Browsing by Subject "Transition"
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Item A descriptive study of educational professionals’ knowledge of transition assessment for individuals(2012-08) Tucker, Kathryn; Lock, Robin; Brown, Donna; DiAndreth-Elkins, LeannTransition planning requires implementation and direction by the findings of transition assessment regarding the student's needs, strengths, preferences and interests as mandated in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, 2004 (IDEA, 2004). Limited research is currently available that addresses what assessment tools practitioners utilize to meet the mandates of transition assessment to aid in transition planning for students with intellectual disabilities. The descriptive study reported herein attempted to determine educators’ knowledge about transition assessment practices and what is being utilized, specifically with students with intellectual disabilities as they transition from secondary to postsecondary life. This study employed the replication of a previously published study.Item A Phenomenological Exploration of Combat Veterans? Experiences as They Transition to Civilian Employment Using Higher Education as Career Development(2014-01-09) Minnis, SarahWhen enlisted combat arms military service members return from deployment and enter or reenter the American workforce, they often find it challenging to explain their Military Occupation Specialty (MOS) positions and associated responsibilities and accomplishments to employers. Particularly in an economy that has gone from being prosperous to becoming stagnant and recessed in recent years, veterans have returned from military service to find increased competition for fewer jobs that are mostly at the lower end of the skill requirements and pay scale. Many service members have utilized higher education as career development to mitigate the transition from being a military service member to being a civilian employee. The purpose of this study was to explore, using hermeneutic phenomenology, the lived experiences and feelings of combat arms veterans about the transition process from higher education to the civilian work environment while allowing veterans to share their feelings about their experiences in their own words. The aim of this research was to better understand the veterans? perceptions of their career development transition to civilian employment in order to identify strategies to assist them through the transition and into civilian employment. Seven veterans of military service in the infantry were identified with purposeful sampling from the population of OEF/OIF veterans with combat arms MOSs pursuing higher education at a large southwestern university. Because there is no direct civilian employment correlate for the combat arms MOS, it necessitates that the participants identify new career directions. Participants were at least junior level in their education at the time of interview. Each participant was interviewed twice face-to-face with hermeneutic interviews conducted three weeks apart. Themes that emerged from my review of the research data are reflective of the phenomena occurring within the veteran participants? career development experiences as they move through and move out of higher education into civilian employment. The themes that emerged from the participants? stories of their experiences share common roots of power and have intertwining branches: new structures, new systems, and new relationships that impact the veterans? career development. Feelings of fear and hope about their career development and future civilian employment are part of the veterans? career transition process and experiences as illustrated in the data. This process and the constructs brought into relief from analysis provide the answers to the research questions posited about infantry veterans? experiences using higher education as career development for civilian employment. While they expressed a clear understanding of their skills and capabilities gained through military service that they believed should be of value in civilian employment, the participants also acknowledged their concerns and worries that their experiences and abilities to contribute in civilian employment would not be recognized.Item Barriers present in the culture of special education and their influence on family determination development(2015-05) Roth, Melanie Jane; Flower, Andrea L.; Pazey, BarbaraThirteen qualitative studies that included direct quotes of participants were reviewed and analyzed to determine the barriers present in special education culture and how the barriers influence the development of family determination and the successful transition of families and their children out of the education system. It was concluded that barriers present were conflicting definitions, mistrust of educators and families, and withholding social capital from the others. It was further concluded that the barriers influenced family determination by preventing the families from contributing to meetings and fostering professional’s misinterpretations of family determination. Implications for future practice, recommendations of future research, and limitations of the meta-synthesis were included.Item Clinical considerations in speech therapy for female-to-male transgender populations(2013-05) Maurer, Elizabeth Hobbs; Byrd, Courtney T.Purpose: The purposes