Digital Commons Network^™

Reducing Barriers To Entry: Enhancing Inclusivity And Engagement In Elementary School Extracurricular Programs, Katie A. Monahan

Education Doctorate Dissertations

This mixed-methods action research study explores the barriers and strategies related to developing inclusive extracurricular programs in an urban elementary school. Through stakeholder surveys, interviews, and archival data, the study investigates how extracurricular activities support student engagement, social-emotional learning (SEL), and a sense of belonging, particularly for students from marginalized backgrounds.

Findings highlight persistent barriers, including funding limitations, staffing shortages, logistical challenges, and the absence of a centralized system for tracking participation. These issues disproportionately impact students with disabilities, English Language Learners (ELLs), and those from low-income households. The study also identifies key supports, such as community partnerships and culturally …

Promoting College And Career Ready Readers And Writers: A Guide For English, Science, And Social Studies Teachers To Support Instruction Of Sat Reading And Writing Skills, David Fitzpatrick

Masters Projects

In Michigan and across the United States, student scores on the Evidence Based Reading and Writing section of the SAT have been steadily declining. This project responds to this decline by developing a set of resources for skills-based literacy instruction that English language arts, social studies, and science teachers can use to revise their approaches to teaching literacy skills. Highly effective curriculum design and literacy instruction strategies were reviewed to design guides, templates, and models for practicing high school teachers at all grade levels to adapt in order to improve literacy instruction in their classrooms. By scaffolding literacy skills across …

The Causes And Effects Of Procuring A Culturally Relevant And Sustaining Educational Pedagogy, Lauren Mcneil

Education Doctorate Dissertations

This study investigates the causes and effects of educators adopting a Culturally Relevant and Sustaining Education (CR-SE) pedagogy within our educational system. Three qualitative data collection and analysis pathways are used: thirteen participants are surveyed and interviewed, a policy analysis occurs, and an autoethnographic journal is analyzed. This research explores how cultural conflicts, deficit mindsets, and at-risk labeling contribute to systemic inequities, leading to social suffering for both students and educators. The research examines how educators who develop a critical consciousness navigate these challenges, often experiencing moral injury as they advocate for equitable educational practices. Through qualitative inquiry, this study …

We Speak Life Into Their Language: Black Educators’ Approaches To Linguistic Justice In Urban Secondary Ela Classrooms, Lakeisha A. Davis

Dissertations

This study explores how Black educators navigate linguistic justice, deficit thinking, and stereotypes in urban secondary English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, it examines how teachers affirm Black Language (BL) while balancing the demands of White Mainstream English (WME) in academic spaces. Findings reveal that although educators employ culturally affirming strategies, they face challenges from restrictive language policies and standardized assessments. To counteract these barriers, they adopt negotiation practices that support students’ linguistic and cultural identities. From these findings, the study proposes Dynamic Linguistic Uplift (DLU)—a new theoretical framework that illustrates how Black educators sustain BL …

An Autoethnographic Account Of The Dimensions Of Learning To Teach, Angela Reyes-Carrasquillo, Diane Rodríguez

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

This is a review of the book Navigating Teacher Education in Complex and Uncertain Times by Carmen I. Mercado. The volume offers an autoethnographic narrative of an innovative learning and teaching process in teacher training including her role as a professor responding to the needs of the urban diverse students and their families served. It is an ethnographic contribution where Mercado’s life and work are intertwined. Through a rich autobiographical account, spanning 40 years, Mercado theorizes from her experiences as a teacher and teacher educator, offering powerful lessons to teachers and teachers’ educators alike.

