https://etd.auburn.edu/handle/10415/2 Fri, 10 Apr 2026 10:16:00 GMT 2026-04-10T10:16:00Z https://etd.auburn.edu/handle/10415/10213 Harmonizing Educational Leadership with School Counseling: Preparing Principals to Support School Counselors Doak, Candace The National Educational Leadership Preparation (NPBEA, 2018) & the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (NPBEA, 2015) state that an effective school leader must promote the current and future success and well-being of each student and adult by developing supportive, equitable, culturally responsive, and inclusive school culture while implementing systems of curriculum and support through engaging in collaborative partnership with families, community, and school personnel for student learning, school improvement, and the needs of the school. Research shows that many principals struggle to effectively collaborate with school counselors to proactively promote the well-being, current and future success, and inclusiveness for all students within their schools. The purpose of this study was to highlight perceptions around the conversation of School Counselor-Principal Collaboration and the readiness of principals from principal preparation programs. This study examined integration of school counseling into educational leadership curriculum and perceived preparedness of principals to work with school counselors from the perspective of professors in both fields. A pragmatic, sequential explanatory methodology for mixed methods allowed for thematic and statistical analysis to discuss real-world solutions and practical implications for the field of principal preparation. The findings suggest a lack of integration of School Counselor-Principal Collaboration and the promotion of student well-being in principal preparation programs. In addition, the means for integration is not clearly understood by educational leadership professors or school counseling professors leaving room for investigation and program development. Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://etd.auburn.edu/handle/10415/10213 2026-04-09T00:00:00Z https://etd.auburn.edu/handle/10415/10212 Identifying Risk Factors for Literacy Difficulties in Speech Sound Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Bumgarner, Caroline Children with speech sound disorder (SSD) are at risk for literacy difficulties. Research suggests that one risk factor alone does not lead to these difficulties but instead multiple risk factors. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine what early literacy skills are risk factors in children with SSD while considering language ability, and the extent that other factors are measured. Descriptive results suggest that children with SSD demonstrate risk in all early literacy skills with language serving as a protective factor. However, meta-analyses revealed poorer performance in only orthographic knowledge, word reading, and spelling as compared to typical speech peers with language not moderating. Additionally, meta-analyses limitations identified the need for future research to examine these skills and moderating factors to address the heterogeneity of current early literacy literature in SSD. Clinicians should assess and monitor early literacy skill development in SSD and integrate these skills within intervention. Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://etd.auburn.edu/handle/10415/10212 2026-04-09T00:00:00Z https://etd.auburn.edu/handle/10415/10211 Rhythm Discrimination Abilities in Adults with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Hartley, Hope The purpose of this study was to determine whether individuals with ADHD have similar rhythm discrimination abilities as neurotypical (i.e., do not have ADHD or history of a neurodevelopmental disorder). We hypothesized that adults with ADHD would have similar performance as neurotypical adults for simple rhythm detection, but, have weaker performance in discriminating complex rhythms. We further hypothesized that rhythm discrimination abilities would be correlated with ADHD self-reported symptoms as measured by the Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scales (CAARS). Forty-seven participants completed behavioral testing and a rhythm discrimination task (ADHD = 25, controls = 22). The two groups were similar on all speech, language, and cognitive measures, and only differed on measures of ADHD, which was expected. Results of the study indicate that adults with ADHD perform similarly for both simple and complex rhythm discrimination tasks. Interestingly, controls were found to have significant positive correlations for simple and complex rhythm discrimination accuracy as measured by d prime (d’), while no correlation was observed in the ADHD group. Additionally, the ADHD group exhibited a significant negative correlation between simple d’ scores and Impulsivity/Emotional Lability scores from the CAARS. Taken together, findings suggest that adults with ADHD may have similar rhythm discrimination abilities as neurotypical individuals. However, exploratory analysis of the results suggests that working memory skills in adults with ADHD may support rhythm detection abilities, thus allowing adults with ADHD to perform similarly to controls. Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://etd.auburn.edu/handle/10415/10211 2026-04-09T00:00:00Z https://etd.auburn.edu/handle/10415/10210 The Recombination Rate Landscape of the Mississippi Diamond-backed Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin pileata) Havard, Logan Meiotic recombination rates vary between taxa, species, and populations. Across genomes, exchanges can occur in short sequences known as recombination hotspots. The presence of the zinc-finger histone methyltransferase protein PRDM9 has been implicated directing recombination machinery away from functional elements of genomes (e.g., transcription start sites, CpG islands) across vertebrates. This dynamic, however, has been investigated extensively in only a handful of taxa, and recent studies suggest many species exist along a continuum of reliance on PRDM9-directed recombination. We use a linkage disequilibrium-based approach to characterize the recombination rate landscape across both macrochromosomes and microchromosomes in Mississippi diamond-backed terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin pileata), a turtle species of conservation concern. We then show recombination rates are higher in transcription start sites on macrochromosomes and decrease as distance to the nearest predicted PRDM9 binding site increases on microchromosomes. Wed, 08 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://etd.auburn.edu/handle/10415/10210 2026-04-08T00:00:00Z