Digital Commons Network^™

Postsecondary Education For International Undergradute Students With Learning Disabilities In The United States, Reem Alabdulwahab

Dissertations

The aim of this study was to examine the experiences of international undergraduate students who are identified with learning disabilities and enrolled in universities in the United States. There is a dearth of studies investigating the unique needs and challenges of this population. This is the first study to explore the phenomenon of international undergraduate students with learning disabilities that identified the challenges related to supporting their unique needs. This study was conducted through the use of qualitative data collection and analysis methods that included in-depth interviews and review of documents. Study participants consisted of five professionals working in the …

Mind The Gap: Examination Of Elementary Students' Individual Education Program Goals, Shehana Alqafari

Dissertations

The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed-method study was to gain an indepth understanding of the processes that special education teachers used to determine reading goals for students with learning disabilities in elementary school. The first phase consisted of a quantitative investigation into existing Individual Education Program (IEP) reading goals for elementary school students with learning disabilities while the second phase consisted of a qualitative investigation involving interviews with special education teachers to explain the findings from the quantitative data analysis. The quantitative analysis included 44 IEP reading goals and the qualitative analysis, conducted through interviews, with four special education …

Building An Evaluation Model Of Academic Advising’S Impact On Progression, Persistence, And Retention Within University Settings, Abhik Roy

Dissertations

Academic advising is at a point in its maturation as a field of study where anecdotal evidence is no longer sufficient to inform the measure of effectiveness. As the area becomes more research-based, advising’s measurable impact should be based on an evaluative framework; no such structure currently exists. In this study, three methods were used to investigate this problem and ultimately to create a model and checklist. Firstly, a descriptive study was used to examine if there is an understanding of what evaluation is within the advising community, one where assessment has been the dominant practice. Secondly, a quasi-experimental design …

Promoting And Selecting Culturally Relevant Teaching Materials And Pedagogy In Our Schools, Ebony R. Davis

Dissertations

In the twenty-first century, African American males continue to be negatively defined in society, in the media, and by educators. These males face many challenges in their educational careers. Hence, this study explored two African American male students and their perception of contributing factors that motivate them to succeed academically. The study was also focused on their perceptions of their relationship with key influencers that help them to succeed academically. The study consisted of an analysis of their perception about teacher quality, student behavior, and parental involvement. In fact, study results showed how these African American male students maintain a …

To Promote Or Not To Promote: An Inquiry Into The Experiences Of Female Police Officers And Their Decisions To Pursue Promotion, Kristin Poleski

Dissertations

Despite an increase in the number of female police officers in U.S. police agencies, female representation in supervisory (sergeant and lieutenant) and command (captain, assistant chief and chief) positions in most agencies is limited. This research study focuses on the promotional aspirations as an explanation of limited female representation with attention to the decision-making criteria female police officers use when deciding to participate in the promotional process. This study also examines the institutional, political, organizational structures, and/or personal factors which may impact the female police officers’ decisions to participate in the promotion process. And, this study examines a factor mentioned …

A Quantitative Comparison Of The Reading Achievement Of English Learners In Dual Language And Transitional Bilingual Programs, Shajaira P. Lopez

Dissertations

One of the goals of bilingual education research is to identify programs that have shown to be effective in increasing the English proficiency of English learners (ELs). The purpose of this archival comparative study was to conduct a quantitative comparison of the English reading achievement of third grade ELs enrolled in dual language education (DLE) programs to those enrolled in transitional bilingual education (TBE) programs in order to determine which program is more effective in improving the reading proficiency of third grade ELs in the Chicago Public Schools. The data analyzed in this study were the 2010-2014 reading scores on …

Establishing Effective Home-School Partnerships By Building Capacity, Janiece M. Terry

Dissertations

Decades of research on parental involvement strongly suggests that students, of all ages and from all backgrounds, are most successful when they have supportive and actively engaged families. However, many educators leave preparation programs with little or no content relating to family and community relations, and therefore, lack the necessary knowledge, skills, and sometimes belief systems to successfully establish effective home-school partnerships that lead to increased educational outcomes for all children. This qualitative case study examined how the implementation of The Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships (a national model released by the U.S. Department of Education) assisted one elementary …

Caffeine Combined With Sedative/Anesthetic Drugs Used In Neonatal Medicine And Apoptotic Neurotoxicity In Developing Mouse Brain, Omar Hosea Cabrera

Dissertations

Each year, millions of premature babies are exposed to sedative/anesthetic drugs (SADs) in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Acute exposure to SADs triggers widespread apoptosis in the developing brain of rodents and non-human primates. Furthermore, premature infants are administered caffeine (CAF) to treat respiratory dysfunction. Mounting evidence suggests that CAF may be neurotoxic and, when given in combination with SADs, potentiates SAD-induced cell death. However, the apoptotic interaction of CAF and SAD co-exposure is poorly understood. In a series of studies, I report that CAF combined with the NICU SADs midazolam, ketamine, or fentanyl is more neurotoxic to the …

