Digital Commons Network^™

Psychological Interventions For Children With Neurodevelopmental Disabilities In The Context Of Neurodiversity: A Systematic Review, Kalliopi Megari, Dimitra V. Katsarou, Evangelos Mantsos, Soultana Papadopoulou, Efthymia Efthymiou, Maria Theodoratou, Maria Sofologi, Eugenia Toki

All Works

Highlights What are the main findings? What is the implication of the main finding?Highlights What are the main findings? What is the implication of the main finding?Abstract Background/Objectives: This systematic review examines psychological interventions for children with neurodevelopmental disabilities within a neurodiversity framework, emphasizing that variations in cognition, behavior, and neurological functioning represent natural forms of human diversity rather than deficits. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted across the PubMed, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar databases for studies published between 2010 and 2025. Studies were included if they focused on children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), learning or intellectual disabilities …

A Comprehensive Approach To Cognitive Offloading, Oscar Daniel Ramirez Perez

Theses and Dissertations

Learners use a variety of strategies to engage with real-world learning material. One such strategy is cognitive offloading: the reliance on external stores to alleviate internal cognitive demand. Past research has found that learners remember less when they study with the expectation of access to an external store during a subsequent test relative to when they study without that expectation. One proposed theory is the study effort hypothesis: when learners expect access to an external store, they reduce their encoding effort based on the belief that their internal memory of the information will be less important when they have access …

They Not For Us: Reimagining Social-Emotional Learning For Black Youth, Jennifer Chinecherem Ani

Theses and Dissertations

Social-emotional learning (SEL) interventions are often implemented within a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports framework and have been found to be effective in improving students’ social, emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes. However, SEL interventions are typically implemented as a Tier I intervention and there is limited research on SEL interventions implemented in Tier II. Additionally, SEL interventions have received criticism for not being culturally relevant for minoritized populations, especially Black students. This study aims to seeks to extend the current literature on making cultural adaptations of an SEL intervention, specifically for Black elementary students using the Ecological Validity Model (EVM). …

An Equity-Centered Creative Therapies Implementation Framework For K-12 School Counseling Practice, Brian Caleb Carlisle

Theses and Dissertations

Adolescents in K-12 schools are experiencing a significant mental health crisis, with rising rates of anxiety, depression, trauma, and emotional dysregulation, while many continue to face limited access to equitable, developmentally appropriate supports. Although schools increasingly serve as primary sites for mental health services, they often lack resources, training, and infrastructures necessary to implement effective interventions. Arts-based and creative therapy approaches demonstrate benefits for emotional regulation, trauma processing, and social-emotional development but remain underused due to inconsistent implementation and systemic barriers. This capstone project examines how creative therapies can be integrated into school counseling programs to address these gaps. Guided …

Informing Pre-K Expansion In The Walthall County School District: Examining Relationships Among Pre-K Participation Type, Kindergarten Readiness, And Third-Grade Literacy Outcomes, Florence Michelle Stinson

Theses and Dissertations

Limited access to high-quality pre-kindergarten (Pre-K) programs continues to present challenges for improving kindergarten readiness and literacy outcomes in many rural school districts. Within the Walthall County School District (WCSD), students consistently enter kindergarten below state readiness averages and perform below state averages on the 3rd-grade literacy assessment. The purpose of this empirical quantitative study, supported by a structured literature review, is to examine the relationships among Pre-K participation type, kindergarten readiness, and 3rd-grade literacy outcomes in order to inform district-level decisions regarding Pre-K expansion. School Readiness Theory and Emergent Literacy Theory provide the foundational groundwork for the study. School …

Children Second Dialect Acquisition In North America, Iqbal Nurul Azhar, Mohammad Halili

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

This article aims to examine the causes, social contributing factors, and the linguistic consequences of Second Dialect Acquisition (SDA henceforth) in children in North America, drawing on relevant articles. For children growing up in a monolingual region but then must live in a new space, acquiring second dialect can pave them to improve their communication skills, adjust their social and identity belonging. Yet why, how, and the linguistic consequence of SDA require further studies. We used the thematic synthesis in reviewing the existing related literature based on three steps: article identification, selection, and analysis. Six causes of SDA were found: …

