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Perspectives Of Administrators On Practices Leading To Discipline Disproportionality Among African American Students With Disabilities, Delicia Goodman-Lee

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Discipline disproportionality among African American students with disabilities is well documented in empirical research; however, there are limited studies about school administrators' perspectives on practices leading to disproportionality for this population. The purpose of this study was to examine school administrators' perspectives on practices and issues leading to discipline disproportionality in a large southeastern U.S. state. Social justice leadership, coupled with disability studies and critical race theory, served as the conceptual framework. A basic qualitative design with open coding and thematic analysis was used to answer the three research questions. Data were collected via virtual semistructured interviews with six administrators …

Innovation In Practice: Embracing Multilingualism In An Intensive English Programme, Hengzhi Hu, Lu Zhang

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objectives: The purpose of this article is to delineate and substantiate the adoption of multilingualism within an intensive English programme (IEP) conducted at a public Malaysian university. The target audience comprises international students categorised as English as a Foreign Language learners.

Innovation: A model encompassing multilingualism was formulated and applied in the specific context, involving various stakeholders. While acknowledging the primary purpose of IEPs is to develop English language proficiency, this model transitions from monolingualism to multilingualism by raising participant awareness of multilingualism, adopting translanguaging strategies, encouraging comparisons of different languages, and facilitating target language production that acknowledges the role …

Medicare Expansion And Access To Quality Care In A Rural Long-Term Care Hospital In Tennessee, Lashunda Shaw

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The research problem addressed in this study is that it was not known whether differences in 30-day readmission rates among the elderly exist between urban and rural long-term care hospitals in Tennessee. The purpose of this quantitative descriptive study was to determine whether such differences exist. The conceptual framework that guided this study is the Donabedian framework. The research question was addressed that focused on the difference in the rate of potentially preventable hospital readmissions 30 days after discharge and on the difference in the potentially preventable 30-day readmission rates compared to the national preventable 30-day readmission rates. Data were …

Human Service Professionals Perceptions About Support From Supervisors During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Ericka Booker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The United States Department of Human Services provided information about how to administer services remotely to human service organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic, but multiple challenges arose including lack of support, ethical concerns, and difficulty in building a rapport with clients remotely. The problem that was addressed in this study was the negative impacts on clients due to the issues with human service professionals providing virtual services during the pandemic. This generic qualitative study aimed to explore perceptions about the support human service professionals received from their supervisors during the pandemic. Bandura’s self-efficacy theory was used to explore participant perceptions …

Nigerian Secondary Physics Teachers’ Perceptions Of Factors That Challenge Information And Communication Technology Integration, Hemamalini Srinivasan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Challenges to integrating technology into educational institutions pose a significant issue that impacts students’ performance and accomplishments. The research problem addressed through this study was that secondary school physics teachers were challenged to integrate information and communication technology (ICT) in a southwestern state of Nigeria. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore secondary physics teacher perceptions of the factors that challenged ICT integration in the southwestern state of Nigeria, so that schools could be provided with research-deduced recommendations to take informed steps forward toward developing technology-integrated student-centered pedagogies. In this study, the unified theory of acceptance and …

Successful Small Business Strategies Addressing Financially Related Adverse Circumstances, Shirley Thomas

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small businesses are a crucial part of the economy of the United States. However, once a small business owner experiences a financially related adverse circumstance, the chances of failure increase exponentially. Grounded in the rational choice theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to identify and explore the effective strategies small business owners use when addressing financially related adverse circumstances. The participants were four small business owners in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area who used successful strategies to address financially related adverse circumstances. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and reviews of organizational documents and analyzed using …

Lived Experience Of Burnout And Self-Efficacy In Intensive Care Unit Registered Nurses Caring For Covid-19 Patients In U.S. Hospitals, Trixie Alohilani Harris

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the physical and mental health of intensive care unit registered nurses (ICU RNs). Burnout in ICU RNs existed long before the pandemic; however, the massive increase in critically ill patients and the scarcity of supplies and qualified staff to care for these patients put RNs in a dangerous situation. Research addressed this topic early in the pandemic but were primarily quantitative, with minimal qualitative studies appearing later. There remained a gap in examining ICU RNs in rural hospitals in the United States. The research question for this hermeneutic phenomenological study explored the interpretation of the …

