Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
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Item Activism and leadership development: Examining the relationship between college student activism involvement and socially responsible leadership capacity(2010) Page, Jeremy Dale; Komives, Susan R; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between participation in student activism and leadership development among college students. This study applied the social change model of leadership development (SCM) as the theoretical model used to measure socially responsible leadership capacity in students. The study utilized data collected from the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership (MSL), a research project examining the influences of higher education on leadership development in college students across the country. The sample of 12,510 students consisted of respondents who participated in a sub-study on student activism within the MSL survey. Hierarchical multiple regression models were constructed to investigate the research question using an adapted version of Astin's (1991) I-E-O college impact model. Regression models included participant demographic characteristics, pre-college experiences, institutional descriptors, and consideration of select college experiences in examining the relationship between activism and leadership development. Results indicated that the regression models explained a significant amount of the variance in participant scores. Participation and holding a leadership position in on-campus and off-campus organizations, community service conducted on one's own, and participation in an internship emerged as significant predictors of socially responsible leadership capacity among the collegiate experiences included in the model. Participation in activism also emerged as significant, as awareness of local, national, and global issues indicated influence on all leadership development measures, and participating in protests, contacting public officials, signing a petition, and buying or not buying products due to personal views significantly contributed to measures of citizenship. These findings served to address the existing gap in the literature pertaining to the relationship of student activism and leadership development, and indicated the developmental and educational potential to providing these experiences for students on campus.Item Interactional Diversity and the Role of a Supportive Racial Climate(2010) Cox, Leah Kendra; Komives, Susan R; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)ABSTRACT Title of Document: INTERACTIONAL DIVERSITY AND THE ROLE OF A SUPPORTIVE RACIAL CLIMATE Leah Kendra Cox Doctor of Philosophy, 2010 Dissertation Directed By: Dr. Susan R. Komives, Professor Department of Counseling and Personnel Services This study examines student's perception of the campus racial climate and interactional diversity at selective undergraduate liberal arts institutions through an examination of data collected in the 2005 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Student responses are selected from institutions identified as members of a specified group of Virginia peers and institutions identified as members of COPLAC. The primary variables used to assess climate and diversity include: class standing, race, gender, institution type, enrollment, location and compositional diversity (i.e., racial composition). Findings indicate that perceptions of the campus racial climate are primarily related to class standing. In addition, it was determined that a significant predictor of interactional diversity is student's perception of a supportive racial campus climate. Finally, findings lend initial credibility to the claim that seniors and females perceive a less supportive campus climate at some institutions.Item A COMPARISON OF GRADE CONFIGURATION ON URBAN SIXTH TO EIGHTH GRADE STUDENT OUTCOMES IN REGULAR AND SPECIAL EDUCATION(2010) Fink, Louise L.; Rosenfield, Sylvia; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)ABSTRACT This study analyzed the effect of school/grade configuration for regular and special education students in K-8 schools and middle schools. The analysis looked at the effect of grade configuration on two outcomes: student achievement and student attendance. The study followed a cohort of fifth graders (regular and special education) through sixth, seventh and eighth grades, in either a K-8 or a middle school. The analysis used multilevel modeling to account for student demographics, prior achievement and school variation in achievement. Many factors including demographic features such as race, free and reduced meals (FARMS), and prior achievement can affect middle grade performance. Because students and schools differ in terms of some of these variables, multilevel evaluation was necessary to partial out their effects to determine the effect of school grade configuration on student outcomes. Results indicated that students performed slightly better academically, as measured by the Maryland State Assessments, in the K-8 schools but only at a statistically significant level for regular education 6th grade math and special education 6th grade reading. Attendance results indicated that students in 6th grade regular and special education performed statistically significantly better in K-8 schools but the magnitude was small. Four major outcomes of this study had implications for policy and practice: (a) The results of this study do not support reconfiguration as a strategy for better outcomes; (b) Student performance in fifth grade was the best predictor of student success in the middle grades; (c) School performance had a significant effect on student performance, regardless of school configuration or placement in regular or special education; (d) These results suggest the importance of including special education students in high-performing schools, where they will have the potential to perform at higher levels.Item A PORTRAIT OF PARENTAL MOTIVATION FOR PARTICIPATION IN A POSITIVE DISCIPLINE WORKSHOP(2010) Kee, Leslie A.; Mawhinney, Hanne B.