Digital Commons Network^™

Measuring The Connective Action Of Black Lives Matter Activists: A Psychometric Investigation Into Twitter Data, Paige Alfonzo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many protest movements from the last twenty-first century have become increasingly networked and personalized. Several scholars have tapped into this change coining terms such as participatory action, digitally mediated action, computer-mediated communication, issue-based organization, and what I focus on in this project, connective action. Building on the ideas percolating across the literary landscape at the time, Bennett and Segerberg (2012) introduced the logic of connective action based on emergent characteristics they observed in post-2010 large-scale social movements. Both the logic of connective action and related work have become deeply ingrained in today's social movement scholarship. As such, I felt it …

How Parents, Teachers, Psychologists, And Educational Environments Influence Developmental Transitions Of Preadolescent Twice-Exceptional Students, Karen B. Arnstein

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this collective case study was to examine the perceived developmental transitions of preadolescent, twice-exceptional students to understand both the supports and barriers from the perspective of parents, teachers, and psychologists. The case for this study, located in a western U.S. state, was a private school educating twice-exceptional students. The research questions guiding the study included the following: How do parents perceive growth in both academic and psychosocial development? How do educators perceive growth in both academic and psychosocial development? What are the supports that promote successful developmental transitions? What are the barriers that inhibit successful developmental transitions? …

Social Work, Social Justice, And The Causes To Which We Are Called: Attitudes, Ally Behavior, And Activism, Brittanie Atteberry Ash

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As a profession, social work has codified within its ethical guidance and educational policies a commitment to social justice. While social justice is enumerated in several guiding documents, social work continues to lack consensus on both the meaning and merit of social justice (Abramovitz, 1993; Funge, 2011; Hong & Hodge, 2009; Specht & Courtney, 1995; Van Soest & Garcia, 2003). Due to the lack of agreement within the profession about the centrality and meaning of social justice, many educational practices, attitudes, and actions of those working within the profession may not align with socially just ideals that are codified in …

Impacted Youth: Why School Psychologists Need To Consider Diverse Approaches Of Support, L. Morgan Beidleman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines trends among youth who are highly impacted by multiple adverse experiences. It outlines potential patterns of risk and protective factors often experienced by this population and encourages school psychologists to recognize, consider, and advocate for the needs of these youth. It goes on to describe and interpret the cultural practices of Leadership Coffeehouse, a Denver-based social enterprise that seeks to support disconnected youth through professional development and hands-on learning. Finally, because of the unique training school psychologists receive, considerations for expanding the role into non-traditional educational settings are proposed.

People And Place: A Journey Through Film, Tourism, And Heritage, Sarah Beals

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Old Tucson Studios is a theme park where film, tourism, and heritage all converge through the American Western genre. During national social change, Westerns increase in number to reflect national values and identity. Westerns that ally with landscapes and people are potentially the most powerful storytelling tool in mainstream media. My research shows that this paring of people and place creates a prevailing image in the audience’s memory. The results suggest that the current image of the West comes from films made between 1951-1970, despite there being newer Westerns. John Wayne and saguaro cactus are enduring images with historic, cultural, …

School Facet Through Surrounding Factors: A Geospatial Analysis Of Community Social Capital Impacting Elementary Schools, Sajjid Budhwani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School performance rating is an important factor which not only provides a quick snapshot of how the students are performing on various measurement indicators but also decides a school’s future course of actions, strategies, resources, and its existence. Despite its significant importance, the school performance framework does not consider where the schools are geographically located and the surrounding factors within which they operate. The researcher of this study presented a landscape of the surrounding factors and its impact on the elementary schools within Denver Public Schools district. In this study, the surrounding factors are geospatially analyzed to determine the extent …

Pivotal Perceptions: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Trauma-Informed Practices In An Urban School, Marni Choice-Hermosillo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological study sought to examine the experiences of teachers in an urban K-8 school after a system-wide whole school implementation of trauma-informed practices. The practices teachers implemented in their classrooms that aligned with their personal perceptions of trauma-informed practices and its efficacy were explored. Additionally, the personal and professional barriers to implementation were also investigated. Identified practical strategies at both the elementary and middle school levels included establishing and maintaining relational trust and classroom community, actively teaching emotional regulation skills, and teaching and reinforcing rituals, routines and expectations throughout the school year. Lack of confidence and previous personal assumptions …

Supporting The Affective Needs Of Gifted Readers: An Educational Criticism And Connoisseurship Study, Kimberly G. Freed

