Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-41).

Since the inception of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, schools with high populations of at-risk students who are not meeting academic standards must provide supplementary educational services (SES) to their struggling learners. This study examines the tutoring program of an urban Texas elementary school that rapidly improved its state accountability over the course of a few years. Through interviews with teachers and an analysis of their lesson plans and standardized assessment data, several themes emerged that were identified as factors leading to the school’s academic success. / text

Thesis (Ph.D.) in Individualized Ph.D. Program--University of Maine, 2007. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-173).

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1991. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-114). Also available via the Internet.

abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of individualized afterschool tutoring, under federal Supplemental Educational Services (SES), on mathematical and general academic intrinsic motivation and mathematical achievement of at-risk students. The population of this study consisted of two third graders and five fourth graders from an elementary school in the Reynolds School District in Portland, Oregon. One participant was male. The other six were female. Six of the students were Hispanic, and one student was multiethnic. Students' parents enrolled their children in free afterschool tutoring with Mobile Minds Tutoring, an SES provider in the state of Oregon. The participants were given pre- and post-assessments to measure their intrinsic motivation and achievement. The third graders took the Young Children's Academic Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (Y-CAIMI) and the fourth graders took the Children's Academic Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (CAIMI). All students took the Group Mathematics Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation (GMADE) according to their grade level. The findings from this study are consistent with the literature review, in that individualized tutoring can help increase student motivation and achievement. Six out of the seven students who participated in this study showed an increase in mathematical achievement, and four out of the seven showed an increase in intrinsic motivation. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Mathematics Education 2011

White-tailed deer (Odocoileous virginianus) are an important game animal and provide intrinsic value to many people. However, disease has become of great concern within white-tailed deer populations. Frequency of contract drives the establishment and spread of infectious diseases among susceptible hosts. Supplemental feed provided to increase white-tailed deer survival or create hunting opportunities, as well as bait stations to aid in capture of deer, may increase contact opportunities and disease transfer. My objective was to quantify the effects of bait sites on indirect contact between deer. I examined data from global positioning system (GPS) collars placed on 27 deer near Carbondale, Illinois, USA, from 2002 to 2005. Location data from GPS collars were used to ensure that I quantified contacts between deer in separate social groups, based on the volume of intersection of their spatial utilization distributions and correlation of movements. I matched 35 bait site locations and control sites not containing bait based on local land cover composition. Pairwise indirect contacts between deer were tabulated within a 10, 25, 50, 75, or 100-m buffer around each bait and control site. Indirect contact frequencies between bait and control sites were compared using mixed-model Poisson regression with deer pair as a random-effect variable and bait, joint utilization distribution (JUD), and year as fixed-effect variables. Contact frequencies did not differ significantly (P<0.05) between bait sites and control sites at any buffer distance, implying that small bait piles used to capture deer have minimal effect on contact frequencies. However, the effect of more consistent and greater quantities of food distributed during supplemental feeding programs should be studied further to determine its impact on contact rates and spatial distribution of deer. Understanding the spatial distribution of white-tailed deer is important to implement effective disease and population management within localized areas. The objective of this study was to measure the home-range fidelity of female deer in an exurban deer herd in southern Illinois. I compared location data of 7 deer that had been collected in 2004-2005 and 2008. I used the volume of intersection (VI) and percent of home range overlap to statistically compare the two annual home ranges for each deer. Deer were located used ground-based radiotelemetry and home ranges were characterized using a fixed kernel utilization distribution. Comparing home ranges between years, the mean VI was 0.45 with little variation (range 0.35-0.55). I found the mean percent overlap of 50% isopleths to be 47.1% (range 31.3-71.7%) and the mean overlap of 95% isopleths to be 62.0% (range 44.3-68.6%). My results indicate that female white-tailed deer on our study area showed strong home-range fidelity, which could permit disease and population management by removing deer and reducing local deer densities.

No description available.

