Lawrence Farmer - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Lawrence Farmer
Youth, 2022
Addressing the interpersonal challenges that students with Emotional Disturbance (ED) classificat... more Addressing the interpersonal challenges that students with Emotional Disturbance (ED) classifications experience is critical to their success in and outside the school setting. Improving their self- and social awareness will strengthen their ability to navigate social relationships in and outside school. The planning and evaluation of interventions targeting the development of self- and social awareness requires psychometrically sound assessment instruments. Using the Graded Response Item Response Theory (GRM) approach, this study provides evidence of the reliability of the self- and social awareness subscale of the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA) among students with an ED classification. The study participants were a sample of 449 youth attending schools serving students classified as emotionally disturbed in self-contained and inclusion settings. The examination of GRM item parameters (i.e., item discrimination and difficulty) and the information curves (i.e., test a...
American Journal of Educational Research, 2021
This study used two waves of data from a multi-dimensional social and emotional measure to examin... more This study used two waves of data from a multi-dimensional social and emotional measure to examine the role that foundational SEL skills (i.e., Self-Management, Self-Awareness, Social Awareness) and Optimistic Thinking play in developing applied SEL skills (i.e., Goal-Directed Behavior, Personal Responsibility, Relationship Skills, and Decision Making). This study provided evidence that students classified as emotionally disturbed (ED) can benefit from SEL instruction that is embedded within multitiered, positive behavioral support interventions. There was an association between various foundational SEL skills (i.e., Self-Management, Self-Awareness, Social Awareness) and developing applied SEL skills (i.e., Goal-Directed Behavior, Personal Responsibility, Relationship Skills, and Decision Making) over an academic school year. While Optimistic Thinking is not one of the central social-emotional competencies in the CASEL framework, this study provided evidence of its ability to contri...
Handbook of Research on Supporting Social and Emotional Development Through Literacy Education, 2021
Teacher social emotional competence has been connected to literacy development as well as broader... more Teacher social emotional competence has been connected to literacy development as well as broader academic outcomes through the domains of Emotional Support and Classroom Organization of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). Despite these findings, teacher development has yet to place an emphasis on social emotional skill development in line with such research. Drawing on diffusion of innovations literature, the authors offer a conceptual model that ties teacher social emotional skill development directly to the instructional support domain of the CLASS, thereby increasing the compatibility of social emotional learning to teaching and learning outcomes, including literacy. The analysis identified perspective-taking and social cue recognition as key opportunities for instructionally-aligned teacher social emotional skill development. The authors make recommendations for methods to increase these skills for teachers.
Social Work Research, 2000
Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) techniques have had significant impact on the evaluation of mu... more Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) techniques have had significant impact on the evaluation of multilevel theoretical models in a variety of disciplines (that is, educational research, criminology, organizational psychology, economics, and family therapy; see Bryk & Raudenbush, 1987,1992; Draper, 1995; Hoeksma & Koomen, 1992; Hox & Kreft, 1994; Kreft & Leeuw, 1998; Moritz & Watson, 1998; Raudenbush, Brennan, & Barnett, 1995; Rogosa & Saner, 1995a, 1995b; Sampson, Raudenbush, & Earls, 1997; Thum, 1997; Vancouver, 1997). Despite its effect, HLM does not allow researchers to examine covariance structure models, such as factor analysis, path analysis, and structural equation models. Recognizing this limitation, researchers (for example, Harnqvist, 1978; Muthen, 1994; Muthen & Satorra, 1989) have extended HLM to the analysis of multilevel structural equation models, which is referred to as multilevel covariance analysis (MCA). This article illustrates the use of MCA by evaluating the multilevel nature of students' perceptions of school safety. The article provides readers with an overview of MCA, discuss its application to social work research, and demonstrates how Mplus 1.0, a structural equation model (SEM) program, can be used to analyze MCA models. Multilevel Covariance Analysis--Definition and Uses MCA represents an extension of hierarchical linear multivariate modeling to those situations that involve covariance structure models, such as factor analysis, path analysis, and structural equation modeling. The research and theory used to achieve this extension is based on the work of Muthen and colleagues (Muthen, 1994; Muthen & Muthen, 1998; Muthen & Satorra, 1989). Given the hierarchical nature of social and organizational behavior, social workers have a keen interest in multilevel analysis techniques. For example, these techniques help social workers gain a better understanding of the effects of both community characteristics and individual characteristics on residents' perceptions of neighborhood safety (see, for example, Sampson et al., 1997). MCA has several advantages and potential uses for social workers. Like HLM, the primary advantage is found in its ability to simultaneously estimate both within- and between-setting variance, and therefore more accurately estimate individual's outcomes within the setting (Muthen, 1994). MCA allows social workers to study the contribution to the variations in individuals' behavior that are associated with between-context variations and idiosyncrasies of individuals or their experiences. For example, it