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The Black College Student Experience At Four-Year Predominantly White Institutions And Community Colleges: Non-Academic Factors For Consideration In Creating Sense Of Belonging, Alison Handy

Educational Studies Dissertations

While Black students have gained increased access to college, the data reflect that there are fewer Black students completing or earning bachelor’s degrees. Existing research reflects findings on various factors, both academic and non-academic, that influence student retention and success in higher education. Historically, theories on student retention and success have emphasized the importance of a student’s academic ability and commitment to obtaining a degree. Scholars such as Vincent Tinto have developed theories on student departure and attrition that emphasize the impact of non-academic factors on academic and social integration and the student experience regarding student sense of belonging at …

Environmental Education For Sustainability, Lucille Gertz

Educational Studies Dissertations

The climate is in crisis. Many conservation organizations identify in their mission statements the priority of motivating constituents to engage with conservation action. This priority is typically implemented by educators who design and deliver educational activities and materials. This study, designed to develop a professional pathway for environmental educators to develop programs designed to motivate adult audiences toward engagement with conservation action, addressed the question: How can environmental educators more effectively promote conservation behavior change in adult learning audiences? Three guiding research questions were: 1) To what extent are environmental educators familiar with and utilizing theoretical frameworks and research-based tools …

A Narrative Approach To Examining The Workplace Experiences Of Professional Adults Living With Dyslexia, Anna-Maria Jones

Educational Studies Dissertations

A Narrative Approach to Examining the Workplace Experiences of Professional Adults living with Dyslexia is a qualitative narrative research study. The study gathered, documented, and analyzed participants’ lived experiences to improve an understanding of what makes an inclusive workplace setting. The literature and labor statistics recognize that many individuals with dyslexia are struggling at work, unemployed, unrecognized, marginalized, and underpaid. This inquiry is designed to gain greater insight into the existing employment discrepancies. The following research questions guided this investigation: 1. What are the experiences of professional adults with dyslexia in work environments? 2. How do adults with dyslexia navigate …

Examining Motivational Trajectories And Need-Fulfillment Dynamics Of Students On Academic Probation, Mary Moore

Educational Studies Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods phenomenological study was to explore undergraduate students’ experiences of academic probation by examining changes or stabilities in the quality of their motivation and students’ basic psychological needs, i.e., autonomy, competency, and relatedness, using Self-Determination Theory (SDT) as the theoretical framework. The study was conducted during the Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 semesters. Students were recruited from three 4-year private and public research universities located in the Southern and Northeastern parts of the United States. Fifty-nine undergraduate students completed the survey, and five participated in semi-structured interviews. The key findings of this study identified three …

School Superintendents And The Convergent Social And Political Crises Of 2020 And 2021, Robin Benoit

Educational Studies Dissertations

The health, social, political, and economic crises that had national and global impacts in 2020 and 2021 brought renewed attention to systemic inequalities in public education and challenged school superintendents to reconsider how they involve others in addressing those disparities. This narrative study explored how the convergent crises and tense social and political climate of 2020 and 2021 have affected Massachusetts school superintendents personally and professionally. Guiding questions inquired about how superintendents recounted their experiences during this period and their impact on their conception of their role and responsibilities and their identity as a leader. A purposeful sampling technique was …

Assessing The Role Of The Northern Education Initiative (Nei) Plus Teacher Training Program In Enhancing Teachers’ Professional Development In Gamawa, Bauchi State, Nigeria., Aisha Yakub

Educational Studies Dissertations

The lack of access to quality education in northern Nigeria has proven endemic due to the incessant marginalization of the area by various governments since independence to date. The marginalization and lack of investment in teacher training institutions to bridge the manpower gap has created a vicious cycle of poverty, high illiteracy rates, and banditry in most of the northern states in Nigeria. Apart from the historical marginalization of these states, another critical factor that has been identified as contributing to this problem is the lack of professional development opportunities for teachers. The NEI Plus teacher training program is a …