Flexibility In Javanese Folk Performing Arts: Adaptation, Creation, And Innovation, Kiswanto Kiswanto, Paimin Paimin, Wahyu Prihatin

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

This study aims to uncover and explain the concept and model of flexibility as a mechanism for the sustainability of folk performing arts amidst conditions of social and cultural change. The study was conducted using an ethnographic approach, based on participatory and collaborative activities within the Turonggo Seto Boyolali group, and supported by data collection techniques including observation, interviews, documentation, and literature review. The results of this study indicate that flexibility is a principle and approach applied through the process of adaptation, creation, and innovation. This process is carried out to preserve and develop traditional performing arts, ensuring they continue …

Addressing Haitian High School Students’ Educational Challenges Through Their Self-Cultural Awareness, Gregory Louis

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The study is grounded in the understanding that culturally responsive education practices can promote academic success and empower students to navigate multiple cultural contexts. A review of literature highlighted the complexities of Haitian students' educational experiences, the impact of cultural identity on academic achievement, and the need for further research on this topic.

The research employed in-depth, semi-structured interviews with Haitian high school students and their parents to gather data on their experiences, perceptions, and attitudes towards education and cultural identity. The study aimed to contribute to a deeper understanding of the educational experiences of Haitian students and inform strategies …

Elementary Teachers’ Perceptions About Teaching Students With Disabilities In The General Education Classroom, Mackenzie Rathburn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem that was addressed through this study is that elementary teachers encounter challenges to meet the diverse needs of students with disabilities (SWDs) in Georgia’s general education classrooms, despite policy mandates requiring inclusive education. Grounded in Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore elementary teachers’ perceptions of the challenges they face and the resources and supports recommended to teach SWDs in general education classrooms. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with 10 elementary general education teachers and analyzed using thematic analysis with the following six themes emerging: Teachers noted (1) instructional …

Resistance And Adaptation In Banyumas Traditional Gending: Musical Negotiation Between Cultural Preservation And Commercial Performance In Lengger And Ebeg, Darno Darno, Binarung Mahatmajangga

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

This study investigates the musical dynamics of Banyumas-style traditional gending within the contestation of Lengger and Ebeg performances amid the demands of modern entertainment. Using a qualitative method combining ethnomusicological and cultural-sociology perspectives, the study examines changes in musical structure and the socio-cultural forces driving them, and asks specifically: what defines Banyumas gending musicality at the level of instrumental garap (working practice); what concrete forms of adaptation and resistance are observable in contemporary performance; and how these dynamics can be read through Merriam's concept of stability and change and Bourdieu's theory of capital and field. Data were collected through in-depth …

Explicit Writing Instruction Across Content Areas: A Professional Development, Bethany B. Richardson

Masters Projects

Research shows that writing instruction has diminished in the elementary classroom due to high stakes testing in reading and math.  Writing is a driving force for literacy achievement and should be prioritized.  In order to improve writing instruction, teachers need professional development in explicit instructional strategies for writing in other content areas.  According to cognitive processing theory, students are using multiple cognitive and metacognitive processes to complete a singular writing task.  Using scaffolds like write alouds, mentor texts, and graphic organizers can help teachers support students in their writing. Scaffolding theory suggests that students need high levels of support in …

Lost In Translation: Quantifying Political Sociolect Divergence And Testing Llm Reliability As Political Interpreters, Daniel J. Corcoran

Theses

In the United States political sphere, growing polarization between Democrats and Republicans, particularly their more ideologically extreme wings, has given rise to distinct English-adjacent languages, shaped by social tendencies and referred to as “sociolects”. These sociolects offer a new avenue to analyze and further quantify growing polarization, and as Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) become increasingly embedded in political and social analysis, understanding their depth of political reasoning, biases, and classification behavior has become imperative. In this study, we sourced comment data from the CNN, Fox, and MSNBC YouTube channels, spanning from 2020 through 2024, trained …

Shared Equity Leadership In An Offshore Medical School: Distributing Responsibility For Equity, Vishal B. Surender, Sreekrishna Penna, Oluwabusola Osimosu

