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Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

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U. S. History Teachers Perceptions Of Georgia's Common Core State Standards, Garnica Lewis Jan 2015

U. S. History Teachers Perceptions Of Georgia's Common Core State Standards, Garnica Lewis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since 2011, 45% of high school seniors have not been graduating from a rural central Georgia high school, with the majority of them failing U.S. History. As of 2013, only 32% of seniors in Georgia passed U.S. History, which is a core course. Although the local school board mandates that U.S. History teachers use Common Core Georgia Performance Standards to improve passing rates, the low proficiency rates for U.S. History suggest that a gap in practice exists, thus indicating the need for further research. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore U.S. History teachers' experiences with and …


Teachers' Perspectives On Implementing Social-Emotional Learning Standards, Sheila Youngblood Jan 2015

Teachers' Perspectives On Implementing Social-Emotional Learning Standards, Sheila Youngblood

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem this study addresses is the extent to which social-emotional learning programming is effectively implemented. Since social-emotional learning programming has emerged as a significant aspect of U.S. education, man states have included social-emotional standards and programming as an essential part of the curriculum. Researchers have found that effective reform includes not only emphasis on academic and standardized test scores, but also on social-emotional influences. As a school reform initiative, a Social Emotional Learning (SEL) program is being implemented at a Midwestern high school. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive interview study was to explore the perceived effectiveness of the …


Creating A Peer-Managed Writing Center For Secondary Schools, Lucinda Eva Moebius Jan 2015

Creating A Peer-Managed Writing Center For Secondary Schools, Lucinda Eva Moebius

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Student writing skills are a growing concern in secondary schools given the current focus on common core standards and college readiness. This qualitative case study addressed the growing problem of high school students being unprepared for the rigor of college level-writing. The study used a series of 10 interviews with writing center directors and teachers in 2 secondary schools with writing centers. This research adds to the literature on peer-managed writing centers and contributes to the body of knowledge of writing centers as a specific conceptual framework of response to intervention (RtI). The broad research questions were focused on 3 …


Leaders' Risk Propensity And Delegation Of Critical Decision-Making Authority, Reginald Carlton Doctor Jan 2015

Leaders' Risk Propensity And Delegation Of Critical Decision-Making Authority, Reginald Carlton Doctor

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A leader's unwillingness to delegate critical decision-making authority to subordinate managers and employees negatively impacts the performance of a firm. There is a lack of research that measures a leader's willingness to delegate critical decision-making authority to subordinate managers and employees based on their individual risk propensities. The purpose of this study was to provide empirical evidence of the influence risk propensity has on a leader's willingness to delegate critical decision-making authority. Specifically, this study examined the extent that risk propensity of leaders affect delegating critical decision making authority to subordinate managers and employees. The research design was a quantitative …


Administrator Perceptions Of How Developmental Education Impacts Student Attrition, Jennifer Michelle Price Jan 2015

Administrator Perceptions Of How Developmental Education Impacts Student Attrition, Jennifer Michelle Price

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nationally and locally, developmental education students attending community colleges are not persisting at a high rate. This growing attrition problem affects many aspects of a local community college including enrollment, completion rates, and tuition revenue. The purpose of this study was to analyze community college administrators' perceptions of developmental education and how developmental education affects student attrition. The conceptual framework of this study, social constructivism, provided a foundation to better understand the role each administrator plays in this social group. A qualitative study through structured interviews was conducted, targeting 10 college administrators from 1 local community college, from each of …


An Examination Of Teachers' Reading Instructional Challenges In An Alternative School Setting, Leslie Bowen Retchko Jan 2015

An Examination Of Teachers' Reading Instructional Challenges In An Alternative School Setting, Leslie Bowen Retchko

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In a suburban alternative school, educators of at-risk students reading below grade level often struggled to provide effective reading instruction. As a result, these students were likely to continue to experience academic difficulties, which could limit their career options and their opportunities to contribute to the betterment of society. This study addressed the gap between reading strategies teachers actually used in the classroom and the reading strategies they learned during professional development. The research questions focused on the instructional challenges teachers experienced while working with struggling readers in an alternative school setting. Mastery learning theory and the adult adragogical theory …


Effects Of Common Core Curriculum Standards On High School Students With Disabilities, Nancy Beth Thompson Loedding Jan 2015

Effects Of Common Core Curriculum Standards On High School Students With Disabilities, Nancy Beth Thompson Loedding