The Relationship Between Instructed Non-Immersion Additional Language (Lx) Learning And Student Outcomes Of Diversity-Equity-Inclusion (Dei)-Focused Education For U.S. High School Students, Congmin Zhao

Educational Studies Dissertations

Research has found that teaching about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) can raise U.S. high school students’ awareness about DEI-related topics and develop their critical thinking skills to analyze DEI-related issues. But the achievements of DEI-focused education are limited. Thus, DEI-focused education needs complementary efforts to enhance student outcomes. Research has also found that learning an additional language (LX) may heighten students’ interest in learning about other cultural communities, nurture students’ cross-cultural empathy, and elicit culturally responsive behaviors. The juxtaposition of these findings signifies the potential for LX learning to complement DEI-focused education to improve learning outcomes. However, the value …

Reading Recovery Teacher Understandings About Language And Early Literacy Acquisition, Kelly L. Mcdermott

Educational Studies Dissertations

This study investigated Reading Recovery teacher understandings about language and early literacy acquisition by applying a constructivist grounded theory design. Participants were Reading Recovery teachers working across three varied districts in Massachusetts (N=33). The purpose of the study was to engage Reading Recovery teachers in surveys, focus groups, interviews, and observations to understand the degree to which Reading Recovery teacher participants value varied student language patterns. Addressing biases faced upon school entry by children who speak differently than their teachers is essential. When students are identified for early literacy intervention, an asset-based frame is critical to ensure accelerated growth. The …

The Influence Of Prison Skills Programming On The Reentry Process, Jennifer Tatten

Educational Studies Dissertations

Prison skills programming that is focused on employment readiness, reentry skills, parenting and family relationships, life skills, and anger management is offered with an understanding that the information will support individuals with reentry in areas such as family reintegration and employment. The purpose of this mixed-methods dissertation study was to explore the reasons that individuals chose to participate in skills programming during incarceration and their perceptions about the ways in which skills programming influenced their experiences with family and employment during reentry. Data were collected from diverse participants using a Reentry Experiences Survey (RES) (Appendix A), in-depth interviews, and archival …

Active Imagination, Wellbeing And Ways Of Seeing: A Phenomenological Inquiry Into Experiences Of Adult Learners With Visual Impairments, Steinberg Henry

Educational Studies Dissertations

Six female and two male adult learners who became blind between the ages of 20 and 75 years participated in this study conducted by a blind researcher. The purposely sampled eight were interviewed virtually by way of Zoom. In combination with Johnny Saldana’s work on codes, this study used the NVivo framework for determining structuring categories, selecting node themes, code frameworks and final codes from the first interview. 291 codes were clustered under 26 node themes. NVivo’s word frequency search and Word Tree were applied to clarify and lend a number value to participants’ codes. The second interview, administered after …

Exploring Physician Assistant Students' Perceptions Of Stress And Help Seeking Behavior, Kayla Cetrone

Educational Studies Dissertations

Physician Assistant (PA) students, similar to other students enrolled in medical education, experience a variety of stressors throughout their education and training that can inhibit their academic and clinical success and affect patient care outcomes. The purpose of this mixed-methods research study was to explore PA students' and alumni's perceived stressors, their experiences of the stressors, and the help-seeking behaviors they employ and perceive as useful to address them. Following an explanatory sequential design, all PA students and alumni (n = 288) from one program in the northeast were invited to complete an anonymous online survey assessing their perceptions and …

Communicate To Connect: Kate Bornstein, X González, And Judy Shepard Reflect On Self-Awareness Strategies And Presenting To Inspire Social Change, Sarah M. Kipp

Educational Studies Dissertations

People throughout the centuries have used public presentation to effect social change. This qualitative case study was designed to explore the various ways that self-awareness affects high-profile presenters committed to effecting social change. Through prespecified criterion sampling, three presenters—Kate Bornstein, X González, and Judy Shepard—were selected and agreed to participate in this study. The primary approach to data collection was in-depth, semi-structured interviews. A document review (print and media) was conducted as a second approach to data collection. Using transcriptions of the interviews and texts from the document review, two rounds of coding were completed. The initial round of coding …

