Digital Commons Network^™

Negotiated Success: Contractual Benefits That Enhance Recruitment And Retention, Hella Bel Amor, Staci Corey, Dana Jean Defeo

ISER Reports

This report summarizes monetary and non-monetary items used in Collectively Bargained Agreements (CBAs) to enhance retention and recruitment of educators in and outside of Alaska. This report is one of a series commissioned by the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development to support a stakeholder-informed action plan to address the state’s recurring critical challenges in recruiting and retaining teachers. To approach this task, we narrowed our focus to a review of provisions contained within CBAs in Alaska and a sample of districts in the nation, reviewed relevant literature, and collected stakeholder feedback to further inform the report content and …

Deliberative Facilitation In The Classroom: The Interplay Of Facilitative Technique And Design To Make Space For Democracy, Kei Nishiyama, A. Wendy Russell, Pierrick Chalaye, Tom Greenwell

Democracy & Education

Widespread global interest and adoption of deliberative democracy approaches to reinvigorate citizenship and policymaking in an era of democratic crisis/decline has been mirrored by increasing interest in deliberation in schools, both as an approach to pedagogy and student empowerment and as a training ground for deliberative citizenship. In school deliberation, as in other settings, a key and sometimes neglected element of high-quality deliberation is facilitation. Facilitation can help to establish and maintain deliberative norms, assist participants to deliberate productively, and enable collective goals. By participating in facilitated deliberation, students can develop awareness, skills, and voice that empower them to engage …

Chapter 7- The Crucial Role And Responsibilities Of The Mentoring Program Coordinator, Michael A. Christiansen, Don Busenbark

Making Connections

Mentoring is a crucial part of personal and professional development in practically any environment, including higher education, industry, and private institutions, though the nature and methods of such mentoring may vary as much as the organizations themselves. Because institutions differ so much in their structures and needs, it is important that a dedicated program coordinator be assigned to define mentoring and spearhead the construction, implementation, assessment, and evaluation of any institutional mentoring program. This program coordinator should have enthusiasm for mentoring, effectively communicate program goals, and provide the training and resources necessary to implement an efficient mentoring model. Coordinators should …

Chapter 5- Needs Assessment And Data Analytics: Understanding Your Constituencies, Neal Legler

Making Connections

Needs assessment is an important early step in the development of a mentoring program because it helps ensure that program resources go toward improving prioritized institutional results. Needs assessment should involve key stakeholders, organized into a needs assessment committee, and then follow a systematic process to collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data and identify existing organizational needs. Needs are defined as the gap between desired organizational results and current results. They should be considered holistically and at all levels of the organization. As needs are identified, the needs assessment committee works with stakeholders through a combination of group management …

Chapter 14- The Mentoring Program As A Research Project, David Law, Nicole Vouvalis, Andy Harris, Jim Lamuth

Making Connections

Chapter 14, “The Mentoring Program as a Research Project,” helps stakeholders, program coordinators, and researchers distinguish the differences and similarities between program evaluation and program research. If stakeholders choose to include program research, they will need approval from their university’s institutional review board (IRB). Therefore, the second section of this chapter helps stakeholders navigate the IRB. The third section of this chapter describes how theoretical frameworks, operational definitions of mentoring, and methodological designs factor into mentoring programs that contain research. While all formal mentoring programs in academia should include theoretical frameworks, operational definitions, and sound methodology, many do not. The …

Chapter 12- A New Vision For Promoting Equity And Inclusion In Academic Mentoring Programs, Assata Zerai, Nancy López

Making Connections

What are the pitfalls of conventional student, faculty, and staff mentoring programs? Despite good intentions, how might they negatively impact Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), as well as other marginalized faculty who are women, LGBTQIA+, Persons with Disabilities (PWD), or first-generation college students (e.g., grew up in household where no parent/legal guardian earned a four-year college degree in the United States or abroad)? How could employing an intersectional framework—attention to the simultaneity of systems of oppression and resistance—as inquiry and praxis transform student, faculty, and staff mentoring programs? This chapter examines the challenges and possibilities for advancing equity …

Tennessee State Museum Spring 2023 Newsletter & Calendar Of Events, Tennessee. State Museum.

Tennessee State Museum

No abstract provided.

