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Unmasking Unity: A Grounded Theory Study Of Holistic Executive Functioning Intervention Development By Support Personnel For Twice-Exceptional High School Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder In A Rural Residential School Setting, Christopher R. Chouiniere

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this situational analysis grounded theory was to develop a unified theory of how support personnel develop and implement interventions for executive functioning development for twice-exceptional students with autism spectrum disorder. The central research question was, “How do support personnel implement holistic and hierarchical executive functioning interventions for twice-exceptional students with autism spectrum disorder?” As there was no appropriate theory to describe holistic and hierarchical executive functioning interventions, situational analysis, as a derivative of grounded theory, was used in this qualitative study. Ten participants, from rural boarding high schools, were interviewed, participated in focus groups, and completed internet …

Barriers To Physical Activity Among Community College Students, Erica Keels

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceived barriers, motivators, and student-identified strategies related to physical activity among students enrolled at a community college located in Northwest Florida. Guided by the Social Ecological Model (SEM), Self-Determination Theory (SDT), Health Belief Model (HBM), and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), this study employed a qualitative descriptive design to examine students’ lived experiences and perceptions that influence their physical activity behaviors. Data were collected through an online open-ended survey administered to students aged 18 years and older. A total of 134 students initially accessed the survey, and 126 eligible participants …

Exploring The Modality Delivery Experiences Of K-12 Teachers In Instructional Practice Professional Development: A Transcendental Phenomenology Study, Nayonda T. Gibson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative transcendental phenomenological study will be to describe the modality delivery experiences in instructional practice professional development for K-12 teachers at MGM School System. The central research question that will guide the study is: What are the modality delivery experiences of K-12 teachers participating in instructional practice professional developments? In addition, guiding questions will be implemented to understand the phenomenon of professional development. The guiding questions will be: What are the rules experiences of K-12 teachers participating in instructional practice professional development? What are the activities experiences of K-12 teachers participating in instructional practice professional development? What are the …

A Phenomenological Study Of Early Educator Experiences Regarding The Educational And Developmental Benefits Of Play-Based Learning For Children Identified With Special Needs In Inclusive Early Education Classrooms, Karen Renée Gallagher

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to understand what are the lived experiences of early childhood educators with providing play-based learning experiences in inclusive classrooms. The theory guiding this study is Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Development theory. This phenomenological study focused on understanding the perceptions and experiences of early childhood educators in regard to how play-based learning supports school readiness within early care and education environments. The focus of the study included educators who care for and teach children between the ages of birth to five years old within inclusive, state licensed early childhood learning environments located in the …

A Qualitative Single Case Study To Understand What Types Of Support Best Enable Early Childhood Teachers In A Mid-Atlantic State To Achieve Curriculum Fidelity, And How These Supports Benefit Teacher Practice And Classroom Outcomes, Tatiana Rizzotto Queenan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to understand what types of support best enabled early childhood education teachers achieve curriculum fidelity and how these supports benefited teacher practice and classroom outcomes in a mid-Atlantic state. The theory guiding this study was Domitrovich et al.’s conceptual framework for maximizing the implementation of quality of evidence-based preventive interventions in schools. The central research question that was answered during this case study was: What support best enables early childhood education teachers in a mid-Atlantic state to achieve curriculum fidelity, and how do these supports benefit teacher practice and classroom outcomes? …

A High School Choral Student's Perspective On Bullying, Allen C. Thomas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative non-experimental research study was to examine the prevalence, type, and impact of bullying within secondary choral ensembles from the student perspective. Using a slightly modified version of the Swearer Bully Survey, data were collected from a convenience sample of 100 high school students. Initially, responses were to come from several high schools throughout the State of Maine. Due to challenges in survey administration, the researcher received permission to collect responses via social media and expanded recruitment to a national audience. The study employed a cross-sectional design and utilized Google Forms and Tally for data …

Exploring The Journey Of African American Parents Supporting Their Children In Special Education Within Georgia Public Schools: A Phenomenological Study, Keith Allister Tobias

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite legislative efforts such as the Handicapped Children Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, and the Every Student Succeeds Act, African American parents of children in special education continue to encounter systemic barriers that affect engagement with schools. This transcendental phenomenological study focused on the lived experiences contributing to parent engagement among African American parents of children with learning disabilities in Georgia public schools. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory provided the theoretical foundation for examining how environmental systems influenced parent-school interactions. Ten parents were recruited through criterion and snowball sampling. Data collection included individual …