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this Educational Criticism and Connoisseurship Study was to analyze the perceptions of parents and teachers of reading supports and barriers on the affective development of gifted readers. The research questions that guided this study were: What do parents and teachers perceive as the most effective reading supports that promote the affective development of young gifted readers? What do parents and teachers perceive as the major barriers that hinder the affective development of elementary gifted readers? How can children’s literature be used to support or hinder the affective development of gifted readers? Participants of this study were parents …

Portraits Of Professional Collaboration: Faculty-Librarian Teaching Partnerships, Carrie L. Forbes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many regional accrediting organizations for higher education have embraced information literacy as a key component for both student success and student learning outcomes. Through embedded librarianship practices, librarians are now taking a leading role in developing and promoting users’ information literacy skills and in adopting an active classroom teaching approach. Faculty-librarian team teaching is a best practice for integrating information literacy into the higher education curricula, but the extant research has largely focused on the barriers to collaboration. Using Walsh and Kahn’s (2010) model of “collaborative working” as a conceptual framework, this dissertation explores the qualities and characteristics of four …

Manifestations: Displays Of Internal Beliefs And Perspectives, Manuel Ferreira

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aims at better understanding and sharing the internal beliefs, influences, and insights of specific Field Museum staff in regard to exhibitions and the future of the Field Museum. It is people that make up museums and create exhibitions, and their beliefs not only influence and guide them, but also their institution and what they develop. Grounded in museum anthropology, and framed by new and critical museology, entanglement, contact zones, museum as method, and a queer mezclando (mixing) perspective, this research employs museum ethnography as a way of exploring relations and meanings among museum staff, beliefs, and manifestations. In …

Gifted Identification In Young, Historically Underrepresented Populations: A Phenomenological Study, Meryl A. Faulkner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the implications of the low numbers of identified gifted young, historically underrepresented students. The research questions that guided this study were: what are educators’ experiences of the gifted identification process of young, historically underrepresented students? What are parents’ experiences of the gifted identification process for their young, historically underrepresented child?

Participants were parents of a student from an underrepresented population (American Indian or Alaskan Native, Latinx, Black or African American, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander) identified gifted in second grade or younger or educators who were involved in the …

Living The Dream: Building Self-Determination To Improve Postsecondary Outcomes, Pete Gladstone

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite recent federal legislation outlined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) reauthorization of 2004 that mandates effective postsecondary transition planning for all students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), students with intellectual disability (ID) continue to experience inequitable postsecondary outcomes, particularly in the areas of postsecondary education (PSE), employment, and independent living (Lipscomb et al., 2017). It has been established that one effective method for improving those outcomes is to develop students’ self-determination abilities, and there is near unanimous agreement within the education community that doing so should be a primary objective during the transition process (Izzo & Lamb, …

Ayahuasca’S Religious Diaspora In The Wake Of The Doctrine Of Discovery, Roger K. Green

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

‘Ayahuasca’ is a plant mixture with a variety of recipes and localized names native to South America. Often, the woody ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) is combined with chacruna leaf (Psychotria viridis) in a tea, inducing psychedelic effects among its users. While social usage varies among Indigenous Peoples of South America, during the twentieth century new religious movements in Brazil began employing the mixture as religious sacrament. Additionally, various centers for ayahuasca “healing” have emerged both inside and outside of the Amazon Rainforest, frequently with the aim of helping people addicted to other substances. As interest grew, …

An Economic Analysis Of Cyber Warfare Governance Models, Kevin M. Kelleher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Allusions to death delivered by bits and bytes have been in vogue since the Reagan administration. Yet, as the internet and its connected devices have since proliferated, cyber violence remains far more fiction than fact. Nevertheless, prominent U.S. officials have all but assured the eventuality of a devastating attack. In anticipation, political, legal, and industry experts are now seeking to codify and inculcate international norms to govern acts of war prosecuted via cyberspace. Two of the most prominent governance models to emerge are the Tallinn Manual and Microsoft’s Digital Geneva Convention. The driving thesis of this research argues that within …

U.S. Democratization In Post-Cold War Russia: A Critique, Franklin T. Hughes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

States are path dependent entities that deviate solely in the face of catastrophic failures in the pursuit of axiomatic ends by conventional means. The inertia of bureaucratic institutions, a foreign policy consensus within a self-reproducing elite of experts, the self-interest of political elites and a sense of “national self” or identity lead states to understand themselves in light of a history and a relative level of status on the world stage. Since the end World War II, the U.S. has a certain path that places the spread of democracy and laissez-faire capitalism extremely important if not vital foreign policy goals. …