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

This essay applies the Shared Equity Leadership (SEL) framework to an offshore MD program at a private Caribbean medical school where students complete basic sciences on an island and clinical clerkships across multiple international sites. Using SEL scholarship and de-identified institutional data, we ask how equity work is currently distributed, where gaps emerge in assessment, remediation, and mobility for historically underrepresented students in medicine, and how responsibility for equity might be more deliberately shared. The Woven model of SEL provides a lens to map existing structures like curriculum committees, CQI dashboards, advising systems, and clinical site partnerships. We propose a …

Reimagining Global Dei Through Adaptive Leadership: A Framework For Advancing Racial Equity In International Higher Education Partnerships, Briana C. Edwards

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

Abstract

As internationalization in higher education expands through transnational research, global curricula, humanitarian training programs, and faculty mobility, discourses on diversity often remain Western-centered and detached from lived realities of structural inequity. This paper argues that adaptive leadership, grounded in mobilizing communities to confront systemic challenges in complex and uncertain environments, provides a useful pathway for rebuilding global DEI with racial equity at the center (Heifetz et al., 2009). Drawing from practice-based insight in global health, humanitarian workforce systems, HBCU models of global engagement, and higher education HR structures, the paper interrogates how colonial legacies, racial hierarchies, anti-DEI political climates, …

Knowledge Dilution And Tinted Pedagogical Dissemination: A Call For De-Colonizing Commercial Textbooks In Teacher Education For International Students, S. A. N. Zaidi, Cherian, F.V.

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

Abstract

This qualitative study examines how commercially produced textbooks mediate professor agency and shape the racialized and epistemic positioning of international students within a Canadian Teacher Education program. Situated within the internationalization of higher education, the study interrogates how textbook-driven curricular practices reproduce racial hierarchies, Eurocentric knowledge systems, and epistemic exclusion. The study responds to ongoing debates on race, racism, and racialization by examining how knowledge production and dissemination in classrooms may marginalize the lived experiences and intellectual contributions of international and racialized students. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis in programs serving racialized and international students. …

Old Wine New Bottles: Racial Microaggressions Experiences Of Black African International Students In England, Solomon A. Zewolde

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

Despite increasing attention to inequality in higher education, the everyday experiences of Black students and how they navigate racialized environments remain underexplored. This study examined Black African international undergraduates’ experiences of racial microaggression and their coping strategies in the context of higher education in England. Drawing on Critical Race Theory, a qualitative approach was used to analyze the accounts of 16 undergraduates studying in 11 English universities.  Findings indicate that students experienced racialized challenges along two interrelated dimensions: identity-based marginalization (including assumptions of poor/inferior previous education in Africa and pathologizing discourse) and social exclusion (including devaluation of classroom contributions, invisibility, …

The Prevalence And Landscape Of Accent Reduction Programs At Us Institutions Of Higher Education, Sandra Greene, Katie Hopkins, Melissa Whatley, Christina W Yao

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

Many institutions offering accent reduction programs claim they help international staff and students modify their accent, thereby helping them be more successful within the context of higher education. Despite accent reduction programs being labeled as predatorial, deficit-laden, and pathologizing of accents, programs continue to proliferate on college campuses while perpetuating English language dominance, linguistic racism, and the hierarchization of Englishes. Yet, there is limited research on the scope of these programs within higher education. This descriptive study, informed by QuantCrit, adds to the existing literature by highlighting the landscape and characteristics of the approximately 9% of institutions of higher education …

Inter(Sectional)(National): Modeling Belonging And Campus Climate Among Asian International Students’ Identities, Yun-Han Weng, Ionell Jay Terogo, Laura S. Dahl

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

International students’ belonging in U.S. higher education is shaped by institutional climates that are both racialized and internationalized, yet few quantitative studies model these dimensions simultaneously. Using data from the Assessment of Collegiate Residential Environments and Outcomes, we examine how campus nationality and racial climates relate to Asian international students’ sense of belonging, and whether these relationships vary by intersecting identities. We examine how campus nationality and racial climates relate to Asian international students’ sense of belonging (n = 763). Measurement model comparisons empirically supported a two-factor solution separating nationality and racial climates once reverse-worded items were removed for improved …

