Education Commons^™

Elementary Principals' And Teachers' Educational Beliefs And Practices In Inclusive Schools, Dawn Hill

Dissertations

This qualitative study will explore the educational beliefs and practices of elementary principals and teachers in inclusive schools. Nine elementary schools in a unit district are the focus of this study given the significant gains made in closing the achievement gap between students with disabilities and their non-disabled peers. The research questions in this study are as follows: (1) How are principals’ LRE beliefs and practices related to student achievement? (2) How are teachers’ LRE beliefs and practices related to student achievement? The elementary schools included in this study not only narrowed the achievement gap between students with IEPs and …

Perceptions Of Illinois Superintendents Regarding Implementation Of Principal Evaluation Instruments After Senate Bill 7 Authorizations, Brian Anthony Kaye

Dissertations

As the role of an elementary and middle school principal in Illinois is recognized for having a significant impact on student achievement and the success of a school community a greater emphasis is placed on the evaluation and professional development of the principals in Illinois. with the passage of Senate Bill 7 in Illinois, the requirements for principal evaluations changed. the purpose of the research is to understand the actual versus the perceived use of the ISLLC principal leadership standards and whether the implementation of SB7 is having an impact on principal leadership. Participants of this study included a survey …

Charter Schools And Special Education Enrollment Rates, Mary Ann Lind

Dissertations

There is a growing concern that public charter schools, as publicly funded entities, which are mandated to ensure FAPE and IDEA, are lagging significantly behind public non-charter schools, when it comes to special education student enrollment. This potentially creates an unbalanced special education student ratio between public non-charter schools and public charters. This dissertation examines the enrollment rates of special education students between public charters and public non-charter schools in a large, metropolitan American school district, over a five-year period. This body of work examines causality and the effect of enrollment data along with the potential implications.

Positive Behavior Intervention Supports And Relational Trust In An Elementary School: A Self-Study Of A Principal's Impact On Supportive Environment And Student Achievement, Marilou Salcepuedes Rebolledo

Dissertations

School discipline continues to this day to be the most challenging issue in education often resulting in students being excluded from their classroom and instruction. Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS) is a necessity to ensure that students are in classrooms learning and supported socially and emotionally. The purpose of this self-study is for me to examine and identify ways that I as a leader engage the school community in building a positive learning environment through implementation of relational trust and common school-wide PBIS and expectations. The result of this study will provide leaders in elementary urban schools the tools necessary …

Wellness Interventions For Social Justice Fatigue Among Student Affairs Professionals, Sara Furr

Dissertations

This project explored the construct of social justice fatigue (SJF) among student affairs professionals. Utilizing racial battle fatigue (RBF) and compassion fatigue to construct the definition of SFJ, a thirty day wellness intervention plan was created and tested amongst participants. Social justice fatigue is the physical, mental, and/or emotional toll incurred through advocating for social change while serving as an agent of an institution of higher education. Using participatory action research design we learned this definition resonates with student affairs professionals; particularly those who are engaged in equity and social justice oriented work and share the marginalized identity of the …

Counter-Narratives Of Latino Men And Machismo In Higher Education, Hiram Ramirez

Dissertations

This dissertation study addresses the gaps in research concerning the gendered experiences of successful Latino men in higher education. As Latino men in postsecondary education continue to enroll and persist in low numbers, new lenses are needed to consider their educational experiences. This study attempts to add a gendered lens, in the form of machismo, to consider ways in which successful Latino men are persisting. Machismo, a construct with both positive and negative attributes, has the potential to influence Latino men's navigation of higher education. Research documents the negative ways in which machismo has hampered Latino men in education, however …

Universal Design For Learning: An Examination Of Leadership Promoting Student Learning For All, Martha Ryan-Toye

Dissertations

Martha Ryan-Toye

Loyola University Chicago

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING: AN EXAMINATION OF LEADERSHIP PROMOTING STUDENT LEARNING FOR ALL

This study examines the intersection of leadership, Universal Design for Learning and a framework for continuous improvement. Universal Design for Learning is a tool that unites beliefs and actions to address the needs of all children in our educational systems. We fall short in our efforts to close the learning gaps for children with disabilities, children of lower income and children of differing racial and ethnic backgrounds. Universal Design for Learning demonstrates a commitment to proactively addressing the variability of learners so …

An Exploratory Study Of Factors Influencing The Success Of Refugee Youth In College And University, Lea Tienou-Gustafson

Master's Theses

The educational needs, challenges and outcomes of refugee youth in the United States have been studied a great deal, particularly in regard to primary and secondary education. There is a dearth of research, however, on the refugee experience in higher education in the United States.