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This case study examined the effect of implementing the Common Core Curriculum Standards (CCCS) on students with disabilities (SWD) in a county in northeast Georgia. The study investigated teachers' perceptions regarding the effect of implementing the CCCS in high school English language arts and mathematics classes on the academic success of SWD and their ability to graduate from high school with a regular diploma. Information was also gathered to determine if teachers offered additional supports to SWD as part of the increased academic expectations of the CCCS. In addition, teachers were asked about the preparation they received prior to teaching …


The Lived Experiences Of Limited English Proficiency, Spanish-Speaking Male Ex-Offenders, Paula Nery Sanchez Jan 2015

The Lived Experiences Of Limited English Proficiency, Spanish-Speaking Male Ex-Offenders, Paula Nery Sanchez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of Spanish-speaking men in the United States with limited English proficiency following their release from prison. The study specifically examined the experiences of these men in their efforts to access health care treatment, housing, education, and employment in Central Pennsylvania. An empirical, phenomenological research design was employed that used self-stigma, critical race, and self-determination theories for in-depth interviews with 8 men who spent 5 to 24 years in prison. A tiered coding method was used to generate 6 interconnected themes that tell the story of these men's lives: …


High School Graduates' Perspectives On The Creation Of Online Identities, Lisa Koh-Herlong Jan 2015

High School Graduates' Perspectives On The Creation Of Online Identities, Lisa Koh-Herlong

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Technological advancements continue to increase online accessibility and the virtual population. As students engage with these advancements, their lives and identities will be on a worldwide platform. The realities of online identities present a challenge for educators to teach students how to manage those online identities. Researchers have studied the after-effects of online identities, but there is a gap in understanding the individual's thought process during the creation of online identities. The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological analysis was to understand the perspectives of working high school graduates regarding the creation of online identities. The research questions were designed to …


The Relationship Between Science Curriculum Aligned To Common Core State Standards And Scientific Literacy, Amber Lee Struthers Jan 2015

The Relationship Between Science Curriculum Aligned To Common Core State Standards And Scientific Literacy, Amber Lee Struthers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Supporting the development of scientifically literate students is a priority in public school education, and understanding how that development is influenced by the Common Core State Standards is vital to quality science education. However, little quantitative research has been conducted about how the Common Core State Standards impact science education. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to determine how the alignment of science curriculum and instruction to the Common Core English Language Arts State Standards impacts the development of students' scientific literacy skills. Bybee's framework for scientific literacy provided the theoretical framework. Participants included 7 middle school students in …


Teacher Use Of Assistive Technology For Students With High Incidence Disabilities In Small Rural Schools, Heather Wood Jan 2015

Teacher Use Of Assistive Technology For Students With High Incidence Disabilities In Small Rural Schools, Heather Wood

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A significant achievement gap between students with disabilities and their peers without disabilities has led to increased inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education classroom. Assistive technology (AT) has the potential to improve access to the curriculum for students with high-incidence disabilities. Teachers are challenged with learning about, recommending, and implementing AT; yet little is known about how teachers in New Hampshire use AT or the needs for professional development (PD) in AT utilization. The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to understand how teachers in small rural New Hampshire schools utilized AT with students with high-incidence …


Financing School-Based Health Centers: Sustaining Business Operational Services, Ingrid Monique Hayes-Burrell Jan 2015

Financing School-Based Health Centers: Sustaining Business Operational Services, Ingrid Monique Hayes-Burrell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

School-based health centers (SBHCs) have faced challenges in securing adequate funding for operations and developing sound business systems for billing and reimbursement. Specifically, administrators often lack strategies to develop and sustain funding levels to support appropriate resources for business operations. The focus of this descriptive study was to explore best practice strategies to develop and sustain funding through the experiences of SBHC administrators. The conceptual framework included Elkington's sustainability theory, which posits that corporate social responsibility, stakeholder involvement, and citizenship improve manager's effect on the business system. Twenty full-time SBHC administrators working in separate locations throughout the state of Maryland …


Raising Texas State Biology Exam Achievement Scores For Students With Disabilities, Nancy Kay Larkin Jan 2015

Raising Texas State Biology Exam Achievement Scores For Students With Disabilities, Nancy Kay Larkin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The No Child Left Behind Act changed the way educators taught students with disabilities (SWD), as this population has now become part of all districts' annual yearly progress. The problem this qualitative study addressed was that many biology teachers in a Texas suburban district were not effectively implementing evidence-based strategies for SWD. The study's conceptual foundation was based on Vygotsky's cognitive development theory that students achieve at higher levels when working in their zone of proximal development with support from peers or adults. The guiding question was intended to determine what strategies biology teachers were using to provide this support …