allows school social workers to examine the contribution that differences in school climate, compared to parent's cultural capital, play in student's academic progress. Like SEM, MCA makes use of two methodological traditions: Thurstonian factor analysis and simultaneous equation (path analytic) modeling (Kaplan & Elliott, 1997). These two methodologies allow social workers to develop statistical models that acknowledge the relationship among predictors and their direct and indirect relationships to outcome variables. In other words, MCA allows a social worker to examine the role that various community resources have on activism when both the relationships among community resources and individual's temperament are taken into account. In addition, MCA allows social workers to represent complex theoretical constructs as latent variables. For example, social workers studying sibling social behavior could represent social behavior as a latent variable, that is, composed of indicators of adaptive and maladaptive social functioning. In addition, the relationship among predictors of social functioning, for example, parental discipline and conflict resolution styles, could be studied. Advantages of MCA MCA seeks to incorporate SEM's ability to capture the complexity of multivariate relationships with HLM's ability to capture the nested nature of those relationships, both of which are needed to develop accurate statistical models of social phenomena. …
Research with Diverse Groups, 2014
Research with Diverse Groups, 2014
Research Designs and Multivariate Latent Modeling for Equivalence, 2014
Journal of Social Service Research, 2003
The stability and validity of two future orientation interests dimensions, matriculation/adulthoo... more The stability and validity of two future orientation interests dimensions, matriculation/adulthood tasks and generalized concerns with self and others, was assessed. Using a nationally representative sample of 10th grade (N = 16,842), 12th grade (N = 18,221) and high school dropouts, African, East Asian, European, and Mexican American students' support for the stability of the two dimensions was attained. The positive association between the two future orientation interests (FOI) dimensions and peers' perceived educational engagement and matriculation attitudes provides evidence for the FOI's construct validity. These findings suggest that there is a need to involve school social workers and other support school personnel in efforts to personalize the educational experience in a manner that connects youths' views of their possible future selves to the daily activities of schools.
Journal of Human Behavior in The Social Environment, 2009
This study focused on volunteerism and activism of African and European American women. This stud... more This study focused on volunteerism and activism of African and European American women. This study explored potential differences in the level and nature of civic engagement between African and European American. Additionally, differences in those factors that determine civic engagement activities between the women were examined. African American and European American female participants in the 2000 Social Capital Benchmark Survey provided the data for this study (Saguaro Seminar, 2001). African and European American women did not differ in the extent to which they reported working on community projects and volunteering in their places of worship. However, their patterns of activism differed. Implications for social work practice were addressed.
Journal of African American Studies, 2006
Using an ecological framework this study examines the relationships of micro- (personal character... more Using an ecological framework this study examines the relationships of micro- (personal characteristics and community commitment), mezzo-(trust and social network) and macro-level factors (social organization involvement and faith-based capital) and civic engagement, in a sample of African Americans males. Two research questions were examined: When micro-level factors are controlled for are macro- and mezzo- level factors predictive of civic engagement (i.e., civic activity behavior and charitable behavior)? What is the relative contribution of faith-based social capital and social organization involvement to civic engagement? African American male participants in the 2000 Social Capital Benchamark Survey provided the data for this study (Saguaro Seminar, 2001). Hierarchical Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression was used to address the study’s research questions. The findings highlight the importance of social organization involvement and the diversity of African American men’s individual’s social networks as predictors of their civic engagement.
Journal of Human Behavior in The Social Environment, 2005
Within the context of intimate interpersonal relationships, gender-based violence has a significa... more Within the context of intimate interpersonal relationships, gender-based violence has a significant impact on the social-emotional functioning and development of women. Our ability to determine the effectiveness of our efforts to reduce sexual violence is linked to our ability to assess those attitudes that condone sexual violence. This study examined the validity of college students' responses to the Scale for the Identification of Acquaintance Rape Attitudes (SIARA). The Scale for the Identification of Acquaintance Rape Attitudes is a measure designed to assess attitudes that are believed to be supportive of sexual violence within dating relationships. The sample consisted of 1,782 residential students in the first year class at a large, public university who participated in a sexual assault prevention program as part of a new student orientation. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that two dimensions, Sexual Expectations and Rape Mythology, could be used to characterize students' responses. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis and mean structure analysis confirmed that the two dimensions provided equivalent measurements of the underlying construct for male and female subjects. Implications for the use of SIARA as a program outcome measure will be discussed.