White Clinical Social Workers’ Comfort With Black People’S Mental Illness, Lushunda Wood-Buckson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Social workers constitute one of the largest clinically trained groups in the helping professions delivering mental health services in the United States. Most U.S. social workers are White and provide mental health services to diverse people. The social work literature has limited information about White clinical social workers’ comfort with delivering mental health services to Black people with mental illness. The aim of this study was to better understand how White clinical social workers who self-identify as culturally competent describe their perceptions of comfort when delivering mental health services to Black people with mental illness. This basic qualitative study was …

Early Career Nurses’ Perceptions Of Quality And Safety In The Operating Room, Gilda H. Gilbert

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

With an ongoing shortage of operating room nurses, novices may be hired into circulator positions. Over 50 million people will undergo surgery in America this year, and many will be cared for by circulators with less than five years of experience. Little is known about how this burgeoning group of circulators perceive and experience quality and safety. In this qualitative descriptive study, the perceptions of quality and safety were explored in nurses who completed a postgraduate perioperative curriculum embedded with quality and safety competencies. Nurses were viewed through Benner’s characteristics of nurse competence and Bloom's domains of learning framed interpretations …

Exploring The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence And Self-Efficacy In Individuals Who Completed An Offender Intervention Program, Megan Eizabeth Caminos

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Domestic abuse, which includes physical and sexual assault, stalking, and emotional abuse, presents profound social challenges. Current interventions often overlook how psychological attributes influence outcomes. This study explored the relationship between emotional intelligence and self-efficacy in domestic violence offenders after completing intervention programs. It aimed to assess the impact of these psychological dimensions on rehabilitation success and explore how enhancing them might improve intervention strategies. Grounded in the theories of emotional intelligence and self-efficacy, which are believed to be crucial for behavior change and rehabilitation success, this research employs a quantitative method. The study had 55 participants and measured emotional …

Perceptions Of Developmental Disability Service Providers, On How The Judicial System Responses To Persons With Developmental Disabilities., Donna Whilby

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The situation or issue that prompted me to search the literature was observing the persons with developmental disabilities circling the judicial system due to multiple encounters with law enforcement. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how the Northeast Florida judicial system could improve the outcomes of persons with developmental disabilities by reducing and preventing multiple encounters. The empowerment theory was the most appropriate theory for my study. Empowerment theory indicates that it is imperative to encourage people, especially those who have a psychological deficit, to lean into their resources to gain and utilize their power in society. …

Elementary School Counselors’ Experiences Using Restorative Practices In Bullying Prevention, Janelle H. Brooks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Restorative practices provide alternatives to punitive practices, such as exclusionary discipline and zero-tolerance policies. Restorative practices are important for elementary school counselors because they help repair the harm students do to one another while building positive relationships between and among students. A lack of understanding exists in the educational community among teachers, parents, and administrators regarding the impact of restorative practices on elementary school bullying. This qualitative study involved addressing that knowledge gap. A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used to address the research question, which focused on lived experiences of elementary school counselors regarding their experiences with using restorative practices …

Effects Of Mckinney Vento Act Of 1987 With Homeless Students In Mississippi, Denetra Jackson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Services for students who are homeless allows students and their families to deal with their living situation psychologically and offer them resources need to succeed educationally. The purpose of this research was to examine how services to homeless students in one area of Mississippi inform policy makers of the needs that are addressed with the McKinney Vento Act. The McKinney Vento Act was passed to benefit homeless students because they deserve the same quality of education, transportation to and from school, access to meals as well as various needed academic support as those that are not homeless. Being homeless places …

College Students’ Experiences And Perceptions Of Mental Health In A Campus Culture, Elizabeth Remick Fait

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mental health issues among college students are increasing, and a better understanding of the issues may lead to more effective solutions. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore mental health culture at a college setting for first-year students by exploring communication methods used by students. Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior was the theoretical framework that guided this study. Data were collected from personal artifacts shared by 12 participants followed by interviews to explore their mental health experiences, perceptions, beliefs, and behaviors. The findings from coding and thematic analysis were put into context by participant definitions of mental …

Strategies, Challenges, Experiences, And Approaches To Managing High School Student Misbehaviors, Kelly Ford

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have found that removing students from instructional settings for behavioral infractions adversely influenced student learning. The problem of this basic qualitative study was that strategies, challenges, experiences, and approaches used by high school general education teachers to manage student misbehavior were unknown. The purpose was to explore how high school teachers managed student misbehaviors. Bandura’s social cognitive theory was the conceptual framework selected for this study. Data were collected through one-on-one semi-structured open-ended interviews via Zoom with seven high school general education teachers with at least three years of teaching experience. Saturation was evident when data became redundant at …

