Education Commons^™

Perception Of Alumni Of The Department Of Agriculture At Stephen F. Austin State University, Sherifat Rufai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

University alumni surveys have served various purposes since they were introduced in the 1930s in the United States. The Department of Agriculture at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU) aimed to evaluate alumni perceptions between the Fall of 2010 and the Spring of 2022 to provide an opportunity to examine the relationship between degree fields and occupations and the agriculture curriculum, salaries, and demographic data for college graduates. This study's web-based survey was designed to include closed-ended and open-ended questions to collect individual opinions using Qualtrics Survey Software. The survey materials were made available on the alumni's social media accounts. …

The Effects Of Peers For Young Adults On Anxiety And Quality Of Life For Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Alysha Cecile Dagg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social skills deficits as well as comorbid anxiety are two characteristics commonly experienced by people with Autism Spectrum Disorder - Level 1 (ASD-1; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). These characteristics are also both contributors to a lower quality of life for young adults (Smith et al., 2019). The current study aimed to identify how the quality of life and anxiety are affected by social skills intervention, specifically the PEERS® for Young Adults program (Laugeson, 2017). PEERS® for Young Adults is an evidence-based social skills intervention intended to support individuals with ASD-1 (Laugeson, 2017). Prior research has demonstrated its success in both …

"Our House There Is Ugly But Still We Happy": An Ethnographic Study With Women Navigating Displacement And Resettlement., Bridget Kearney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In academic and public discourse, narratives surrounding refugee camps and the conditions within them typically depict experiences of sorrow and hardship. And, although the stories of struggle are certainly a part of the refugee experience, they are not the only part. This dissertation is a critical ethnographic study with a participatory research lens that focuses on the life experiences and storytelling practices of women in a resettled Sudanese family. It investigates the action of storytelling within displaced groups, the link between stories and community, and the importance of materiality and relationships in storytelling. This dissertation finds that storytelling can be …

Impact Of Personalized Interactive Storytelling On Suspension Of Disbelief In Clinical Simulation, Audra Renee-Smith Xenakis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The literature review found suspension of disbelief (SOD) in clinical simulation heavily weighted on educators alone within high-fidelity environments. The project examined a co-created narrative background story applied to a simulated patient’s clinical profile to determine achieving an improved connectedness toward the simulated patient leading to enhanced SOD and enhanced levels of learning and reaction. The studied population was third-semester associate degree nursing students over 18 years of age with prior clinical simulation experience who were not repeating the semester. The research methodology used a quantitative experimental design with cluster sampling, randomization, and post-Likert-scored questionnaires. The intervention group co-created personalized …

Academic Performance Of Low Ses At-Risk Black And Latinx Students: A Case Study Of Teachers’ Perceptions, Shelly Lynn Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study determined the perspective of the teacher when researching low SES at-risk Black and Latinx students’ academic performance. Research, over the years, not only highlight reasons and evidence for the low academic performance and the struggles the low SES at-risk Black and Latinx students face. In addition, research also recommends educational interventions that are not effective in bridging the achievement gap of low SES at-risk Black and Latinx students in comparison to their wealthier, White counterparts. Previous research denotes that school districts desire to implement educational interventions for struggling learners; however, theories, strategies, and interventions often do not translate …

Middle Savannah River: An A/R/Tographic Ecopedagogical Ethnography Experimenting With Rhizomatic Perspectives, Lisa Augustine-Chizmar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research is an experiment in perspective. Using the four commonplaces (Schwab, 1978), I practiced letting the Savannah River teach me what there is to know about the water, the land, the people, and the other entities that depend on ki through artistic, ethnographic, and ecopedagogical lenses. The ethnographic findings describe the social actors that depend on ki and give a voice to the River. The a/r/tographic findings display the River on a canvas map through two hundred years using paint, clay, photography, video, abstract acrylics, and fabric. Together, these methods contribute to a unique ecopedagogical journey. This word cloud …

For Black Girls, By Black Girls: Examining The Experiences Of Black Women In Historically White Learning Spaces And Reimagining Spaces With Our Needs In Mind, Florence Takeshia Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the experiences of Black women in historically white learning spaces and our needs in reimaged learning spaces developed for us. The conceptual framework for this study was Black Feminist Thought, critical geography, and Afrofuturism. Using sister circle methodology, participants discussed the simultaneous racialized and gendered experiences that Black women navigate in learning spaces and how technology and Afrofuturism could be beneficial in creating spaces for Black women. Despite our achievements in academic spaces, Black women experience microaggressive environments that have traumatic impacts on our psychological health and our overall experiences in learning environments. Our successes are acts …

Understanding And Enacting Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy Through Multicultural Children's Literature: A Case Study Of Preservice Teachers In Georgia, Heather M. Huling

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored how preservice teachers understand culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) and used multicultural children’s literature (MCL) as a way of enacting CSP in their field placement experiences. This qualitative study utilized the theoretical framework of culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris & Alim, 2017) and a single case study design (Stake, 1995; Yin, 2018) to explore five preservice teachers’ understanding and perceptions of CSP and its enactment in the classroom through MCL during their final student teaching semester in their hometowns. Data collected through lesson plans, literature lists, video recordings, and semi-structured interviews and then inductively coded through holistic coding and …