Journal of Human Behavior in The Social Environment, 2009
... Foubert, JD and Cowell, EA 2004. Perceptions of a rape prevention program by fraternity men a... more ... Foubert, JD and Cowell, EA 2004. Perceptions of a rape prevention program by fraternity men and male student athletes: Powerful effects and implications for changing behavior. NASPA Journal , 42(1): 120. View all references; Foubert & Perry, 200716. ...
This study evaluated the relative fit of both Finn's (1989) Participation-Identification and... more This study evaluated the relative fit of both Finn's (1989) Participation-Identification and Wehlage, Rutter, Smith, Lesko and Fernandez's (1989) School Membership models of high school completion to a sample of 4,597 eighth graders taken from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988, (NELS:88), utilizing structural equation modeling techniques. This study found support for the importance of educational engagement as a factor in understanding academic achievement. The Participation-Identification model was particularly well fitting when applied to the sample of high school completers, dropouts (both overall and White dropouts) and African-American students. This study also confirmed the contribution of school environmental factors (i.e., size, diversity of economic and ethnic status among students) and family resources (i.e., availability of learning resources in the home and parent educational level) to students' educational engagement. Based on these findings, school social workers will need to be more attentive to utilizing macro-level interventions (i.e., community organization, interagency coordination) to achieve the organizational restructuring needed to address future challenges. The support found for the Participation-Identification model supports a shift in school social workers' attention from reactive attempts to improve the affective-interpersonal lives of students to proactive attention to their academic lives. The model concentrates school social work practices on the central mission of schools, which is educational engagement. School social workers guided by this model would be encouraged to seek changes in school policies and organization that would facilitate educational engagement. ^
Social Work in Health Care, 2011
Highly visible public health education efforts have resulted in increased awareness of the childh... more Highly visible public health education efforts have resulted in increased awareness of the childhood obesity epidemic but not a related decline in the number of overweight children. The Transtheoretical Model was used to examine the associations among child risk factors, parent's knowledge of factors associated with childhood obesity and their access to healthy foods in their community and parent's stage of change (SOC) in making behavior changes to improve their child's diet and level of physical activity. Parents (n = 124) of children between 6-12 years of age were surveyed. Perceived weight of the child and the child's body mass index (BMI) were found to be associated with parent's SOC for food portions and dietary fats, yet this was not observed for the fruits and vegetables or physical activity domains. Food availability and parent's childhood obesity knowledge was not found to be associated with parent's SOC. This study provides evidence that intervention efforts that stress knowledge of the causes and harmful effects of being overweight may have limited effectiveness.
Journal of Social Service Research, 1999
This study of a sample of 4,044 eighth grade students taken from the National Educational Longitu... more This study of a sample of 4,044 eighth grade students taken from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) was designed to examine the contribution that zero-tolerance disciplinary policies, school climate, parents' and teachers' perceptions of disciplinary climate make to students' perceptions of the school's disciplinary climate. Additionally, this study examined whether school location (i.e., urban and suburban) and school type (i.e., public and private) are associated with differences in disciplinary practices, perceptions of school discipline and school climate. Zero-tolerance disciplinary policies were found to be both directly and indirectly associated with students' perceptions of fewer discipline problems. Additionally, private schools can be characterized as having: tougher discipline policies; less teacher concern about school discipline; more student concern about school discipline; and more positive perceptions of school climate among administrators and parents than their public school counterparts. Implications for social work practice are discussed.
This study sought to examine the direct and indirect associations between school size and parents... more This study sought to examine the direct and indirect associations between school size and parents' perceptions of the invitations for involvement provided by their children's school in a school system that has actively attempted to reduce the negative effects of school size. Using data from the New York Public Schools' annual Learning Environment Survey, path analysis was used to examine the role that school climate plays in mediating the relationship between school size and parents' perceptions of invitations for involvement. Results from an analysis of middle and high school parents who participated in the annual school survey provided evidence that parents' perceptions of safety and of respect from the school mediated the relationship between school size and perceptions of the extent of the invitations for involvement provided by the school. The indirect effect of school size via perception of safety and respect was larger than the direct effect of school size on parents' perceptions of invitation for involvement.
