Education Commons^™

Higher Education Social Responsibility: An Empirical Analysis And Assessment Of A Hispanic-Serving Institution's Commitment To Community-Engaged Scholarship, Student Integration And Sense Of Belonging, Juan Salinas Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Current efforts in higher education institutions to increase persistence and success among Hispanic students continue to be ineffective and thus new conceptual frameworks need to be explored. Data from the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities asserts that increasing the number of Hispanics that graduate is vital for our country’s future. In turn, Hispanic-Serving Institutions need to nourish and nurture their students to ensure that they graduate and institutional frameworks would benefit from cultural and epistemological congruence with Hispanic students, their families, and their communities.

Educational leaders have urged educators to take on the responsibility and commitment to students’ success …

Propensity To Trust And The Impact On The Academic Success Of Student-Athletes: Implications For Athletic Officials In Higher Education, Trevor Thomas Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Student-athletes enter higher education in the United States with diverse backgrounds and academic preparation. In some cases, student-athletes are underprepared for the academic rigor, social structure, and ethical expectations of these institutions. Athletic coaches are charged with the recruitment of highly skilled, competitive, and prepared student-athletes, while other athletic officials are responsible to provide the proper academic support, care, and overall well-being of student-athletes. If coaches, athletic administrators, advisors, and learning specialists could identify educational and demographic patterns related to student-athletes' propensity to trust, they would be better equipped to gain these students' trust and help them navigate the stress …

A Case Study Of A Technical College's Faculty Perceptions Regarding The Value Of Professional Development Activities, Kermelle D. Hensley

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to investigate technical college faculty members' perceptions of the professional development. Most of the literature was focused on four-year higher educational institutions. For the purposes of this qualitative case study, the researcher addressed the limited amount in the literature about professional development in two-year technical colleges. The researcher investigated faculty perceptions concerning the usefulness of professional development in a two-year higher education institution through survey research design with 8 participants. The main themes were 1) technical college faculty desired professional development; 2) technical college faculty needed for follow up from the professional …

Barriers Faced By Nontraditional Black Female Students At A Historically Black College Or University, Denata Williams

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the barriers faced by nontraditional Black female students at a Historically Black College or University (HBCU). There was an extensive amount of literature regarding barriers faced by nontraditional students; however, there was a limited amount of research and literature on the perceptions of nontraditional Black female students and faculty perceptions regarding these barriers. The study was conducted at a HBCU in the southern part of the United States. Participants in the study included five HBCU faculty and five nontraditional Black female students. In this qualitative descriptive case study, focus groups, surveys, and …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between High School Seniors And High School Seniors Participating In A Multi-Year, Looping, School-Based Mentoring Program, Devon Alaine Lassetter

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have indicated that secondary school students were more likely to be truant than primary school students which lead to students dropping out of school and becoming less productive citizens as adults. Researchers have also shown that participation in a school-based mentoring program can positively influence the students and help them make better life decisions. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent a multi-year, looping, school-based mentoring program has on the attendance data, behavioral data, achievement data, and graduation rate of high school seniors at a rural high school in west Georgia. The researcher conducted a …

Graduation As A Function Of Mobility, Attendance, Discipline, Math, English Language Arts/Reading, And Parental Educational Attainment Of The Cohort Group 2015 In One South Texas Urban School District In The Rio Grande Valley, Nancy Lopez Castillo

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the trends and patterns across time over the cohort 2015 on dependent variable, graduation. Aggregated longitudinal data for independent variables, mobility, attendance, discipline, math achievement, reading achievement, and parental educational attainment was collected for 98 students from 2010 to 2018. The independent variables of mobility, attendance, discipline, math achievement, reading achievement, and parental educational attainment were examined to determine whether or not high school completion is dependent on these measures.

The freshmen cohort 2015 in one south Texas urban school district in the Rio Grande Valley was the focus of the study. Exploratory and confirmatory analysis statistical/data …

An Examination Of Physical Exercise And Its Impact On Augmenting Self-Determination Levels Of College-Aged Students, Kenneth William Kirsch Jr

Theses and Dissertations

Research has demonstrated a positive link with motivation, physical exercise, and academic success. A current trend within higher education has been to increase student retention as well as deemphasize physical education. Students, who possess a higher degree of self-determined behavior, sustain greater overall success. Administrators have intensified efforts focusing on student retention; however, little research exists connecting physical exercise with self-determination and how these elements could provide solutions to address this problem. Motivation is an element, which drives people to accomplish a task and has the propensity to change when engaged in physical exercise. The motivational reasons why people participate …

Combining Faithfulness With Learning: Avoiding The Path Of Secularization At Brigham Young University, J. Gordon Daines Iii

