This quantitative, cross-sectional, correlation research study explored the relationships between self-efficacy, social support, and academic achievement among single mothers aged 18 and older attending Mississippi public two-year institutions. A total of 82 single mothers provided data for this study by completing the following research…

The purpose of this study was to engage middle school science teachers in collaborative dialogue to understand the implications of partnership values and principles in the classroom to transform their educational practice. Participants investigated issues which prevent partnership relationships in schools and ways to help transform education and…

This dissertation contributes to the growing base of theory relating to Transnational Public Sector Knowledge Networks (TPSKNs) presented by Dawes, Gharawi, and Burke (2012). A case study explores the TPSKN formed between the United States Center for Disease Control and the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health ahead of the 2009 Hajj, one of the…

In this dissertation, two interrelated problems of service-based systems (SBS) are addressed: protecting users' data confidentiality from service providers, and managing performance of multiple workflows in SBS. Current SBSs pose serious limitations to protecting users' data confidentiality. Since users' sensitive data is sent in…

Fluent reading requires the effective integration of orthographic and phonological information in addition to intact processing of either type. The current study used a rhyme decision task to examine phono-orthographic interaction in children with reading disabilities (RD) as compared to typically achieving (TA) children. Word pairs were presented…

The development of the Associate Degree model for the education of nurses (ADN) in the United States is a significant milestone for the nursing profession. The purpose of this historical study was to examine how nurse leaders developed the model in the 1950s and to explore the contextual factors that fueled the growth of the model. Emphasis was…

During the 1970s, an estimated 3 million children with disabilities received inappropriate or inadequate educational services, and an additional almost 1 million children were excluded from the educational system (U. S. Department of Education as cited by Smith, Polloway, Patton, & Dowdy, 2004). Most of the programs that existed were limited…

The United States faces a critical shortage of full-time registered nurses, which is . directly affected by the shortage of nurse educators. Many schools of nursing are already seeing the impact as qualified program applicants are being turned away due to the lack of qualified educators available to teach them. The trend has become to employ…

Software maintenance and support costs account for up to 60% of the overall software life cycle cost and often burdens tightly budgeted information technology (IT) organizations. Agile software development approach delivers business value early, but implications on software maintainability are still unknown. The purpose of this quantitative study…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how clinical mental health counseling practicum students and practicum instructors use per session assessment feedback with clients they served at a university counseling center. Per session assessment and feedback has been shown to increase the treatment outcomes that counselors achieve while treating…

Physical and psychological aggression in dating relationships is prevalent among college students (e.g., Kaura & Lohman, 2007; Shook, Gerrity, Jurich, & Segrist, 2000; Straus, 2008), and students experiencing dating IPV are most likely to speak to friends (Prospero & Vohra-Gupta, 2008). The current study investigated differences in…

This dissertation develops and structurally estimates an equilibrium model of the Chilean school system and uses the model to assess the effect of teacher wage and accreditation policies on student achievement. In the model, potential teachers choose between teaching in a public school, teaching in a private school, working in the non-teaching…

Since the twentieth century to present, the role of women in society has undergone fundamental changes. Women, today, has assumed many different task and new roles, becoming part of professional workforce and increasing level of education by aspiring a higher education gaining access to leadership positions. The purpose of this qualitative…

Mandates that follow from the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2002) led to changes to curriculum and classroom instruction. Teachers felt pressured to alter their curriculum and instructional practices. To ensure that students receive a quality education, teacher perceptions of instructional assessment and curriculum is of paramount concern,…

The first decade of the 21st Century in the United States witnessed two major events that have come to be understood as national disasters: September 11, 2001 and Hurricane Katrina. Numerous historical institutions quickly mobilized to collect material relating to the two events, prompting the creation of what is now referred to as "disaster…