Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration Commons^™

Building Bridges: The Reference Interview As A Mechanism For Social Capital In School Libraries, Jessica M. Lilly

Learning Hub

Building Bridges: The Reference Interview as a Mechanism for Social Capital in School Libraries

Abstract

School librarians occupy a unique position within schools, interacting across all stakeholder groups and serving as a conduit between students, teachers, administrators, and the broader learning community. This article examines the reference interview not merely as a transactional information-retrieval tool but as a relational practice through which school librarians generate, sustain, and distribute social capital. Drawing on the foundational theories of Putnam (2000), Coleman (1988), and Bourdieu (1986), and on the reference transaction model grounded in Jesse H. Shera's foundational work (Coleman et al., …

Resource Utilisation And Quality Of Education In Secondary Schools In Lagos State, Nigeria, Jacob A. Adeyanju

International Journal for Research in Education

The need for the education sector to deliver on its goals has always been a major expectation of all stakeholders in the system. For this expectation to be met, the major resources in the school system must be combined in a reasonable proportion. On this premise, this study investigated the relationship between resource utilisation and quality of education in Lagos State. The study was conducted using descriptive survey research design with a population of 664 public secondary schools in Lagos State, Nigeria. These schools had a total population of 23,793 teachers. A self-developed instrument titled “Education Resource Utilisation and Quality …

Centering Well-Being And Wholeness: Exploring Racial Battle Fatigue Among Black 3-K To Twelfth-Grade Teachers, Olubunmi Fashusi

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study, with some descriptive statistics, examined Black 3-K through 12th- grade teachers’ experiences with racial battle fatigue (RBF), the psychological and behavioral stress responses they perceived most accurately convey how RBF manifests for them, and the strategies they used to disrupt RBF’s impact. Participants experienced compounded RBF due to advocating for students (i.e., speaking out, supporting, or intervening). Participants’ most perceived psychological stress response to RBF was racism awareness, and most perceived behavioral stress response was spirituality or religion. Participants disrupted the impact of RBF through intrinsic care (i.e., purpose or why, managing emotions, and self-care) and …

Beyond Shutdown: Why Punitive Policies Fail Students With Oppositional Defiant Behaviors And What Alternative Schools Should Do Instead, Mark Barrett

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

Punitive shutdown policies at therapeutic alternative schools often do not reduce class avoidance among students with oppositional defiant behaviors. This synthesis examines why these policies do not work and proposes evidence-based alternatives. I draw on research in exclusionary discipline, Collaborative and Proactive Solutions, Self-Determination Theory, and function-based intervention, as well as my daily experience as a behavioral teacher. I argue that punitive approaches fail because they misunderstand what drives oppositional behavior. Deterrence assumes students avoid class to escape work and will return if the consequences are harsh enough. In reality, students with oppositional defiant disorder are mainly motivated by resisting …

Rainbow Promises, Uneven Promises: Framing Lgbtqia+ Educational Policy And Possibility In Education, Gerardo Lorenzo-Saucedo

Dissertations

Despite the expansion of LGBTQIA+ inclusive policies in K-12 education, disparities in students’ experiences with safety and belonging persist. This qualitative case study examines how such policies are interpreted and enacted within a high school and district in Southern California, and how these processes shape LGBTQIA+ students’ experiences.

Guided by ecological systems theory, queer theory, and multiple streams theory, this study conceptualizes policy implementation as a dynamic and socially constructed process influenced by power, ideology, and institutional context. Data were collected through interviews, document and artifact analysis, and observations, with analysis that used a multi-phased coding procedure.

Findings revealed that …

The Effectiveness Of Mastery Learning On Student Achievement Across Stem Disciplines: A Meta-Analysis, Francis Siangco Estabillo

Doctoral Dissertations

Mastery learning has been one of the most extensively researched instructional strategies in education, studied continuously since the 1960s. Prior meta-analyses have consistently found positive effects of mastery learning on student learning outcomes, however, none have examined its effectiveness on student achievement explicitly within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.