of the present study consisted of primary, secondary, and tertiary purposes: 1) to determine what factors that can be addressed in speech therapy are the most important for female-to-male (FtM) transgender individuals in passing as their true gender, 2) to determine what factors may contribute to these individuals seeking speech therapy services and to the importance that they assign to speech therapy as part of the transition process, and 3) to determine awareness of this population in regards to the availability and scope of speech therapy services relative to transitioning or passing as their true gender. Method: A 38-item survey was developed to address these research questions and a link to the online survey was distributed via email to various listservs, organizations, and personal contacts to assist in the electronic distribution of the survey link. The responses of the final participant pool of 63 respondents were evaluated. Results: Overall, the participants ranked voice characteristics as the most important for passing followed by nonverbal communication and social language use. These broad categories rankings are generally supported by the existing literature. Within category rankings revealed rankings that are in accord with the existing literature, others that oppose the existing literature, and others that have not been explored in the literature. The following factors stood out as possibly contributing to how important FtMs find speech therapy as facilitating their ability to live as their true gender: desire to pass, satisfaction with hormone related pitch changes, current overall presentation, and whether speech/language contribute to instances of not passing. Factors that appear to possibly contribute to how likely FtMs are to have sought speech therapy include: satisfaction with hormone related pitch changes, voice prior to transition, and if aspects of speech and language contribute to instances of not passing. Overall, FtMs have little awareness regarding speech therapy as part of the transition process, particularly for FtMs.Item Distributed Roughness Receptivity in a Flat Plate Boundary Layer(2014-04-18) Kuester, Matthew ScottSurface roughness can affect boundary layer transition by acting as a receptivity mechanism for transient growth. Several experiments have investigated transient growth created by discrete roughness elements; however, very few experiments have studied transient growth initiated by distributed surface roughness. Some of the work in this field predicts a "shielding" effect, where smaller distributed roughness displaces the boundary layer away from the wall and shields larger roughness peaks from the incoming boundary layer. This dissertation describes an experiment specifically designed to study the shielding effect. Three roughness configurations, a deterministic distributed roughness patch, a slanted rectangle, and the combination of the two, were manufactured using rapid prototyping and installed flush with the wall in a flat plate boundary layer. The main objective was to compare the wakes of the discrete roughness and the combined roughness to examine if the distributed roughness shields the discrete roughness. Naphthalene flow visualization and hotwire anemometry were used to characterize the boundary layer in the wakes of the different roughness configurations. For roughness Reynolds numbers (Re_(k)) between 113 and 230, the distributed roughness initiated small amplitude disturbances that underwent transient growth. The discrete roughness element created a pair of high- and low-speed streaks in the boundary layer at a sub-critical Reynolds number (Re_(k) = 151). At a higher Reynolds number (Re_(k) = 220), the discrete element created a turbulent wedge 15 boundary layer thicknesses downstream. When the distributed roughness was added around the discrete roughness, the wake amplitude decreased at the sub-critical Reynolds number, and transition was delayed by two boundary layer thicknesses at the higher Reynolds number. The distributed roughness redirects energy from longer spanwise wavelength modes to shorter spanwise wavelength modes. The presence of the distributed roughness also decreased the growth rate of secondary instabilities in the roughness wake. This dissertation documents the first detailed measurements of transient growth over streamwise-extended distributed roughness and demonstrates that the shielding effect has the potential to delay roughness-induced transition. The results from this experiment lay the ground work for future studies of roughness receptivity and transient growth.Item Effectiveness of transition interventions within correctional settings(2015-08) House, Lexy Shyler; Flower, Andrea L.; Powell, SarahYouth with disabilities represent a large percentage of the population of youth in juvenile detention facilities. Research concerning this population is critical particularly for youth transitioning from juvenile detention to community settings. This report aims to answer two research questions: (1) To what degree is transition into community settings from juvenile detention facilities studied for youth with disabilities? (2) What are the effects of interventions aimed at transition into the community from juvenile detention facilities for youth with disabilities? After an extensive search using various methods including an electronic search, ancestral search, and