As distance learning opportunities foster a wide array for online mentoring, program administrators are in need of research supporting the successful development and management of such efforts. This qualitative research examined the leadership perspectives, skills, and strategies involved in developing and administering an online support program (also referred to as electronic mentoring) designed to help beginning teachers transition into the profession and improve their retention (National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, 2003). The population was comprised of all known programs established to date in the United States. Interviews were conducted of 28 program administrators representing 20 online programs for new teachers. Data were collected via interviews and triangulated with multiple artifacts. Consistent with practices by Strauss and Corbin (2007), data were analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding to identify, organize, and relate categories and themes. Through this analysis process, the core category, "The Leadership Role in Online Support Programs for Beginning Teachers," emerged and was based upon the interrelationships among five subcategories: (a) needs and benefits of participants, (b) program development, (c) professional development, (d) technology considerations, and (e) leadership strategies. The grounded theory resulting from these findings concluded that, successful administrators need to develop a detailed plan for online programs, weighing necessary program components including (a) an educationally diverse program team; (b) early establishment of program goals; (c) reliable methods of assessment of outcomes using constant formative evaluation; (d) a secure, reliable, non-evaluative environment; (e) training in effective online communications and relationship building; and (f) a value-added experience for participants. The leadership role of online support programs for beginning teachers requires administrators to have an in-depth understanding of the developmental needs of new teachers in concert with principles of adult learning theory and means of maximizing professional development. Of greater import than technology skills were the ability to effectively communicate online and manage in a collaborative, facilitative, ever-changing environment. Future studies should examine requirements for participants' online engagement, comparative technology for online support systems, roles adopted by facilitators, and methods of assessment of program effectiveness.

A large body of literature regarding professional development and its effects on teaching and student achievement and learning has emerged over the last decade. There are many teachers who either have limited access to professional development activities or who have access and choose not to take part in professional development activities. This qualitative study employed a phenomenological tradition in describing the "lived experiences" of participants involved in the implementation of new curriculum. Fourteen teachers and seven principals were purposefully selected to be part of this study in a rural school jurisdiction in southern Alberta. Through a qualitative analysis, this study shared teachers' perceptions as they described the role professional development plays in enhancing teacher efficacy and changing teaching practices in the implementation of new curriculum. Data were collected during face-to-face, semi-structured interviews, and the analysis of data revealed six topics: the need for change, professional development and curriculum implementation, professional development and teaching practices, professional development and teacher efficacy, professional development and student learning and motivation. Major findings from this study concluded that teacher participants recognize PD as the common thread that motivates teachers, improves their sense of efficacy, assists them in successful curriculum implementation, heightens their awareness of the need to improve teaching practices and the need to become student-centered and improve student learning. Principal participants concurred with teacher participants, and recognize the role leaders play in motivating teachers to become actively engaged in professional learning activities. Professional development plays a key role in providing teachers with knowledge and skills to hone their teaching practices, to rejuvenate them, and to improve student learning. It also assists teachers in successfully implementing new curricula. As teachers become aware of the need to change teaching practices in order to improve teacher efficacy, professional development provides opportunities to gain confidence and heighten their sense of personal efficacy.

This study sought to examine the impact of teaching both graphic organizer and metacognitive monitoring strategies on the comprehension of 5th grade students reading expository science text. In 2000, the National Reading Panel recommended multi-strategy comprehension instruction; graphic organizers and metacognitive monitoring were two of the recommended strategies. Few studies have examined the impact of combining graphic organizer instruction with metacognitive reading strategy instruction. In this study the effectiveness of teaching both graphic organizer and metacognitive monitoring strategies was compared with instruction in either graphic organizer or metacognitive monitoring strategies. Students in the Graphic Organizer + Metacognitive Monitoring Condition and students in the Metacognitive Monitoring Condition showed increased reading comprehension scores over the course of the six-week intervention on seven expository science passages, whereas students in the Graphic Organizer Condition showed no improvement in passage comprehension scores. In addition, over the course of the intervention, students in the Graphic Organizer + Metacognitive Monitoring Condition showed a significant increase in test scores on a standardized test of reading comprehension. With regard to the increase in reading passage and comprehension test scores, findings from this study revealed that score increases occurred only in conditions where students received metacognitive monitoring strategy instruction. Evidence from this study revealed the importance of metacognitive strategy instruction on reading comprehension gains.

