Search Results

open access

Adolescent Academic Adjustment during Chronic Illness: Online Training for Child Life Specialists

Description: Frequent absences resulting from a chronic illness can disrupt adolescent school involvement, impacting academic achievement and psychosocial development as a result. This study explores whether certified child life specialists (CCLSs) could be a resource for parents as they address their adolescents' academic disruptions. Specifically, this study assesses an online training program designed to increase CCLSs' knowledge and self-efficacy as related to adolescents' academic adjustment following … more
Date: December 2018
Creator: Koussa, Michelle D
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Radically Early College Entrants on Radically Early College Entrance: A Heuristic Exploration

Description: Despite the fact acceleration has been studied thoroughly as an educational practice for the gifted, early entrance to college specifically has been overlooked. Not only this, but a large portion of this research pertains to early college entrance programs, which provide resources that many early college entrants may not have. The lived experiences and perceptions of radically early college entrants (three or more years advanced) were explored through interviews and heuristic inquiry. The in… more
Date: December 2018
Creator: Jett, Noel
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Time Series Data Analysis of Single Subject Experimental Designs Using Bayesian Estimation

Description: This study presents a set of data analysis approaches for single subject designs (SSDs). The primary purpose is to establish a series of statistical models to supplement visual analysis in single subject research using Bayesian estimation. Linear modeling approach has been used to study level and trend changes. I propose an alternate approach that treats the phase change-point between the baseline and intervention conditions as an unknown parameter. Similar to some existing approaches, the mode… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Aerts, Xing Qin
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Teaching Children with Autism to Vocally Mand for Others to Perform an Action

Description: Mand training is a very logical and natural procedure to begin teaching communication skills to individuals with autism. Existing research has documented strategies for teaching children with autism to mand for preferred items, although there are fewer high quality studies on teaching children to mand for other people to perform an action. In addition to improving the general mand repertoire, teaching children to mand for others to perform an action is important because it allows children wit… more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Terry, Callie A.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Comparing Three Effect Sizes for Latent Class Analysis

Description: Traditional latent class analysis (LCA) considers entropy R2 as the only measure of effect size. However, entropy may not always be reliable, a low boundary is not agreed upon, and good separation is limited to values of greater than .80. As applications of LCA grow in popularity, it is imperative to use additional sources to quantify LCA classification accuracy. Greater classification accuracy helps to ensure that the profile of the latent classes reflect the profile of the true underlying sub… more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Granado, Elvalicia A.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Is It More Advantageous to Administer Libqual+® Lite Over Libqual+®? an Analysis of Confidence Intervals, Root Mean Square Errors, and Bias

Description: The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) provides an option for librarians to administer a combination of LibQUAL+® and LibQUAL+® Lite to measure users' perceptions of library service quality. LibQUAL+® Lite is a shorter version of LibQUAL+® that uses planned missing data in its design. The present study investigates the loss of information in commonly administered proportions of LibQUAL+® and LibQUAL+® Lite when compared to administering LibQUAL+® alone. Data from previous administrations o… more
Date: August 2013
Creator: Ponce, Hector F.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Eastern Work Ethic: Structural Validity, Measurement Invariance, and Generational Differences

Description: This present study examined the structural validity of a Chinese version of Multidimensional Work Ethic Profile (MWEP-C), using a large sample of Chinese parents and their young adult children (N = 1047). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was applied to evaluate the model fit of sample data on three competing models using two randomly split stratified subsamples. Measurement invariance for these two generational respondents was checked using differential item functioning (DIF) analysis. The re… more
Date: May 2014
Creator: Chen, Danxia
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Educational Experiences of Youth with And/or At-risk for Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Residing in Foster Care Settings

Description: Research examining the academic experiences of youth with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) residing in foster care (FC) is scarce. Research is warranted to understand the academic strengths, weaknesses, and school disciplinary experiences of youth with EBD residing in FC. Data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being II (NSCAW II) included data on eight participants classified as EBD. Having a limited number of participants classified as EBD in the data set, I used… more
Date: August 2013
Creator: Lewis, Calli G.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A Study of Novice Special Education Teachers’ Preparation to Teach Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Description: The purpose of this study is to identify novice teachers’ perception of their preparedness to teach a class designed for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) after graduation from a traditional university-based special education program or from a special education alternative certification program. Teacher preparedness and the need for highly qualified teachers of students with ASD are relevant topics, as the prevalence rate of ASD continues to increase. This phenomenological qualitat… more
Date: May 2014
Creator: Callaway, Stacey E.
Partner: UNT Libraries