Exploring Middle School Teachers’ Perceptions, Understanding, And Implementation Of Performance-Based Summative Assessments, Gregory A. Walkup

Dissertations

Performance-based summative assessments are increasingly emphasized as an alternative to traditional standardized testing, offering students opportunities to demonstrate learning through authentic, application-based tasks. However, there is limited research on how middle school teachers perceive and implement these assessments in their classrooms. This qualitative case study explored the perceptions and experiences of middle school teachers regarding performance-based summative assessments, investigating both their understanding and the reality of classroom implementation. Data collection methods included semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis to provide a comprehensive view of teacher perspectives and practices. Through thematic analysis, four major themes emerged: Teacher Confidence and Readiness, …

The Influence Of Field Experiences On English Language Teachers' Preparedness: An Analysis Of Teacher Education In Nigeria, Bushroh O. Animashaun

INSPIRE Student Research and Engagement Conference

Brief Context:

• Definition of key terms: teacher education, field experiences.
• Importance of teacher education in language education
• Challenges in the Nigerian education system
• Why focus on teacher education?

Deconstructing Ideological Habits: An Analysis Of An Antiracist Place-Based Education Course, Terry John Stockton

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

White teachers enter culturally and racially diverse urban classrooms ill-prepared to teach. The resulting cultural mismatch contributes to educational disparities, including academic gaps and punitive imparities. Teacher education programs' attempts to address the gaps intend to immunize young teachers to the effects of implicit bias. However, the efforts do little to help teachers recognize how their implicit bias, in the form of ideological habits, created the need for a culturally responsive curriculum in the first place.

As part of a larger project, this study deconstructed three reflective essays assigned during an introductory place-based education course. The post-structural analysis used a …

Exploring Efl Teachers’ Beliefs About Strategy, Scope And Focus In Written Corrective Feedback, Jiahe Gu, Erhan Aslan

Journal of Response to Writing

Effective written feedback is crucial to student learning and fostering writing skills. Responding to student writing is a multi-faceted and complex process which requires a more nuanced understanding in second language writing research. This study explored teachers’ beliefs and practices about written feedback may be influenced by a range of factors. Data were collected from four middle-school English teachers in China via stimulated recall tasks and semi-structured interviews reflecting retrospectivly on how and why teachers gave feedback to student writing. Findings revealed intersections between feedback strategy and learner proficiency level; feedback scope and time constraints and teacher workload; and feedback …

A School-University Research Practice Partnership: Why, How And What's Next, Stephanie Knight, Larry Featherstone

Presentations

This symposium will utilize three unique examples of collaborative research projects taking place under CERI to richly describe features of the partnership. Through the three papers, a summary presentation of features of the overall consortium, discussant comments, and brief Q&A with the presenters, we aim to highlight how CERI is encountering and addressing challenges common to RPPs as well as addressing some emergent and regional issues in innovative ways.

As an RPP, CERI is guided by three broad principles. (1) Mutuality - CERI was developed to benefit both the university and the large local urban school district. Problems of practice …

Preservice Teachers’ Experiences With Critical Self-Reflection As A Means For Identifying Resistances To Becoming Culturally Competent: A Phenomenological Study, Susan Elaine Huff

Dissertations

Preservice teacher programs have been charged with finding ways to make programming more multiculturally inclusive due to the student population in K-12 public schools across the United States becoming increasing racially, culturally, or ethnically more diverse each year. The majority of current educational research surrounding multicultural education, explores the limited diversity in teacher education programs, understanding the cultural competency of the current teachers, and investigating discrepancies within current classroom application. There is little research that considers how preservice teachers use critical self-reflection as a tool for working with diverse student populations during clinical work in their program. Therefore, the purpose …

Reading Between The Lines: Examining The Literacy Preparation And Classroom Realities Of Teachers Of Color, Dr. Cathy D. Kea, Fanica Young, Joy Banks, Annette Teasdell

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This study examines the importance of literacy preparation in educator preparation programs (EPPs). Specifically, the authors examine the need to merge literacy practices with culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies to increase reading outcomes for diverse students with disabilities. This article reports on a survey that was distributed to 18 dually prepared teachers of color to explore their collective literacy preparation experiences. The participants were graduates of a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). The findings indicate that regardless of the institution’s location, EPPs, including those at HBCUs, should be intentional about addressing topics related to diversity. For early career educators …

Language And Literacy In Early Childhood Education: Hybrid Syllabus, Michele De Goeas-Malone

Open Educational Resources

Language and Literacy in Early Childhood Education is a capstone course, which means it is a core course in the education degree that offers students nearing graduation the opportunity to integrate their learning to help them address issues in education related to the development of language and literacy from birth to 8 years of age. This course is also a writing intensive course. That means that you will be engaged in several high and low stakes writing activities throughout the semester.

