Digital Commons Network^™

The Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences And Professional Quality Of Life: Assessing Secondary Traumatic Stress, Burnout, And Compassion Satisfaction In Minnesota Teachers, Jaclyn Rehmke

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and professional quality of life among Minnesota special education teachers, focusing on compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. Participants included special education teachers who provided special education services to students in kindergarten through transition programs, held Tier 3 or Tier 4 teaching licenses, and had taught for at least 1 school year during the 2022-23, 2023-24, or 2024-25 academic years. A total of 1,025 teachers completed an online survey distributed via Qualtrics, which included the Adverse Childhood Experience Questionnaire and the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL5). Descriptive statistics …

Why I Stay: A Qualitative Appreciative Inquiry Study Exploring Teacher Longevity In An Urban Educational Settings, Rachel Renee Jorgensen

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teacher shortages have become a critical issue across various educational settings, with urban schools experiencing disproportionate levels of teacher attrition (Lamboy, 2023; Wiggan et al., 2021). This study investigated the philosophical and pedagogical perspectives of teachers who demonstrated longevity in urban educational settings. The research focused on the following question: how do teachers who sustain long-term careers in urban schools approach their work? Sub-questions explored the relationship between teacher beliefs, preparation, and perspectives in fostering job satisfaction and career commitment in these settings. The study employed a qualitative approach that included semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis to explore the lived …

The Impact Of Administrator-Led Walkthroughs On Teacher Self-Efficacy, Kerri Templeton

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This qualitative phenomenological study explored how administrator-led instructional walkthroughs influence teacher self-efficacy in one public school district located in West Virginia. Guided by Bandura’s (1977) framework of self-efficacy, the research examined the lived experiences of teachers and administrators who participated in regularly scheduled walkthroughs as part of a district-wide instructional leadership initiative. Data were collected through open-ended surveys with PK–12 teachers and administrators and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis to identify patterns and themes related to the perceived impact of the walkthrough process.

Findings revealed that when walkthroughs were conducted with clear purpose, relational trust, and consistent, meaningful feedback, they …

Student Affairs Professionals' Perspectives As First-Generation College Students, Tiffany Lynn Hartman

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The qualitative study aimed to investigate the perceptions of student affairs professionals (SAPs) who identify as first-generation college students (FGCSs). SAPs are essential in supporting institutional missions, yet the field faces high attrition rates, particularly among earlycareer professionals. By examining these SAPs' perceptions regarding their professional experiences, along with the support received and influences on their career paths, we may better understand the barriers to workplace inclusion and career readiness. Although much research explores the factors driving attrition among SAPs, limited attention is paid to the SAPs whose identities as FGCS impact their professional experiences and influence their decisions to …

Ua68/6 Newsletter, Wku Gender & Women's Studies

WKU Administration Documents

Newsletter created by and about the WKU Gender & Women's Studies program.

Special Education Student Success Factors For The Online K-12 Learning Setting, Cassie Castro

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the dynamics of teacher-student communication and its impact on the academic success of students receiving special education services in grades 6–12 within an online school setting. With the growing adoption of online education, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding how communication frequency, types of communication, and the mode of interaction (e.g. synchronous versus asynchronous) affect student outcomes is important. Grounded in the CoI Framework, this quantitative analysis examines the relationship between teacher-student communication and course passing rates for students receiving special education services. The analysis addresses three key questions: how the frequency, type, and mode of communication …

Barriers To Success In Higher Education For Second-Generation Caribbean American Men, Leonard S. Breton

Theses and Dissertations

While the United States may be progressing, second-generation Caribbean American men, those with at least one foreign-born parent (US Census Bureau, 2016), are a population that, despite literature addressing benefits and detriments of their cultural experiences, still warrants continued examination through empirical testing (Lyttle et al., 2011). These students have a range of factors that make them nontraditional students. Challenges such as racism, sexual and ethnic identity, and generational status in this country can be compounded when cultural perspectives of immigrant families are factored in. Caribbean American men are guided by learned behaviors and cultural traditions that influence training and …

School Personnel Perceptions Of School-Based Mental Health Prevention And Interventions, Kelsey Lytle

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Despite millions of children across the United States experiencing at least one mental health disorder about half do not receive any sort of treatment or counseling. Within schools, many children receive formal intervention services once they are identified. However, there are many other children who would benefit greatly from learning social emotional skills who have not been identified. Prevention could be a great resource to prevent children from falling through the cracks. The purpose of this study was to assess personnel perceptions on the school’s role in student mental health, mental health interventions and prevention, evidence-based practices, and barrier to …

