Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Codlumbia University. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Helen Judy Bond. Dissertation Committee: Edward S. Evenden, Natalie K. Fitch, . Type B project. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-101).

The success of small schools in maintaining higher graduation rates has been well documented (Schneider, 2002; Cotton, 1996; Raywid, 1996). This researcher investigated the effectiveness of a small school strategy implemented in a large school setting through the school-within-a school model for reducing the dropout rate, specifically as investigated through an Indiana high school's freshman academy for at-risk students, as an effective intervention for reducing the dropout rate. Data from Goshen High Schools' graduation rates of selected cohorts from the classes 2006 and 2007 were obtained for evaluating the school-within-a-school model as an effective intervention for reducing the dropout rate.Quasi-experimental research was completed with a comparison group of at-risk students and an intervention group of at-risk students who had the advantage of the freshman academy intervention. Five hypotheses were proposed. T-tests were completed on the at-risk indicators of student attendance, credits earned in ninth grade, and disciplinary referrals. Chi-square tests were conducted comparing cohort data on the graduation rate and the pass rate for the Graduation Qualifying Exam. Findings from a t-test indicated the school-within-school model of freshman academy was statistically significant in increased credits earned.The literature review compiled research on the high school dropout problem, problems in gathering accurate data figures on dropouts or graduation rate, the role of NoChild Left Behind (NCLB) on graduation rate accountability, factors identifying students at-risk for dropout intervention (attendance, disciplinary referrals, and grade retention), and research on the school-within-school structural reform.The sample for this study was selected from two cohorts of students based on eighth grade failure on the Indiana Standards Test of Educational Progress. Seventy-five students from the future classes of 2006 and 2007 were identified as students at-risk of academic failure.Student data collected from these cohorts indicated positive trends on absence, disciplinary referrals, and graduation rate. There was a statistically significant difference in the number of credits earned. Recommendations for continuing the school-within school intervention with a distinct identity were discussed. A call for future research on the school-within-school model included ideas for qualitative study, research on a larger scale or over several years of graduating cohorts. / Department of Educational Leadership

This dissertation analyzes the ways in which Mennonite rhetors used historical narratives to construct a coherent Mennonite identity in the 1940s and 1950s. During this era, U.S. American Mennonites faced a multitude of threats to their sectarian group identity, most especially during the Second World War. In response to these exigencies, a group of American Mennonite historians, who would later become known as the "Goshen Circle" of Mennonite historiography, discursively wove a new subject identity--known as a monogenic conception of Anabaptism--which reinforced Mennonite group identity and legitimated Mennonite faith convictions to outsiders. Until this point, Mennonite historians, sociologists, and others have only considered the discourse of the Goshen Circle along narrow lines. On the one hand, many historians have rejected the Goshen Circle discourse as simply partisan, and therefore "bad," history. On the other hand, other scholars still think that the historical work of the Goshen Circle simply "recovered" or "rediscovered" elements of Anabaptism which were implicit in the Mennonite tradition. In contrast to these positions, this dissertation argues that the establishment of an Anabaptist subjectivity was a rhetorical achievement and analyzes how several texts attempted rhetorical interventions to transform the already-given historical situations faced by twentieth-century Mennonites. I substantiate this claim by utilizing Maurice Charland's (1987) theory of constitutive rhetoric to analyze the discourse of three primary figures of Goshen Circle monogenic Anabaptist historiography: Harold S. Bender, Guy F. Hershberger, and J.C. Wenger. My analysis demonstrates: how these rhetors asserted the existence of a unified Anabaptist-Mennonite people, how they used "transhistorical" narratives to build networks of identification between sixteenth-century Anabaptists and their supposed twentieth-century Mennonite descendants, and how their constitutive rhetoric positioned Mennonites to take material action to confirm their place in the Anabaptist narrative.

This case study has presented a comprehensive overview of the context and significance of relationship management/maintenance strategies in downtown Goshen. The study reported herein is an attempt to identify and verify efforts by Downtown Goshen, Inc. (DGI), a non-profit organization that led the revitalization efforts between 2006 and 2011. Online surveys with business owners and interviews with DGI stakeholders were conducted, along with secondary data analysis of DGI event surveys. The study’s research questions addressed how DGI’s relationship management/maintenance strategies, along with elements present in the downtown, have influenced the community. The results revealed coalition-building through collaboration, relationship maintenance strategies of openness, networking, and shared tasks, along with creative class leadership and investment in infrastructure to have positively influenced the community. / Department of Journalism

Thesis (D.W.S.)--Robert E. Webber Institute of Worship Studies, 2007. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-166).

Thesis (D.W.S.)--Robert E. Webber Institute of Worship Studies, 2007. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-166).

Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Anthropology and Archaeology. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 148-153).

During the last two years, the author in the course of fulfilling class requirements in the Department of Sociology made a series of investigations into the social, economic, and political aspects of several towns and villages in Utah and Idaho. As a result, an interest developed in the process of social change within the social structure. Therefore, as a thesis problem, a community study of a small Mormon village analyzing social change in the institutions and mores was selected.

A taxonomic study of the diatoms of the Goshen ponds and adjacent wet meadows, Utah County, Utah, was conducted from April 1974 to March 1975. The diatom flora of these warm spring fed ponds consisted of thirty-five genera containing one hundred twenty-one species, twenty-eight varieties, and two forms. The flora was dominated primarily by the following genera: Achnanthes, Fragilaria, Synedra, Navicula, Cymbella, Terpsinoe, and Nitzschia. Nineteen plates with 150 illustrations accompany the text.

Arsenic (As) and nitrate (NO3) are common contaminants in groundwater that are introduced through a variety of natural and anthropogenic sources. In this study we investigated the sources and distribution of As and NO3 in Goshen Valley, Utah, USA. Goshen Valley is a semi-arid alluvial basin that is impacted by geothermal waters, agriculture, urban development, and legacy mining. In this study we sampled surface water, springs, and wells to analyze concentrations of major ions, trace elements (As, B, Ba, Ca, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Pb, Si, Sr, Zn), and stable isotopes in water (δ18O and δD). A subset of samples were also analyzed for 87Sr/86Sr, δ34S, and tritium (3H). Major ion concentrations showed high spatial variability ranging from freshwater to brines, with the highest concentrations found in springs discharging from playa sediments. Likewise, the highest trace element concentrations, including As, were found in the playa-impacted springs. Elevated NO3 concentrations were found in springs and wells in agricultural areas of the valley. δ18O and δD values range from -0.90238 to -17.6 and -37.0891 to -134.5 respectively and represent that the valley contains old groundwater, evaporative surface water, and mixed water signatures in multiple wells. Tritium values range from 0.5 to 7.8 and further show the diversity of water in the valley by indicating old, young, and mixtures of old and young waters. Variations in 87Sr/86Sr were used to evaluate flowpaths of waters with elevated As. 87Sr/86Sr ratios suggest that the groundwater has interacted with a mixture of lithologic units including Tertiary volcanics, Paleozoic carbonates, and Quaternary alluvial/lacustrine fill. Correlations with As and playa affected springs indicate playa sediments as a major As source. The As found in wells has no apparent elemental correlations or spatial patterns and is likely due to the naturally occurring As in the valley alluvium and carbonate units. NO3 in the valley is concentrated in agricultural areas and is likely due to fertilizers, livestock, and alfalfa crops. Of all the potential contaminant sources, the data suggests that the major source of As is the saline playa soils and the major source of NO3 is agricultural activities in the valley.