This study seeks to add to the body of literature on refugee education by exploring shared features of the refugee experience in higher education. Through an in-depth study of refugee youth in Chicago, the study seeks to understand their experiences before, while entering and during college and university, particularly how these experiences are tied to …

International Student Intersectionality In The Trump Era, Sarah Tolman

Master's Theses

This study examines the impact of the current U.S. presidential administration's policies and rhetoric on international student experiences and identities. The researcher approaches this question through the theoretical lens of intersectionality, with the goal of highlighting the complexity and diversity of international student identities in this unique historical moment. Through in-depth narratives collected from interviews with 8 diverse international students, it becomes clear that the 2016 presidential election and the administration's rhetoric and policies have influenced international student experiences and identities in significant ways. Students perceive the statements and actions of the current government to have shifted their perspectives and …

Exploring Community College Practitioners' Cultivation And Praxis Of Antiracist And Asset-Based Approaches To Education: A Phenomenological Study, Ester Ulibasa Sihite

Dissertations

Community colleges comprise a robust and complex sector of U.S. higher education, serving large numbers of students of color and other historically underrepresented groups. There is a dearth of literature on how antiracist and asset-based approaches to education can be utilized to promote student success and racial justice. Using an inductive, phenomenological approach, this study utilized data from interviews with a purposive sample of community college practitioner-educators (faculty, staff, and administrators) who invested in racial justice praxis€”reflection and action€”to explore (a) how their cognitive frames, abilities, and interest in racial justice were cultivated, and (b) what this praxis looks like. …

Mentoring The Millennials: Induction Of The Millennial Generation In Education, Christopher M. Brown

Dissertations

This research explored who the Millennial teacher is and revealed the relevancy of current teacher induction programs for them, as well as through the lens of the school leaders responsible for induction programming.

Research Questions

1. How do millennial generation teachers perceive their induction programs as new teachers?

a. What are the perceived needs of millennials in their first year of teaching?

b. How does induction programming meet these needs?

c. What are the perceived effectiveness of these programs to meet millennial needs?

2. How do building/district level leaders perceive the induction of millennial generation teachers?

a. What are the …

Transfer Student Success: Latinx Students Overcoming Challenges At Two- And Four-Year Institutions Towards Baccalaureate Degree Attainment, Ajani Mcarthur Byrd

Dissertations

As the largest post-secondary educational system, community colleges enroll nearly 35% of all college students (American Association for Community Colleges, 2014). However, the vast majority of students attending two-year institutions aspiring to vertically transfer (from community college to four-year institution), fall short of their academic goals and do not obtain a baccalaureate degree (Student Success Score Card, 2013). To this end, the extant literature has illustrated students of color, especially Latinx and African American students, transfer and graduate at disproportionately lower rates than their white counterparts. Qualitative researchers have explored this phenomenon; yet, often fall short of highlighting the specific …

Maintaining College Access In A Post Recession Era: A Multi-Level Competing Risks Model, Brendan Martin

Dissertations

Post-Great Recession budgets cuts and funding freezes have decreased the level of institutional resources available to recruit and retain undergraduate students. To optimize remaining expenditures in this challenging climate, new analytical approaches must be considered to evaluate and interpret pre-enrollment student data. To date, much of the higher education literature has focused on predicting enrollment using traditional fixed or mixed effects binary logistic models. While robust, these modeling approaches are constrained by standard statistical assumptions, do not account for the timing of students' enrollment decisions, and cannot efficiently incorporate censored data points or competitor information. This study applies a multi-level, …

Centering The Margins: Elevating The Voices Of Women Of Color To Critically Examine College Student Leadership, Natasha T. Turman

Dissertations

The leadership viewpoints of Women of Color (WOC), in general, and WOC collegians specifically, are not widely available or recognized. This exclusion and oversight is a disservice to all. The inadequate inclusion of WOC's perspective in leadership literature is due to the assumptions of race and gender neutrality in leadership studies. Viewing leadership as a set of universal constructs, garnered from a select few and generalized to a great many, is not adequate to understanding the leadership experiences of WOC within dominant-culture environments. To address these deficits, critical leadership scholars have proposed that leadership be (re)conceptualized from a multicultural perspective, …

Investigating The Effects Of Student Engagement On Latina/O Community College Students, Manuel Salgado

Dissertations

As the growth of the largest ethnic minority group, Latina/os, continues to grow there is an increasing concern that the current educational system is not effectively meeting the academic needs of this group of students. The community college sector has gained greater recognition for its potential to meet the needs of a much broader scope of students, particularly low-income and students of color. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of the Latina/o experience and the factors that contribute to college success among community college students. Specifically, this study used hierarchical multiple regression and logistic regression analysis to investigate …