This course is designed to promote your understanding of the importance of issues concerning language and literacy in early …

Border Thinking Through Diverse Modalities: An Ethnographic Case Study Of The Multimodal, Multiliteracy, And Translanguaging Practices Of Latinx Emergent Bilingual Youth, Romelia Rodri­Guez Reyes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This three-article dissertation explores how translanguaging, multimodality, and multiliteracies intersect to support the learning, identity formation, and meaning-making practices of Latinx emergent bilingual middle school students in El Paso, Texas, a border city shaped by transfronterizx realities. Guided by the frameworks of Border Thinking (Mignolo, 2000) and Pedagogy of Border Thinking (Cervantes-Soon and Carrillo, 2016), this study foregrounds the cultural, linguistic, and epistemic fluidity that characterizes borderland communities. I approach this work as a bricoleur (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994); the three-article format allowed me to center distinct but interconnected theoretical and methodological orientations, reflecting my commitment to situated, decolonial knowledge …

Examining Within- And Cross-Language Relationships And Quantitative Methods In Spanish-English Dual Language Learners' School Readiness Skills, Shaunacy R. Sutter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The aims of this three paper dissertation are as follows: First, to examine the cross-domain associations between school readiness skills, including oral language, literacy, and math skills, within and across languages in Spanish-English speaking DLLs in PreK. Second, to explore the cross-domain associations between oral language, literacy, and mathematics skills at varying levels of literacy and math achievement. Finally, to review the quantitative methods used in research on school readiness skills and the home and classroom contextual factors that support these skills for Spanish-English speaking DLLs in the United States over the past decade. Spanish-English speaking DLLs enter early childhood …

Navigating The College-To-Career Transition: Social Capital And Career Readiness Of First-Generation College Students Participating In The Professional Skills Mentoring Program, Olivia T. Davis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates how first-generation college (FGC) students utilize social capital to navigate the challenging transition from college to career, addressing a critical gap in the literature given the increasing emphasis on post-graduation employment and the unique obstacles these students face. FGC students often lack the same access to professional networks and career resources as their peers, highlighting the need for targeted support programs. This research explores the impact of the Professional Skills Mentoring Program (PSMP) on FGC student career readiness.

Drawing on Yosso's (2005) Community Cultural Wealth framework, this qualitative case study examines how FGC students leverage their diverse …

Persistence, Mentorship, And Educational Achievement: Exploring The Daca Student Experience, Patricia F. Mejabi

Education Doctorate Dissertations

The study aimed to understand demographic, cultural, and ecological factors, as well as supportive assets like mentorship on the academic persistence and educational achievement of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students. DACA protects qualified individuals who arrived in the United States as children from deportation and grants them lawful permission to seek employment and educational opportunities.

Interviews of DACA students, and mentors and advocates of DACA students, were conducted to identify similarities, differences, and common themes. Despite DACA protection positively impacting the students' financial and academic success, limited socioeconomic conditions created a need for guidance or mentorship to help …

Classroom Teachers' Approaches To Values Education: Exploring Explicit And Implicit Strategies For Teaching And Modeling Values, Maria Ukamaka Clare Okeke

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Abstract This study explores the approaches Nigerian secondary school teachers in Anambra State use to teach values through explicit and implicit methods. Recognizing the need to understand how values are effectively communicated in the classroom, this research delves into the dual strategies employed by educators and their impacts on student moral development. The research used a qualitative interview study approach, which included semi-structured interviews with ten experienced secondary school teachers and a document analysis of teaching resources. This method allows one to investigate the explicit instruction and implicit modeling strategies applied in values education in depth. Findings reveal that teachers …

Storytelling As Research Methodology And Pedagogy: Connecting The Researcher And Practitioner Through Narrative Inquiry, David Wolff

