Educational Leadership Commons^™

Implementing Restorative Practices For Girls In Elementary School Classrooms: A Participatory Action Research Approach, Mellissa Douglas

Dissertations of Practice

This participatory action research study examined how varying approaches to implementing restorative practices, together with teacher collaboration and influence, support resilience, enhance communication, establish healthy boundaries, encourage accountability, and build confidence among elementary school girls ages 8–10. Two third-grade teachers, three fourth-grade teachers, and three fifth-grade teachers in a midwestern elementary school implemented restorative practices through proactive circles or conferences over the course of forty school days. The eight teacher participants recorded the implementation of restorative practices in an action research journal, field notes, and photographs, and they collaborated to discuss strengths, areas in need of support, and next steps. …

Educator Understanding Of Mtss: A Quantitative Descriptive Study, Danielle Valiente

Dissertations of Practice

Multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) require coordinated implementation across the full educator workforce. This study examined MTSS knowledge and self-reported understanding across the Illinois educator workforce to identify the specific knowledge gaps a targeted professional learning solution would need to address. Using a quantitative descriptive design, 208 Illinois public school educators across 16 job roles and four experience bands completed an online survey consisting of an eleven-item true/false knowledge assessment, a ten-item multiple-choice knowledge assessment, and a 10-item Likert self-report inventory. Data were disaggregated by job role and by years of professional experience. Educators demonstrated strong understanding of MTSS structural …

Hehanyela Istogmuzapi S’E Unk’Unpi Sni (Blind No More): Storying Transgenerational Healing And Relational Indigenous Leadership Through Practitioner Research, Dowan Wasté Win Tamera Miyasato

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation, Hehanyela Istogmuzapi S’e Unk’unpi Sni (Blind No More), examines how Indigenous leadership emerges through transgenerational healing, story, and relational accountability. Grounded in Indigenous methodologies and guided by Absolon’s (2022) Kaandossiwin framework, this practitioner research positions story not as data to be analyzed, but as method, theory, and ceremony. It asks how healing inherited wounds through story, memory, and land shapes Indigenous approaches to leadership and restores relational responsibility within educational and community spaces. The work unfolds through intergenerational and transgenerational dialogue between the author and her mother, whose stories carry the teachings of her father, the author’s grandfather. …

Catholic Solidarity In American Jesuit Education Through The Radical Kinship Of Fr. Greg Boyle: A Conceptual Analysis, Sajit U. Kabadi

Journal of Catholic Education

This is a conceptual analysis that examines how American Jesuit secondary education can pursue greater Catholic solidarity in a polarized world through a framework of radical kinship, as espoused by Fr. Greg Boyle. Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries, the world’s largest gang rehabilitation program, in the city of Los Angeles. The purpose of this conceptual analysis is to delve deeper into Boyle’s conceptual framework of radical kinship in the context of American Jesuit secondary education. This conceptual analysis will use Catholic Social Teaching, Biblical references, and the values of the Jesuit mission.

Faculty Perceptions Of Engaging Generation Z Students Through Positive Education In The Classroom, Ashley D. Ragsdale

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examined the engagement gap between Generation Z students and faculty in higher education, emphasizing how positive education approaches can help faculty become more confident and effective instructors. Generation Z students prefer instant internet access and digital learning, have shorter attention spans, and tend to be disengaged when instructors rely on traditional teaching methods. After the COVID-19 pandemic, this engagement gap became more evident. This basic qualitative study used semistructured interviews, reflexive journaling, and nonparticipatory observations. Participants included full-time health science faculty at a private university in central Texas. Each had at least 2 years of teaching experience …

Indicators Of Mid-Career Teacher Quality Through Perspectives Of Key Stakeholders, Maria Azfar Karimullah, Wayne G. Cotton, Louisa Peralta

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The ongoing quest of quality education has focused on teaching quality in K-12 classrooms globally, as evidenced by recent research, reviews, and media coverage. Yet, identifying, defining, and measuring ‘teacher quality’ remains a complex challenge, particularly during the crucial mid-career stage. The focus on mid-career teachers in educational research is often neglected, when compared with early career teachers or teachers in leadership. This qualitative study explores the characteristics that mid-career teachers, teacher leaders and accreditation personnel perceive as the indicators of a quality mid-career teacher. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 29 participants including 23 mid-career teachers, five school principals, and …

Interpersonal Reckoning: The Liminal Space Between Rupture And Repair In Counselor Education, Phoenix E. Rosewood