Understanding The Role Of Leadership Motivation In College Student Leadership Development, Benjamin Paul Correia-Harker

Dissertations

Current scholarship situates leadership capacity, leadership self-efficacy, and motivation as core factors in predicting leadership action (Chan & Drasgow, 2001; Dugan, 2017). With relationships between leadership capacity and self-efficacy clearly established in college student leadership development literature (Dugan & Komives, 2007, 2010), this research endeavors to better understand motivation’s role in the student leadership development process. Using Dugan (2017) and Chan and Drasgow’s (2001) theoretical models as guides, this research will examine several models that test various relationships between leadership capacity, self-efficacy, and motivation. Because scholars have emphasized the importance of disaggregating data based on social identities (Kodama & Dugan, …

Special Education Disproportionality Through A Social Lens: A Mixed Methods Approach, Marianne J. Fidishin

Dissertations

The disproportionate nature of special education, notably with African American students, is longstanding and most pronounced in judgmental eligibility categories such as intellectual disability and emotional disturbance. Numerous studies on disproportionality conclude there is not a single causative factor, but point to the multifactorial nature of the issue and the complex interplay among different factors. Research related to the role social factors exhibited in an institution have on special education referral and eligibility determination is more limited. This is important since practices employed during the eligibility process take place within the institution’s social environment and are underpinned by the beliefs …

Improving Causal Claims In Observational Research: An Investigation Of Propensity Score Methods In Applied Educational Research, Julie Diane Wren

Dissertations

This study used existing institutional data from a large, urban, public, very high research university to compare sixteen matching schemes, built from three separate datasets, to estimate the propensity score, achieve balance between groups and test the sensitivity of the average treatment effect (ATE). For each PS model, four different conditioning strategies were applied. The first four matching schemes used commonly collected data available within a student information system (referred to as SIS dataset). The next four matching schemes combined the SIS dataset with data from an entering student survey (referred to as ESS dataset). The next four matching schemes, …

The Role Of Instructional Leadership On Teacher Induction And Professional Longevity: A Case Study, Jeremy E. Burnham

Dissertations

This research study examines the perceived impact of teacher induction programs on public high school novice and beginning career-change teachers. This study seeks to explore the differences in perceptions of public high school novice teachers versus public high school beginning career-change teachers in regards to the efficacy of induction programs.

Through a case study design that utilized qualitative questionnaires, individualized interviews, and document analysis, the researcher uncovered data, which highlighted the importance of addressing the individual needs of public high school novice and beginning career-change teachers in district induction.

The conclusions that follow summarize the utilization of Allan A. Glatthorn's …

The Effects Of The 2008 Financial Recession On Superintendents’ Leadership And Decision Making, Elizabeth Ann Mcnamara

Dissertations

This dissertation explored the possible effects that the 2008 financial recession might have had on superintendents' leadership and decision-making. A great deal of scholarship has addressed the effects of the 2008 financial recession as well as educational leadership, however, few studies have investigated the direct impact of the 2008 financial recession on superintendent's leadership.

The study answers the following research questions:

1. According to superintendents whose tenure included years 2007 to the

present day, what considerations did they bring into their decision making

regarding reductions within their school district?

a. What considerations were made regarding reductions in the

area of …

A Comparison Of Extra-Curricular Codes Of Conduct At Two Suburban Illinois High School Districts (1986-2011), Ted Robbins

Dissertations

This study investigates two Illinois High School districts from the years 1986-2011 and their extra-curricular Codes of Conduct. It begins by reviewing the evolution and background history of extra-curricular Codes of Conduct in Illinois High Schools. The specific development, evolution, implementation, and changes to the Codes of Conduct in two Illinois high school districts are then examined.

The research questions of this study focus on four topics; what was the evolution of the Codes of Conduct at the two Illinois high School districts, who were the advocates and leaders for changes to the consequences of a Code of Conduct violation, …

A Historical Analysis Of The Pioneers And Advocates Of Autism Spectrum Disorder (1980-2013): Examining The Evolution Of The Diagnosis And The Influences That Have Shaped What The Diagnosis Is Today, Cynthia Marie Sikora

Dissertations

During the 1980's, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) was categorized as a developmental disorder separate from other developmental disorders, in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders III (DSM-III). There were various pioneers and advocates who have helped the evolution of the ASD diagnosis from the time period of 1980-2013. Based on this evolution, schools, institutions and society as a whole, needed additional information and professional preparation in order to educate and create awareness regarding the treatment and education of individuals with ASD.