The Interactive Journal of Global Leadership and Learning

The most effective teachers are reflective teachers. Reflective teachers are curious about their pedagogy and their impact on student learning and often seek out opportunities to formalize their reflective process and share their stories about their teaching practices. Teachers’ knowledge is founded in their stories of experience (Ciuffetelli et al., 2011). The author positions themselves as the researcher in this autoethnographic narrative inquiry, or self-study. As the researcher, they use the narrative inquiry methodology to study themselves and explore the learning process of using storytelling in their Social Studies methods course in a Teacher Education program while exploring the research …

Mitigating The Negative Effects Of Over And Early Exposure To Media With Joint Media Engagement: A Literature Review, Mary K. Littlepage

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

This paper examines the negative impact of over and early exposure to media on children’s developmental domains. Among other deleterious effects, early and over exposure to media has been associated with attention deficits, language delays, and interrupted social interactions. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) addresses these concerns with recommendations, discouraging the use of screens for children birth to eighteen months and recommends that children over two years old limit their viewing to one to two hours or less per day (AAP Council on Communications and Media, 2016). For children within the recommended viewing and age parameters, many studies have …

Scaffolding Learning In Science Class With Literacy Strategies, Katelyn Collins, Sue Lasky Dr.

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

The purpose of this study is to explore the efficacy of integrating literacy-based pedagogic strategies into science inquiry skills in a 6th-grade science classroom in Berea, Kentucky. This school district's student test scores are low in science, presumably tied to low informational literacy skills. This mixed-method study triangulated data from four weeks of lesson plans, two classroom observations, and four weeks of teacher analytic reflective notes. School i-Ready reading diagnostic data was also examined for pre-intervention and post-intervention conditions. Key findings of this research indicate increased student engagement and enthusiasm when practicing literacy pedagogical strategies in science class and a …

Guardians Or Bystanders? Examining School Shooting Responses In The Southern United States, Andre L. Tompkins Ed.D.

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

School shootings challenge educational safety, demanding effective leadership strategies. The Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, which claimed the lives of 19 children and 2 teachers, heightened concerns about campus vulnerabilities, urging administrators to prioritize student protection. I performed a qualitative study interviewing principals, teachers, parents, and community leaders to examine their experiences addressing campus threats. The findings revealed three themes: (1) ineffective leadership affects campus safety, (2) prompt actions enhance trust in leadership, and (3) connecting with others enhances safety. In this study, I spotlight the crucial role that proactive leadership plays in building the coalitions needed to …

Oer Learning In Disguise Toolkit, Alessandra Early, Nicole Mckenna

Open Educational Resources

The OER Learning in Disguise Toolkit, created by Doctors Alessandra Early and Nicole McKenna, is a series of learning materials that ask students to apply key criminal justice concepts to arenas like social media or popular culture, emphasizing media literacy, active reading, and creative thinking. The toolkit includes an introduction; five assignment descriptions (each divided into an instructor-facing section with notes on how to explain the assignment, and a student-facing section with the sample assignment description); one in-class activity; and an appendix with additional readings and materials.

Bridging The Knowledge Gap: Professional Development Connecting Educators And Caregivers Of Multilingual Learners, Mihaela Gazioglu, Emily Howell, Rebecca Kaminski, Victoria Pennington, Nicole Ferguson-Sams, Kavita Mittapalli, Amlan Banerjee

Publications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the professional growth of a cohort of teachers working with multilingual learners (MLs) during an MEd program and their recommendations for the development of a literacy course for ML caregivers. In addition, this study explores whether the school district capacity supports teacher growth, as reflected through district representatives’ feedback.