hand searches, several articles were collected. Application of the inclusion criteria yielded eight studies. Of these eight studies, only three could be examined for the effect of transition interventions on youth with disabilities. Interventions were psychosocial, educational, or vocational in nature. Results indicated a critical need to advance effective intervention/transitional programs to reduce recidivism and reentry rates. Such intervention must begin immediately during incarceration and continue well after release in order to be successful. Intervention and transition programs must also be individualized to the particular youth’s circumstances in order to optimize successful outcomes. Implications, limitations, and future research are also addressed.Item EXPLORING WHY SOME BILINGUAL STUDENTS HAVE LOW ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE WHILE OTHERS SUCCEED AFTER TRANSITIONING INTO ALL-ENGLISH INSTRUCTIONAL SETTINGS AT AN INNER CITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL(2012-04-19) Rodriguez, Alexander; Warner, Allen; MacNeil, Angus; Zou, Yali; Ruban, LiliaThe steady influx of English Language Learners (ELLs) into today’s public school system has led to a myriad of issues concerning bilingual students’ academic performance. Investigating academic performance disparities should examine the reasons why some bilingual students, who are academically successful while they are in a bilingual program, do not perform as well after transitioning into all-English instructional settings when the majority of their peers do. Two research questions addressed the following: (1) determining reasons why students perform well academically while enrolled in bilingual programs but experience performance dips after transitioning into an all-English classroom, and (2) how elementary bilingual and/or ESL teachers' practices, attitudes, knowledge and beliefs regarding English Language Learners relate to their students’ later success in all-English settings. Data were collected through a mix-methods approach. Quantitative data were obtained through a 43-item Likert-scale survey instrument previously developed and validated, supplemented with qualitative, structured, open-ended interviews. The research questions were analyzed using statistical analyses of the survey data using SPSS 17.00 software and qualitative data analysis of the focus groups. Data analysis for survey items was conducted using three separate t-tests to examine differences between two groups of teachers. Demographic variables were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data was recorded, transcribed and analyzed into common and overarching themes. Qualitative analysis results show that participants believe the main reasons why students have low academic achievement after transition is related to low proficiency in the area of English as a second language; lack of formal English as a second language instruction, especially in the areas of vocabulary and comprehension; inadequate implementation of the bilingual program model, and students’ early exit. Finally, a previously validated survey instrument was used to explore constructs. The results show no statistically significant difference across teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs toward ELLs.Item Facies variability in deep water channel-to-lobe transition zone : Jurassic Los Molles Formation, Neuquen Basin, Argentina(2014-05) Tudor, Eugen Petrut; Steel, R. J.; Olariu, CornelThis study focuses on the facies changes from the lower slope to toe-of-slope to basin floor over a 10 km outcrop belt, in down-dip and oblique-strike directions to the basin margin. The Jurassic Los Molles Formation in Neuquen Basin, Argentina represents the slope and basin floor of basin margin clinoforms, coeval with the shallow water and fluvial deposits named Las Lajas and Challaco formations respectively. The shallow and deep water deposits are diachronously linked in an Early-Mid Jurassic source-to-sink system developed in a back-arc basin during the incipient development of the Andes Mountains. Satellite images, high resolution panorama pictures and measured sections were used to correlate and interpret the spatial variability and overall geometry of the base of slope to basin floor units. The observations of this study refine the model for the channel-to-lobe transition zone with increase recognition and quantification of facies and architecture variability. The Los Molles basin margin was coarse grained and was ideal to observe changes in the geometry and depositional facies of channel-to-lobe deposits from updip to downdip continuous over an 8 km outcrop belt. The described channel-to-lobe transition zone clearly shows a downdip change in bed boundaries from dominantly erosive to non-erosional (bypass) to depositional and with a range of distinct facies changes. In the transition zone the sand to shale ratio is high (N:G: 65-70 %), with gutter casts and deep scours, with a high degree of amalgamation, gravel lags, mud rip-up clasts and laterally migrating beds. Within the same depositional unit (deep water lobe), at the base of the slope, the dominant sandstone beds change from amalgamated structureless and normal graded sandstone beds in the channelized lobe axis to parallel laminated and normally graded in the channelized lobe off-axis areas. Similar facies changes have been observed along proximal