Accurately identifying developmental language disorder (DLD) in students who speak a home language other than English has proven to be an enduring challenge. Consequently, students with DLD miss out on critical interventions, and those who are acquiring their two languages in a typical manner are placed in settings that do not meet their…

This dissertation examines the landmark case Larry P. v. Riles and its impact on addressing the disproportionality and overrepresentation of Black and/or African American students in special education within California. Despite the court's ruling, which prohibited the use of IQ tests for Black students for special education placement due to…

The present dissertation reports two experiments that investigate the processing of English wh-dependencies by including language-specific (experiment I) and domain-general (experiment II) factors. We looked into both event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and time-frequency representations (TFRs) of the EEG signal so as to obtain a more thorough…

The visual system is tuned by its inputs. The behavior of reading offers a unique way to examine tuning for visual representations (letters) because readers have massive experience recognizing letters in a systematic context (reading). One aspect of reading is that letters are highly crowded within words, which severely limits their…

The appropriate selection of standardized tests is integral to establishing an accurate early diagnosis and providing timely treatment to optimize language outcomes in young children. However, clinicians sometimes utilize tests that are not validated for this specific purpose. This applied dissertation was designed to investigate the validity of…

The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed methods study was to explore HIV risk perception, the meaning of HIV testing, and HIV risk behavior among college students following a negative HIV test. An extended version of the theoretical framework of the health belief model (HBM) aided in the exploration of college students' perceptions of…

With the emergence of more awareness of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and an emerging understanding of adult ADHD, there is a growing need in colleges and universities for accurate diagnosis of students. In the US, approximately 6% of students enrolling in college for 2014 reported having a diagnosis with ADHD, making it the most…

The Q-matrix played a key role in implementations of diagnostic classification models (DCMs) or cognitive diagnostic models (CDMs) -- a family of psychometric models that are gaining attention in providing diagnostic information on students' mastery of cognitive attributes or skills. Using two Monte Carlo simulation studies, this dissertation…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore diagnostic medical sonography (DMS) students' feeling of belongingness in the clinical learning environment. The Belongingness Scale Clinical Placement Experience (BES-CPE) questionnaire and demographic questions were used to test five research questions. The online survey was administered to…

The purpose of this study is to gain insight on the comparative value of a DMS bachelor's degree and associate degree. While there are multiple training routes to become a diagnostic medical sonographer, it is beneficial to understand the perspectives of those that have experienced how training correlates to practice. While participant perceptions…

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) use has greatly expanded over the past 10 years. POCUS refers to the use of portable ultrasound at the bedside for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. POCUS offers an advantage to both healthcare providers and patients because it gives accurate and rapid information that can lead to diagnosis or to narrow the…

Over the past few decades, physics education researchers (PER) developed a variety of assessments instrument for research and instructional purposes. Most of these instruments are designed to measure topical understanding. Generally, if student performance is satisfactory, it is assumed that the students possess the content understanding and that…

Infancy is a period of significant change for both the brain and behavior. During the first two years of life, the brain experiences an explosion of synaptic connections and myelination, alongside rapid development in motor, linguistic, and social behavioral abilities. Understanding the relationship between brain development and behavioral…

With social-emotional learning's (SEL) significant impact on academic, emotional, behavioral, social, and lifelong success, it is necessary to ensure its continued adoption, implementation, and effectiveness within schools. While SEL is at its highest levels of awareness and implementation, it still faces significant barriers to effectiveness.…

Personality has been found to have significant connections to language. Ranging from impacting narrative style, to informing expectations about others based on linguistic factors such as accent, personality affects both language comprehension and production (Oberlander & Gill, 2004; Van den Brink et al., 2012). However, research in this area…