Digital Commons Network^™

Reshaping The Narrative, Crystal Little Owl

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Practice Into Policy And Policy Into Practice: An Interview With Dr. Carol Dahir, Jennifer K. Niles

Journal of School-Based Counseling Policy and Evaluation

A leader in the field of school counseling and school counselor education, Dr. Carol Dahir has engaged in policy development at state, national, and international levels. Through her work, she has served as an advocate for the profession and its advancement. Dr. Dahir co-developed the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Standards for School Counseling Programs (1997) alongside Dr. Chari Campbell, which became guiding principles for the profession. Through her work, Dr. Dahir believes strongly in the implementation of moving policy into practice, highlighting this as a major theme of her reflection on our interview. The author offers implications for …

Let Them Be Little: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study Of The Experiences Of Kindergarten Teachers During An Era Of Educational Reform, Rachel Denise Whites

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences and perceptions of kindergarten teachers who taught through an era of federally mandated, standards-based educational reforms. This study was guided by two theories as each contributes to an explanation as to how educational reform has strayed far from the central purpose for kindergartens. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development sought to explain how a child constructs a mental model of the world and postulated that there are four distinct stages of human development from birth to adulthood. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory stated that children learn through play and the …

A Framework For Addressing Foster Care Trauma In The Public Education System: Perceptions And Implications, Valerie A. Storey, Fletcher Roschanda

All Faculty and Staff Scholarship

BACKGROUND

It is estimated that approximately 90% of children in foster care have experienced a traumatic event, with nearly half reporting exposure to 4 or more types of traumatic events. Educators must remain alert to indicators suggesting a history of trauma and understand the difficulties foster youth may face regulating their emotions and behavior while in school.

METHODS

A framework for foster youth trauma in the public education system identifies the interplay between macro-level forces, such as federal and state policy, and school and teacher micro-level forces.

RESULTS

The framework highlights the inadequacy of educators in identifying the manifestations of …

Exploring Misinformation Campaigns And How To Defend Against Them, Michelle S. Kuralt

Theses and Dissertations

Misinformation campaigns can have very real and lasting effects. Misinformation has been known to impact elections, create vaccine hesitancy, and increase polarization within societies. This paper reviewed existing literature regarding misinformation research, collected information from research participants to discern factors which may contribute to an increased susceptibility to misinformation, and examined Rule Based Training and a training program which utilized both rules and mindfulness to ascertain if these training programs might be effective in reducing participant susceptibility to misinformation.

Keep Rural Schools Open: Position And Policy, Emily Norman

Online Journal of Rural Research & Policy

Rural schools are a central pillar in the communities in which they belong. They offer not only education for the community’s youth, but serve as a community space, educational location for all community members, and enhance new generations’ understanding of local history and current events. The schools ensure that education is accessible to everyone in the community by avoiding long commutes, employing numerous locals, and having smaller class sizes to better cater to individual student needs. While there are benefits to closing schools, often ones of financial nature, the loss of these schools is felt deeply within rural communities. There …

Dynamic Policy Solutions For Rural El Educators, Elizabeth Thorne Wallington, Adrienne Johnson

The Rural Educator

No abstract provided.

Postsecondary Students With Disabilities: The History Of Higher Education Legislation, Toby Tomlinson Baker

The Scholarship Without Borders Journal

Legislation for SWDs led to the enrollment of postsecondary students with disabilities (SWDs) in higher education, but it has also created the increased prevalence of dropouts among postsecondary SWDs (NCES, 2020) Although postsecondary disability status has garnered attention, it continues to be neglected as a political need in higher education. Historically, postsecondary students with disabilities were discouraged from attending higher education settings (Madaus & Shaw, 2004). Disability laws were amended decades later, and therefore impacted the progress of students with disabilities. Thus, SWDs did not attend college since there was minimal activism by individuals seeking greater access to colleges and …

Parent Perspectives On Early Childhood Education Integration, Maria S. Mavrides Calderon, Gregory Brender