to distal direction. The lateral change of the dominant structures in the beds indicates changes in the flow regime and depositional style.Item Female veterans face complex transition, high unemployment(2015-05) Kulshrestha, Kritika Pramod; Todd, Russell; Rivas-Rodriguez, MaggieJulie Puzan left Falls City, Texas, to join the Air Force in September 2003 as soon as she completed high school. Over the next six years, she was deployed to Guam twice as a weapons loader. In 2009 she left the service. That’s when things got tough. When she mustered out, she knew she needed help getting back in civilian life. She just didn’t know where to get it. Eventually she navigated the maze of assistance programs for vets and began putting her life together. Help was out there, but it was hard to find. She also realized that a flood of female vets was coming home to assistance that had been designed for men. Lots of programs dealt with problems like combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder, but few were out there to treat the aftermath of sexual assaults and other challenges faced by females. Puzan is among 2.3 million female veterans in or entering the American work force after America's recent series of wars. The economy hasn't been good at absorbing these veterans. The V.A. and other veterans organizations are beginning to reach out to female vets, but find themselves behind the curve given the fast growth of the population they serve. As long as that's true, female vets will have to look hard to find the help they need in a system designed for males.Item Hearing their stories : the experiences of general education development (GED) graduates in transitioning to and persisting in community college(2012-05) Harris, Mary Elizabeth; Sharpe, Edwin Reese; Kameen, Marilyn C.; Ovando, Martha; Chesney, Lee; Christensen, KathleenThis dissertation reports the results of a qualitative study conducted at a community college in central Texas. Through a grounded theory approach, participant stories were used to capture the experiences of adults with a GED who transitioned to and were persisting in college. Research questions used to guide the study were: (1) What factors contribute to the decision of adults with a GED to enroll in community college; and (2) What factors do adults with a GED report influence their persistence in community college? Eight students participated in the study through individual interviews. Student demographic information was reviewed to develop a thorough and accurate profile of the study participants. Also, three Recruiting/Advising Specialists were interviewed to capture their perceptions on the experiences of GED graduates in transitioning to and persisting in college. This research demonstrated the positive effect education can have in the lives of the participants and their families. After having little to no previous exposure to higher education, students developed a realization that education was an imperative in order to improve their quality of life. This realization was instrumental in the decision by the study participants to pursue a GED and transition to college. Through the assistance of intrusive advising by Recruiting/Advising Specialists, students were able to successfully navigate the college system. Support during GED preparation was established in the GED classroom and continued for most students throughout their transition to college. When in college, students were comfortable developing relationships with faculty in order to have a source of academic support. Eventually students had a network of student and academic support that gave them a sense of belonging at the college.Item Identity and meaning making of student veterans transitioning to college(2012-08) Green, Leigh; Bradley, Loretta J.; Parr, Jerry; Duemer, Lee S.Student veterans are returning to higher education institutions in increasing numbers with the advent of the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill. With over 1.64 million veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) eligible to enter higher education, the campus community needs more information on the needs of enrolling veterans. The purpose of this study is increase the knowledge base of the identity and meaning making of student veterans as it relates to their transition into university life. Research questions focused on transition issues, identity and meaning making of student veterans as they transitioned from combat deployments to college. Participants included veterans who had been deployed as combat veterans during the OIF and OEF campaigns and were attending the research institution at the time of the study. Qualitative research methods were utilized to gain a personal understanding of the participants’ perceptions of their transition, identity, and meaning making experiences. Grounded research directed the methodological basis for the research since it dictates a constant comparative method when analyzing data. Kegan’s Order’s of Consciousness guided the interpretation on the student veterans’ perception of their meaning making structure. Results concluded that student veterans viewed themselves as separate from the campus community. The perceptions of transition issues from this study are divided among the following five themes: (1) Maturity, (2) Camaraderie, (3) Frustration with the College Experience, (4) Structure and Routine, and (5) Invisibility