Digital Commons Network^™

Teaching And Reading As Meaning-Making, An Intervention To Support Underserved Students In An English Language Arts Classroom, Kelly G. Adkins

Theses and Dissertations

This teacher-research study, conducted during a nine-week choice reading unit in my high school English Language Arts (ELA) classroom, explores how adjusting my reading instruction influences all students’ engagement with reading and their identities as readers, especially those underserved by systems of schooling that prioritize teaching reading as a set, evaluated procedure. Building on others’ research that affirms the positive correlation between students’ choice in reading and increased engagement, I pursued the following research question: What does it mean to take up a teaching practice that opens, responds to, and extends students’ meaning-making of literary texts? I used qualitative methods …

“Is This Really Funny?” Humor, Rape Myths, And Social Semiotics In Nigerian Comedy Skits, Grace Oluwatofunmi Adeyemo

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how rape myth narratives are normalized through humor in Nigerian comedy skits. While existing research has identified rape-supportive beliefs in digital entertainment, it has paid less attention to the processes through which these meanings become socially acceptable. Guided by social semiotics, the study analyzes how semiotic resources use humor to normalize rape myth narratives in Nigerian comedy skits. Using a qualitative design, twelve purposively selected Nigerian comedy skits on YouTube were analyzed. The findings reveal that refusal is constructed as temporary, persistence is portrayed as effort, men's refusal is framed as abnormal, and consent is shaped by …

Low Early Reading Skills In Children Entering Kindergarten In An Urban K-8 Center, Shelly D. Smith-Harding

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to investigate the preparedness of kindergarten children in early reading skills, drawing comparisons from their experiences in comparable preschool programs and to gain insight about how to address the problem of low early reading skills among children entering kindergarten. Using archival data from i-Ready reading diagnostic tests over a 4-year period (2021-2022 to 2024-2025), the researcher compared students who attended an urban K-8 Center Head Start program (n=47) with students from other preschools (n=33).

The researcher conducted an independent t-test with SPSS, version 30 software, to analyze differences at the baseline (Assessment Period 1) and …

Percepción De Los Líderes De Organizaciones Sin Fines De Lucro De Puerto Rico Sobre La Utilidad De Las Herramientas De La Programación Neurolingüística, Ana Milagros García Del Valle

Theses and Dissertations

El propósito de este estudio fue explorar el grado de aceptación de la Programación Neurolingüística (PNL) como intervención para que los líderes puedan conocer el aprendizaje y desarrollen estrategias de comunicación. El marco teórico utilizado fue la Teoría de Niveles de Dilts (1989) y el Modelo de Cambio de Kotter (1996).

El diseño del estudio fue cuantitativo con enfoque cuantitativo-correlacional y el instrumento consistió en un cuestionario. En la primera pregunta los resultados demostraron un conocimiento moderado sobre los temas relacionados con la Programación Neurolingüística incluidos en el cuestionario. En la segunda pregunta los resultados reflejaron una percepción favorable hacia …

Improving Middle School Students’ Scores On Math Word Problems Through Reading Comprehension, Diane M. Burgess

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to address the poor performance of middle school students on math word problems attributed to the lack of reading comprehension skills. A review of standardized math assessments for middle school students confirmed that the greater proportion of questions is made up of word problems. Despite having strong mathematical skills, middle school students are likely to fail to find the correct solutions for math word problems. In the middle school classroom, the development of reading comprehension skills and mathematical abilities are tasks required of different teachers. Math teachers at a middle school in Florida did not …

Teachers’ Experiences Implementing An Ai-Supported Reading Program In Kindergarten Through Grade 2: A Generic Qualitative Study, Janet Harrell

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was completed to explore kindergarten through grade 2 teachers’ experiences implementing an artificial intelligence (AI)-supported reading program during literacy instruction. Guided by a generic qualitative design, the study was designed to examine how teachers prepared to use the program, integrated it into daily literacy instruction, used AI-generated data to inform instructional decision-making, and experienced the instructional and contextual conditions that supported or hindered implementation. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit 10 kindergarten through grade 2 teachers with experience using Amira Learning. Data were collected through semi structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis.

