Education Commons^™

Mandatory Busing And Desegregation: Wichita, 1954 – 1999, Pilar Pedraza-Bailey

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Wichita opened its first officially integrated school in 1954. Yet, by 1965, approximately 85% of schools in Wichita were predominantly white. After a 1966 complaint to the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) and a protracted legal battle, a federal administrative judge ordered the district to come up with a plan for integration or lose federal funding in 1971. The resulting mandatory busing plan remained in effect in Wichita for more than 40 years. Yet, in 2016, nine years after the official end of mandatory busing in Wichita, 25% of the city’s schools had already returned to what the …

Discipline Or Destiny: A School-To-Prison Pipeline Story, Trayonna Hendricks, Kourtney Webb

Capstones

The school-to-prison pipeline is a phenomenon by which students, mainly students of color, are pushed out of schools and into juvenile detention centers and through the criminal justice system. This documentary series explains and displays what "the school-to-prison pipeline looks like through a personal story.

https://readymag.com/u1985351703/1646028/

English Corner: A Guide For Teachers, Tom Fay

MA TESOL Collection

Throughout China, in both private and public schools, from kindergarten to university, there is a ‘class’ called ‘English Corner.’ In some places, ‘English Corner’ is supposed to be an informal, loose environment for people to communicate in English. In other places, ‘English Corner’ is a monthly event with a stage show, singing, dancing, and even a speech competition. ‘English Corner’ can be held in parks, libraries, university campuses, bars, cafes, or even in private homes. For many teachers in China, this ill-defined class can be their most dreaded lesson of the day, a class where at the worst of times, …

Reaching Across Community Lines: How Informal Visual Art Educational Programming Bridges The Gap, Janelle O'Malley

Student Projects

Economic disparity in underserved communities is in large part responsible for a lack of access to quality visual arts education. The communities most in need are often hit first when it comes to funding the arts, and the students suffer these financial consequences. How can we ensure those underserved communities receive a complete education with the visual arts? What other ways can access to the visual arts be provided to schools?

Implementing Mindfulness To Promote Mental Health In Elementary School Students, Kathleen Dunlap-Demarco

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The practice of mindfulness has been around for thousands of years, however; the practice has just become more common in the Western world, and especially in the classroom. The purpose of this paper is to discover how implementing mindfulness promotes mental health in elementary school students. In order to find out just how mindfulness promotes mental health in the elementary classroom, the research that was done involved an extensive literature review on the topic of mindfulness, surveys and interviews with local teachers in the Tri-County area, and also reached out to teachers to be interviewed more in depth. The results …

Teaching For Transformation: Enabling The Exploration Of Disorienting Dilemma In The Classroom, Lisa Deangelis

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

While learning involves the acquisition of new skills and the development of existing repertoires, some educators harbor even more profound learning goals. They seek to enable learning that is transformative. Jack Mezirow, who is credited with establishing transformative learning theory, defines transformative learning as “an enhanced level of awareness of the context of one's beliefs and feelings, a critique of their assumptions and particularly premises, an assessment of alternative perspectives, a decision to negate an old perspective in favor of a new one or to make a synthesis of old and new, an ability to take action based upon the …

Culturally Responsive Classroom Management Techniques And Former Riverside County And San Bernardino County Teachers Of The Year: A Phenomenological Study, Brian Redmond

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to determine what former County Teachers of the Year understand and describe as the methods they use for culturally responsive classroom management with respect to Brown’s Five Culturally Responsive Factors (developing personal relationships, creating caring learning communities, establishing a business-like learning environment, establishing congruent communication processes and, teaching with assertiveness and clearly stating expectations).

Methodology: This qualitative study used a phenomenological design to discover what former County Teachers of the Year do to identify and describe as the methods they use for culturally responsive classroom management with respect to Brown’s Five Culturally …

An Examined Life Of A Language Teacher Of Chinese: An Autoethnographic Investigation Into Agency, Ying Zhang

Doctoral Dissertations

There is a paucity of research about and done by L2 Chinese educators regarding the theoretical construct of agency. It is also noted that the qualitative inquiry is marginalized in L2 Chinese research field, let alone the narrative study of the agency of experienced by L2 Chinese-teachers. In this dissertation research, I aim at filling in the gap by conducting a longitudinal autoethnography which captures over a decade (1997-2017) of my personal and professional development with an agency perspective. The highly personalized autoethnographic accounts open up my personal and professional life as an experienced, college-level, transnational, early 40’s female native …

