JENNIFER M.

OESTAR
PhD Development
Education Student

Dr. Aileen V. Elarco

Professor

Different Kinds of Research Designs

TITLE

A CORRELATIONAL STUDY
ON PARENTAL
ATTACHMENT AND
SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT
OF COLLEGE STUDENTS

Mary-Ellen Madigan
2008
 ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to determine

if there was a correlation between parental
attachment and spiritual development in
traditional-aged undergraduate college
students. The outcome of this research
would have relevance to the kind of
programs that institutions provide to their
students and to the parents of their
students to assist students in their spiritual
development.
 ABSTRACT

The population included 6,091 students

enrolled in two regional campuses of a
university located in the Northeastern
United States. Subjects’ levels of parental
attachment was measured using the
Parental Attachment Questionnaire (PAQ)
and subjects’ spiritual development was
measured by the Spiritual Experience Index-
Revised (SEI-R). Other variables studied
included gender, ethnicity, class level, and
age.
 ABSTRACT
A positive correlation between parental
attachment and spiritual development was found.
Female students scored higher on spiritual
development than did males and non- Caucasian
students had a higher level of spiritual develop- ment
than Caucasian students. Older students reported
higher levels of spiritual openness and lower levels of
spiritual support than younger students. Additionally,
younger students and those with lower class
standings scored higher in the Parental Fostering of
Autonomy than their older peers and those who had
been in college longer. This research provides higher
education professionals information to use in creating
programs and services for students and their parents.
 METHODS
The purpose of this study was to determine if there
was a correlation between parental attachment and spiritual
development in college students. The literature supported
the idea that parental attachment, and the working models
derived from early attachment experiences, influenced an
individual’s religious development (Granqvist & Dickie,
2006). However, many college students report that they are
spiritual, but not religious (Cherry et al., 2001, p. 275). The
present study explored the concept that parental
attachment was correlated to spiritual
BASELINEdevelopment,
RECALLnot
only religiousdevelopment.
TITLE
A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF
MULTICULTURAL COURSEWORK AND
CULTURALLY DIVERSE FIELD PLACEMENTS
ON PRESERVICE TEACHERS' ATTITUDES
TOWARD DIVERSITY

Patty Moore Adeeb

 ABSTRACT
A quasi-experimental study was
conducted within the context of the
University of North Florida's EXCEL
(Excelling in Clinical Education Learning)
teacher preparation program to
investigate the impact of three types of
educational treatment on the attitudes
toward diversity of preservice teachers.
Data were collected and analyzed based
on the pretest/posttest measures
ofthree self-reporting instruments:
 ABSTRACT
Cross Cultural-Adaptability Inventory, the
Cultural Diversity Awareness Inventory, and
the Bogardus Social Distance Scale. The
preservice teachers (fi = 208; K-12 regular
and special education majors) experienced
the following treatments: (1) informal
seminar studies of multicultural education
issues accompanied by a field experience in
a non-culturally diverse public school
classroom; (2) informal seminar studies of
multicultural education issues accompanied
by a field experience in a culturally diverse
public school classroom;
 ABSTRACT

and (3) no seminar studies of

multicultural education issues and
no field experience in a public
school classroom. The weekly on-
campus seminars were conducted
by four clinical educators (master
teachers from neighboring
districts on alternative
assignments for two years).
 ABSTRACT
In addition, with-in group attitudinal
differences toward diversity of
preservice teachers enrolled in the
field based seminars were examined
based on variates of field
placement, seminar instructor,
gender, age, race, educational
major, association with culturally
different people, and teaching grade
level.
ABSTRACT
Examination of relationships between
groups, based on ANOVA and
ANCOVA results at the .05 level of
confidence, reveals the followings:
(1) no significant differences were
found in attitudes toward diversity of
Pre service teachers enrolled in the
field-based seminars focusing on
issues of diversity, but significant
 ABSTRACT
differences were found between the
control and experimental groups at
both the onset and end of the study
(experimental group had higher mean
scores), (2) significant differences
were found within-groups for the
demographic variates of seminar
instructor, age, race, association with
people of diversity, and grade level,
 ABSTRACT

(3) significant (although minimal)

differences were found in attitudes
toward diversity between preservice
teachers enrolled in the seminars
focusing on issues of cultural diversity
as compared to the control group of
students not enrolled in the seminars
(experimental groups had higher
mean scores),
 ABSTRACT