Structuring Support: Designing Sustainable Administrative Models For Music Education In Christian K-12 Schools, Haven Clippinger

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the impact of administrative structures in K–12 Christian schools on the sustainability of music education programs and the degree to which those programs align with the school’s mission. Many faith-based schools saw music as a formative part of education, yet they struggled to sustain consistent programs because of limited funding, small staffs, and uneven curricula. Through a qualitative, applied multiple–case study design, this research explored how theology, leadership, and institutional systems work together to build sustainable music programs. The researcher collected data through semi-structured interviews and document analysis from Christian schools representing classical, contemporary, and hybrid models. …

A Causal-Comparative Analysis Of General Self-Efficacy And Social Media Use Among College Students With Differing Political Affiliations, Jennifer Lee Wool

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative research was to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference in general self-efficacy and integration of social media use among college students who were Democrats compared to those who were Republicans. This is a relevant research topic because college students are a priority in the educational system, with attention to their general well-being, academic performance, and the effects of social media on their lives. There is a lack of research on this topic regarding political affiliation. The sample consisted of 165 college students from various colleges and universities. Participants were recruited from an …

Reporting For Double Duty: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Graduate Student-Parents Rearing Young Children In Online Graduate Programs In The United States, Bridgette Oludolapo Ojo

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of graduate student-parents rearing young children aged five and under while enrolled in online graduate programs in the United States. The theory guiding this study was Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, as it supports an examination of how graduate student-parents’ lived experiences are shaped by interactions across family, academic, institutional, and societal systems. The central research question was: What are the lived experiences of graduate student-parents rearing young children while pursuing online graduate programs? Utilizing this transcendental phenomenological design, the study employed qualitative methods to examine the lived …

Higher Education Faculty Members’ Perspectives On Implementing Student Engagement Practices In Courses, Kimberly L. Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Childcare Center Administrators’ Challenges To Using Trauma-Informed Approaches With Children Experiencing Toxic Stress, Jessica Lynn Pierce

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Making The Case For Career Academies In Shaping Pre-Collegiate Students For Stem Career Pathways, Felix Quayson

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

Career academies are increasingly important in preparing pre-collegiate high school students for STEM pathways by connecting academic learning, technical skill development, career identity, and postsecondary readiness. STEM-focused career academies function as structured bridges between secondary education, higher education, and the labor market. Through small learning communities, interdisciplinary curricula, employer partnerships, work-based learning, and early exposure to college and career expectations, career academies help students understand STEM not only as school subjects but as possible futures. Research suggests that career academies can improve student engagement, support school persistence, and strengthen labor market outcomes when implemented with fidelity. The article concludes that …

May 20, 2026 Blazer Weekly, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

Blazer Weekly (student newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Perceptions Of Recent Special Education Graduates Of The Transition Programming Taxonomy: Transcendental Phenomenological Research, Karen Sue Rozmus

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological research study was to develop an understanding of recent special education graduates' perceptions of transition programming taxonomy at a southern coastal community. Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of needs was used. This theory directly relates to the study showing how important understanding the perceptions of support the recent special education graduates during their lived experiences as they transition into adulthood. The Central Research Question was: What are recent special education graduates’ perceptions of transition programming taxonomy? This transcendental phenomenological research study of 10 participants was designed to use data collected from independent interviews, focus …

The Influence Of Burnout And High Teacher Turnover On Student Performance In A Kansas County School System: A Case Study, Matthew J. Chambless

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This embedded single-case study aimed to discover the influence of high teacher turnover in a school district in Kansas. The theory guiding this study was Herzberg's two-factor theory, as it addressed job satisfaction that determines teachers' intent to either remain in or leave the teaching profession. Individual interviews, focus groups, and document analysis were employed to answer the central research question investigating the effect of teacher turnover on student performance. Data were collected from 10 participants in a sample pool of over 480 teachers and administrators in the selected Kansas school district. Data analysis employed axial coding, triangulation, and theme …

Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Teachers At A Charter Classical School In Central Texas With A Ban On Student Personal Smart Devices: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Choueang Khantiya Etheridge