Four themes emerged from …

The Implementation Of Small Group Direct Instruction For Reading Domains Of Second- Grade Students, Tarmeka Smith-Bennett

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation explored how implementing small-group direct instruction in an elementary school setting affected the reading performance of second-grade students. The study examined how organized small-group direct instruction can elevate students’ reading achievement in phonics, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Over a six week instructional period, a mixed-methods research design was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data.

Pretest and posttest students’ reading assessments were collected using quantitative data, while teachers' weekly reflections and surveys were collected using qualitative data. A total of 30 students identified as struggling readers, and three second-grade teachers who implemented small-group direct instruction participated in …

Embarazo Prematuro Y Abandono Escolar En Jóvenes Inmigrantes Hispanas: Estudio De Caso En Una Academia De Educación En Español, Danays Carbonell Dieguez

Theses and Dissertations

Esta disertación aplicada tuvo como propósito explorar las experiencias de jóvenes inmigrantes hispanas que abandonaron sus estudios debido a embarazos prematuros mientras participaban en el programa Success Management Academy (SMA), una academia de educación en español ubicada en el contexto de Miami-Dade County Public Schools. El estudio se desarrolló desde un enfoque cualitativo mediante un diseño de estudio de caso, con el fin de comprender los factores personales, familiares, educativos, socioeconómicos y culturales que influyeron en la interrupción de sus trayectorias escolares.

La investigación incluyó cinco jóvenes inmigrantes hispanas provenientes de Centroamérica que estuvieron vinculadas al programa SMA y experimentaron …

Are We Perceived The Same? A Cross-Cultural Comparison Of Instructor Communication Between American And International Graduate Teaching Assistants, Deborah Aku Shika Pappoe

Theses and Dissertations

The study examined college students’ perceptions of American Teaching Assistants and International Teaching Assistants on credibility, clarity, respect, homophily, cultural homophily, and instructor quality within the same instructional context. Guided by Face Negotiation Theory, the study employed a mixed-methods design combining survey data and open-ended responses from undergraduate students at a Midwestern university. Results indicated significant differences in perceptions of clarity, homophily, and instructor quality, with ATAs rated higher on these dimensions, while no significant differences were found in credibility and respect. Students’ narratives reflected comparable experiences with both ATAs and ITAs, as perceptions of cultural homophily and instructor quality …

“America Is For Americans Only”: Journalistic Professionalism, Populism, And Latino Ethnic Media In The 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, Maria Villarroel

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how journalistic professionalism shaped news coverage of Latino-related issues during the 2024 U.S. presidential election across mainstream and Latino ethnic media outlets. In a polarized political environment, immigration and the “Latino vote” were not only central campaign issues but also sites of radicalized rhetoric that frequently targeted Latino communities and journalists. In this context, journalists were tasked with reporting on highly contentious, hostile narratives while adhering to professional norms. This study argues that these norms influenced how journalists selected, framed, and contextualized political rhetoric, and how media coverage further elevated immigration and Latino communities as key electoral …

The Interaction Between Academic Self-Efficacy And Social Support: Exploring Moderation Effects On Academic Performance And Emotional Well-Being During The Transition To Secondary School, Luis Josué Ortiz Martes

Theses and Dissertations

The transition to secondary school can intensify academic demands and emotional strain, making it a critical context for examining students’ psychological and social resources. This applied dissertation examined whether perceived social support (SS) moderates the association among academic self-efficacy (ASE), academic performance (AP) and emotional well-being (EWB) among seventh-grade students at a private, multilingual school in Puerto Rico. Using a time-lagged, nonexperimental correlational design, 14 students completed the academic subscale of the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (SEQ-C) and the Social Support Appraisals Scale (SS-A) at the start of the academic year; EWB was assessed at midyear with the Negative and …

Elementary Teachers’ Perceptions Of Differentiating Tier 1 Reading Instruction Within A Multi-Tiered System Of Support Framework, Ivonne Ciresi