Nice White Ladies: Exorcising The Ghost Of Lady Bountiful, Renee Lynch

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

This article explores how individuals with racial privilege can both acknowledge and start to move beyond the ways they are implicated in systemic injustices in internationalization through collaboration. The study examines how the author acted in complicity with colonial power in an international collaborative research project in English language education at a university in Tanzania. Critical ethnographic data was analyzed using positioning theory and applying the archetype of Lady Bountiful - a “nice white lady” who graciously participates in the civilizing work of colonization. This construct illuminates how the author perpetuated colonialism at the intersection of whiteness and femininity while …

Not Quite Foreign, Never Fully Belonging: Racialization Of Southbound Policy Students In Taiwan, Garima Jha

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

This paper critically examines how race and racialization shape the socio-cultural adjustment experiences of international students from New Southbound policy (NSP) countries in Taiwan. Drawing from a qualitative part conducted for my master’s thesis, which explored the coping strategies and adjustment processes of seven students from Southeast and South Asia through semi-structured interview, I reframe the data to center race as an analytical lens using the conceptual framework proposed by Glasgow (2009) which explains that racialization as the process through which social meanings are attached to perceived cultural or bodily differences, creating and maintaining hierarchies among groups. and Brondolo et …

Resurrecting Anti-Apartheid Solidarity: Scholasticide, Race, And The Politics Of Internationalization In Higher Education, Divinia Jithoo, Alia Gilbrecht

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

This paper interrogates how racialized internationalization and epistemic injustice shape global higher education through a comparative critical analysis of South African and Palestinian academic resistance. Drawing on decolonial theory (Du Plessis, 2021) and Fricker’s (2007) framework of epistemic injustice, we examine how scholasticide—the deliberate destruction of Palestinian educational institutions—reveals higher education as a targeted site of racialized domination rather than a neutral casualty of war. Our findings show that normalization, sustained through Global South partnerships with Israeli institutions, functions as a racialized mode of internationalization that obscures complicity in settler-colonial violence. These dynamics are reinforced by transnational anti-Palestinian racism, a …

Inclusions And Illusions: Transnational Matrix Of Subordination & The (In)Visible Hierarchies Among Racialized International Students In Ontario Universities, Shamiga S. Arumuhathas

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

This study critically examines the (in)visible racial hierarchies experienced by racialized international students (IS) within Ontario’s (HE) education landscape amid populist, anti-immigration backlash and expanding internationalization. Guided by Critical Race Theory (CRT) and intersectionality, this research employed narrative inquiry with 14 self-identified racialized IS at 2 public universities. Core research questions include: How do racialized IS experience belonging, racism, and institutional EDID (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Decolonization) in present-day Ontario? How do EDID and internationalization policies obscure or reinforce racial hierarchies? Findings reveal a transnational matrix of subordination: White IS remain proxies for institutional belonging, while racialized and domestic students act …

Decolonizing Raciolinguistic Ideologies In Institutions Of Higher Learning, Chantelle M. August-Mowers, Samantha M. Hoffman

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

This article examines how raciolinguistic ideologies shape global higher education (HE), highlighting the intersection of language, race, and systemic inequalities. English often functions as a gatekeeper, privileging certain knowledge systems while marginalizing students and faculty from the Global South (Flores & Rosa, 2015; Pennycook, 2007). Structural inequities persist in faculty recruitment, international student selection, and academic publishing, reflecting colonial legacies and epistemic injustice (Canagarajah, 2013; Quijano, 2000). Racialized and linguistically marginalized students experience exclusion, microaggressions, and limited mobility, revealing contradictions between diversity rhetoric and institutional practices (Sekaja, 2022; Enslin, 2024). The study advocates decolonial and multilingual interventions, including translanguaging, inclusive …

Race, Racism, And Racialization In International Higher Education: A Transnational And Mobility-Aware Approach, Benjamin Denga, Louise Michelle Vital

