This qualitative study employed a participatory approach to consult with sixteen autistic students on their experiences of success. Participants were students at five different UK higher education institutions. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, the research explored how they defined their successes and made sense of them in relation to their autism diagnoses. A flexible, multi-staged interview process was used. Evaluations indicated that the methodology enabled participation on both practical and theoretical levels. Participants became co-analysts of their data and demonstrated commitment to the project. The students described a wide range of successes, from the academic to the deeply personal, providing powerful counter-narratives to the dominant deficit-based interpretation of autism. The encouragement of one key individual (professional, family member or friend) had often been greatly influential to their achievements. Findings indicated the need for participants to both resist essentialist discourses regarding autism and to make themselves ‘extra-visible’ as an autistic person in order to assert their rights, with the autism diagnosis perceived as both an aid to self-understanding and a cause of additional barriers. In raising awareness of their own needs, participants contributed to broader understandings of autism, becoming educators and role models. The research demonstrates the importance of insights from autistic individuals, in particular showing how making sense of the autism label relates to perceptions of success. Implications for post-diagnostic support are discussed.

For many years, the role of the pastor's wife has been an emerging role in American religious history (Sweet, 1983). While on their journey in building and nurturing their relationship with God, supporting their husbands, families, congregations, and communities, pastors' wives have experienced joys and blessings as well as challenges and issues. A tremendous joy for some pastors' wives has been the privilege, the opportunity, and the honor to serve, minister to, assist and care for others. However, one major challenge for many pastors' wives has been preparedness, or the lack of preparedness, knowledge, and instruction (Obleton, 1996). Wives of pastors are a large population of adult learners in need of educational programming opportunities. Providing adult and continuing education courses is one viable option and a resource that could assist with the needed knowledge, skills, and abilities for their role in ministry.;The primary purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the educational needs of African-American pastors' wives from the perspective and voice of the participants. to explore these educational needs, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs was used as a framework. The participants for this study included three educational planning partner groups or a triangular component that encompassed adult learners, specialists, and educators. For the purposes of this study, the adult learners included a sample of five African-American pastors' wives. The specialists included persons who had been in a leadership role in a ministers' wives organization. The convenience sample for this group included four participants. Finally, the educators, were the administrators or the implementors from selected higher education institutions or religiously affiliated organizations who offered adult and continuing education, and had interacted with African-American pastors' wives. The educators included a sample of four participants. In total, the 13 participants used in this study were African-American, affiliated with the Baptist denomination in the United States, and affiliated with, representative of, or had exposure to selected African-American church congregations in Virginia.;Based on the design and parameters of this study, phenomenology was employed as the methodological perspective "to enter the field of perception of several individuals, while looking for and making meaning of their experiences" (Creswell, 1998, pp. 31, 51). as a result, data collection was accomplished by using semi-structured interviews.;The results from the interviews in this exploratory process were presented in two components. The first component provided narrative descriptions on each participant. The second component utilized the constant comparative method to analyze the transcriptions from all 13 interviews. From the coded transcriptions, both within-case analysis to draw out prominent themes, and cross-case analysis to examine the data in terms of similarities and differences between the three participant groups was performed. The data, descriptions, and results provided in this study could be used to inform practice relative to: educational programming for pastors' wives, clergy families, religious higher education, adult and continuing education, counseling, pastoral care, and WomanistCare.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between student engagement and overall satisfaction of traditional and nontraditional students at the community college level at Northeast State Community College. Three professors, 2 staff, 2 administrators, 5 traditional students, and 5 nontraditional students from Northeast State Community College comprised the sample for the study. A descriptive case study was the qualitative approach used. Data were collected in individual in-depth interviews with participants. The findings of this study could provide community college administrators, staff and faculty with an understanding of traditional and nontraditional students’ engagement and satisfaction and experiences on campus. This information can assist administrators, staff and faculty in identifying needs and priorities on campus along with developing learning environments that are effective for traditional and nontraditional students. Recommendations for future research are presented. Results of the research revealed positive overall perceptions of engagement and satisfaction from students, faculty and administrators. A theme that emerged was the strong focus on student centered, student focused, educational practices at Northeast State Community College. Additionally, it was evident that the community college continuously strives to improve their student support services as well as the academic learning environment to increase student engagement and satisfaction. Further, the findings revealed a need for more advising on the importance of utilizing student email and additional modes of communication from student support services to students and from faculty to students.