Chapter 25- Mentoring Programs For Staff Of Educational Institutions: Unm Staff Council Mentorship Program, Amy Hawkins

Making Connections

In higher education, staff sometimes feel like the third wheel, the step-child, the forgotten ones sitting on the sidelines as students and faculty bask in the warm glow of academia. Administrators in university settings owe duties to (a) faculty and student needs; and (b) staff development, morale, needs, pay, and benefits. The University of New Mexico’s Staff Council was created so that volunteer university staff elected to serve as councilors can advocate for staff by offering recommendations to the university regarding staff development, morale, needs, pay, and benefits. Each can bring constituent concerns to the full Staff Council and its …

Chapter 29- Conclusion, David Law, Nora Domínguez

Making Connections

Too often, formal mentoring programs are started at universities without thinking through and addressing the details needed for the program to succeed. As stated at the beginning, the primary purpose of this handbook is to provide a “one-stop shop” resource that guides program coordinators to be intentional and effective in designing, implementing, evaluating, sustaining, and funding their academic mentoring program. In this concluding section, we describe how this book’s chapters and case studies connect to form a comprehensive guide for program coordinators and other stakeholders. Making the chapter’s interconnections explicit makes a needed contribution to the mentoring field, particularly as …

Negotiated Success: Contractual Benefits That Enhance Recruitment And Retention, Hella Bel Amor, Staci Corey, Dayna Jean Defeo

CAEPR Reports

This report summarizes monetary and non-monetary items used in Collectively Bargained Agreements (CBAs) to enhance retention and recruitment of educators in and outside of Alaska. This report is one of a series commissioned by the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development to support a stakeholder-informed action plan to address the state’s recurring critical challenges in recruiting and retaining teachers. To approach this task, we narrowed our focus to a review of provisions contained within CBAs in Alaska and a sample of districts in the nation, reviewed relevant literature, and collected stakeholder feedback to further inform the report content and …

Black Women Can Jump: The Untold Stories Of Black Women In Higer Education, Jennifer Jones

Education Policy and Leadership Theses and Dissertations

Black women have been a part of American Higher education for over a century (Gregory, 2002). Black women have encountered professional and personal barriers, yet they have made significant advances. Black faculty and administrators have juggled family and community responsibilities, and research state that Black women have more degrees than any group in the United States. However, they seem almost invisible in colleges and universities (Okoli, et al., 2020). Research also suggests disparities for Black women faculty in higher education compared to their white counterparts in tenure, pay, and rank. “Black female administrators in white academe are an endangered species. …

Language Laws And Regional Identity: A Case Study Of Euskera In The Basque Country, Jenna Ebel

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the interconnectivity between language laws and regional identity, focusing on education, public health, and transnational systems. Through this case study of the Basque Country, the context and wording of the language laws in the subregions within the Basque Country are utilized to understand how they affect the usage and understanding of the Basque language, “Euskera.” Through this, the study is then focused on the Spanish autonomous community of the Basque Country to understand the effects of a minority language on educational systems, the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the connections to both the EU and the UN. Through a …

Trauma-Informed Training For Educators, Kristin White

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The occurrence of childhood trauma in the school setting is an ongoing and pervasive issue. Students impacted by trauma frequently display challenging and problematic behavior, and educators lack the trauma-informed care needed to help them heal. These students often go untreated, and their trauma continues to impact them and those around them. This project aims to review the current literature on childhood trauma and how educators can better support students affected by trauma. The trauma-informed training associated with this project will offer tools, curricula, and resources that educators can implement on their campuses.

In Search For A Better South: President Johnson’S Elementary And Secondary Education Act Of 1965 In The Lone Star State, Kade L. Kahanek

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Education before the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 was inconsistent with the need for quality education in the United States. Extreme poverty and racial issues existed in the South. Texas was no different. Part of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society was to reform education across the United States while targeting poverty in the South. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is regarded as the largest education reform program in U.S. history. Its irreversible impact on school systems across the nation led to societal and educational changes—which set new standards for education.

This thesis analyzes the impact …

From The Ground Up: Restoring The Problem Of Education, William J. Norris Iii

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

This paper will examine the impact of families and how they can restore the promise of education. At the local level, parents and concerned citizens should review the impact of their local school boards and how they can become involved to effect positive change. Education policies that promote school choice and educational flexibility should be promoted at the local, state, and federal levels. A comprehensive approach is needed to help ensure equality of opportunity for each child in America.