This comprehensive meta-analysis investigated the effectiveness of the mastery-learning instructional strategy on student achievement across STEM disciplines in K-12 and higher-education contexts. A systematic literature search yielded 85 studies with combined sample sizes of 10,244 participants that met the inclusion criteria. Heterogeneity was assessed using Q,I^{2 …}

Advancing Menstrual Equity: Development And Implementation Of The Minnesota Menstrual Products In Schools Toolkit, Kara Cowell, Mary Kenny

InnovateHER Meeting 2026

The Minnesota Menstrual Products in Schools Toolkit is a practical guide for educators and school staff, created to support implementation of the state’s menstrual product access law. Our research helped identify current needs from schools, now supported by this content that is grounded in established science and best practices in menstrual and health education. The Minnesota Menstrual Products in Schools Toolkit was developed throughout 2025 and was launched to the public on August 12th2025. The toolkit and subsequent resources are now available (for free) on the website of the Women's Foundation of Minnesota, Honest Sex Ed, and the …

Success By Design? A Combined Outcome And Process Program Evaluation Of California’S Early And Middle College High Schools, Brooke N. Martin-Gill

Education Dissertations

Early and Middle College High Schools (EMCHS) expand college access for

underrepresented students by integrating high school and college coursework within

community college settings. Despite strong reported outcomes, some EMCHS face

substantial student attrition. Limited research examines how EMCHS organizational

structures influence student persistence. This mixed methods outcome and process

evaluation seeks to address this research gap. Quantitative analysis (paired samples-t-

tests) examined statewide enrollment data (2017-2025) to determine whether significant

differences exist between Year 1 and Year 4 cohort enrollment. Qualitative analysis was

conducted through a deductive discourse analysis of Western Association of Schools and

Colleges (WASC) Self-Study reports …

Built For This: An Autoethonographic Study Of A Journey Through Leadership Rooted In Reflection, Resilience, And Reinvention, Weslie Etienne

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative autoethnographic study examined how leadership was experienced, enacted, and sustained by a Black woman navigating district-level leadership within predominantly White institutional contexts. Grounded in Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, and Black Feminist Thought, this research centered lived experience as a site of knowledge production and employed longitudinal journaling and artifact analysis to capture leadership development as a temporal, relational, and embodied process. The study was guided by three research questions: (1) How did race, gender, and institutional structures shape leadership development and experience? (2) How were leadership identities constructed, negotiated, and sustained through self-authored narratives? and (3) How could …

Who Am I As An Elementary Cs Teacher? The Identity Development And Struggles Of Elementary Teachers As Computer Science Teachers, Burak Sahin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study investigates how elementary teachers develop and negotiate their identities as computer science (CS) teachers within the expanding presence of CS in early K–12 education. As CS is increasingly integrated into early grades, many teachers are expected to teach it without formal preparation. It positions them to simultaneously learn, teach, and construct a professional identity in an unfamiliar domain. Using an interpretive phenomenological approach, this study examines teachers’ lived experiences of identity development by drawing on identity theory (Gee, 2000) and the performance, recognition, and competence framework (Carlone & Johnson,2007) to understand how identity is shaped through practice, institutional …

Defying The Catholic Secondary School Enrollment Decline: A Case Study Exploring Strategic Enrollment Management Practices In An All-Boys Catholic High School, Traci A. Koval

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Catholic secondary schools in the United States continue to face persistent enrollment decline, closures, and consolidations, creating an urgent need for sustainable and mission-centered strategies. This qualitative case study examined Hillcrest Catholic High School, an all-boys Catholic secondary school in the Mideast region, as a best-practice model for enrollment resilience. Guided by Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Theory, the study explored how SEM principles were operationalized across eight pillars: mission and branding, institutional strategy, culture and belonging, programs and outcomes, family engagement and retention, tuition and financial strategy, marketing and recruitment, and selection and onboarding. Data were collected through interviews, focus …

The Impact Of Trump Administration Immigration Policies On Connecticut Educators And Families, Elena C. Bielesz

Honors Scholar Theses

Anti-immigrant rhetoric, policies, and practices, which have grown increasingly prevalent due to the current national political climate, have adverse effects on the mental health of immigrant families and the teachers that support them in Connecticut. This study seeks to represent the opinions of Connecticut K-12 MLL (Multilingual Learners) Education Teachers and Administrators whose daily lives are impacted by the anti-immigrant and anti-refugee policies and procedures. The study employed a human subjects-based approach supported by a review of related literature. MLL Educators from around the state of Connecticut were interviewed. These interviews found that while immigration-based trauma and stressors are common …

African American Male Administrators’ Perceptions Of Leadership Expectations At The Secondary Level, Dimitri D. Williams

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

The underrepresentation of African American male administrators at the secondary level in public education, paired with racialized leadership expectations, demands a deeper examination of their lived experiences. This qualitative phenomenological study explored the perceptions that came from the lived experiences of African American male administrators at the secondary level, with particular focus on their various leadership journeys, perceived expectations, and identity construction within predominantly Caucasian spaces. This study is rooted in Critical Race Theory and the conceptual frameworks of double consciousness, code-switching, tokenism, and impostor syndrome. This study investigated how race influences leadership expectations, professional advancement, and daily administrative practice. …