Transforming Through Power: Teachers And The Negotiation Of Authority In Schools, Madhu Narayanan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Schools are unique institutions where structural and cultural dynamics shape the actions of humans. Teachers work within structures of power to establish themselves as legitimate figures of authority worthy of the right to command respect. Such efforts are complicated by the multi-faceted and swirling relationships of power that exist everywhere in schools, defining and guiding individuals. In this study, I interview and observe the practice of seven secondary teachers working in New York City public schools. All in their third year of teaching, they were at an interesting time in their development, not novice teachers and not quite veteran. Using …

Barriers To Student Connectedness And Engagement: How Socioeconomic Status Affects Student Involvement, Dominic M. Manola

Dissertations

Today, as students prepare for post-secondary opportunities, a greater and greater emphasis is placed on the importance of engaging learners both in and out of the classroom. While many students are inclined to get involved, there is a growing number of young people who face barriers that prevent them from connecting and engaging in the high school experience. Importantly, socioeconomic status plays a key role in determining how engaged a student may be, as well as serving as a key identifier in what must be addressed to ensure more young people get involved in their academic and co-curricular learning. This …

Class Matters: School Affluence And Other Predictors Of Attainment For Wealthy And Poor Students, Alison Brockhouse

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Public schools in the United States are becoming increasingly segregated by socioeconomic status. Though the educational consequences of socioeconomic segregation are well researched, segregation is often ignored or exacerbated by education reform. To learn more about the wider implications of socioeconomic segregation, this study utilizes theoretical frameworks derived from Max Weber’s theory of social stratification to analyze over 10,000 students’ experiences from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Education Longitudinal Study (ELS) 2002, 2004, and 2012 waves of data collection. More specifically, this research explores the impact of attending an affluent high school on long-term educational attainment. It finds …

Faculty Interactions With Black Male Students At Hbcus And Community Colleges As Predictors Of Academic Achievement In Stem, Antoine Gates

Dissertations

A myriad of studies in STEM education aim to identify the underlying reasons behind poor achievement of Black males in higher education. Research studies have indicated that HBCUs make significant advances in various desired outcomes such as graduation rates for Blacks, especially males. However, Black males at community colleges do not always fare similarly to their counterparts at HBCUs. There are limited studies on faculty interactions with Black males in STEM at community colleges. Therefore, the goal of this study was to identify whether significant differences existed in the interactions STEM faculty formed with Black males at community colleges and …

The Influence Of Social Capital On Community Sustainability In Meacham Park, Missouri During 1996 -1999, Sheila Green-Samuels

Dissertations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of social capital on the phenomenon of community sustainability in Meacham Park Missouri, a Black neighborhood located in south St. Louis county. It is believed that social capital influences the collective action needed to create structures which lead to economic growth essential to community sustainability (Farrell, 2007, Ginwright, 2015; Putnam, 1993). The core idea of Robert Putnam’s social capital theory is there is value in social networks (Putnam, 2000, 1993). Examined were experiences of current and past residents of Meacham Park using social capital constructs to analyze the significance …

Mtss Implementation In High Schools: Expert And Stakeholder Perspectives, Julie Daye

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the perspectives of experts and school-level stakeholders on MTSS implementation in high schools. Despite evidence of MTSS implementation effectiveness in elementary and middle school settings, MTSS implementation still lags in high schools. In reviewing the literature on high school MTSS implementation, those who have worked to implement MTSS do not all do so with the same priorities and/or emphases. I collected and examined qualitative data that reflects the perspectives of experts and school-level stakeholders. Specifically, I also reviewed articles or book chapters written by some high school MTSS experts and interviewed them. I interviewed stakeholders working in …

Male Educators Implementing Instructional Practices That Academically Engage Students, Kenneth B. Beneby

Theses and Dissertations

Male Educators Implementing Instructional Practices That Academically Engage Students. Kenneth Bernard Beneby, 2019. Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice. Keywords: teacher, African American male teachers, academic engagement, secondary teaching profession, pedagogies, African American male students

This phenomenological research explored how a selected group of African American male educators understood their own experiences while implementing strategies to academically engage African American male students. The research explored the public secondary education experiences of African American male educators to better understand their occupational understandings; how having more African American educators were helpful in …

Jack D. Forbes And The Search For A Decolonizing Philosophy Of Education, Joshua T. Frank