Youth, 2022
Addressing the interpersonal challenges that students with Emotional Disturbance (ED) classificat... more Addressing the interpersonal challenges that students with Emotional Disturbance (ED) classifications experience is critical to their success in and outside the school setting. Improving their self- and social awareness will strengthen their ability to navigate social relationships in and outside school. The planning and evaluation of interventions targeting the development of self- and social awareness requires psychometrically sound assessment instruments. Using the Graded Response Item Response Theory (GRM) approach, this study provides evidence of the reliability of the self- and social awareness subscale of the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA) among students with an ED classification. The study participants were a sample of 449 youth attending schools serving students classified as emotionally disturbed in self-contained and inclusion settings. The examination of GRM item parameters (i.e., item discrimination and difficulty) and the information curves (i.e., test a...
American Journal of Educational Research, 2021
This study used two waves of data from a multi-dimensional social and emotional measure to examin... more This study used two waves of data from a multi-dimensional social and emotional measure to examine the role that foundational SEL skills (i.e., Self-Management, Self-Awareness, Social Awareness) and Optimistic Thinking play in developing applied SEL skills (i.e., Goal-Directed Behavior, Personal Responsibility, Relationship Skills, and Decision Making). This study provided evidence that students classified as emotionally disturbed (ED) can benefit from SEL instruction that is embedded within multitiered, positive behavioral support interventions. There was an association between various foundational SEL skills (i.e., Self-Management, Self-Awareness, Social Awareness) and developing applied SEL skills (i.e., Goal-Directed Behavior, Personal Responsibility, Relationship Skills, and Decision Making) over an academic school year. While Optimistic Thinking is not one of the central social-emotional competencies in the CASEL framework, this study provided evidence of its ability to contri...
Handbook of Research on Supporting Social and Emotional Development Through Literacy Education, 2021
Teacher social emotional competence has been connected to literacy development as well as broader... more Teacher social emotional competence has been connected to literacy development as well as broader academic outcomes through the domains of Emotional Support and Classroom Organization of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). Despite these findings, teacher development has yet to place an emphasis on social emotional skill development in line with such research. Drawing on diffusion of innovations literature, the authors offer a conceptual model that ties teacher social emotional skill development directly to the instructional support domain of the CLASS, thereby increasing the compatibility of social emotional learning to teaching and learning outcomes, including literacy. The analysis identified perspective-taking and social cue recognition as key opportunities for instructionally-aligned teacher social emotional skill development. The authors make recommendations for methods to increase these skills for teachers.
Social Work Research, 2000
Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) techniques have had significant impact on the evaluation of mu... more Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) techniques have had significant impact on the evaluation of multilevel theoretical models in a variety of disciplines (that is, educational research, criminology, organizational psychology, economics, and family therapy; see Bryk & Raudenbush, 1987,1992; Draper, 1995; Hoeksma & Koomen, 1992; Hox & Kreft, 1994; Kreft & Leeuw, 1998; Moritz & Watson, 1998; Raudenbush, Brennan, & Barnett, 1995; Rogosa & Saner, 1995a, 1995b; Sampson, Raudenbush, & Earls, 1997; Thum, 1997; Vancouver, 1997). Despite its effect, HLM does not allow researchers to examine covariance structure models, such as factor analysis, path analysis, and structural equation models. Recognizing this limitation, researchers (for example, Harnqvist, 1978; Muthen, 1994; Muthen & Satorra, 1989) have extended HLM to the analysis of multilevel structural equation models, which is referred to as multilevel covariance analysis (MCA). This article illustrates the use of MCA by evaluating the multilevel nature of students' perceptions of school safety. The article provides readers with an overview of MCA, discuss its application to social work research, and demonstrates how Mplus 1.0, a structural equation model (SEM) program, can be used to analyze MCA models. Multilevel Covariance Analysis--Definition and Uses MCA represents an extension of hierarchical linear multivariate modeling to those situations that involve covariance structure models, such as factor analysis, path analysis, and structural equation modeling. The research and theory used to achieve this extension is based on the work of Muthen and colleagues (Muthen, 1994; Muthen & Muthen, 1998; Muthen & Satorra, 1989). Given the hierarchical nature of social and organizational behavior, social workers have a keen interest in multilevel analysis techniques. For example, these techniques help social workers gain a better understanding of the effects of both community characteristics and individual characteristics on residents' perceptions of neighborhood safety (see, for example, Sampson et al., 1997). MCA has several advantages and potential uses for social workers. Like HLM, the primary advantage is found in its ability to simultaneously estimate both within- and between-setting variance, and therefore more accurately estimate individual's outcomes within the setting (Muthen, 1994). MCA allows social workers to study the contribution to the variations in individuals' behavior that are associated with between-context variations and idiosyncrasies of individuals or their experiences. For example, it allows school social workers to examine the