and Isolation. Additionally, student veterans illustrated the third and fourth stage of Kegan’s Order’s of Consciousness. Recommendations for future practice include educating the campus community on the needs of student veterans, promoting programs that assist the transition of student veterans to campus, investigating the needs of female veterans, and incorporating the multicultural counseling competencies into interactions with student veterans.Item Interactions Between Wear Mechanisms in a WC-Co / Ti-6Al-4V Machining Tribosystem(2014-12-11) Bai, QiongThe objective of this research work is to identify and analyze the interactions between wear mechanisms in a machining tribosystem, and to confirm the fundamental physicochemical material interaction behavior through tribometric tests. The machining tribosystem under study involves dry turning of a grade-5 titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) with uncoated tungsten carbide-cobalt (WC-Co) cutting tools. The interactions being investigated involve both individual and combinations of macro and microstructural wear mechanisms that are predominantly force or temperature controlled. The worn surface obtained with different operational parameters was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the elemental composition analyzed by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). In addition, the topology of worn tools was characterized through scanning by a 3D optical surface profiler. The following major interactions were observed. At low cutting speeds, adhesion of Ti alloy and minor diffusion of C was observed (which increases with feed). At medium and high cutting speeds, the increased diffusion of Co led to WC grain pullout forming a crater, followed by the adhesion of Ti alloy. Also, at low feed rates C pullout and deposition was observed. Machining process conditions were appropriately represented in ball-on-disc tribometric bench tests to study the associated material behavior ? two of the above interactions were confirmed. These led to recommendations to increase productivity by enabling selective wear mechanism interactions (though parameter selection) thus providing a better understanding of how the final worn tool surface is generated.Item Language as a marker of CEO transition and company performance(2013-05) Kacewicz, Ewa; Pennebaker, James W.An increasing number of researchers are beginning to explore leadership effectiveness in the context of language. To gain a better understanding of what constitutes an effective leader, particularly in the context of transition (exiting or entering leadership role), the current project examined Chief Executive Officer (CEO) language use in quarterly conference calls and its' association with company performance. Three research questions were asked: 1) What language patterns are associated with an outgoing CEO versus an incoming CEO? 2) To what degree does CEO language change depending on whether company performance increases or decreases in the year prior to exiting tenure or subsequent to their entering tenure 3) To what degree does CEO language predict company performance and company performance predict language use? In order to answer these questions, language use in the question and answer portion of quarterly conference calls was examined for 215 companies in the year prior to old CEO departure and in the first year for new CEO. Computerized text analysis was used to examine language associated with self-focus, other-focus, and positive and negative affect. Results suggest that old and new CEOs use distinctive language patterns when they are entering and exiting their leadership positions. Language was found to predict company performance and company performance was found to predict language. The current project points to the power of language as a tool to explore leadership effectiveness in the context of transition. Specifically, language analysis can help identify degree of old CEO detachment and new CEO assimilation within their company. In addition, language can be used as a marker of company performance.Item Middle school transition : the role of timing and school characteristics(2010-12) Holas, Igor; Huston, Aletha C.; Crosnoe, Robert L.; Kim, Su YeongAchievement and school involvement of children in middle schools in 5th and 6th grades are compared to those of same-grade peers in elementary schools. Both classroom quality and school structure (size and composition) are tested as mediators in a national longitudinal sample of about 900 youth. The results indicate: a) youth in middle schools achieve at least as well as their same-grade peers in elementary schools, but those in middle schools have lower school attachment; b) middle and elementary schools have equivalent classroom quality, but differ in size and student composition; c) the lower school involvement of 6th grade middle school students is attributable to school size; d) the results are similar for boys and girls.Item Near-field flow structures and transient growth due to subcritical surface roughness(2010-05) Doolittle, Charles Jae, 1985-; Goldstein, David Benjamin, doctor of aeronautics; Tinney, CharlesAn immersed boundary spectral method is used to simulate laminar boundary layer flow over a periodic array of cylindrical surface roughness elements. Direct comparisons are made with experiments by using a roughness-based Reynolds number