Adolescents face many challenges at home and at school which impact various areas of their lives, including their academics. Schools have worked to ensure better student mental health outcomes by hiring school counselors, school psychologists, and school social workers. School wellness centers can be an additional resource that students utilize to address mental health challenges during their school day. The purpose of this study is to understand adolescent perceptions of a school-based wellness center. Perceptions of populations who utilize the wellness center and those who do not utilize the wellness center were studied within one high school to understand how schools can better meet the mental health needs of students. This qualitative study employed the use of Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) focus groups. IPA card sorting questions were used during the focus groups to facilitate discussion. Results suggest that students across the four focus groups see benefits of the wellness center, notice barriers to using the wellness center, and have advice for how to improve the wellness center. Within all four focus groups, the following implications were addressed. In terms of benefits, students felt that the wellness center helped individuals feel better and that the center was a safe space. In terms of barriers, students reported that fear of missing class and stigma were obstacles to attending. Finally, in terms of advice, students hoped there would be more awareness of the wellness center and that teachers would make it easier to visit the wellness center.

This study focuses on the effects of part-time employment of high school students during the school year. While there are many benefits to be derived from part-time employment, many researchers have concluded that working intensely (over 20 hours per week) during the school year has deleterious academic, social, and psychological effects on high school students' achievement (Bachman & Schulenberg, 1983; Mortimer & Finch, 1986; Steinberg & Dornbusch, 1991; Wright, Cullen, & Williams, 2002). The study made reference to the theory of social embeddedness (Granovetter, 1985) and the primary orientation model (Warren, 2002) which suggested that high intensity work reduces time to focus on and become involved in other activities. There is also application to the ecological theory of human development (Bronfenbrenner, 1986) which stated that social contexts such as school, family, and work should all have connections to provide significant influences on adolescents’ development. In this study, it was hypothesized that intense work involvement would be related to less engagement in school and school activities. It was further hypothesized that intensity of work will be negatively related to family and peer relationships. The data for the study were obtained from three school divisions in southwest Virginia. A sample of N=1,402 high school students in grades 9-12 was used. Students completed the Work, School, and Social Experiences of High School Students Survey, which was adapted for the study. The data were analyzed using SPSS 14.0. The researcher employed descriptive and regression based analysis procedures to answer the research questions, and to determine the relationships among variables of interest. The results indicated that intense part-time employment by high school students has negative effects on grades, family relationships, and peer relationship and often contributes to increased stress in the lives of these students. Part-time employment affects all aspects of students' lives and is far nuanced and needs continued attention and supervision from parents, educators, and teachers. This research was supported by a 2005 Graduate Research Development Project grant from the Graduate Student Assembly at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). / Ph. D.

The educational disenfranchisement of many urban, African American male adolescents aggravates the complex social and economic issues which America must reconcile. Two significant behaviors resulting from young Black men's disaffection are school failure and violence against the community. The sense of futility in these youth can nullify the possibility of their positive contributions to society. Many of the social structures that were once in place to provide support for the African American community were weakened during the sixties; and the need for structure and support is as critical today among young Black men as it has ever been. This study sought to understand the perspectives of these young African Americans when they modified their at-risk behaviors to become academically successful in high school. It was based on one school's example of supportive systems and behaviors designed to intervene and encourage their transformation. A qualitative case study research design was selected because it allowed the researcher to examine and holistically interpret the complexities of achievement-related issues at school, at home and in the community, during the process of their transformation. Based on the recommendations of administrators and teachers, a sample pool of 10 young men was developed; each was interviewed. Two young men were selected for in-depth interview, observation, and document analysis. The study found that the young men became successful by (a) responding to the school's specialized organic and institutional care systems; (b) responding to the reconfiguration of the anti-academic fictive kinship culture; (c) bonding with culturally synchronous sensitive role models; (d) benefiting from the school's staff development initiative; (e) responding to their parents' school involvement; and (f) experiencing these accentuated dynamics in a smaller annex building. Data analysis was based on the tenets of grounded theory developed by Glaser and Strauss. This research fills part of the gap in the literature which explores the dynamics of transformation in anti-academic, African American male adolescents, as they become academically successful. Insights evolving from this study will also help to fill the vacuum that exists in developing high school programs that effectively change their attitudes towards learning and promote their success. / Ph. D.