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of the transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of teachers managing instruction and classical educational principles in an environment that bans students’ personal smart devices. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) guided this study as it examined how teachers perceived and responded to technology restrictions through four key constructs: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions. The central research question asked: What are teachers’ lived experiences in a chartered classical school in central Texas as they manage instruction and maintain classical educational principles in an environment that bans students’ …

The Role Of Leadership Style On Perceived Effective Communication And Job Satisfaction In The Community College Virtual Workplace, Julie I. White

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Advances in technology enable the creation of virtual workspaces, allowing geographically dispersed virtual employees to collaborate in teams and complete tasks. We must understand the advantages and challenges that virtual teams encounter. This research examines the relationships among leadership styles, perceived effective communication, and job satisfaction within virtual teams, specifically in community colleges. Transformational, servant, and authentic leadership styles of virtual leaders in higher education were evaluated. Participants include full-time and part-time virtual faculty from community college institutions. Data was collected through online surveys. A quantitative correlation research design was employed to explore the experiences of virtual faculty working at …

Police Officers Perceptions And Attitudes Towards Responding To Mental Health Crises: A Phenomenological Study, Kenderlette Necosha Gibson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The increasing prevalence of mental health issues and their connection to law enforcement creates a need to understand the perceptions and attitudes of police officers toward mental health. Through this qualitative phenomenological study, the lived experiences of police officers from multiple local law enforcement agencies located in Southeast Texas Region were examined, with a focus on how they perceived mental health issues, how they responded to crises involving mental health issues, and how their perceptions influenced their decision-making during these crises. It is estimated that at least 52.9 million people in the United States have experienced mental health issues since …

Intelligence-Based Missionary Preparedness, Barry Marbach

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This Dissertation in Praxis applies Biblical imperatives, theoretical research on leadership, relevant training models, and leading with intelligence to improve missionaries’ overall effectiveness. The dissertation supports CLUB1040 as a relational missionary movement created to contribute to the fulfillment of the Great Commission. CLUB1040 trains and mobilizes indigenous church leaders throughout the Middle East and North Africa. This mission includes inspiring the church to make this generation the one that reaches every unreached nation. Recognizing the possibility of hostility to the Gospel due to religion and culture, the intent of the training is to introduce intelligence to mitigate the danger and …

Music Education For Diverse Learners: An Undergraduate Curriculum To Prepare Pre-Service Educators To Adapt Music Instruction, Phoebe Winey

Masters Theses

Music educators are required to work with students of all levels and abilities. Christian music educators understand that all students are created by God fearfully and wonderfully (Psalm 139:14, English Standard Version) and that humanity is Christ’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). Christians in education must perceive all students as the workmanship of Christ and work to provide them with fidelity and excellence in education. Music education has proven to be a critical method for developing the minds of learners with exceptionalities; therefore, music educators must be adequately prepared to educate students with diverse exceptionalities through accommodations that improve cognitive abilities and …

The Other Summer Soundtrack: Mass Bands, Hbcu Influence, And The Future Of Culturally Relevant, Community-Driven Music Education, Thomas L. Jones Jr.

Masters Theses

This study examines the roles of mass bands, community bands, and all-star bands and explores how they can offer culturally relevant, community-driven alternatives to traditional summer music education programs. This is especially important for students from diverse and lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Traditional marching musical arts programs require students to have access to sufficient funding and transportation, effectively locking out low-income and culturally distant groups. This research explores how alternative band models offer a viable option for supporting young students in music education, social skills development, and leadership. The multiple-case study focused on three diverse program types. Over the course of …

Who Gets To Be Taken Seriously? Three Atypical Scholars Navigate Doctoral Education At The Intersections Of Race, Neurodivergence, And Veteran Identity, Sr. Richard De La Garza

Dissertations

As a first-generation, neurodivergent, Mexican American/Chicano veteran, I entered the University of San Diego's doctoral program having had experiences that most institutional intake processes would label as risk factors. The Findings chapter of this dissertation begins by describing those experiences—not as a confession, but as the foundation for a systematic inquiry into how doctoral legitimacy is produced, withheld, and defended. The description of my life experiences is followed by a discussion of the doctoral journeys of two other study participants who also were atypical doctoral candidates.