Children Who Are Deaf Deserve Researched Based Education, Cheryl Ann Hermann

Dissertations

Deaf Education includes many complex components, including: 1) Academics, 2) Cognitive, 3) Hearing, 4) Speech, 5) Language: American Sign Language and English, 6) Social Skills & Emotional Well Being, 7) Deaf Culture, and 8) Instructional Methods. Evidence indicates that children who are deaf achieve academically at the same levels as their peers, “Postsecondary enrollment and degree completion by deaf individuals in colleges, universities, and career and technical education schools have increased dramatically over the past several decades,” (Marc Marschark, 2015, p. 5). However, most of the current research shows that despite numerous interventions and philosophies, children who are deaf continue …

High Ability Visual Artists: A National Mixed Methods Study Of Secondary Art Teacher Training And Practice, Jennifer Christine Fisher

Dissertations

This study sought to determine the confidence levels and preparation of secondary art teachers in working with students who demonstrate high ability in the visual arts. This information is vital in order to inform the art education community regarding whether or not it does, why it should, and how it can best meet the needs of all students it serves. The study utilized a mixed methods approach. Quantitative data was collected to form a descriptive statistical base. This was necessary due to a paucity of research in the demographic particulars of secondary art teachers’ measured confidence and preparedness in working …

"Out Of The Dark Confinement!" Physical Containment In Mid-Nineteenth-Century American Protest Literature, Allison Lane Tharp

Dissertations

Most scholarship on American protest literature tends to focus on the protest literature of specific, politically marginalized groups, such as black protest, women’s protest, or working class protest. My project redefines how we read nineteenth-century American protest literature by investigating the connections between the protest texts of these three marginalized groups. In particular, I argue that mid-nineteenth-century protest authors incorporate images of physical confinement and entrapment within their texts to expose to privileged readers the physical and ideological containment and control marginalized subjects encounter in their daily lives. Drawing from rhetorical theories of argumentation and audience engagement, and incorporating historical …

The Elements Of The Clinical Supervision: Exporting Concepts To Japan, Makoto Miyoshi

Dissertations

The current Japanese counseling profession is in the process of reforming and uniting the system and training together for counseling and related professions. Supervision is one of significant training piece in this profession; however, its familiarity among Japanese counseling professionals is very unclear. This study explored how Japanese counseling professionals conceptualize the ideal figure of a clinical supervisor based on the identified fundamental elements of clinical supervision in the US. The preliminary analysis indicates that each aspect of the U.S. clinical supervision models might be adoptable to Japanese counseling professionals. Yet the small sample size does not confirm the conceptual …

Is There A Relationship Between Physical Fitness And Student Academic Achievement?, William Rushton Parker

Dissertations

The study utilized a quantitative approach to identify the relationship between students’ levels of fitness to students’ academic achievement as well as addressing the attitudes of elementary administrators, fifth grade regular education teachers, and elementary physical education teachers towards physical fitness and academic achievement. Instruments used in the study were the Mississippi Curriculum Test, 2^nd Edition (MCT2) and the FITNESSGRAM. The data from the FITNESSGRAM and MCT2 were archival, coming from the 2013-2014 academic school year. The MCT2 provided scores from the areas of language arts, mathematics, and science, and the FITNESSGRAM provided the fitness scores of those students. …

The Songs Of Mexican Nationalist, Antonio Gomezanda, Juanita Ulloa

Dissertations

Antonio Gomezanda (1894-1961) is one of the most undeservedly obscure composers in Mexican music. Apart from being a piano prodigy and a music critic, he composed romantic and early twentieth-century nationalistic music in many genres including large, small, instrumental, and vocal. His nationalistic topics were often based upon elements from the Mexican folk ranchera musical style that he grew up with in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco, Mexico. Gomezanda was primarily trained in classical music in Mexico City and later in Germany. He composed over 90 original songs, several vocal dramatic works, and an opera ranchera. Gomezanda continued the stylistic path …

A Validation Study Of The Orientation Model, Brett David Wilkinson

Dissertations

The orientation model is a multidimensional measure of dual-processing capacities that incorporates four empirically-validated instruments taken from the existing literature on cognitive processing, attachment, empathy, and self-focused attention. As a strength-based conceptualization tool for humanistic counseling practices, the model is intended to provide counselors with a flexible means to assess non-diagnostic client attributes within a dispositional model of client cognitive processing patterns. Although humanistic principles often conflict with the use of quantitative instruments in clinical practice, the model is guided by the tenet that objective measures can effectively supplement clinical insight into client patterns of functioning. It thus serves as …