This study seeks to offer a meaningful statement about the relative importance of self-processes and activated social capital in the process that links high school students and educational outcomes. The conceptual model for the study draws on the large and diverse body of research that aims to understand the process and effects of the interaction of the person and his or her environment. It is hypothesized that adaptive self-processes and social capital are positively related to school engagement, educational aspirations, and actual performance in school; and, that these factors mediate the effects of family background and other potential social capital on educational outcomes. The data for this study were obtained from a sample of N=1,176 in grades 9-12 from three school divisions in Virginia. Students completed the School Relationships and Experiences Survey (SRES), an instrument designed for this study. The study uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to model the relationships between the variables of interest. Data were analyzed using LISREL 8.3 (Jöreskog & Sörbom, 1993). The covariance structure models tested include both single-indicator and multiple-indicator constructs. The analysis follows the two-step procedure suggested by Anderson and Gerbing (1988). First, a measurement model was tested using confirmatory factor analysis to develop a model with acceptable fit to the data. In step two, the theoretical model of interest was specified as an a priori model. This theoretical model was then tested and revised until a theoretically meaningful and statistically acceptable model was found. In conclusion, the results of the analyses are discussed, and possible explanations for the results are proposed. Directions for future research are outlined, including the need for cross-validation of this model on additional samples of high school students. Social capital has previously been conceptualized primarily as family resources and parent-child relationships. This study provides promising initial evidence that activated social capital (education-related support received by adolescents from the broader social network) has stronger and more meaningful effects on academic engagement and other educational outcomes than the more passive indicators of social capital used in previous research. This work was supported by a doctoral fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and a grant from the ASPIRES program at Virginia Tech. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of the Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (NJROTC) program on cadets in the program and to determine the extent to which it was effective in achieving its stated goals of promoting patriotism, discipline, leadership, respect for authority, and knowledge of the U.S. Navy. The study specifically sought to address the question of why high school students join and remain in NJROTC, and the sub-questions of what aspects of the NJROTC program are associated with participation; what are the characteristics of high school students who participate in NJROTC; what experiences prior to involvement in NJROTC are associated with participation; and what aspects of NJROTC are associated with intent to remain as participants. A 49-item survey instrument was designed, content validated, and administered to 223 NJROTC cadets in three Virginia high schools. Descriptive statistics and Chi Square analysis were used to answer the research questions. Primary results indicated that joining NJROTC was associated more with personal contacts (friends, teachers, and school administrators) than with broad based Navy efforts such as radio and magazine advertising. Cadets indicated NJROTC involvement was associated with improved grades, better self concept, increased desire for leadership, maturity, and awareness of need for community service. The highest portion of cadets were clustered in lower grades (9th and 10th) and apparent attrition was most pronounced in the urban school with high minority enrollment. Over 40% of the respondents indicated plans to engage in a military career after graduation. / Ed. D.

This investigation is a study of adjustment and home management practices of two groups of homemakers, those with and without the economics education in high school. The two groups were compared for (1) home management practices, (2) adjustment of homemaker and husband, and (3) homemaking adequacy as reflected in certain practices. Subjects used were 31 young married homemakers living in Richmond, Virginia, all graduates of Richmond High Schools in 1949-50, none of whom attended college. Subjects were divided into two groups; Group I , 18 homemakers who studied home economics in high school; Group II, includes 13 homemakers without home economics training. The data, collected during 1958 through the interview method, include (1) interests, problems and attitudes of homemakers , (2) personality inventories, and (3) husband’s opinion of wife as a homemaker. The two groups were similar in age, number of children, leisure time, social activities and home relations. Household activities and husbands opinion of his wife as a homemaker of subjects in Group I were rated superior to those in Group Il. Group I subjects felt that a wider range of subject matter in their high school home economics courses would have been beneficial. Group I subjects considered 13 of 42 problem items used to be problems significantly more often than subjects in Group II. In 10 of 25 possible interest items listed, Group I homemakers expressed a significantly high interest. Significantly better scores were received by Group I subjects than by Group II subjects on the Johnson Temperament Analysis for four traits, and by Group II on two traits. Husbands temperament scores were similar to their wives. / Master of Science