Social Pathologies As Educational Injustices, Esther Neuhann

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

For Axel Honneth, not all social problems can be understood as injustices. Therefore, he introduces the additional diagnostic concept of social pathology. In his book Freedom’s Right (FR), it is defined as an accumulation of persons’ inability to adequately participate in social institutions due to misunderstanding them. In contrast, injustices consist in the denial of access to social institutions for certain groups. According to the aim of presenting an ‘extended’ theory of justice in FR, Honneth intends to reconstruct all institutions necessary for realizing individual freedom in a liberal-democratic society. Like in the historical model of his project (Hegel’s Elements …

Examining The Effectiveness Of Using Video Modeling On Increasing Positive Social Interaction In Academic Settings In Students With Learning Disabilities In Saudi Arabia, Ayman Abdullah Alamri, Ayman Abdullah Alamri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Video Modeling (VM) is a widely used intervention strategy to promote academic learning and positive social interactions in children with disabilities by watching a video clip modeled by a peer (peers) demonstrating the desired behavior. Limited research has been conducted on this topic to examine VM’s effectiveness on promoting positive social interactions in academic settings involving children with learning disabilities (LD). This study employed a single subject research design, specifically, a multiple baseline across participant design, to fill the void in the literature. The researcher invited three elementary students between 4^th to 6^th grade who met the inclusion …

Peer Perceptions Of Parent-Students Seeking Higher Education, Alexandria Wall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With a growing number of parents pursuing academia, it is imperative that researchers understand the social environment in which parent-students function. Stereotypes of parent-students may be held by peers, faculty, and other educational supervisors. Across two previous independent studies, evidence and rationale were provided to suggest that both positive and negative perceptions of parent-students exist, with noted differences between gender. The purpose of the current 2x2x2 between-subjects study was to analyze the social perceptions of students enrolled in higher education as varied by parenthood status, age, and gender. The social perceptions included measures accounting for perceptions of intelligence and academic …

Expansion Of Heart Failure Education From Hospital To Clinic, Abigail M. Fischer

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Heart failure education is vital to the long-term management of this condition. Education recommendations for heart failure are given by the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC). Recommendations include verbal instruction and written materials regarding the patient’s medication plan, recognition of symptoms, what to do when symptoms occur, and the importance of daily weights.

This project aimed to provide outpatient clinic providers and staff with resources and education necessary to educate heart failure patients. The project expanded use of an inpatient heart failure education packet for outpatient use. This was accomplished by conducting educational sessions …

Information And Communications Technologies And Democratic Education: Lessons From John Dewey's Pragmatism, Jonathan Flowers

Education and Culture

This essay applies lessons from John Dewey’s theory of democracy and democratic education to the modern development of information communications technologies and the assertion that the development of such technologies will lead to a more open, more democratic society. Given the continuity of the technology and its applications with structures of oppression within modern society, any attempt to resolve or democratize technology through skills-based training is bound to fail, as this does not resolve the cultural habits that enable oppression through technology. To this end, what is necessary is democratic education that recognizes the unique contexts in which students become …

Challenges In Education: A Deweyan Assessment Of Ai Technologies In The Classroom, Ande Eitner

Education and Culture

Artificial intelligence is profoundly transforming the world in various spheres and already finding its way into educational institutions. This essay aims to examine whether the Deweyan ideal of education can be achieved through such digital means. By analyzing how both the aims and means of education, as defined by Dewey, can be understood in the context of learning with artificial intelligence, the inherent differences of both educational approaches are brought out. It becomes apparent that important concepts that characterize successful education for Dewey, such as intrinsic inquiry, experience-based schooling, and thinking as the method for learning, do not go hand …

Integrating Art And Design With Environmental Science, Laura D. Hinson

The Confluence

This article demonstrates how combining art and design and environmental sciences would benefit both fields by analyzing how utilizing art and design in environmental sciences can help enhance aspects of the teaching process and environmental studies, specifically those dealing with climatology and pollution. Additionally, by taking an ecocritical approach to analyzing art and its creation, this article will detail how artists can become more conscious of the impacts creating certain types of art has on the environment while also noting environmental changes documented through art.

