Education Commons^™

The Perceptions Of School Psychologists Regarding The Disproportionality In Special Education For Students Of Color: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study, Jessica Ann Marshall

All Theses And Dissertations

Racial disproportionality in special education has been a problem of practice since Dunn called attention to it in 1968. Research has demonstrated the adverse effects on students including stigma, labeling, reduced access to high-quality educational opportunities, restrictive settings, and lower expectations and educational outcomes. Little research on disproportionality has examined how individual characteristics and societal factors intersect with specific school variables and contexts. Using disability critical race theory as a lens for exploration, this qualitative phenomenological study examined the phenomenon of disproportionality situated within a specific context to uncover how local factors may contribute to the incidence of disproportionality. Seven …

Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Public High School Teachers And Instructional Coaches Participating In Virtual Instructional Coaching During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Alyson J. Manion

All Theses And Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of public high school teachers (grades 9-12) and instructional coaches who have participated in virtual instructional coaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three research questions guided this study: (1) How do public high school teachers and instructional coaches describe their experience with virtual instructional coaching during the COVID-19 pandemic?, (2) How do public high school teachers and instructional coaches describe the changes in instructional coaching experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic?, and (3) How do public high school teachers and instructional coaches describe their relationships with their instructional coaching …

Mindfulness And Its Impact On Leader-Employee Relations In Higher Education Social Work Departments, Autumn A. Straw

All Theses And Dissertations

This sequential, fixed, mixed-methods study explores how mindfulness practice by leaders in higher education social work programs influences the leader-employee relationship among a sample of higher education social work department leaders and their faculty. This study was developed out of the intersection of personal, professional, and academic interests in both mindfulness and leadership. Additionally, this study fills a gap in the existing literature on how leaders’ individual mindfulness practice influences the relationship between them and their employees (Reb et al., 2019; Rooney et al., 2021; Urrila, 2021).

The results of this study were that the sample of social work higher …

Understanding The Perceived Impact Of Social And Emotional Learning Interventions On High School Student Success, Michelle Wright

All Theses And Dissertations

Integrating social and emotional learning (SEL) skills into instructional practices and academic content has become a priority in many school districts (CASEL, 2018). While educators and clinical professionals alike have made strides in recognizing the importance of SEL, the level of implementation across districts varies greatly (CASEL, 2018). This qualitative program evaluation explored whether school staff at a public suburban high school in the Northeastern United States perceived the implementation of various interventions aimed at increasing SEL skills of students to be successful. This study utilized semi-structured interviews to identify which interventions had been implemented by a group of school …

Lived Experiences Of Adults Formally Raised By Grandparents On Their Connection To The School Community While In High School, Karen M. Maguire

All Theses And Dissertations

This qualitative interpretative phenomenological analysis sought to understand the lived experiences of connectedness to the secondary school community of children raised by grandparents, told from the reflective viewpoint of the grandchildren now as adults. Although the relationship between grandparents and the grandchildren they raise has been studied, how those grandchildren connect to the school community has yet to be explored and was the focus of this study. Research on grandchildren raised by grandparents and student connection to the school community provided valuable insight, highlighting the need for additional exploration in this area. Education researchers have studied student engagement quite thoroughly, …

Exploring The Perceptions Of Faculty And Staff Regarding The Impact A Facility Dog Has On Elementary Students’ Learning Environment, Katherine T. Race

All Theses And Dissertations

Over the past decade there has been a drastic increase in students’ reporting and exhibiting feelings of overwhelming anxiety, depression, anger, and disengagement in the school setting (Relevette, 2020). To better appreciate these increases, one must first grasp the notion that two-thirds of school-aged students are experiencing toxic-stress, also known as long-term stress, on a daily basis. Toxic stress has been directly related to the halting of brain development in children (Rossen, 2020).

These experiences, often referred to as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), are various traumatic events children have been victims of, or directly exposed to, during their first seventeen …

Chronic Absenteeism: Exploring Challenges And Obstacles That Impact Students’ Attendance In Northern Maine Rural Schools, Leland Caron

All Theses And Dissertations

Educational success relies heavily upon consistent school attendance (Rogers & Feller, 2018). In Maine, a student is identified as chronically absent when 10% or more of the days enrolled in school are missed due to excused or unexcused absences (Maine Department of Education, 2019). Chronic absenteeism impacts millions of students across America each year. National data identified that approximately five to seven and a half million school-aged students miss a month or more of school each year (Chang & Davis, 2015). This qualitative interpretative phenological study (IPA) was designed to fill some of the gaps in the literature on chronic …