The snowball effect : externalities from state-mandated child support enforcement from non-custodial parents

Includes bibliographical references.Single parenting leads to several outcomes directly affected by the payment, or nonpayment, of child support. For many single mothers, receipt of child support payments is what pulls their households above or pushes them below the poverty level. Several correlations have long been made: Poor youngsters and decreased abilities in school (e.g., test scores), decreased competencies in school with less extracurricular activities, both test scores and extracurricular activities with positive productive members of society. That said, child support payments (or lack thereof) have positive and negative externalities for youngsters. Literature review, research and data collection regarding child support system legislation, poverty of single parent households, test scores, and extracurricular activities were correlated with child support enforcement and positive childhood outcomes for children previously below the poverty level. Because the federal and state governments have stepped, enforcement of child support orders has increased the level of return to single mothers which can explain, to some degree, the decrease in poverty rates for mother-only households. Decrease in poverty rates may provide explanation for the increased involvement in extracurricular activities and the increase in test scores among young children. Child support enforcement, therefore, correlates with children becoming more positive and productive members of society (as a result of their increased test scores and extracurricular activity involvement)

Human Subjects Protection in Research: Are We Doing Enough?

Scientific research has produced substantial social benefits but has also posed troubling ethical questions with regard to the use and protection of human subjects. These questions have continued to be in the forefront of all biomedical and social research. The increased education of researchers on the subject of protection of human subjects has become of vital importance in the research world. This education involves program administrators, faculty, staff, students, research participants, and Institutional Review Board Committee (IRB) members. In this study of the University of Nevada, LasVegas (UNLV) human subjects’ protection program administration, the question to be answered was: has the increased emphasis on education in the area of human subjects’ protection by the newly created Office of Protection of Research Subjects (OPRS) in 1999 at UNLV increased the number of protocols submissions for research conducted over the period of time from 1994-2002. My interest in this subject began in 1994 when I was hired to administer the human subjects program in the UNLV Office of Sponsored Programs under the Office of Research. I realized very quickly the responsibility that the Administrator held in educating researchers of the legal requirements and the great importance of human subject protection in research

Impact of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder on Educational Placement and Service Delivery

Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder face many changes within the school environment. Teachers strive to help these students meet those changes by providing for special learning and behavior needs. This study obtained teacher responses to examine demographic data, disability categories, placement, and educational treatment of children clinically diagnosed and/or suspected of having Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorders . Of the 76 teacher surveys returned, 107 students were reported to have or were suspected of having Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder . Forty-five were identified as learning disabled, seven were considered behavior disordered, seven were receiving speech services, seven others were health impaired, three were diagnosed as educable mentally handicapped, one was diagnosed as trainable mentally handicapped, and nineteen had no disability category. This survey indicated the most common placement for students diagnosed or suspected of having Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder\u27\u27 is the regular education classroom. Results indicated over 80% of the students clinically diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder were taking Ritalin as medication for Attention Deficit Disorder symptoms. The most frequently implemented behavior interventions utilized with students suspected or diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder included time-out, one-to-one instruction, behavior modification, special seating arrangement, and modified assignment

What Ever Happened to the Arts, and Is Education Next?

This essay challenges a paradigm which views the arts as education\u27s overlooked and unappreciated sibling, with the voices of both historical and contemporary arts advocates. It will propose ways in which educators might again embrace a more holistic educational paradigm which allows the unknown, unpredictable, messy, and challenging processes and products visual arts actualize. Finally, in-progress research will suggest that educator-preparation programs must model arts-infused curricula and pedagogical practices not only for the reasons addressed in this text, but also to empower systemic transformation in K-higher education

Impact of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder on Educational Placement and Service Delivery

Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder face many changes within the school environment. Teachers strive to help these students meet those changes by providing for special learning and behavior needs. This study obtained teacher responses to examine demographic data, disability categories, placement, and educational treatment of children clinically diagnosed and/or suspected of having Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorders . Of the 76 teacher surveys returned, 107 students were reported to have or were suspected of having Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder . Forty-five were identified as learning disabled, seven were considered behavior disordered, seven were receiving speech services, seven others were health impaired, three were diagnosed as educable mentally handicapped, one was diagnosed as trainable mentally handicapped, and nineteen had no disability category. This survey indicated the most common placement for students diagnosed or suspected of having Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder\u27\u27 is the regular education classroom. Results indicated over 80% of the students clinically diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder were taking Ritalin as medication for Attention Deficit Disorder symptoms. The most frequently implemented behavior interventions utilized with students suspected or diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder included time-out, one-to-one instruction, behavior modification, special seating arrangement, and modified assignment

The Impact of a Culturally Responsive Intervention on Perceived Career Barriers, Ethnic Identity, Student Motivation and Engagement, and Career Decision Making Self-Efficacy of Middle School Minority Females

This study investigated the impact of a culturally responsive intervention on perceived career barriers, ethnic identity, student motivation and engagement, and career decision making self-efficacy of middle school minority females. The author analyzed data from the Female Leadership Academy for Minority Excellence (FLAME) program at a local rural middle school. Data was collected from 34 Black female middle school students who participated in the program. The study was a repeated measures quasi-experimental, quantitative single group pre-test, mid-test, and post-test design. According to results from a series of repeated measures ANOVAs, significant differences were found between pre-group, mid-group, and post-group scores. Upon further analysis, significant differences were found between specific subscales of the student motivation and engagement survey. Specifically, differences were found between pre-group and mid-group and pre-group and post-group scores on the Performance Approach Orientation (ME_PerfApproach) subscale. Differences were also found between pre-group and post-group scores on the self-efficacy subscale (ME_SelfE) as well as between pre-group and mid-group and between mid-group and post-group scores for the Engagement Behavioral subscale (ME_Bx). Regarding the last research question, significant differences were found between pre-group and post-group and mid-group and post-group scores when examining perceived career barriers. The results from the Career Decision Making Self-Efficacy and the Ethnic Identity scale did not yield significant results. These results provide initial support in suggesting that culturally responsive career development programs do impact career development of minority middle school females especially in the areas of student motivation and engagement and perceived career barriers

DEVELOPING LEADERS IN HIGHER EDUCATION: UNIVERSITY FACULTY EXPLORE SELF-MENTORING™

In higher education, where new faculty may lack assurance to lead in the university setting and where it is critical for faculty to learn how to lead successfully in this environment, self-mentoring can provide a means for faculty to build confidence through self-developmentto which all faculty, new and existing, can become leaders in any setting. Faculty in higher education is akin to other systems when it comes to providing a strong program of support for newly hired instructors. Brightman (2005) suggests there are three components for teaching to improve at the college level. The first two factors are a valid and reliable student evaluation instrument accompanied by a norming report for comparative and diagnostic information. The third, and what is believed to be the most significant, is a mentoring process. The purpose of this paper is to review practices of support that are available to new faculty with focus on a study applying self-mentoring, a new program that has recently gained international attention