Education Commons^™

The Retention Puzzle Reconsidered: Second Year Student Attitudes And Experiences With Advising, Michael Edward Walsh

Dissertations and Theses

College student retention has been described as a puzzle because retention rates have stagnated, and in some cases declined, despite over seventy years of research into the problem. The magnitude of the problem is that 50 percent of college students will leave their institution before obtaining a degree (Braxton, Hirschy, & McClendon, 2011). In an effort to improve retention rates, colleges and universities have concentrated their attention on first year students. But this concentrated strategy may have simply transferred the retention problem into the second year where retention rates for many schools are as low as first year rates (Amaury, …

Short-Term International Service-Learning: Faculty Perceptions Of And Pedagogical Strategies For The Design And Implementation Of Successful Learning Experiences, Thomas Jacob Van Cleave

Dissertations and Theses

Faculty-led short-term international service-learning (STISL) experiences are thought to have great potential in developing students' global citizenship through combining study abroad and community service pedagogies. However, thorough investigation of the pedagogical strategies employed in STISL courses to achieve such outcomes has yet to be conducted. This qualitative narrative inquiry of STISL faculty at 7 different institutions across multiple academic disciplines and country service sites sought to fill that void. Data reveal a new conceptualization of STISL teaching, learning, and service success that involves culturally contextualized solidarity, global civic engagement, and global competence, which culminate into students' global agency. Emerging from …

Academic Advising Structures That Support First-Year Student Success And Retention, Brett Leland Mcfarlane

Dissertations and Theses

Academic advising has been touted as a key to student success and retention. Today's academic advising delivery models vary considerably and little is known about the efficiency and effectiveness of these models. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between how academic advising is delivered to first-year students at a four-year public, high research activity university located on the west coast and the students' satisfaction with advising, advising learning outcomes, and retention. In the study, responses of 628 first-year students to a survey which asked them about their attitudes toward and experiences with academic …

State Need-Based Aid And Four-Year College Student Retention: A Statewide Study, Kara Lynn Mcfall

Dissertations and Theses

Every college age student should have the opportunity to attend college and earn a degree, but the fiscal realities for lower income students prevent the majority from attending and the vast majority from completing college, thus perpetuating an intergenerational trend of limited postsecondary education and a likelihood of marginal income and status. Past research studies have shown that, among lower income students, those who receive higher levels of grant funding to offset college expenses are more likely to persist toward completing their educations than those who do not receive the same level of grant funding and thus are forced to …

Special Education Teacher Candidates And Mentors: Case Studies Of Collaboration In Pre-Service Field Experiences, Rebecca Lynn Schulte

Dissertations and Theses

Collaboration between general and special education teachers is essential for students with disabilities to have access to general education curriculum and instruction, and improved outcomes in school. The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), and No Child Left Behind Legislation, include mandates that increase demands for collaboration. However, many general and special education teachers report not feeling prepared to step outside traditional roles to collaborate to meet the needs of this population. Collaboration is also a strong element of teaching and special education standards for teacher preparation. Yet, research shows many teacher education programs lack coursework and field experiences that focus …

Understanding Pervasive Language Impairment In Young Children: Exploring Patterns In Narrative Language And Functional Communication, Anna Jeddeloh Waters

Dissertations and Theses

Research has identified language impairment as a pervasive disability (Bishop & Edmundson, 1987; Greenhalgh & Strong, 2001). Classroom communication behaviors have a role in the maintenance of special education eligibility and functional communication difficulties for young children with language impairment. This paper reviews the theoretical and experimental literature on narrative skills and language impairment as well as empirical support for understanding language delays as part of a group of risk factors that affect child development. The present study describes patterns in the communication skills of a small group of young children with a predetermined diagnosis of language impairment using a …

Shaping School Culture: To Support Moving From A Targeted-Assistance To Schoolwide Title I Program, Paul Edward Coakley

