Education Commons^™

Paving Pathways For Success: The Role Of Transition Models And Disability Services In Postsecondary Education For Students With Disabilities, Jillian Talley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Students have dreams and goals outside of school. School psychologists can play a vital role in helping students with disabilities reach their dreams, particularly when the dreams ask the question “What do I want to do after high school?” Often, the answer lies in postsecondary goals, which require transition planning while the student is still in school. Manuscript One (M1) explores how families, teachers and school psychologists can all play supportive and distinct roles in helping a student with disabilities reach their postsecondary goals. There have been several transition models proposed to help students with disabilities shift from PK-12 to …

Dismantling The Education-Survival Complex: A Qualitative Case Study Of How High School Youth Resist Whitestream School Policies And Foster School Change Through A Youth-Development Organization, Tracie Trinidad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study is to critically examine how youth resist whitestream school policies and foster educational change through community sociopolitical youth-development organizations. The methodology for this study is a qualitative case study (Fraenkel & Wallen, 1990; Merriam, 1988), as I am focused on participant perceptions and experiences, and how they make sense of their resistance experience through participation in sociopolitical youth development organizations like Youth for Social and Political Activism (YSPA). In total, eight participants spoke about their racial identity through their lived experiences in public school and YSPA programming.

The data and analysis are presented in the …

Experiences Of Chinese American Psychology Trainees In Multicultural Education, Helen Weng-Ian Chao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although research has established that students of color have unique experiences in their multicultural training, few studies have examined the experiences and needs of specific subgroups of students of color. This study examined Chinese American psychology trainees’ experiences in multicultural education. Qualitative data was collected from individual semi-structured interviews with Chinese American doctoral students (N = 6). Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to understand participants’ perceptions of their experiences in multicultural courses. Data analysis resulted in four themes: the (1) burden of being minoritized, (2) Chinese American identity inflection points, being (3) sidelined by whiteness, and (4) …

Faculty Facilitation Of Help-Seeking On Campus: A Phenomenological Study, Lillian V. Clark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An ever-increasing number of students on college campuses are experiencing distress, and not all students in need of care are being reached (Kitzrow, 2009, LeViness, et al., 2019). Faculty are one of the most valuable resources for identifying and connecting students to care (Kitzrow, 2009). Despite this, we know very little about the experiences of faculty working with students in distress. This study sought to understand those experiences, as well as identify the barriers to connecting students to care. A qualitative study using an Interpretive Phenomenology framework was conducted (Smith & Osborn, 2007, Moustakas, 1994). Four themes were interpreted from …

Assessing The Relationship Between White Privilege, White Fragility, And Masculine Gender Identity And Stressors In The Workplace, Anna Edelman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study examined how White privilege information avoidance and White fragility are related to aspects of traditional masculinity. Informed by Critical Race Theory and Critical Whiteness Studies, this study examined the link between traditional masculine norms, masculine gender identity stress, and White privilege reactions. A sample of White, working men were recruited both through snowball sampling and Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Participants were first assessed on a variety of masculinity variables and then were randomly assigned to view one of two video vignettes. After viewing this video, their affective responses, White privilege information avoidance, and White fragility were assessed through …

Exploring Opportunities For Supporting Juvenile Justice-Involved Youth: A Path Forward Through Expanding Graduate Training In School Psychology, Erica L. Gleason

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School psychologists are equipped with a dynamic skill set and an ethical and moral responsibility to support the diverse needs of all youth. While juvenile justice-involved youth may not be a primary subpopulation served by all school psychologists, they are a high-needs group that requires special consideration and attention. As a professional entity, school psychologists’ knowledge and expertise are not optimally applied to serving these youth. Consequently, school psychologists may be forgoing an opportunity to improve rates of successful school and community reintegration and overall positive life outcomes for justice-involved youth. The first manuscript of this dissertation presents precipitating and …

Critical Experiences Of Being Humbled In Psychotherapy Training: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Mackenzie White Jessen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Therapists’ cultural humility has shown promise for being a “trait like” quality that improves psychotherapy treatment for marginalized populations (Hook et al., 2016, Owen et al., 2016). However, researchers have emphasized that it is important to establish whether cultural humility can be fostered or developed through training (Davis et al., 2016). The purpose of this study was to understand the phenomenon of trainees being humbled in session during graduate school training and its potential relationship to trainee development. This is the first study to specifically examine the experience of being humbled by clients in session or that explores the potential …

