An Evaluation Of Plc Implementation, Teacher Perceptions, And Achievement And Growth In A Rural Elementary School, Barbara B. Hines

Education Theses and Dissertations

Student growth in reading and mathematics has declined steadily at a small rural elementary campus in East Texas, particularly in grades 4 and 5, even as achievement scores have remained near state averages for grades 3 through 5. This gap between proficiency and progress, compounded by the expiration of pandemic relief funding and increasing state accountability pressure, created an urgent need to evaluate whether existing campus structures were functioning as intended. The purpose of this study, which used an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, was to examine how variation in professional learning community (PLC) implementation was associated with differences in student …

Procedural Justice And Instructional Alignment In Body-Worn Camera Policies: A Comparative Policy Analysis Of Large U.S. Urban Police Departments, Michael A. O'Connor

Theses and Dissertations from DePaul University

This study examined how written Body-Worn Camera (BWC) policies in large U.S. urban police departments operationalize Procedural Justice (PJ) through instructional alignment and how those policies shape expectations for officer training. Policy analysis showed that all departments required BWC activation during key encounters such as traffic stops and arrests and included some form of supervisory review. However, substantial variation existed in policies governing data retention, citizen notification, pre-report viewing safeguards and documentation requirements, and disciplinary guidance. These inconsistencies were most evident in the PJ dimensions of neutrality and voice, particularly where policies permitted pre-report viewing without consistent documentation requirements and …

Examining The Relationship Between Trauma-Informed Safety Drill Practices And School-Level Chronic Absenteeism In Maine Secondary Schools, Tina Nightingale

Dissertations

School safety practices can influence students' perceptions of safety, emotional well-being, and engagement in the educational environment; however, limited research has examined whether trauma-informed safety drill practices are associated with measurable educational outcomes. The purpose of this quantitative, non-experimental, correlational study was to examine the relationship between trauma-informed safety drill practices and school-level chronic absenteeism in Maine middle and high schools. Guided by trauma-informed care, adolescent neurodevelopment, and Protection Motivation Theory, the study investigated whether higher levels of trauma-informed implementation of safety drills, as measured by the Trauma-Informed Safety Drill Practices Index (TISDPI), were associated with lower rates of chronic …

Toward Intentional Praxis: A Design Thinking Multi-Case Study Of Cognitive-Constructive Toolkit Implementation In An Elementary Professional Learning Community, Azam Nathaniel

Dissertations

Among several learning theories that were dynamic and constantly evolving with time, cognitive and constructive theories were predominant in the field of education. However, these theories often included overlapping and contrasting concepts, contributing to confusion in terminology among teachers and limited explicit use in instructional practice. Within the context of K-12 education, teachers demonstrated conceptual awareness of cognitive and constructive learning theories; however, the theories were not a part of day-to-day conversations and were minimally identified in practice. Instead, the theories were implicitly applied as teachers balanced competing professional responsibilities, including daily routines, syllabus requirements, district standards, new initiatives, differentiated …

July 2026 Bulldog Alumni & Friends News, Kari Jones, Garrett King

Bulldog Alumni & Friends News

July 30 SWOSU Near You: Eischen’s

July 27 - August 7 Online SWOSU Athletic Auction

August 7 SWOSU Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet

August 8 SWOSU Athletic Auction and Dinner

October 30-31 SWOSU Homecoming

Designing System Coherence For Content- Based English Language Development, Jeimee Estrada-Miller, Aline Matias, Raquel Gonzalez, Magaly Lavadenz, Elvira G. Armas

Center on English Language Proficiency Implementation Briefs

Advancing Comprehensive English Language Development: Designing System Coherence for Content-Based English Language Development is the second in a four-part implementation series focused on advancing high-quality English language development (ELD) systems. Drawing on research on educational change, organizational coherence, and instructional improvement, the brief recognizes that while effective classroom practices are essential, their impact depends on the organizational conditions that support consistent implementation. This brief examines the "how" of implementation by emphasizing system coherence—the intentional alignment of policies, leadership, organizational structures, and resources around a shared vision for language and content learning. It introduces seven foundational practices that support the coherent …

Attendance And Academic Performance: A Comparison Of 4-Day And 5-Day School Week Schedules In Texas High Schools, Cynthia Miles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative cross-sectional comparable study examined the differences in academic performance and attendance in Texas public high school campuses between those operating on a 4-day instructional week and those operating on a 5-day instructional week. The study used a quantitative, cross-sectional comparable design. The analysis included campus-level data from the Texas Education Agency’s Texas Academic Performance Reports. The independent variable was instructional schedule—either a 4-day or a 5-day instructional week. The dependent variables included campus attendance rates and student performance on the English I and Algebra I End-of-Course (EOC) STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) assessments of ninth-grade …

