Childhood obesity trends have increased dramatically over the past three decade's. The purpose of this quantitative systematic review is to provide an update of the evidence, illustrating the efficacy of childhood obesity treatment, considering whether treatment fidelity has been measured and/or reported and whether this related to the treatment…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders often experience difficulties in expressive writing and social outcomes in school and beyond. Therefore, writing instruction and self-determination skills are critical for this population. This research study, in which special education teachers were trained to be implementers, successfully…

Purpose: The current study aims to examine the influence of contextual and provider-level factors on the implementation fidelity of a research-based substance abuse prevention program. Also, it aims to investigate whether two provider-level factors, self-efficacy and beliefs about the value of the program, statistically moderate and mediate the…

This dissertation presents my explorations in both molecular biology and science education research. In study one, we determined the "ADIPOQ" and "ADIPORI" genotypes of 364 White and 148 Black BrCa patients and used dominant model univariate logistic regression analyses to determine individual SNP and haplotype associations…

The current study aimed to assess the Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT) trauma recovery program within the context of ongoing violence. Utilizing a randomized controlled trial, 11-14-year-old students in Nablus, Palestine, were allocated by class to intervention or wait-list control conditions. Standardized measures assessed trauma exposure,…

Instruction and training in social and emotional learning (SEL) is an important component in addressing the emotional and behavioral needs of students. This study is the first to examine whether "Strong Kids", an SEL program, delivered school-wide in all classrooms, could result in decreased internalizing behaviors and increased…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a Tier 2 supplemental intervention focused on rational number equivalency concepts and applications on the mathematics performance of third-grade students with and without mathematics difficulties. The researcher used a pretest-posttest control group design and random assignment of 19…

This study is part of a larger randomized efficacy trial examining the impact of Behavioral, Emotional, and Social Training: Competent Learners Achieving School Success ("BEST in CLASS"), a Tier 2 intervention that targets the prevention of emotional/behavioral disorders in young, high risk children. In this investigation, we examined…

This study explored the effects of a group-contingency intervention on student behavior across academic instructional periods. Research suggests group contingencies are evidence-based practices, yet calls for investigation to determine the best conditions and groups suited for this type of intervention. CW-FIT (Class-Wide Function-related…

With an increasing number of patients receiving nursing care in outpatient settings, it is the responsibility of nursing education programs to provide students with adequate training to enable them to develop the skills necessary to provide safe, effective care in diverse environments, including the home. Providing care to patients in their own…

The purpose of this qualitative comparative case study was to examine the implementation fidelity of a program designed to deliver the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model (Hellison, 2003) through physical education and its relationship with short-term outcomes for elementary school students. The research questions were: (a)…

Background: Professional standards for validity of achievement tests have long reflected a consensus that validity is the degree to which evidence and theory support interpretations of test scores entailed by the intended uses of tests. Yet there are convincing lines of evidence that the standards are not adequately followed in practice, that…

Qigong massage is an eastern form of massage that can be delivered by western parents to their children with appropriate training and support. It has been shown to improve developmental measures in young children with autism when given daily for five months. A recent trial evaluating its effect on motor development in young children with Down…

A study was conducted in 26 Head Start classrooms with 264 children to compare the effect of a read aloud plus extension activities intervention over a control group to the effect of a read aloud only intervention over a control group on preschool children's vocabulary. Children were assessed before and after the intervention on target vocabulary…

Teacher-educators and policy-makers recognize that ongoing training and support for high quality implementation of curricula can be a vital component of systems that ensure the value of education experiences, particularly for students at-risk of school failure (Meisels, 2007; Pew Charitable Trusts, 2007; Pianta, 2005). In particular, there is…