This novel study explores the catalytic experiences that demarcate the achievement of manhood and the means by which the participants knew this transition had occurred. Its significance is in its unique findings and contribution to a largely unexplored topic in the research literature. Qualitative methodologies, including narrative interviewing and thematic analysis, were used. Ten individuals were interviewed and asked to tell the story of when they became men and how they knew. Thematic findings include experiences that led to gaining attributes associated with self-reliance and changes related to fathers or fatherhood. The participants uniformly reported that the significance was known by virtue of experiencing a distinct ‘felt sense.’ Social validation was also noted as a key feature. Further research is recommended including the exploration of this same issue with specific populations and groups, with the larger goal of enhancing the current understanding of these issues by encouraging further dialog in effort to explore the meanings associated with manhood in the contemporary context. / Graduate / 0519 / 0621 / coryklath@gmail.com

Children born very preterm (VPT) are known to be at high risk of under-achievement in mathematics. However the nature of these difficulties is poorly understood. In this study, a regionally representative cohort of 102 children born VPT and a comparison group of 108 children born full term (FT) during 1998-2000 were followed from birth to nine years. At age nine, children were tested using the Woodcock-Johnson III maths fluency subtest, and teacher reports of mathematical achievement and curriculum-based (numeracy project) achievement data were collected. The data was analysed using group comparisons and multiple regression. Parent and teacher ratings of executive function at age six were included as predictors. Findings indicated that children born VPT had elevated rates of mathematical difficulties across all measures including the standardised and curriculum-based measures, and teacher ratings. They also had higher rates of mathematical learning disability. With the exception of curriculum-based measures, these results remained significant even after controlling for socioeconomic status and severe neurodevelopmental impairment. Children born VPT showed particular difficulty using operational strategies, rather than with factual knowledge, and this effect was most marked for addition and multiplication. As well as difficulties in mathematics, children born VPT also showed more difficulty than children born FT in almost all areas of executive function. Difficulties with working memory at age six were significantly associated with poor performance in aspects of curriculum-based measures at age nine.

Improving Māori achievement is one of the most important aims of the New Zealand educational system. The benefits of raising the achievement of Māori students have a wide range of positive outcomes for the whole country. In the last ten years many schools have been engaged in initiatives designed to improve the success of Māori learners; but does this work continue when the support and funding is no longer there? This research is designed to identify factors that can sustain these initiatives. Organisational culture creates the conditions in schools so they can continually develop and evolve. But in 21st century society this can happen in complex ways, so schools and their leaders need to understand how to manage that complexity. Leadership is a crucial part of this process, but it is not traditional styles of leadership that are required but new types such as adaptive and authentic leadership. These styles of leadership rely on building relational trust through clear communication and actions which engage and empower others. The recommendations form a framework for school leaders to create a successful organisational culture which could be applied to improving the performance of Māori, but it could also be applied to other school change initiatives.

English, verbal vs. non-verbal content of courses taken and The present study was conducted to find the relationship between TOEFL scores and the graduate CPA's of the foreign students with Arabic as their native language. The results of the study indicated non-significant correlations for all 116 students, for males and females and for students having departmental majors in areas of education and sciences. A significant negative correlation was found for business majors. The factors responsible for non-significant or negative correlation between TOEFL scores and the CPA's seem to be restriction of range for graduate CPA's, difference between beginning and acquired language proficiency in the small number of individuals involved. In view of the above results, the TOEFL does not seem to be a good predictor of academic success for foreign students with Arabic as native language. It should be replaced or, supplemented with some other criteria of academic success at American colleges and universities. / Department of Educational Psychology

The purpose of this study was to identify a relationship between sensation seeking and underachievement. Archival data of seventy seven students of the Indiana Academy were collected. It was hypothesized that scores on the Sensation Seeking Scale would negatively correlate with grade point average. It was also hypothesized that Sensation Seeking Scale scores would be associated with incidents of academic probation, behavioral problems, and withdrawal from the Indiana Academy. A weak yet significant negative correlation was found between Total Sensation Seeking scores and grade point average. A slightly stronger negative correlation was found between the Disinhibition subscale of the Sensation Seeking Scale and grade point average. Total Sensation Seeking scores were associated with incidents of behavioral problems, but were not associated with incidents of academic probation or withdrawal from the Indiana Academy. Disinhibition subscale scores were associated with incidents of behavioral problems and withdrawal from the Indiana Academy. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

The purpose of this study was to examine the grades and demographic characteristics of students involved with the residence hall disciplinary process during the 2005 fall semester at Ball State University. These characteristics were studied to determine if differences existed in the academic performance and demographic characteristics of disciplinary students and the general residence hall population. Differences between the disciplinary sample and residence hall population were found to exist. Freshmen and sophomores in the disciplinary sample achieved lower mean grade point averages. Freshmen and males were over-represented in the disciplinary sample. / Department of Educational Studies

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among mood, task performance, and attribution. It was hypothesized that type of mood would affect task performance and causal attributions for success and failure. Subjects viewed one of three films, selected for their humorous (positive mood), educational (neutral mood) and violent (negative mood) content and performed an anagram task in which success and failure was manipulated. After completing the task, subjects were asked to write down the most important cause of their success or failure and rate the cause on three 9point subscales, one subscale for each of the attributional dimensions of internality, stability, and controllability. In addition, subjects responded to an ascription scale that assesses the extent to which specific factors (e.g., task difficulty) are perceived to influence performance. The study found the expected effect of outcome on the causal ascription measure of attributions but not for the dimension measure. Contrary to the hypothesis, there was no effect of mood on attributions or task performance. These results raise the question of the measurement of attribution by causal ascriptions versus dimensions, and leave unresolved the questions of the relationships of mood to attribution and task performance. Possible explanations for the discrepancy between ascriptions and attributions and the lack of an effect of mood are discussed. Implications for future research are examined and suggestions are proposed. / Department of Psychological Science

