Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In this appreciative collaborative inquiry 11 of 30 female repeat felons enrolled in a Northern California drug court were given a voice to talk about the strengths of the court and the key persons who had helped them. Empowered as change agents, these women looked at present and past experiences to assess their program, and envision future drug court program innovations. From these women's perspective, the strongest component of drug court was being surrounded by caring staff who were concerned with their progress and recovery. Intensive graduated supervision and accurate drug testing were appreciated rather than resented as long as the participants were not humiliated and were treated with respect. Wrap-around services, resources and referral, treatment facilities that accepted children, and individualized treatment plan and therapy with offenders who are ex-addicts, and preferably females, allowed for greater involvement and active participation in recovery. Progressing through three phases, acquiring skills, a job, and visitation rights to see their children, or regaining custody, increased these women’s sense of self-efficacy perception and confidence in their ability to lead a drug-free meaningful life. Findings also show the importance of qualitative criteria in evaluating drug court participants' progress and the process of recovery.

Publication Type: Session Paper

Publication Type: Poster
Abstract: This poster presentation is a summary of the results of a factor analysis performed on a questionnaire that 520 high school mathematics teachers responded to about their beliefs about teaching and learning geometry. The analysis of the data revealed a three factor model of teachers' beliefs about geometry.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: In 1910 Norman Angell published his Great Illusion. Today the book is dimply recalled and its message often misconstrued. The book claimed that modern states had entered a new historical era: an era of interdependence. It argued that if war broke out among interdependent states, there could be no winner; ruin would be brought upon all. The book concluded with a warning to the statesmen of the industrial powers: If they did not change their old Realist ways of thinking about international politics, they would pull the world down into a disasterous war. "The Great Illusion" is an important book - for its prophetic warning, for its criticism of Realism and for its application of the new term of interdepedence. This paper will argue, that to appreciate this book, and other of Angell's many books, it is important to recognize its authors' teenage experiences as homesteader and cowboy in America's Wild West.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The literature on political socialization of high school youth has focused on many of the same precursors of political participation that are studied among adults: political knowledge, political interest, trust, efficacy, attentiveness to news, and partisanship. We propose that insufficient attention has been given to how much young people appreciate the political process and the functions that are served by competitive political institutions in a democracy.

The data are from a nationwide sample of high school youth, involving two waves of questionnaires from 2,953 students (and their civics teachers) in 229 high schools, administered in civics classes during the 2002-2003 school year. The primary purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of the Youth Leadership Initiative, a set of interactive curriculum supplements developed by the University of Virginia Center for Politics. The questionnaires included a scale of seven agree/disagree items dealing with pride in our form of government, the societal role of politicians, views about political compromise, and the simple declaration: “Politics is a good thing.” The items form a statistically reliable scale of political appreciation.

Using a rich set of related items covering political orientations, ideology, past and prospective participation, duties of the citizen, school participation, political knowledge, and information on methods used to teach civics, we explore the foundations and predictors of political appreciation. Using the change data and group-comparison data available in our four-group, longitudinal design, we examine the types of teaching that increase students’ political appreciation. We show that certain of the Youth Leadership Initiative’s participatory learning activities were effective in increasing political appreciation of students who participated in them.