Racial Stressors, Resiliency, And African American Women Counselors, Barbara Ann Bazemore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American women therapists are the second largest group of counseling providers, with many displaying behavioral health symptoms differently than other cultures. This quantitative correlational cross-sectional study explored the resiliency of African American women counselors related to racial-specific stressors inclusive of self-identity, COVID-19 anxiety, and daily discrimination. Initially, three research questions were selected to investigate the relationship between demographic factors (age, education level, active years as a counselor), racial-specific stressors (self-identity, COVID-19 pandemic anxiety, and everyday discrimination), and resiliency in 112 African American women counselors. Emails and an online survey were sent to collect data to answer the research hypotheses. …

Managing Obesity In Primary Care, Nkechi Okwara

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Excess body weight has been shown to negatively impact morbidity and mortality in both developed and underdeveloped countries. Over two-thirds of U.S. adults are considered overweight or obese. Obesity and overweight present a pressing practice problem in primary care because many of these patients suffer from long-term consequences. Thus, the practice-focused question that guided this project was: Whether a clinical practice guideline (CPG) would be accepted for implementation in a primary care setting. The purpose of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was to develop a CPG for use in primary care and present the CPG to a panel …

Exploring Security Strategies To Enable The Adoption Of Internet Of Things Devices In The Manufacturing Sector, Joy Chamoun

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many information technology (IT) leaders lack the strategies to protect IoT devices from information security threats in the manufacturing sector, which puts IoT devices and modern manufacturing systems at risk of external threats and introduces security risks to organizations and workers. Grounded in the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to determine strategies that IT leaders use to implement security for IoT devices in the manufacturing sector. The participants were three IT leaders from three separate manufacturing facilities in the Los Angeles area of the United States. The data were collected from semistructured …

Strategies To Reduce Truck Driver Turnover, Thomas Antoine Streeter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Professional truck driver turnover is a massive problem for the leaders of trucking organizations. Business owners are concerned with driver turnover, as it is the number-one predictor of business stability and net income. Grounded in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, this qualitative multiple case study was conducted to identify and explore effective strategies trucking company leaders use to reduce driver turnover. The participants included six trucking company leaders from six different organizations located in the United States. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and archival documents. Three themes emerged using Yin’s five-step analysis: (a) competitive driver pay, (b) improving work-life balance, …

School Administrators’ Perceptions Of Possible Reasons Contributing To High Rates Of Disciplinary Exclusion For Special Education Students, Lauren Mackenzie Hooks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The application of exclusionary discipline practices among students with disabilities (SWDs) receiving special education (SPED) services is a widespread concern. In a local school district in Texas, SWDs receiving special education services are experiencing higher rates of disciplinary exclusions than the state’s acceptable total disciplinary removals rate. The purpose of this basic qualitative project study was to investigate the possible reasons for higher rates of disciplinary exclusions among SWDs receiving special education services. The conceptual framework was Skinner’s operant conditioning theory. The research questions focused on local school administrators’ perceptions of the possible reasons for higher rates of disciplinary exclusions …

Sex Offenders’ Cognitive Self-Change In Group Treatment: A Pre-/Posttest Study, Malinda Rae Peterson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Wisconsin policy makers implement sex offender treatment programs with the purpose of decreasing reoffending while increasing safety for victims and communities. Research has suggested that the cognitive behavioral therapy group curriculum, Thinking for a Change (T4C), has been effective for offenders; however, this program’s key component of cognitive self-change among sex offenders has yet to be researched. The purpose of the current study was to fill a gap in T4C research and, specifically, explore whether sex offender probationers gained the T4C component of cognitive self-change as compared to non-sex offender probationers from Wisconsin. Beck’s cognitive behavioral theory was used as …

Strategies To Effectively Manage Hospital Energy Costs With Renewable Energy Technology, Nelli Holtz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

High energy costs and hospital financial solvency have become significant problems for hospitals and community leaders. Hospital managers are concerned with knowing the best uses of renewable energy technology to reduce energy expenditures effectively. Grounded in the diffusion of innovation theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry study was to explore the strategies hospital leaders use to reduce costs using renewable energy technology effectively. The participants were eight hospital managers from four large and four small hospitals in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and a review of relevant public records, documents, and literature on renewable …