Juntos Luchamos: A Postcritical Ethnographic And Photovoice Study On Latinx Student Civic Engagement Practices At A Hispanic-Serving Institution, Liliana Diaz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Situated at a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), this postcritical ethnographic and photovoice study sought to explore how Latinx students define and practice civic engagement. Theoretically framed by Latino Cultural Citizenship (LCC), the study explored how current Latinx student civic engagement practices inform a Hispanic-Serving Institutions’ civic engagement efforts. Data collection took place over the 2021-2022 academic year and an exhibition of the study’s findings was made publicly available at the culmination of the study. Findings from the study indicate that Latinx postsecondary students define civic engagement as knowledge and resource sharing (KRS) and achieving success. Findings for how Latinx postsecondary students …

Policymaker Discourse In Colorado Public Higher Education Appropriations, Nathan Willers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

State funding for higher education is one of the most pressing issues facing both institutions and policymakers in 2022. Colorado has seen significant declines in the amount of state funding per student over the past two decades, resulting in increases in student burdens for tuition. Policy discourse analysis through a poststructural and neoliberal lens provided insight towards the legislative process and the discursive themes utilized by Colorado policymakers during the 2021-22 legislative budgeting cycle. Twelve artifacts were analyzed, including a mix of policy briefs, hearings, and budget and appropriations reports, for discursive data related to the state’s appropriations for public …

Resilience & Persistence Of First-Generation Ncaa Division I Student-Athletes: An Evaluation Of The Key Culture, Communication, & Sports Program At Colorado State University, Sarabeth Morofsky

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This program evaluation highlights the Key Culture, Communication, & Sports (KCCS) Program at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO, a learning community program dedicated to serving student-athletes. Learning communities, considered high-impact practice in higher education, have a longstanding and successful approach to supporting new college students (Mamerow & Navorro, 2014). Many of the traditional benefits of learning community participation line up closely with the needs of student-athletes (Mamerow & Navorro, 2014). A Utilization-Focused program evaluation was implemented. KCCS students and KCCS faculty and staff were interviewed to understand if and how the KCCS program was meeting its goals. The …

Making The Most Of Program Evaluation Data: Understanding Human Services Professionals’ Well-Being Through Qualitative Secondary Analysis, Elizabeth Ann Deaton Wacker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Qualitative secondary analysis (QSA) allows researchers to explore new research questions and ensure that participants’ voices are heard to the greatest extent possible, without the burdens of additional data collection. However, this approach is rarely used outside of the health sciences, and little guidance exists in the literature about how to conduct QSA. This study is a secondary analysis of qualitative program evaluation data related to the well-being of human services professionals from two fields: child welfare and early care and education (ECE). It explores these professionals’ well-being, as well as the methodological issues of how well-being has been addressed …

Therapist Self-Disclosure With Mandated College Students: A Case Study, Zachary Lattanzio

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Facing the stark reality of a disturbing mental health crisis present in the college populations of the United States, college counseling centers (CCC) must figure out ways in which they can utilize all of their available limited resources, especially regarding potential high-risk students who are unlikely to seek treatment and those that pose a danger to self or others. In certain cases, mandated treatment can potentially mitigate or eliminate crises, and may serve as an effective intervention to students whose risky behavior may be normalized within the culture of colleges across the United States. However, while this course of treatment …

New Teachers Are Your Friends: A Multiple Case Study Examining School Psychologists’ Experiences Consulting With Beginning Teachers, Sayani Das Chaudhuri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School psychologists’ training, knowledge, and skillsets in school-based consultation can play a key role in supporting beginning teachers, but the consultation research base provides limited information about how beginning teachers’ concerns and characteristics relate to consultative practice (Babinski & Rogers 1998; DeForest & Hughes, 1992; Robertson & Briedenstein, 2007). This qualitative multiple case study investigated the perceptions and experiences of four expert school psychologists who engaged in consultation and provided support to beginning teachers. Factors related to the school psychologists' and beginning teachers' cognitions, behaviors, and school environment emerged in the data. Participants perceived beginning teachers as being enthusiastic and …

Uncovering An Alternative Social Structure To Social Dominance: A Blend Of Ethnography And Community Based Participatory Research, Andrew A. Fox

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated social structures that are alternative to the prevailing assumption of Social Dominance Theory (SDT), which is that all human interaction is based on social hierarchies. The implications of social dominance impact health at an institutional, interpersonal, and intrapersonal level. The intersection of these levels of social dominance cause health disparities that perpetuate gaps between populations. This study explored one community organizing group who is challenging social dominance by creating alternative social structures. The methods of this study included Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and Arts Based Research (ABR) as ways to generate middle-range theorizing and attempt to …

Statistical Modeling Of Positive Peer Support On Longitudinal Adolescent Substance Use, Kady Rost

