Thesis (M.A.)--Northern Kentucky University, 2006. / Made available through ProQuest. Publication number: AAT 1437573. ProQuest document ID: 1203575511. Includes bibliographical references (p. 44-46)

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 143 p. : ill. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 112-123).

The art and success of being a competent school administrator relies in large part on the ability to make decisions that address problems effectively, equitably, and efficiently. Despite the importance of this skill, there is a dearth of psychometrically-sound, quantitative measures that focus on school-based administrators (i.e., principals and asst. principals) and the decisions they make. To fill this gap, this study developed and validated a constructed response measure of Administrator Decision-Making in Student Discipline (ADMin-SD). ADMin-SD was developed and validated in three iterative phases: examining the content validity of the items, followed by pilot testing them, and concluding with a field test. The instrument demonstrates adequate reliability and moderate discriminant validity. Implications for researchers include having a tool to conduct future studies of administrator decision-making. As ADMin-SD collects qualitative data and transforms it into quantitative scores, both qualitative and quantitative studies can be conducted. Practitioners have a measurement tool that can help guide instructors of administrative licensure programs in their development of instructional units on decision-making skills. Further, districts and states can identify who is a strong decision-maker in student discipline situations and who needs further professional development.

The purposes for this study were: (a) to establish benchmark metrics for selected variables related to characteristics of physical therapy education programs; and (b) to determine how well a subset of the variables predicted group membership based on first-time pass rates (FTPRs) on the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE). The population was defined as all physical therapy programs in the United States and Puerto Rico accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education. Questionnaires soliciting data related to the variables were mailed to the entire population (N = 177). Fifty-eight (32.8%) of the programs returned the questionnaire, with 51 (29%) having provided enough information for inclusion in the study. Characteristics of the sample were compared to known population characteristics in order to determine the extent to which the sample represented the population. Pearson product-moment correlation resulted in a coefficient of .993, indicating that the two groups were similar. Descriptive statistics were calculated. Values for the variables were tabulated in various ways, based on the nature of sponsoring institution, regional location, degree offered, and grouping based on FTPRs, in order to facilitate comparisons. A single institution was selected and comparisons made to demonstrate the utilization of benchmark metrics. Chi-squared tests were conducted to study the relationship between curriculum model, degree offered, and grouping. The resulting values of c 2 indicated that these variables were independent of each other. Classification accuracy was determined through discriminant analysis. Results indicated 80% accuracy for this sample; however, the accuracy was only 47% on cross-validation. Structure coefficients were calculated to determine the relative contribution of each variable to the prediction. The findings demonstrate the usefulness of benchmark metrics for facilitating quality improvement in physical therapy education programs. There is, however, need for improvement in the process, and further research should be conducted to develop a realistic model for predicting group membership based on FTPRs.

In 2013–2014, a cross-sectional, exploratory, survey design was used to obtain a conservative estimate of relapse among a sample of recovering addiction professionals in the United States and to identify potential predictors for relapse. The sample (n = 265) was drawn from the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium. The relapse rate for the sample was 14.7%. Two predictors for relapse were identified in the stepwise logistic regression. The more mutual-aid group meetings respondents attended per month, the less likely they were to have experienced relapse (Wald = 7.956, p =.005), and the longer participants had been in recovery when their careers began, the less likely they were to have experienced relapse (Wald = 4.366, p =.037). The authors provide suggestions regarding the recovery health of recovering addiction professionals as well as recommendations for future research.

Limited existing research indicates that high school department chairs may not be prepared to fulfill their duties because of varying role descriptions and training. This qualitative comparative layered case study examined the alignment of high school department chairs' contextual intelligence in an eastern seaboard region of the United States from 3 perspectives: (a) school districts' role descriptions, (b) local universities' leadership courses, and (c) a state's education department's licensure requirements. Sternberg's contextual intelligence, the learned skill of decision-making based on past experiences, present settings, and future ideals, conceptually framed this study. The primary research question explored the extent to which conceptual similarities existed amongst those perspectives. Purposeful, chain, and stratified sampling techniques were used. Institutions' public email addresses were used to request participation from 10 education professors, 21 high school department chairs, and 41 school departments. Three education professors and 4 department chairs participated in semistructured interviews. The education department's website and 6 school districts provided artifact data. Inductive and deductive content analysis strategies were used to identify, compare, and triangulate themes. Findings suggest that state department's licensure requirements for supervisor/director align with local universities' leadership courses but may not align with local school districts' department chair role descriptions. Thus, participating school districts may need to revisit role descriptions. These findings may promote positive social change by influencing school districts, universities, and a state's education department to continue to recognize and develop high school department chairs' contextual intelligence.

Student nurses transitioning to acute care practice often feel unprepared to accept the responsibilities associated with their new role. Lack of self-efficacy in nursing practice contributes to high levels of stress and anxiety as the new nurse enters the workforce which causes turnover during the first year of practice. Little is known about how the type and amount of pre-licensure employment affects the self-efficacy in nursing practice of the student nurse. Using Bandura's social cognitive theory, the purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between type and amount of pre-licensure employment and self-efficacy in nursing practice of student nurses' in their final semester of college. The Casey-Fink Readiness for Practice Survey-© was completed by 132 senior nursing students. Data were analyzed using correlation and multiple regression. No significant relationships were noted between the type or amount of work experience and self-efficacy. No significant relationship was noted between type of work experience and self-efficacy in managing a patient care assignment of 2, 3, or 4 patients. A significant positive relationship was revealed for amount of pre-licensure work experience and self-efficacy in management of a patient care assignment for 2, 3, and 4 patients (r = .19, p = .02) and healthcare experience was the best predictor of positive self-efficacy in managing a patient care assignment of 3 (F = 4.60, p = .01) and 4 patients (F = 3.42, p = .04). Findings of this study can influence positive social change in nursing by influencing the development of recommendations regarding the amount of pre-licensure employment which could improve a new nurse's self-efficacy in practice and reduce turnover in healthcare.

Integrating evidence-based practice into healthcare education has been a recommendation for the past 16 years. Despite this, barriers still exist with the utilization of evidence-based practice. The purpose of this study was to describe the current state of EBP scholarship in the curriculum of baccalaureate pre-licensure nursing programs. Essential Competencies for Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing (Stevens, 2009) was utilized to measure the state of EBP scholarship. The research question stated: how is evidence-based practice scholarship addressed within baccalaureate pre-licensure nursing programs? The research design was guided by Rogers’ diffusion of innovations theoretical framework and the star model of knowledge transformation ©. The study was a non-experimental descriptive design, and a convenience sample of n=96 surveys from program leaders was evaluated. The findings from this study fill an identified gap in nursing literature and show that EBP is addressed within baccalaureate pre-licensure nursing programs, described by the leaders in the programs. Keywords: evidence-based practice competencies, baccalaureate pre-licensure nursing programs

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