Theses and Dissertations

Most research universities in the United States began as religiously affiliated institutions. Beginning in the late 19th century and continuing over the course of the 20th century, the vast majority of these institutions engaged in a process of secularization through which faith moved from the center of academic life to the periphery. This paper elucidates a conceptual framework for understanding how and why Brigham Young University did not follow the path of secularization that so many research universities, originally religious in nature, pursued. It examines the steps that the university and its sponsoring institution (The Church of Jesus Christ of …

Self-Determined Motivation In Foreign Language Learning: Examining The Effects On Students' Achievement, Yawo Badagbo

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between foreign language motivation and self-determined motivation, as well as the issue of students’ perceptions of strategies used to improve foreign language motivation and achievement among undergraduate students in the department of foreign language. This research was conducted in two mid-western universities among undergraduate foreign language learners. The participants were undergraduate foreign language learners. A total of 391 students from 18- 43 years old started the paper-and-pencil surveys in which they shared their views and perceptions about foreign language learning motivations and strategies to improve motivations and achievement. However, only 380 completed the majority of …

Children's Physical Fitness And Academic Performance: A Challenge For Leaders In Title I Schools In The Rio Grande Valley, Maricela Valdez

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between physical fitness, body mass index and academic performance in Hispanic children enrolled in grade 5 from a district in the Rio Grande Valley. A total of 547 participants were selected from 11 elementary schools from a school district in the Rio Grande Valley. The dependent variable, academic performance, was measured by children’s gain score on the STAAR Progress Measure for Reading and Math assessments. The independent variables of physical fitness were measured by scores on cardiovascular fitness and body mass index from the FITNESSGRAM assessment.

The literature review …

A Father's Dream: "Mi Hija Va Ser Maestra" An Autoethnographic Study Of The Cultural, Familial And Community Experiences That Informed An Instructional Leader, Eva T. Torres

Theses and Dissertations

This study is an autoethnography which will identify major ethnographic influences that I, as a female Mexican American educational leader, feel have been significant in the course of my career in education. The study will focus on culture, family and community as factors which developed and engendered characteristics, behaviors and experiences that contributed to my development as an educator. These will be relayed through narratives, memoirs, organic artifacts and documents, lived experiences, pláticas, and other forms of text presented here as story, an acceptable autoethnographic method of data collection. I place myself in the center of these narratives in autoethnographic …

Teacher Perceptions Of Mandated Collaboration Through Professional Learning Communities, Carmen Cranford Horton

Theses and Dissertations

Georgia Rule 505-2-.36, implemented in July of 2017, revised teacher recertification policy to include administrative evaluations of professional growth resulting from teachers’ engagement in professional learning communities (PLCs). The rule represented the convergence of two possibly conflicting ideals: mandated change and PLCs. Districts were permitted autonomy over how to implement and develop rubrics for the evaluation of professional growth resulting from PLCs. The purpose of this bounded case study was to capture the perceptions of teachers concerning the structure, purpose and dynamics of required PLC meetings during the initial year of implementation. The goal was to give voice to the …

A Mixed Methods Study Of High School Teachers' And Administrators' Perceptions Of School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions And Supports, Joseph E. Dean

Theses and Dissertations

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports is a framework used by educators to improve school climates by developing student academic and social skills through the alignment of behavioral expectations, positive acknowledgement for appropriate behaviors, the encouragement of positive staff and student relationships, and data-based decision making. Even though PBIS is comprised of three tiers of increased support, the majority of schools in the United States have only implemented the first tier, or School-Wide PBIS. Furthermore, due to barriers that are unique to high school settings, most of the schools that have implemented SWPBIS have been elementary and middle schools. The purpose …

A Mixed Method Descriptive Study Of High School Graduates' Dual Enrollment Experiences And The Influence On College Readiness, Sherry W. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine the perceptions of graduates regarding the benefits of participating in Dual Enrollment and how their participation influenced their college readiness. Dual enrollment programs have become prominent nationwide. Several studies show positive outcomes including increased high school completion, improved postsecondary persistence, and higher college degree completion. This study will evaluate dual enrollment participants at one high school located in central Georgia. Data is analyzed and presented based on relevance to the effectiveness of the dual enrollment program. The study was important because the success of Dual Enrollment could provide a possible remedy …

Universal Design For Learning: Is Training Making A Difference In Teacher Pedagogy, Michelle D. Sizemore

Theses and Dissertations

David H. Rose and his colleagues at the Center for Applied Specialized Technology (CAST), a non-profit organization specializing in educational research and development, worked for over one quarter of a century to improve learning opportunities for all individuals (Rose, 2012). In the late 1990s this work led to a set of principles known as Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a research-based instructional framework grounded in neuroscience and educational research that allowed teachers to proactively identify barriers that might exist between students and learning and account for those barriers during lesson development and implementation (CAST, 2015). One school district in southwest …

