Education Commons^™

Leadership And Teacher Agency For Inclusive Classrooms: Insights About Integrating Students With Disabilities Into Inclusive Classrooms From Teachers And School Leaders In Three International Schools, Chad Wood

Dissertations

As international schools continue to flourish, they must consider how to be inclusive and meet the needs not only of multicultural populations of students, but also the needs of students with diagnosed learning difficulties (i.e., students with special needs). Promoting teacher agency is a potentially important component in successfully implementing inclusive practices given that teachers are key actors in the implementation process. Currently, however, there is limited empirical evidence regarding the interconnectedness of teacher agency and inclusion of special needs populations in international schools.

This qualitative research explores the role of school leaders in promoting teacher agency to support the …

A Mixed-Methods Investigation Of How Student Goal-Setting For Improved Learner Behaviors Affects Intermediate Elementary Academic Achievement, Meghan Mcnulty

Dissertations

Education in the United States has changed significantly since its onset. Due to these changes, there is an increased need for social-emotional skills for success in school and in life. The study centered on how focusing intermediate elementary school students on improving their behavior could influence their academic achievement. Though there is much literature on social-emotional skills, self-efficacy, student agency, goal-setting, and academic achievement, few researchers have conducted studies to connect these concepts. In this study, students assessed their current behavioral skills using the mySAEBRS (Illuminate Education, n.d.). Using the results, students set improvement goals in one of three behavioral …

Movement On The Margins: Exploring The Leadership And Agency Of Women Of Color Student Activists In Predominantly White Higher Education Institutions, Cobretti Williams

Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to learn more about the experience of student activism through the eyes, ears, and narratives of women of color in predominantly White higher education institutions. Using an adapted theoretical framework of critical feminist agency, I conducted interviews and focus groups with women of color whom represent the past, present, and future of student activist experiences on campus. Their stories and knowledge affirmed the historical significance of student activism in higher education, and more notably, provided additional critical perspectives towards the development and re-imagination of leadership, agency, and institutional structures in colleges and universities. …

Performance Feedback: How Structure, Culture, And Agency Affects Feedback, Angelica Sleiman

Dissertations

Federal and state mandates have placed an added pressure on teachers to demonstrate “effective” instructional practices. These mandates also affect the role of a principal, as an evaluator of “effective” instructional strategies, and as an instructional leader who continuously needs to build teacher capacity to satisfy these mandates. Accountability mandates promise to improve students’ academic performance but they have lacked professional development that would provide the support teachers and principals need to achieve success. Feedback is arguably a valuable mechanism to build teacher capacity and respond to accountability pressures, however, the implementation of feedback and its consequences for teacher’s professional …

Gender Identity Work: Oppression And Agency As Described In Lifespan Narratives Of Transgender And Other Gender Non-Conforming Identified People In The U. S., Kathryn O'Brien

Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to critically examine the gender identity work of white transgender and other gender non-conforming identified (TgNCi) people through their stories and the meanings they attach to important artifacts across the lifespan. A single question directed the investigation: How do TgNCi individuals describe gender identity work through lifespan narratives? Thirteen volunteers participated in two interviews: the first, a narration of their life stories and in the second, descriptions of the significance of personal artifacts selected by the participants and photographed by the investigator. Participants’ ages ranged from 22 to 66, according to four pre-determined age …

Ulead: The Effects Of A Civics-Based Educational Program On Urban Youth, Rodney W. Smith, Aaron H. Willis, Mario Pascal Charles

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Urban Legal Education and Academic Development: The Effects of a Civics-Based Educational Program on Urban Youth

There is a critical need for urban youth to have working knowledge of the legal and civic nuances of their communities and political state that affects their daily lives. The pressing problems of the daily existence that these students face inhibit them from utilizing this understanding to exhibit appropriate behavior and engage in civil discourse. Urban Legal Education and Academic Development (ULEAD) provided these students with the knowledge of the functions of the legal and civic processes that facilitate behavior modification to allow …

Korean Migrant Youth Identity Work In The Transnational Social Field: A Link Between Identity, Transnationalism, And New Media Literacy, Sujin Kim

Dissertations

Informed by the new understandings of space, culture, and identity in the fast-changing world where communication technology connects and compresses multiple spaces, this qualitative study examines how Korean migrant youth understand, negotiate, and articulate their complex identities across and beyond various borders. The research questions were: (1) What are the contexts in which migrant youth negotiate their identities? (2) How do youth understand and negotiate their sense of belonging? (3) How do youth’s cultural and literacy practices, particularly in new media, inform and shape their identities? Using an ethnographic case study design, I collected data from 32 survey participants and …

Science Youth Action Research: Promoting Critical Science Literacy Through Relevance And Agency, Elizabeth Coleman

Dissertations

This three-article dissertation presents complementary perspectives on Science Youth Action Research (Sci-YAR), a K-12 curriculum designed to emphasize relevance and agency to promote youth's science learning. In Sci-YAR, youth conduct action research projects to better understand science-related issues in their lives, schools, or communities, while they simultaneously document, analyze, and reflect upon their own practices as researchers. The first article defines Sci-YAR and argues for its potential to enhance youth's participation as citizens in a democratic society. The second article details findings from a case study of youth engaged in Sci-YAR, describing how the curriculum enabled and constrained youth's identity …

Visitors Pass: The Story Of A Group Of Pakistani Immigrant Students At Sawyer High School, Melissa Gersh Fischer

Dissertations

New immigrant populations are shaped in significant ways by globalization. The phenomenon of transnationalism has changed the localized sense of "home" and "local cultures" on a global scale. In fact, "Globalization lies at the core of current sociocultural experiences, especially in processes of identity construction, communal practices, subject positioning, and agency" (Santiago-Irizarry, 2008). This ethnographic study focuses on the question of how agency and institutional structures, in a global society, impact the lived experiences of Pakistani immigrant students at an urban public high school. A review of literature on identity formation, globalization, and institutional structures is essential to answering this …