Humans have been using plant-derived drugs for as long as we have recorded history. Significant negative drug abuse related consequences occur in the areas of health, social issues, family relations, legal systems, and economic productivity. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between meaning in life and drug abuse. An epidemiological, retrospective study was performed to compare personal meaning in life between 49 individuals receiving in-patient treatment for drug abuse and a group of 49 matched, non-drug abusing controls. Study participants completed the Purpose-In-Life Test and Life Attitude Profile-Revised. On both instruments, the in-patient drug abusing subjects were found to have significantly different levels of meaning in life. Drug treatment and primary prevention programs should consider some attention toward life meaning issues in their strategies or environments. Future research should explore in greater detail and with larger samples drug abusers' subjective assessment of life's meaning.

Site-based decision making has been the focus of considerable research. However, the study of perceived teacher influence in schools utilizing site-based decision making has been neglected as applied to specific sites. Much of the research on participatory decision making has focused primarily on the effective group behaviors of decision making bodies, the structural components of programs, descriptive case studies of programs, or on general themes such as school restructuring. Much of the literature on decision making has been remiss in describing the process from a human orientation, as opposed to a product orientation. This study examines the perception of teachers in a school with a decision making council. The focus of the study is on the perceived degree of teacher influence found in one school utilizing a site-based decision making council. The focus of this analysis was on the perceived degree of teacher influence in relation to the structural factors found at the school site. This study employed the techniques of qualitative methodology. Data were obtained through document review, observation, interview, and questionnaire. The concern was for insight into the perceived degree of influence from the viewpoint of individual perspectives which were examined. The subjects included members of a decision making council and the teachers represented by the council. The data revealed two distinct structures which were influential in the perceived degree of teacher influence. These structures were referred to as formal and informal impact agents. Sub-groupings of the formal structure were referred to as historical and novel. The formal structural variables are described as historical (hierarchical systems entrenched by tradition or role authority) and novel (hierarchical systems which impact the implementation phase of decisions). Informal structures are characterized as collegial and deal with traditional and nontraditional interaction patterns among school personnel. A consistent theme was the belief that the novel structural system accommodated more teacher influence at the school site. Collegial interactions, which were observed and described, reflected this belief. Data suggest that there are implications for focusing on the degree of influence perceived by teachers when introducing a system of governance involving site-based decision making.

Mutual benefit can accrue from the awareness held by a local community concerning the international student community within its geographical area. This survey attempted to develop an instrument which could assess the level of awareness of the Bowling Green community regarding the international students attending Western Kentucky University. A thirty-one item, short answer survey was administered by the interview method to a twenty-five member sample of persons randomly selected from the list of civic organizations published by the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce. The survey results indicated that in this particular study the local citizenry held a low level of awareness of and subsequently low involvement with the international students living in the town.

Students are in constant transition as they move from one academic institution to another, from one academic level to another, from one major to another, or from college to the world of the work (Killam & Degges-White, 2017). While all of those stages of transition have been the focus of numerous studies, the increasing diversity of student mobility requires additional attention to cover non-traditional or international transitions. With a growing attention on the internationalization of education and cross-border education, International Branch Campuses (IBCs) have expanded in number and significance. The transition of students that transfer from a Latin American IBC to its US main campus offers the opportunity to draw attention to a unique group of students. This study used a sequential mixed methods research design in order to explore the transition experience of the students that transfer from a Latin American IBC to its US main campus upon completing their sophomore year. Most feedback about their experience so far has been anecdotal, and there has not been an empirical study to reveal how these students—mostly international--experience the transition and how they handle the changes. Schlossberg’s (1981) Transition Theory provides a relevant theoretical framework to delineate the transition from the international branch campus to the main campus, and to capture the developmental stages that the transfer students experience. The results of this study can have practical implications for the administrators in both locations. Understanding this transition experience from the vantage point of the students can pave the way for informed changes, additional support mechanisms, and tailored resources. Key words: student transition, international branch campus, Schlossberg, transition theory, mixed methods. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. / Spring Semester 2019. / March 27, 2019. / international branch campus, mixed methods, Schlossberg, student transition, transition theory / Includes bibliographical references. / Linda B. Schrader, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Robert A. Schwartz, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Elizabeth M. Jakubowski, University Representative; Patrice Iatarola, Committee Member; Toby Park, Committee Member.

This comparative case study explores the agency of two teacher leaders (TLs) as they facilitate their respective teacher-organized lesson study groups. Applying sociocultural theory, I describe TL agency as manifesting at two levels: (1) the meanings teachers make about student learning, teaching, and teacher learning and (2) their talk and actions as facilitators of teacher learning during lesson study. I find that differences in each TL’s meanings of teaching and learning contribute to different approaches to facilitation and ultimately, different opportunities to learn for the teachers in each group, despite a very similar lesson study design and context. One TL’s meanings of teaching and learning demonstrate a strong and cohesive vision of instructional improvement that reflects constructivist shifts in mathematics education and emphasizes deepening understanding of the connections between ideas and/or strategies. Her facilitation shapes opportunities to learn characterized by engaging in the resolving of dissonances between new and prior understandings. The other TL’s meanings of teaching and learning reflect a fusion of traditional and constructivist approaches to teaching and learning, where exploration of multiple tools and strategies is valued, but primacy remains on the outcome of correct solutions. Her facilitation does not shape opportunities to learn characterized by deepened understandings or shifts in meanings of teaching and learning. Policy implications for supporting TLs’ agency in collaborative learning will be discussed. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2019. / March 25, 2019. / Agency, Collaborative Professional Learning, Lesson Study, Teacher leaders / Includes bibliographical references. / Motoko Akiba, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jeanine Turner, University Representative; Ayesha Khurshid, Committee Member; Stacey Rutledge, Committee Member.