contribution that differences in school climate, compared to parent's cultural capital, play in student's academic progress. Like SEM, MCA makes use of two methodological traditions: Thurstonian factor analysis and simultaneous equation (path analytic) modeling (Kaplan & Elliott, 1997). These two methodologies allow social workers to develop statistical models that acknowledge the relationship among predictors and their direct and indirect relationships to outcome variables. In other words, MCA allows a social worker to examine the role that various community resources have on activism when both the relationships among community resources and individual's temperament are taken into account. In addition, MCA allows social workers to represent complex theoretical constructs as latent variables. For example, social workers studying sibling social behavior could represent social behavior as a latent variable, that is, composed of indicators of adaptive and maladaptive social functioning. In addition, the relationship among predictors of social functioning, for example, parental discipline and conflict resolution styles, could be studied. Advantages of MCA MCA seeks to incorporate SEM's ability to capture the complexity of multivariate relationships with HLM's ability to capture the nested nature of those relationships, both of which are needed to develop accurate statistical models of social phenomena. …
Research with Diverse Groups, 2014
Research with Diverse Groups, 2014
Research Designs and Multivariate Latent Modeling for Equivalence, 2014
Journal of Social Service Research, 2003
The stability and validity of two future orientation interests dimensions, matriculation/adulthoo... more The stability and validity of two future orientation interests dimensions, matriculation/adulthood tasks and generalized concerns with self and others, was assessed. Using a nationally representative sample of 10th grade (N = 16,842), 12th grade (N = 18,221) and high school dropouts, African, East Asian, European, and Mexican American students' support for the stability of the two dimensions was attained. The positive association between the two future orientation interests (FOI) dimensions and peers' perceived educational engagement and matriculation attitudes provides evidence for the FOI's construct validity. These findings suggest that there is a need to involve school social workers and other support school personnel in efforts to personalize the educational experience in a manner that connects youths' views of their possible future selves to the daily activities of schools.
Journal of Human Behavior in The Social Environment, 2009
This study focused on volunteerism and activism of African and European American women. This stud... more This study focused on volunteerism and activism of African and European American women. This study explored potential differences in the level and nature of civic engagement between African and European American. Additionally, differences in those factors that determine civic engagement activities between the women were examined. African American and European American female participants in the 2000 Social Capital Benchmark Survey provided the data for this study (Saguaro Seminar, 2001). African and European American women did not differ in the extent to which they reported working on community projects and volunteering in their places of worship. However, their patterns of activism differed. Implications for social work practice were addressed.
Journal of African American Studies, 2006
Using an ecological framework this study examines the relationships of micro- (personal character... more Using an ecological framework this study examines the relationships of micro- (personal characteristics and community commitment), mezzo-(trust and social network) and macro-level factors (social organization involvement and faith-based capital) and civic engagement, in a sample of African Americans males. Two research questions were examined: When micro-level factors are controlled for are macro- and mezzo- level factors predictive of civic engagement (i.e., civic activity behavior and charitable behavior)? What is the relative contribution of faith-based social capital and social organization involvement to civic engagement? African American male participants in the 2000 Social Capital Benchamark Survey provided the data for this study (Saguaro Seminar, 2001). Hierarchical Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression was used to address the study’s research questions. The findings highlight the importance of social organization involvement and the diversity of African American men’s individual’s social networks as predictors of their civic engagement.
Journal of Human Behavior in The Social Environment, 2005
Within the context of intimate interpersonal relationships, gender-based violence has a significa... more Within the context of intimate interpersonal relationships, gender-based violence has a significant impact on the social-emotional functioning and development of women. Our ability to determine the effectiveness of our efforts to reduce sexual violence is linked to our ability to assess those attitudes that condone sexual violence. This study examined the validity of college students' responses to the Scale for the Identification of Acquaintance Rape Attitudes (SIARA). The Scale for the Identification of Acquaintance Rape Attitudes is a measure designed to assess attitudes that are believed to be supportive of sexual violence within dating relationships. The sample consisted of 1,782 residential students in the first year class at a large, public university who participated in a sexual assault prevention program as part of a new student orientation. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that two dimensions, Sexual Expectations and Rape Mythology, could be used to characterize students' responses. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis and mean structure analysis confirmed that the two dimensions provided equivalent measurements of the underlying construct for male and female subjects. Implications for the use of SIARA as a program outcome measure will be discussed.
