Digital Commons Network^™

Equity In The Diversity Of Representation In Children’S Literature - Target Age Six Years Old To Ten Years Old - Probabilities Of Change And Growth, Kathrine Leigh Hurt

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the evolution of diversity in children’s literature published between 1950 and 2024, focusing on how representations of race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status have changed over time and how these shifts align with major sociopolitical movements. Guided by critical literacy and multicultural frameworks, the research explored whether children’s books authentically reflect marginalized identities or reinforce dominant ideologies. Using an explanatory sequential mixed methods design, 200 children’s books for ages six to ten were analyzed as cultural artifacts. Quantitative analysis employed a structured coding sheet and diversity scoring rubric to assess representation trends by decade. Statistical analyses in …

The Standing Screen Project, Barry Goldberg

College Partner Collection

In this project, children use rollers rather than brushes to paint on “scored’’ cardboard shapes. “Scored” is a term which means essentially to cut lightly. With cardboard, it means to cut the face-paper of just one side of the cardboard and not cut all the way through the material. A scored piece of cardboard folds very easily along the scored lines.

An Analysis Of The Impact Of Cognitive Writing Strategies On High School Writing Scores In A Suburban Tennessee District, Bethany A. Wilson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) writing assessment revealed that only 27% of eighth and 12^th graders are proficient in writing. The federal No Child Left Behind and Every Student Succeeds Acts have put pressure on schools to demonstrate proficiency on reading and math tests, leaving minimal time for instruction in other subjects, including writing. In addition to the pressure of standardized testing, teachers also find themselves underprepared to teach writing and overwhelmed by the demands of large teaching loads. While researchers have reported benefits associated with cognitive writing strategies since the 1960s, instructional demands have prevented …

Library News-- February, 2026, Rwu University Library

Library Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Educational Interventions In The Midst Of Reforms: Strategic Initiatives To Foster Change, Mary Oluga

Institute for Educational Development, East Africa

East African education systems face continuous volatility driven by global demands, regional integration, and systemic shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper analyzes the Foundations for Learning (F4L) project, a multi-country professional development initiative for Teacher Educators navigating mid-project shifts from Certificate to Diploma qualifications and the adoption of Competency-Based Curricula (CBC). Utilizing a qualitative case study design triangulating policy analysis, stakeholder dialogue, and primary interviews (N=92), the study explores how project fidelity was maintained amidst radical transitions. Anchored in Adaptive Management and Resilience theories, the findings reveal that while policy volatility and human resource instability posed significant risks—including …

January 2026 Cafe Newsletter - Special Events Edition, Missouri University Of Science And Technology

CAFE Faculty Newsletters

No abstract provided.

January 2026 Cafe Newsletter - Special Edition, Missouri University Of Science And Technology

CAFE Faculty Newsletters

Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence (CAFE) newsletter January 2026.

Confessions Of A Beginning Dutch Learner, Kristin Lems

Faculty Publications

I have studied, taught about, and learned new languages throughout my lifespan. In fact, it has been the very core of my teaching career.  Now, I have the humbling experience of testing those truths against a new enterprise:  learning Dutch.  I spent last summer in the Netherlands, pursuing family roots and acquiring what Dutch I could.  I took no formal classes but did attend a free dropin class at the local library, where - believe me - I was the lowest learner in the lowest group! Here are some of my insights, from notes taken during that summer:

Teachers' Worldviews, Teachers' Identities, Ken Badley

Faculty Publications - College of Education

A basic question to ask about a teacher's worldview is whether or not he or she likes to be with students. Is a student's question at the teacher's desk an interruption of the teacher's work, or is it part of the teacher's work? A teacher's unspoken and spoken responses to such a question will reveal some parts of that teacher's worldview. For example, what subterranean currents regarding gender, skills, disabilities, and race affect a teacher's response to a particular student? Reflecting on worldviews in general and on one's own worldview-with all its classroom-related particulars-can help teachers understand better why they …

Now, How Shall We Be? This Cultural Moment And Our Christian Response: Chapter 1: Old Moorings, Ken Badley

Faculty Publications - College of Education

As we embark on this book's quest to understand this cultural moment and possible Christian responses to it, we will begin in this chapter by considering several anchor points to which western civilization previously tied itself. For the most part, these old moorings provided an agreed-upon worldview that brought security and meaning to society. Over time, as people's perspectives changed, our culture slipped away from its previous sources of confidence or even certainty. Before we begin to explore our current, unmoored, cultural moment, we need to survey, at least briefly, what these old moorings were and why they have faded …

