från BM25 vid titelsökning.

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The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if there is a significant relationship between student achievement and teacher perceptions of school climate. An additional purpose of this study was to determine if there is a significant difference in teacher perceptions between Title 1 and non-Title 1 schools. The final purpose of this study was to determine if there is a significant difference in teacher perceptions of school climate among the schools according to overall student achievement. A series of Spearman’s Correlation analyses were used to analyze data to determine if there was a significant relationship between TVAAS composite scores and teacher perceptions of school climate. A series of independent t-tests were used to determine if there was a significant difference in teacher perceptions of school climate between Title 1 and non-Title 1 schools. Finally, a series of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were conducted to evaluate the relationships among teacher perceptions of school climate and TVAAS composite scores. The data that were analyzed included TVAAS composite scores of elementary students from the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP), Title 1 and non-Title 1 school status, and data concerning school climate that were provided by licensed elementary teachers on the annual statewide educator survey administered by the Tennessee Department of Education in 205 elementary schools across Tennessee. The results of this study revealed, there was a significant difference in teacher perceptions of engagement between Title 1 and non-Title 1 schools. The results also revealed, there was a significant difference in the means of teacher perceptions of environment between schools that scored 2 and 3 on TVAAS. In general, teachers in non-Title 1 schools had a significantly more positive perception of engagement and environment than teachers in Title 1 schools. In addition, schools with TVAAS composite scores of 3 scored significantly lower than schools with TVAAS scores of 2 on the measure of perception of school environment.

This study investigated the impact of the years of teaching experience of classroom teachers on the achievement of third-grade students in inner-city Title I Schools; on the achievement of those third-grade students who were defined as high achievers, average achievers, and low achievers; and on the achievement of boys and girls in the third grade of inner-city Title I schools. An analysis and interpretation of the data revealed that there were no significant differences in reading and mathematics achievement of the third-grade students when the number of years of experience of the teacher was examined. Reading achievement of third-grade boys and third-grade girls did show significant differences. The more-experienced teacher appeared to have the greater increase in reading scores of the students. In addition to data concerning the hypotheses, information about other teacher variables was collected through a teacher self-report questionnaire. One hundred per cent of the teachers in the participating schools responded to the questionnaire. Data were tabulated by frequency of response in groups according to years of teacher experience. Variables included years of teaching experience in Title I schools, classroom size, and demographic data. Analysis of the data indicated that teachers having more years of experience in Title I schools appeared to have a greater increase in the reading and mathematics scores of students. Students in larger classes appeared to show greater gains than students in smaller classes in reading and mathematics. The majority of the teachers indicated that they felt the teacher, parent involvement, and class size had the most impact on achievement of students and staff development had the least impact.

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