Middle School Teachers' Experiences With Cross-Curricular Connections At The Incident Level, Melita M. Penchalk Jan 2015

Middle School Teachers' Experiences With Cross-Curricular Connections At The Incident Level, Melita M. Penchalk

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many curricular innovations, including cross-curricular teaching, are started in schools without adequate teacher preparation and support, reducing the effectiveness of the interventions in supporting student learning. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to describe the implementation of the cross-curricular connections teaching technique in middle schools. Research questions focused on how middle school teachers experienced implementation of cross-curricular teaching at the incident level and how teachers perceived cross-curricular teaching and its long-term value. Myers-Briggs personality type theory informed the study, supporting the postulation that teachers are more comfortable teaching from their personality types. Data from 10 middle school teachers …


Exemplary Teachers' Perspectives On Effective Teaching Elements In Danielson's Framework For Teaching, Derek Jon Olson Jan 2015

Exemplary Teachers' Perspectives On Effective Teaching Elements In Danielson's Framework For Teaching, Derek Jon Olson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Reforms in teacher evaluation are enacted to increase student achievement. Although there is research on teacher evaluation and teacher quality, there is little that addresses effective teaching as conceptualized in Danielson's Framework for Teaching, a commonly used evaluation tool. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine which of the 4 domains and 76 elements of Danielson's framework are viewed by award-winning teachers as having the greatest impact on effective teaching and learning. Constructivism formed the theoretical basis for this study. The research questions examined to what extent state and national teachers of the year perceive differences in the …


A Comparison Of Preservice Teachers' Responses To Bullying Scenarios, Cynthia Louise Davis Jan 2015

A Comparison Of Preservice Teachers' Responses To Bullying Scenarios, Cynthia Louise Davis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This nonexperimental study was conducted to determine differences that exist between PreK to 4th grade preservice teachers' beliefs about the severity of bullying, their empathy with victims of bullying, beliefs about their ability to cope with bullying in the classroom, and their ability to intervene in bullying issues. Bandura's self-efficacy theory and Ajzen's theory of planned behavior provided the study's theoretical base and demonstrated a connection between participants perceived ability to cope with bullying behavior and willingness to intervene. The participants (N = 112) were students in a 2-year community college PreK to 4th grade education transfer degree program. Data …


The Role Of Religious Vaccination Exemptions In The Ocean County, New Jersey Pertussis Outbreak, Siobhan Bridget Pappas Jan 2015

The Role Of Religious Vaccination Exemptions In The Ocean County, New Jersey Pertussis Outbreak, Siobhan Bridget Pappas

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a vaccine-preventable disease that is on the rise in the United States, a trend which has been attributed to vaccination exemption. Indeed, the pertussis outbreak that occurred in February, 2012 in Ocean County, New Jersey was associated with vaccine exemption. Considering that pertussis is deadly to young children, it is important to understand why this disease rate is on the rise. The research questions were focused on whether a relationship existed between pertussis status (no, yes) and exemption status (no, yes), sex (male, female), and county type (Middlesex, Ocean, or Other), using a …


Restaurant Revenue Management: Examining Reservation Policy Implications At Fine Dining Restaurants, Nanishka Hernandez Jan 2015

Restaurant Revenue Management: Examining Reservation Policy Implications At Fine Dining Restaurants, Nanishka Hernandez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the restaurant industry, some patrons do not honor their reservations, especially on holidays. Grounded in postpositivism and system theories, the purpose of this comparative study was to examine the impact of implementing a credit card payment policy for fine dining restaurants reservations and no shows after implementation of a credit card guarantee policy at a high-end hotel located in the southeast United States. Data were collected from archival records provided by the hotel executives. According to the results of a Wilcoxon Signed Rank test, there was a statistically significant decrease in the number of no shows, p < .001, after the implementation of the credit card guarantee policy. In a paired sample t-test, there was a statistically significant decrease in the number of reservations, p < .001, after implementation of the credit card guarantee policy. The implications for positive social change include the potential to increase understanding of payment policies as they relate to the restaurant industry. Service industry managers can benefit from implementing payment policies that can vary from specific dates, seasons, and type of services. Customers will also benefit by being able to make reservations not originally possible due to demand. The current study adds to service industry knowledge, increasing the understanding of payment policies as they relate to restaurant industry. Conducting a similar study in other service industries in the future may lead to a better understanding of the nature of policies and customers' traits and behaviors.