Publications and Research

Former Mayor De Blasio made the expansion of 3-K for All and Pre-K for All a top priority of his administration. In its re-procurement of contracts for community-based early childhood education providers, the De Blasio administration’s Department of Education made it a priority for programs to “foster socio-economic integration at the classroom level.” Mayor Eric L. Adams has spoken of his own experience being educated in segregated schools and has called for students to be exposed to more diverse environments (Shapiro, 2021). It is up to his administration to implement the changes that will foster desegregation in New York City’s …

Moving From Harm Mitigation To Affirmative Discrimination Mitigation: The Untapped Potential Of Artificial Intelligence To Fight School Segregation And Other Forms Of Racial Discrimination, Andrew Gall

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.

Hina Hanta: The Circle Of Metacognition, Tina Bly

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The articles of this dissertation combine to make an autobiographical written study, a Scholarly Personal Narrative of life writing. The work culminates with a research study by way of a Talking Circle among a group of scholarly elders who gathered to share guidance for Indigenous scholars navigating colonial structures in our sites of knowledge production. Utilizing a Mixed-Methods approach, this sharing was transcribed, coded, and examined via Western thematic analysis. Through stories, casting an international light, analyses reveal a work of written guidance not only for Indigenous scholars, but also for education stakeholders, for those claiming diversity, equity, and inclusion, …

Why Did You Come To Study In The United States? Analysis Of The Phenomenon Of Modern Chinese Students Studying In The United States, Beitong Liu

Senior Projects Fall 2022

The occurrence of Chinese students studying in the United States is becoming increasingly prevalent, and the factors that drive Chinese students to study abroad are changing with time. This senior project, after the explicit framework for the history and development of modern Chinese students studying in the United States. I use Push-Pull Factors to explore some of the important factors that influence Chinese students' decision to study abroad in the present day. For instance, I argue that significant internal Chinese push factors include the pressure of the gaokao, the education difficulties caused by the hukou, and the comprehensive service of …

Experiences Of Teachers Using Student-Centered Approaches In China, Raven Roytblat

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Schoolteachers in China are required by the government to transition from teacher-centered to student-centered instruction. Researchers have shown the challenges of and successes in implementing the instructional changes; however, a gap exists surrounding the challenges and successes of reforms from the perspective of teachers. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to better understand the experiences of Chinese schoolteachers as the system of education in China transitions from teacher-centered to student-centered classroom instruction. The conceptual framework for this study included Schön’s concept of the reflective practitioner and Liu and Hallinger and Knapp et al.’s work on the role of …

Professional Dispositions And Perceptions Of Principals About Inclusion In Senior Secondary Schools, Desmond Prince, George Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractProviding inclusive education for children with special educational needs and disabilities entails educating these students in general education classrooms. There are no consistent practices or regulations for administering programs for such students in general education classrooms in Sierra Leone. This problem is supported by the lack of literature about administrative inclusive education practices. This basic qualitative study was conducted to explore the professional dispositions, perceptions, and rules or regulations that school principals hold for administering programs for students with special educational needs and disabilities in general education classrooms. The conceptual framework of the study was based on moral leadership and …

Power, Passion And Politics: A Grounded Theory Study Of Academic Experiences In Policy Development And Implementation In Higher Education, Marie Brennan

Doctoral

This research study is designed to investigate the lived experiences and perspectives of the academic community on policy development in Irish higher education. A review of the current policy landscape in Ireland and Europe and in particular empirical studies concerning policy implementation provided the focus of the study. The initial study focused on contemporary literature on policy development practices affected by globalisation and subsequently the issues at a national level. Where the gaps in knowledge were identified were in terms of policy implementation at the local level and where the study is aligned. The participants in the study are academics …

Reading Curriculum Policy And (Re)Shaping Practices: The Possibilities And Limits Of Enactment, Dawn Penney, Laura Alfrey

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper provides a contribution and opening to the special issue Realising curriculum possibilities: From creative readings to transformative practice. It firstly considers and expands upon issues and concepts that were foregrounded in the special issue call for papers and that variously feature in subsequent contributions within it. Conceptual linkages that were implied or assumed in the text of the call for papers and that we contend, are worthy of continued debate and exploration, are critically examined. Enactment, creative readings, transformative practice and their inter-relationships are addressed. Secondly the paper provides an introduction that offers stimulus and provocation for the …

