Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons^™

A Critical Inquiry Exploring The Relationship Between Critical Consciousness And Community Engagement Educators, Carol Difalco

Counseling and Psychology Dissertations

Community engagement programs are shaped by the educators who facilitate them. Due to a curtailed critical consciousness, such programs are not always sensitive to the negative implications for the communities they are attempting to support. Guided by critical ethnographic and interpretive phenomenological analysis, this study examines how educators perceive their relationship with critical consciousness, its impact on their community engagement initiatives, and what we can learn from educators using community engagement to work towards social justice issues. As expected, results from the participants revealed varying awareness and understanding of how structural power and institutional oppression impact community engagement initiatives. Some …

Meet Me In The Middle: A Scoping Review On Understanding Adolescent Needs In Climate Communication, Gwendolyn Monica Hoff Anderson

Master's Projects and Capstones

The greatest effects of climate change are likely to be felt by youth. Young people are disproportionately affected by climate change due to their critical developmental stage and lack of power, and they experience both higher severity and prevalence of mental health issues related to climate change. Strong emotions have long been recognized as potential catalysts for action, or they may lead to paralyzing feelings of being overwhelmed. Climate communication is a critical tool to spark climate concern and encourage action. Activism, in turn, may help youth manage their anxiety about climate change. This scoping review examines emerging evidence on …

Indigenizing Education: Universal Design For Learning And Indigenous Leadership Frameworks, Jennifer Vasilez

Ed.D. Dissertations in Practice

Abstract

This study seeks to determine if Universal Design for Learning could serve as a culturally sustaining classroom framework for supporting Indigenous students in classroom settings. It also shares the perceived proficiency of Indigenous parents by those serving in a caregiver role for Indigenous youth, as well as the perceived potential of specific elements of Universal Design for Learning in supporting their students. As an Indigenous woman, I recognize the importance of asking Indigenous families if this strategy is worthy of further research, before conducting research into the efficacy of Universal Design for Learning in this way. This research project …

Explanation Needed: Understanding The Low Graduation Rates Of Spanish-Speaking English Learners In Southeastern Louisiana, Alice I. Garcia

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative research study used the case study method of one-on-one interviews to collect and examine the experiences of former English learners (ELs) who were unable to finish high school in southeastern Louisiana. This study aimed to identify specific factors that, using Everett Lee’s theory, pushed or pulled these ELs from school and affected their ability to graduate. The push factors that were identified included language, inadequate support, academic performance, discrimination, and lack of connection with school and culture. Pull factors that were identified included lack of prior education, immigration, poverty, pregnancy, being far from family, financially supporting family, and …

Middle School Grow Your Own Teaching Program, Andrew J. Vondran

Dissertations of Practice

Middle School Grow YOur Own Teaching Program

This dissertation addresses the teacher shortage in the United States of America. The profession of education has struggled to find teachers to fill vacancies and it is being felt throughout the country. This is not just in the rural areas or areas of low socioeconomic status. Even high paying districts are feeling the squeeze. Many school districts are trying to combat this problem in different ways, especially Grow Your Own teaching programs. Many of these programs run by school districts are focused on high school students, although there has been a lack of …

Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics (Stem) Project-Based Learning (Pbl) Education: A New Mexico Case Study For Equity And Inclusion, Kimberly A. Scheerer

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

This research addresses how student participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) project-based learning (PBL) education activities encourages underrepresented minority student achievement in STEM career field trajectories. Seven New Mexico high school counselors and 12 STEM organization personnel were interviewed during this study. Their responses represent the nuanced professional voices where New Mexico public education intersects with STEM student interest and cultural influence.

For students, STEM PBL can foster deep integration across educational disciplines and enhance STEM career trajectory interest and readiness. STEM education converged with PBL methodologies has the ability to leverage community support while broadening student networks. …

Charter School Leaders And Their Students’ Resilience, Katy Bridget Angelone

Educational Studies Dissertations

The purpose of this multiple composite case study was to develop descriptive accounts of the thoughts, beliefs, actions, and assessments of charter school leaders regarding their efforts towards students’ resilience-building. Survey results from 46 participants identified eight Massachusetts charter school leaders who prioritized resilience-building within their schools. Semi-structured interviews with eight participants inquired about their reasons and methods for resilience-building in their schools and the factors and conditions that inhibit and foster their efforts. The qualitative data analysis yielded five findings. Participants operated from two orientations: resilience empowers learners and cultivates self-directed learning; and resilience is needed to manage traumatic …

Remote Learning - The Future Of Education: Effective Instructional Strategies Used By Parent Educators And Recommendations For Building Capacity, Raelene Ferguson Haugen

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed methods Delphi study was to identify the remote learning instructional strategies used by expert Southern California parent educators for implementing the anticipatory set, modeling, checking for understanding, and guided practice elements of Madeline Cheek Hunter’s Instructional Theory Into Practice (ITIP) framework. The study sought to identify how expert Southern California parent educators rated the effectiveness of the remote learning instructional strategies in the aforementioned elements of Hunter’s ITIP framework. Additionally, the purpose was to generate recommendations from expert Southern California parent educators to build capacity in the identified effective instructional strategies.