Lessons From Controversy: Interpreting The Sand Creek Massacre In Colorado, Katherine Rose Hoadley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a case study of the 2012 History Colorado Center exhibit, Collision: The Sand Creek Massacre, 1860s – Today. Collision was an exhibit that attempted to showcase the history of the Sand Creek Massacre – an 1864 event where well over one hundred peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho people were murdered by the 3rd Regiment of the Colorado Military District. Collision remained open for a little more than a year – this thesis interrogates the reasons behind its closure and its status as a controversial museum exhibit. The findings of this thesis show that a lack of collaboration …

What Happens Next? A Grounded Theory Exploration Of The Psychological Impact Of Leaving The Gang, Alana C. Liskov

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Very little research exists regarding the psychological impacts of gang membership and the mental health needs of gang members. Of the few studies that have been conducted, gang members were found to have increased rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (1.77 odds), current substance abuse (2.58 odds), oppositional defiant disorder, (1.24 odds) and conduct disorder (4.05 odds) (Harris, Elkins, Butler, Shelton, Robles, Kwok, Simpson, Young, Mayhew, Brown, & Sargent, 2013). Violent ruminative thinking, violent victimization and fear of further victimization were also significantly higher in gang members and believed to account for high levels of psychosis and anxiety disorder in gang …

Brokering Access, Belief And Opportunities: A Phenomenology Of Black Principals’ Leadership Through A Racialized Lens, Natalie Denise Lewis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The educational landscape of the twenty-first century currently faces several significant challenges, including widening academic opportunity gaps. These gaps suggest that there is need to examine the perspectives of leaders in the role of principals more deeply. However, as leadership theories continue to develop, there has been limited research conducted on the impact of principals’ racialized experiences and their approach to leadership. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to center race by exploring the essence of Black principals’ understanding of their racialized experiences and its meaning to their leadership and school communities. Findings indicate that Black principals’ (a) understanding …

Performing Ir, Charles Darwin Lulevitt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research is an attempt to create a new way of understanding international relations, which is defined here as knowledge and practice that informs us of the nature, goals, and actors of international politics. At the core of the research is a simple concern, but one I am still rather unsure I have thought of enough: what does it mean to create a different discourse? The argument made is that international relations as we know it, is a discourse centered on state, sovereignty, and anarchy, and also white, hegemonic masculine culture, which forces us to maintain that culture’s social dominance. …

Retaining Gifted Individuals For The Sustainability Of Rural Communities, Jessie B. Matthews

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Retaining Gifted Individuals for the Sustainability of Rural Communities examined the supports and barriers to young gifted adults’ choices regarding living in rural communities. The narrative methodology revealed the perceptions of remote rural community members through single, face-to-face interviews to understand the challenges and opportunities young gifted individuals encounter. Through community member interviews, participants echoed sentiments indicating supports, barriers, and the power of place play a significant role in gifted individuals’ desire to remain in their local community. The findings suggested through celebrating place, engagement in the local community, and encouragement to solve local problems, gifted individuals will engage in …

Nurturing Excellence: A Case Study Of High School Learning Environments For The Gifted, Ryan A. Mcclintock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The nuanced and complex cognitive and social-emotional needs of high school gifted learners are not sufficiently met through accelerated coursework like Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate alone. Addressing their needs requires the design, implementation, and leadership of programming that maximizes their agency, curiosity, and confidence. Such programming should be fully modern in its conception and allow gifted high school students to construct and share products of their learning with respect to issues of global importance. The purpose of this study was to explore high school learning environments designed to maximize the agency, confidence, and curiosity of gifted and talented secondary …

Building Community In The Classroom For Culturally Linguistically Economically Diverse Gifted Learners, Michelle Elaine Norberto-Whipple

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of active community building in a classroom with culturally linguistically economically diverse (CLED) gifted learners in a semirural school district who underachieve. The central research question was, how does actively building classroom community interact with CLED gifted learners who underachieve? The research questions were the following: What are educators’ perceptions of CLED gifted learners who underachieve? How do educators implement community-building in the classroom? What are parents’ perceptions of actively building community in the classroom with CLED gifted learners who underachieve? The four primary categories that emerged were (a) meeting …

Early Childhood Educator Knowledge: An Exploratory Study Regarding Giftedness And Students Of Color, Stephanie A. Peralta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine general early childhood educator knowledge and perceptions of curricula relevant for early childhood gifted students of color. The research questions that guided the study were the following: How does preschool through second grade curricula support or impede academic success for gifted students of color? How does preschool through second grade curricula support or impede social emotional learning for gifted students of color? What are the perspectives of educators regarding inclusive practices including Critical Race Theory, within a preschool through second grade gifted curricula?

