Education Commons^™

Put On Your Own Oxygen Mask First: Exploring School Principals’ Stress And Workplace Well-Being, Dl Alex Alexander

Education Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to highlight the importance of studying and promoting well-being to help manage stress and prevent burnout among school principals, examine potential gender disparities, and to consider implications for future practice. Grounded in a positive psychology framework, this study examined the correlations among school principals’ workplace well-being, perceived stress, self-compassion, and intent to remain in their roles using a non-experimental, descriptive survey method. In Washington State, 124 school principals responded to an online survey over a span of 11 weeks. Descriptive, correlation, moderation, independent t-test analyses were performed on quantitative data, and qualitative data was …

Holistic Teaching Practices Through A Growth Mindset Lens: A Case Study Examination Of Ela High School Classrooms, Joshua R. Gallegos

Education Dissertations

A prevalent issue that exists in education is students who demonstrate a defeated or fixed mindset—that is, when students view their intelligence and academic abilities as something that is inherent and cannot be changed overtime. Most of the research on growth mindset takes place in math classrooms, as the literature suggests that math is more frequently viewed as a subject area in which students have fixed mindsets. Additionally, most of the research on growth mindsets involves the use of quantitative research methods as opposed to the use of qualitative methods. Furthermore, there is a lack of research that examines teaching …

Predictors Of Secondary School Students’ Future Technological Academic And Professional Readiness: A Study Of Teachers And Students’ Factors In Learning Online, Autumn H. Ottenad

Education Dissertations

This research endeavors to investigate the factors that influence satisfaction with online learning among secondary students in hybrid or blended environments in the United States. With a focus on social-emotional learning and digital citizenship, the study begins the exploration and the impact of teacher interactions, teaching presence, self-management of learning, and academic self-efficacy on students’ satisfaction with learning online and how this satisfaction can impact their future readiness to use technology effectively. The study involved a sample of 320 secondary students and a supplemental survey of 32 teachers who completed online surveys that took no longer than 10 minutes to …

Culturally Responsive Literacy Instruction And Social–Emotional Teaching Practices For Linguistically Diverse Learners In The United States, Wing Shuen Lau

Education Dissertations

This dissertation includes two previous research studies with a central theme to sustain and advance culturally and linguistically responsive practices in literacy instruction, which are essential for promoting diversity and equity. This work highlights the need for a more holistic approach to English language teaching that integrates culturally responsive teaching and social–emotional learning. Culturally responsive teaching recognizes the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity in the classroom. Social–emotional learning focuses on developing students’ emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills, which are critical for academic success and overall well-being. Both studies call for a greater diversity of language teacher preparation curricula and …

The Impact Of Embedded Coaching On Educational Leader Professional Practice, Heather J. Sanchez

Education Dissertations

School and district leadership is complex work. Educational leaders today are charged with a myriad of responsibilities, ranging from everyday operational duties to strategic development of school improvement plans. Leaders are expected to be experts at everything ranging from transportation to transforming teaching and learning. Gone are the days when a leader was expected to manage the school or district. Today leaders are expected to meet the robust needs of staff, students, and families inclusive of social-emotional needs, academic needs, and physical needs. Today’s leaders are expected to be transformative, to have skills sets that enable them to effectively partner …

An Exploratory Study Examining The Effects Of An Online-Based, Curriculum-Embedded Gratitude Intervention For College Students, Cristina Bistricean

Education Dissertations

The present study examined the effectiveness of a curriculum-embedded, asynchronously delivered gratitude intervention with a first-year college student sample. Hypotheses included that the gratitude intervention would lead to decreased levels of depression, anxiety, and stress and increased feelings of gratitude and psychological wellbeing/flourishing. Furthermore, race, gender, and college generational standing were examined for their moderating effects of the gratitude intervention on the same outcome variables. Participants self-selected into two sections of an Introduction to Psychology course, with 72 participants engaged in the gratitude intervention and 97 in the control condition. Gratitude activities lasted five weeks, including a video presentation on …

Equitable Hiring Practices For Hr Directors: It Is All About The How, Jennifer B. Harlan

Education Dissertations

District Human Resource departments are tasked with developing rationale, policies, and a hiring process that prioritizes hiring high quality applicants that reflect diverse backgrounds with proven experience and success with district student populations. Staff must hire diverse candidates but to do so, they must examine the implications for equitable hiring practices and remove obstacles and barriers currently in place. The purpose of this paper is to research district action plans and system changes that are taking place in schools to hire a diverse staff. State laws, district policies, and action plans are a great step but how the steps are …

The Relationship Between Systems Thinking By Building Leaders And Academic Outcomes For Marginalized Students, Dunham Obadiah

Education Dissertations

Despite the attempts by lawmakers to legislate a closing of the achievement gap, persistent gaps in performance for students based on ethnicity, race, economic level, disability, and first language persist throughout public schools in the United States. Occasionally, a principal will receive attention for raising the performance of minoritized groups in their school. However, while admired, the principal’s efforts are not easily replicated. Furthermore, principal development programs fail to produce building leaders that can reliably achieve the change marginalized communities need.

There have been numerous studies that have shown that principals impact the academic performance of their students. For the …