Education Commons^™

Approved To Fail: A Case Study Of Leadership At Three New High Schools, Sarah Melvoin Bridich

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies: Faculty Scholarship

Purpose

This paper explores how leaders of new public high schools – one charter and two innovation schools – navigated the journey from school-in-theory to school-in-practice during the school's first three years. School leaders at charter and innovation schools have increased freedom over curriculum, budget, scheduling and personnel when compared to leaders in traditional public schools.

Design/methodology/approach

Using case study research, this qualitative, multisite study of school leaders at three schools in an urban district in Colorado examined the realities leaders experienced during the first three years of their schools. School leaders participated in semi-structured interviews, which were coded and …

Intercultural Competence And Practice: The Contribution Of Teachers' Beliefs, Values, And Attitudes To The Implementation Of Culturally Responsive Practices And Mandated Eld Professional Development, Deborah Ormsby

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies: Doctoral Research Projects

Public school teachers in the State of Colorado are required to complete 45 hours of English language development (ELD) training to ensure that they are properly supporting the English learners in their school. The literature suggests that teachers’ beliefs, values, and attitudes (intercultural competence) toward English learners matter in their receptiveness to the training and their ability to engage in and implement culturally responsive practices. In order to understand how the ELD training might actually impact a teacher’s ability to support English learners, a mixed methods design comprised of the administration of Ponterotto’s Teacher Multicultural Attitudes Survey followed up by …

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 …

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 …

Supporting Ambitious Mathematics Practices In The Face Of School Reform: A Case Study Of High School Leadership, Jacklyn Van Ooyik

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School leaders—both administrators and mathematics leaders—play a critical role in the instructional improvement of teachers in schools. However, current research in mathematics education has not provided a complete picture of the network of administrators, mathematics leaders, and teachers and their roles in supporting ambitious mathematics practices. The purpose of this case study is to examine how ambitious mathematics practices are developed, supported, and sustained within a high school facing pressures for test score improvement and graduation competencies and the roles and responsibilities of school leaders that contribute to that support. In order to address this issue, my primary research question …

Engagement And Development Of Professional Skills Among Low-Income, High-Achieving Students: A Structural Equation Model, Nasser Alresaini

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation tested the effect of academic engagement and social engagement on developing soft professional skills for low-income, high-achieving students in higher education. Using the publicly available data of GMS scholarship, the analysis was consisted of EFA and SEM. The general effect model gave a general idea about the tested population, whereas the conditional model highlighted the groups' specific significance. Low-income, high-achieving students continued their academic and social engagement growth during their school years. Academic engagement positively enhanced students' soft professional skills for students who did not receive the GMS scholarship, students from educated and uneducated parents, Asian and Hispanic …

Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Through The Aesthetic Lens Of Crispa, Paula Adamo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In times where only 60% of college students are graduating (NECS, 2018), the need to help undergraduates thrive in college is vital. Because faculty have a crucial role in this profound endeavor, this study examines the intentions (intentional curriculum) of four undergraduate instructors identified by colleagues and students as good teachers. The study also examines what students take away from their instructors and classes (received curriculum) and looks at how elements of the aesthetic approach to teaching and learning known as CRISPA emerge naturally in the curricula in order to demonstrate the proposition that good teachers, at any level, implement …

Math Achievement Of Low-Socioeconomic Status Students: A Comparative Study Of Public-School Settings, Alexander Ohene Ansah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, falling standards in the American public-school system have elicited public concern and criticism, leading to several public-school reforms. One such reform is the charter-school movement. Charter schools provide a public option for parents in search of an alternative to traditional public schools. At the same time, the achievement gap continues to widen, with students of low socioeconomic status on the losing end. Since the beginning of the charter school movement, research has focused on comparisons in achievement between students in charters and traditional public schools. Results have been mixed.

Focusing on low-SES student populations in Colorado, this …

The Essence Of Reincarnation And Consciousness As A Gateway Into Teaching And Learning, C. Capucine Chapman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological study explores the essence of ancestral knowledge from a belief in reincarnation and consciousness, as it relates to the lived experiences of diverse educational professionals, and its contribution to their growth and development. The study investigates the lived experiences of adult educators from four distinct teaching and learning environments: applied metaphysics, Buddhism, anthroposophy, and Indigenous. All participants maintain a practicing belief in reincarnation, consciousness, and ancient and/or esoteric knowledge. The present study sought to understand how this knowledge influenced and impacted educator growth and development, and examined overlaps in teaching and learning.

