In an attempt to help developmentally young children experience success, many schools have established developmental kindergarten programs. An ex post facto study of a developmental kindergarten program in a Florida elementary school examined 598 student records covering five school years. Overall kindergarten retention rates before and after the implementation of the developmental kindergarten program were compared. Entry age, gender, and class size as factors in retention were also analyzed. A comparison of the entry age, gender, and kindergarten retentions before and after implementation of developmental kindergarten was also undertaken. Results of chi-square analyses showed no significant effects upon kindergarten retentions attributed to developmental kindergarten. The developmental kindergarten class, as implemented, had not significantly reduced overall retention rates for kindergarten students. Nor had it significantly reduced retention rates of at-risk students.

A correlational study investigated the nature of excuses, including the relationship of excuse complexity, uniqueness, frequency, and success to the level of knowledge the recipient has about the excuse giver. Analysis of results from responses of 121 participants to questionnaires describing excuses to employers, teachers, parents, and spouse/boy/girlfriends found that the complexity and uniqueness of excuses vary positively with the knowledge level of the recipient, but only when an unequal power relationship exists between the recipient and the excuse giver. Excuses to recipients with a low personal knowledge level of the excuse giver, such as employers or teachers, tended to be simple in nature, contained a minimum amount of information, and were usually common and frequently occurring. In contrast, excuses to recipients with a high personal knowledge of the excuse giver, such as parents who lived with the participants, tended to be complex in nature, contained significantly larger amounts of information, were generally more specific to the excuse giver and less frequently occurring. Old excuses were used more than new excuses in all contexts. Previously used excuses were also more frequent in low or neutral confidence conditions, and were more likely to be successful. Excuses were more successful to employers or teachers than to parents or spouse/boy girlfriends. Different categories emerged for different recipients of the excuses: the illness category was used most in the work context, and the miscellaneous category was used most in the parent and spouse/boy/girlfriend contexts. The influence of external control, and short and long term intimacy factors on the nature of excuses was discussed.

This thesis develops an account of human understanding on the basis of an analysis of German philosopher Martin Heidegger’s Being and Time, and in relation to the thought of the Kyoto School philosopher Watsuji Tetsuro. The aim is to describe shared human intelligibility as founded upon a historical tradition and maintained by concrete practices, and yet as expressed only by interpretive projections, and therefore always open to revision. An analysis of the significance of anxiety and authenticity in Being and Time, as aspects of the existential interpretive process of our lives, is accompanied by a philosophical description of everyday acts, which finds that the world is interpreted in relation to the others with whom the world is co-inhabited. This social relatedness between, on one hand, authentic, ‘individualized’ interpretation, and on the other hand, the everyday basis of intelligibility, is shown to support a potentially radical philosophy of social transformation. The first half of the text discusses the central significance of interpretation for Heidegger’s phenomenology, and argues for a reading of authenticity as a contextual, practical and individualized project. The second half develops an account of social existence in reference to Watsuji’s phenomenological ethics, and concludes with an examination of social opposition movements and the revision of the ground of intelligibility provided by a tradition and expressed in social practices.

Imaginary audience scores for males and females have not demonstrated consistent differences in the literature. In this study, scores on the Imaginary Audience Scale (lAS) and on the Imaginary Audience subscale of the Adolescent Egocentrism-Sociocentrism scale (ABS) were compared to self-rating of gender attributes on the Personality Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ). Results for 64 females and 32 males surveyed at a southeastern university indicate that one's self-rating of gender attributes correlates with imaginary audience scores while biological gender does not. As masculine attribute scores increase, lAS scores and Abiding Self subscale scores decrease. As masculine-feminine attribute scores (traits favored by both sexes) increase, imaginary audience scores increase on all measures.

Research shows that Asian Americans have lower rates of substance abuse treatment utilization than Caucasians. However, investigators have recently begun to separate Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders (NH/PI) from Asian Americans. Thus, it remains unclear whether disparities in barriers to treatment utilization differ across NH/Pis and Asian Americans. Data (N = 43,093) from the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), a large, nationally representative survey was used in this study. A chi-square analysis examined whether disparities in barriers and utilization differed between NH/Pis (n = 300) and Asian Americans (n = 1,334). We found that NH/Pis who thought they should seek treatment for their drinking were statistically and significantly less likely than Asian Americans to do so. We found no statistically significant differences for drug use. We also found that NH/Pis were more likely to meet criteria for a substance use disorder than Asian Americans. Results suggest the possibility that alcohol use has become increasingly embedded and normalized in NH/PI culture as opposed to Asian American culture while drug use has not. Thus, alcohol's normalization may result in NH/Pis more frequently failing to seek needed alcohol treatment. This indicates that public health policy should consider alcohol and drug use separately when designing and implementing culturally-specific preventions and interventions and focus on the de-normalization of alcohol use. Large-scale surveys of NH/Pis are needed to better identify barriers to treatment and utilization patterns. In sum, results highlight the need to increasingly consider cross-cultural variation in research while simultaneously developing culturally sensitive prevention and intervention programs.