(4) no significant differences were

found between the experimental
groups to support the assumption
that field experiences within
Culturally diverse settings have a
positive effect on the attitudes of
preservice teachers toward
diversity, and
 ABSTRACT
(5) although positive significant differences
were found between the control and
experimental groups following the
completion of the multicultural seminars,
all three groups remained at the social
distance preference level "having merely as
a speaking acquaintance" in working with
the culturally different as measured on the
Bogardus and far below the normed
population on the Cross Cultural
Adaptability Inventory factor
Flexibility/Openness (FO).
 STATEMENT OF THE
PROBLEM
(1) What are the onset attitudes
toward diversity of preservice
teachers enrolled in the first of two
required teacher education field-
based seminars inrelation to a control
group as measured by the Cross
Cultural Adaptability Inventory, the
Cultural Diversity Awareness
Inventory, and the Bogardus Social
Distance Scale?
 STATEMENT OF THE
PROBLEM
(2) Are there onset within-group differences
in attitudes toward diversity based on
variates of field placement, seminar
instructor, gender, age, race, educational
major, association with people from other
cultures, and expected teaching grade level
of preservice teachers enrolled in the first of
two required teacher education field-based
seminar courses and the control group as
measured by the Cross Cultural Adaptability
Inventory, the Cultural Diversity Awareness
Inventory, and the Bogardus Social Distance
Scale?
 STATEMENT OF THE
PROBLEM
(3) Do field-based seminars focusing on
critical issues of multicultural education
effect change of attitudes toward diversity
of preservice teachers enrolled in the first
of two required teacher education field-
based seminars when compared to
preservice teachers not enrolled in the
field-based seminars as measured by the
Cultural Diversity Awareness Inventory, the
Cross Cultural Adaptability Inventory, and
the Bogardus Social Distance Scale?
 STATEMENT OF THE
PROBLEM
(4) Do culturally diverse field placements
effect change of attitudes toward
diversity of preservice teachers enrolled
in the first of two required teacher
education seminars when compared to
preservice teachers placed in
nonculturally diverse field settings as
measured by the Cross Cultural
Adaptability Inventory, the Cultural
Diversity Awareness Inventory, and the
Bogardus Social Distance Scale.
 METHODOLOGY
A quasi-experimental design of pretest,
treatment, and posttest was conducted within
the context of the University of North Florida's
required EXCEL (Excelling in Clinical Education
Learning) teacher preparation program for
preservice teachers. The study was
implemented during a sixteen-week pre-
internship experience to determine if a
significant difference exists in the cross-cultural
adaptability, cultural diversity awareness,
and/or social distance preference levels among
three groups of preservice K-12 teachers
classified as first and/or second semester
juniors.
 METHODOLOGY
The research was conducted via two
alterations in the traditional EXCEL field-
based preservice program. The alterations
focused on (a) field placements within
school settings identified as serving a
diverse student population, and (b)
seminar discussions on multicultural issues,
curriculum, and pedagogy to enable
preservice teachers to gain awareness,
understanding, respect, and acceptance
of diversity in educational settings.
 METHODOLOGY
The data were analyzed to determine
(1) the effect if any on the attitudes of
preservice teachers toward diversity (e.g.,
cross cultural adaptability, cultural diversity
awareness, and social distance preference)
after participating in the seminars and field
placements and (2) if significant relationships
exist between the demographic identifiers
with respect to the preservice teachers'
attitudinal responses toward cross-cultural
adaptability, cultural diversity awareness, and
social distance preference.
 METHODOLOGY
Three attitude assessment instruments
measuring attitudes toward crosscultural
adaptability, cultural diversity awareness,
and social distance were administered as a
pretest at the beginning (first week of
classes) and as a posttest at the end (last
week of classes) of a four-month academic
term,between January and May of the
Spring 1993 term.
TITLE

A DESCRIPTIVE CORRELATIONAL
STUDY OF TEACHER
PARTICIPATION IN PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT AND TEACHER
EFFICACY

SAMUEL F. TUPOU
ABSTRACT

This study examines

teacher efficacy within the
context of professional
development to understand
the relationship between
teacher efficacy and teacher
collaboration. Two theoretical
frameworks framed this
teacher efficacy
ABSTRACT
study based on locus of control and social
cognitive theory. A 29-item questionnaire
was e-mailed to approximately 500 K-5
classroom teachers, special education
teachers, and Title I specialists in 18
elementary schools and two K-8 schools in
a suburban school district where the
practitioners participated in staff
development on the language arts and
math adoption using the district-developed
response-to-intervention model,
Instructional Intervention and Progress
Monitoring.
ABSTRACT

Descriptive statistics,
correlations, cross-tabulation
and chi-square analyses were
used to investigate the
relationship between the level
of teachers' participation in
the professional development
and their sense of efficacy.
STATEMENT OF THE
PROBLEM
1. What was the level of teacher
participation in district-sponsored
professional development at the
end of School Year 2011-2012?
2. What is the relation between
teacher participation in district-
sponsored professional
development in School Year 2011-
2012 and teachers‘ sense of
efficacy, in relation to their
teaching?
TITLE
A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION
OF READING AND SPECIAL
EDUCATION OUTCOMES FOR ENGLISH
LANGUAGE LEARNERS IN
INSTRUCTIONAL
CONSULTATION TEAMS SCHOOLS

Arlene E. Silva
Doctor of Philosophy, 2007
ABSTRACT
The present quasi-experimental
study used hierarchical linear modeling
(HLM) to investigate whether the
Instructional Consultation (IC) Team model
differentially influences fourth and fifth
grade state reading achievement test
scores, and English Language Learner (ELL)
student scores in particular. Correlations
among student-, classroom-, and school-
level variables and special education
placement were also explored using HLM.
Archival data from 11 IC Teams “treatment”
schools
ABSTRACT
and 17 nonequivalent “control” schools in a
mid-Atlantic state were analyzed in both
studentswithin- schools and classrooms-
within-schools multilevel models, with
appropriate controls specified for classroom
and school compositional effects. Although
studentswithin-schools HLM models of
reading achievement were not significant,
classroomswithin- schools models indicated
that classrooms in IC Teams schools had
significantly higher class average reading
achievement test scores (ES = .36)compared
to classrooms in control schools.
ABSTRACT
Neither the students-within-schools nor
classrooms-within-schools HLM models
found IC Teams to differentially influence
reading achievement for ELL students. In
addition, classrooms-within-schools results
indicate that classrooms in general and
classrooms with higher percentages of ELL
students tended to have lower percentages
of students placed in special education in IC
Teams schools. The presence of significant
effects at the classroom level may indicate
that the classroom is a better unit of
analysis for investigating the effectiveness
ABSTRACT
of the IC Team model during the first two
to three years of implementation, when its
greatest impact may be on teacher, as
opposed to student, improvement.
Despite its limitations, the present study
represents the most rigorous investigation
of the effect of IC Teams on student
reading achievement to date, and serves
as a foundation for future research using
HLM to investigate the effects of the IC
Team model on student and classroom
outcomes.