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

Race, racism, and racialization are increasingly recognized as central to understanding inequality in global higher education. Yet dominant frameworks in comparative and international higher education remain nationally bounded and citizenship-centered, offering limited insight into how race operates under conditions of mobility, legal temporariness, and transnational governance. As internationalization intensifies through student mobility, cross-border partnerships, and global knowledge circulation, racialized experiences are shaped by visa-dependent status, differential protection, global racial imaginaries and discourses, uneven or unequal geopolitical relations and institutional logics of internationalization (including marketization, risk management and revenue extraction). In this conceptual article we argue that race and racialization in …

Designing Process-Focused Feedback For College Writers Using Genai, Beata Blood, Maissane Aik, Zoey Zaldivar

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

As generative AI tools like ChatGPT become more common in higher education, writing instructors face the challenge of guiding students toward effective and ethical use, particularly in asynchronous environments where immediate feedback is limited. This presentation reports on an exploratory study that addresses this challenge by shifting attention from AI’s outputs to students’ moment-by-moment writing processes. Grounded in applied linguistics approaches to writing research and process-tracing methods, the project employed case studies with both expert and novice users of GenAI. Expert participants, including academics and industry professionals, completed writing tasks while integrating AI into their workflows. Their sessions were recorded …

System And Method For Collateralized Generative Advertising: Programmatic Truth-Bonding In Interactive Shopping Ad Units, N/A Anonymous

Defensive Publications Series

This disclosure describes systems, methods, and protocols for establishing programmatic financial and linguistic accountability in generative conversational shopping advertisements. An interactive ad unit parses a live dialogue stream of a generative conversational agent to identify a verifiable commercial assertion. Upon identifying the assertion, the system calculates a probability of model hallucination using token-level log-probabilities and softmax temperatures. A portion of an advertising budget or a pre-funded collateral pool is dynamically diverted into a smart contract escrow as a fidelity bond, where the bond amount scales with the probability of hallucination and a product category liability multiplier. Following a transaction, a …

Restoring The Balance Of Power: Why The Courts Must Rely On Canons Of Interpretation In Order To Align With Article Iii Of The Constitution Post-Chevron, Kane Breuer

University of Dayton Law Review

No abstract provided.

Experiences Of Psychological Recovery From Work In Second-Generation Asian Americans, Laura Yang

Dissertations and Theses

Individuals of Asian descent make up approximately 7.4% of the U.S. population. As one of the fastest-growing minority groups, their population is projected to reach nearly 15% by 2065, with 38% being foreign-born – surpassing all other racial minority groups. Despite their increasing presence in the U.S. workforce, research on Asian workers' nonwork experiences remains limited. One key unexplored area is how Asian workers engage in recovery after work, considering their unique cultural and racialized experiences. Drawing on literature examining psychological recovery from work, this qualitative study employed multiple methods of analysis, both listening guide method and thematic analysis, to …

A Program Proposal For An Evidence-Based Dietary Program To Support Spanish Speaking Diabetic Patients, Shaquetta Ann Mccloud-Petion

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) executive leadership system improvement project addresses provider-identified gaps in dietary education for Spanish-speaking patients with diabetes, which may contribute to suboptimal glycemic control and diabetes self-management. A comprehensive review of evidence from CINAHL Complete, PubMed/MEDLINE, and Cochrane supports the use of culturally tailored, evidence-based dietary education to improve diabetes knowledge, self-management behaviors, and health outcomes. The project proposes the development and implementation of a standardized dietary education program using culturally appropriate dietary exchange tools within an outpatient clinic. The initiative aims to improve staff confidence, adoption, and consistency in delivering culturally responsive diabetes education …

Literacy Hubs: Human-Centered, Coordinated Approach Towards Advancing Adult Literacy In A Community, Alexandria M. Marzolf

Masters Projects

Low adult literacy skills have been a pervasive and persistent challenge in the United States for more than a century. One in five adults (21%) possesses low literacy skills (National Center for Education Statistics, 2026), a finding consistent with statistics reported by the National Literacy Institute (2024). Despite decades of educational reform, many adults continue to experience limited access to coordinated, community-based literacy support. The purpose of this master's project was to develop a community-based Literacy Hub framework designed to increase access to adult literacy learning opportunities through coordinated partnerships and community engagement. An extensive review of educational research, community …