Methodology: The classical …

A Case Study Of Secondary Students' Perspectives On Standards-Based Grading And The Development Of 21st Century Learner Attributes, Michelle Blackley

Dissertations

Implementation of standards-based grading (SBG) practices can be a high benefit, low-cost initiative that directly impacts student achievement and growth. This case study aimed to determine if the theoretical value of SBG outlined in research aligns to the students’ perspectives of its value on academic learning, growth and development of 21^st century skills. Secondary students were interviewed and responses were organized into three themes: development of 21st century learner attributes, strengths of SBG and areas to improve. Results revealed that SBG supports individualized learning pace, development of a growth mindset, emotional well-being, student to teacher collaboration and 21^{st …}

A Sociocultural Analysis Of Book-Length Works Mentioned In The English Journal, 2010-2020, Elizabeth Price

Curriculum and Instruction Undergraduate Honors Theses

Between 2010 and 2020, the book-length works mentioned in the English Journal were recorded in order to assess societal and professional trends reflected in the uptake of these books in pedagogical articles. The data shows a continued heavy presence of canonical literature, particularly Shakespearean plays, as well as an increase in diverse perspectives, a higher respect for new genres such as Young Adult Literature and the Graphic Novel in the classroom, and a pushback on two popular novels, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Existentially Guilty: Where Do I Go From Here?, Devontae Wilson

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

Teachers, students, parents, and even politicians have been forced to confront the by-products of not having difficult conversations about race and class. Political pundits are using this moment in history sparked by recorded injustice and the publicized murders of unarmed black people at the hands of law enforcement to demonize Critical Race Theory (CRT), a framework created to analyze how the law is racialized. This portfolio is largely a result of Dr. Rudine Sims-Bishop’s “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors” and contextualizing it through my personal experience as a classroom teacher, as a black man in a majority white, female …

Teacher Led Tier Two Intervention To Increase Student Academic Achievement, Cynthia Shepherd

Education Masters Papers

The purpose of this action research was to determine if the implementation of a tier two teacher led intervention would increase student academic achievement. A small group of ten students in a ninth-grade physical science class participated in the study. Data was collected over a period of three weeks using pre- and post- intervention surveys, an exit slip for self-assessment, researcher observations, comparisons of work completion and grades from previous grading periods, participant performance self-assessment, and a goal setting activity. Results show an inconclusive connection between the tier two teacher led intervention and student academic achievement. This is possibly due …

An Evaluation Of One School's Reading Program To Support Struggling Readers Through The Use Of Data, Gabrielle Jones

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of one school’s reading intervention program, and its impact on struggling readers reading performance. Participants in this study included administrators, Grades 3 through 5instructional staff that directly impact student learning in reading through reading instruction. I collected survey data and analyzed it to determine teachers’ ability to instruct struggling readers with high expectations for student learning. As a result, this evaluation exhibit teachers require more quality planning time to prepare effective reading intervention lessons that includes strategies attained from strategically designed professional development structured to increase students’ reading ability. …

K-12 Economically Disadvantaged Students, Poverty, And Education: Ecological Narratives Of Successful Raised-In-Poverty, Texas Educators, Rebecca N. Morris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research study aimed to understand how successful Texas educators who grew up in poverty understood and improved the educational experience of economically disadvantaged students. This study utilized a structural ecological theory and three theories of social relationships (Social Identity, Standpoint, and Cultural Capital). This phenomenological and qualitative study used a cross-sectional, descriptive, online case study design rooted in narrative nonfiction. Virtual interviews with six successful Texas educators that grew up in poverty were conducted. A narrative method of analysis was utilized to generate codes then organize them into themes, and to construct and compare the narrative findings. The results …

Mask Off: Students’ Of Color Traumatic Experiences In K-12 Education And Why Historically Black Colleges And Universities Make A Difference, Diane Courington

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of 11 participants who had four or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The theoretical frameworks guiding this study are Culturally Responsive Teaching (Crt) (Hammond 2014; Gay 2000), Critical Race Theory (CRT) (Crenshaw, 1988; Ansley, 1988), and Abolitionist teaching (Love, 2019). This study's data collection is based on semi-structured and conversational interviews via Microsoft Teams with Students of Color (SOC) who graduated from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and had an ACEs score over 4. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) include one or more events such as growing up in a household with an …