Impact Of Career And Technical Education Among High School Students In Texas, Tammy Ridgway

Theses & Dissertations

Existing research documents the importance and relevance of career and technical education (CTE) throughout American history. Beginning with the passage of the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 to the passage of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21^st Century in July of 2018, federal and state legislation continue to shape vocational education within our public-school systems. The literature provides strong evidence between student success, in terms of high school graduation rate and post-secondary educational attainment, and the participation in career and technical education during the high school years. This dissertation analyzes whether dual credit career and technical education …

Juan Crow: A Discriminatory Past With Contemporary Consequences Against Mexican Americans, Alicia Delaney

Honors Program Theses and Projects

This paper will focus on the past and contemporary systemic discrimination of the Mexican and Mexican American communities in Texas and California. I will first discuss how, despite being considered citizens at the federal level since the enactment Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, Mexicans and their descendants were subject to de facto segregation policies, discriminatory economic and social practices at the local and State levels, and numerous acts of violence. They were racialized as “others” in terms of language, customs, and supposed inferior morality. In addition, I will explain the numerous factors that have, in the past and present, …

A Comparison Of Approaches To Closing The Achievement Gap In Public, Charter, And Catholic Urban High Schools In New York State, Kiante' Eli Jones

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Throughout the history of the United States there have existed gaps in the educational achievement outcomes of different groups of students. One of the most well-known and persistent achievement gaps is seen in the academic performance of Black versus White students, which is also known as the Black-White student achievement gap (BWSAG). The BWSAG is manifest in data such as grades, standardized test scores, course selection, school dropout rates, and college completion. This study examines how three schools with significant Black student populations, including an urban traditional public school, a Catholic school, and a charter school narrow the BWSAG among …

The Impact Of A Tailored Nutrition Education Program On Maximal Oxygen Consumption And Nutrition Knowledge, Attitudes, And Behaviors In Adolescent Male Hockey Players, Kerianne M. Shine

Student Projects for Graduate Degrees

During adolescence, athletes are at risk of failing to meet dietary recommendations due to their bodies' demand for additional energy during physical activity. For adolescent athletes, data on sport nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors (KAB) are limited, especially when studied collectively. This project analyzed the impact of nutrition education on KAB of adolescent male hockey players with the incorporation of measurement of maximal oxygen consumption. A single arm trial was conducted with participants and parents/guardians from the Team Alaska 16U and 18U hockey teams. Pre intervention, the participants completed a demographics survey, the Abridged Nutrition for Sport Knowledge Questionnaire (A-NSKQ), …

Passive Education, Passive Users: A Research-Informed Elementary Curriculum For Media Literacy, Surveillance, And Technology Engagement, Jocelyn Elizabeth Brooks

Communication Honors Theses

While media scholars have established that media literacy is imperative to strengthen media’s positive effects and limit its negative effects, elementary-aged children continue to be underserved in current and relevant media literacy education. To address this disparity, this thesis created an age-appropriate media literacy curriculum for children aged seven to nine, bolstered by a comprehensive review of the current literature, which was then taught to a second-grade class at a San Antonio charter school. Results found that students’ current knowledge of contemporary media literacy concepts is minimal, but students made significant improvements through implementation of the proposed curriculum. This project …

A Narrative Inquiry Of Selected Women’S Career Pathways To State-Level Leadership In Agriculture, Timothy Keown

All Dissertations

In this study, I used a qualitative narrative inquiry to examine stories from three individually selected state-level agricultural sector women leaders as they described their career paths to leadership roles. This purpose of the study was to address the problem of a lack of practical understanding of women leaders’ experiences in pursuing, achieving, and keeping leadership roles within the agricultural industry. The existing literature shows that women are less likely to hold an agriculture leadership role in their career. To establish the research question, I used feminist educational theory. This theoretical framework and the associated epistemology of narrative inquiry served …

The Creativity And Humility Guidebook: Fostering A Community Filled With Creativity Through Humility, Samantha Monaghan

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Although an often-under-explored cognitive skill, humility has an important relationship with a person’s creative capacity. Due to its inherent focus on honesty, flexibility, and openness, intellectual humility significantly increases an individual’s problem-solving abilities. This paper will detail the development of The Creativity and Humility Guidebook, which will be used to provide a thorough overview of both creativity and humility to the Roberts Wesleyan University community in order to equip faculty and staff with a fuller understanding of the symbiotic relationship between the two. Due to the turbulent climate of higher education in today’s world, coupled with the countless social, economic, …

The Influences Of The Public Health Care System And Education System On The Economic Growth Of Swaziland, Grace Greer

International and Global Studies Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Kingdom of Eswatini, also known as Swaziland, has one of the youngest populations in the world with over 70% of citizens being under the age of 18 years old. This creates a substantial opportunity for economic, social, and educational growth in a country previously plagued with diseases such as HIV/AIDS, poor health care infrastructure cutting off thousands from basic care, and an educational system with a very low attendance rate and an even lower graduation rate. By evaluating the root causes of such issues dating back to the colonial era there is an opportunity to reprioritize health care and …