The purpose of this study was to examine and cross-validate how well a dynamic assessment of language can accurately identify a large sample of school-age students with a representative ratio of language disorder. The participants included 362 school-age children with and without language disorder from kindergarten to sixth grade in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming. Each participant received a battery of assessments including a dynamic assessment of narrative language. The dynamic assessment investigated in this study demonstrated good to excellent levels of sensitivity and specificity. The results of this study also determined that, in concurrence with previous dynamic assessment research, posttest and modifiability scores were most predictive of language ability. The results of this study indicate that the DYMOND may be a valid and accurate tool when identifying language disorders in school-age populations.

The purpose of this study was to determine if dialogic reading involving diverse kindergarten students would significantly affect narrative language. Various studies have corroborated the effectiveness of dialogic reading instruction on the expressive vocabulary of monolingual children. However, few studies have examined oral narrative language outcomes, especially with diverse students. A total of 142 kindergarten students were randomly assigned to a treatment group or control group. Each child in the treatment group received 14 weeks of whole-class dialogic reading instruction from their kindergarten teacher two times per week for 20 minutes each session in their classroom. The dialogic reading program included explicit target vocabulary instruction based on unfamiliar vocabulary selected from each storybook. The oral narrative language (narrative retells and personal narratives) of each child were assessed using the CUBED Narrative Language Measures subtest (NLM). Results indicated that students in the control group and the treatment group (including culturally and linguistically diverse students) showed no significant difference in their narrative retell scores after the intervention. However, students (including CLD students) in the treatment group demonstrated significant improvement in their personal story generations when compared with the control group after dialogic reading intervention. The current research gives implications for current kindergarten education by indicating that a focus on early dialogic reading can augment oral language skills and therefore academic skills later in elementary school.

The purpose of this study was to examine and cross-validate how well a dynamic assessment of language can accurately identify a large sample of school-age students with a representative ratio of language disorder. The participants included 362 school-age children with and without language disorder from kindergarten to sixth grade in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming. Each participant received a battery of assessments including a dynamic assessment of narrative language. The dynamic assessment investigated in this study demonstrated good to excellent levels of sensitivity and specificity. The results of this study also determined that, in concurrence with previous dynamic assessment research, posttest and modifiability scores were most predictive of language ability. The results of this study indicate that the DYMOND may be a valid and accurate tool when identifying language disorders in school-age populations.

Background: Globalization has changed the market in ways of creating new opportunities as well as new challenges for organizations and has given rise to a global phenomenon called workforce diversity. The phenomenon appeared as a result from the constantly changing marketplace where people as part of a worldwide economy, live and work in foreign countries. Thus, as global markets emerge, and workforce demographics shift, workforce diversity inches closer to becoming a necessity instead of a banner that businesses wave to show their commitment to embracing differences and change.  Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine and to provide a better understanding of how diversity is managed through inclusive practices and policies, and how employees perceive these practices.  Method: The research is based on a qualitative case study. The primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The respondents of the interviews were both managers and employees in order to get the two different perspectives. Two managers and six employees were interviewed.  Findings: The empirical findings showed that managers’ perspective of inclusion practices differs much from how the employees perceive inclusion practices of a diverse workforce. The main findings were that the stated inclusion practices at The University are not perceived among the employees. One example was that some of the employees feel like they were excluded at The University. Moreover, some of the employees stated that people that are not ethical Swedes are not treated the same nor get the same opportunities. Another observable issue was that The University rarely speak English and all documented information is in Swedish, which mean that not all employees receive the information needed.