Dissertations and Theses

As budget belts tighten in the public schools today, more and more schools are moving toward participation in federal Schoolwide Title I Programs to most effectively meet the needs of struggling students. This study seeks to inform school administrators how best to approach this yearlong change initiative by both meeting the needs of the rigorous federal standards and facilitating a positive school climate for staff, students, and community. Using a Problem-Based Learning method, the purpose of this study was to research, develop, and validate a handbook for shaping school culture during a major school change project while creating or maintaining …

The Call For Cultural Responsiveness: Teachers' Perceptions About The Interplay Between Culturally Responsive Instruction And Scripted Curricula, Kathryn Elizabeth Toppel

Dissertations and Theses

The increased focus on the implementation of scientifically research-based instruction as an outcome of No Child Left Behind ("Understanding NCLB," 2007) has resulted in the widespread use of scripted reading curricula (Dewitz, Leahy, Jones, and Sullivan, 2010), which typically represents Eurocentric and middle class forms of discourse, knowledge, language, culture, and historical interpretations as academic knowledge (Howard, 2010; Delpit, 2012). In an era where the number of culturally and linguistically diverse students is increasing rapidly (Ginsberg, 2007), it is essential to consider that educational practices relying entirely on prefabricated content may require modification because, as recognized in the funds of …

Evaluating Alternative High Schools: Program Evaluation In Action, Drew Samuel Wayne Hinds

Dissertations and Theses

Alternative high schools serve some of the most vulnerable students and their programs present a significant challenge to evaluate. Determining the impact of an alternative high school that serves mostly at-risk students presented a significant research problem. Few studies exist that dig deeper into the characteristics and strategies of successful alternative schooling. Moreover valid program evaluation methods to identify successful alternative school practices are hit and miss. As a result, public policy and systems of accountability have either disregarded information relating to alternative high schools or unjustifiably included them in comparisons with traditional high schools.

This dissertation studied the issue …

Designing Innovative Alternatives To Traditional High Schools: What Leaders Need To Know, Chester Roy Edwards

Dissertations and Theses

The need for new and innovative alternatives to traditional high schools has never been greater. Never designed to graduate all students on time, traditional high schools and their high dropout rates have remained unchanged for the last 30 years. Improving secondary schooling for all young people is a worthwhile social and educational objective. Many school leaders want to create alternative high schools but may lack the knowledge of what to do, nor may they have a comprehensive design process to follow.

The research question explored in this dissertation is: What do leaders in education need to know to design innovative …

Developing The Instructional Leadership Skills Of High School Principals In Tanzania: A Problem-Based Learning Approach, Peter N. Siamoo

Dissertations and Theses

Underachievement among secondary students in Tanzania is tragic: the failure rate on the national exams after the fourth year is between 65 to 100 percent (Mushi, 2011). The literature affirms that student learning is primarily improved by enhancing quality classroom instruction while the second most impactful strategy is consistent school leadership to ensure that effective practices are utilized in the classroom (Blase & Blase, 2004; Chenoweth & Everhart, 2002; Fink & Markholt, 2011; Leithwood, Louis, Anderson, & Wahlstrom, 2004; Leithwood, Harris, & Strauss, 2010; Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2005). Despite the research, the researcher's pilot study revealed that there is …

Nursing Student Anxiety In Simulation Settings: A Mixed Methods Study, Mary Louise Cato

Dissertations and Theses

The use of simulation as a clinical learning activity is growing in nursing programs across the country. Using simulation, educators can provide students with a realistic patient situation using mannequins or actors as patients in a simulated environment. Students can practice multiple aspects of patient care without the risk of making mistakes with real patients, and faculty can reinforce course objectives and evaluate student learning. Because of the technology, the environment, and the methods by which simulation is implemented, it may cause anxiety in learners, which may interfere with the learning process. Anxious students may miss an opportunity for learning …

Student Employment In Student Affairs Units: Characteristics Of Educationally Purposeful Environments, Shannon Timm Watson

Dissertations and Theses

Approximately 80% of undergraduate students work during the course of their undergraduate studies. Ideally, student's on-campus employment would contribute to his or her learning and development. However, because student employment is typically approached as the fulfillment of job tasks rather than student development, higher education institutions miss critical opportunities for supporting student academic and social integration. This study reframes on-campus student employment as a developmental effort. Data in this qualitative study indicate that on-campus employment can offer opportunities for student development and academic and social integration, and that it can positively influence students' sense of mattering and overall satisfaction with …