Transformative Care Through Silent Centering, Scot Headley, Neil Edward Cantrall

Faculty Publications - College of Education

We are a group of four friends who came together in a graduate educational program, joined through a COVID-19-era worship experience, and continue to meet weekly for worship. This is the story of our coming together, joining together, and continuing together in worship, and the influence of that worship experience on our friendship and our lives as teachers and leaders in our various organizations. We have reflected on our need for and realization of how caring for one another through worship has better prepared us for the work of transformative care in our professional roles as educators.

A Formative Assessment Of Traditional Undergraduate Students’ Use Of An Ai Learning Platform In Stem Courses, Dane C. Joseph, Rick Muthiah

Faculty Publications - College of Education

A small to midsized university supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education by partnering with a reputable online learning company to provide students and faculty access to artificial intelligence powered textbook problem sets and chatbots. An in-house formative assessment study was conducted in Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 to understand how traditional undergraduate students engaged with the platform. Quantitative results suggests that the general population did not utilize it as much as initially expected. Qualitative findings imply that students might have preferred alternative platforms like ChatGPT, though this may have had nothing to do with the company itself. Overall, …

Virtual Reality In Education: A Thematic Literature Review, Aleksandra Mbuyi

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This literature review combines findings from approximately 40 academic papers on virtual reality in education for readers to gain a broad, structured, and organized understanding of the topic without having to read each of the 40 papers. While researchers define VR in slightly different ways, most definitions focus on VR's ability to create digital simulations of real or imagined environments (Makransky & Lilleholt, 2018). The review is organized around nine themes: conceptualization of VR, pedagogical foundations, instructional design, learning outcomes, learner experience, disciplinary applications, technological constraints, ethics and inclusion, and emerging trends. The findings suggest that VR shows the most …

Visual Word Recognition And The Role Of Diacritics: Evidence From Arabic Vowelization., Maram Alharbi

Linguistics & TESOL Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the role of vowelization diacritics in Arabic visual word recognition and their contribution to early stages of lexical processing. Across writing systems, diacritical marks differ in their functional role and in whether they are part of letter identity, raising fundamental questions about how such features are encoded during word recognition. Arabic provides a particularly informative testing ground for these questions: vowelization diacritics in this language carry rich phonological information yet are systematically absent from the texts that skilled readers encounter daily. This interaction between the linguistic value of vowelization and its near-total omission in naturalistic reading positions …

In The Circle Of My Sistas: Blackmotherscholars (Re)Defining Scholarly Identity, Dawn Stephens Jenkins

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations

This dissertation examines how Black mothers in doctoral programs develop scholarly identities at the intersections of race, gender, and motherhood within historically white academic spaces. Grounded in endarkened narrative inquiry, the study centers the lived experiences and collective reflections of BlackMotherScholars to interrogate how racialized and gendered mothering shapes scholarly becoming. The research responds to a gap in the literature that overlooks Black maternal experiences as sites of intellectual production and identity formation in doctoral education.

Findings indicate that Black mothering serves as an onto-epistemological foundation for scholarly identity development, shaping participants’ ways of knowing, research commitments, and sense of …

Teachers, Dispositions, And Classroom Management: Social Origins, Professional Development, And The Datafication Of School Discipline, Paul L. Poggemeyer

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

How do teachers’ social backgrounds and professional orientations shape the disciplinary and relational dimensions of their work? This dissertation takes up that question across three related but self-contained studies in the sociology of education, set in Central School District, a public school district in the southeastern United States. Each study examines a different facet of how teachers establish authority, manage behavior, and exercise care: the social origins of their orientations toward classroom management, the experience of becoming professionally competent in the early career, and the use of digital tools that increasingly govern how school discipline is recorded. Drawing broadly on …

From Financial Education To Financial Decisions: Evidence On College Financing, Personal Finance Behavior, And Student Attitudes, Dongwei Shi

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

I examine how financial education shapes students’ financial knowledge, college financing decisions, and longer-term financial behavior.

The first chapter studies whether taking high school financial education in Kentucky affects students’ college financing decisions using linked administrative records on high school course-taking and postsecondary financial aid. Using school-level financial education course availability as an instrument, the chapter evaluates whether exposure to financial education is associated with differences in student loan borrowing and receipt of need-based aid.