A Qualitative Study On Teacher Perceptions Of Self-Contained And Departmentalized Classrooms At The Elementary Level, Dana R. Wiggins

Theses and Dissertations

Classroom organizational structure and the impact on student achievement has been a major concern for decades for elementary teachers and administrators (McGrath & Rust, 2002). At the elementary level, the expectation is teachers are experts in all curriculum areas, and for elementary teachers these areas are English, language arts, writing, science, social studies, and math. Most elementary teachers believe they are generalists and are unable to be experts in every subject area. This concern has significantly influenced school administrators’ decisions about best practices and classroom organization to maximize student learning. One way administrators are addressing this problem is by departmentalizing …

An Examination Of Teacher Perceptions Of Credit Recovery In Three South Georgia School Districts, Brooks Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

The present study was an exploration of the credit recovery program in three school districts in Georgia. The researcher explored the implementation of the credit recovery program used as a tool for improving graduation rates and college and career readiness of students in three purposefully selected school districts in Georgia. Three research questions were used focusing on the implementation process, the reason why the credit recovery program was implemented, and the outcome of the credit recovery program after implementation. The methodology was a qualitative comparative research design, which included data from three school districts in Georgia. Data were collected via …

Dual-Career Couples: A Coup Or To Cope In Academia, Kendall D. Isaac

Theses and Dissertations

Dual-career couples are common in academia. Indeed, anyone presently working at a higher education institution can likely make a cursory and informal inquiry to see if there are couples on his campus and quickly realize that several exist. Couples working on the same campus can bring with it certain positives such as increased institutional loyalty and productivity, as well as certain negatives such as departmental frustration at a trailing spouse hire and possible discord at times when the couple’s relationship lacks harmony. In an attempt to delve deeper into this phenomenon and to explore the pros and cons associated with …

Hispanic Male Self-Efficacy And Its Effect On Persistence, Jennifer Mendoza Culbertson

Theses and Dissertations

The Hispanic male population has experienced a decline in four-year college enrollment rates and bachelor degree completion within the past ten years. To address this issue, this study focused on Hispanic male college freshman students, self-efficacy, and persistence in a South Texas four-year higher education institution. The study utilized an explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach. For the quantitative analysis, an efficacy survey, College Self-Efficacy Inventory, of Hispanic male students enrolled in mandatory freshman courses was analyzed. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine what amount of the total variance in persistence may be accounted for by self-efficacy. Qualitative data was …

An Autoethnographic Exploration Of The Professional And The Person: A Life's Journey Of A Hispanic Superintendent In South Texas, Gonzalo Salazar

Theses and Dissertations

Leadership effectiveness is often defined in terms of, a leader’s ability to motivate followers towards a collective goal, mission or vision (Knippenberg, Knippenberg, Cremer & Hogg, 2004). However, a leaders’ understanding of their own identity; how education, culture, upbringing, values and morals helped shape the self (Leary, & Tangney, 2002; Anzaldua, 2015; and Guajardo & Guajardo, 2017) and how the leader functions as a contributing member of the organization (Knippenberg & Hogg, 2003) is critically important.

Demographers have long held that by the year 2050, our nation will be increasingly more diverse and that there will be no racial or …

A Qualitative Study Toward Understanding Educators’ Perceptions Of A Talent Development Program Designed To Address The Underrepresentation Of Historically Marginalized Students In Advanced Programming In A Large Virginia School Division, Christopher Mark Sumner

Theses and Dissertations

This study extends the limited, existing research on Sunnydale Public School’s (SPS’s) SOAR program. For clarity, SOAR is a talent development (TD) program that aims to not only enhance students’ reasoning and problem-solving abilities but also to remedy the racial/ethnic disproportionality of SPS's gifted and talented program. More specifically, I used interpretive, qualitative methods for this investigation to understand participants’ perceptions of SOAR, in hopes of adding to the talent development knowledge base and informing SOAR policy and practice. Ultimately, participant views converged on several topics (i.e. racial and ethnic disproportionality, brain malleability, multiple intelligences, etc.) and diverged on others …

Public School Principals’ Attitudes Regarding The Classroom Participation Of Students With Autism Who Exhibit Challenging Behavior, Taryn G. Traylor

Theses and Dissertations

Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present challenges for principals supervising both general and special education teachers. Evidence-based practices designed to address the challenging behavior and academic needs of this population exists, but there are numerous contextual factors that affect the ability of principals to effectively assist their teachers in implementation. The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between principal leader’s demographic characteristics, the influence of contextual factors, and leadership attitudes that affect their development and priorities for their schools. The implementation science framework and collective impact theory was investigated as a conceptual framework to analyze these …

A Watershed Moment: Implementing State Environmental Literacy Policy Into A Central Virginia School District, Melinda J. Vandevelder

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

A WATERSHED MOMENT: IMPLEMENTING STATE ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY POLICY INTO A CENTRAL VIRGINIA SCHOOL DISTRICT

By Melinda J. VanDevelder, Ph.D.