"This College Is Run By Women": The Narratives Of Overburdened And Burnt-Out Community College Women Faculty, Lindsay Spence Carson

Dissertations of Practice

At community colleges, a noticeable gender divide exists among faculty who participate in college operations, such as committee and service work, department chair and other leadership positions, as well as unpaid labor. This narrative inquiry explored how tenured community college women faculty experience the gendered division of labor and privilege. I was particularly interested in the ways in which their experiences influence burnout and how community college structures, policies, practices, and social norms perpetuate gender differences in labor distribution. Ten participants who represent three midwestern community colleges, a variety of academic divisions and departments, and who are in different stages …

Quality Control: How School Districts Define, Recruit, And Retain High-Quality Teachers, A Qualitative Case Study, Tandalaya White

Dissertations of Practice

This research investigates how school administrators define, recruit, and retain highquality teachers and examines the implications of these efforts on student outcomes. Emphasizing the distinction between teacher quality: skills, abilities, and dispositions and teacher qualifications: certificates, degrees, and credentials, the study explores their overlap and importance in meeting the unique needs of districts, particularly in high-needs areas such as English as a second language (ESL) and special education. The presence or absence of such teachers critically impacts academic performance and social-emotional development, disproportionately affecting students of color and those in impoverished areas. Inadequate practices may contribute to the misidentification of …

Team Teaching As Honors Faculty Professional Development, Richard Badenhausen

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Discusses how team teaching may serve as professional learning and development for honors faculty in higher education and why it is valuable to frame it as such.

An Edifying Honors Collaboration, Rebecca C. Bott-Knutson, Jonathan D. Kotinek, Hedi M. Appel, Joy L. Hart, Paul Knox, Andrea Radasanu, Daniel M. Roberts, Timothy J. Nichols, Leigh E. Fine, William L. Ziegler, Mary Bryk, Susan Sumner, Rachael Budowle, Kaetlyn Cordingly, Graham E. Bastian, Noah Roerig, Adam Stroud, Keith Garbutt

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

In this chapter, we describe how one honors collaborative was formed, how it functions, and how it continues to evolve. For members of this collaborative, it has been an extraordinary professional journey with edifying impacts as we have been instructed, improved, and enlightened by our involvement.

Our collaborative emerged as a space to engage with colleagues across the nation with the common goal of better preparing honors students to tackle the grand challenges we face as a society (Appel et al., 2023). It comprises a network of honors leaders from 14 universities representing a variety of land-grant, Historically Black Colleges …

Hacking Through The Silos: Honors Faculty Development, Joy L. Hart, Rebecca C. Bott-Knutson, Hedi M. Appel, Jonathan D. Kotinek, Paul Knox, Susan Sumner, Noah Roerig, William L. Ziegler, Leigh E. Fine

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Based on our work with a multi-institutional honors hackathon, we examine the faculty benefits of planning and leading hackathons, focusing especially on enhanced understanding across disciplines—or hacking through academic silos.

Where Honors Education And Faculty Development Meet: Front And Back Matter, John Zubizarreta, Victoria M. Bryan

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Front and back matter

Where Honors Education and Faculty Development Meet [NCHC Monograph Series], John Zubizarreta and Victoria M. Bryan, editors

Lincoln, Nebraska, United States: National Collegiate Honors Council, 2025

Includes:

Front and back covers

Table of contents

Acknowledgments

Foreword, Victoria Mundy Bhavsar and Suketu P. Bhavsar

Introduction, John Zubizarreta and Victoria M. Bryan

About the authorsAbout the NCHC Monograph Series

List of NCHC monographs and journals

NCHC publications order form

From the back cover:

This volume contains an assorted collection of theoretical and practical essays that demonstrate the value of collaborations between honors programs or colleges and faculty development, …

Perceptions Of School-Based Occupational Therapists Regarding The Access To Educator Credential Pathways In Kentucky, Jill Edlin

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Capstone Projects

Background: In Kentucky public schools, occupational therapists are employed as classified staff without access to educator credential pathways. This study explores occupational therapist’s perceptions of how those state-level structures impact recognition, collaboration, leadership, and day-to-day practice within the educational system context. Purpose: This qualitative descriptive study examines school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of how the absence of educator credential pathways influences their professional practice, collaboration, and leadership in Kentucky public schools. Research objectives focus on describing Kentucky school-based occupational therapists’ perceptions of leadership opportunities as shaped by state educator credentialing. Objectives also focus on exploring how credentialing influences interprofessional collaboration with …

An Exploration Of Teacher Exodus In Predominantly African American Secondary Public Schools Amid Covid-19, Keith Demond Ford