The second chapter examines whether exposure to state high school financial education mandates improves financial literacy and longer-term personal finance behavior among U.S. adults. Using …

Elevating Teacher Agency In School Decision-Making Through Trust-Building: Applying Appreciative Inquiry Within A Mixed Methods Action Research Framework, Alison S. Bellamy

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This mixed methods action research (MMAR) study examined how Appreciative Inquiry–based professional learning influenced relational trust, teacher voice, and teacher agency in elementary school decision-making within New Hanover County Schools. Grounded in Teacher Agency Theory, Distributed Leadership Theory, and Appreciative Inquiry, the study addressed the gap between teachers’ perceptions of trust and their opportunities to influence school-level decisions. The study was conducted across three mid-quintile elementary schools using a concurrent QUAN–QUAL design. Quantitative data was collected through pre- and post-intervention relational trust surveys. Qualitative data included focus groups, participant reflections, field notes, and collaborative dialogue from two professional learning sessions …

Seeing The Whole Child: Bridging Community Beliefs And Early Intervention, Grace Danladi Saleh

Graduate Research Posters

Background

The first five years of a child’s life are a very important time. What happens during these early years has a big effect on how the child grows, learns to communicate, and relates to others. When caregivers respond warmly and consistently, children tend to do better later on. However, most screening tools used to spot developmental concerns are based mainly on Western ideas of what is normal. These tools often don’t match what many families from different backgrounds believe about child growth, behavior, or communication. As a result, children from diverse communities can be missed or identified too late. …

Promoting Postpartum Maternal Self-Efficacy Through Prenatal Pelvic Floor Health And Sensory Modulation Education, Cate Smith

Occupational Therapy | OTD Capstone Projects

Pelvic floor therapy, also called pelvic floor health care, is an emerging field for occupational therapy practitioners. Pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) is a common health outcome after pregnancy and childbirth. Although most women receive consistent prenatal health care, they do not receive the education they need to manage symptoms of PFD such as incontinence, pain, and sensory dysregulation during the postpartum period. Occupational therapy can play a meaningful role in educating and supporting women during the prenatal period, postpartum healing, and role acquisition. This doctoral capstone project researched educational strategies to improve self-efficacy among perinatal women. Albert Bandura defines self-efficacy …

A Digital Resource To Support Occupational Therapy Fieldwork Students And New Graduates In Applying Occupation-Based Practice In Inpatient Adult Settings, Alyssa Vessel

Occupational Therapy | OTD Capstone Projects

Occupation-based practice is a core concept within the occupational therapy profession. However, Level II fieldwork students and new graduate occupational therapists may struggle to translate their knowledge of occupation-based practice into clinical practice. This doctoral capstone project aimed to support the implementation of occupation-based practice in adult inpatient settings by developing a website with educational and practical resources. Stakeholder needs and existing evidence on barriers and supports to occupation-based practice informed project development. A questionnaire was distributed to Level II fieldwork students, while discussions with new graduate occupational therapists provided an informal needs assessment. Findings guided the development of website …

Challenging Stem Learning Spaces: The Paradigm Of Contemplative Traditions As The Bedrock Of Creativity And Healing, Raaghav Pandya, Christopher Emdin

Publications and Research

As the post-pandemic classroom and pedagogy evolve to remedy oppressive norms, young people’s mental health and alienation has taken front stage (Rahmani & Zitouni, 2022). Traditional STEM learning spaces often teach inquiry as a linear, non-deviated approach to problems about self and nature (Hrisa & Psillos, 2022). Furthermore, because our classrooms often strip students and educators of their inherent creative abilities through constant assessments, improvement scales, and market-driven expectations, classrooms cease to become places of healing (Pandya, 2021). Eastern wisdom traditions and their associated philosophies provide a unique pedagogical lens that emphasizes a deep inquiry into self, empathy, and creativity …

Ancient Wisdom & Its Cultural Relevance: Reimagining Deeper Learning In Science Classrooms Through The Lens Of Yoga And Vedānta, Raaghav Pandya

Publications and Research

Contemporary calls to reconceptualize how science is taught and understood have brought deeper learning to the forefront of education at-large for its emphasis on critical perspectives, creativity, and student-centered inquiry. Yet this paper argues that its prevailing framework remains constrained by Cartesian dualism, a materialist foundation that disassociates the individual from self, other, and nature, and falls short of addressing the mental health, environmental, and cultural challenges facing youth today. To address this limitation, this paper proposes a complementary convergence between deeper learning and the contemplative traditions of Yoga and Vedānta, whose ancient paradigms of self-inquiry, interconnectedness, and well-being offer …