A Critical Analysis Of The Influence Of Ideology On Education Governance In An Urban, Midwestern School District, Carl Bryan

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This study examines how ideology operates within local education governance through a critical theoretical lens. As state and national education policies, accountability mandates, and partisan political discourse increasingly shape local school governance, this research investigates how power relations, ideological influences, and equity concerns are embedded in school board decision-making processes and public discourse. Addressing a gap in existing scholarship on ideology in education governance, the study employs a qualitative case study of an urban public school district in the Midwestern United States. Data sources include individual interviews with school board members, critical discourse analysis of school board meetings, and analysis …

Perceived Principal Influence Tactics And Early-Tenure Teacher Status, Vanessa Perez-Peterson, Christopher Benedetti

School Leadership Review

Teacher staffing stability remains a persistent challenge for schools, particularly during the early years of teachers’ placement. This study examined whether teachers’ perceptions of principal influence tactics were associated with early-tenure status, defined as 0–3 years at their current campus. Guided by influence tactics theory, a quantitative, cross-sectional design was employed using survey data from 167 certified teachers in Southeastern Texas. Participants completed the Influence Behavior Questionnaire–General (IBQ-G), and composite indices of noncoercive, soft-coercive, and hard-coercive tactics were included in a logistic regression model, along with teacher and principal demographic variables. None of the three influence-tactic categories was significantly associated …

Leading A School District During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Teresa M. Murphy Phd

Educational Studies Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic altered the conditions of district leadership and required superintendents to make high-stakes decisions amid uncertainty, public scrutiny, and sustained operational disruption. Although scholarship on educational crisis leadership has expanded, fewer studies center superintendents’ own accounts of the knowledge, skills, and conditions that shaped their leadership during COVID-19, and its professional impact. This phenomenological study examined district-level crisis leadership during the first two years of the pandemic, with attention to crisis problem solving, role isolation, crisis communication, and superintendent sustainability. Three research questions guided the study: (1) What knowledge and skills did superintendents perceive necessary for leading during …

Future Ready Young Adults: Building Creative And Adaptive Thinkers, Robell Yeung

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Abstract of Project

Future Ready Young Adults: Building Creative and Adaptive Thinkers addresses a developmental gap in educational practices that prioritize technical proficiency over the psychological frameworks necessary for navigating systemic ambiguity. This project introduces an interdisciplinary, modular curriculum specifically designed for the challenges of emerging adulthood. By synthesizing Creative Problem Solving (CPS), James Clear’s habit architecture, and Martin Seligman’s PERMA model, the curriculum provides a structured pathway for cultivating creative self-efficacy and financial capability. Moving beyond traditional views of innate creativity, this model employs asset-based frameworks to treat cognitive agility and ambiguity tolerance as developable competencies. The project culminates …

Educator Perception Of Principal Leadership For Developing Teacher Self-Efficacy In Inclusive Education, Jessica L. Jones

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study explored general education teacher perceptions of the most impactful principal leadership actions for developing teacher self-efficacy for the education of students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms and schools. An Inclusive Leadership Practices survey was developed by the researcher using qualitative research from Whybrew (2018), the Essential Best Practices in Inclusive Schools Tool (Jorgensen et al., 2012), and leadership research by Hitt and Tucker (2016). General education teachers with experience teaching students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms who chose to participate in this study completed the survey as a measure of their perceptions on inclusive leadership practices. They …

Grace Under Pressure: An Analysis Of School Administrator Personal And Professional Stress And Self-Efficacy, Andrew Mcdaniel

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Indiana public school administrators are one of the most important factors for a school’s academic success. If those administrators are effective, they can help maintain an excellent school’s academic success or perhaps even turnaround a failing school. Without a doubt, their performance is critical for a school’s success. If they have confidence in their ability to help create positive outcomes, their school can achieve great things. Unfortunately, assistant principals and principals are facing significant challenges, not only from schools, but also at home. How do these personal and professional stressors affect their sense of self-efficacy? The purpose of this study …

Application Of The Mattering Model By Generation In The Context Of Teacher Retention In Indiana K-12 Schools, Byron C. Sanders Ii

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When teachers see their actions as significant and recognize they would be missed if they were gone, they realize the significance of their individual impact (Wilfong & Donlan, 2024). Understanding what matters to teachers is an important factor in the process of teacher retention. This study examined the difference in four generations of Indiana K-12 teachers against the eight elements of mattering identified by Dr. Shelly Wilfong (2021). A survey instrument utilized the Foundational Elements of Mattering Survey for K-12 Teachers (Wilfong & Donlan, 2024) and the Rotter Internal-External Locus of Control Scale survey (1966a), and it was taken by …