The purpose of this study was to measure the learning of the specific skills and knowledge as identified by the National Policy Board for Educational Administration during internships of students from universities participating in the Alliance for the Preparation of Educational Leadership. Former interns from Brigham Young University, East Tennessee State University, Florida State University, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, responded to a survey designed to measure the skills and knowledge as defined by the National Policy Board for Educational Administration. Indicators of the domains identified by the National Policy Board for Educational Administration allowed former interns to reflect and identify those areas that were best learned during the administrative internship. The target population included students who recently graduated from the participating universities. Reviewing the literature exposed the need for an inductive knowledge base. The amount of research was abundant in the area of effectiveness, the internship, and principal preparation. There was little research in the area of the development of specific skills as defined by the National Policy Board for Educational Administration using the internship as a method of delivery. The majority of the former interns were white females slightly over forty years old. The majority held a masters degree with 21% holding a degree higher than a masters. Few were serving as principals. Findings indicated that internships were highly valued, innovative, provided experiences for the domains of competency, and focused primarily on the functional theme. Recommendations included that internships ignore age, gender, and race; be designed by the university personnel; be one of a variety of field experiences; be innovative; and exist primarily in the operational dimension.

The purpose of this study was to determine those resources that selected leadership development experts rated as most effective in discovering and fostering the continuing professional development of leaders. In this descriptive study, three research questions were formulated. A modified version of Hunter's reputational technique was used to collect data through a snowball sampling of the selected population. In phase 1 of the study, a survey was developed, validated, and mailed to 56 LEADership directors in all 50 states, yielding 34 (64%) returns, which were used in creation of the final questionnaire. In phase 2 of the study, the final instrument, including 256 identified resources, was developed, validated, and mailed to 220 experts in leadership development identified in the initial survey. A return of 88 (40%) of the questionnaires identified leadership development resources that selected experts rated as effective. The 19 instruments, 128 books or other printed materials, 32 audio or video tapes, and 77 programs identified through the initial survey were rated either "not effective", "somewhat effective", "effective", or "very effective" on a likert-type scale.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the success of the School Leadership Response Team Development Process in helping school personnel move toward shared leadership and to determine if it was an appropriate model for the adoption of shared leadership within Tennessee's public schools. This descriptive study systematically reviewed documents related to the project and used a questionnaire to elicit information from training participants. The population was the 196 school personnel and others from 31 schools across the State of Tennessee who obtained leadership training in 1991 as part of this grant. The follow-up questionnaire was responded to by 124 (63%) of the trainees who represented 28 (90%) of the schools that participated. Six criteria derived from the literature on shared leadership served as guides for the study. According to the literature, shared leadership within schools was indicated by; use of shared decision making, existence of leadership teams, increased self-esteem among teachers and students, increased participation in leadership activities by school personnel, improved communication between involved parties, and better identification of needs. It was evident from the data that shared leadership was being adopted more within the schools that participated. There were indications of expansion of teams, development of new mini-leadership teams, increased self-esteem among some teachers and students, improved communications between all parties, and better needs assessment. The major conclusion was that the School Leadership Response Team Development Process was successful in helping schools move toward shared leadership and that it was an appropriate model to use in Tennessee schools.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of the mandatory in-service training in Tennessee for all local board of education members. The primary focus of this study was to determine if the board members' or superintendents' responses about the training agencies, content, or applicability of any Academy indicated any continuing (long-term) impact on the actions of board members when they returned to their local boards of education. The secondary concern of this study was to determine if the responses were significantly differentiated between the positions of board member and superintendent or among the demographic characteristics defined in the study. All 959 board of education members and 136 superintendents of schools were mailed a questionnaire to return anonymously to evaluate the legislatively mandated School Board Training Academies conducted over the past 4 years. Six research questions were answered and 23 null hypotheses were tested at the.05 level of significance. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov Two-Sample Test or the Chi-Square Comparison was used to analyze the comparison between board members' and superintendents' scores or among the demographic strata. All nine Academies were compared according to each of the nine demographic characteristics. The average demographic characteristics of Tennessee board members are very similar to the average demographic characteristics of board members in the nation as a whole. There are significant differences among board members' evaluation scores stratified by six of the demographic characteristics. There were only two demographic characteristics for which there were any significant rating differences among superintendents. The Academies were rated positively for their effectiveness and their continuance was recommended. Specific improvements, expansion, and enhancement of the process were suggested.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine relationships between gender and race, disability status, single parent status, and economically disadvantaged status of students enrolled in Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology advanced manufacturing skills programs. Furthermore, this study determined if there were significant relationships between race and disability status, single parent status, and economically disadvantaged status of students enrolled in Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology advanced manufacturing skills programs. Finally, differences in completion rates between female and male students as well as differences in completion rates between white and nonwhite students enrolled in Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology advanced manufacturing skills programs. Archival data from Fall 2014 were collected from the Office of Research and Assessment at the Tennessee Board of Regents for each student at the point of enrollment. Chi-square tests of independence were used to determine if significant relationships existed between demographic variables and completion rates. Significant relationships were found between gender and race where there more white females and males than nonwhite females and males. Significant relationships between gender and disability status were discovered where there were more students of both genders who were not disabled than were disabled. Significant relationships between race and single parent status were found in that more nonwhite students were single parents than white students. Significant relationships between race and economically disadvantaged status indicated more nonwhite students were economically disadvantaged than white students. Significant differences between gender and program completion rate were realized in that more males completed their programs of study than females. Finally, significant differences were discovered between race and program completion rate revealing more white students completed their programs of study than nonwhite students. However, there were no significant differences found between race and disability, between gender and economically disadvantaged status, and gender and single parent status.