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To evaluate this study’s research question of ”Does the latent construct of Positive Peer Support (PPS) relate to the construct of Adolescent Substance Use (ASU) over time, controlling for neighborhood safety, race, and sex?”, Structural Equation (SEM) and Latent Growth Curve Modeling (LGCM) were used to investigate trajectories. Secondary longitudinal data from Zimmerman (2014) of 604 students enrolled for four consecutive years in public schools located in Flint, Michigan. In the secondary data resource, students who participated were declared “at risk” by GPA. Significant relationships were found in SEM: Positive Peer Support to Adolescent Substance Use, All Control Variables to …

Demystifying School Resource Officers: A Case Study, Alexis Sliva

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, there has been a dramatic spike in student arrests for behaviors that previously fell under the auspices of suspensions, expulsions, or family consultations. Black and Latinx students receive discipline and law enforcement referrals at superfluous levels compared to White peers. Additionally, the disproportionate and aggressive referral of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students for disciplinary action are often for infractions that are considered less severe than the actions of their White counterparts. Punitive discipline advances school-based pathways to the juvenile justice system (SPJJ), formerly known as the school to prison pipeline (STPP). School psychologists are …

So What, Now What? Using Social Media Activism To Inform Power-Conscious Prevention Of Gender-Based Violence, Andrea R. Thyrring

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

We will not end gender-based violence by responding to it. Experts and national organizations agree that effective primary prevention programs are essential to stopping harmful behaviors before they start (DeGue et al, 2014; American College Health Association, 2016; American College Health Association, 2018; Townsend, 2017; Schneider & Hirsch, 2018; McMahon et al, 2019), so much so that primary prevention to address gender-based violence on college campuses has been mandated by state and federal policy (SB 19-007, 2019; Institutional Security Policies and Crime Statistics, 2020). In order to be effective, primary prevention programs should be tailored to the community in which …

A Grounded Theory Inquiry Into The Pedagogical Socialization Of Graduate Students Within Graduate Quantitative Methods Courses, Amanda Kay Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Quantitative methods are one of the most highly technical fields of study within social sciences graduate programs. Although classroom pedagogy is an important factor connected to student success within graduate quantitative methods courses little is known on the pedagogical socialization experiences of masters and doctoral students. The purpose of this grounded theory inquiry was to discover graduate students perspectives on their pedagogical socialization experiences and the norms, values and role expectations transmitted during the teaching and learning of quantitative methods. Narrative data was collected from in-depth interviews among a theoretical sample of 31 masters and doctoral students enrolled in introductory, …

Pulling Back The Curtain: A Student Collaborative Case Study Of Equity Issues In Colorado’S School Finance System, Amy Jo Schwartz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

After the Great Recession, a seven percent decrease in funding ended decades of academic growth and further widened the achievement gap between White and Black students (Jackson et al., 2020). Colorado’s school-finance system is particularly distorted and inequitable because of a series of tax-limiting policies which, combined, have led Colorado to become one of the lowest-funded per pupil states in the country (Resnick et al., 2015). The purpose of this study is to describe the policymaking context, as it relates to equity within Colorado’s school-finance system and explore policy alternatives to improve equity within the system. The study was designed …

Evaluating Foundational Components Of Research Consultations In An Academic Library Research Center, Ryan F. Buller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As our society continues to evolve at an ever-increasing rate, our higher education institutions, and the services they provide, must keep pace with societal changes in order to ensure that those services stay current and relevant. This program evaluation examines one such service, the research consultation model in University Libraries at the University of Denver. This evaluation was situated within the Human Ecological Theory Framework, to help understand how different environments can impact the recognition and value placed upon the foundational components of the service. An exploratory sequential mixed methods approach was used to determine what the foundational components of …

Exploring The Impact Of Leadership Values And Practices To Support Equity And Social Justice In An Urban School, Susan-Marie Farmen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study explores the leadership values and practices of a principal in a sixth through twelfth-grade school in the Rocky Mountain West to determine how leadership values and practices support the implementation of equitable and socially just practices in the school. Five key themes emerged: (a) equity as a Black/non-Black construct; (b) a lack of knowledge and awareness of the historical contexts of marginalized populations; (c) moral courage for all members of the school; (d) equity as an initiative or program; (e) resistance to deep equity work. From these themes, I devise three recommendations to support substantial and …

Where Is The Community? A Qualitative Case Study Of A School Closure In An Urban School District, Anthony Mcwright

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies: Doctoral Research Projects