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

For some time, K-12 teachers across America have been resigning from classrooms in large numbers. Like many of the nation’s communities, schools in American neighborhoods of color have seen an overwhelming amount of teacher resignations amid the COVID-19 pandemic. According to existing literature, education’s traditional systemic norms and health protocols which were initiated during COVID-19 motivated classroom teachers to leave their jobs. This qualitative study uses a phenomenological methodology as it discovers that an interrelatedness of factors influences six participants to resign from their classroom teaching roles at predominantly African American middle and high schools during and immediately following …

Case Study Exploring How Data-Driven Decision-Making Influences Culture At A Title I Elementary School, Cameron K. Ramirez

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

This qualitative case study explores how data-driven decision-making influences school culture at a Title I elementary school in Texas. Grounded in the conceptual frameworks of data-driven decision-making (Gill et al., 2014) and transformational leadership (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2005), this study investigated how school leaders and staff implement, interpret, and sustain data practices within a high-accountability context. Using a phenomenological approach, interviews were conducted with the principal, assistant principal, two instructional specialists, and three teachers, and artifacts were collected for data triangulation. The findings revealed that effective data use is cultivated through immersive, contextualized professional learning, collaborative systems, leadership modeling, and …

¡Adelante Mujer!: Testimonios Of Chicana And Latina High School Principals, Blanca Rocio Esquivel

CGU Theses & Dissertations

As the Latinx student population in U.S. public schools grows incrementally, equitable representation in school leadership remains disproportionately limited. Despite accounting for over 25% of high school enrollments nationwide, Latinas hold only around 4-6% of public high school principal positions (NCES 2022). This lack of proportional leadership representation restricts a school system’s capacity to provide optimized culturally responsive environments, benefiting Latinx youth. Furthermore, it limits advancement opportunities for aspiring Chicana and Latina leaders despite research confirming their effectiveness in spearheading academic improvements. While past scholarship has broadly explored facilitators and barriers for women educational leaders, few studies specifically document the …

Educational Behavioral Strategies For Students Who Have Encountered Adverse Childhood Experiences, Andrea J. Sullivan

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) affect approximately 1 in 4 children in the United States, often resulting in behavioral and developmental challenges within school settings. This qualitative case study applied Thomas et al.’s (2019) trauma-informed framework to examine the extent to which 15 Title I elementary teachers in a rural West Virginia district implemented evidence-based practices to address trauma-related behaviors. Using semi-structured virtual interviews and a peer-reviewed protocol, data were thematically analyzed across key domains including trauma screening, interdisciplinary collaboration, positive behavior intervention systems (PBIS), cognitive-behavioral strategies, restorative practices, multitiered systems of support (MTSS), social emotional learning (SEL), and family engagement. …

Enacting Change In Student Support Services To Meet The Needs Of Evolving Student Demographics, Justin Schuch

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examined the change management leadership strategies employed by Chief Student Affairs Officers (CSAOs) to address the needs of an increasingly diverse student population at midwestern institutions of higher education. The change management leadership strategies employed by seven CSAOs to address the mismatch between the increasing diversity of college student populations and the institutions’ readiness to meet these students' diverse needs were drawn from using in-depth interviews, review of enrollment data, and institutional planning documents. The three research questions guiding this study yielded four major themes. The first theme is related to how CSAOs identify areas for development …

Completions 2024-25, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

IPEDS

Welcome to the IPEDS Completions survey component. The Completions component is one of several IPEDS components that is conducted during the Fall data collection period. It collects the number of degrees and certificates awarded by field of study, level of award, race/ethnicity, and gender. The reporting period for the Completions component is during the12-month time period beginning July 1 of the previous calendar year and ending June 30 of the current calendar year; therefore, for this year’s Completions component, the reporting period is between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024. The Completions component is also collecting the number of …

Saving Tomorrow: The Triumphs And Tribulations Of Innovational Behavioral, Social-Emotional, Or Mental Health Support In A Rural Public School, Andrea Powell

Dissertations and Theses

Although some research has established the use of diffusion of innovation in technical fields, few studies show its utilization in public schools. This qualitative case study aimed to understand the trials and tribulations associated with implementing behavioral, social-emotional, or mental health support in a rural K–12th public school. Further, this study sought to understand how innovation diffuses throughout public school districts. Specifically, this qualitative study analyzed the perception of innovation through survey data collected from teachers and administrators in a rural K–12th grade public school district. When implementing behavioral, social-emotional, or mental health supports in a rural school, five themes …

Current Practices In Training Paraeducators: A Literature Review, Rebekah Pearson

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

I conducted a brief literature review to examine current practices for training paraeducators in school settings. I reviewed literature published after 2010 using an online database. Using an author-made inclusion criterion, 13 articles were considered for review. Findings suggest that behavior skills training (BST), brief performance feedback, didactic training, and a strategy instruction framework are currently being used to train paraeducators. These trainings have yielded positive results in increasing desired paraeducator behaviors. I conclude by discussing the limitations and directions for future research.