Nil “Reform” Fails To Address The Ncaa’S Biggest Issue, Richard Southall, Mark S. Nagel

Journal of Applied Sport Management

Do college sport stakeholders have the intellectual and moral courage to abandon the familiar and financially successful, but morally bankrupt and exploitative, collegiate model? The NIL "Reform," which effectively fails to address the NCAA's biggest issue, is explored in this article.

College Athletics And Disseminating Sports Betting Data, Ryan Rodenberg

Journal of Applied Sport Management

The focus of this article is the interplay between college athletics and sports betting data dissemination, a near-future friction poised for litigation given concurrent issues involving name-image-likeness (NIL) rights and concentration of college sports via mega-conferences.

Reframing The Collegiate Facilities Arms Race: The Looming Impact Of Nil And Conference Realignment, Jeffrey Petersen, Lawrence W. Judge

Journal of Applied Sport Management

Amidst the backdrop of an ongoing global pandemic, the summer of 2021 brought forth two events teetering the Division I college sport landscape at the precipice of unprecedented change due to two fundamental shifts: the first being the opening of revenue streams to collegiate athletes through use of name, image and likeness (NIL), and the second being the latest round of athletic conference realignment. With the impacts of these changes just beginning to be manifested, it is important to consider how these potentially seismic shifts in the collegiate landscape may influence existing issues of prior scholarly examination as well as …

The Policy Feedback Loop: Exploring English Learner (El) Policy, Policy Implementation, And The Relationship Between Policy, Research, And Practice, Nathan D. Koerber

Doctoral Dissertations

This study will explore the EL policy implementation process and offer evaluative feedback by systematically reviewing the history of US federal educational language policy and its impact on schools and classrooms, as well as the role research, has played in the development of EL policy. Additionally, this study will explore how current language policy implementation impacts programming and practices in both the UK and the US through two separate case studies, as a means of providing evaluative feedback on the policies.

The purpose of this study is to elucidate the complicated history of EL policy and its impact, as well …

Commentary: Times Article On Rural School Misses Half The Story—Educational Success, Mara Casey Tieken, Sheneka Williams

The Rural Educator

Despite lack of funding, rural schools can serve as sites of learning, community, and excellence. We need to understand both the problems and opportunities to make good education policy. This commentary was originally published in the October 6th edition of The Daily Yonder.

“Nadie Nos Han Preguntado…” (Nobody Has Asked Us...), Mark Nagasawa

Straus Center for Young Children & Families

This is the latest in a series of reports from the Listening to Teachers Study, which seeks understanding of how New York City's early childhood educators are faring during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study is to use data gathered through surveys (May 2020, n=3355; June 2021, n=663) and in-depth interviews (spring 2022) to prompt reflection and discussion about what a more equitable post-pandemic ECE system could look like.

This report focuses on describing the June 2021 sample and preliminary findings:

1. As in 2020, emotional/mental health support was the most frequently requested need, but professional …

Addressing The Harms Of Pornography, Gillian Allison

Honors Theses

Within this paper I look at the existing philosophical work on pornography, from scholars like Catherine MacKinnon, Ronald Dworkin, and Rae Langton to show the current state of the pornography debate that I intend to enter by presenting my own argument about the morality of pornography. I argue that while pornography is harmful, these harms are best resolved through increased sexual education and the popularization and production of more inclusive pornography. The harms pornography causes are so great because pornography is where a lot of people learn about sex. Pornography was never designed to depict an average sexual experience. If …

Building Support Systems For High School English Language Learners: A Developmental Program Evaluation, Manuel Ferreras

Dissertations

The graduation rate of English Language Learners (ELL) is lagging behind the general school population graduation rate. The purpose of this study is to address the needs of ELL students for improving the graduation rate of ELL students. The context of this inquiry is a high school with a large ELL population located in one of the state’s largest school districts. My study demonstrates outcomes of a lack of a shared vision and attention by the school administrators on addressing the needs of ELL students, ineffective remediation strategies and tools used to guide ELL students, and the potential impact high-stakes …

