Education Commons^™

Attitudes About Inclusivity Among Preservice Educators: A Mixed Methods Approach, Kathleen M. Quinn

Theses & Dissertations

In 1975, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) became the first enacted policy that led the fight against ableism, providing students with disabilities the right to public education. In 2004, this policy became known as the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), which included these major components supporting the policy of inclusion: Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), Individual Education Plans (IEP), and Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). This study highlights how teacher preparation programs are pivotal in preservice teachers' attitudes toward inclusion. The data for this study was collected and analyzed based on quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews with …

Elementary English Language Learners' Perceptions Of Teacher Care In The Classroom, Carol Boodram-Wright

Theses & Dissertations

English Language Learners (ELLs) experience care in the classroom based on prior experiences, teacher and student relationships, academic support, health support, and safety. The purpose of this study was to understand how ELLs experience care in the classroom with their classroom teacher as described by six ELL participants. A positive teacher-student relationship rooted in care, comfort, safety, and trust enhanced ELLs' engagement with their classroom teacher. The findings of this qualitative narrative study revealed that unconditional support and individualized quality time contributed to ELLs’ well-being in the classroom. Interpretations of care from the ELLs’ narratives depicted how experiences in the …

Beaches, Bumps, And Milkshakes: A Humanizing, Open, And Dialogic, Postformal Autoethnographic Study Of An Experiential Learning Academy, Eric Anthony Karahalis

Theses & Dissertations

The dominant educational paradigm is rooted in a Platonic, Cartesian, and Piagetian mind-supremacist epistemology that subordinates the body and experience to the mind, ideas, and objective concepts. This reduces students to cognitive receptors of information in a detached, decontextualized, and dehumanizing classroom, i.e., the banking educational model (Freire, 2018; hooks,1994). Students are forced to sit at desks for several hours a day and expected to open their minds and ignore the body’s needs. This educational model is dehumanizing because it only approaches students and learning through one epistemological lens and separates learning from the world. On the other hand, experiential …

Family Caregivers: From Invisible To Visible Within The Healthcare Continuum, Tara Anglim

Theses & Dissertations

As the United States' aging population rapidly grows, the prevalence of adults with chronic illness or disabilities who require intermittent or long-term caregiving from family members also increases. Despite the prevalence of caregiving, the role of the family caregiver is a label that lacks a clear description, definition, or societal understanding. The inability to identify family caregivers creates negative ramifications, including diminished recognition and support throughout the healthcare continuum. Drawing from caregiver identity theory, this qualitative phenomenological study aimed to describe the experiences of family caregivers to promote a deeper understanding of how they became aware of their caregiver identity …

A Narrative Case Study: The Role Of Culturally Responsive Mentorship To Navigate, Empower, And Level The Playing Field For Black And Brown Students In Higher Education, Chotsani Williams West

Theses & Dissertations

As the rate of enrollment increases for Black and Brown students in U.S. colleges and universities, in part, due to innovative and strategic recruitment and enrollment efforts to attract them, research shows that students of color benefit from intentional and strength-based college support services to ensure that they can thrive and persist toward graduation. In this narrative case study, I explored the perceived experiences of Black and Brown alumni who were participants in a mentoring program at a predominantly White institution (PWI). In-depth interviews with 20 alumni chronicled their lived experiences and perceptions as they navigated the PWI with the …

"She Didn't Know How To Work With Black Kids" Exploring How Adolescent Black Girls In Private, Predominantly White Institutions Perceive Their White Teachers' Ability To Affirm And Uplift Their Intersectional Identities, Florence Marie Phophete-Barbour

Theses & Dissertations

Black girls in predominantly White educational institutions (PWIs) are often viewed as less than or categorized as aggressive by their White teachers and peers, and such negative attitudes can lead to sub-par academic outcomes and low self-esteem. My study endeavored to understand the lived experiences of 10 Black adolescent girls ages 13-19 who have attended private PWIs in Nassau County, NY. Using a narrative inquiry approach, I conducted semi-structured interviews, educational mapping exercises, and focus groups to collect data on the girls' academic journey. The findings revealed that Black girls in PWI believe that school culture and structures matter, and …

A Critical Exploration Of Unequal School Funding: Teacher Job Satisfaction Across Underfunded And Well-Funded Schools, David Tomasic

Theses & Dissertations

Unequal school funding is a phenomenon that promotes an educational structure where certain public schools receive higher financial support and resources while other schools receive lower levels. An important but overlooked dimension of the phenomenon is its potential effect on teacher job satisfaction in underfunded and well-funded schools. This dimension forms the basis of this study and exploration of the phenomenon of unequal school funding. Using Susan Moore Johnson's framework, this qualitative phenomenological study aimed to understand how unequal school funding affected nine high school teachers across both under and well-funded high schools on Long Island. The study sought to …