Journal of Human Behavior in The Social Environment, 2009
... Foubert, JD and Cowell, EA 2004. Perceptions of a rape prevention program by fraternity men a... more ... Foubert, JD and Cowell, EA 2004. Perceptions of a rape prevention program by fraternity men and male student athletes: Powerful effects and implications for changing behavior. NASPA Journal , 42(1): 120. View all references; Foubert & Perry, 200716. ...
This study evaluated the relative fit of both Finn's (1989) Participation-Identification and... more This study evaluated the relative fit of both Finn's (1989) Participation-Identification and Wehlage, Rutter, Smith, Lesko and Fernandez's (1989) School Membership models of high school completion to a sample of 4,597 eighth graders taken from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988, (NELS:88), utilizing structural equation modeling techniques. This study found support for the importance of educational engagement as a factor in understanding academic achievement. The Participation-Identification model was particularly well fitting when applied to the sample of high school completers, dropouts (both overall and White dropouts) and African-American students. This study also confirmed the contribution of school environmental factors (i.e., size, diversity of economic and ethnic status among students) and family resources (i.e., availability of learning resources in the home and parent educational level) to students' educational engagement. Based on these findings, school social workers will need to be more attentive to utilizing macro-level interventions (i.e., community organization, interagency coordination) to achieve the organizational restructuring needed to address future challenges. The support found for the Participation-Identification model supports a shift in school social workers' attention from reactive attempts to improve the affective-interpersonal lives of students to proactive attention to their academic lives. The model concentrates school social work practices on the central mission of schools, which is educational engagement. School social workers guided by this model would be encouraged to seek changes in school policies and organization that would facilitate educational engagement. ^
Social Work in Health Care, 2011
Highly visible public health education efforts have resulted in increased awareness of the childh... more Highly visible public health education efforts have resulted in increased awareness of the childhood obesity epidemic but not a related decline in the number of overweight children. The Transtheoretical Model was used to examine the associations among child risk factors, parent's knowledge of factors associated with childhood obesity and their access to healthy foods in their community and parent's stage of change (SOC) in making behavior changes to improve their child's diet and level of physical activity. Parents (n = 124) of children between 6-12 years of age were surveyed. Perceived weight of the child and the child's body mass index (BMI) were found to be associated with parent's SOC for food portions and dietary fats, yet this was not observed for the fruits and vegetables or physical activity domains. Food availability and parent's childhood obesity knowledge was not found to be associated with parent's SOC. This study provides evidence that intervention efforts that stress knowledge of the causes and harmful effects of being overweight may have limited effectiveness.
Journal of Social Service Research, 1999
This study of a sample of 4,044 eighth grade students taken from the National Educational Longitu... more This study of a sample of 4,044 eighth grade students taken from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) was designed to examine the contribution that zero-tolerance disciplinary policies, school climate, parents' and teachers' perceptions of disciplinary climate make to students' perceptions of the school's disciplinary climate. Additionally, this study examined whether school location (i.e., urban and suburban) and school type (i.e., public and private) are associated with differences in disciplinary practices, perceptions of school discipline and school climate. Zero-tolerance disciplinary policies were found to be both directly and indirectly associated with students' perceptions of fewer discipline problems. Additionally, private schools can be characterized as having: tougher discipline policies; less teacher concern about school discipline; more student concern about school discipline; and more positive perceptions of school climate among administrators and parents than their public school counterparts. Implications for social work practice are discussed.
This study sought to examine the direct and indirect associations between school size and parents... more This study sought to examine the direct and indirect associations between school size and parents' perceptions of the invitations for involvement provided by their children's school in a school system that has actively attempted to reduce the negative effects of school size. Using data from the New York Public Schools' annual Learning Environment Survey, path analysis was used to examine the role that school climate plays in mediating the relationship between school size and parents' perceptions of invitations for involvement. Results from an analysis of middle and high school parents who participated in the annual school survey provided evidence that parents' perceptions of safety and of respect from the school mediated the relationship between school size and perceptions of the extent of the invitations for involvement provided by the school. The indirect effect of school size via perception of safety and respect was larger than the direct effect of school size on parents' perceptions of invitation for involvement.