The Efforts Of K-12 School Principals To Increase Black Student Achievement, Kerry Moore

Educational Studies Dissertations

Policies typically hold schools accountable for student learning by isolating student groups within the school population to monitor academic achievement. Responsibility for ensuring academic growth and learning for all students often falls heavily upon the K-12 public school principal. This study investigated K-12 school principals’ beliefs, prioritization, and execution of research-based strategies meant to increase Black student achievement as well as their efforts to implement these strategies, including factors and conditions promoting or inhibiting implementation. Three guiding questions informed this study: (1) To what degree do principals believe leading efforts to improve Black student achievement is a priority? (2) What …

“I Am Not Going To Hide Who I Am”: How Jewish Girl Activists Navigate Their Relationship To Voice, Visibility, And Representation, Cheryl Weiner

Educational Studies Dissertations

This dissertation examined how 32 Jewish activist girls, aged 14 to 18, who were affiliated with Jewish communities navigated their relationship with voice, visibility, and representation. A primary goal of the study was to understand the challenges they faced in their everyday lives and to make their knowledge known. Research questions that guided the study included: 1) How do Jewish activist girls navigate their relationship to voice, visibility, and representation?; 2) What are the unique challenges experienced by Jewish girl activists?; and 3) How do Jewish girl activists exercise resistance against the challenges they experience? The literature that informed this …

Compassion In The Stem Curriculum: Integrating Emotional Peer Support Within Undergraduates’ Classroom Work, Jared Berezin

Educational Studies Dissertations

Students’ academic success and wellbeing are interconnected, yet university classrooms rarely promote mental health. To bridge the divide between academic and social-emotional learning, I introduced a classroom intervention titled the Care Bear Connection, during which students were required to post a message in Slack offering support to their classmates. In this mixed methods study, quantitative data were collected from first-year undergraduates (N = 36) in two team-based engineering courses (intervention group n = 24; comparison group n = 12). A pre- and post-intervention survey assessed students’ beliefs and experiences in their respective course concerning six compassion-related variables: social connectedness, …

Family-School Partnerships Forged During Videoconference Iep Meetings For Children Transitioning Between Early Intervention And Lea During Global Covid-19 Pandemic, Jennifer Tenore

Educational Studies Dissertations

Abstract In the spring of 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the world,

including public schools in the United States. During this time, Local Education Agencies (LEA) started to rely on videoconference platforms for Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. This phenomenological study investigated the experience of 12 participants, 7 school staff, and 5 parents from public schools in Connecticut. Three guiding questions focused on the participants’ experiences during the pandemic regarding: 1) the various ways they establish partnerships that bridge home and school as children transition from early intervention to school-based programming; 2) the factors and conditions they believe …

Students Who Identify As Black And Their Perceptions Of And Experiences With Public High School Student Council, Amanda R. Goddard

Educational Studies Dissertations

In recent decades, there has been a decline in the participation of Black students in high school student councils, causing concern that the Black student population is underrepresented in this traditional form of civic engagement. This hermeneutic phenomenological study investigated the lived experiences of Black individuals who attended Massachusetts’ public high schools and were faced with the opportunity to seek membership in student council. Three guiding questions focused on factors influencing a student’s decision to seek membership in the organization and the alignment between the portrayed purposes of student council with the participants’ actual experiences and perceptions. A modified snowball …

Lighting Neural Maps: Using A Neuroscience Lens To Examine Quantitative Performance From Urban Districts, Hengameh (Heny) M. Taraz

Educational Studies Dissertations

What is the link between neuroscience and education? Can one measure the phenomenon of learning and make predictions by charting student performance? How does the knowledge of neuroscience inform educators to objectively and effectively meet the unique needs of all learners and address discrepancies in subsets of student population? Questions like these led the way to examining quantitative summative performance assessment data obtained from two large and diverse urban school districts in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This interdisciplinary study is an empirical mixed methods inquiry that includes extensive quantitative analysis of existing public school data which is further analyzed using …