Synaptosomal membrane functions were monitored, after in vitro exposure to select environmental pollutants, in synaptosomal preparations originating from rat cerebral cortices. The uptake of NE and 5HT into the synaptosomes was monitored as was the K+-dependent phosphate activity of the membrane. CH3HgCl, Hg(NO3)2, CdCl2, diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP), paraoxon, acrylamide and Kepone were the test chemicals whose effects were studied. CH3HgCl, Hg(NO3)2 and Kepone had the greatest inhibitory effects on NE and 5HT uptake. The concentrations producing 50 percent inhibition (IC50) were 1.4x10-4, 4.0x10-4, and 9.4x10-5 M, respectively, for NE uptake while the IC50's for 5HT uptake were 1.9x10-4, 6.0x10-4, and 3.3x10-4 M, respectively. Maximal inhibition was 60-100 percent at 10-3 M while the effective concentration range was between 10-4-10-3 M. The remaining test compounds produced no significant inhibition at concentrations up to 10-3 M. K+-dependent phosphatase was strongly inhibited by CH3HgCl, Hg(NO3)2, CdCl2, and Kepone with IC50's of 1.5x10-6, 0.032x10-6, 1.5x10-6, and 13.0x10-6 M, respectively. The effective inhibitory concentrations for these chemicals ranged from 10-7-10-3 M and suggested a specific high affinity inhibition. DFP, paraoxon and acrylamide did not produce a significant inhibition at concentrations between 10-5-10-3 M. A correlation of the phosphatase and monoamide uptake inhibitions, in search of a cause-effect relationship, was not suggested from the data. However, the low affinity inhibition (IC50 greater than 10-5 M) of the NE and 5HT uptake by CH3HgCl, Hg(NO3)2 and Kepone, along with the general shape of the dose-response curve is suggestive of an all-or-none inhibition. The apparent high affinity inhibition (IC50 less than 10-5 M) of the phosphatase demonstrates the specific influences of these compounds can have on enzymatic processes. Such enzymatic inhibition could be of critical importance if these neurotoxicants were able to penetrate the synaptosomal or even neuronal membrane and gain access to the metabolic and synthetic machinery.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / In this era of globalization, people have more opportunities to meet many ethnic groups in their daily lives whether it is in schools, in the workplace, or even in the private sector or in government. Interacting with people from other countries can enhance our knowledge of cultural diversity and provide us with an international perspective. There are many ways of enhancing cultural understanding such as attending international festivals. While research on festivals is fast growing, study on visitors’ attitudes toward diverse cultures is relatively unexplored. This paper used a visitor attitude scale, a modified M-GUDS-S, to investigate visitors’ behavioral, cognitive, and/or affective components of diversity attitudes. The research was conducted at the 2014 Indy International Festival and focused on measuring visitation frequency, stay-time at the event, similar event participation, cultural interest, and overseas travel experience contributing to any observed differences on visitors’ attitudes. Also, the visitors’ intention to travel overseas after attending this festival was investigated. A total of 195 visitors was surveyed on site with 176 providing usable data. The findings suggest that international festivals play an important role in improving visitors’ awareness, appreciation, and acceptance of diverse cultures. Specifically, visitation frequency, the time spent at the event, and personal interest in cultures have significant influence on attitudes.

We present a virtual simulation of ships and ship-mounted cranes. The simulation is carried out in a Cave Automated Virtual Environment (CAVE). This simulation serves as a platform to study the dynamics of ships and ship-mounted cranes under dynamic sea environments and as a training platform for ship-mounted crane operators. A model of the (Auxiliary Crane Ship) T-ACS 4-6 was built, converted into an OpenGL C++ API, and then ported into the CAVE using DiverseGL (DGL). A six-degrees-of-freedom motion base was used to simulate the actual motion of the ship. The equations of motion of the ship are solved using the Large Amplitude Motion Program (LAMP), while the equations of motion of the crane payload are numerically integrated; the interaction between the payload and the ship is taken into consideration. A nonlinear delayed-position feedback-control system is applied to the crane and the resulting simulation is used to compare the controlled and uncontrolled pendulations of the cargo. Our simulator showed a great deal of realism and was used to simulate different ship-motion and cargo transfer scenarios. This work received support from the Office of Naval Research under Grant No. N00014-99-1-0562. / Master of Science

Substantial research documents higher rates of eating disorders (EDs) in transgender and gender diverse (TGD) samples as compared to cisgender samples. The purpose of this literature review is to explore the vulnerability factors that explain poorer mental health outcomes in the TGD community and the resiliency factors that inform prevention and treatment strategies. The vulnerability factors identified include minority stress, particularly for TGD individuals with multiple nonprivileged identities; inadequate access to health care; experiences of trauma and abuse; food insecurity; co-occurring mental health disorders; and body dissatisfaction rooted in gender dysphoria. The resiliency factors identified include access to gender-affirming healthcare, community support, and family support. The implications section integrates the research on vulnerability factors and resilience factors and offers guidance for working with the TGD community in the prevention and treatment of eating disorders. These strategies include screening TGD patients for EDs with the goal of early intervention, screening ED patients for gender dysphoria, treating gender dysphoria concurrently with the ED, integrating gender issues in treatment, connecting TGD patients with community resources, supporting the families of TGD patients with EDs, and addressing access to care issues. The limitations of this body of research include the overrepresentation of privileged identities within the TGD community; complications arising from catch-all diagnostic categories; the use of instruments not designed or normed on the TGD community; insufficient statistical power of small sample sizes; discrepancies in the language; and inconsistent adherence to proposed ethical standards for conducting research about the TGD community. The lack of research on eating disorders in the TGD community means significant potential for future research. Future study is needed to determine lifetime prevalence of EDs in the TGD community, introduce or refine an assessment tool that screens for EDs in TGD samples, identify additional resiliency factors, parse out subgroup gender differences, understand intersections of privileged and nonprivileged identities, assess the effectiveness of community level interventions, and develop strategies that address access to care issues.

