Since the inception of the Higher Education Reauthorization Act of 1998 by the United States Congress, there has been limited research conducted on parental notification policies on campuses of Higher Education concerning alcohol and drug offenses committed by students. This study surveyed parents of incoming freshmen at the University of North Texas regarding their perceptions of Parental Notification policies and their perceptions of underage alcohol offenses by gender, age, ethnicity, and parental status. The relationship between parental notification and underage alcohol offenses was also examined. This study, conducted in the summer of 2002, at the University of North Texas had 539 respondents. An instrument developed to determine parental perceptions of underage alcohol use and parental notification consisted of 20 dichotomous questions. Chi-square tests of independence were used to analyze the data because it could calculate the relationships between two sets of nominal data. Data show that most parents want to be notified in all situations involving underage alcohol offenses and their offspring. Generally, parents do not believe their offspring will use alcohol underage as they enter college and that they are not binge drinkers. Females want to be notified about their student's underage alcohol offenses at a higher rate than …

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects frequenting the street had on the social-emotional development of children in Cuenca, Ecuador. While the study sought to discover who these children were, it primarily observed the levels of trust these children felt in the various contexts of their lives, their level of safety, where they saw themselves in the future, what made a place feel like a home, their sense of self-esteem, and how they saw themselves contributing to their future. The research instrument used in this study was a modified youth questionnaire previously developed by Tyler and Tyler (1991) in a study with street children/youth in Bogóta, Colombia. The results are presented in 11 case studies of children who ranged in age between 7 and 12 years.

This study examined the experience of 140 students in a counselor training program that required students to participate in 10 sessions of individual counseling during their training program in order to increase their self-awareness. Students had the option of fulfilling the requirement through being counseled either by more advanced students within the training program or by mental health professionals outside the program. Results indicated that students in both settings reported a significant increase in their self-awareness. Students who fulfilled the requirement in a setting outside of the counseling program clinics reported a significantly higher increase in self-awareness than those who fulfilled the requirement within the counseling program clinics. Students' reports of increased self-awareness did not vary by their stages of progress through the program. Participants reported significant ethical concerns regarding confidentiality and dual relationships that reportedly reduced the beneficial impact of the counseling experience. Students who fulfilled the counseling requirement within the counseling program clinics experienced significantly greater ethical concerns than did those who fulfilled the requirement outside the program clinics. As with effect on self-awareness, stage in the program was not related to impact of ethical concerns on the required counseling experience. The overwhelming majority (91.4%) of participants supported …

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of Prince George's Community College faculty knowledge of the legal issues, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, and recent court decisions, related to the provision of classroom accommodations for students with disabilities at the postsecondary level. The focus of the study was to determine if a difference existed between the knowledge of full-time and part-time faculty. Part-time faculty comprise over 50 % of the instructional staffs at most community colleges and are considered an integral part of their institutions, yet they are offered little opportunity for professional development. The variables of gender, department affiliation, teaching at more than one institution, number of years of teaching experience, number of students taught with a disability, and number of individuals known with a disability also were reviewed. Data were collected through a questionnaire distributed to 158 faculty members at the college. Twenty-nine packets were returned as undeliverable. Of the 129 deliverable packets, 57 were returned for a response rate of 44.2%. Results from the analysis of data indicated that faculty have very limited knowledge of the legal issues concerning students with disabilities. Only 26.9% …

This study is a qualitative analysis and a quantitative analysis of all peripheral biofeedback client data files of the University of North Texas Biofeedback Research and Training Laboratory since its establishment in 1991 and through the year of 2002. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical and educational efficacy of the BRTL. Clients' electromyography and temperature measures, self-report of homework relaxation exercises and progress, and the pre- and post-Stress Signal Checklist were reviewed and analyzed. In regard to clinical efficacy, results indicate statistically significant changes in both temperature training and muscle tension training as a whole group. When divided into subtypes based on the clients' primary presenting problem, findings indicate statistical significance in chronic pain, tension headache, and temporomandibular jaw pain on temperature training, and show statistical significance in chronic pain, tension headache, hypertension, migraine headache, stress, and temporomandibular jaw pain on muscle tension training. When analyzing the Stress Signal Checklist, only 25% of clients had complete information on both pre- and post-Stress Signal Checklist. For these 25%, 87.5% reported symptoms decreased. When reviewing the clients' self-reported progress in therapist's session notes, there is no procedure for computing a treatment success to failure ratio due to the …

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of an intensive version of the Landreth (2002) 10-week filial therapy model as a method of intervention for children of Israeli parents living in Israel. This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of intensive filial therapy training in (a) reducing internalizing behavior problems of Israeli children; (b) reducing externalizing behavior problems of Israeli children; and (c) reducing overall behavior problems of Israeli children. A second purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of intensive filial therapy training with Israeli parents in increasing the parents' (a) empathic responsiveness with their children; (b) communication of acceptance to their children; (c) allowance of self-direction by their children; (d) involvement in their children's play activities; (e) feelings of efficacy as parents; and (f) reduction of parental stress. The experimental group consisted of fourteen Israeli children who their parents received nine intensive Filial Therapy training sessions within a five week period and had seven parent-child play sessions. The non-treatment comparison group consisted of thirteen Israeli children whose parents received no treatment. Parents in the study completed the Hebrew version of the Child Behavior Checklist, the Parenting Stress Index, and conducted pre-test and …