Selection Bias and Sensitivity as Moderators of Prekindergarten Age-Cutoff Regression Discontinuity Study Effects: A Meta-Analysis

Description: The age-cutoff regression discontinuity design (RDD) has emerged as one of the most rigorous quasi-experimental approaches to determining program effects of prekindergarten on literacy and numeracy outcomes for children at kindergarten entry. However, few pre-K meta-analyses have focused attention on validity threats. The current random-effects meta-regression tests the moderating effects of prominent threats to validity, selection bias and sensitivity, on impact estimates generated from age-cu… more
This item is restricted from view until August 1, 2024.
Date: July 2023
Creator: Stewart, Genea K.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Examination of Contributing Factors for Successful Postsecondary Transitions to Institutions of Higher Education for Youth with High-incidence Disabilities

Description: Transitions are a natural part of life. Youth grow and develop physically, socially, psychologically, and intellectually during primary and secondary school years. The transition from secondary to postsecondary education is an important transition as youth not only move from high school to college, but also from adolescence to young adulthood. It is a time when young adults naturally desire to become more independent in pursuit of their personal dreams and aspirations. The purpose of this study… more
Date: August 2013
Creator: Collins, Emerald R.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Extent of Autism Knowledge of Novice Alternatively Certified Special Education Teachers in Texas

Description: An increase in the prevalence rate of autism is not necessarily matched by a concurrent increase in the rate of highly qualified special education teachers. The low ratio of highly qualified teachers to the number of students with autism has resulted in chronic teacher shortages in this area. Alternative certification is used as a mechanism to alleviate the demand for highly qualified teachers in special education. However, alternative certification routes have often left novice teachers und… more
Date: December 2013
Creator: Alward, Jennifer A.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Newly Opened High School Campus: The Principal's Process in Creating the Teacher Profile to Hire the Inaugural Staff

Description: This study sought to explore the hiring process, including the creation of the teacher profile, of four suburban North Texas high schools implemented when hiring teachers for the first year of the campus' existence. An exploratory sequential mixed methods research design was applied, and three data collection tools were implemented: an electronic survey, interviews with campus administrators, and the analysis of campus hiring process artifacts. Survey data suggested that participating campus p… more
Date: May 2023
Creator: Redden, Jennifer N.
Partner: UNT Libraries

Lasso Regularization for DIF Detection in Graded Response Models

Description: Previous research has tested the lasso method for DIF detection in dichotomous items, but limited research is available on this technique for polytomous items. This simulation study compares the lasso method to hybrid ordinal logistic regression to test performance in terms of TP and FP rates when considering sample size, test length, number of response categories, group balance, DIF proportion, and DIF magnitude. Results showed better Type I error control with the lasso, with smaller sample si… more
This item is restricted from view until June 1, 2025.
Date: May 2023
Creator: Avila Alejo, Denisse
Partner: UNT Libraries

Parenting Highly and Profoundly Gifted Children: Perspectives on Competence, Belonging, and Support within a Sociocultural Context

Description: Limited research exists regarding the experiences and perspectives of parents of highly and profoundly gifted children. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the experiences and perspectives of parents of highly and profoundly gifted children in developmental and cultural contexts. Semi-structured interviews were followed by thematic analysis regarding parental efficacy and parents' perceived support in parenting and educational communities to provide rich insights and to ill… more
Date: May 2023
Creator: Johnson, Rebecca M.
Partner: UNT Libraries

Implementing the Difference in Differences (Dd) Estimator in Observational Education Studies: Evaluating the Effects of Small, Guided Reading Instruction for English Language Learners

Description: The present study provides an example of implementing the difference in differences (DD) estimator for a two-group, pretest-posttest design with K-12 educational intervention data. The goal is to explore the basis for causal inference via Rubin's potential outcomes framework. The DD method is introduced to educational researchers, as it is seldom implemented in educational research. DD analytic methods' mathematical formulae and assumptions are explored to understand the opportunity and the cha… more
Date: July 2023
Creator: Sebastian, Princy
Partner: UNT Libraries