The purpose of this study was to produce a portrait of career maturity in an LD secondary population described along multiple dimensions. The Career Development Inventory-Part 1 (CDI) was administered to the 7 females and 68 males who formed the LD population in grades 8, 10 and 12 of a Southwestern Virginia school system who had IQs of 85 or above and no serious emotional or behavioral problems. Research questions considered the reliability and item appropriateness of the CDI for this population, the contribution of variables related to career maturity and/or learning disabilities to the variance on five CDI scales and the CDI profiles for the total population and 11 subsets of the population. Internal consistency reliabilities of .88, .65, .58 and .71 respectively were found for Career Planning (CP), Decision Making (DM), World of Work (WW) and Career Development-Knowledge and Skills (CDK). A minimum of six items on the latter three cognitive scales were deemed inappropriate in terms of item-scale correlations. Grade, WISC-R Verbal and Performance IQs, WRAT Arithmetic and Reading scores, ACD profile and father's occupational level were found to contribute descriptively to explaining 19% of the variance for CP, 26% for CDA (Career Development-Attitudes), 43% for WW, 55% for CDK and 45% for COT (Career Orientation Total). Beyond Grade which made the highest contribution to all five scales (p<.01), the intelligence variables contributed significantly to the attitudinal scales (p<.05) and the achievement variables to the cognitive scales (p<.05 or .01). Father's occupational level and the ACD profile contributed insignificantly. This LD population at all grade levels scored higher than the norm group of students in grades 9-12. Although very small subgroups made any inference to even similar populations tenuous, scores increased as degree of disability went down, when students had less than two years of vocational training or parents in low occupational levels or their greatest dysfunction in Spelling. Discrepancies between attitudinal and cognitive scale scores existed in some subgroups. Scores decreased with primary dysfunction in Arithmetic. / Ed. D.

The problem in this study is twofold. First, there will be an attempt to determine the values that organizations in the secondary school have for the development of its students. Second, a survey will be made of the four-year accredited high schools in District Five of Texas to determine how and to what extent they are realizing their responsibilities in this respect.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

The study was concerned with the testing of a modified causal model of college anticipation and attendance for a nationwide sample of Puerto-Rican and Mexican-American high-school seniors. The key problem of this study was defined on the basis of two fundamental criteria. The first states that social-structural and social-psychological components of sociological theory can provide basic information needed to comprehend the educational aspirations and achievement behaviors of Hispanic youth in the United States. The second theoretical tenet of this study was that the logic of the modified Wisconsin Model of status attainment can be understood as a common process that applies to all sectors of the American system of stratification and mobility. The data used in this study were extracted from the High School and Beyond: A National Longitudinal Study for the 1980s (HSB) and its First Follow-Up. Path coefficients associated with the direct and indirect effects were used in attempting to explain the variance in postsecondary educational plans and attainments of the subjects. A summary of the most significant findings, using the aforementioned data follows. The analysis of the educational attainments for the two ethnic group subsamples shows no statistically significant difference when the two samples are classified by gender. The recursive causal model used in this analysis is not completely successful in explaining the variance in the dependent variables (postsecondary educational plans and attainments) of both Mexican-American and Puerto-Rican high-school seniors. As a result, only about one-fourth of the degree of change in postsecondary educational plans and less than one-half of the variability in the level of educational attainments are accounted for by the antecedent variables. Present results reduce the impact of some of the social-psychological intervening variables on the level of educational plans of Hispanic adolescents. On the other hand, the role of objective variables (academic achievement and socioeconomic status is magnified. The influence of some of the objective variables on the process of educational attainment is also noticeable.