With the continued growth in the numbers of nurse practitioners and certified nurse-midwives, more and more women will receive prenatal care from advanced practice nurses. The purpose of this research was to assess the routine screening practices of advance practice nurses providing prenatal care and to compare those practices with current guidelines. The study focused on five areas of prenatal screening: bacterial vaginosis, group B streptococcus, gestational diabetes, maternal serum markers, and fetal movement monitoring. The interaction model of client health behavior by Cheryl Cox, specifically professional-technical competencies, part of the client-professional element of the model, provided the theoretical framework for this study. The sample was obtained :from two major nursing organizations involved in prenatal care: the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health and the American College of Nurse-Midwives. A random sample of250 members from each organization was sent a postcard explaining the study and directing them to the online survey. In four out of five screening areas, there was no significant difference in the screening practices of NPs and CNMs. Bacterial vaginosis was the only screening with a significant difference. There was inconsistency with what the advanced practice nurses state they do and current guidelines with respect to screening for group B streptococcus and maternal serum markers.

Few studies have investigated how race and ethnicity influence people's beliefs about rape, or what impact these beliefs have on what and how we teach college students in efforts to raise awareness about rape. The purpose of this study was to gain understanding of how students of color perceive the cultural relevance of materials commonly used on campuses for rape risk reduction education. Participants were African American and Hispanic students at a mid-sized state university. Focus group sessions and interviews were conducted with 23 student participants. Students reported that they found the rape risk reduction materials culturally relevant; however, other revisions of the materials were necessary if the materials were to connect with students. Data analysis, based on the construction of grounded theory and the use of educational criticism, revealed three recurring themes-the influence of popular culture on student perceptions of social situations, the role of racial and ethnic identity development within a global context, and developmental influences on students' ways of constructing knowledge. Therefore, rape risk reduction efforts must be culturally sensitive and developmentally appropriate, and take into consideration the influence of popular culture in order to connect with students.

This research was a descriptive cross-site case study of organizational structures of public workforce education institutions in the states of Florida, Georgia, and Kentucky. Organizational structures in public workforce education institutions can be found in four basic designs: technical centers, technical colleges, community colleges, and community and technical colleges. The purpose of this study was to investigate the concept of organizational structure in terms of the operation and effectiveness of workforce education institutions by studying four workforce institutions operating under differing arrangements. This study investigated the following research questions: 1. Does organizational structure influence specific outcome factors for and between selected workforce education institutions? 2. Does organizational structure influence the processes and operations of workforce education institutions as reflected through a comparative policy analysis of the selected workforce education institutions? The study was conducted as a cross-site analysis of case studies of the selected schools to develop justified patterns of successful factors among schools. Data were collected during semi-structured interviews by audiotape recording and then transcribed. After making site visits to each school both qualitative interview data and quantitative program and institutional data were used for analysis of factors and characteristics that were linked to success by the school. Upon the completion of the four case studies, a comparative analysis was performed to discover the relationships among the participating schools through their commonalities and differences. Each of these organizational structures provided evidence of the production of successful graduates from their workforce programs. Although differences existed in the student completion rates and enrollment to completion ratio for the selected schools, every school had effectively placed their students in training-related jobs after program completion. As opposed to the individual institutions, the four organizational structures are a reflection of equifinality in that each structure is organized, governed, funded, and operated differently, and yet they each produce graduates who can successfully occupy technical career positions in the workforce. These schools have successfully developed the ability to be organizationally adaptable in order to sustain their existence. The study discovered that organizational structure may not be the central factor to determine the success or failure of an institution. But organizational structure should not be ignored for it does appear that institutions devoted only to workforce goals have a history of greater student completion. The study also produced the following six recommended practices for inclusion in all organizational structures. Public workforce institutions should have a dedicated local governing board; state level governance; integral participation in the state's economic development effort; precise program delivery processes; required strategic planning; and a supportive state legislature educated about the needs of workforce education.

This curriculum project reviews what the current literature reveals about the meaning of modality, what we know about modality strengths, matching student modality to teacher modality, as well as research studies related to modality-based instruction. The curriculum developed by the author is specifically designed for first grade teachers to use in correlation with the Ginn Level Two basal reader, Pocketful of Sunshine. The curriculum includes activities on how to introduce the objectives found in Pocketful of Sunshine to visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. It also includes activities of reinforcement for all types of learners. The curriculum was submitted to two professors at the University of North Florida and two first grade teachers in Duval County to rate according to professional quality , usability and effectiveness. Results of the rating scale indicated this curriculum to be of professional quality, very organized, complete, easy to use and correlated well with the Ginn Level Two basal reader, Pocketful of Sunshine. Recommendations suggested that teachers would be more likely to use this curriculum if they had inservice training on modality-based instruction.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in the achievement levels of second grade students when twenty-one students experienced instruction on the bio-ecosystems where the learning activities were primarily outdoors along a nature trail and a comparable group of twenty-three students experienced instruction on the same bio-ecosystems where the learning activities were located indoors. An emphasis on literature approach was utilized to teach a set of sixteen objectives centering around an environmental theme. Each group received instruction for-45 minutes daily for a period of three weeks and experienced equivalent "hands-on" learning activities.A gain score was determined by computing the difference between each student's pre-test and post-test achievement raw scores. A t test score of 1.31 resulted and it was concluded that there was no significant difference in achievement levels of a group of comparable students receiving instruction on bio-ecosystems outdoors and a group of students experiencing the same instructions indoors.