Naturally Striated Muscle: Examining The Ideographic Crystallization Of, Dustin L. Briggs

Dissertations

In U.S. America and much of the Western world, natural is a venerated symbolic placeholder for any number of assumed virtues and ideals. Present conflicts have brought forward questions about what natural (which I argue functions as an ideograph) should mean in contexts that seem to call for a formal, enforceable definition. In this study, I use the vocabulary of Deleuze and Guattari (1987) and the context of bodybuilding to work towards a theory of how ambiguous ideographs become "striated" or “crystallized.” Within this discussion I present instances where natural has been employed as a vehicle to cause harm, and …

Culturally Responsive Policy In An Urban Headstart Program, Tanya M. Johnson

Dissertations

The purpose of this Culturally Responsive policy is to provide a framework for implementing and enhancing cultural responsiveness in an urban Head Start program. By increasing awareness of culturally responsiveness and providing on-going professional development and resources, the policy will have a significant impact on ensuring that staff are prepared and supported in the implementation of culturally responsive best practices. The policy maintains that culturally responsive pedagogy facilitates and supports the achievement of all students. Teachers must create a culture where all students regardless of their cultural background are welcomed and provided with the best opportunity to learn.

Connect The Disconnected: Enhance Teaching And Learning With An Implementation Of Culturally Responsive Lesson Planning Practices Which Improves Instructional School Climate And Accountability Data, Lisa Michelle Marion-Howard

Dissertations

Unsavory behavior data and high absenteeism from classes indicated that some teachers were failing to effectively meet the behavior/academic needs of the most challenging students who attended this elementary school. These students needed individualized services specifically tailored to meet their special needs. It was also noted that these students were more opt to learn when strong relationships/rapport existed between their teachers and them. A revised lesson plan policy that required teachers to infuse culturally responsive teaching strategies was implemented. A qualitative research design which included data reviews, professional development with exit slips and teacher interviews were utilized as the research …

Transition Outcomes Of Young Adults With Disabilities: A Social Cognitive Career Theory Perspective, Sabrina Michelle Singleton

Dissertations

Young adults with disabilities are impacted by the learning experiences they engage in as students that help shape their career development post-high school. Researchers have identified moderate-level transition predictors that improve post-school outcomes in employment, postsecondary education, and/or independent living. This study used the Social Cognitive Career Theory to examine if a relationship exists among race/ethnicity, gender, and disability type and transition predictors among young adults with disabilities in Mississippi who completed high school in May of 2013. Additionally, this study explored whether a relationship existed between career decision self-efficacy and engagement in employment or enrollment in postsecondary education. A …

Virtual Communities Of Practice For Non-Native K-12 Spanish Educators As Professional Development, Javier Gerardo Gómez

Dissertations

Many world language and culture educators are non-native speakers of the language they teach. Although the current face-to-face professional development sessions do a good job in helping educators acquire technology tools to implement in their world language classrooms, professional development lacks in target language enrichment and providing ongoing collaboration among world language educators who are geographically dispersed. Additionally, the cost of attending state-wide, regional, and national world language professional development is very expensive and thus many world language educators cannot take part in these trainings. Consequently, many world language educators do not have the professional training they need to improve …

Generational Learning Style Preferences Based On Computer-Based Healthcare Training, Michaelle H. Knight

Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this mixed-method study was to determine the degree of perceived differences for auditory, visual and kinesthetic learning styles of Traditionalist, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennial generational healthcare workers participating in technology-assisted healthcare training.

Methodology. This mixed-method research design used quantitative and qualitative data to analyze the research questions regarding generational learning style preferences. The study focused on quantitative data collection, through an online survey instrument that included two open-ended qualitative questions. The quantitative component (survey) was administered via a 24-question online survey. The results obtained from the qualitative component (interview questions) identified analyzable patterns and …

Going From Breakdown To Breakthrough: Human Resource Professional's Perspective Of Conflict In K-12 Public Education, Denise E. Larue

Dissertations

This study was conducted independently, but in collaboration with a team of peer-researchers who came together to study the lived experience of exemplar leaders in diverse organizations as they transformed conflict to reach common ground. This study contributed to the collective work by looking at K-12 Human Resource Officers (HROs) as the population of interest. HROs are often at the center of resolving conflict, yet only a few emerge as exemplar leaders. These exemplar leaders were the target population situated in the phenomena under investigations. The team selected a qualitative phenomenological approach, in an attempt to uncover what strategies exemplar …

Students' Perceptions Of A Teacher Leader Master's Program, Evgenia Mauzy

Dissertations

Teacher leadership is one of the key components of school success. However, teacher leader education has not been the focus of research. This quantitative study explores the central research question: What are the perceptions of teachers completing the Western Kentucky University Masters of Art in Education (MAE) Teacher Leader Program regarding their level of professional preparation?