This study was an attempt to investigate the relationship between aspects of the parental relationship and the level of functioning of their children. The discrepancies between role perception and role expectation within the parental relationship were selected as the major focus of this study. The principal hypothesis stated that parents of high functioning children would demonstrate greater interpersonal role congruities than parents of low functioning children. Based upon previous research studies and parent ratings obtained from the Interpersonal Check List, 12 specific sub-hypotheses were stated.Subjects for this study were parents of children who had been evaluated by teachers on the Behavior Rating Form. The children were students in grades one through six at Burris School, Muncie, Indiana. Based upon ratings on the Behavior Rating Form and a specific selection criteria, the children were grouped to form low and high functioning groups. The parents of these children were then designated as either low or high group. Fifty-one parents comprised the low group and 55 parents made up the high group. Each set of parents was mailed and asked to complete the following materials: cover letter, Background Information Sheet, two Parent Check Lists (Interpersonal Check List), and a stamped return envelope. In completing the Interpersonal Check List each parent made four ratings: self as parent, spouse as parent, ideal mother, and ideal father. Mailed returns and follow-up yielded 67% usable returns in the low group and 65% usable returns in the high group.Various statistical analyses of the demographic variables of the two groups indicated that the only statistical difference was that the fathers in the high group had a higher educational level than fathers in the low group. The groups did not statistically differ for race, education of mothers, income, previous marriage, or number of children.DOM and LOV scores were derived from the Interpersonal Check List and absolute discrepancy values were computed for each set of parents according to the 12 specific sub-hypotheses. A one-way multiple analysis of variance was performed to test the principal hypothesis that the groups differed in vectors of means on the discrepancy measures. The principal hypothesis was not accepted and the specific sub-hypotheses were not interpreted.Based upon the design and statistical analysis it was concluded that parents of children with various levels of functioning, as measured by a classroom rating form, do not differ in reported role perceptions and expectations, as measured by the Interpersonal Check List.

The purpose of the study was to determine possible relationships existing between elementary student retention and academic performance, as measured by standardized achievement tests legally mandated by state initiatives in minimum competency testing, for a four year period beginning with the year culminating in retention. The study also attempted to determine if the relationship is affected by the grade level of retention, gender, ethnicity, or mental aptitude.Subjects of the study were 220 elementary students from a large metropolitan school district in central Indiana, half of whom had been retained in grades one or two, and half of whom were randomly selected and had never been retained. Using achievement data collected from the MacMillan/McGraw-Hill standardized achievement tests, CTB/4 and CAT E/F, the relationships of achievement scores in reading, language expression, and mathematics between and within the two groups were analyzed. Mental aptitude data from The Test of Cognitive Skills (CTB MacMillan/McGrawHill), and data on gender and ethnicity, were also examined to determine the effect of these variables. Multivariate analysis of variance and multiple regression analysis were employed to analyze the various relationships using the P<.05 level of significance.The study found that (a) for the longitudinal period, retained student performance did not reach the-mean of the promoted group; (b) grade level of retention yielded different longitudinal patterns of performance, but did improve the relationship between retained and promoted student performance in either grade; and (c) mental aptitude, but not gender and ethnicity, was significantly related to student performance.The study concluded that (a) retention is not effective in raising substandard performance to promoted peer levels over a four year period, (b) retention is most effective for improving performance in the repeated year, (c) students retained at grade two maintain performance gains better than students retained in grade one, and (d) mental aptitude plays a significant role in the evaluation of the effectiveness of retention. / Department of Educational Leadership

This study was undertaken in an effort to determine the effect of compensatory education on achievement and the self concepts of students in inner city schools. The subjects for this study were chosen from the third, fourth, and fifth grades of the Lincoln, Longfellow, Blaine, and Garfield public elementary schools of Muncie, Indiana. The experimental group received compensatory treatment which consisted of remedial reading, tutorial aid, and counseling, while the control group received the standard type of education given by the schools involved in the study. Both groups were selected by classroom teachers on the basis of personal judgment with no specific criteria given for the selection. Academic achievement was measured by the results of the Iowa Basic Achievement Test. This test was given twice (pre- and post-test) to both the control and experimental groups in grades four, and five. Grade three had been administered the Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT) as a pre-test the previous spring at the end of grade two. Grade three was tested by the Iowa Basic Achievement Test in a post-test the spring of 1973.Self concept was measured by the results of the test by Waetjen and Liddle, Self Concept as a Learner (SCAL). This test was given twice to both the control and experimental groups; the pre-test in the fall of 1972 and the post-test in the spring of 1973.The results were used to evaluate the eight basic hypotheses. Statistical analysis of the results led to rejecting only one hypothesis. Hypothesis 7 was rejected at the .05 level of significance.In general, any gains shown by the experimental group over the control group were of small statistical magnitude, whether in the area of academic achievement, reading achievement or self concept. The same may be said of any of the differences between the various schools, grades, and class groups. No strong relationship between compensatory education and the probability of success could be clearly established from the data. A strong relationship was established, however, between compensatory and the probability of success for grade three. Since the impact of counseling, tutorial aid, or remedial reading was not analyzed separately, this relationship was attributed to the compensatory treatment as a whole and specifically to any one part of the program.