Accounting is a professional occupation that is continually evolving and requires a dedication to continuing education to meet the legal demands of new regulations and to maintain professional competency. Continuing Professional Education (CPE) is required by state boards for certified public accountants (CPA) to meet these requirements and to maintain professional competence. CPAs are responsible for complying with all applicable CPE requirements, rules, and regulations of state boards of accountancy, as well as those of other professional organizations. The purpose of this study was to determine the opinions of CPAs about the current requirements for CPE and to determine their level of satisfaction with the content and delivery of CPE instruction. CPE has come under scrutiny in recent years with some professionals questioning if the needs of accounting professional and the objectives of continuing education are being met. This survey research included 23 Likert-type items and 5 demographic questions. The survey was administered to 203 licensed certified public accountants to obtain their opinions about continuing education. The 5 dimensions of the survey were: Value (cost benefit), Delivery (methods and quality), Benefit to Self, Benefit to Others, and Barriers (to obtaining CPE). These dimensions were compared across the demographic variables of gender, years of experience, type of business, number of employees, and position with their employer. No significant differences were found among the 5 dimensions between gender or among different positions. Significant differences did occur among the Dimension of Value opinions based on years of experience, among the Dimension of Value opinions based on type of business, among Dimension of Benefit to Self based on type of business, among the Dimension of Value based on number of employees, and among the Dimension of Benefit to Others based on number of employees.

This thesis explores the skill sets of the current American workforce, the skills required in modern, technically advanced U.S. manufacturing facilities, and the multiple approaches postsecondary education has employed to bridge the gap between the two. Millions of dollars are spent each year educating and training the incumbent workforce without any definitive measure of whether the financial investment or effort is actually providing a return. To illustrate, organizations typically require a projected return-on-investment (ROI) before committing funds to a project. However, the same approach does not seem to be applied when investing in human capital for the purpose of improving the technical skills required of the incumbent workforce in manufacturing. Training efforts and effectiveness are typically measured by the amount of training dollars spent and some form of post-training satisfaction survey. Adding to the dilemma is the fact that postsecondary education and workforce development organizations do not have performance metrics that align with manufacturing or industry metrics. The misalignment becomes more evident when trying to determine if the funding is actually paying off once an incumbent worker completes their training and returns to the shop floor. This project sought to determine if a return on training dollars could be quantified and measured so that industry can discern whether training is value-added or if postsecondary training providers should better align their product with customers’ expectations. Experiments were conducted with incumbent production workers to determine if an educational intervention translated to a quantifiable return on an organization’s training investment. Measurements in the time it took to repair a piece of production equipment were taken and compared to post-intervention times for the same activity to determine if hypothesized improvements actually occurred. Data was also collected and analyzed to determine if incumbent workers’ prior maintenance experience had an impact on the reduction of time to repair the production equipment. The experiment illustrated a statistically significant difference in the repair times for those who received the intervention. The second phase of the experiment that sought to determine if prior maintenance experience was beneficial to improving repair times did not support the hypothesized outcome.