The intent of the study was to ascertain the importance faculty at Historically Black Private Colleges and Universities in Texas place upon academic activities of research, teaching and service. A survey of faculty at 4 historically black private colleges and universities in Texas (HBCUs) was conducted to collect data from 158 faculty members; 107 usable questionnaires were returned. A response rate of 67.7 percent was achieved. The pattern that emerged from the data indicates the HBCU faculty in this study lean toward teaching and service as being a viable measure for tenure and promotion. The HBCU faculty in this study should remain cognizant that they are an intricate element within the higher education discipline. According to the perceptions of the HBCU faculty, several indicated that their college/university is important; however, they indicated that their academic discipline is less important in comparison. According to the perceptions of the HBCU faculty, many respondents indicated that their job is a source of considerable personal strain. A comparison with the findings of the 1989 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching reveals more similarities than differences.

As efforts to provide seamless transitions from high school to college grow, so do the numbers of high school students who concurrently enroll in college courses across the country. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of various aspects of the concurrent enrollment program at Collin County Community College District in Texas. Six research questions were designed to address student success and continuing enrollment patterns after high school graduation, as well as evaluate differences in the various models of dual credit classes offered by the college. Literature related to concurrent enrollment and dual credit programs, senior year of high school, and part-time faculty effectiveness was reviewed. Student issues addressed include: grade performance of concurrent enrollment students compared to the general college population; the percentage of concurrent enrollment students who continue at the college after high school graduation; and a comparison of continuing concurrent enrollment students with a matched sample (based on high school class rank), on the student success factors of fall-to-spring retention rates, fall-to-fall retention rates, grade point averages, and completion rates. Findings were generally positive related to the impact of concurrent enrollment on students and their subsequent success at the college. Various models of offering …

This research study investigated the effectiveness of an intensive format of the traditional Landreth filial therapy training (LFTT) model compared to the traditional LFTT model. Specifically, this study compared the intensive LFTT group and the traditional LFTT group at post-testing in the areas of: (a) reducing stress related to parenting, (b) increasing parental empathic behavior with their children, (c) increasing parental acceptance toward their children, and (d) reducing perceived child behavior problems. The traditional LFTT group consisted of 13 parents in groups of up to six members for 10 90-minute weekly sessions. Traditional LFTT involved didactic instruction, required at-home laboratory playtimes, and supervision. Parents were taught child-centered play therapy skills of responsive listening, recognizing children's emotional needs, therapeutic limit setting, building children's self-esteem, and structuring required weekly playtimes with their children using a kit of specially selected toys. The intensive LFTT group consisted of 13 parents in groups of up to four members who met on four Saturdays for 4 hours each. The traditional LFTT model was modified to teach the same material over fewer sessions. The difference in this delivery was fewer opportunities for parents to have home playtimes and receive feedback from the researcher. To compensate for this …

This study examined the effects of a computer-mediated intervention on "at-risk" preschool students' receptive vocabulary development, computer-literacy skills, and enthusiasm for leaning. Twenty-two preschool-aged children attending an urban primary public school and participating in government subsidized school lunch program participated in the study. A pretest/posttest control-group design and case-study participant observations were used for data collection. Students were assigned to one of two treatment groups. Eleven preschool students with pretest School Readiness Composite (SRC) standard scores of 80, or below, on the Bracken Basic Concept Scale-Revised (BBCS-R), were assigned to the intervention group. Eleven pre-school students matched by age level and teacher comprised the comparison group. The intervention group received computer-mediated instruction while the comparison group received classroom teacher instruction. The first research question examined the effect of the intervention on students' receptive vocabulary analyzing groups' pretest and posttest BBCS-R School Readiness Composite mean scores. Combined analysis of a Two-Factor Repeated Measures and a Posttest only ANCOVA revealed that computer-mediated instruction was as effective as classroom teacher instruction in helping "at-risk" students acquire readiness receptive vocabulary. The second research question examined the effect of the intervention on "at-risk" student's computer-literacy skills analyzing participants pretest and posttest mean scores on the …

This study used a quasi-experimental design with 1,237 students to investigate the association between participation in a study-abroad program and persistence at a liberal arts university. The theoretical basis for the study was Tinto's Theory of Individual Departure. The independent variable of interest, also known as the treatment, was participation in the University of Dallas Rome Program during the sophomore year. The control group consisted of students who were qualified to participate in the Rome Program, but chose not to do so. The dependent variable was the number of fall and spring semesters enrolled as an undergraduate at the University of Dallas post-treatment through spring 2003. Nine variables that measured background characteristics, academic integration, and social integration explained 3.8% of the variation in number of semesters enrolled post-treatment. Participation in the Rome Program explained an additional 4.2%. In all of the statistical measures examined in this study (incremental increase in R2, b weights, adjusted β weights, and structure coefficients), there was evidence of an important positive association between participation in the Rome Program and persistence. Based on the b weight in the regression equation, holding all other variables constant, students who participated in the Rome Program persisted on average .83 …