A Likert-type double matrix descriptive survey with correlational design covered students’ perceptions of level of professional preparation on a 5-point scale at the beginning and the end of the program for the ten MAE Program Standards. All data were gathered from students in the …

Hearing And Deaf Teachers' Lived Experiences At A Residential School For The Deaf: A Phenomenological Study, Meena Mann

Dissertations

This study provides reflections on a topic that has received surprising attention on cultural challenges at a residential school for the Deaf. Deaf education in residential schools for the Deaf has changed dramatically over the years. Recent research has shown the number of hearing teachers employed at residential schools for the Deaf has increased in the United States (Amos, 2000; Marlatt, 2004). Most hearing teachers who are certified in Special Education and hold teaching positions at a residential school for the Deaf. Deaf teachers proficient in ASL struggle with passing the written Praxis state certification in the content areas due …

Exploration Of Experiences And Perceptions Of Saudi Arabian Students Within A Team Project Setting At An U.S. University, Ronald A. Mckean

Dissertations

Cultural differences between Saudi and American students produce immense challenges to a successful integrative acculturation. Positive experiences can not only enhance the education of international students, but also effect understandings and attitudes of local students, administrators, faculty, and staff. A greater implication of these experiences may be their influence on long term international relationships. Few qualitative studies have been conducted that examine the dynamics of the cultural integration of Saudi students with American students during the acculturation process.

The purpose of this qualitative research, therefore, is to describe and interpret the experiences and perceptions of Saudi Arabian students as they …

Subjective Selves: Visual Metaphor And The Figure Of The Artist In Contemporary Comics, Catherine Kyle

Dissertations

Sarah Oleksyk’s Ivy, I. Merey’s a+e 4ever, David Small’s Stitches, Craig Thompson’s Blankets, and Ellen Forney’s Marbles are five contemporary U.S. long-form comics that demonstrate what I call branched metaphoric monstration—the presence of illustrations that represent at least two narrative positions that contain visual metaphor. Given that all five of these texts are also semi autobiographical stories and memoirs that focus on the maturation of emerging visual artists, branched metaphoric monstration serves, in each of them, to comment on the developing cognition of young creators. The insights these texts provide individually and collectively shed light on some of …

A Case Study Into The Perception Of World Language Study Of All Stakeholders In A Suburban Midwest School District, Michael L. Crowell

Dissertations

The 21st century perception of students and stakeholders (parents, teachers, administrators, and support staff, etc.) within the realm of world language study in a Midwestern, suburban school district varied sometime subtly and sometimes greatly. No particular study had been done to indicate what inspired students to enroll in world language, other than conjecture from students and stakeholders. To discover the true perception of students and stakeholders within this particular school district, a case study was conducted. A survey was crafted utilizing a tool that focused on language perception with relation to motivation, learning process, relevance, progress, and relationships. Each population …

Psychological Attitudes Of Saudi Arabian International Students Toward Mental Health Counseling, Ruba Alajlan

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the psychological attitudes of Saudi Arabian international students toward mental health services. One of the problems that prompted this research is the scarcity of scientific literature on this issue. This research used a mixed-method study convergent design with a convenience sampling of 162 for quantitative section and 35 for the qualitative. The main validated instrument used was the Beliefs About Psychological Services Scale (BAPS) along with a demography survey and some qualitative open-ended questions. The researcher found that licensed psychologists and professional counselors had the highest statistical representation of relationship with intent. …

A Qualitative Study On How Washington State Mayors Transform Conflict, Darin Hand

Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to discover and describe how exemplary Washington State mayors establish common ground and produce breakthrough results by utilizing the six domains of conflict transformation behaviors: collaboration, communication, emotional intelligence, ethics, processes, and problem solving. This study was conducted in collaboration with peer researchers studying other exemplary leaders representing a variety of industries. For this study, three methods of data collection (interviews, observations, and artifacts) were used to study the lived experiences of exemplary Washington State mayors and to present shared practices and patterns that demonstrate finding common ground and producing breakthrough results. The …

Comparing The Effectiveness Of Flipped Classroom And Traditional Classroom Student Engagement And Teaching Methodologies, Michael T. Holik

Dissertations

Studies exist on the effectiveness of learning in a flipped classroom learning setting; however, there is limited research available regarding the success or failure rates of flipped classroom learning in technical culinary arts programs. This study, using an action-based research approach, was designed to gather evidence from a technical education program to determine if students perform better in the flipped classroom or traditional classroom. Multiple instruments were designed to gather information about the culinary flipped classroom format. Instructor and student perceptions about the learning in each type of classroom were explored, levels of student engagement were recorded, and final course …