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Virginia Commonwealth University, 2018

Director: Charol Shakeshaft, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Educational Leadership

Policy goals may be impossible to achieve at the classroom level (Ravitch, 2014), as policy depends on those who implement it (Lipsky, 1980). The purpose of this research was to investigate how the voluntary environmental educational executive order, EO42, was implemented and executed in a Central Virginia …

The Intersection Of Economic Disadvantage And Race And The Expanded Role Of Parent-Led School-Supporting Nonprofit Organizations In K-12 Public Schools In The Richmond, Virginia, Metropolitan Area: A Mixed Methods Approach, Rachel A. Levy

Theses and Dissertations

Nongovernmental actors have long been involved in the funding of U.S. K-12 public schools. With recent cuts to state funding to public education, however, groups called school-supporting nonprofits (Nelson & Gazley, 2014) have taken on a much larger role in school funding. Nonacademic, volunteer, parent-led groups such as parent teacher associations (PTAs), parent teacher organizations (PTOs), and booster clubs, especially, have grown in number and in amount of revenues raised, and are funding core school needs and functions. This situation confuses obligations of public institutions, undermines equity, and complicates the role of educational leaders. This mixed-methods study explores the influence …

A Study Of Environmental Factors That Affect The Physical And Mental Health Of Airline Pilots: A Systematic Review With Metasynthesis, Deborah Donnelly

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the systematic review of the literature was to compile and synthesize the research that had been conducted on the environmental factors that affect airline pilot health during their cockpit exposure. The purpose was also to compile research on the effects of these environmental factors. This study added onto the scarce body of research on airline pilots and the environmental factors that affect their health.

This research included published sources that were found through searching electronic databases such as ERIC, ProQuest Central, PubMed, Federal Aviation Administration, and Nova Google Scholar. The study used qualitative studies, along with government …

Evaluative Study Of Jazz History Courses At The Collegiate Level, Charles Lawrence Bergeron

Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to compare quantitative information concerning jazz history courses being taught in schools of music across America. The secondary purpose of the study was to solicit and analyze opinions from experienced jazz history instructors regarding the place and importance of these courses in college curricula. Curricula in use in university music programs that offer bachelor’s degrees in jazz studies must be evaluated regarding the content and relevance of subject matter presented in jazz history classes.

Questions concerning the number of semesters required to teach a continually increasing amount of material were paramount to this …

A Study Of In-School And Out-Of-School Life Experiences Affecting Veteran Teacher Retention In A Southeastern School District, Rosa Ana Jonson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the research was to investigate the in-school and out-of-school life experiences affecting veteran teacher retention in a southeastern school district. The study sought to gain a better understanding of the factors that affected the decisions of teachers to remain with the district for more than 5 years. All of the teachers who had been working in the district for at least 5 years were potential research participant The survey was distributed to 75 teachers, and 24 teachers responded. The teachers were asked to respond to an online survey regarding their perceptions of their in-school and out-of-school experiences. …

Impact Of A School-Based Obesity Intervention For Minority Female High School Students, Eric Hughes

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was developed to determine if seven motivational group sessions would improve minority female high school students’ perceptions toward and knowledge of healthy lifestyle behaviors. The target population for this study was 15 female minority students ages 15-18 who attended a large urban high school and had a body mass index greater than 30.

Participants completed the Healthy Lifestyle Beliefs Scale for Teens and maintained a personal food journal. Within their personal food journals, participants listed the types and amounts of both foods they ate and beverages they consumed over two three-day periods. Participants also were supposed to …

Effective Leadership In Schools Leads To Positive Student Achievement A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Bruce Alan Kolsun

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the existing literature regarding the leadership of the principals leading to student learning and to identify its influence on overall achievement. The aim was to help teachers use best practices in the classroom, to identify staff development topics, and to assist principals in choosing the correct professional development strategies. The research method used in this study was a systematic review based on the protocol outlined by the Cochrane Collaboration and guidance from the Preferred Reporting Items from Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Checklist (PRISMA). Findings from data abstraction and analysis revealed five leadership …

Female Faculty Perspectives On Blended Learning At Universities In Saudi Arabia, Hind Hamed B Alghanmi

Theses and Dissertations

Adopting technology is one of the priorities in the Saudi education system. The reform of Saudi education leads to the need to focus on BL as a tool for adopting technology into any college classroom. This study focuses specifically on technology usage for teaching among female faculty. In 2018, women’s education in Saudi Arabia has undergone an incredible social transition, and women’s education is different and more advanced than before. This study looks to learn about female faculty members’ views and experiences as they relate to the adoption of BL in their classrooms. It seeks to provide in-depth knowledge essential …