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study is to understand and explore the phenomenon of the rupture, reckoning, and when possible, the repair process with racial, ethnic, and cultural (REC) microaggressions in counselor education. Participants (n = 14) included counselor educators who had either enacted a REC microaggression and attempted repair, or had been the recipient of an REC rupture and a meaningful attempt at repair. This study utilized a thematic analysis as a methodological framework in interpreting the data with the perspective of borderlands theory, critical embodied phenomenology, relational cultural theory and relational neuroscience analytical frameworks to account for and explain …

Examining Challenges For Sociology Master’S Degree Students At California State University, David Ortuno

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to identify the lived experiences of CSU sociology graduate students pursuing a master’s degree. Seven sociology graduate students from six of the eight (75%) total sociology MA programs throughout the entire CSU system were interviewed. Their responses were designed to analyze the support systems and challenges they face while pursuing a master's degree, as well as to investigate whether their experiences correlate with or fail to correlate with the promises in the CSU mission statement, and to answer the study’s research questions and achieve the purpose of this qualitative study.

Four themes emerged from …

Graduate Student Retention: Examining Why Master’S Students Leave And What Motivates Their Return In A Large Public University System, Sonja Prophete

Theses and Dissertations

Graduate student persistence is a relatively unexplored area in the literature of higher education studies; specifically, at a multi-institutional scale at the master's level. This research study examines the factors which cause students to discontinue their master's degrees, and what conditions could possibly support them returning to their program at a large urban public university system. The current study was guided by Hoyt and Winn's (2004) distinction between non-returning students, and Bean & Metzner's (1985) theoretical model of student attrition. A sequential mixed-methods study was conducted to examine the institutional and environmental influences on students' decision-making processes.

The quantitative data …

The Impact Of High-Quality Phonological Awareness Professional Learning On In-Service Teachers' Content Knowledge And Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Roberta S. Thomas

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This convergent mixed-method study examined the impact of high-quality phonological awareness professional learning on Montessori primary lead, associate, and team associate teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of phonological awareness. Eleven teachers (4 lead, 4 associates, and 2 team associates) from a private school in northeast Florida participated in four professional sessions with a content focus on the levels of phonological awareness, including word, syllable, onset and rime, and phoneme awareness. In contrast to previous studies that reported low levels of teacher content knowledge prior to professional learning, participants in this study demonstrated relatively high levels of content knowledge. …

Ucf Center For Community Schools Research Citations, Ucf Center For Community Schools

Community Schools Research

This scholarship examines community school implementation, partnerships, student and family outcomes, organizational conditions, and the broader systems that support community-centered approaches to education. By connecting research with practice, UCF CCS seeks to deepen the evidence base and advance knowledge that can inform educators, practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and community leaders.

This collection provides an evolving resource for exploring the research behind community schools and the lessons emerging from their implementation across Florida and beyond.

Research Brief: Developing Confident Professionals: Exploring Preservice Teachers’ Self-Efficacy After Attending Their First Professional Conference, David Wolff, Scott Klimek

OER Materials

This study focused on a convergent parallel mixed-methods study which explored how undergraduate preservice teachers perceived professional self-efficacy during their first conference, the Minnesota Rural Education Association’s (MREA) Greater Minnesota Education Summit. The Greater Minnesota Education Summit highlights successful programs and practices in rural education across Minnesota. The Future Educator Workshop (FEW) was a subcomponent during the summit which gave aspiring teachers opportunities to build resumes, practice interviewing, network with school leaders, and engage in conference sessions, helping them prepare for the teaching profession.

Pre- and post-conference surveys measured changes in self-efficacy. Autophotography paired with photo elicitation allowed participants to …

Teacher Judgment In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence: Collaborative Inquiry Into Generative Ai For Udl-Aligned Instructional Planning In Elementary English Language Arts, Melissa G. Metz

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This action research study explores how teacher-facing generative artificial intelligence (GAI), specifically Google Gemini, can support educators in UDL-aligned instructional planning within a Title I elementary school. Although AI is often discussed in terms of student-facing applications, less is known about how GAI can assist teachers with lesson planning, differentiation, and the demands of sustaining inclusive Tier I instruction. Guided by a conceptual framework integrating Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and technology integration perspectives, the study engaged four educators in collaborative inquiry through AI Visioning Workshops, reflections, interviews, and planning artifacts.