Re[subscript k] of 216 and a diameter to spanwise spacing ratio d/[lamda] of 1/3. Near-field differences between three similar studies are presented and addressed. The shear layer developed over the roughness element produces the downstream velocity deficit region while splitting of the vortex sheet shed the trailing edge forms its lateral modes. Additional geometrical configurations are simulated for comparisons with experimental results and future analysis by linear stability theory. Total disturbance energy E[subscript rms] is fairly consistent with experimental results while spanwise energy components vary significantly. Physical relaxation of the disturbance wake is found to remain a prominent issue for this simulation technique.Item The perceptibility of duration in the phonetics and phonology of contrastive consonant length(2012-05) Hansen, Benjamin Bozzell; Myers, Scott P.; Crowhurst, Megan; King, Robert; Lindblom, Björn; Sussman, HarveyThis dissertation investigates the hypothesis that the more vowel-like a consonant is, the more difficult it is for listeners to classify it as geminate or singleton. A perceptual account of this observation holds that more vowel-like consonants lack clear markers to signal the beginning and ending of the consonant, so listeners don’t perceive the precise duration and consequently the phonological contrast may be neutralized in some languages. Three experiments were performed to address these questions using data from Persian speakers. In Experiment I, four speakers produced singleton and geminate tokens of the voiced oral consonants [d,z,n,l,j] and the glottals [h] and glottal stop at three speaking rates. It was found that Persian speakers do distinguish geminate durations from singleton durations for all manners even at very fast speaking rates, and vowels preceding geminates are slightly longer than those preceding singletons. Speaking rate had more of an effect on geminates than on singletons for all segments studied: the durations of the geminates decreased more in fast speech than the durations of the singletons did. In Experiment II, listeners heard manipulated continua of consonants ranging from singletons to geminates. Subjects’ identification curves were modeled using the cumulative Gaussian model. The modeled standard deviation was interpreted as the breadth of the perceptual threshold, and a broader threshold understood to indicate a less distinct perceptual boundary between the two categories. Obstruents [d,z] had smaller breadth values than the sonorants [n,l,j], and the glottals had the largest breadth values of all. This indicates that while sonorants were more difficult for listeners to categorize than obstruents, the glottals were the most difficult to categorize of the segments tested. Experiment III tested whether the modification of a specific parameter, the formant transition duration, would affect the perceptibility of the geminate/singleton contrast. A single token containing the glide [j] was manipulated to produce three different continua, each having a distinctly different manipulated transition: short, normal or long. It was found that the longer the transition was, the broader the perceptual threshold, thus making the consonant harder to categorize.Item Predictors of employment and post-secondary education outcomes among transition age youth with learning disabilities who accessed vocational rehabilitation services(2014-05) Ji, Eun; Schaller, James L., active 2013This study examined the relationships between consumer demographic/VR service variables and employment outcomes/weekly earnings/level of education for 25,218 individuals ranging from 15 to 18 years old with learning disabilities from the Rehabilitation Services Administration data in 2012. To explore predictors of employment outcomes and the level of education, the participants were randomly split for cross-validation purposes into Sample 1 and Sample 2. A separate logistic regression was run for each sample, and variables (e.g. African American, job placement, college training, and occupational training) were statistically significant in predicting successful employment outcomes. In addition, service variables including African American status, college training, and occupational training were found to be statistically significantly to predict the level of education for transition-aged youth with learning disabilities. Weekly earnings for White males and females combined were statistically higher than African American males and females combined. Suggested hypotheses and implications for practice and future research are provided.Item Predictors of postsecondary educational and employment outcomes for transition age state-federal vocational rehabilitation consumers with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)(2015-05) Glynn, Kathleen Mary; Schaller, James L.; Sorrells, Audrey M; Brooks, Gene I; Seay, Penelope C; Flower, Andrea LThis study examined the relationships among consumer demographic and vocational rehabilitation case service predictor variables and employment/postsecondary educational outcome variables for transition age consumers with ADHD ages 16-19 and 20-24. Utilizing the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) 911 data file from the 2012 fiscal year, logistic regression was used to examine predictors of successful employment outcomes and postsecondary educational attainment