Building Engagement And Bringing Joy: Ungrading An Online, Asynchronous Course, Stephanie M. Margolin, Margaret Bausman

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Rooted In Relationships: How Personal And Workplace Social Capital Help Sustain Principal Leadership, Megan Scelfo

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

It takes five or more years to fully realize a vision for change in any organization (Fullan, 2002; Snodgrass Rangel, 2018), yet the average tenure for a public-school principal in their same school is 4.5 years (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2023). This work adds to our understanding of what factors may improve principal longevity to positively impact school effectiveness. This multiple-case study (Yin, 2018) incorporated a survey and interviews to determine how components of social capital (Bourdieu,1986; Coleman, 1988; Tsounis 2022, Wang et al., 2014) may impact the retention of Pennsylvania public school principals. The survey asked about …

Beyond Superpowers And Stereotypes: Female High School Band Directors Navigating Gendered Expectations In Leadership, Rachael L. Urquhart

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

Female high school band directors (FHSBDs) are significantly underrepresented (approx. 25%) in a male-dominated field. This inequity is sustained by societal gender stereotypes that create a double standard for traits like assertiveness and empathy. This mixed-methods study examined the leadership perceptions and career aspirations of female music teachers and highlighted the career obstacles and encouragements of female high school band directors (FHSBDs) by applying feminist theory to gender roles, self-concept, and leadership conceptualization. A survey of female music teachers yielded 89 responses. Then, 10 FSHBDs participated in a narrative-mapping activity and follow-up interview.

Survey data confirmed that leadership is a …

A Discrit And Anticapitalist Approach To Resisting Hustle Culture And Practicing Slow Education Through Book Club Professional Development, Angela Zhang

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

This thesis highlights hustle culture as a significant issue that impacts education today. While the concern stemmed from a personal experience with so-called burnout, the term “hustle culture” is used to emphasize the systemic nature of the overwork, burnout, and exhaustion that teachers and students face, particularly the intersections of capitalism and ableism. When tracing the history and current manifestations of hustle culture, it becomes clear that educational institutions, policies, practices, and interactions play a major role in normalizing, perpetuating, and romanticizing hustle culture as the pathway to individual success and wealth in a capitalist system. In reality, hustle culture …

Experiences Of Marginalization At The Intersection Of Race, Ethnicity, And Disability In Higher Education, Nora L. Portillo

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Black and Latine college students with disabilities navigate higher education at the intersection of racism and ableism, yet their experiences remain underexamined. Autism and ADHD are particularly underrepresented in research and public discourse; moreover, unlike other disability categories in which students of color are overrepresented, Black and Latine children are less likely than white children to be accurately identified, and both disabilities are often framed around white prototypes. Guided by Disability Critical Race Theory, the present exploratory qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with ten undergraduates identifying as Black and/or Latine and with ADHD and/or on the autism spectrum attending a …

Holding The District Together With Duct Tape And Determiniation: A Study Of Superintendent Stress, Robert Orion Thompson

Dissertations and Theses

Researchers’ work found the superintendent role was increasingly complex. Superintendents experienced elevated stress, burnout, and turnover. However, the ways in which district context and coping strategies interacted to shape superintendent well-being remain insufficiently understood, particularly in rural settings. This study examined how school superintendents perceived and experienced occupational stress, the impact of that stress on their well-being and leadership, and the coping strategies they used. Notably, there was a focus on district size differentiation. Using a qualitative research design, data were collected through two focus groups in the western side of a rural state with superintendents representing districts with large …

Helpful Autism School-Based Services: Perspectives From The People That Received Services, Michael Angelo Grizzaffi

Dissertations and Theses

Transitioning high school students with autism, primarily with a level 1 diagnosis, from high school to independence in young adulthood has evidence-based practices. However, preferences of the students who are receiving services had not been considered before. This study reviews the thoughts of what prior high school students find helpful in the services they receive. Choosing individualized evidence-based practices is ideal for students. Prior high school students' experiences demonstrate the desire for more transition skills teaching. Leading special educators in the skills of some evidence-based practices is required for the individualization of these practices the students need to occur. Leading …