Successful Leaders Beating The Odds: Leveraging Instructional Rounds With Professional Development In School-University Partnerships, Amy Daggett Petti

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

How do we prepare and support better teachers during financial crisis? A newly formed university-district partnership, utilizing Professional Development School (PDS) research leveraged instructional rounds as a professional development strategy for mutual benefit. This article synthesizes two successful schools' journeys toward innovative and transparent improvement of teachers' practices, for both tenured and preservice teachers. Analysis of each school's video documentation of instructional rounds, observations, interviews, focus groups, and artifacts of the partnership yielded increased leadership capacity, improved culture, and continuous professional learning, even within a context of staff reduction and budget crisis. These schools' stories have critical application to teacher …

Teacher Professional Learning Communities For Sustainability: Supporting Stem In Learning Gardens In Low-Income Schools, Sybil S. Kelley, Dilafruz R. Williams

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

In order to address the ecological and social problems of sustainability in our modern times, citizens need to be empowered with an understanding of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts and practices. Furthermore, STEM must be democratized and taught in life-giving and life-sustaining ways that include all students instead of the small fraction of "high achievers" and limited to the "potential" scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. At present, K-12 students and their teachers rarely have the opportunity to learn beyond their concrete school walls and to reconnect with nature, exacerbating their disconnection of STEM from real life and hence sustainability. …

Undergraduate Research And Metropolitan Commuter University Student Involvement: Exploring The Narratives Of Five Female Undergraduate Students, Jolina Jade Kwong Caputo

Dissertations and Theses

This study sought to explore the lived experiences of five female, first-generation, low-income students who attend a metropolitan commuter university, and investigate how a structured undergraduate research experience exerts influence on the women's academic and social involvement. A qualitative case study with a narrative and grounded theory analysis was selected as the most appropriate approach for exploring this topic and addressing the guiding research questions. Interview and journal data were collected and analyzed to identify significant themes. The importance of finding an academic home, the significance of interacting with faculty and peers, and the validation of a metropolitan commuter university …

Understanding The Hidden Curriculum: Connecting Teachers To Themselves, Their Students, And The Earth, Michelle Sager

Leadership for Sustainability Education Comprehensive Papers

Education is a powerful venue for transmitting culture, and cultures exist with a common set of beliefs, assumptions, and ways of understanding the world. Children learn not only the prescribes lesson plans, but also important lessons about how to use language, how to interact with others and with natural places, and how to view the world - simply by following the guidance of adults, and especially teachers. These hidden messages are often sent unintentionally and without awareness of their implications, and in a modernized, Western world, they come with problematic, unquestioned, and underlying assumptions about how we view ourselves, others, …

Partnering In Tough Times: Service-Learning For Economic Vitality, Julie Plaut, Christine M. Cress, Elaine Kimiko Ikeda, Piper Mcginley

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper focuses on the results and lessons of the CARE initiative. With support from the Learn and Serve America program of the Corporation for National and Community Service, six California universities—California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; California State University, Fresno; Humboldt State University; San Francisco State University; University of California, Berkeley; and University of San Diego—received two-year grants to serve as lead institutions with CARE. Each developed service and service-learning projects themselves and engaged other colleges and universities in their local area in related efforts. Together these campuses collaborated with more than 300 community organizations, 105 of which …

Meaningful Sustainability Learning: An Action Research Study Of Sustainability Pedagogy In Two University Courses, Heather Burns

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Educators are increasingly aware of the importance of sustainability and the need to educate for sustainable change within higher education. This article addresses the growing need to focus on how teaching and learning can be re-oriented towards sustainability, and more specifically how educators can effectively address increasingly well-known sociocultural and ecological problems in ways that transform learners and empower them to make change based on a sense of civic responsibility and sustainability. This research study draws on the Burns Model of Sustainability Pedagogy, which integrates ecological design, systemic and interdisciplinary learning, multiple perspectives, an active and engaged learning process, and …