The central research questions are: During the time period from 1980-2013, who were the pioneers and advocates …

Conditionalities Of The Knowledge Banks And The Financing Of Higher Education In West Africa: A Focus On Ghana, Nigeria, And Sierra Leone, Innocent Chima Ugwoke

Master's Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to understand how the loan conditionalities of the knowledge banks—the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are affecting the funding of higher education in West Africa generally by particularly comparing Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. The role of higher education has been linked with development, and development has remained a concerned issue in Africa. The commitment of the states in funding higher education in order to achieve the desired goal of development is continuously met with difficulty. The reliance of these countries on the loans of the knowledge banks, which are associated with …

Self-Perceived Stress Of Undergraduate Students Before And After Participation In A Breathing Meditation Intervention: A Mixed Methods Study, Cindy Oneida Sloan

Dissertations

This mixed methods study examined the effects of an eight-week breathing meditation intervention on the self-perceived stress of undergraduate students. Previous research suggests meditation is an effective strategy to alleviate stress and stress-related symptomatology (Baer, 2003; Conley, Travers, & Bryant, 2013; Shapiro, Brown & Astin, 2011). Forty-one undergraduate student volunteers participated in the study and were randomized into either an intervention group or control group. The intervention group met once per week for eight weeks and participated in a nine minute guided breathing meditation. At the conclusion of eight weeks participants, when compared with the control group, reported significantly lower …

Creating A Culture Of Belonging: The Significance Of Student Belonging And The Ethical Frameworks That Influence High School Leaders As They Sustain And Enhance Cultures Of Belonging, Patrick James Sassen

Dissertations

Given the increased focus on high-stakes testing and district accountability measures evident in the world of public education today, it is understandable that school leaders would be influenced by the pressures associated with public expectations and dwindling fiscal resources. This study explored what public high school leaders do to evaluate and change programming in their schools through the lens of the Ethics of Care, Profession, Critique, and Justice. Following a sequential explanatory mixed method design, participant selection was conducted using the High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE) as the means for establishing schools that, according to the HSSSE, had …

Shifting Narratives In Doctoral Admissions: Faculty Of Color Understandings Of Diversity, Equity, And Justice In A Neoliberal Context, Dian Drew Squire

Dissertations

Little is known about how faculty make decisions in the doctoral admissions process or how they conceptualize diversity, equity, and justice in those same processes. As the United States continues to diversify, understanding how students are selected into graduate programs and how faculty understand diversity, equity, and justice is increasingly important to supporting diverse leadership bodies and shaping an inclusive campus cultural context. This qualitative study utilized semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and critical discourse analysis to explore how faculty of color understand diversity, equity, and justice norms, values, and behaviors in the doctoral admissions process in Higher Education and Student …

Resipwosite, Benefis Mityel And Solidarite: A Case Study Of Global Service Learning Partnerships In Post-Earthquake Ayiti, Jessica Darnell Murphy

Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to study select long-term successive partnerships between American universities of the Haiti Compact and various non-government organizations working in Ayiti (Haiti) despite contextual tensions of historic relations between Ayiti and the West, disparate global status of Ayiti and the United States of America, and the unprecedented impact of the 2010 earthquake in Ayiti and subsequent response from U.S. institutions of higher education. The Haiti Compact was a unique case for study due to its formation (1) as a resource of aggregated American student volunteerism and activism to be used in assistance to Ayisyen …

Revitalizing The Catholic Identity Of Schools: Ecclesial Leaders Of The Catholic Church On Methods Of Providing An Outstanding Catholic Formation And Education For Students, Linda Ann Andrejek

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Tweeting In The Agora: An Historical Documentary Of Educational Structures And Discourse In Ancient Greece And In Modern Social Media, Jill Maraldo

Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the systems and structures of formal and informal education in Ancient Greece under the leadership of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle and the systems and structures of education and discourse on social media, specifically on blogs and Twitter. Using historical documentary research methodology of primary and secondary sources, the researcher analyzed, compared and contrasted these systems and structures and examined the implications for today's educational leaders.

The four research questions of this study were:

1. According to select primary sources from 400 B.C.- 322 B.C. (heretofore referred to as ancient times) and historical secondary sources about that …

A Structural Model Of Leadership Self-Efficacy For Asian American Students: Examining Influences Of Collective Racial Esteem And Resilience, Corinne Maekawa Kodama

Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between racial identity, using the constructs of collective racial esteem (CRE), and resilience on LSE for a diverse sample of 2,223 Asian American college students, using data from the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership, a national survey of college outcomes. Structural equation modeling was used to explore the relationship between CRE and Resilience, as well as Non-Discriminatory Climate and Identity-based Experiences, on LSE. The model was tested for invariance for gender as well as for five Asian American ethnic groups (Chinese, Indian/Pakistani, Korean, Filipino, and Vietnamese).

Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that the 4-item CRE subscales were …