“Communication Is Important. I Learned That On The Fresh Prince Show.” Soft Skills Portrayed In Five Prime-Time Television Comedies: A Quantitative Content Analysis, Jacquelyn Bader

Graduate Theses & Dissertations

This research study merged the seemingly divergent challenges of a soft skills shortage among workforce-ready young adults and the need to develop curricula that are interesting enough to hold students’ attention. This study, based on social learning and human capital theories, explored the portrayal of soft skills in five prime-time television (TV) comedies from the 2019-2020 broadcast season, with the idea that, if the portrayals were sufficiently frequent, readily identifiable, and led to what the TV characters wanted to achieve by exercising those skills, then perhaps the viewing of TV comedies could constitute part of the elusive yet engaging and …

Teaching Non-Cognitive Skills For College: A Qualitative Case Study Of A Low-Income, High-Minority, Urban School District In Southeastern United States, Elizabeth Byron

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

This instrumental, multisite case study examines the role of secondary teachers in preparing high school students for the non-cognitive skills needed to persist in and graduate from college, using Bourdieu’s (1984) and Lin’s (1999) social capital theory as a guiding framework. Non-cognitive skills are defined as the “behaviors, thoughts, and feelings” of students (Borghans, 2008). Data collection for this study is based on semi-structured interviews via telecommunications with secondary educators and postsecondary student success practitioners and electronic archived documentation of non-cognitive skills found to be important for college success by the interviewees. In this study, college success is defined as …

Mitigating Trauma In The Newcomer Classroom: A Commitment Beyond Borders, Laura Garriguez

Master's Projects and Capstones

In this field project, you will observe a melding of macro-and micro-perspectives on the mitigation of trauma in the newcomer classroom. The central premise of the project is that without understanding the socio-political factors, socio-economic realities, and historical process of migration to the United States, it is nearly impossible to attempt to ameliorate the trauma of students new to the country. In other words, attempts to do so without this perspective can and often does leave students marginalized and/or feeling marginalized. Working from an anti-racist and anti-imperialist lens, the project’s framework is grounded in the scholarship and activism of abolitionist …

“In Our Very Flesh, (R)Evolution”: An Exploration Of Secondary Education Teachers, Otherness, And Embodiment, Ryan Ambuter

Doctoral Dissertations

In education, the proliferation of a mind/body dualism leaves the pedagogy of the body undertheorized, and its impact on education disregarded. While there is not an absence of research on the body within the field of education, what exists is limited in scope. Little has been written about the connections between teachers’ bodies, pedagogy, and politics at the level of secondary education. This research specifically focuses on teachers who are visibly other, critically conscious of their bodies, and find power in their difference. The purpose of this study is to make meaning of the stories, experiences, and potential of teachers …

Computer-Based Learning: Effects On Student Learning And Interpretation Of Curriculum, Hasani Jackson

Dissertations

ABSTRACT In 2010, the Superintendent of Prestige School District (a pseudonym) implemented online learning programs that would cater to student learning while increasing achievement. With the adoption of computer-based programs into Prestige School District System, curriculum specialists wanted to align programs to the Common Core State Standards initiated by the Department of Education. Through gathering quantitative and qualitative data on behalf of various stakeholders within Prestige School District, the goal of this study was to uncover the key elements of online learning programs that can be improved to enhance student achievement. Results provide a foundation for positive learning initiatives that …

Queering The Curriculum: Establishing Equity For Lgbtqia Students And Educators In Michigan, Miranda Findlay

All NMU Master's Theses

This project examines the state of Michigan’s efforts in creating an equitable learning and working environment for LGBTQIA K-12 students and educators, explicitly focusing on 11^th and 12^th grade English Language Arts (ELA) standards. In the first chapter, I evaluate the relationship between queer theory and pedagogy and illuminate the need to implement queer pedagogy in teaching K-12 ELA classes. The following chapter reviews the progressive state of California for its promotion of culturally responsive pedagogy and its inclusion of LGBTQIA topics in its K-12 curriculum. The third chapter analyzes Michigan legislature and policies to highlight gaps that …

Strategies Exemplary Social Studies Teachers’ Implement When Facilitating Discussions About Race, Candice Nicole Jasmer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teachers experience difficulty in introducing some sensitive and controversial issues in the classroom environment. The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study was to identify strategies that exemplary secondary social studies teachers implement when facilitating classroom discussions about sensitive and controversial issues, specifically, racial issues framed within Singleton and Linton’s 4 agreements of courageous conversations: stay engaged, speak your truth, experience discomfort, and accept and expect nonclosure. This study utilized qualitative data collection. Semi-structured, online one-to-one internet-based interviews were used to document the lived experiences of exemplary secondary social studies teachers and the strategies they use when facilitating discussions about …