A Perspective As Observed By Public Middle School Teachers On A Lack Of Empathy Demonstrated By Public Middle School Students, Gail P. Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore a perspective as observed by public middle school teachers on a lack of empathy demonstrated by public middle school students. The research analyzed how public middle school teachers in the southern region of Texas described their perception of how a lack of empathy demonstrated by public middle school students impacted students during the school day. The study involved 10 selected participants who participated in a semistructured open-ended interview on the Google Meet platform. The participants consisted of 90% female and 10% male, with a combined total of 91 years of …

From Learner To Leader: Exploring Principals' Perspectives On Professional Learning, Development, And Mentoring, Eric William Kausch

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This purpose of this qualitative study was to examine veteran secondary school principals’ engagement in professional learning, development, and mentoring for the improvement of their leadership skills. While previous literature provides insight into administrative preparation programs, mentoring of novice leaders, and succession planning for those advancing their careers, there are fewer studies that discuss enhancing experienced principals’ leadership development. The study was guided by three research questions: (1) How do principals describe their experiences participating in professional learning and development? (2) What types of leadership experiences do principals engage in to improve their leadership skills? and (3) How does engaging …

Investigating And Comparing Special Education Teachers’ Perceptions Of Workload Manageability And The Relationship With Attrition, Kasey Sanders

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated special education teachers’ (SETs) perceptions of workload manageability and the relationship between these perceptions and intentions to quit. State-wide data from the Kansas State Department of Education showed a significant increase in the number of special education vacancies from a total of 161, or .03% in the 2019-2020 school year to 557, or 11%, in the 2024-2025 school year. Over the past four years, the number of special education teachers with a non-traditional license has increased from 312, or 6%, in the 2021-2022 school year to 427, or 8%, in the 2024-2025 school year (KSDE, 2025). Using …

Thinking Silence Otherwise: Toward A “Research Other” In Qualitative Research, Rosa Vázquez Recio

The Qualitative Report

Why ask about silence when it comes to research? This paper explores and analyzes how silence, unlike words and verbal expression, has received little attention in the data production process. Despite its different manifestations and meanings in social interactions and knowledge production, silence tends to be overlooked, ignored, or silenced. We focus on analyzing how we relate silence to evidence-based research to describe the “non-places” of silence in qualitative research, addressing controversies and issues. We propose a “research other,” grounded in decolonial approaches and Southern and feminist epistemologies, to argue for the inclusion of silence in the research process. …

Brushstrokes Of Belonging: An Arts-Based Approach To Heritage Language Sustainability Among Multilingual Youth, Erica Anne Daniels

Dissertations - ALL

This qualitative case study examines how arts-based curriculum supports heritage language learning among elementary-aged multilingual students in a community language program. Drawing on Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy, Transformative Multiliteracies, and Community Cultural Wealth, this study analyzes observations, student artifacts, and interviews across Arabic and Karen heritage language classrooms using an arts-based curriculum. Findings demonstrate that arts-based practices foster four key outcomes: identity exploration, the development of agency and critical authenticity, relational language sustainability through family engagement, and heightened motivation grounded in creativity and cultural relevance. Students’ multimodal identity texts, such as drawings, ceramics, and jewelry, served as transformative sites where linguistic …

Balancing Dual Roles: Instructional Leadership And Daily Management Among School Principals In The United Arab Emirates, Mohammad Abdelkarim Al Adwan

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

School principals in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) face increasing pressure to serve simultaneously as instructional leaders, guiding curriculum innovation, mentoring teachers, and fostering professional growth and as operational managers responsible for budgeting, staffing, and daily administration. While global and regional research has highlighted this duality, a gap persists in understanding how UAE principals themselves perceive and navigate these competing demands. This qualitative collective case study purposively sampled 12 principals from private and international schools. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, a focus group with seven middle leaders, and documentary review. Using reflexive thematic analysis, the study provides in-depth insights …

An Analysis Of Teacher Quality And Primary School Students’ Learning Achievements In Cambodia, Sreymech Hoeun

International Journal of Emerging and Disruptive Innovation in Education : VISIONARIUM