Family and community engagement are a proven strategy for strengthening schools. Across the United States, parents and community members have pressed school boards and district leadership for more transparency and broader participation in decisions about school turnaround. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to understand the decision-making process for the school closure of Rocky Mountain High School, a neighborhood school in an Urban School District in the Rocky Mountain West and the impact it had on the community. To better understand this dilemma, a case study method was used to identify real-life perspectives of community members associated with …

Faculty Spotlight—Dr. Seth Masket, Owen Mckessy, William Moody

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Interview with Dr. Seth Masket

Embedding Information Literacy Support In A Peer Learning Program: An Exploratory Case Study, Jeffery Verbeem, Lynnette Harper

Collaborative Librarianship

The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate how librarians at a public university in Dubai could support the information literacy of student tutors through collaboration with a peer-to-peer learning assistance program. We sought to understand how peer tutors experience, develop and share their information literacy skills. We conducted workshops to help tutors become more aware of information literacy and to develop their fluency and confidence in applying these skills as students and as tutors. Data was gathered via a survey, a focus group and a quiz. Findings indicated that while there may have been some gains made in …

Working Across Disciplines And Library Units To Develop A Suite Of Systematic Review Services For Researchers, Nedelina Tchangalova, Eileen G. Harrington, Stephanie Ritchie, Sarah Over, Jodi Coalter

Collaborative Librarianship

Since their inception in the health sciences field, systematic reviews have expanded into many other subject disciplines. To address this growing need, subject librarians at the University of Maryland Libraries collaborated on a pilot program in three phases to introduce researchers to the process of conducting systematic and scoping reviews. This article describes the development of various collaborative efforts leading to the implementation of a systematic review service based on participant feedback. Assessment and evaluation techniques are shared to encourage further refinement of the systematic review service.

Leadership Lapse: Laundering Systemic Bias Through Student Evaluations, Debra S. Austin

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

This article discusses how law schools' use of student evaluation of teaching (SET) for high-stakes faculty employment decisions amounts to a lapse in leadership because using biased evaluations allows colleges and universities to discriminate against faculty whose identities deviate from white male heteronormativity.

Youth With Juvenile Justice Contact: Special Considerations In Measurement, Anne Elizabeth Biehl

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Students who have contact with the juvenile justice system are a particularly vulnerable and unique school-aged population. The risk factors that plague the likelihood of justice-involvement are numerous and inter-connected. Early experiences of trauma and adversity, limited familial and financial capital, and challenges with mental health all contribute to increased likelihood of youth contact with juvenile justice systems. Despite said risk factors effects on young people overall, youth of color are particularly susceptible to become justice-involved. School and community discipline statistics are grossly, racially disproportionate.

Pathways from schools to the justice system have been widely investigate in the literature. There …

Pivotal Perceptions: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Trauma-Informed Practices In An Urban School, Marni Choice-Hermosillo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological study sought to examine the experiences of teachers in an urban K-8 school after a system-wide whole school implementation of trauma-informed practices. The practices teachers implemented in their classrooms that aligned with their personal perceptions of trauma-informed practices and its efficacy were explored. Additionally, the personal and professional barriers to implementation were also investigated. Identified practical strategies at both the elementary and middle school levels included establishing and maintaining relational trust and classroom community, actively teaching emotional regulation skills, and teaching and reinforcing rituals, routines and expectations throughout the school year. Lack of confidence and previous personal assumptions …

Educational Achievement, Engagement, And Persistence In Choctaw Nation: A Study Of The Success Through Academic Recognition Program, Suzanne Delap

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma has developed a unique initiative to support academic achievement within their tribal territory. The Success Through Academic Recognition (STAR) program is an example of an Indigenously-developed approach to supporting students from grades 2-12, with the hope of promoting achievement, persistence, and engagement. To study the STAR program, a mixed-methods approach was employed to first analyze quantitative demographic and performance data collected from a cohort of high school students from 2014 to 2018. Next, phenomenological interviews were conducted within the same cohort, to describe the lived experiences of STAR students within the Choctaw community. The database …

Portraits Of Professional Collaboration: Faculty-Librarian Teaching Partnerships, Carrie L. Forbes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many regional accrediting organizations for higher education have embraced information literacy as a key component for both student success and student learning outcomes. Through embedded librarianship practices, librarians are now taking a leading role in developing and promoting users’ information literacy skills and in adopting an active classroom teaching approach. Faculty-librarian team teaching is a best practice for integrating information literacy into the higher education curricula, but the extant research has largely focused on the barriers to collaboration. Using Walsh and Kahn’s (2010) model of “collaborative working” as a conceptual framework, this dissertation explores the qualities and characteristics of four …