The increase in cultural diversity within the K-12 U.S. student population has resulted in a greater focus on preparing future teachers to enact culturally responsive pedagogy (Villegas and Lucas, 2002). Over the past two decades, various scholars have studied the perceptions and dispositions of teachers in regard to topics of multiculturalism, diversity, and social justice education. However, there remains a limited number of studies which address beginning teachers' transitions from the conceptualization to the implementation of culturally responsive teaching. This study employs a qualitative approach to examining one first-year teacher's understandings of culturally responsive pedagogy and her experiences with implementing a culturally responsive curriculum unit. The researcher took on the role of a participant-observer to engage in-depth data collection and analysis through the use of a variety of data sources including: interviews, lesson planning sessions, classroom observations, field notes, analytic memos, and reflective journal entries. The findings of the study reveal the importance of coursework on culturally responsive pedagogy during teacher education and the need for increased support, through mentoring and modeling, to assist preservice and novice teachers in their efforts to translate culturally responsive theory into practice. Longitudinal studies which begin in teacher education and follow participants into their first year of teaching are needed to contribute further insight regarding the challenges faced by, and needs of, novice teachers who attempt to teach in culturally responsive ways. / Doctor of Philosophy / The increase in cultural diversity within the K-12 U.S. student population has resulted in a greater focus on preparing future educators to teach in ways that are responsive to the needs of their culturally diverse students. Over the past two decades, more research has been conducted on topics of multiculturalism, diversity, and social justice education. However, there remains a limited number of studies which address beginning teachers' transitions from their understanding to their implementation of culturally responsive teaching. This study examines one first-year teacher's understandings of culturally responsive teaching and her experiences with implementing a culturally responsive curriculum unit. The researcher conducted in-depth data collection and analysis through the use of a variety of data sources including: interviews, lesson planning sessions, classroom observations, field notes, memos, and reflective journal entries. The findings of the study reveal the importance of coursework on culturally responsive teaching during teacher education and the need for increased support, through mentoring and modeling, to assist preservice and novice teachers in their efforts to translate the concepts of culturally responsive teaching into practice.

This study was designed to examine the relationship between teacher referral and the underrepresentation of CLD students in gifted education and to identify the factors that influenced teachers' decisions to refer CLD students to gifted services. Studies on the issue of disproportionality in gifted education in the United States have indicated teacher referrals can be a pivotal instrument in the identification of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) gifted students. However, previous research has shown teacher referrals of CLD students to gifted services may be influenced by the teacher's own explicit or implicit stereotypes or beliefs of their students' cultural or linguistic backgrounds. District level data from the 2021 school year were examined through a Pearson's correlation coefficient test and a survey was administered to teachers in three different grade levels to determine whether factors such as assessment scores, parent referral, student behavior, and teachers' prior experience with CLD predicted their decision to refer CLD students for gifted services. The survey included two open-ended questions that provided qualitative data on the traits that teachers most associated with giftedness in CLD students, as well as information on school division resources that teachers find to be most effective in supporting their referral of CLD students. The findings of this study revealed there was a relationship between teacher referral and the underrepresentation of CLD students in gifted education. No significant relationship was found between the factors listed in the survey and the teachers' decision to refer CLD students to gifted services. However, the frequency of teachers' responses to the Likert-scale questions in the survey indicated the teachers' strong consideration of assessment scores and prior experience with CLD students when recommending CLD students for gifted education. The implications of the study emphasized the need for structures that support the analysis of data on the role teachers play in the underrepresentation of CLD students in gifted education, the assessments used to identify gifted students, and the need for intentional professional development that equips teachers with the skills to recognized exceptionality in CLD students. / Doctor of Education / This study was designed to examine the relationship between teacher referral and the underrepresentation of CLD students in gifted education and to identify the factors that influenced teachers' decisions to refer CLD students to gifted services. The disproportionate representation of these students in gifted education has been considered one the most pressing current issues in educational equity. Studies on the underrepresentation of CLD students in gifted education have identified that teachers are the first step in the gifted screening process. However, previous research has shown teacher referrals of CLD students to gifted services may be influenced by the teacher's own explicit or implicit stereotypes or beliefs of their students' cultural or linguistic backgrounds. This study examined talented and gifted district level referral data from the 2021 school year. This data consisted of the number of referrals by teachers, parents, and administration to the gifted education program. A point biserial correlation was used to determine if a relationship existed between total teacher referrals and the ethnicity of the students in the reported data. A survey consisting of demographic questions, Likert scale questions, and two open-ended questions was administered to teachers in nine elementary schools to determine whether factors such as assessment scores, parent referral, student behavior, and teachers' prior experience with CLD predicted their decision to refer CLD students for gifted services. The survey included two open-ended questions that provided qualitative data on the traits that teachers most associated with giftedness in CLD students, as well as information on school division resources that teachers find to be most effective in supporting their referral of CLD students. The findings of this correlational study revealed there was a significant negative relationship between teacher referral and the representation of CLD students in gifted education, indicating that moving from the non-CLD student category to the CLD student category of student ethnicity, there was a medium decrease in total teacher referrals. No significant relationship was found between the factors listed in the survey and the teachers' decision to refer CLD students to gifted services. However, the frequency of teachers' responses to the Likert-scale questions in the survey indicated the teachers' strong consideration of assessment scores and prior experience with CLD students when recommending CLD students for gifted education. The implications of the study emphasized the need for structures that support the analysis of data on the identification instruments used in the gifted education process, the assessments used to identify CLD gifted students, and the need for targeted professional development that equips teachers with the skills to recognized exceptionality in CLD students.