Theses and Dissertations

This generic qualitative dissertation explored elementary teachers’ perceptions and experiences of implementing Tier 1 differentiated reading instruction within a Multi- Tiered System of Support (MTSS) framework. Establishing effective systems and supports for comprehensive reading instruction in the Tier 1 classroom is a critical component of MTSS. Given the range of structures required, including instructional routines, resources, and ongoing professional development, it is important to understand how teachers navigate the challenges of differentiating reading instruction. The purpose of this study was to examine how teachers implement differentiation during core reading instruction, the challenges they encounter, and the role of professional learning …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Successful Instructional Strategies To Improve The Language Arts Proficiency Of Third Grade African American Boys, Kristen Elena Gregg

Theses and Dissertations

The qualitative study examined instructional strategies that supported the academic achievement of African American boys. These are needed to increase reading proficiency. The study explored how K-6 teachers describe the unique academic needs of African American boys and the instructional strategies and activities teachers used to meet those needs to influence reading growth within the United States.

The study's theoretical foundation is guided by Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory. The qualitative study explored whether teachers’ perceptions of pedagogical strategies they use when teaching reading and language arts. The qualitative study identified what instructional strategies teachers find most successful when attempting to …

Examining Language In Exclusionary Discipline Practices: A Mixed Methods Study Of A Medium Florida School District, Kathleen A. Wonnell

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation examined office discipline referrals and the language used by teachers when describing disciplinary incidents. Additionally, it explored the coding assigned by administrators to these office discipline referrals and how those codes impacted the consequences assigned, possibly contributing to the use of exclusionary discipline. This mixed-methods study sought to contribute to the body of research on exclusionary discipline and disproportionate disciplinary outcomes. Office discipline referrals that resulted in exclusionary discipline in two comprehensive high schools were examined and administrators from the same schools who are responsible for coding disciplinary incidents were interviewed.

Themes that emerged from examining the …

The Perceptions Of Parents, Teachers, And Administrators On The Transition Of Latino Migrant Students Into Colleges, Sylma Samuel Ferreira

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study examined the perceptions of Latino migrant parents, teachers, and school administrators regarding barriers affecting Latino migrant students’ transition to higher education in rural Mississippi Delta schools. Guided by achievement goal theory and culturally responsive pedagogy, the study explored how structural, cultural, and institutional factors shape students’ educational pathways. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 participants, including parents, teachers, and administrators.

Findings revealed that Latino migrant students face interconnected barriers to higher education, including financial constraints, language barriers, family responsibilities, and limited access to college preparation resources and transportation. Participants emphasized the influence of family …

Increasing Reading Comprehension Of Middle School Students With Hearing Disabilities, Abbis Bivins

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, the effectiveness of researcher-created training sessions for teachers designed to improve reading comprehension in class for students who are deaf or hard of hearing was examined. The training was focused on key instructional components, including morphology, syntax, vocabulary, phonology, explicit feedback, and activation of prior knowledge. Additionally, parent-focused strategies such as collaboration with professionals, reading routines, summarization, interactive reading, and the use of home language were taught. A qualitative research design was used to explore the perceptions for both teacher and parent groups following participation in six 1-hour training sessions.

Teachers’ findings indicated increased confidence, intentional instructional …

Usage Behavior Of Hispanic English Learners With Bilingual Homework Resources In Developmental Mathematics At Community College, Debra Krieg

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation, grounded in the theoretical framework of metalinguistic awareness, was designed to understand how six Hispanic English learners (ELs) were utilizing homework help resources when offered in both English and Spanish. Specifically, the study was conducted at a mid-Atlantic community college with students enrolled in a developmental mathematics course. Homework has long been established as a tool that increases the probability of academic success. The shift to web-based assignments in developmental mathematics from traditional pencil and paper homework has yielded positive results yet little is known regarding how learners utilize bilingual digital assessment tools to achieve mastery of …

Implementing Effective Reading Strategies To Improve Reading Comprehension Among Minority Students, Mirlene Georges Moreau