Design/methodology/approach – This design-based research study, informed by the culturally relevant pedagogy and dual capacity building frameworks, explores 30 in-service K-12 teachers and 11 district representatives. Data were collected through semestrial surveys and research logs over two years using mixed methods. …

From Awareness To Action: Caregivers’ Roles In Multilingual Learners’ Literacy Development, Mihaela Gazioglu, Lindsey W. Rowe, Emily Howell, Victoria Pennington, Nicole Ferguson-Sams, Kavita Mittapalli, Amlan Banerjee

Publications

This design-based research study, grounded in the theoretical framework of dual capacity building, explored the impact of a literacy course on multilingual learners’ caregivers, focusing on their knowledge and self-efficacy in supporting their children’s literacy development. Findings revealed a collaborative process between caregivers and researchers, where caregivers contributed insights into their learning needs and influenced the course’s development and implementation. At the end of the course, caregivers’ average self-efficacy score showed a statistically significant 21% increase, while their knowledge ratings increased by 15%. Beyond academic support, the course significantly increased caregivers’ confidence in navigating school systems, understanding school procedures, and …

Villain Or Victor: Advocating For Middle Level Students In The Face Of Systemic Challenges, Dywanna Smith, Kenesha Johnson, Jada Williams, Myles-Anthony Johnson

South Carolina Association for Middle Level Education Journal

Middle level students often face significant systemic challenges that can hinder their academic and personal development, positioning them in narratives where they are perceived as “villains” instead of “victors.” This paper explores the role of educators as advocates for these students, drawing parallels between the concept of superhero villains— figures who, like many students, are misunderstood or marginalized by society. Preservice educators will examine historical examples of heroes, who were initially viewed as villains for challenging the status quo but later celebrated for their transformative impact. Grounded in the principles of This We Believe (2020) by the Association for Middle …

Exploring Service Quality In Gambian Public Universities In The Dawn Of Massification: Perceptions Of Internal Authorities, Yankuba Yabou, Precious Nyoni

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objective: The purpose of our study was to explore the perceptions of internal authorities of public universities in The Gambia—with a focus on the University of The Gambia (UTG)—on service quality amid massification and thereby elicit their recommendations.

Method: This qualitative case study of service quality in public universities in the Gambia employed content analysis of data collected through semi-structured interviews to ascertain categories.

Results: The results showed an unfavorable view of the quality of all the factors observed—physical environment quality, core educational quality, and transformative quality. Despite efforts of the university administration to enhance the quality of education, the …

A Call To Threaten Systemic Inequities Through Critical ‎Crosscultural Communicative Competence In Future Teachers: ‎Engaging Els In Stem Using A Critical Conceptual Framework, Abdelilah Salim Sehlaoui, Hassan Zaid

Journal of STEM Teacher Education

This article shares a critical conceptual framework to threaten ‎systemic ‎inequities through computer-assisted language learning (CALL) using a critical ‎crosscultural communicative competence (C⁵) and equity literacy to engage English ‎learners (ELs) in ‎Science, ‎Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The proposed critical conceptual framework is compatible with ways of thinking in STEM-based problem solving (English, 2023). To achieve this goal, a theory adaptation ‎critical research design was used with a sociocultural analysis and a modified transactional ‎epistemology critical approach. The paper argues for building a critical conceptual framework that is based fundamentally on a critical view of equity literacy …

Innovative Instruction To Cultivate Young Adolescents’ Creativity In A Virtual Environment, Stacie K. Pettit, Christi L. Pace, Dawn Jeffers, Emily Harrison

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

The unique needs of high-ability young adolescents should be met just as those students with other diverse needs even when instruction becomes virtual. This paper highlights the work of two teachers who overcame the challenges of remote and hybrid learning to provide quality lessons on creativity, logic, and problem solving. They are accomplishing this for 4th and 5th grade students in their gifted program through project-based learning and other lessons situated around creativity. The strategies presented that encourage students to exercise creativity would be beneficial for all students.

Evolution Of Teachers’ Perspectives On Family Engagement: Building Dual Capacity For Multilingual Learners, Lindsey W. Rowe, Hazel Vega, Emily Howell, Katie M. Crook, C C. Bates, Kavita Mittapelli, Amlam Banerjee

Publications

Family engagement in multilingual learner education offers benefits associated with improved academic performance, stronger parent-teacher communication, and more inclusivity of cultural and linguistic diversity. Responding to calls for professional development that enables teachers to meaningfully involve families, this paper draws from surveys and course assignments to examine how teachers expanded their perceptions about the incorporation of multilingual learner families in a graduate program. We conclude by discussing implications for teacher professional development with specific attention to how teachers can integrate multilingual learner families.