Education Commons^™

How Elementary School Principals Successfully Led Through The Turbulence Of The Covid-19 Crisis, Juan Chavez

Dissertations

Purpose: This phenomenological study aimed to discover and describe behaviors elementary school principals practiced while leading their schools through the turbulent times of COVID-19 using the leadership attributes of personal temperament, concern for collective interest, resilience, and moral purpose, as perceived by elementary school teachers. Methodology: This qualitative study used a phenomenological research design. Data were collected from interviews 12 with elementary school teachers in Monterey County to discover and describe behaviors their principals practiced in leading their schools through the turbulent times of COVID-19. Findings: The study revealed 16 themes related to behaviors elementary school principals used related to …

Resistencia Indocumentada: Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Higher Education Undocumented Students In The San Diego-Tijuana Border Region, Adan Escobedo Sanchez

Dissertations

Undocumented students face myriad obstacles while attending higher education institutions that would deter them from completing their academic journeys. Furthermore, they are placed with a dual narrative that labels them as either dangerous or exceptional. This study explored the lived experiences of undocumented students in college in the San Diego-Tijuana border region to consider what factors have led to resilience and resistance in their academic journey. By understanding these factors, the research aimed to tackle the dual narrative that burdens undocumented students from the illegality as a master status they possess.

This study used narrative inquiry and a literature review …

Grit And Leadership: How Exemplary Middle School Principals Use The Principles Of Grit To Accomplish Extraordinary Results, Gabriela Aldana

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify and describe how exemplary middle school principals use the five principles associated with grit (courage, conscientiousness, long-term goals, resilience, and excellence versus perfection) to accomplish extraordinary results in their organization.

Methodology: This phenomenological study described the lived experiences of exemplary middle school principals in Los Angeles and Orange County. The participants were selected through nonprobability purposeful sampling and met the criteria for exemplary middle school principals. As a member of a thematic research team of nine peer researchers and three faculty advisors, we developed a semistructured interview protocol for data …

Working For Justice: A Black Educators Journey Of Supporting Black Males In An Urban School District, Carey Cunningham

Dissertations

Abstract

This autoethnographic dissertation focuses on my journey as a Black male educator and administrator working in an urban school district. I highlight some of my accomplishments and challenges in dedicating my life to the field of education in the same urban school district that I attended from kindergarten to twelfth grade. This dissertation points out how my journey allowed me to support students, mainly Black boys, who faced challenges in a school district that I know very well. I have increased my, and hopefully others, understanding of the challenges Black male students and Black male administrators face in an …

Factors In Graduate Student Resilience And Intention To Persist During Doctoral Study, Amber Mosley

Dissertations

Attrition is a major problem for the doctoral education system and in particular for underrepresented groups. Research has proposed several reasons for students dropping out that include both personal and programmatic variables. A review of the literature identified several factors that overlap in the research on attrition, resilience, and intention to persist however, there have also been varied results across studies and very few studies focused specifically on doctoral students. Doctoral education can be considered in three phases of the education process, each with its own stresses and challenges. Factors and variables that could be the most helpful for universities …

Developing And Maintaining Resilience In Charter School Executive Directors, Erika Vanderspek

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this exploratory phenomenological study was to identify and describe the strategies used by charter school executive directors to develop and maintain personal resiliency based on Everly, Strouse, and McCormack’s (2015) five factors of personal resilience (active optimism, decisive action, moral compass, relentless tenacity, and interpersonal support).

Methodology: This exploratory phenomenological study identified and described the lived experiences of exemplary charter school executive directors in San Diego, Riverside, and Orange counties. Based on recommendations from expert entities who worked with the target population, the researcher used purposeful sampling to select eight exemplary charter school executive directors. The …

Exploring Resilience In Exemplary Rural School Superintendents, Silas Gaussoin-Radcliffe

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this exploratory phenomenological study was to identify and describe the strategies used by exemplary rural superintendents to maintain personal resiliency based on Everly, Strouse, and McCormack’s (2015) five factors of personal resilience (active optimism, decisive action, moral compass, relentless tenacity, and interpersonal support).