Leadership Academy: Fostering Honors Faculty Growth Through Peer-To-Peer Learning, Chelsea Redger-Marquardt, Doug Stucky, Cindi Mason, Bobby Berry, Samantha Gregus, Kimberly Engber

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Discusses the Lead for Tomorrow program at the Cohen Honors Leadership Academy at Wichita State University, fostering honors faculty growth through peer-to-peer learning.

From Classrooms To Communities: Integrating The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Into Honors Education, Megan Mcilreavy, Pamela L. Martin

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Embracing the United National Education for Sustainable Development (SDG) framework empowers students to reflect on their actions and understand current and future social, cultural, economic, and environmental issues from local and global perspectives. Inherent in the concept of lifelong learning, these values should resonate with our next generation of students (Gen Z) who, studies show, are making career choices that contribute to making real changes on our planet. Leveraging different institutional strengths, honors programs and colleges can tailor their education within the framework that SDG provides to accommodate various needs that will benefit the institution itself.

Honors Capstones And Self-Authorship: A Case Study, Chelsea Mckeirnan

Honors in Practice Online Archive

While self-authorship theory posits that students who actively define and articulate their values and goals are better positioned for post-collegiate success, little has been done to examine curricular opportunities for self-authorship in the context of honors education. This case study explores the potential for self-authorship development within an honors capstone preparation course at a southwestern regional university. Author observes that such a course provides students with opportunities for self-authorship development and self-efficacy by offering provocative moments and granting autonomy for decision-making. Results suggest that the design and structure of honors capstones can support the growth and development of honors students …

Envisioning Honors As Complex Problem Solving, Pat Akos, Nathan Hicks

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Honors education can maximize student well-being and career-life readiness by integrating a range of wicked problems and design thinking. This approach fosters interdisciplinary learning, critical thinking, and the development of innovative problem solvers. The authors introduce student choice and design thinking throughout the first three courses of an honors interdisciplinary minor at a large, public R1 university and consider its pedagogical implications.

Honors Thesis Proposal Course Components, Lynn Stallings, Anete Vásquez

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Completion of an undergraduate thesis can be a transformational experience for honors students because they learn that they can contribute original intellectual thought to the record of scholarly knowledge. This essay considers how the misconceptions and challenges of an honors thesis can discourage students from undertaking the task. Authors describe the design, delivery, sequencing, resources, and administration of a junior-level thesis proposal course aimed at abating student anxiety over and supporting faculty engagement of thesis work. The Hopscotch Model, a tool to help novice researchers thoroughly design qualitative research studies while learning the philosophical underpinnings of a particular form of …

Development Of An Honors Leadership Academy Experience, Samantha Gregus, Chelsea Redger-Marquardt, Bobby Berry, Doug Stucky, Cindi Mason, Kimberly Engber

Honors in Practice Online Archive

This essay presents a leadership academy in honors, an interdisciplinary offering co-taught by a team of five faculty combining in-course curriculum with travel-based experiential learning. Authors describe the academy’s inception, development, and curricular objectives and outcomes, as well as the experiences of four student cohorts (2021–2024). Focusing on interdisciplinary approaches to community-based problem solving, students (n ≈ 8–14) learn the Social Change Model of Leadership Development framework; engage in self-reflective exercises relating to leadership values and attitudes; partner with a local nonprofit organization; use design thinking methodology to solve a specific organizational challenge; and collaboratively work in teams to …

Toward A Welcoming Classroom: Assessment Of Student Perceptions Of Writing Education In Introductory Honors College Courses, Hilary K. Snow

Honors in Practice Online Archive

This study examines student perceptions of an introductory-level writing program in honors at a large, public R1 university. Author considers the efficacy of pedagogical interventions aimed at identifying gaps in the experience of writing for students from BIPOC and first-generation backgrounds and at developing more inclusive teaching practices. Collective revisions to the program’s writing philosophy, objectives, and rubrics helped instructors gain clarity and consistency across sections. A two-part survey was conducted at the beginning and end of the semester, and metrics were calculated for all respondents (N = 176) and targeted subgroups (n = 37; n = 30). …