The central argument being advanced is this: What higher education calls "fit," "rigor," and …

A Community College Entry Apparatus, Ann Knezetic

Dissertations

This study explores the conceptualization, enactment, and navigation of a community college entry apparatus. This research views these questions through a single institution case-study, with 17 participants - eight faculty/staff and nine students. Each participant groups brings a distinct view as faculty/staff conceptualize and enact entry as students navigate and experience entry. Findings illuminate how faculty/staff conceptualize entry through offices or programs while students experience entry through their needs being met. Further, these findings complicate entry, particularly in the ways students experience entry multiple times during their college career such as when moving locations across a multi-campus college or when …

Perceptions Of Novice Career And Technical Education Teachers Regarding Teacher Evaluations, Felix Quayson, Chris Zirkle

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

As states expand funding for alternative teacher-licensure pathways, this qualitative descriptive case study examined how 38 novice Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers in a Midwestern research university’s alternative licensure program perceived teacher evaluation during their first years in the profession. Analyses yielded ten major themes with three subthemes each, which were synthesized into the DEEPS conceptual evaluation framework: Development, Evaluation, Engagement, Partnerships, and Skills. We arranged the acronym DEEPS based on data analysis for conceptual coherence rather than order of occurrence. Participants described evaluation as misaligned with the specialized demands of CTE instruction and called for tools that better …

Recovering Persuasion In A Post-Truth Classroom, Lydia James

Masters Theses

Modern composition pedagogy embraces pluralism and expressivism that in turn reduces persuasion to mere self-expression or genre performance rather than disciplined inquiry. This thesis argues that the historical shift in composition’s values has created a civic gap. Within this gap, students adopt either powerful or reluctant attitudes due to the lack of ethical responsibility attached to their agency. Surveying the negligence of classical definitions of persuasion in modern models, this research traces the collapse of ethical deliberation through the movements of expressivism, pluralism, and postmodern skepticism. While these movements intended to avoid the rigid dogma that existed over time, they …

From Classroom To Conference: A Branding Toolkit For Educators, Danyel Burgett

Masters Theses

From Classroom to Conference: Branding the Educator investigates how design methodology and research-based instructional frameworks can support educators in developing cohesive professional identities. As educators are increasingly expected to present, publish, and maintain digital presences, formal preparation in visual communication and professional branding remains limited within teacher preparation and professional development. This thesis addresses that gap through the development of an instructional design solution. Grounded in John Hattie’s Visible Learning framework, adult learning theory, and Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle, the project applies principles of clarity, reflection, feedback, metacognition, and experiential learning to professional identity development. The resulting design solution includes …

Homeschool Music: The Predictive Relationship Between Parents’ Homeschooling Approach And Religiosity For Music Learning Choices, Ashley Virginia Finke

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative predictive correlational study was to examine how accurately the combination of parents’ homeschooling approach and parents’ religiosity predict music learning choices for homeschooled students. A Florida Department of Education report showed an increase in homeschooling between the 2013-14 and 2023-24 school years, while an Institute of Education Sciences report documented that 49 percent of homeschooled students in the United States participated in music in 2016. Despite these reports, limited research exists of homeschool music education in the United States and, specifically, in Florida. This study resulted from the related literature and the dearth of current …

Assessing Non-Performance Based Standards Of The National Core Arts Standards In Georgia Public Middle And High Schools, Richard Brian Horne

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Developing a well-rounded musician must be the goal of every music teacher. In today’s modern educational system, assessment is a tool used to help shape the curriculum of all subjects. Music assessment must be no different. The National Core Arts Standards (NCAS) utilize anchor standards for assessment in four categories: creating, performing, responding, and connecting. Standards that fall within performing are quickly evaluated in formal and informal assessments, but other standards, such as creation, responding, and connecting, often need exploration. One needs to craft assessments to determine student understanding of performance and non-performance standards and explore development in those areas. …

Modern Band: Increasing Access To Music Learning For Individuals With Specific Learning Disability (Sld), Nathan Ogden Sheffer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the lived experiences of students with specific learning disabilities who participate in a modern band class, gaining access to and support for music learning in secondary educational settings. This study employed a hermeneutic phenomenological approach guided by the theoretical frameworks of informal music learning theory, Universal Design for Learning, and the principles of modern band pedagogy. The problem is that the literature has not fully addressed strategies and methods for incorporating secondary students into music learning through participation in a modern band class, thereby providing more authentic opportunities for music-making. The …