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This qualitative research study describes and explores perceptions of 5 parents and their decisions to participate in the school-linked parent-education workshop, the Power of Positive Discipline, POPD. The parent-education workshop was offered at a diverse school in an east coast suburban school district. The methodology of portraiture was used to analyze and present parent participants' motivations. The interview questions were derived from a conceptual frame created by Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (1995, 1997). The research revealed the parent participants' desired knowledge and expected benefits ultimately motivated the parent participants to attend the POPD workshop. Their desired knowledge and expected benefits were informed by a series of factors that revealed a cycle. The motivational cycle began with the parent participants' experiences, followed by their decisions to accept or reject what their experiences taught them. The decision to accept or reject what they learned informed the qualities they desired to possess as parents and the qualities they wanted their children to embody and exhibit. The qualities served as the foundation to what the parents wanted to know. The parent participants believed that having knowledge about how to achieve these desired qualities would yield specific benefits for their children. The knowledge the parent participants acquired validated their actions and served as motivation to attend future workshops on discipline. The act of attending the workshop became a part of the parents' experiences and contributed to the cyclical nature of parental motivation for participation in the POPD workshop.Item The Role of Academic Space Management at Research Universities and Academic Medical Centers(2008) Watt, Catherine E; Schmidtlein, Frank A.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Facilities represent the greatest financial investment for most institutions, yet they remain largely ignored from a management perspective. Improving academic facilities information would provide institutional leaders with an additional tool to improve institutional planning and resource allocations. Academic Space Management (ASM) is a construct that suggests how space management can be more detailed, web-based, and utilized for planning and decision making. This project reports on a case study of three research-focused institutions and the institutions' interest in and use of space information. Results suggest the importance of senior leadership, trust among participants, the practical nature of the space database, and understanding the role that institutional culture plays.Item An Analysis of One School District's Implementation of Professional Learning Communities in its Elementary Schools(2009) Smith, Myra Jean; Dudley, James J.; Parham, Carol S.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: AN ANALYSIS OF ONE SCHOOL DISTRICT'S IMPLEMENTATION OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES IN ITS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS Myra J. Smith, Doctor of Education, 2009 Dissertation directed by: Dr. James J. Dudley, Professor Emeritus Department of Education Leadership, Higher Education and International Education This mixed method study was designed to investigate the extent to which the professional learning community (PLC) program has been fully implemented in two groups of elementary schools in one county school district and whether that implementation has sustained a culture of a PLC in two groups of elementary schools. One group of elementary schools achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and the other group of schools achieved AYP through the provisions of safe harbor and/or the confidence interval. The study sought to assess the perceptions of elementary school principals, staff development teachers, and 5th grade team leaders from the two groups of schools regarding the five domains of the PLC: shared and supportive leadership, shared values and vision, collective learning and application, shared personal practice, and supportive conditions--relationships and structures (Huffman & Hipp, 2003). According to Hord (2004), the PLC domains are not isolated, but are intertwined as each dimension affects the other in practice. These data were gathered through the use of a survey to answer questions 1 through 3 and individual key informant interviews to answer the fourth research question. A survey instrument was sent to principals, staff development teachers and 5th grade team leaders from the two groups of elementary schools. The survey was designed to solicit their perception of the PLC implementation in their schools. The individual interviews were held with key district leaders. There was a statistically significant difference that favored principals and staff development teachers in the schools that achieved AYP and no statistical difference for 5th grade team leaders with respect to the five PLC domains. The researcher conducted a one-way analysis of variance of differences between principals, staff development teachers, and 5th grade team leaders' judgments of these leaders' perceptions of the five PLC leadership domains for both groups of schools. This study has implications for training, policy, and practice for elementary school principals and other leaders in the school. Hord (2004) suggested the principal is the key to the creation and existence of a PLC. This study provides a shared leadership model for principals and other leaders operating schools as high-performing professional learning communities. It is expected that this research will assist school districts in their efforts for district-wide reform.Item Teacher Sense-making and Policy Implementation: A Qualitative Case Study of a School District's Reading Initiative in Science(2009) Quinn, John Rory; Mawhinney, Hanne; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In response to No Child Left Behind federal legislation and Maryland's Bridge to Excellence Act, a school district created a strategic plan that included a program initiative for improving reading in secondary schools. The initiative involved the implementation of Reading Apprenticeship, a program that required content teachers to infuse reading instruction into their practice by modeling reading behaviors and utilizing tools designed to promote metacognitive conversations with their students. This qualitative case study used a cognitive perspective to explore the sense-making of a team of middle school science teachers who received training and sought to implement the program in their instructional practice during the 2004-2005 school year. The findings revealed that policy implementation varied for the different members of the team and was adversely affect by other policies and resistance by students. At the same time, policy implementation was enhanced by teacher participation in the communities of practice associated with the initiative. Implications from the study advocate that school districts actively engage in sense-giving activities and support the communities of practice that are