at case closure for each age group. Differences in weekly earnings at closure for White, African American and Hispanic/Latino males and females were examined using Analysis of Variance. Independent measures t-tests were used to examine mean earnings between consumers who received college training as a case service and those who were not provided with this service. Results revealed similarities and differences between the two age groups. Nearly 80% percent of transition age consumers with ADHD were in the younger age group. Race was a statistically significant demographic variable with Hispanic/Latino ethnicity related to successful employment and postsecondary educational outcome whereas African American status was negatively related to both successful employment and postsecondary educational outcome. Public support was also negatively related to successful employment outcome in both age groups. Job placement assistance, job search assistance, and on the job supports significantly predicted successful employment outcomes in both age groups. Gender, race/ethnicity and level of education were demographic predictors of postsecondary educational outcomes. Female and Hispanic/Latino consumers were more likely to have attained postsecondary education. Assessment, college training, occupational training, maintenance, rehabilitation technology and information and referral all positively predicted postsecondary educational attainment. On the job supports, job readiness training, job placement assistance, and miscellaneous training had a negative relationship to postsecondary educational attainment. Statistically significant differences were found in weekly earnings across race in both age groups and between men and women in the younger age group only. White males earned more than any other group and Hispanic/Latino consumers earned lower wages, despite having higher levels of education and employment. In both age groups, consumers receiving college training as a case service earned significantly more per week at closure than those who were not provided this service. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.Item Racially/ethnically diverse young adults with developmental disabilities : lived experiences of self-determination(2012-12) Jones, Kristen Elizabeth; Sorrells, Audrey McCraySelf-determination is a much researched topic in transition literature. However, very little is known about self-determination experiences in transition-age young adults who are racially/ethnically diverse with developmental disabilities as relates to their home/personal life and school/work life. It is recognized that differences do exist of self-determination by these individuals in various settings but the specifics remain unknown.Item Students from India at a Major Research University in the United States: A Phenomenological Study of Transition, Adjustment, and Transformation(2011-08-08) Chennamsetti, PrashantiThe purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the phenomena of transition, adjustment, and transformation among adult graduate students from India, who made the transition to Nurture University in the southwestern part of the United States. According to Open Doors 2008, since 2001, a majority of the international students in U.S. higher education has been from India. Because of the significant cultural gap between India and the United States, Indian students encounter adjustment difficulties in the host country. To overcome such difficulties, students apply several coping strategies, which in turn lead to a transformational change among them. The transitional adjustment literature on the experiences of the students from India has been very limited. This lack of attention to Indian students, despite the fact that their percentage has been increasing in the U.S. higher education, is an issue of concern and, therefore, calls for research. To achieve this goal, a phenomenological data analysis process presented by Moustakas's modified version of Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen's method was utilized. Data analysis generated the following themes: individual experiences, situational experiences, coping strategies/suggestions, and personal transformation. Under individual experiences, the participants described their experiences in the United States, and differences between their expectations and experiences in relation to Nurture University and general living. Under the situational experiences, study participants described the differences between being a student in the United States versus in India, and the differences between the academic systems of United States and that of India. Further, the application of imaginative variation in step 7 of the data analysis led to the identification of two sub-themes under the theme individual experiences: individual factors that helped in adjustment and individual factors that hindered adjustment in the United States. Sub-themes identified under situational experiences were situational factors that helped in adjustment and situational factors that hindered adjustment in the United States. This study has implications for the home country, host country, adult education, higher education, policy, theory and future research. To ensure the trustworthiness of the data, qualitative procedures such as Epoche, thick descriptions of the phenomenon of transition and member checks, were employed.