Progress And Problems Of Primary Education In Bangladesh: A Snapshot Of 50 Years, Muhammad Salahuddin

Education, Health & Behavior Studies Student Publications

Bangladesh is celebrating its golden jubilee of independence in 2021. This South Asian country has been struggling for ensuring equitable, compulsory, and free primary education since the British period. The main objective of this paper is to explore the progress and constraints of primary education in Bangladesh for the period of 1971 to 2020. This study was conducted following the documentary research method. The secondary data was collected from different personal and official documents. Following the data-driven thematic analysis, it is found that the number of schools, students, and teachers was expressively increased in the last 50 years in Bangladesh. …

An Interview With Dr. Trish Hatch: An Advocate For School Counseling Policy, Jan L. Gay

Journal of School-Based Counseling Policy and Evaluation

Dr. Trish Hatch has served as a leader in school counselor policy and advocacy for over 30 years. As a co-author of the ASCA National Model, Dr. Hatch has worked tirelessly to establish school-based policies to promote the profession of school counseling at the district, state, and federal levels. This interview serves to provide readers with insight on the importance of advocacy and understanding how to navigate political systems to affect policies that influence the profession of school counseling.

Revisiting Attitudes Towards English In Cameroon And The Rush For Emi: Positioning Education For All Vision, Eric Enongene Ekembe

Journal of English Learner Education

The rush to English and English medium education (EMI) is fashionably a global tendency, and research in the domain has extensively explored the effects of such rush on social justice, quality education, economic and power dynamics across contexts. Given the multifaceted challenges related to the provision of English and accessibility to EMI, the relationship between UNESCO’s Education For All vision and access to English tends to be complicated. This paper examines the commonly-stated quest for English in Cameroon with a focus on attitudes towards English and EMI. The purpose is to understand the interface between the rush to EMI and …

Examining Teacher Perceptions Of District Policies On Teacher Absenteeism In Arkansas, Tyler Stephen Reed

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

School districts have adopted policies to limit chronic absenteeism, including changing policies to incentivize teachers to take fewer days off from the school year (Mershon, 2015) due to the effects of a teacher being out of the classroom. These effects include the effects on student achievement (Clotfelter et al., 2006; Ehrenberg et al., 1991), on colleagues and the school district (Bradley et al., 2007; Miller, 2008), and the use of substitutes in lieu of a teacher (Bruno, 2002; Herrmann & Rockoff, 2010). This qualitative, phenomenological study sought to understand teachers’ perspectives regarding policies and practices that are aimed to promote …

Attitudes And Actions Of Genetic Counseling Program Directors Regarding Standards For Accreditation Of Genetic Counseling Training Programs, Ben Newsum

Human Genetics Theses

Academic accreditation is a common feature of higher education, with a moderate body of literature. Previous studies largely focus on factors that are crucial to the implementation or acceptance of standards. This study explored how education standards of genetic counseling are perceived and interacted with by program directors. We performed semi-structured interviews with current program directors, assistant directors, and associate directors to gain insight into their perspectives on current accreditation standards and the standards’ revision process. Interview transcripts were analyzed via thematic analysis to identify common themes related to program directors’ perceptions of the standards and accreditation as a whole. …

Institutional Changes In Western Michigan University For Incorporation Of Education For Sustainability, Saman Khan

Dissertations

Higher Education institutions (HEIs) have the potential to be significant contributors in the pursuit of a sustainable world through the incorporation of Education for Sustainability (EFS). However, HEIs are entrenched with structures and values that are often resistant to change. The literature reveals that instructors’ beliefs and institutional contexts are the two main factors that impact the implementation of institutional change for sustainability education. Western Michigan University (WMU) has created new required curriculum “WMU Essential Studies” (WES) for undergraduate students and they have targeted sustainability as an essential learning outcome, by integrating and applying it in content courses. Using a …