Sleeping in a Creative Dream-Land: A Duo of Meta-Analyses on Sleep, Dream-Recall, and Creativity

Description: This duo of meta-analyses explored relationships between creativity and sleep quality [Study 1], and creativity and dream recall [Study 2]. Studies on these topics noted personality influences in both creativity and sleep quality, as well as dream recall. Studies also identified potential connections between creativity, sleep, and dreaming by investigating the stage of sleep from which creative thinking could emerge. Twenty studies were eligible to code and analyze in Study 1 and 16 in Study 2.… more
This item is restricted from view until June 1, 2024.
Date: May 2023
Creator: Murphy, Leah K.
Partner: UNT Libraries

The Impact of Including Teacher and School Characteristics on Predicting Value-Added Score Estimates

Description: Value-added models (VAMs) have become widely used in evaluating teacher accountability. The use of these models for high-stakes decisions making has been very controversial due to lack of consistency in classifying teachers as high performing or low performing. There is an abundance of research on the impact of various student level covariates on teacher value-added scores; however, less is known about the impact of teacher-level and school-level covariates. This study uses hierarchical linear … more
Date: May 2021
Creator: Allen, Lauren E.
Partner: UNT Libraries

Accommodating People Safety Curriculum for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students

Description: Children with disabilities are three to four times more likely to be abused than their non-disabled peers due to the impact of challenges related to behavior, cognition, language, social skills, and communication skills. In September of 2018, the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) specifically noted the need to establish maltreatment prevention and response curricula and promote research and advocacy surrounding maltreatment of children with disabilities. One common curriculum recommended i… more
Date: May 2021
Creator: Johnson, Jennifer A. L.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Preschool Teachers' Self-reported Levels of Preparation for Classroom Behavior Management

Description: Research indicates that serious behavior problems begin during the early childhood years. The study examined the perceived preparedness of teachers related to behavior management as well as preschool teachers' usage of evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies. The data indicates that preschool teachers feel prepared for managing aggression in their classrooms and report utilizing evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies regularly. Additionally, the data shows a weak r… more
Date: August 2013
Creator: Lohmann, Marla J.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Use of a Stimulus Control Transfer Procedure to Teach Spontaneous Manding to Children with Autism

Description: Current research indicates that the inability to spontaneously communicate needs or wants may result in the acquisition of unconventional forms of requesting such as aggression and tantrums. This in turn limits the amount of access that students with autism have to neurotypical peers and social environments. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of using a stimulus control transfer procedure on the acquisition of spontaneous mands. Four school-aged children with autism, two… more
Date: December 2013
Creator: Ward, Karen D.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Role of Physical Activity and Physical Fitness on Biomarkers Associated with Depression and Cardiovascular Disease

Description: Two important health issues that can develop during young adulthood are related to mental health (e.g., depression) and physical health (e.g., cardiovascular disease). A common characteristic for both of these diseases is low-grade and chronic inflammation, but inflammation is negatively associated with physical activity (PA) and physical fitness. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate how PA and physical fitness were associated with biomarkers for depression and cardiovascular dise… more
Date: August 2016
Creator: Barton, John Mitchell
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Culturally Competent Evaluations

Description: Significant growth in the number of English language learners (ELLs) in U.S. schools is anticipated to continue, demanding that educators and evaluators have the skills necessary to distinguishing language difference from disability and provide appropriate services to these students. However, little research exists examining the role of evaluator's cultural competence in evaluating ELLs for special education; furthermore, what does exist shows that many evaluators report low levels of self-eff… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Chen, Cristina Rodríguez
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Using Posterior Predictive Checking of Item Response Theory Models to Study Invariance Violations

Description: The common practice for testing measurement invariance is to constrain parameters to be equal over groups, and then evaluate the model-data fit to reject or fail to reject the restrictive model. Posterior predictive checking (PPC) provides an alternative approach to evaluating model-data discrepancy. This paper explores the utility of PPC in estimating measurement invariance. The simulation results show that the posterior predictive p (PP p) values of item parameter estimates respond to various… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Xin, Xin
Partner: UNT Libraries
Back to Top of Screen