Methodology: This exploratory phenomenological study used purposeful criterion sampling and recommendations from the county superintendents in the identified geographic area. Each of the 8 identified exemplary rural superintendents was interviewed using an instrument aligned to the five factors of personal resilience and their definitions. The researcher collected rich qualitative interview data, that were …

Academic Resilience, Student Engagement, And Academic Achievement Among Black Male Undergraduates At Predominantly White Institutions, Henry C. Mccain Iii

Dissertations

The proportion of Black men enrolled in college is representative of the Black male population in the U.S. (Toldson, 2019). However, an investigation of the 2010 college entry cohort of Black men showed that only 34% graduate within six years (National Center for Education Statistics; NCES, 2019). The disparity in Black male graduation rate is clearer when compared to other races such as White men (61%), Hispanic men (50%), and Asian men (70%) (NCES, 2019). Within-group disparities also exist in that Black women graduate at a rate of 44% (NCES, 2019). Much of the literature on Black undergraduates has been …

Fostering Resilience: A Pilot Study For Mindful Yoga As An Intervention For Adolescents Exposed To Chronic Adversity, Michele Pinellas

Dissertations

The effects of ongoing stress can cause chronic affect dysregulation, destructive behavior against self and others, learning disabilities, dissociative problems, somatization, and distortions in concepts about self and others (Bessel van der Kolk, 1994, p. 259). There may be particular benefits for youth who live in urban, underserved populations as they have experienced social challenges such as poverty, violence, drugs, racism, and immigration. Given the historical tendency of youth to express their emotions externally as a coping strategy, there is rationale to support a physically based treatment, like yoga, as an intervention for this population (Beltran et al., 2016). This …

Explaining Relationships Between Stress And Resilience In Pharmacy Students, Rebecca Jones

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Stress is a growing issue on college campuses, and students in a professional pharmacy program may be at an even greater risk for associated problems. The purpose of this study was to gain information about resilience and its relationship with stress, high-risk behaviors, and grade point averages (GPAs) in students who just completed their first professional (P1) year of a pharmacy program. The research questions for this study were: 1) What is the relationship between levels of stress and level of resilience in these pharmacy students, 2) What is the relationship between high-risk behaviors and level of resilience?, and …

The Shadow-Beast: The Influence Of Critical Consciousness On Resilience Narratives Of Latinx/A/O College Students, Norma Lopez

Dissertations

The purpose of this LatCrit narrative study was to explore how Latinx/a/o students who are first-generation to college make meaning of their resilience in relation to the development of their critical consciousness. the research questions that guided this study were: How do first-generation to college Latinx/a/o students make meaning of their ability to overcome obstacles and persevere in the face of adversity; in other words, how have they constructed their resilience narrative? How does critical consciousness, or understanding their social identity within the context of social, political, and economic forms of oppression, influence their resilience narrative, if at all? Data …

Game Types, Game-Related Behaviors And Resilience: Creating A Roadmap For Effective Gamification Design In Higher Education, Patrick Marino

Dissertations

Gamification, or the use of game-based mechanics and thinking in real world applications, is on the rise in educational environments. While various applications seek to increase engagement and motivation for tasks related to student success, research regarding best practices for the design of such systems is lacking. In fact, conflicting outcomes from various gamification studies at the secondary and tertiary education levels suggest that not all gamification designs are effective for increasing student success. Meanwhile, research from the medical field indicates gamification can be used to increase resilience; which has been linked to various student success outcomes including academic performance. …

Resilience And College Persistence: Characterizing Students Who Have Failed Courses, Mary Merrifield

Dissertations

Students who fail a course early in their college careers are at risk of leaving college before completion of their programs. Little is known about this high-risk group and why some members of this group complete their programs while others do not. This research addressed this gap in the college-level persistence literature by focusing first on differences between completers and non-completers, then on differences between students who fail a course early in their college careers but become completers or non-completers. The goal was to understand the protective value of individual traits beyond the prediction of risk based on membership to …

Examining The Perceived Influence Of A Comprehensive Youth Development Program For Promoting Black Male High School Persistence, Richard Gray Walker

Dissertations

Black male youth in the United States drop out of high school at a rate consistently higher than their White counterparts. A lack of academic persistence contributes to lower workforce participation rates among Black Americans, which leads to lower national productivity and unrealized personal prosperity. Youth development research has developed an extensive body of knowledge regarding possible causes and contributing factors of minority high school dropout. Literature shows youth experience higher dropout rates when they grow up in adversity. Adversity risks such as dysfunctional families, cultural discontinuity between home and school, dysfunctional neighborhoods, or low-expectations from teachers contribute to graduation …

The Influence Of Racial Socialization On The Academic Achievement Of Black College Students, Vanessa R. Laurent

Dissertations

Black college students continue to have difficulties reaching academic success in various domains; however, understanding the nature of how academic success is cultivated by Black college students is vital for counselors, educators, and university administrators. The objective of the study was to understand how racial socialization influenced academic success. Research suggests that racial socialization contributes to positive long-term outcomes among African Americans and may be connected to academic achievement (Bowman & Howard, 1985; Boykin & Tom, 1985; Davis & Stevenson, 2006; Neblett, Terzian, & Harriott, 2010; Stevenson, 1994, 1995). Participants were 349 Black college students from a predominately White institution …

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 …