A Qualitative Study Of Teachers’ Knowledge Of Anxiety And Their Feelings Of Preparedness To Support Students With Anxiety, Jessica Minahan

Educational Studies Dissertations

The incidence of anxiety disorders, one of the most prevalent mental health disorders, in students has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, these disorders continue to be underdiagnosed and untreated in schools, leading to impaired learning, social relationships, and health issues. If teachers, who spend a considerable amount of time with students, identify anxiety and enforce successful interventions, it can lead to positive student outcomes. Therefore, this qualitative study examined teachers’ knowledge of anxiety and their feelings of preparedness in teaching students with anxiety. Thirteen general education elementary teachers with two to three years of experience were interviewed. The participants …

A Study Of Dual-Language Preschoolers With Moderate To Severe Autism: Perspectives And Practices Of Professionals In Boston-Area Massachusetts School Districts, Susan Davison

Educational Studies Dissertations

Abstract

The rate of autism continues to increase globally across cultures and languages. Inequities exist in early access to an autism diagnosis and necessary evidence-based education and related services for dual-language children in the U.S. This qualitative dissertation study investigated the perspectives and practices of 10 educators and therapists working in the Boston area of Massachusetts with dual-language preschoolers with moderate to severe autism. Data was collected via semi-structured interviews on Zoom. Practitioners described their commitment to their students and families. Using a social constructivist phenomenological approach, the data analysis of the practitioners’ responses resulted in seven main findings. Assessment …

Charter School Leaders And Their Students’ Resilience, Katy Bridget Angelone

Educational Studies Dissertations

The purpose of this multiple composite case study was to develop descriptive accounts of the thoughts, beliefs, actions, and assessments of charter school leaders regarding their efforts towards students’ resilience-building. Survey results from 46 participants identified eight Massachusetts charter school leaders who prioritized resilience-building within their schools. Semi-structured interviews with eight participants inquired about their reasons and methods for resilience-building in their schools and the factors and conditions that inhibit and foster their efforts. The qualitative data analysis yielded five findings. Participants operated from two orientations: resilience empowers learners and cultivates self-directed learning; and resilience is needed to manage traumatic …

A Mixed Methods Approach To Understanding Common Factors Association With Pain And Functional Outcomes In Musculoskeletal Pain Conditions, Mary Beth Holmes

Educational Studies Dissertations

Healthcare costs continue to rise the provision of value-based care with evidence to support improvement in patient outcomes is essential for service coverage. While physical therapy has proven to be effective for the treatment of painful musculoskeletal conditions ostensibly different treatment approaches have yielded similar results. These findings have led to an exploration of the influence of the features present across all interventions, variables known as the “common factors”, on physical therapy outcomes. Research pertaining to common factors remains in the early stages in physical therapy literature, with studies primarily aimed at defining and exploring singular concepts. Using Wampold’s Contextual …

The Mind’S Eyes: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of Learning To Draw In Adulthood, Ramona Crawford

Educational Studies Dissertations

Amid a long period of deskilling in art school curricula, craft has been denigrated as inferior to art and confining for artists, but can craft liberate imagination? The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between an adult learner’s self-perceived capacity for imaginative expression in representational drawing and the development of her artisanal judgment during a self-directed program of classical study, online and in-person, over a period of 22 months (mostly during the coronavirus pandemic). The researcher created, coded, and analyzed drawings, photographs, field notes, diaries, and video recordings to track cognitive events and situative factors encountered in …

Queering The Bible Belt: Stories Of Student Affairs Professionals Establishing Lgbtq Pride Centers In The Deep South, Kevin David Linton

Educational Studies Dissertations

This study examined the experiences of 20 student affairs professionals who played a pivotal role in the establishment of LGBTQ pride centers at public four-year institutions of higher education in the Bible Belt. Since the first pride center opened at the University of Michigan in 1971, pride centers have been a critical resource for supporting LGBTQ college students. In the Bible Belt, 28 pride centers have been successfully established by professionals despite social, fiscal, and religious conservatism negatively influencing public support of LGBTQ initiatives. However, best practices for establishment in this region have not emerged. Understanding the experiences of individuals …