Evaluation use is a major goal of program evaluators, because it can lead to program improvement and sustainability. This dissertation adds to the literature on ―Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs‖ (GEAR UP) grant evaluation use by assessing (1) the extent to which project directors of state grants use evaluation results (i.e., instrumental use, conceptual use, persuasive use, and/or process use), (2) the extent to which the evaluations of the state GEAR UP grant programs have had an influence at the individual, interpersonal, and collective levels, and (3) what factors have an impact on the use of those results (i.e., quality of the evaluation, decision and policy setting factors). Additionally, this dissertation provides insight into GEAR UP administrators‘ expectations for evaluation use among state GEAR UP grant project directors and support systems for evaluation use. The participants in this study were 17 current state GEAR UP grant project directors. Electronic copies of surveys and links to an online survey were emailed to participants and paper-and-pencil surveys were distributed during the 2009 National Council for Community Education Partnerships (NCCEP)/GEAR UP Capacity Building Workshop in New Orleans, LA. Telephone interviews were conducted with former NCCEP officials. Descriptive analyses were used to address each research question. Results indicated that GEAR UP project directors are using their programs‘ evaluations for instrumental, conceptual, symbolic, and process-related purposes. Project directors reported evaluation influence at the individual, interpersonal, and collective levels. Both implementation factors and decision and policy setting factors had an impact on project directors‘ decisions to use their programs‘ evaluations. Most of the former NCCEP staff interviewed had high expectations for use of evaluation results by state project directors. Former NCCEP staff members were able to provide a number of examples of cases where states were using their programs‘ evaluations. All of the former NCCEP staff members interviewed said that they thought project directors had been encouraged and trained to promote use. Former NCCEP staff also identified a number of barriers to directors‘ use of their programs evaluations and provided some suggestions for addressing these barriers.

The Indivisible Self (Myers & Sweeney, 2004; Myers & Sweeney, 2005a) model of wellness was proposed in the counseling literature to serve as a framework for enhancing wellness across the life span. Numerous researchers conducted a variety of investigations related to this model; however, gaps in the literature still exist. The aim of the current study was to add to the body of existing literature by investigating one woman‟s wellness across the life span utilizing qualitative methods. The senior adult participant provided a narrative of her life in the form of an oral history. This narrative was then analyzed through the lens of the Indivisible Self model of wellness. The result of this analysis was a descriptive picture of wellness for this woman over the course of her life as it relates to the five Second Order factors of the Indivisible Self model. These five Second Order factors are the Creative Self, Coping Self, Social Self, Essential Self, and Physical Self. In addition to this descriptive picture of wellness, several themes were identified that were central to the participant‟s stories. These themes were Activity, Pleasure, Faith, Relationships, and Helping. The relationship between these themes and concepts from the Indivisible Self model are discussed. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are provided.

The concurrent and predictive utility of three measures of Emotional Intelligence (EI) were determined by administering the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test: Youth Version (MSCEIT:YV; Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, in press), the Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version ( EQ-i:YV; Bar-On, 2000), the Emotional Aptitude teacher rating scale of the UNIT: Gifted Screening Scale (UNIT: GSS; McCallum & Bracken, in press) and a sociometric measure to 102 third, fourth, and fifth grade students in two rural elementary schools in the Southeastern United States and one elementary school in the North Central United States. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients of scales across instruments ranged from .20 (p < . 05) to .39 (p < .01) Results from dependent t tests showed no significant difference between overall mean scores of the EQ-i:YV and MSCEIT:YV (p <.05) but did show a significant difference between the UNIT:GSS Emotional Aptitude Scale scores of male and female participants (p < .01. Only the UNIT:GSS EAS predicted results of the sociometric in stepwise multiple regression, though the relationship was modest (R2 = .07, p < .01). Apparently, the three instruments assess EI somewhat independently and relate to a peer-based sociometric only modestly.

This was an action research study examining 1) narratives community college writing students had about themselves as writers in a college-level writing course and 2) the connection between those narratives and student experience of collaborative learning activities. The study of narrative is particularly useful in determining how people make meaning of experiences in their lives. The class utilized three types of teaching and learning to explore the writing process, including lecture, discussion groups and collaborative learning activities. Students and teacher used a social-constructionist approach to conversation that implemented a process of reflective dialogue about writing and writers' strategies. At the end of the course, which began with thirty students, nineteen students out of twenty anonymously volunteered to participate in the study. A neutral third party randomly selected twelve names for final participation. The researcher conducted a phenomenological analysis of audio taped entrance and exit interviews of the twelve students. The study also utilized relevant examples from student journals and researcher field notes. Data analysis yielded themes that the researcher subjected to metaphorical analysis. Findings revealed what narratives students had about themselves as writers upon entering and exiting the course. Results showed that using collaborative learning activities in the writing classroom influenced student narratives of themselves as writers. Students experienced interpersonal and technical gains from participation in social-constructionist-oriented classroom dialogue about writing and from certain, specific aspects of a learning environment that incorporated collaborative learning activities. Conclusions linked the use of collaborative learning in the college writing classroom to the creation of a “novelesque” and process-oriented class experience that lent itself to the meaning-making of college writing. There were additional implications from this study concerning composition studies and student retention of college freshmen.