established when new policy measures are introduced. The study calls for further research on how students respond to policy initiatives and how they shape their teachers' sense-making. This study contributed to the sparse body of literature in this new field of education policy implementation research.Item Academic Self-Efficacy for Sophomore Students in Living-Learning Programs(2009) Kamin, Melissa Ann; Kurotsuchi Inkelas, Karen; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis explored which pre-college background characteristics and in-college involvement experiences contributed to academic self-efficacy for sophomore students who participate in living-learning programs compared to sophomores who do not participate in living-learning programs. Using secondary data from the National Study of Living-Learning Programs, 4,700 sophomores were included in the analyses. Two hypotheses were tested. A t-test revealed a significant difference in academic self-efficacy for living-learning and non-living learning students. Astin's Input-Environment-Outcome (I-E-O) model was used as a guiding framework for the second hypothesis. Multiple regression analysis revealed that specific background characteristics, an academic self-efficacy pre-test measure, social environments, academic environments, and positive perceptions of residence hall climates accounted for 26.9% of the variance in academic self-efficacy for living-learning sophomores. For non-living-learning sophomores, these same factors accounted for 17.9% of the variance. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.Item Teaching The Sacred: A Phenomenological Study of Synagogue-School Teachers(2009) Nagel, Louis Alan; Hultgren, Francine; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation is a hermeneutic phenomenological study of synagogue-school teachers of Jewish sacred text. The phenomenological question that orients this study asks, What is the lived experience of teaching sacred text in a Conservative synagogue-school? This study takes place in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. The writings of Martin Heidegger, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Max van Manen, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Emmanuel Levinas, among others, orient the study philosophically and methodologically. This investigation of the challenge of making relevant to 21st century American youth an ancient tradition is grounded in sacred texts as well as the author's life experiences, and is metaphorically explored in the encounter with natural landscapes. Eight third through seventh grade synagogue-school teachers of Torah and Hebrew prayer are engaged in individual and group conversations to explore the personal meaning they make of their engagement in this service to the Jewish community. The review of recorded conversations, verbatim transcripts, essays, and notes taken during classroom observations reveal existential philosophic themes that are brought forward in the writings of Heidegger, Sartre, and Levinas. In particular, the existentials of being present, relationship, discourse, and the Other, emerge as powerful openings of the phenomenon in question. The narrative of this lived experience is the exercise of Buber's I-Thou relationship, one of profound moments of encounter with the sacredness of the text and of the student; time and timelessness; and boundaries to be respected, tested, and breached. At essence the synagogue-school teacher is seen as taking on the responsibility of perpetuating connection to a sacred community, acting in the role of both the prophet as teacher, best represented by Moses, and in maintaining connections that link to Biblical accounts of encounter with God and with divine messengers. Synagogue-school teachers are seen to demonstrate independence, genius, responsibility, and deep spirituality in a unique educational landscape. These teachers reveal the nature of the synagogue-school as an island of Jewish time, a period rich in engagement with community and sacred text, set in the synagogue environment. A challenge is for the learnings that take place in the synagogue-school to be extended to Being beyond the boundaries of that sacred space.Item A profile of the qualifications of special education teachers among high poverty, urban, and rural schools(2008-08-28) Mason, Loretta Marie; Leone, Peter; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to provide a descriptive profile of special education teachers from the 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS:04) and to examine how their qualifications varied among K-12 public schools according to urbanicity or school poverty quartile. Scrutiny of the distribution of special educators among schools was judged in light of the equal opportunity principle, a component of Berne and Stiefel's (1984, 1994) equity framework. To do this, variables related to teacher qualifications, demographic characteristics, teaching positions, and school characteristics were identified. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were used in this study. The findings demonstrated statistically significant differences in the qualifications of special educators among many of the analyzed subgroups. Profile of the demographic characteristics revealed that minority group members, younger special educators, and male special educators were less qualified than other special education teachers. Inspection of qualifications by school level and teaching assignment also identified statistically significant differences. The analysis by school poverty quartile and urbanicity revealed a relationship between the school characteristic (such as high poverty or urban) with the qualifications of special education teachers working in these schools. These findings indicate that as a field we are not meeting the equal opportunity standard of equity (Berne & Stiefel, 1984, 1994). This study contributed to our understanding of the supply and distribution of special education teachers by utilizing the SASS:04 dataset, profiling the state of the special education workforce as state education agencies and teacher preparation programs made the necessary changes to allow teachers to meet the HQSET provisions. The examination of the distribution of qualified special education teachers among school poverty quartiles and urban areas provides evidence that special education teachers were not equitably distributed across schools. Policymakers should address this through policies related to the preparation of special educators, especially those trained through non-traditional or alternative preparation programs.