“I Don’T Know What You’Re Expecting But I Can Make Something Here”: Epistemological Beliefs Of Adult Undergraduates And The Prior Learning Assessment Portfolio Process, Rusty Dolleman

Educational Studies Dissertations

Abstract

Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) is a term for various methods by which universities accredit student experiential learning. One such method is the academic portfolio, a written reflective process in which students demonstrate that their personal or professional learning fulfills university outcomes. Proponents of academic portfolios claim that they also improve student critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. Research on traditional undergraduates suggests that differences in critical thinking and problem-solving are related to epistemological development, but little research has been done on adult undergraduate epistemologies or how student epistemology may affect PLA portfolio work. This study attempts to answer two questions: …

Can Hope Be Primed In Chronic Pain? A Clinical Application Of Health Priming, Brenda Stockdale

Educational Studies Dissertations

ABSTRACT

It is recognized that nonintentional, automatic processing shapes physical health and well-being in critical ways. Conditioning––or priming––has been shown to influence attitude, beliefs, agency, behavior, and medical outcomes. Although expectations and beliefs correlate strongly with physical health, research in clinical application is needed, and studies on hope, as related to agency, in chronic pain are rare. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether, in a chronic pain sample (N = 154), hope could be primed via a Pain Neuroscience Educational (PNE) tutorial. A pre- and post-test intervention study consisting of two randomized parallel groups was designed …

Lessons To Learn From Teacher Activists Organizing For Systemic Change Through A Community-Based Coalition, Cynthia Roy

Educational Studies Dissertations

Corporate education reformers say they want excellent education for all students, yet scholars have documented the failure of corporate, neoliberal education reform. Educational organizing offers a powerful alternative to education reform. The purpose of this study was to understand how teachers in a community-based coalition made up of workers, educators, students, parents, guardians, grandparents, elected officials, and community leaders organized for equitable, systemic school change. This critical, feminist, activist ethnographic study included six participants and involved field observations, formal and informal interviews, and artifacts collected over six months. The instruments used to collect data were a demographic survey, a field …

Examining Developmental And Sociological Effects Of Restrictive Behavioral Sanctions On College Students, Patrick Sharry

Educational Studies Dissertations

With the rising costs and social implications of attending higher education, the importance of student success and degree completion has taken on even more weight in recent years. Something that can derail these important elements is the implementation of a restrictive sanction due to the impact they have on a student’s personal and social development. While the success rate of sanctioned K-12 students continues to be explored by many researchers, the population of traditional college students who are severely sanctioned has not been well represented in the literature. This study explores the lived experiences of college students issued a restrictive …

Reconceptualizing Massachusetts’ Public High School Mentoring Programs, Michelle L. Addario

Educational Studies Dissertations

Abstract

The goals of most secondary school mentoring programs are to advance the skills and competencies of beginning teachers while simultaneously reducing attrition and improving student learning. In Massachusetts, there is a lack of widespread efficacy in existing public high school mentoring programs. The purpose of this study was to examine how to reconceptualize such programs to increase efficacy. The study employed an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design. An online survey compiled quantitative and qualitative data from 38 mentor teachers across Massachusetts. Six of the 38 online survey respondents were interviewed to garner additional, in-depth, qualitative data. Both the …

White, Working-Class Adult Male Students In Higher Education: The Effects Of Working-Class Identity On Educational Success, Terence Lynn

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative, phenomenological study situated in grounded theory aimed to identify the forces that impede or support white working-class males in pursuing, adapting to, and remaining in higher education and making meaningful progress in their educational goals. Utilizing a feminist ecological perspective, the researcher was able to outline and provide context of the white working-class male experience in America. The primary research question guiding this study involved the ways in which white male working-class identity affects white working-class males’ return to higher education. An inductive approach involving Relational-Cultural Theory allowed for an in-depth exploration of the lived experiences of 10 …