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Functional analysis (FA) is a tool practitioners can utilize to identify the function of challenging behavior. An interview informed contingency analysis (IISCA) is a variation of a FA. In an effort to improve patient care within a university-based clinic, a within-session analysis of the first test condition of an IISCA was conducted to determine if a shorter assessment yield results similar to the full IISCA. An alternating treatments design was used to evaluate differentiated rates of challenging behavior across conditions for eleven client cases at the university-based clinic. A single test session was enough to determine the function of challenging behavior and the first test condition produced similar results to the whole IISCA for some of the cases reviewed.

West Virginia provides universal access to publicly funded preschool for all 4-year olds in the state. This approach contrasts with the approach many states and the federal government take to offering preschool, which is to provide targeted programs, focused on traditionally at-risk populations. Support for moving toward universal access has grown to include the White House, where it has been touted as a priority in recent State of the Union Addresses. This research explores West Virginia's existing program to understand the experience of the students enrolled in the 2012-2013 school year using extant data. West Virginia's Universal Preschool program uses Early Learning Scale (ELS) to assess student growth during the preschool year, the results of which are collected in a statewide database. The West Virginia State Department of Education also collects data on student and classroom demographics. This study uses hierarchical linear modeling to analyze the relationship of student characteristics and baseline and growth scores on ELS. Additional descriptive analysis of site characteristics is also provided to provide a profile of the classrooms of the 2012-2013 preschool class. This study documents a gap in ELS scores at baseline between low SES and non-low SES students and between boys and girls. No gap was apparent between white and non-white students in the analysis. Students in West Virginia's Universal Preschool program show growth through the preschool year on ELS; however, growth rates of low-SES and male children are not great enough to close the gaps that exist when the students are initially assessed. This dissertation recommends that more research needs to be done to understand how classroom, student, and socio-geographic characteristics interact to influence student baseline and growth scores on ELS in West Virginia.

This work focuses on the geochemistry and iron isotope systematics of pyrite from hydrothermal and coal-forming environments. Dissolution of pyrite, even under abiotic conditions, is difficult to study experimentally and previous studies have demonstrated that the rate of pyrite oxidation is dependent upon environmental conditions. Knowledge of dissolution mechanisms enables more accurate reaction rate measurements, and will improve the ability to predict the temporal changes in chemistry of ground and surface waters that come into contact with pyrite. The first aspect of the research presented here focuses on the need for standardization of sample preparation techniques to allow for experimental and interlaboratory comparison of pyrite dissolution experiments. A reproducible sample preparation technique for pyrite that yields clean, uniform grains within a narrow size range of interest was developed. It was shown that use of this method in pyrite dissolution experiments significantly reduces artifacts related to unconstrained surface area exposure to fluids. In the second portion of this work, iron isotopes were analyzed to quantify and source-track the dissolution of pyrite during abiotic pyrite dissolution experiments performed on hydrothermal and sedimentary pyrites. The hydrothermal pyrite δ⁵⁶Fe values fall within the range of previously measured values, but the coal/sedimentary values are higher than those previously measured for any Phanerozoic sedimentary pyrite. Leachates from oxidative dissolution of the pyrite at pH=3 tend, with minor exceptions, to yield δ⁵⁶Fe values equal to or below those of the coexisting bulk pyrite, by up to ~1‰. This is generally consistent with theoretical fractionation calculations. Iron isotopes could be a useful tool in distinguishing between waters that interact with coal-derived pyrite and pyrite formed under marine conditions. The third section focuses on extracting sedimentary pyrite and other minerals under typical near-surface temperatures and environments, which is complicated by the small grain size and complex nature of the phases found in the sedimentary environment. An extraction method was developed to better characterize the nature of iron behavior between phases present in coal forming environments. A proposed iron extraction method and testing procedure is outlined for future studies of Fe speciation in coal.