Data were analyzed through iterative coding, analytic memoing, and …

Factors That Impact K-6th Grade Teachers’ Sense Of Self-Efficacy: A Mixed Methods Study, Becky A. Eckburg

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

Although there have been efforts to narrow the "achievement gap," research shows that the academic achievement levels of students in low socioeconomic school settings are likely to be significantly lower than the academic achievement levels of students in higher socioeconomic school settings (Babayiğit et al., 2021; Rahman et al., 2024). Studies also show that teachers have a significant impact on their students' growth, no matter what their academic setting may be (Petek & Pope, 2023), and that collective teacher self-efficacy is a significant factor in positive student achievement (Hattie, 2008). If targeted professional development could support teachers' self-efficacy, student achievement …

The Impact Of Strategic Planning On Teachers' Perceptions Of Their Practice: A Mixed-Methods Study, Vivian Robert

Selected Full Text Dissertations, 2011-

Strategic planning is a vital endeavor for school districts across New York State. Often, however, significant human and financial capital is invested in these processes without investigating their impact beyond immediate student outcomes. While student success is the ultimate priority, little attention has been paid to the effect strategic planning has on the practitioners charged with implementing it, specifically teachers. This phenomenological mixed-method case study investigates how strategic planning influences teachers’ perceptions of their practice and identifies how districts can better engage educators to ensure the successful realization of district goals. In this study, district leaders participated in semi-structured interviews, …

Navigating Hunger And Academic Success: College Students’ Experiences With Food Insecurity And Campus Food Pantries, Casey J. Weaver, Carl H. Sorgen, Cordelia D. Zinskie

Journal of Higher Education & Student Affairs

Food insecurity is a growing issue faced by many college students, and there is an increasing call for more qualitative research examining food insecurity on college campuses. It may be posited that students who experience food insecurity but have access to resources are more likely to succeed academically than those without access to such resources. This research examined how the resources provided to college students experiencing food insecurity influenced their academic success at a university in the United States. This study explored the experience of four students who identified as food insecure and utilized campus resources to address this issue. …

The Hidden Process Of Student Placements: Perspectives From Slp, Ot, And Pt Coordinators, Almara Jane Sidney Hutchinson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This comparative multi-case study examined the unseen processes behind clinical placement planning in allied health education. Clinical placements are essential to preparing students in speech-language pathology (SLP), occupational therapy (OT), and physical therapy (PT); however, little research has explored how Directors and Coordinators of Clinical Education (DCE/CCEs) navigate the complex decision-making involved in planning these experiences. Guided by Greco and Myers’ (2024) framework conceptualizing placement planning as an interaction between process and experience, this study explored how coordinators described their planning processes and the role of student-centeredness within them.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 DCEs/CCEs representing SLP, OT, and …

The Role Of The Coach In Student-Athlete Engagement, Christina Cobb

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Student engagement has long been recognized as a key indicator of student success in higher education, but limited research has examined engagement within the context of intercollegiate athletics. This qualitative case study explored how college coaches influence student-athlete engagement and how student-athletes utilize athletic department support services designed to promote engagement practices. Guided by Kuh et al.’s (2006) theory of student engagement, this study examined engagement through the lens of time and effort invested in educationally purposeful activities and the institutional environments that support or constrain participation.

Participants included six student-athletes, four coaches, and two athletic department administrators at a …

Gender Inequality In Afghanistan's Public Schools: Provincial Disparities Amid Historical And Political Change, 2002-2021, Enayatullah Nasir

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This dissertation examines the persistence and spatial concentration of gender-based educational inequality in Afghanistan's public school system from 2002 to 2021–– a period spanning post-2001 reconstruction, the expansion of the Republic era, and the reversal under the second Taliban regime. Despite substantial international investment and two decades of repeated commitments to gender parity, access to and progression through public schooling remained profoundly uneven across the country’s thirty-four provinces. The Gender Parity Index values differ sharply between provinces, and those with the lowest overall enrollment tend to exhibit the widest gender gaps. Existing scholarship has concentrated on the national level, obscuring …

Oh Brother, Where Art Thou: Between Brotherhood And Belonging For Black Male Athletes In Predominantly White Ncaa Spaces, Candice L. Turner

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the college environment variables that significantly influence the academic and personal success of Black male student-athletes at predominantly White NCAA institutions. Grounded in a robust conceptual framework that integrates Astin's input–environment–outcome model, critical race theory, and resilience theory, this research seeks to identify the complex interplay between academic support, social integration, racial climate, and institutional policies on the retention, persistence, and overall well-being of Black male athletes. Recognizing the systemic and individual challenges that shape their collegiate experiences, this study adopts a quantitative case study approach, analyzing secondary data and exploring how factors such as faculty engagement, …