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation examined teachers' perceptions of instructional strategies used to support reading comprehension among minority middle school students. The purpose of the quantitative, non-experimental correlational study was to examine relationships among teacher-reported instructional strategies, differentiated instruction, culturally responsive teaching practices, and perceived student reading comprehension outcomes. Because the study relied on survey perception data rather than direct achievement data or experimental intervention, findings were interpreted as associations rather than causal evidence. Data were collected through a researcher-developed survey administered to middle school English Language Arts, ESOL, and reading teachers. Descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations) summarized demographics …

The Continuity And Fluidity Between Emergent Literacy Skills And Literacy Acquisition, Shiesha D. Otokina

Theses and Dissertations

This research study was undertaken because emergent literacy skills are crucial in helping children develop their reading abilities. Research suggests that early intervention is a key strategy for closing the achievement gap, and that early literacy skills develop as early as when children begin to communicate verbally and nonverbally. Studies show that the larger a child's vocabulary is, the quicker they learn to read.This study examined the significance of reading development and a child’s ability to acquire reading skills across the stages of reading acquisition.

This study compared student scores in the experimental and control groups to determine whether the …

Higher-Level Questioning In Elementary English Language Arts, Charity Zawatski

Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory case study addressed the difficulty with higher-level metacognition and questioning in a primary level elementary English Language Arts. This case study was determined as a need based on underperforming scores from the state assessment in ELA.

The research method look at the social phenomenon through inquiry around the rigor in higher-level questioning and the use of hand signals to support connections in learning. The researcher applied a semi-structured interview, an observation checklist, and a random sample of student artifacts as instruments for data collection. The researcher analyzed teachers’ lesson plans for a unit, observed a virtual classroom lesson …

Cultural Heritage Curriculum And Student Identity Development: A Mixed-Methods Study, Alexus Corley

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to examine the influence of a cultural heritage curriculum on first-grade students’ cultural knowledge, awareness, and understandings of culture. Specifically, the study investigated the extent to which participation in a 4-week cultural heritage curriculum influenced students’ knowledge of cultural history and contemporary contributors, their understandings and perspectives about culture, and the convergence of quantitative and qualitative findings.

Using a qualitative-dominant mixed-methods research design, the study was conducted with 19 first-grade students enrolled in a Title I elementary school in Central Florida. Quantitative data were collected using the researcher-developed cultural knowledge preintervention and postintervention assessment and …

Reading Achievement And Response To Intervention Participation Among Socially Promoted Elementary Students In Grades 3 To 5: A Comparative And Predictive Analysis, Paige Griffin

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation examined reading achievement among socially promoted elementary students in Grades 3 to 5 by investigating the relationship between Response to Intervention (RTI) participation and Spring I-Ready Reading Diagnostic scaled scores. Although RTI is widely implemented as a multi-tiered framework to provide targeted instructional support for struggling readers, limited research has examined reading outcomes among socially promoted students in rural elementary schools using standardized reading assessment measures.

This quantitative, non-experimental, causal-comparative study analyzed secure, de-identified archival student data obtained following approval from the Nova Southeastern University Institutional Review Board and authorization from school district personnel. The study included …

The Influence Of Haitian Immigrants’ Culture On Academic Outcomes At Elementary Level, Tonnette Samuels

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explored how teachers, parents, and administrators perceived the influence of Haitian cultural values and practices on the organizational culture and academic outcomes of elementary students in a southern United States county. Guided by the resource-based view theory, which frames culture as an intangible organizational asset, the study used interpretative phenomenological analysis to examine the lived experiences of five participants, including three teachers, one parent, and one school administrator. Data were collected through semi structured interviews and analyzed to develop personal experiential themes for each participant and group experiential themes across cases.

