Paraeducators are increasingly becoming a key component in special education. As class sizes increase, schools are hiring paraeducators to work with students with disabilities.  However, qualifications and training of paraeducators are minimal in most states. In Vermont, only 30% of jobs specifically required previous experience working with children. The majority of states have no educational requirements for paraeducators beyond a high school diploma. Typically, paraeducators do not receive much training besides an orientation to school policies and special education teachers do not usually help paraeducators understand IEP (individualized education plan) goals. Unfortunately, these kinds of practices lead to turnover rates that can be as high as 50% for recent hires. High turnover rates are costly to the school district, impede cooperation between IEP team members, and negatively impact student learning. A review of recent research pertaining to paraeducator training and instructional strategies for working with students with special needs led to the development of this toolkit. The purpose of this toolkit is to support paraeducators and classroom volunteers who are working with students with a variety of special needs in many different classroom settings. This toolkit provides information about specific disabilities, instructional strategies, background information on special education, and further resources. Particular emphasis was placed on special education in Washington State. There are more paraeducators in the United States than there are special educators—under IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), trained paraeducators are allowed to provide special education instruction. However, most paraeducators get little to no training and a great deal of responsibility for students vulnerable to academic failure or stagnation. This toolkit was designed in the hopes that, as a free resource, it could provide much needed background information to paraeducators and classroom volunteers.

The concept of "inclusion" is a class placement method for children who have special needs; this involves integration into a classroom with traditional student group populations. Previous research states to the extent possible, and deemed appropriate, students with special needs have been known to benefit simply by being surrounded in a learning environment with diverse peers. While the focus is usually on the particular child(ren) with special needs, research mainly analyzes cognitive development. There may be various positive impacts placed upon the other students on social and emotional levels of development. This literature review examines whether classroom inclusion enhances a typically developing student's sense of empathy, acceptance, and equity for non-traditional student (including students with special needs) population groups among the developing traditional four year old students. This research project anticipates that there will be "enriched" development and a higher sense of empathy, acceptance and equity for the general population groups. These inquiries will be addressed through a literature review to synthesize what we currently understand about the effect of inclusion on typically developing children. The review will investigate work related to empirical studies on preschoolers' experiences in inclusive classrooms. Additional investigation will include foundational perspectives as presented by leading scholars and organizations in the field of early childhood special education. Based upon future findings, the examination of further research of behavioral patterns amongst both populations will be implicated.

Previous research has shown that the economic/income level of Hispanic families is associated to the type of treatments children and adolescents receive. However, little research has examined other possible predictors that affect the type of treatment approaches Hispanic children receive who are diagnosed with depression. It is important to look at possible factors in order to understand why some cases would end up in premature termination or why others have higher levels of success. It is believed that possible predictors of type of approaches to treatments are cultural aspects for immigrant families, ethnic match with their therapist, treatment acceptability and treatment barriers (transportations, babysitter, lack of understanding, etc.) This study hypothesized that Hispanic families would choose certain therapies as more favorable based on the accessibility and the ethnic background of their case manager and have the potential to lead to higher rates of success and decrease the rate of premature termination. The result of the study provides support for the current findings of favored therapeutic approaches by other ethnic communities and further construct a better-designed accessibility to treatments.

This research explores music education as a potential vehicle for enhancing socially desirable behaviours in young people and teaching inhibition of socially undesirable behaviours as well as increasing proficiency in language, math and science. There will be special focus on methods of teaching that are noncompetitive such as Suzuki’s Talent Education Method. It involves literary review synthesizing neurobehavioural research and music education research to correlate music education with positive behavioural outcomes for at-risk youth and a reduction in juvenile criminal offense rates as well as recidivism at later ages. I predict that the research will support that the earlier and more consistently the individual receives music education, the stronger the correlation with improved performance in school and social situation and lower negative outcomes. In the past few decades, the United States has slipped farther down the list in world rating of education. Music Education programs in public school would benefit all students and lead to higher rates of graduation. To implement this in practice necessitates that music programs be reinstated and expanded in public schools and potentially be available to children as young as three years old in tandem with programs like Jump Start.

Today there exists a plethora of nutritional information as Americans are increasingly becoming health-conscious consumers seeking to manage their exposure to disease risk-factors through diet and lifestyle changes. The ever-expanding scope of the media and internet, especially through the increased use of popular health blogs and forums has "democratized" nutritional science--making nutritional information more easily accessible. Yet, despite the growing body of research in nutrition made available to the general public, the history of nutritional advice has been notoriously unstable, inconsistent and inaccurate as science, food industries, and various ideologies contend for validation. For example, from the consumption of saturated fats and carbohydrates to raw cow’s milk (which is supposedly "nature's most nearly perfect food" Americans are left confused when making decisions and establishing “truths” regarding the nutritional health benefits of other foods. Because the science of diet and nutrition are highly contested areas of knowledge, the purpose of this study was to delve into the social, cultural, and political aspects of food to better understand how we make sense of nutritional advice. To that end, this research project acquired and synthesized past and current scientific research literature to explore what it means for foods to be "healthy" how one may navigate the massive array of contending knowledge and different dietary models to obtain information on "healthy food" and additionally, how competing corporate interests, scientific findings or interpretations, and anecdotal evidence of the lay consumer may influence nutritional data made available to the public. So far the general trend shows corporate influence supersedes that of medical and scientific advocates; however, more research is required to determine how health consumers navigate the wealth of information. Recommendations for a potential solution at a policy, educational and, or mass media level will also be discussed in further detail.