Efficacy Of African American Grandmothers Regarding The Education Of Custodial Grandchildren, Valarie Louise Petty Boyer Jan 2015

Efficacy Of African American Grandmothers Regarding The Education Of Custodial Grandchildren, Valarie Louise Petty Boyer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The roles of grandparents, from occasional helpers to custodial adults in their grandchildren's lives, often raise levels of social discomfort among those involved,; especially when the children are still in elementary school. A disproportionate number of custodial grandparents are African American women. This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of 8 custodial African American grandmothers in Delaware regarding the education of their school-aged grandchildren. The theoretical foundation was Carter and McGoldrick's theory of families as interconnected systems, and Sands, Goldberg-Glen, Shin, and Robin's theory that life event changes often lead to stress and coping strategies. Data were collected through in-depth …


Community College Instructors' Perceptions And Use Of Feedback, Janeth Martin Walker Franklin Jan 2015

Community College Instructors' Perceptions And Use Of Feedback, Janeth Martin Walker Franklin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many community college students, especially those who are required to take developmental education courses, do not complete course and degree goals. Research shows that constructive feedback practices used by instructors improve academic achievement while destructive feedback practices diminish student learning. Using a constructivist framework, the purpose of this qualitative, instrumental case study was to understand how faculty who teach developmental education and entry level college courses perceive and use feedback in a large urban community college in the Southwestern United States. Data were collected through 17 in-depth, face-to-face interviews and written feedback examples submitted by the faculty members. Interview transcripts …


Distinguishing Leadership Of Information Assurance Teams, Bamidele Adetokunbo Bankole Jan 2015

Distinguishing Leadership Of Information Assurance Teams, Bamidele Adetokunbo Bankole

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Information assurance (IA) projects are essential components of the information technology industry and often fail due to budget overruns, missed deadlines, and lack of performance by the project teams. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the strategies necessary to improve IA project team performance. Lewin's situational leadership theory was used as the conceptual framework for this study. Interviews were conducted with 20 IA professionals located in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area. The data were transcribed, coded, and clustered for the identification of common patterns based on the Moustakas' modified van Kaam analysis. The major themes that emerged …


Elementary School Teachers' Perception Of Art Integration To Improve Student Learning, Lynn Maxey Fagan Jan 2015

Elementary School Teachers' Perception Of Art Integration To Improve Student Learning, Lynn Maxey Fagan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Teachers are seeking effective teaching strategies to support an array of student learning needs. The arts hold the potential to transform the learning experience for students; however, the use of art integration is limited and unknown to many educators. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to interview and observe 8 elementary school teachers who were identified by the school administration as successfully having integrated art into the curricula, defined by teaching with and through the arts across all content areas. The intent of this study was to explore the participants' perceptions about the use of art integration in …


Racial Identity, Religious/Spiritual Support, Self-Efficacy, And Academic Support In Predicting Black College Students' Academic Performance, Jonathan M. Hudson Jan 2015

Racial Identity, Religious/Spiritual Support, Self-Efficacy, And Academic Support In Predicting Black College Students' Academic Performance, Jonathan M. Hudson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Black students in the United States continue to struggle academically as they matriculate into postsecondary education, placing them at risk for missing opportunities for work and social success. Research has identified the dimensions of Black racial identity, as well as other social factors, that may contribute to academic success. What is missing, however, is research grounded in a theory of Black identity that examines how identity and other factors combine to influence academic success. This quantitative online survey research tested 5 hypotheses to ascertain their relative strength in predicting academic success among Black college students: (a) demographics (age, gender, socioeconomic …


Silence Improves Anxiety Levels And Test Scores Among Children With Disabilities, Hanna Matatyaho Jan 2015

Silence Improves Anxiety Levels And Test Scores Among Children With Disabilities, Hanna Matatyaho

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Students with disabilities may experience more anxiety when taking a test than do students without a disability. The purpose of this study was to assess whether a technique called 1-minute of silence reduces anxiety and improves test scores among students with disabilities. The theoretical framework for this study was the theory of planned behavior/reasoned action and the health belief model. Two research questions were used, one to determine the difference in anxiety levels in students with special needs and the other to determine the difference in New York State (NYS) Math posttest scores in children with special needs (no silence, …