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

This study seeks to explicate and advance contemporary deimperial and decolonial philosophies of education through a reflexive archival inquiry and comparative textual analysis of the corpus of California Indian educational leader (Renape/Lenape) Jack Douglas Forbes (Jan. 7, 1934-Feb. 23, 2011). This study looks across Forbes lifetime at the development of his conception of education and peoplehood-nationhood, his critique of imperialism and colonialism, and finally his development and advocacy for decolonizing-deimperializing forms of education. I will describe his growth as an Indigenous scholar-warrior reading and writing across diverse types of data sources, or as I name all throughout this study as …

When Healing And High-Stakes Meet: Restorative Justice In An Era Of Racial Neoliberalism, Dani O'Brien

Doctoral Dissertations

Based on a 3-year ethnography, this dissertation documents the story of Presente, an explicitly critical youth-led restorative justice group attempting to dismantle the school-prison nexus and create a more youth-centered culture at their high-reform high school. This dissertation addresses the questions: How does serving as a restorative justice peer leader impact students? What challenges and opportunities arise as the school tries to transition to more restorative practices? And how do the values central to restorative justice come up against, challenge, and get challenged by neoliberal education reform?

The Effectiveness Of Character Education On Student Behavior, Katie M. Ferrara

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if character education in schools is effective enough to positively increase students' moral and ethical behaviors and values. Students' behaviors in grades Kindergarten through fifth across three different elementary schools were examined. Measurements were taken prior to the implementation of a character education program and were reexamined after the first year. The results of the study revealed all three schools decreased in filed discipline reports and increased in positive behaviors from the execution of character education programs.

Inside The Black Box Of Mentoring: African-American Adolescents, Youth Mentoring, And Stereotype Threat Conditions, David F. Laviscount

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Despite a narrowing trend over the past forty years, the racial academic performance gap between non-Asian-American minority students and European-American students remains an overarching issue in K-12 schooling according to the Stanford Center for Education Policy Analysis (2017). Du Bois’s (1903) theory of double consciousness is implicated in the performance gap phenomenon. Though not explicitly connected, Steele and Aronson’s 1995 study revealed stereotype threat (STT) to be an empirical explanation of the negative impact of double consciousness. Steele et al.’s study revealed a psycho-social contributor to the racial academic performance gap, STT. STT is characterized by performance suppression caused …

What Can A Studio Approach To Teaching Tell Us About The Academic And Social Learning Of Middle School Students? An Exploration Of Student Understanding Of How Making Art Supports Their Academic And Social Learning., Maureen Creegan- Quinquis, Maureen A. Creegan-Quinquis

Educational Studies Dissertations

This study explores the types of social and academic learning typically overlooked in public school education. Art-based approaches to academic learning have been labeled as“fluff.” Education policymakers hold a biased view of the arts. When asked to consider art as a viable epistemology, cognition theorists have dismissed art as irrational. These biased views have contributed to the marginalization of the field of art education. The purpose of this study was to question this bias through an art-based studio approach to research. The goal was to explore how middle school students understand the role of visual arts in their own academic …

Promoting Resilience In Economically Disadvantaged Adolescents Through School-Based Expressive Arts Groups, Bailey Knox

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Since 2013, the majority of students served by the public school system in the United States have been considered “low-income” by the federal government. The stressors associated with low socioeconomic status significantly increase risk for social, emotional and behavioral challenges at all age levels, but can be particularly damaging to adolescents coping with heightened stress levels related to the intense multi-dimensional changes that define this developmental period. As the correlation between economic disadvantage and negative socio-emotional and academic outcomes is increasingly evidenced, schools have begun to recognize their responsibility for providing preventative mental health care to high-risk students. Over the …

Empowering The Plus Size Body Using Dance As Therapy, Ashley Sampson

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

In Western society, having the “ideal” body image and size is a societal issue. It is advertised throughout media outlets that the “ideal” body is what should be desired, and any other body type is “abnormal”. This capstone thesis focused on the effectiveness of dance as therapy and changing the perspectives of all body types, to support and empower all bodies including plus-sized bodies. The use of individual interviews, in an open dialogue model, with a select few members (3) of Soul thru Sole, including the CEO of the dance company; which focuses on empowering women no matter their age, …

Catholic Identity And The Vocation Of The Principal, Melissa Whelan

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

In order for Catholic schools to fulfill the mission as outlined by the Church, their identity must be strong. Catholic schools play an important role in the evangelizing mission of the Church and without a strong Catholic identity, they cannot meet that mission (Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, 1998). It is important that the Catholic identity be a priority of those who teach and serve in Catholic schools. According to the NCEA annual statistical report, today only 2.6% of the full time equivalent professional staff in Catholic schools are religious compared to 48.4% in 1970 and 90.1% in 1950 (McDonald …