In reviewing the literature and national data concerning representation …

“Because We Are Catholic”: Music As A Bridge Between Identities Within The Catholic Community Of South India, Johnathan Theodore Travis Rhodes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I argue that the music of the Catholic Church of South India, which draws from Indian and Western music genres, functions as a cultural bridge allowing the worshiper to express a distinctively Catholic identity without distancing themselves from their Hindu roots. This cultural connection reinterprets Karnatak musical styles, practices, and traditions as distinctively Catholic rather than Indian or Hindu. Thus, Indian cultures are recontextualized within a Catholic paradigm, as these practices are regarded as Catholic regardless of their historical, cultural, or religious origin. These identities, Indian and Catholic, are not in tension with one another, but instead, …

Disrupting Disparity: A Critical Race Transformative Mixed Methods Examination Of School Discipline, Ceema Samimi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Racial disparities in school discipline are well-established in the United States’ public-school system. These disparities contribute to a phenomenon known as the school-to-prison pipeline. This phenomenon is a metaphor for the mechanisms that push students, especially students of color, out of school and into the justice system. While research has examined the causes and impacts racial disproportionality in discipline, no studies have focused on schools with no disparities. This study used Critical Race Transformative Mixed Methods to examine school-level quantitative data while employing phenomenological methods to interviews with 12 teachers using critical race theory as a lens. Findings revealed that …

Iron In Urban Air Pollution, Joseph R. Salazar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The processes by which iron is solubilized are largely unknown. There are three hypotheses on how iron is soluble: 1) iron is thought to undergo an acid based solubilization process, 2) iron undergoes an oxidation/reduction process and reduces iron(III) to the more soluble iron(II), and 3) iron is bound to organic molecules, which solubilizes it. The 3 hypotheses on iron water-solubilized are explored by presenting two individual studies.

The first study investigates iron directly from car exhaust. Exhaust particles were collected from 32 vehicles. Iron solubility in these samples ranged from 0%-82% with the average iron solubility being 30%. X-ray …

Underachieving Profoundly Gifted Adolescents, Marisa Soto Harrison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Underachieving Profoundly Gifted Adolescents is a phenomenological study that explores the lived experiences of five underachieving profoundly gifted adolescents. Profoundly gifted individuals are those whose IQ scores are at the 99.9th percentile. This study was a means to explore factors that contribute to underachievement among this subpopulation of gifted students. In-depth interviews with young adults provided insight into the personal experiences of underachievement in profoundly gifted adolescents. Parents also took part in interviews to provide an additional perspective on the underachievement experience. Findings indicated five themes that contribute to underachievement among this population. Expectations were a major contributor to underachievement. …

Rhetorical Genealogy And The Ethics Of Eugenics, David Mark Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation strives to critique contemporary rhetoric on eugenics. In recent years, scientists succeeded in mapping the human genome and subsequently developed new gene editing technologies. To situate current ethical discourses about eugenics, I trace histories of these discourses at several scales of society – from the macroscopic level of the body politic to the meso level where modes of assessment have been deployed purportedly to accurately evaluate human characteristics to the microscopic level of the gene. I employ Foucauldian genealogy to highlight how, despite marked differences over time in specific eugenic discourses and practices exist, the underlying rhetoric has …

Beyond Interventions: A Case Study Of The Denver Art Museum’S Native Arts Artist-In-Residency Program, Madison Sussmann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Denver Art Museum’s Native Arts Artist-in-Residency Program is an inter-departmental project dedicated to the collaboration between the museum, artists, and visitors. The residency and the physical studio were established to formalize artist involvement in the museum. There is no written mission statement for the program, but visitor engagement is central to the organization of the program and experience of the artist. This thesis explores the question: What can the experiences of the artists and museum professionals involved in the Native Arts Artist-in-Residency program tell about the residency’s contribution to critical museology and decolonization? Through exploring the definitions of critical …

Identification Of Gifted Characteristics Using The Behavioral Assessment Scale For Children—Third Edition, Kristine Zytka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Children who are gifted are at-risk for being misidentified with emotional and behavioral disorders (Daniels & Piechowski, 2009; Mullet & Rinn, 2015; Webb, 2016). Challenges exist in conclusively defining giftedness, assessing giftedness, and understanding common behavioral patterns among gifted individuals (Bracken & Brown, 2006; McClain & Pfeiffer, 2012). Because gifted children typically exhibit common behavioral patterns, it is important for school psychologists to understand gifted behavioral characteristics, how to assess these characteristics, and how to differentiate between common gifted behavior and maladaptive behavior (Daniels & Piechowski, 2009; Webb, 2016). This study examined the value of the BASC-3 in identifying gifted …