The relationship between teacher quality and student learning achievement remains complex and somewhat inconsistent across the literature. For example, Roorda et al. found that the association between teacher–student relationship quality and student achievement was positive in most studies, but negative in others. Similarly, Yang and Kaiser reported that teaching quality showed significantly positive, non-significant, and even significantly negative relationships with student learning outcomes. In the Cambodian context, Chhin and Tabata examined the relationship between teacher quality and student achievement and found that teacher economic status, job satisfaction, and teaching experience significantly influenced student learning outcomes; however, these variables explained only …

Toward A Metric For Disciplinary Learning In The Age Of Ai: The Unblooms™ Metacognitive Awareness Scale And Discernment Rate In Ai-Mediated Learning, Tina R. Austin

International Journal of Emerging and Disruptive Innovation in Education : VISIONARIUM

Telling students to “reflect on their own thinking” has become insufficient in AI-mediated learning environments. When students are rewarded for polished outputs, cognitive offloading to AI tools becomes rational, and traditional snapshot assessments (single-moment evaluations of task completion) produce false signals about whether durable learning has occurred. This problem is sharpened by the broader shift in AI learning tools toward Socratic tutors, study modes, Khan Academy's Khanmigo, and agentic systems that can shape the learner’s process over time. Lodge and Loble (2026) distinguish beneficial cognitive offloading, which frees working memory for intrinsic learning, from detrimental outsourcing, which bypasses the cognitive …

Perceptions Of Trauma-Informed Trained Campus Leadership, Shelly Hardin

Student Theses and Dissertations

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) as potentially traumatic experiences that occur in a person’s life between birth and age 17. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2024), more than two thirds of children experience at least one traumatic event by the age of 16, and this is likely an underestimate, as this percentage represents only those cases reported. The physical, emotional, and neurological impact of traumatic experiences can be detrimental to a child’s education, often contributing to learning deficits and behavioral issues. School leaders have the responsibility of creating …

Practices That Impact The Reading Performance Of Elementary Special Education Inclusion Students, Lynette Hampton

Student Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study investigated teaching practices that teachers perceived impacted the reading performance of second-grade special education inclusion students who spend 80% or more of their reading instructional time in the general education classroom. Despite the significant progress made under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), special education students continue to perform lower academically than their non-disabled peers, particularly in reading. This study aims to identify instructional and non-instructional practices that teachers perceive impact the reading performance of special education inclusion students. The study utilized semi-structured interviews with second-grade teachers in Title 1 K-8 schools in the northwest …

Examining The Influence Of Principals’ Transformational Leadership In Promoting Conducive School Culture And Secondary Esl Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs, Chanda Yvonne Williams

Student Theses and Dissertations

Secondary ESL teachers face diverse classrooms and complex instructional demands. As the number of multilingual learners continues to increase in secondary schools, ESL teachers must support students’ language development while also helping them access rigorous academic content across subject areas. This phenomenological study explored how principals’ transformational leadership and school culture influence secondary ESL teachers’ self-efficacy. Drawing on Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory (1997) and Bass’s Transformational Leadership Theory (1985), the study examined how leadership behaviors and school environments shape teachers’ confidence and motivation. Semi-structured interviews with 10 ESL teachers in a southeastern metropolitan district elicited focused accounts of how specific leadership …

The Implementation Of Restorative Practices Through The Don’T Suspend Me! Professional Development, Bethanie Hale

Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to examine how participation in the Don’t Suspend Me! (2022) professional development influenced teachers’ beliefs about discipline and their implementation of restorative practices within one public school district. Guided by Guskey’s (2002) Model of Teacher Change, this study sought to answer the research question: How does participation in the Don’t Suspend Me! (2022) professional development influence teachers’ implementation of restorative disciplinary practices and their beliefs about discipline within one public school district? Data were collected through a teacher questionnaire, individual interviews, and researcher reflexive journaling, with trustworthiness supported through triangulation, member …

Integration Of Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies In High School Science Classes, Pamela Chanell Williams

Student Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study investigated the integration of culturally responsive teaching strategies in high school science classes. The problem addressed in this study is that teachers are underprepared to employ culturally responsive teaching strategies to facilitate academic success in science courses for culturally and linguistically diverse students. By investigating the integration of culturally responsive teaching strategies during instruction, improvements can be made to the effectiveness of professional development centered on culturally responsive teaching strategies found in the Ready for Rigor framework. The conceptual framework that served as the foundation for this study was Hammond’s (2015) Ready for Rigor framework. Questionnaires, …