This study examined the experience of Appreciative Inquiry practitioners participating in collaborative learning. Participants engaged in a process of action and reflection called levelising, designed to surface assumptions and hidden frames of reference (Peters, 1999). Although the focus of their eight-month dialogue was on understanding post-modern organizational design and strength-based organization practices, the researcher was interested in the impact of levelising on the participants' practices, including the researcher's own. Data sources consisted of phenomenological interviews with eight participants, email posts, and field notes. Analysis data revealed six themes, four of which addressed group dynamics and forums for engagement. Two addressed the experience of participants' levelising conversations. Findings indicated that the elements of collaborative learning—dialogical space, multiple ways of knowing, cycles of action and reflection, and a focus on knowledge construction—played a role in meaning making. The results suggest that levelising may offer a practical means for double-loop learning, helping those who engage in this practice align theories in action with espoused theories. This research has implications for educators, consultants, and business leaders interested in implementing a progressive and ordered practice to become strength-based organizations.

The purpose of this study was to determine if Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) was an effective method of treatment for reducing behaviors associated with attachment difficulties experienced by foster children who have been removed from their family of origin. This study also sought to determine if the age of the foster child, the gender of the foster child, or the number of foster placements would also influence behaviors associated with attachment difficulties. This study was conducted with a pre-test, post-test, quasi-experimental group, control group design format using the Randolph Attachment Disorder Questionnaire (RADQ) assessment instrument. The quasi-experimental group received the CPRT intervention and the control group participated in a support group. Results indicated no significant group interaction was found demonstrating that improvement in overall behaviors associated with attachment difficulty did not differ between the two groups. However, both the quasi-experimental group and the control group demonstrated a significant improvement in behaviors associated with attachment difficulty over time. When the two groups were compared using the subscales of the RADQ, the control group demonstrated a significant difference in the social subscale. There were no significant difference between the quasi-experimental and control groups‟ mean scores on the basis of age, however, the subscales of the post-test of the quasi-experimental group indicated an improvement in at least one subscale. There were no significant findings in relation to the total RADQ scores in regard to gender or in relation to the number of foster placements experienced by the child. The implications of these findings are discussed and directions for future research are also presented.

A major purpose of the study was to assess the relative merits of group versus individually contingent consequences in modifying the classroom behavior of adolescents, Other major purposes were to determine whether student conduct would improve with the implementation of structured lessons and to ascertain whether improvements would occur with the awarding of points as a consequence for appropriate behavior without the use of backup reinforcers. Eight students in an inner-city seventh grade classroom of 32 blacks served as the subjects. They were selected by the teacher as the most disruptive students who were in regular attendance. The eight subjects and the teacher were observed daily for 60 days in math and for 67 days in geography. Observation of students was conducted to determine the effectiveness of experimental conditions, while rating of teacher behavior was carried out to evaluate whether his behavior changed under the different treatments. Treatments were applied successively in math and geography, and, except for the final phase in geography, a session in one class always corresponded to a session in the other class period, The phases were: math--baseline, geography--baseline; math--structured lessons, geography-baseline continued; math--group contingent free time, geography--structured lessons; math--structured lessons, geography--group contingent free time; math--individually contingent free time, geography--structured lessons; math--structured lessons, geography--individually contingent free time; math--points, geography--structured lessons; geography--points. The structured lessons involved the daily specification of rules for classroom conduct and a mimeographed handout of the day's lesson being presented to each child as he entered the class. Subsequently, other consequences (e.g., group contingent free time) were simply added to or subtracted from the structured lessons, Under the individually contingent free time, any student could earn free time privileges (e.g., getting to talk with friends, study other lessons) contingent upon meeting a predetermined criterion of appropriate behavior. During the group procedure free time privileges were dependent upon the combined behavior of the class. The points phases consisted of students earning points for desired behaviors, but the points could no longer be used to purchase free time as had been the case under the individually contingent free time phase. Line graphs were plotted to illustrate the percentages of appropriate behaviors of the subjects for each day of the study. Nonparametric statistics were also used to analyze changes in appropriate behavior as a function of experimental conditions. Tabular presentations and histograms were the primary methods employed in illustrating teacher behaviors. Every treatment condition in math yielded statistically higher levels of appropriate student behavior than the baseline. Similarly, only the structured lessons in geography were not statistically different from baseline. The group and individually contingent consequences produced significantly higher rates of desired behaviors than the other treatments. The group procedure in math, but not in geography, was statistically superior to the individually contingent free time. Overall, the class achieved the highest rates of appropriate behavior during the group contingent free time phases, Individually contingent free time ranked second in the production of positive effects. Points, structured lessons, and baseline yielded successively lower rates of desired responses. Both the structured lessons and points phases resulted in increased percentages of appropriate classroom behaviors, but their power to modify student behaviors enough to establish a semblance of effective.classroom control was not demonstrated, Although the group contingent consequences were found to be the most potent treatment, both group and individually contingent free time proved to be powerful techniques for a beginning teacher to use in improving and sustaining desired student behaviors. From the standpoint of teacher time, the group procedure appeared more efficient since consequences had to be dispensed only once for the entire class as opposed to awarding free time to 32 individual students. Finally, statistical analyses of results across math and geography revealed that treatment effects were highly specific to the setting in which they were applied.