Regrounding School Accountability In Shared Responsibility: A Case Study Of Culturally Responsive District Leadership, Ericka Burns

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School accountability has been a part of public education conversations since the development of No Child Left Beyond (NCLB) in 2001. These accountability policies were developed with a core mission of holding schools, districts, and states accountable to the academic growth and achievement of all students and all student groups, and for the last twenty years, schools and districts have adjusted their priorities to align to the mandates of the state and federal accountability policies. These policies have stirred a great deal of criticism in their limited scales of defining student and school success as well as the authoritative leadership …

Examining Experience, Role, And Lgbtq Identity In Department Chairs, Ashton B. Clouse

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

LGBTQ rights have progressed tremendously in recent times, not long ago LGBTQ individuals could be arrested simply for being themselves. Though many rights have been won, the fight for equity continues. This is especially true in the field of education, many think of higher education as a pathway to equity, but in reality it can serve to solidify societal inequities. Campus climate studies of LGBTQ faculty members in higher education show that climate is most impactful at the departmental level (Nichols & Scott, 2005), others highlight the importance of department chairs in fostering climate within their departments (Bystydzienski et al., …

Moving Past ‘One Size Fits All’: Developing A Trajectory Deviance Index For Dynamic Measurement Modeling, Yixiao Dong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dynamic Measurement Modeling (DMM) is a recently developed measurement framework for gauging developing constructs (e.g., learning capacity) that conventional single-timepoint tests cannot assess. Like most measurement models, overall model fit indices of DMM do not indicate the measurement appropriateness for each included student. For this reason, other measurement modeling paradigms (e.g., Item-Response Theory; IRT) utilize person-fit or model appropriateness statistics to indicate whether a measurement model appropriately describes the data from each individual student. However, within the extant DMM framework, no statistical index has yet been developed for this purpose. Thus, the current project advanced a person-specific DMM Trajectory Deviance …

Understanding Libyan Teachers’ Intentions And Classroom Practices In Teaching English As A Foreign Language, Khaled El Mezughi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

International demand for learning English has increased dramatically during the last three decades. The ability to speak English has become an essential tool of global communication in many sectors, including international commerce, science, technology, and entertainment. Little research has been conducted to examine the teaching methods and instructional practices being used in Libyan EFL classrooms and their impact on the students' use of English in authentic situations. Due to the importance of improving both the teaching and learning of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Libya, the aim of this study is to understand EFL Libyan educators’ classroom instructional …

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 …

A. B.A.L.A.N.C.E.: A Well-Being Research Study, Reggie Gwinn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study has been to investigate the impact of a well-being intervention, using a well-being curriculum, known as A. B.A.L.A.N.C.E.. The method of educational criticism and connoisseurship was used as the qualitative method. Educational criticism is rooted in the process of expressing the specific qualities of one’s observations, while educational connoisseurship is rooted in the process of appreciation. The intervention will be conducted by an interventionist, myself, who gave the 10-lesson intervention to six 6th grade (11 – 12 years old) participants over a two-week period. This was orchestrated over a technological platform known as Zoom. It …

Excerpts From Silence – Radical Critical Feminism And Adolescent Girls’ Social Emotional Development: A Case Study Of Red River Middle School, Jessamyn Lockhart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The development of healthy social emotional skills is critical for adolescents to stay engaged in school, develop positive self-esteem, and engage in healthy relationships over the course of their life. Adolescent girls seem to be particularly vulnerable during the period of adolescence and attention must be paid to their specific needs. There is a call for social emotional learning in schools to be more robust (especially during a crisis like the pandemic) and more thoughtfully differentiated to meet the needs of all students. The purpose of this case study was to understand if and how school leadership in one rural …

An Educator Out Of Water: A Phenomenological Study Into Identity-As-Educator For Student Affairs Professionals, David Mccoy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The work of student affairs professionals has been happening since the inception of western higher education. The profession has shifted a great deal since that time, with an emphasis now on student affairs professionals as ‘educators’ alongside their faculty counterparts. Regardless of change, research has consistently demonstrated the impact student affairs can have on the experiences of students and colleges as a whole. Given the emergence of identity-as-educator, for these professionals to best continue their work, it is imperative to understand how they understand and make sense of this professional identity. This research was a phenomenological study to understand how …

The Effect Of Early Literacy Experiences On Preschool Teachers’ Literacy Approach, Lisa Mcmillan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate how personal literacy experiences during the early years of three preschool teachers impact the literacy experiences they provide for their students in their preschool classroom. Data was collected using the narrative inquiry method of qualitative research. Two in-depth, open-ended interviews were conducted with three preschool teachers at Hunter Early Learning Center. Questions were asked aiming to learn about the childhood literacy experiences of the teachers and about their approach to literacy as preschool teachers. They were also asked to create aesthetic representations at the end of each interview as an additional source …

