Education Commons^™

Examining The Relationships Among Parents’ Perceptions Of Their Children’S Special Educational Needs, Their Beliefs About Parental Involvement, And Their Decision To Homeschool, Mary Lee Morse

Doctoral Dissertations

The school choice option of homeschooling has grown rapidly over the past two decades. An estimated 1.77 million K-12 students in the United States (3.4% of the total school-age population) were being homeschooled during the 2011-2012 school year. The purpose of this study was to gather data from homeschooling parents that would contribute to the understanding of parental involvement with school choice and of parental involvement with educational organizations. More specifically, this study determined the proportion of families in the sample (N = 333) who had children enrolled in public or private school before making the decision to homeschool …

The Massachusetts Educator Evaluation Framework And Transformational Leadership Alignment: An Investigation, Martin J. Mcevoy Jr

Doctoral Dissertations

The recent Massachusetts Educator Evaluation Regulations (CMR 35.00) articulates goals that include growth and improved performance by teachers. Despite this stated goal, however, it is unclear if the policy is consistent with transformational leadership, which has shown correlation with growth and performance. In fact, the policy may instead bring about unintended consequences associated by some with evaluations in general, such as promoting “inspectional and fault finding supervision . . . [that] has serious consequences for the improvement of teaching and student achievement” (Glanz, 2005, p. 3). Through a discursive analysis of the Educator Evaluation Regulations (CMR 35.00) and semi-structured interviews …

Investing In Grindr: An Exploration Of How Gay College Men Utilize Gay-Oriented Social Networking Sites, Michael T. Dodge

Doctoral Dissertations

The use of social networking sites appears to be a dominant fixture in the lives of college students. Recent studies estimate that over 94% of traditionally aged college students utilize social networking sites (Matney, Borland, & Cope, 2006; Salaway, Katz, Caruso, Kvavik, & Nelson, 2007: Smith & Caruso, 2010). College students’ near universal adoption and use of social networking sites is having a significant impact on how they develop identity and interact with others (Lloyd, Dean, & Cooper, 2007; Martínez Alemán & Lynk Wartman, 2009; Torres, Jones, & Renn, 2009). Studies have explored the impact of gender differences on social …

Welcome To Guyland: Experiences Of Trans* Men In College, D Chase J. Catalano

Doctoral Dissertations

Trans* identified men have emerged as a growing college and university population in higher education who have not as yet received specific research attention. I studied the experiences of trans* men in higher education and focused on their descriptions of gender identity and the advice they would offer to trans* men (or potential) trans* men about navigating college. With my focus on gender identity I hope to understand the experiences of those men who had, at one time, self-identified or been identified by others as a woman and/or female and who currently identity as man, male, masculine, or trans man. …

The Georgia School Improvement Specialists: A Qualitative Study Exploring Their Roles With Principals Of Middle Schools Identified As Focus Schools, Jessie Adelaide Beaumont

Doctoral Dissertations

While educational initiatives have used external consultants to effect change since the 1950s (Sulla, 1998), understanding their roles and their work has become increasingly important in helping low-performing schools facilitate change and guide the school improvement process (Brady, 2003; Mass Insight Education, 2012; Toppings, 2013). The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study is to identify and explore the roles Georgia’s school improvement specialists serve when working with principals of middle schools in Focus School status. The benefits and challenges of the school improvement specialists supporting principals with school improvement efforts are identified as well. This study will be framed in …

Measuring Academic Leadership Effectiveness Of Hospitality And Tourism Academic Administrators: A Transformation Leadership Framework, James Edward Talbert Iii

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to extend the existing knowledge of academic administrator leadership behaviors that are necessary for effective academic leadership in hospitality and tourism higher education, as viewed through the transformational leadership framework. This study also investigated hospitality and tourism administrators’ previous industry experience, management experience, and management experience in the industry. This dissertation research was guided by three primary objectives. First, this study aimed to develop a model that measures hospitality and tourism academic leadership effectiveness. Second, this dissertation intended to explore the relationship among different leadership styles & leadership effectiveness. Third, this dissertation aspired to …

The Effects Of Explicit Listening Strategy Instruction On The Listening Comprehension Of English As Second Language (Esl) Community College Students, Yi Guan

Doctoral Dissertations

This mixed methods study explored the effects of explicit listening strategy instruction on the beginning-level ESL learner's listening comprehension at a community college in Northern California. Most previous studies measured the effectiveness of listening strategy instruction by comparing students' test scores, but little research explored the students' listening strategy development and their perceptions of the strategy instruction. Furthermore, no prior research exists on the effects of listening strategy instruction among community college students.

The researcher employed the concurrent triangulation approach, collecting and analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data simultaneously. Data sources included interviews, a listening test, background surveys, and classroom …

"My Gut Has To Feel It": A Participatory Action Research Study Of Community College Educators Navigating The Emotional Terrain Of Human Rights Education, Lindsay Padilla

Doctoral Dissertations

Informed by feminist theories of emotion and the concept of critical emotional praxis, this PAR study highlights the emotional terrain of four Northern California community college teachers who teach human rights. The following meta-question guided this research: "Given the role of emotions in challenging injustice, as well as in engaging in personal and societal change, what role do emotions play when teaching in a community college?" Data sources included journals, monthly meetings, final reflection narratives, and exit interviews, which were culled for emergent themes. The findings indicate that the co-researchers in this study experienced emotional ambivalence (the simultaneous experience of …