Social Constructivism: An Andragogical Praxis For Critical Thinking Instruction And Evaluation With Graduate Social Work Students, Luella Loudenback

Ed.D. Dissertations in Practice

Critical thinking skills are requisite for graduate social work students to transition competently into professional practice. This mixed methods study was conducted to explore current instruction and evaluation methods for critical thinking skill development. The extent to which faculty perceived changes in student outcomes since the 2015 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards change related to critical thinking skills, was also studied. This study was designed to link critical thinking and social work education in the context of social constructivism as an andragogical praxis for the development of critical thinking skills. The quantitative findings were interpreted to identify multiple approaches for …

Utilizing Classroom Meetings To Understand Student Values And Perceptions, Stacy Spink

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

This study addressed classroom meetings in order to teach social skills and address specific behavior issues. The author was completing a yearlong clinical teaching placement in a kindergarten classroom. The goal of her study was to observe what happens when class meetings are implemented to teach specific problem-areas in the classroom. In the study data was gathered through observations, student surveys, sociograms, and student interviews. The students participated in a class meeting twice a week for about thirty minutes. During the class meetings needed social skills were taught through play and role-playing activities and discussions were had to cooperatively solve …

Toward A Nuevomexicana Consciousness: An Exploration Of Identity Through Education As Manifest Through The Colonial Legacy, Mercedes V. Avila

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

The purpose of this study is to explore the implications of the colonial legacy in informing the New Mexican Educational System in the present day. I engage a group of three self-identified young Nuevomexicana students in seeking to understand the spaces in which one must maneuver in order to thrive in an otherwise marginalizing system of Western Academia. Through a qualitative study, I hope to identify the intricacies of the New Mexican identity and the relationship these students hold with their determined homeland. By implementing the methods of interview, and participant observation in an undergraduate freshmen classroom, I will investigate …

Master’S-Level Counseling Students’ Experience Of Expressive Arts Techniques In A Cacrep Multicultural Counseling Course, Cameron Houin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Counseling governing bodies have defined what should be prioritized in multicultural counseling courses, including students’ multicultural knowledge and awareness; however, best practice regarding how to teach these multicultural concepts has largely been left up to the counselor educator. Counselor educators have begun implementing expressive arts techniques in the classroom, but very little literature exists related to using such techniques in a multicultural course in a manner that positively influence counseling students’ multicultural competency.

The purpose of this study was to explore master’s-level counseling students’ experience of expressive arts techniques utilized during their multicultural counseling course. Ten student participants took part …

The Cultural Adaptation Experiences Of Chinese Higher Education Students In The American Deep South: A Comparison Across Disciplines, Xiaonan Song

Dissertations

In the past decade, Chinese international students have been found as one of the largest international student groups at American institutions across the country. However, the American Deep South was not less frequently studied in the past. Due to the distinctiveness of the Deep South, the researcher conducted this qualitative research on Chinese international students studying in this historically and culturally distinctive region. Mississippi was chosen as a representative state of the Deep South in the current study. The researcher collected data from in-depth interviews from three publicly funded institutions in Mississippi. Besides reporting many common issues regarding to cultural …

The Effects Of A Literacy-Based Mentoring Program On Empowering Preadolescent Girls In Their Development Of Confidence, Self-Concept, And Leadership Skillset, Sophia Vincent

Curriculum and Instruction Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study focuses on empowering preadolescent girls to develop confidence and move from a fixed to growth mindset, take responsibility for their actions, turn failures into learning opportunities, and cultivate a love for self. GIRLS: Leaders on the Rise is a literacy-based mentoring program for preadolescent girls designed to improve confidence, positive self-concept, and develop a leadership skillset through five targeted aspects of leadership: growth mindset, integrity, resilience, love and loyalty, and strengths. Adolescence is a time when students are discovering who they are and shaping their identities. Girls decline in their self-confidence during adolescence due to fear of failure, …

Bilingual Student's Perceptions Of English-Only Education: A Study Of Hispanic Students In Central Florida, Lilliam Roman

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

In higher education, the number of Hispanic immigrant students has steadily increased, particularly in central Florida. The purpose of this quantitative study was to analyze the perceptions of higher education Hispanic students whose home language is Spanish and who are enrolled in English-only and bilingual degree programs in two central Florida universities. A quantitative, non-experimental survey research approach was utilized. A variety of descriptive, associative, and inferential statistical techniques were used to answer the research questions. A response rate of 12.7% (n = 71) was achieved. There was no difference in the overall perception of course efficacy between participants enrolled …