Understanding The Latinx Student Experience In A First-Year, Non-Remedial, Terminal College Math Course: A Convergent Mixed Methods Study, Ross Morgan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Working with Latinx students, a semester long study was conducted in the Spring of 2021 to better understand student’s perception of Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices (CRTP) at Mountain State University (MSU). The course sections selected are a part of a larger first year, non-remedial, terminal mathematics courses designed to provide students with smaller teacher to student ratios as well as opportunities to earn credit towards graduation. Instructors in two of the sections received special training around CRTP, while instructors in the other two sections did not receive this training. Findings demonstrate that simple adjustments to instructional practices had a statistically …

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 …

College Transition Experience: First Year Undergraduate Students And Self-Identified Mental Health Challenges, Kathlene R. Seymour

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Retention rates of college students has continued to be a large concern for those associated with higher education (Habley et al., 2004). A successful high school to college transition experience has been identified as a key factor in a student’s decision to remain in college and persist to graduation (Broglia, et al, 2016). Furthermore, more students with mental health challenges are entering higher education settings (Bewick, et al., 2008).

The intent of this study was to describe the college transition experience through the lens of the theoretical framework from Schlossberg’s (1984) transition theory. This theory provided a framework through which …

Instructional Coaching For Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Kelly Shorb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Growing up with a global perspective and teaching in highly diverse schools has fueled my desire to understand how instructional coaching and Culturally Responsive Pedagogy work together in education. This case study examined the current practices of instructional coaches to understand how they incorporate components of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy. Through observations and interviews of three coaches and a director this study explored the interactions, behaviors and language of coaches as they engaged with teachers to explore and understand prior knowledge, beliefs and current incorporation of CRP with teachers. The literature review provides an in-depth description of each of the components …

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, …

Teachers Who Collaborate With A Professional Writing Organization: The Importance Of Critical Stance, Paul A. Viskanta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A wide body of research finds teacher preparation programs fail to address the complexity of writing instruction, especially for secondary English-language Arts teachers (Coker & Lewis, 2008; Graham, 2019; Wahleithner, 2018). Beliefs and knowledge about writing determine how teachers approach pedagogical practices (McCarthey & Mkhize, 2013). One of many contextualized social literacy practices, writing is always ideological (Gee, 2105; Moje & Lewis, 2007). Competing research philosophies complicate development of teachers' practices and impedes research dissemination (Coker & Lewis, 2008; Hillocks, 2008; National Writing Project & Nagin, 2006). Structures informing school-based writing limit the types of writing practices (Bazerman, 2016). Using …

Student Expressions Of Aesthetic Learning Experiences, Jodie L. Wilson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Aesthetic learning experiences are grounded in qualities influenced by the arts: perceptive, sensorial, imaginative, and creative. While the concept of aesthetic experience has been applied broadly within education, student expressions of such experiences have been neglected. This poses a problem of equity both ethically in that the suppression of student voice is perpetuated and pragmatically in that the range and form of aesthetic learning expressed by students is insufficiently attended to and acted upon.

Theoretically guided by John Dewey’s explications of an aesthetic experience and conceptually supported by three interpretive frames—Eisner’s dimensions of schooling, Uhrmacher et al.’s instructional arc, and …

Policies Affecting Post-Traditional Students And Students Facing Economic Instability At The Community College, Joshua Patrick Bowens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The following dissertation in practice researches policies from the Colorado Community College System (CCCS) that relate to Post-Traditional students and students experiencing economic instability. Using a conceptual framework of Motivational Theory (Maslow, 1943; Harrigan & Lamport-Commons, 2015; Herzberg, 1959) and the Principal-Agent theory (Jensen, & Meckling, 1976), this dissertation focuses on how one community college (CC) within the CCCS system interprets and implements those policies both college and campus wide, as well as departmentally. Although many studies exist pertaining to community college students, literature pertaining to Post-Traditional students in a community college setting has not been fully explored. This will …

“It Sucks, But I’M Grateful”: Understanding The Experience Of Autistic Students Living In The Residence Halls, Mary F. Elliott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As populations of Autistic students at institutions of higher education increases, it is becoming more important for institutions to evaluate their programs with these students in mind. While the Autistic population has grown, policies and services on campuses have not become more inclusive or supportive of this population as a response. This evaluation examines the Residential Learning Model, the guide through which the residential life program at one institution of higher education is delivered to the students living in the residence halls. Through the lens of the Autistic students and the student staff who live and work in the residence …

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 …