Multilingual Learners' And Their Teachers' Perceptions Of Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Practices In The Mainstream Classroom: A Mixed-Method Approach, Nicki K. Gonias

Theses & Dissertations

The number of multilingual learners (MLs) is on the rise in the United States, especially in schools located in New York State and Long Island. However, many general education teachers lack the necessary training and certification to teach these diverse students effectively. In response, New York State has developed the NYS Culturally Responsive-Sustaining (CR-S) Education Framework to address the gaps in teaching practices. The implementation varies across districts on Long Island. To gain a deeper understanding, I conducted this study to investigate the perceptions of MLs and their teachers regarding CR-S pedagogical approaches in mainstream classrooms. The study involved surveys …

Is Gifted Education And Its Program A Brand?, Farzana Begum

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The education system has been under constant construction. What will make our students successful has driven education to make a number of changes, and therefore, over the years, the importance of differentiation evolved, mandating the education system to acknowledge that education should not be standardized and that all students learn and retain knowledge differently. As a result, a number of classroom environments and programs have been established to cater to these differences. One example of this is the establishment of the Gifted and Talented Program or Gifted Education in the education system.

Gifted Education provides identified students with a stimulating …

Sheltered Instruction For Newcomer Multilingual Learners Through A Multicultural And Assimilation Lens: Administrators, Teachers, And Students’ Perceptions In A Middle-Level Education Setting, Victoria Rae Seelinger

Theses & Dissertations

Administrators and teachers are tasked with the opportunity to implement bilingual programs to accommodate the growing population of multilingual learners, or MLs. There is a debate in the field about the most appropriate structure for bilingual programs. Sheltered Instruction (SI) is a way to “shelter” MLs from the anxiety of regular academic courses by separating MLs from their native English-speaking peers until they are ready and proficient enough to join mainstream classes. While the SI classroom is beneficial academically, the program’s separate structure, culture, and climate could have negative implications for students’ socialization and sense of belonging. The purpose of …

Understanding The Lived Experiences Of Tenured, Non-Native Spanish Speaker-Teachers: A Phenomenological Investigation Of The Native Speaker Fallacy, Orsola Giovanna Dutra

Theses & Dissertations

There is limited research surrounding non-native speaker-teachers of world languages and the disruption known as the native speaker fallacy (Phillipson, 1992), which is the belief that only native speakers can be the most suitable teachers of a given language. This phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of tenured, non-native Spanish-speaking teachers who work across different public high schools on Long Island about their perceptions and experiences of the native speaker fallacy phenomenon. Six in-depth interviews were recorded and coded through the lens of self-efficacy and positioning theories to examine their experiences. The participants showed a strong belief in their teaching …

I Do, You Do, We Do: Co-Teachers’ Perspectives Of Self-Determination For Students With Dis/Abilities, Jenna Theofield

Theses & Dissertations

Self-determination plays a vital role in the educational journey of students with a dis/ability. However, opportunities to cultivate self-determining skills for elementary students with dis/abilities in an inclusive co-taught classroom are limited. This can be attributed to the intersectionality of ableism and ageism, two oppressive societal constructs that elementary coteachers may consciously or subconsciously hold. Since the inception of educating students with dis/abilities in their least restrictive environments, co-teaching classrooms have been deemed as the most appropriate setting for many students considering the continuum of special education services. The purpose of this study was to examine how elementary co-teaching teams …

Understanding The Qualities Of An Effective Fieldwork Experience And How It Relates To Pre-Service Teachers' Feelings Of Self-Efficacy And Preparedness, Renata Olczak Filipowicz

Theses & Dissertations

The effectiveness of teacher-preparation programs to produce high-quality teachers has been an issue of concern for a long time. Teachers play a significant role in shaping students’ academic achievement and social-emotional growth. Therefore, it is critical to focus on how teacher education programs, especially the field placement component, develop and support new educators. This explanatory mixed-methods study used a theoretical framework of Albert Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory (1977) and Pierre Bourdieu’s Cultural Capital Theory (1986) to examine the qualities of an effective practical residency experience and how it relates to preservice teachers’ feelings of self-efficacy and preparedness for teaching diverse students …

Teaching And Learning That Takes Place In A Diverse English Classroom Through The Use Of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Sharon A. Dungee

Theses & Dissertations

As the demographics of the United States continue to diversify, teachers must implement culturally responsive instruction in their classrooms to reach all students. This qualitative case study used the theoretical framework of Ladson-Billings’ culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) to examine how a White, Advanced Placement English teacher selected class literature, how her class of mostly 12th-grade students of color (one White student) responded to the book Native Son by Richard Wright, how the students saw themselves in the characters, and how they expressed their feelings during class discussions and assignments. The data collection was composed of teacher interviews, interview transcripts, classroom …