How The Change To Online Learning Affected Chinese Language Teaching In California Schools Due To The 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic, Jing Ren

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This research study investigates how Chinese language teachers in California made the change from in-person learning to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, how they set up and taught virtual classes and what their reactions were to the online transitions. Teachers utilized various interactive tools and strategies to teach students in their virtual classrooms. Parental involvement with the child’s education at home increased. Some public school district polices caused greater reductions in student participation than others. Teachers applied various communication strategies to engage students in creative ways while teaching online. This together with curriculum development and assessment design required that …

Culturally Responsive Classroom Management Techniques And Former Riverside County And San Bernardino County Teachers Of The Year: A Phenomenological Study, Brian Redmond

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to determine what former County Teachers of the Year understand and describe as the methods they use for culturally responsive classroom management with respect to Brown’s Five Culturally Responsive Factors (developing personal relationships, creating caring learning communities, establishing a business-like learning environment, establishing congruent communication processes and, teaching with assertiveness and clearly stating expectations).

Methodology: This qualitative study used a phenomenological design to discover what former County Teachers of the Year do to identify and describe as the methods they use for culturally responsive classroom management with respect to Brown’s Five Culturally …

When Healing And High-Stakes Meet: Restorative Justice In An Era Of Racial Neoliberalism, Dani O'Brien

Doctoral Dissertations

Based on a 3-year ethnography, this dissertation documents the story of Presente, an explicitly critical youth-led restorative justice group attempting to dismantle the school-prison nexus and create a more youth-centered culture at their high-reform high school. This dissertation addresses the questions: How does serving as a restorative justice peer leader impact students? What challenges and opportunities arise as the school tries to transition to more restorative practices? And how do the values central to restorative justice come up against, challenge, and get challenged by neoliberal education reform?

Learning From Cultural Diversity For Intercultural Competency And Global Stewardship Development In A Boarding School, Alan Hesketh

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) explores opportunities to prioritize, teach, and assess intercultural competency in students at a large independent boarding school. The school currently assumes that the presence of a diverse population will result in intercultural learning, a strategy shown to be ineffective. Considering culture as the combined beliefs and behaviours of individuals due to the groups they have been a part of, and intercultural competency as the ability to interact appropriately with individuals who are different from oneself, the range of countries of origin and backgrounds of students, including boarders, provides diversity that could be leveraged to create …

Beyond The Transcript: A Narrative Analysis Of Students' Experiences With Academic Dismissal In A Baccalaureate Nursing Program, Angela Edwards Capello

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Re-defining different is the first step in addressing inequity in nursing education and the disparities that result in a high incidence of academic dismissal in baccalaureate nursing programs. What are the students' differences that contribute to one student’s ease of progression through a baccalaureate nursing program and those who struggle from the first semester?

This study provides a private look into the experiences of nine baccalaureate nursing students who were academically dismissed from their nursing program. Each story chronological from the time they decided to pursue nursing to their experiences during nursing school and to their lives after dismissal. …

A Space To Learn, Amy R. Goods

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, I explore what it means to different people, in different places throughout life’s spectrum to create a space to learn. This dissertation is a collection of work that I have written throughout my time at the CUNY Graduate Center. The chapters herein represent an arch of my learning over the past five years. The title, A Space to Learn, has multiple meanings. For one, writing this dissertation has provided me a space to explore and reflect on a variety of topics, ranging from memory loss, to teacher preparation programs, to eugenics and special education, to tracking and …

The Change Process And The Implementation Of High School Jostens Renaissance Programs: A Multiple Case Study, Gregory G. English

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Motivated by the growing body of research relating to the impact school climate has on student achievement, attendance, behavior, and mental well-being, many educators have implemented initiatives and programs aimed at school climate improvement. Jostens Renaissance is one such program and was the program of focus for this study. Though Jostens has numerous publications and media sources to facilitate the sharing of ideas, there is very little information available regarding the implementation of Renaissance.

The primary purpose of this study was to identify factors that facilitated change in the process of implementing high school Jostens Renaissance programs in order to …

Positioning Of English Language Learners And Its Power On Classroom Learning Opportunities And Interactions, Hawraa Nafea Hameed Alzouwain

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this qualitative study, the researcher investigated four aspects of positioning used by teacher and ESL students in a mid-south state of the United States. This study was based on the Positioning Theory of Davies and Harré (1990). The study aimed to explore various types of positioning used by the participants and how they impacted social interactions among the students and between them and their teacher. The researcher used four questions to outline the scope of the research, focused on: 1) how ELLs’ different positioning in the ESL classroom promoted or limited their learning opportunities; 2) how the ELL teacher …