Parents’ Perceptions Of Bullying In A Local Middle School, Clifphene Reid

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Bullying is known to have far-reaching negative implications for students and the school community. One important first step toward successfully preventing and addressing school bullying is to ensure that all members of the school community have a common understanding of the nature of bullying. The problem investigated in this study was the significant disparity between substantiated and unsubstantiated bullying reports made by parents, students, and staff in the local middle school. Given that parents at the local middle school had not received ongoing bullying prevention training, the purpose of this study was to investigate parents’ perceptions of bullying and the …

Nontraditional, African American Women College Students’ Lived Experiences, Cheryl Yvonne Jackson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nontraditional African American women continue seeking degrees in higher education graduating despite the challenges they face oftentimes displaying resilience in doing so This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of four nontraditional African American women college students. The theoretical foundation for this study was Garmezy’s resilience theory. The theory capitalizes on the positive aspects or in this case protective factors which foster success in overcoming negative circumstances. This narrative, thematic analysis included data from in-depth interviews to identify key themes related to resilience to determine protective factors used by this population to succeed in college. The results show each participant …

Experiences Of Online Faculty When Peer-To-Peer Incivility Is Observed, Juliet Lockwood

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Incivility in the college classroom distracts from the learning process. Students who are uncivil to their peers often shame and embarrass them in front of others, and uncivil students distract from learning opportunities by arguing with professors and coercing them for grades that were not earned. Incivility by students is counterintuitive to the goals of higher education which include offering a space for meaningful learning. The literature describes incivility by students in the physical classroom, yet lacking from current research is how peer-to-peer incivility in the online classroom affects student learning. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to …

Symbolic Play And Imagination In Child-Centered Play Therapy, Stephanie Anderson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Child-centered play therapy (CCPT) is based on the theory that a child’s natural means of communication is through play. However, there is a lack of research into how this communication occurs in CCPT sessions. This grounded theory study explored the processes utilized by child-centered play therapists and their clients to communicate with each other using symbolic play and imagination. Data were gathered through semi structured interviews with six child-centered play therapists and three archival videos of CCPT sessions to gain a holistic understanding of how communication occurs in sessions. This study’s data analysis revealed 20 selective and six subcodes associated …

Factors Influencing Donation Decisions To Environmental Nongovernmental Organizations, Fernando Alferd Crocheron

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

While philanthropic studies have been conducted for centuries, little information exists regarding factors that impel donors to make financial donations to environmental nongovernmental organizations (ENGOs). The phenomena surrounding human motivation have been studied via numerous lenses providing information focused on various domains of interest e.g., poverty alleviation, provisioning of educational opportunity, disease eradication, disaster relief, etc. The theoretical framework for this study was Self-Determination Theory (SDT). This study focused specifically on U.S. citizens and the motivational factors that impel said citizens to make monetary contributions to ENGOs. Ten participants ages 18 and over who had donated to an ENGO in …

Early Childhood Teachers’ Experiences With Overrepresentation Of English Language Learners In Special Education Programs, Tiffeny Sharpton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The population of English Language Learners (ELLs) enrolled in kindergarten to second grade (K-2) in the Southern region of the United States has increased. K-2 teachers are challenged to serve ELLs in the regular education classroom and students are often being referred for special education services. There needs to be more literature on the overrepresentation of ELL students in special education programs. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore K-2 teachers’ experiences with the overrepresentation of ELL students in special education programs and what teachers need to facilitate appropriate interventions for ELL students within the general education …

An Exploration Of The School Counselors’ Role In Providing Social-Emotional Support To Teen Mothers, Madalyn Tinia Caldwell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological qualitative study was to explore and bring understanding to the role of school counselors and their social-emotional work with adolescent mothers. Data were collected from six participants via video interviews and analyzed utilizing a transcendental phenomenological approach. The selection criteria of the study included licensed or certified middle or high school counselors working within the United States with experience working with teen mothers in the school setting. Transcendental phenomenology was used to address the detailed description of the experiences of school counselors who work with adolescent mothers. Three themes developed from the study: importance …

Skill Bias Perceptions Of Unskilled Workers' Self-Perception And Self-Efficacy, Cheryl M. Jackson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A common phenomenon witnessed in the United States health care industry is a division between skilled and unskilled workforces. The division results from skill bias perceptions that strip the appreciation and value of certain job titles and responsibilities. The purpose of this quantitative nonexperimental study focused on the human capability approach theory was to ascertain the differences in perception between the two types of workers and whether skill bias perceptions predict self-perception and self-efficacy. The goal was to recognize and support the innate human capabilities of unskilled workers as valuable human capital resources. From stratified sampling, 172 skilled and unskilled …