It is the purpose of this study to gather data concerning the frequency of occurrence, and the degree of desirability is the judgement of teachers, of selected administrative practices in the secondary schools of Utah, and to present the data in a way that will make them meaninful to those interested in the imporvement of administering schools. The study deals with selected administrative practices in terms of : (a) department and school budgets and extra-curricular funds, (b) classrooms, teaching aids and supplies, (c) supervision and other methods of improving instruction, (d) methods of keeping the public informed about the shcools, (e) class schedules, assignment of rooms, subjects and extra duties, course of study, books, trips and length of period, and (f) standards for employment, salaries, rating, and other factors affecting the teacher.

During the years of World War II the faculties of the public schools in Utah, as well as in the rest of the nation, were depleted to a serious extent, and enrollment in teacher training institutions throughout the country decreased. Because of this condition the State Department of Education in Utah as well as in other states was forced to issue letters of authorization to teachers who could not meet standard certification requirements in order to staff the schools. Many of these teachers are still teaching today. The purpose of this study is to obtain information regarding the supply of and demand for secondary teachers in the state of Utah for the ten year period 1946-1949. An attempt will be made to answer the following questions: Was progress made during the three year period (1946-1949) assuming that the number of teaching positions remained the same? If advances were made, how long will it take to equalize supply and demand by 1956, how much of an increase in the supply of secondary teachers will be needed by 1956? Due to the large demand for such types of secondary certified teachers as: home economics, womens physical education, and english, how long will it take for these special fields to equalize supply and demand. From available evidence on changing demand from increased population and possible decrease in class size, how much of an increase in the supply of teachers will by needed by 1956? Only the supply and demand for secondary will be dealth with in this duty. The supply and demand of elemntary teachers is treated in another study that is being done in conjunction with this one.

For many years colleges have been concerned about entrance requirements and procedures for admitting students. In fact, to deal with such matters was one purpose of the famous N.E.A Committee of Ten which reported in 1893. A few years later the Committee on College Entrance Requirements met and considered the problem directly. Transcripts of credits from high school including specified subjects, the passing of the generally recognized College Entrance Board Examination, and the passing of entrance examinations set up by the individual colleges all have been used as evidence for admission to college. Such examinations are also used as indicators of the students possible subsequent success in college. For a long time in most colleges unless a student could pass a rigid examination there was no chance of his obtaining a college education. Only after his gaining entrance to college was any attempt made at guiding the student. It is the purpose of the present study to evaluate selected predictive measures available for use at the Utah State Agricultural College.

The need for study in regard to factors related to student achievement and their possible application as guidance devices for entering freshmen in any college is very evident in our modern life. We have only to look at the increasing college enrollments and to the scarcity of positions for college graduates to realize this. In an effort to meet this need, educators should more and more base their practices on the findings of statistical and experimental studies.

The Committee on Curriculum Planning and Development of the National Association of Secondary School Principals has published a list of 10 objectives for secondary schools, known as the Ten Common and Essential Needs That All Youth Have in a Democratic Society. They are genearlly referred to as The Ten Imperative Needs of Youth. 1: All youth need to develop saleable skills and those understandings and attitudes that make the worker an intelligent and productive participant in economic life. To this end, most youth need supervised work experience as well as education in the skills and knowledge of their occupation. 2: All youth need to develop and maintain good helath and physical fitness. 3: All youth need to understand the rights and duties of the citizen of a democratic society, and to be diligent and competent in the performance of their obligations as members of the community and citizens of the state and nation. 4: All youth need to understand the significance of the family for the individual and society and the conditions conducive to successful family life. 5: All youth need to know how to purchase and use goods and services intelligently, understanding both the values received by the consumer and the economic consequences of their acts. 6: All youth need to understand the methods of science, the influence of science on human life, and the main scientific facts concerning the nature of the world and of man. 7: All youth need opportunities to develop their capacities to appreciate beauty in literature, art, music, and nature. 8: All youth need to be able to use their leisure time well and to budget it wisely, balancing activities that yield satisfaction to the individual with those that are socially useful. 9: All youth need to develop respect for other persons, to grow in their insight into ethical values and principles, and to be able to live and work cooperatively with others. 10: All youth need to grow in their ability to think rationally, to express their thoughts clearly, and to read and listen with understanding. This study surveys and attempts to evaluate the current practices of the Logan City High School program in the light of local philosophy of the school; summarizes these views, and makes recommendations for continuous development of the curriculum improvement program.