Background: The purpose of this study was to develop a preclerkship elective and assess its effectiveness in supplementing medical students' education. Methods: A group of medical students under the guidance of two faculty advisors developed an elective consisting of six sessions covering a variety of practical aspects of diabetes care/education taught by an interprofessional team. Following the course completion, a survey was emailed to the enrollees who attended at least one session. The results were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank and descriptive analyses. Results: A total of 14 medical students were enrolled (nine first year and five second year). An average of 4.4 sessions/student was attended. Thirteen students attended at least one session and were surveyed. The survey response rate was similar to 62% (8/13). All eight students indicated that the course was valuable and would recommend it to their colleagues. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed a statistically significant increase in students' confidence in all five areas assessed following participation in the course, P<0.05 with a large effect (r>0.5). Conclusion: This study suggests the feasibility of developing disease state-specific preclerkship elective courses and that such courses can be beneficial in supplementing medical student education with practical knowledge.

Objective Because farmers' markets include a variety of fruits and vegetables, shopping at farmers' markets would likely improve diet quality among low-income consumers, as well as promote sustainable direct farm-to-consumer business models. However, not much is known about how to promote farmers' market shopping among low-income consumers. Therefore, the purpose of the present paper was to examine barriers to and facilitators of shopping at farmers' markets and associations between shopping at farmers' markets and self-reported dietary behaviours (fruit and vegetable, sugar-sweetened beverage and fast-food consumption) and BMI. Design Cross-sectional analyses of associations between farmers' market shopping frequency, awareness of markets, access to markets, dietary behaviours and BMI. Setting Department of Social Services, Pitt County, eastern North Carolina, USA. Subjects Between April and July 2013, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants (n 205) completed a quantitative survey. Results Barriers to shopping at farmers' markets included does not accept SNAP/electronic benefit transfer, out of the way and lack of transportation. Farmers' market shopping was associated with awareness of farmers' markets (estimate =0·18 (se 0·04), P<0·001). Fruit and vegetable consumption was positively associated with farmers' market shopping (estimate =1·06 (se 0·32), P=0·001). Conclusions Our study is one of the first to examine SNAP participants' farmers' market shopping, distance to farmers' markets and dietary behaviours. Barriers to shopping at farmers' markets and increasing awareness of existing markets should be addressed in future interventions to increase SNAP participants' use of farmers' markets, ultimately improving diet quality in this high-risk group.

The purpose of this study was to determine what impact a No Child Left Behind-related afterschool tutoring program had on reading achievement of elementary students in a Mississippi rural school setting. The research questions that guided this study were (1) Is there a significant difference between the 2008 and 2009 Mississippi Curriculum Test, 2nd Edition language arts scores of elementary students who participated in a No Child Left Behind-related afterschool tutoring program in a Mississippi rural school setting? and (2) Is there a significant difference between the 2009 Mississippi Curriculum Test, 2nd Edition language arts scores of elementary students who participated in a No Child Left Behind-related afterschool tutoring program and those students who did not participate in a No Child Left Behind-related afterschool tutoring program in a Mississippi rural school setting, while controlling for 2008 MCT2 language arts scores? To address the research questions, a causal comparative research design was used. The researcher collected the state's language arts scores of 2008 and 2009 for elementary students who participated in the afterschool tutoring program and performed a paired sample t-test to answer research question one. To answer research question two, the researcher collected the state's language arts scores of 2008 and 2009 for elementary students who participated in the afterschool tutoring program and for eligible students who did not participate in the afterschool tutoring program and performed a univariate analysis of variance. The results of this study were twoold. The scores of the participants improved. Results of the paired sample t-test analysis indicated a significant difference in the scores between the 2008 and 2009 Mississippi Curriculum Test, 2nd Edition language arts. On the other hand, results of the univariate analysis of variance indicated that there was no significant difference between the 2009 Mississippi Curriculum Test, 2nd Edition language arts scores of participants and nonparticipants. Recommendations for further research include conducting an experimental research design on afterschool tutoring and reading achievement in a rural school or rural schools, analyzing parental involvement while conducting research on afterschool tutoring and reading achievement in rural schools, and observing a regular classroom setting with comparison with an afterschool tutoring while conducting research on afterschool tutoring and reading achievement in rural schools.