College Retention Connections With Multiple Influencing Factors, Jamie Esther Mccracken Jan 2015

College Retention Connections With Multiple Influencing Factors, Jamie Esther Mccracken

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There are many challenges associated with student retention. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) has focused on determining the factors affecting student retention across its campus and distance course delivery formats in order to improve student retention. The purpose in this study was to explore the extent to which age, course delivery, technical ability, and financial background determine retention at SMWC. Retention and attrition models of Tinto and Walleri laid the foundation of this study. Qualitative data on technical ability were collected from 69 students who responded to the survey instrument on Survey Monkey. Quantitative data on retention, age, course delivery, and …


Soft Skills Perceived By Students And Employers As Relevant Employability Skills, Ann-Marie Claudia Williams Jan 2015

Soft Skills Perceived By Students And Employers As Relevant Employability Skills, Ann-Marie Claudia Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Local employers believe the lack of prerequisite soft skills is inhibiting the graduates from a local community college from securing employment. The rationale of this phenomenological study was to investigate the perceptions of students and employers related to the soft skills needed to be successful in future employment. The theoretical framework was based on Mezirow's transformational and Daloz's mentorship theories. Individual face-to-face, semistructured interviews were used to gather data from 12 business and computer students and 7 employers (N=19) who were selected using purposeful random sampling. The typewritten transcripts of participants' responses were imported in MAXQDA 11, then were open …


The Effect Of Researched-Based Practices On Reading Achievement Of Title Î? Students, Oliver Lorenza Phipps Jan 2015

The Effect Of Researched-Based Practices On Reading Achievement Of Title Î? Students, Oliver Lorenza Phipps

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Title Î? schools are supported to improve student reading achievement and to bridge the achievement gap between low-income students and other students. The researched-based practices of professional learning communities, coteaching classrooms, and the RtI 3-tiered model were added to a Title Î? school to improve students' reading achievement; however, the effects of these research-based practices on students' reading achievement were unclear. The purpose of this quantitative causal comparative study was to examine the impact of these research-based practices on reading scores of students. Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT 2.0) reading achievement scores were compared between students (n = 98) in …


School Counselors' Perceived Multicultural Competence, Adherence To The Asca National Model, And Students' Performance, Jessica Helene Conroy Jan 2015

School Counselors' Perceived Multicultural Competence, Adherence To The Asca National Model, And Students' Performance, Jessica Helene Conroy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Multicultural competence (MCC), despite its integral part in school counseling and the school setting, is not applied within the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) national model (NM). Rather, the ASCA NM is a guideline that is expected of school counselors with limited opportunity for deviation. Without incorporating multicultural practices in the school setting, student performance may suffer. Student performance affects everyone who is learning, working, or has a child who is or will be at the middle school level. The purpose of this study was to identify if perceived MCC, as measured by the MCCTS-R, and/or adherence to the ASCA …


Effects Of Single-Gender And Coeducational Learning Environments On Middle School Mathematics Achievement, Tasha Graves Henderson Jan 2015

Effects Of Single-Gender And Coeducational Learning Environments On Middle School Mathematics Achievement, Tasha Graves Henderson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As a result of the increased number of schools failing to meet adequate yearly progress (AYP), school districts are searching for innovative ways to raise student achievement and meet the rigorous performance standards set by state governments. Using the theoretical framework provided by brain research and the theory of multiple intelligences, the purpose of this quantitative study was to compare 2 middle school classroom structures for differences in mathematics achievement among students. The study examined whether a significant difference existed in mathematics achievement scores on the state-mandated mathematics test for 2 groups (single gender classes versus coeducational classes) in 6 …


Addressing Gaps In Student Reading: Read 180 Program Evaluation, Shonda Patrice Pittman-Windham Jan 2015

Addressing Gaps In Student Reading: Read 180 Program Evaluation, Shonda Patrice Pittman-Windham

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Students are reaching middle school 2 or more years behind in reading ability. As a result, they are unable to meet state testing standards. In 2007, the READ 180 program was implemented at an urban middle school in Virginia to address the reading gaps of these middle school students. The purpose of this sequential mixed-method program evaluation was to analyze the reading success of 30 READ 180 students and the perceptions of 4 teachers who taught the READ 180 curriculum. The theoretical framework that served as a basis for this study was Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, which holds that …