The study’s findings generated four group …

Preferred Practices For A Student Support Services Program To Improve Retention Of African-Caribbean Students Enrolled In U.S. Universities, Jean F. Edouard

Theses and Dissertations

The problem addressed in this research was the high attrition rate of African-Caribbean students enrolled in U.S. universities. This study aimed to ascertain preferred practices in student support services programs to improve the retention of African-Caribbean students enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions. African-Caribbean students come to the United States with premigration experiences (e.g., language, cultural differences, and financial constraints). This generic qualitative study used semistructured Zoom interviews lasting 45–60 minutes with 12 African-Caribbean students who left their country of origin after age 12; interviews offered insight into their lived experiences and perceptions of U.S. higher education institutions. This study …

The Nonlinguistic Factors That Predict Spanish Oral Proficiency, Merrie Kay Ames

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the predictive power of self-assessment and nonlinguistic factors in determining Spanish oral proficiency among university learners. Drawing on data from 2,475 undergraduate students enrolled in a third-year Spanish course at Brigham Young University, the research examines how self-assessed speaking ability and experiential background variables--including age of acquisition, mission service, dual immersion, and study abroad--influence Oral Proficiency Interview - Computer (OPIc) scores. A one-way ANOVA revealed a statistically significant but modest relationship between students' calibration (self-assessment minus actual ability) and their OPIc ratings, suggesting that learners can generally approximate their speaking proficiency within two sublevels. A multiple regression …

(Post-)Colonial Shakespeares: Macbeth In South Africa, Mahmoud T. Kholeif

Theses and Dissertations

The history of Shakespeare in South Africa is that of an often contested cultural battleground, with meanings fought over across a colonial boundary. In Chapter One, we examine some of the many cultural intersections between Shakespeare and South African rewriters. In the process, we can see how Shakespeare came to the region as a tool for colonial domination, but would eventually be used to rebuke the colonial narrative that was conservatively ascribed to him. He was used to enforce racial and political hierarchies, particularly through missionary education and institutions like the “Kaffir Institution.” The anxieties surrounding the ‘overproduction’ of Western-educated …

Understanding Asynchronous Learning For Moana Communities By Moana Educators In The Digital Vā, Theresa Pamela Onesemo-Holmes

Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a dramatic shift from face-to-face learning to an online learning modality for learners globally. Moana (Pacific) communities of all ages were affected by the change due to the existing digital divide that remains an issue today. Research on culturally responsive learning pedagogy for Moana communities prior to the pandemic focused on in-person experiences. Navigating the vā (the relational space between all things) to engage with Moana communities was difficult for teachers during pandemic lockdowns. Online learning in Moana communities is an emerging field of research and has typically focused on synchronous learning. Instead, in my research …

Language Attitudes And Maintenance Within Latino Families In Utah County, Megan Elise Magleby Townsend

Theses and Dissertations

While there has been research done on Latino individuals' and parents' language attitudes and maintenance practices, there is little known about children's language attitudes and their perceptions of their parents' views towards both Spanish and English. This thesis looks at what the current picture is in terms of Spanish maintenance in Utah County's immigrant families as well as those factors that affect the parents' language attitudes and maintenance efforts. This study also seeks to fill the gap in the literature concerning what children (ages 8-13) think of English, Spanish, their respective cultures, as well as their possible plans to pass …

An Analysis Of Ukrainians' Language Attitudes And Ideology: A Conflict-Catalyzed Language And Identity Shift, Kateryna Kravchenko

Theses and Dissertations

On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine. According to Vladimir Putin's speech, the main goal of the war was to protect the Russian-speaking population of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. Many Ukrainians indeed speak Russian on a daily basis, largely due to the long and complicated history between the two countries. Recently, there has been an increase in pro-Ukrainian ideologies (Kulyk 2016); however, as the full-scale invasion began, people started advocating for Ukrainian usage in all public domains, and many even vowed to never speak Russian again. Since then, there has been a profound change in language …

Enhancing Silicon Sampling In Large Language Models: Fine-Tuning Techniques Using Survey Data, Davis P. Forster

Theses and Dissertations

Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly used to simulate responses of human demographic groups, a task known as silicon sampling. This paper investigates whether supervised fine-tuning can improve algorithmic fidelity in such settings. We construct a dataset from the General Social Survey (GSS), converting demographic attributes into natural-language backstories and randomly selecting one attribute as a held-out target. Fine-tuning a LLaMA-3.1-70B model on this dataset yields significant improvements on two tasks: (1) imputing missing attributes at the individual level, and (2) reproducing response distributions for demographic slices, such as racial and age groups. Notably, these improvements are achieved with minimal …