Education Commons^™

Student Success Behaviors And Gender: Exploring The Impact On First-Year Students, Sarah Ramage

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College demographics are rapidly evolving, and one area of concern is the enrollment and retention rates of male students. The National Center for Educational Statistics reported that in 2010, 57 percent of undergraduate students were female (Weaver-Hightower, 2010). The same report stated that the percentage was projected to grow to 59 percent by 2018 (Weaver-Hightower, 2010). Between 1997 and 2007, female enrollment has risen dramatically faster than male enrollment, with a 29 percent jump in 10 years. Male enrollment increased by 22 percent in the same time (Weaver-Hightower, 2010). Over time, this growing gender imbalance in higher education has been …

The Effects Of A Poverty Simulation On Immediate And Sustained Participant Empathy, Doris Mann

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Using the Attribution and the Experiential Learning Theory seated within Constructivism, this study examined the effect of the poverty simulation, Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS), on empathetic attitude toward those who experience poverty. 778 participants represented the fields of education, health care, and social work. Measures of immediate and sustained empathetic attitude were conducted using the Basic Empathy Scale (BES) (Jolliffe & Farrington, 2006). Findings indicate that there is immediate empathetic attitude change for the participants, but no sustained empathetic attitude change. Some of the variables considered included gender, race, age, income, voluntary/in-voluntary and others. This study supports the need …

Structural Poverty And College Enrollment: The Impact Of Rural American Determinism, Bryan Robinson

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Abstract

The pervasiveness of generational poverty in the US and the potential of a postsecondary (college) education to serve as an ameliorator and catalyst for societal change – both in individual, familial and broader community contexts – is established in the literature (Enberg & Wolniak, 2010; Kaufman, 2014; Turley, 2009; Rank, Yoon & Hirschl, 2015). Rank et al. (2003) found that American poverty is structural in nature as it relates to the labor market and related ineffective social policy, resulting in predictable and repetitious cycles of systemic and generational poverty, which is particularly relevant in rural contexts. Tickameyer and Duncan …

School Counselor Transgender Advocacy Development: An Exploratory Qualitative Study, Jack F. Jacobs

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School counselors have an opportunity to develop as an advocate for their transgender students who face many adversities in life. However, there exists a paucity of research specific to school counselor advocacy and no literature specific to school counselors developing as advocates for transgender students. In an attempt to address the gaps in the literature, the purpose of this qualitative research was to explore how three school counselors in a large urban school district in the southeast United States participating in an inquiry group developed as transgender advocates while completing a passion project. The conceptual framework components of the study …

Transition For Students With Autism: A Multi-Case Qualitative Study Exploring How Male Students With Autism Experience Postsecondary Education, Christine Bojanowski

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This dissertation was multi-case study designed to examine how three male students with autism experienced the academic, social, and self-advocacy aspects of postsecondary education. The study was driven by the following conceptual framework concepts: entrainment, social capital, self-determination, and disability studies. The research question for the study was: How do male students with autism experience the academic, social, and self-advocacy needs of postsecondary education from the perspectives of the students themselves, their parents, their professors, their disability coordinators, and their tutors? Data were collected via multiple interviews with the students, their parents, their professors, and the disability coordinators at their …

A Study Of Lived Experiences Of African American Male Principals In Urban Elementary Schools, April E. Brooks

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The cycle of low performance of African American males continues to eliminate the pool of African American male educators who can serve as role models for future generations (Hale, 1986; Noguera, 2003). The objective of this dissertation is to understand the lived experience of African-American male principals post Brown v. Board of Education, and how they perceive their leadership experience working in an urban elementary school setting by exploring their commitment to black children, specifically black males. The questions examine the experience of AA male principals, their beliefs, perceptions, cultural intersections, and use of cultural resources in relation to AA …

Identifying Ebook Pedagogies For Literacy Instruction: A Qualitative Content Analysis, Jamey Twitchell Herdelin

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Students in K-6 support becoming digital learners but many lack the digital skills needed to engage with ICTs such as eBooks. Some educators lack the technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) to adjust instruction and meet students’ needs. This study examined the extant body of research on the use of eBooks with K-6 literacy instruction to address the perceived lack of effective evidence based practices needed to build self-efficacy. The goal: identify effective TPK regarding when, how, and why to integrate eBooks with K-6 literacy instruction. The research questions: According to the extant literature, what types of K-6 literacy practices and engagements …

Reading Fluency Instruction Of Students With Cognitive Disabilities Using A Multiple Probe Methodology, Sarah N. Merimee

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Despite making up less than one percent of the student population, students with significant cognitive disabilities have the right to receive the best education possible. There is currently a paucity of research regarding effective reading instruction within a comprehensive approach, especially in the area of fluency. The purpose of this investigation was to determine if there was a functional relation between repeated reading and choral reading and the word correct per minute oral reading of six high school students with significant cognitive disabilities. Additionally, the extent to which fluency impacts reading comprehension was also examined. Five of six participants demonstrated …

Identifying Ebook Pedagogies For Literacy Instruction: A Qualitative Content Analysis, Jamey T. Herdelin

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Students in K-6 support becoming digital learners but many lack the digital skills needed to engage with ICTs such as eBooks. Some educators lack the technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) to adjust instruction and meet students’ needs. This study examined the extant body of research on the use of eBooks with K-6 literacy instruction to address the perceived lack of effective evidence based practices needed to build self-efficacy. The goal: identify effective TPK regarding when, how, and why to integrate eBooks with K-6 literacy instruction. The research questions: According to the extant literature, what types of K-6 literacy practices and engagements …

A Study Of The Relationship Between Oral Language And Sight Word Acquisition In First-Grade Students, Becky L. Goetzinger

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This study examines the relationship between socioeconomic status, oral language, graphophonemic knowledge, and sight word acquisition in first-grade students. Previous research has shown that a relationship exists between socioeconomic status and oral language as well as between oral language and reading. The present study built on the research by extending these relationships to include high-frequency sight words, the words frequently targeted in early reading instruction. Across their first-grade year, 46 students were assessed on measures of receptive oral language, graphophonemic knowledge, and sight word knowledge. Students made significant progress on all measures indicating that first grade was a time of …