The purpose of this research is to increase compliance among undocumented workers and propose an incentive package that will benefit both the U.S. economy and provide a new way of obtaining citizenship for immigrants. This research focuses on the growing “tax gap” in the United States: “What are the effects of undocumented workers and their income on the national and local economies in the United States? What can be done to increase the number of undocumented workers to report their income?” By thoroughly examining various policies and practices related to these matter(s), this study synthesizes wide range finding(s) and outcome(s) of various policies and its output to introduce multiple alternative resolutions to better both parties (Literature Review). This study also further explores the future implication and outcome of the current and alternative policy recommendations related to the “tax gap” and undocumented workers. By examining the report Reducing the Federal Tax Gap: A Report on Improving Voluntary Compliance by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the startling estimates of unreported incomes in the U.S will be presented. As New Mexico and Utah propose state guest worker programs, I will examine the benefits and disadvantages of their proposed solutions. By shedding light on the tax gap for the past three years and its relationship to undocumented workers income, the anticipated findings will reveal an increase in the tax gap and demonstrate that the currently policy is not effect.

Cultural backgrounds are foundations for the way we speak, interpret, and behave. This study examines cultural-related factors that influence the selection of extracurricular activities by African-American students and Asian students from China and Korea. These cultural factors are being examined along with their influence on the success rate (I.E., graduating with a competitive GPA) of these students. This is important because our society is becoming increasingly more culturally diverse and more competitive for students pursuing higher education. Understanding cultural differences will help determine why certain cultures do particular things. Looking at the cultural factors, as well as societal pressures geared toward high school students of color, it is interesting to present differences in activites that have been believed to be the students choices to participate in. The activities outside of school can negatively or positively affect a student's ability to succeed because the time outside of school will not be spent entirely on coursework. The methodology of this research is conducting literature review of current research in the areas of outside of school activities in relation to cultural influences and academic success. The anticipated results are that the socioeconomic status, education level, and geographic location of the high school student's parents influences the choices of extracurricular activities for the student. Activities that are intellectually stimulated or academia related are activities that positively affect a students' success while activities that do not use information learned in school negatively affect a students' success. The differences in the cultural factors raise questions as to why different activities are pursured by students of different cultural backgrounds. Knowing why there are differences will help schools determine where money needs to go or what measures need to be taken in order to encourage students to pursue activities that are not normally participated in.

In nearly all institutions, programs exist with the goal to recruit a diverse body of applicants and then, to retain this diverse body of students. Diversity is a loaded term, yet the federal definition – which I will be following – focuses on underrepresented, low-income and first generation students. This research project examines the specific steps involved in attaining a higher education and identifies factors, which enhanced their chances, and barriers, which they had to overcome. There is a lot of research done on the effectiveness of these programs, both K-12 pre-college and programs in the university. However, it is important to look at another aspect: the role the surrounding community plays in the pre-college experience, including preparation and motivation. I am conducting a literary review on the power that social and cultural capital holds in a students success at achieving a higher education. Through this research we can institute a new community based program that will effectively address these barriers, as well as enable us to address the current recruitment and retention programs in state to make them more effective.

In 1965, the Higher Education Act was signed by President Lyndon Johnson to provide financial assistance for need- based students in higher education. Under Title IV of the HEA, student financial aid programs and educational opportunity programs are administered, including the Federal TRIO Programs. TRIO has eight programs targeted to serve and assist low-income individuals, first-generation college students from disadvantaged backgrounds to progress academically from junior high school to post baccalaureate studies. One of the eight programs under TRIO is the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program; designed to aid historically underrepresented undergraduates attain PhD degrees and assist students in academic and professional development. The purpose of the McNair Program is to prepare undergraduates for doctoral study through participation in research and scholarly activities. McNair Scholars have often faced hardships; whether financial, family, scholastic, or health; and have had critical experiences and relationships that have propelled them to continue with higher education. By interviewing McNair Scholars and engaging in literature review, this research will present an in-depth exploration of their behavioral patterns and find a theme to their academic success, such as social capital. The goal of this research is to reinforce the impact of educational programs that aid underrepresented students at an early stage to better prepare them for post-secondary school and doctoral studies. Also, by examining behavioral patterns possible solutions will be gained to implement towards higher education for underrepresented students.