The public school of Vanderbilt, Texas is in the process of building a band. The steady growth of the band will depend upon a long-range planning program. It is the band director's aim to set up such a long-range plan to cover the five years from the 1947 school year and including the 1952 school year. The following chapters will cover most of the phases of the band's work, and that of the director's work, and his relation to the band and the community.

Thesis (M.H.A.)--University of Michigan, 1962.

Thesis (M.H.A.)--University of Michigan, 1962.

Yes / Objectives: Listening-related fatigue can be a significant problem for adults who struggle to hear and understand, particularly adults with hearing loss. However, valid, sensitive, and clinically useful measures for listening-related fatigue do not currently exist. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a brief clinical tool for measuring listening-related fatigue in adults. Design: The clinical scale was derived from the 40-item version of the Vanderbilt Fatigue Scale for Adults (VFS-A-40), an existing, reliable, and valid research tool for measuring listening9 related fatigue. The study consisted of two phases. Phase 1 (N = 580) and Phase 2 (N = 607) participants consisted of convenience samples of adults recruited via online advertisements, clinical records review, and a pool of prior research participants. In Phase 1, results from item response theory (IRT) analyses of VFS-A-40 items were used to identify high quality items for the brief (10-item) clinical scale: the VFS-A-10. In Phase 2, the characteristics and quality of the VFS-A-10 were evaluated in a separate sample of respondents. Dimensionality was evaluated using exploratory factor analyses (EFA) and item quality and characteristics were evaluated using IRT. VFS-A-10 reliability and validity were assessed multiple ways. IRT reliability analysis was used to examine VFS-A-10 measurement fidelity. In addition, test-retest reliability was assessed in a subset of Phase 2 participants (n = 145) who completed the VFS-A-10 a second time approximately one month after their initial measure (range 5-90 days). IRT differential item functioning (DIF) was used to assess item bias across different age, gender, and hearing loss subgroups. Convergent construct validity was evaluated by comparing VFS-A-10 responses to two other generic fatigue scales and a measure of hearing disability. Known-groups validity was assessed by comparing VFS-A-10 scores between adults with and without self reported hearing loss Results: EFA suggested a unidimensional structure for the VFS-A-10. IRT analyses confirmed all test items were high quality. IRT reliability analysis revealed good measurement fidelity over a wide range of fatigue severities. Test-retest reliability was excellent (rs = .88, collapsed across participants). IRT DIF analyses confirmed the VFS-A-10 provided a valid measure of listening29 related fatigue regardless of respondent age, gender, or hearing status. An examination of associations between VFS-A-10 scores and generic fatigue/vigor measures revealed only weak31 to-moderate correlations (Spearman’s correlation coefficient rs = -.36 to .57). Stronger associations were seen between VFS-A-10 scores and a measure of perceived hearing difficulties (rs = .79 to .81) providing evidence of convergent construct validity. In addition, the VFS-A-10 was more sensitive to fatigue associated with self-reported hearing difficulties than generic measures. It was also more sensitive than generic measures to variations in fatigue as a function of degree of hearing impairment. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the VFS-A-10 is a reliable, valid, and sensitive tool for measuring listening-related fatigue in adults. Its brevity, high sensitivity, and good reliability make it appropriate for clinical use. The scale will be useful for identifying those most affected by listening-related fatigue and for assessing benefits of interventions designed to reduce its negative effects. / Starkey Inc, NIH National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) Grant #R21DC012865, NICHD Grant P30HD15052 to the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research grant (UL1 TR000445 from NCATS/NIH)

Thesis--Auburn University, 2009. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 129-131).

Yes / Growing evidence suggests that fatigue associated with listening difficulties is particularly problematic for children with hearing loss (CHL). However, sensitive, reliable, and valid measures of listening-related fatigue do not exist. To address this gap, this paper describes the development, psychometric evaluation, and preliminary validation of a suite of scales designed to assess listening-related fatigue in CHL- the pediatric Vanderbilt Fatigue Scales (VFS-Peds). Test development employed best practices, including operationalizing the construct of listening-related fatigue from the perspective of target respondents (i.e., children, their parents, and teachers). Test items were developed based on input from these groups. Dimensionality was evaluated using exploratory factor analyses. Item response theory (IRT) and differential item functioning (DIF) analyses were used to identify high-quality items which were further evaluated and refined to create the final versions of the VFS-Peds. The VFS-Peds is appropriate for use with children aged 6-17 years and consists of a child self-report scale (VFS-C), parent proxy- (VFS-P), and teacher proxy-report (VFS-T) scales. Exploratory factor analyses of child self-report and teacher proxy data suggested listening-related fatigue was unidimensional in nature. In contrast, parent data suggested a multidimensional construct, comprised of mental (cognitive, social, and emotional) and physical domains. IRT analyses suggested items were of good quality, with high information and good discriminability. DIF analyses revealed the scales provided a stable measure of fatigue regardless of the child’s gender, age, or hearing status. Test information was acceptable over a wide range of fatigue severities and all scales yielded acceptable reliability and validity. This paper describes the development, psychometric evaluation, and validation of the VFS-Peds. Results suggest the VFS-Peds provide a sensitive, reliable, and valid measure of listening-related fatigue in children that may be appropriate for clinical use. Such scales could be used to identify those children most affected by listening-related fatigue; and given their apparent sensitivity, the scales may also be useful for examining the effectiveness of potential interventions targeting listening-related fatigue in children. / Research Development Fund Publication Prize Award winner, Mar 2022.

The Progressive Era affected the South in different ways from other regions of the United States. Because Southern society was more entrenched in patriarchy and traditional social strictures, Nashville provides an excellent lens in which to assess the vision of a New South city. Known as “Athens of the South,” Nashville legitimized this title with the emergence of several colleges and universities of regional and national prominence in the 1880s and 1890s. In the first two decades of the twentieth century, Nashville’s universities solidified their status as reputable institutions, with Vanderbilt and Fisk Universities garnering national prominence. Within Nashville, local colleges, including Ward Belmont College, David Lipscomb University, Peabody College, Roger Williams University, and Meharry Medical College shaped and were shaped by the growing city. Higher education and urbanization created a dialectic that produced a new generation and a new monied class of young adults who thought and acted differently from their parents. Moreover, women became more active participants in public spheres because of opportunities provided by higher education. In most cases, Nashville’s women continued to use their husband’s prominence to earn greater success. In regard to race, the city’s African American colleges helped to produce men and women who formed the backbone of the rising black middle class and elite in the South. Nashville endured great change, formally beginning with the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition, whereby the city’s trajectory followed a more modern approach, albeit southern style. Higher education played a large role in the direction of the city, both literally and figuratively. Shifts in attitude toward race, gender, and leisure combined to create a new youth culture. Young women and men socialized on and off campus through a variety of new forms of recreation. The experience of “college life” was more than attending classes but rather a fluid phase beginning with youthfulness and ending with adulthood. Social interaction increasingly became a major component of college life; the city of Nashville simply provided the stage. By U.S. entrance into World War I, Nashville had legitimized its position as a Southern urban center of entertainment and higher education.