Exploring A Culturally Relevant/Responsive/Sustaining Third Grade Social Studies Curriculum: An Ethnographic Inquiry, Lucia Benzor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an ethnographic inquiry in which I explore the third-grade social studies curriculum in my classroom, specifically using culturally relevant/responsive/sustaining pedagogy and students’ funds of knowledge (González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005) and their learning interests to teach the Native American unit to promote their academic achievement in, cultural competence and critical consciousness for, the histories of the United States. It was my own miseducation about the history of the United States and its Indigenous Peoples, as well as my own lack of knowledge of my Indigenous ancestors from Mexico, that I became passionate about exploring this topic. Theoretically, …

Developing An Lgbtqia2+ Affirming Curriculum And Testing Its Impact On Allyship, Tausif Karim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Why are some conversations considered more difficult in learning spaces than others? What is the potential for educational interventions strengthen our capacities for such challenging conversations and for allyship? Guided by these broad questions, the present thesis focused on LGBTQIA2+ affirming education and sought to specifically test how an intentionally queer online learning experiences impacted the participants’ self-perceived allyship efficacies.

In my thesis, I draw on literature exploring how the “civility, teacher immediacy, or teacher credibility” (Chen & Lawless, 2018, p. 376) of Western education has prevented instructors from bringing topics related to race, gender, immigration, sexuality, and others in …

Teacher And School Leader Perspectives On Factors That Impact Relationships And Recidivism Among Black Or African American Girls: A Mixed Methods Study, Amber Jan Lasalle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate teacher and school leader perspectives on how relationships with Black or African American girls' impacted recidivism in an alternative school setting. The following research questions were used to guide this study to examine the viewpoint of alternative school teachers and school leaders regarding factors that impact teacher and student relationships and preventing recidivism among African American girls: What factors do alternative school teachers and leaders feel contribute to recidivism among Black or African American girls? What are alternative school teachers’ and school leaders’ perspectives on how relationships impact recidivism among Black …

Principal Decision-Making And Perception Of Fine Arts Programing In Curricular Design, Osvaldo Altamirano

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study included an exploration of the concept of perception affecting decision- making in curriculum design and the support of school administrators toward fine art programs in West Texas School Regions 18 and 19. Research shows that the fine arts provide students the social and creative skills to become productive citizens. However, research shows that in the current realm of urban and rural public school curricula, the fine arts exist at either a limited capacity or are nonexistent. This dissertation included an attempt to answer how a school leader's fine arts perception affects a principal's ability to support, build, …

Examining Diversity And The Role And Influence Of Post-Secondary Faculty At A Predominantly White Institution In Tennessee: A Critical Race Case Analysis, Lanell Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative, critical race analysis study is to explore how White faculty conceptualize and apply critical race theory (CRT) and culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) to curricula within a college of education and how the perceptions of their students’ identities influence specific pedagogical decisions. The researcher sought to extend the research on CRT in education by analyzing specific, detailed cases and incorporating purposeful sampling by selecting participants who match specific study criteria, i.e. graduate-level White faculty located in Tennessee who teach in programs of education.

This study was limited to six faculty in a college of education (in …

Examining Adolescent Voices In Urban Montessorianism Within The Third Plane Of Development., Raymond Edward Green

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although there is a significant body of research surrounding Montessori education, little research has sought to capture the voices of adolescents, specifically high school students in urban settings (Dr. Montessori’s third plane of development) learning through the Montessori Method. Problem: Legislators, policy writers, district and school-level leaders mandate and implement reforms with minimal to no adolescent input. Further, adolescents are not part of the reform implementation process or identifying desired outcomes of said reform initiatives. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine adolescent’s perspective of their urban high school Montessori education, and their role in helping to develop …

Virginia High Schools: Academic And Social Climate Performance Measures And Black Public Secondary School Administrators, Tim Duncan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Data have consistently revealed a major problem with disproportionality in several academic and social climate measures for African American students compared to their White counterparts. Black students tend to have lower end-of-course (EOC) testing scores in mathematics and reading, a greater tendency to be suspended from school, lower average on-time graduation rates, and higher rates of absenteeism. The current investigative study examined the role of same race administrators and performance indicators among African American students.

The findings demonstrated that significant differences between Black and White students existed in end-of-course testing in reading and math. The research also indicated significant relationships …

Middle School Science Teachers' Vulnerability In The Written Discourse Of A Professional Learning Community, Eliza Jacobs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Vulnerability is omnipresent in personal and professional human experiences (Gilson, 2011; Lasky, 2005) and an unavoidable condition of work as a teacher (Bullough, 2005; Kelchtermans, 1996). It plays a role in teachers’ interaction with themselves, their students, and their professional communities, as they engage in making sense of their role in these social environments (Uitto, Kaunisto, Kelchtermans, & Estola, 2016). This study examined the written reflection journals by 12 middle school science teachers in a professional learning community (PLC) in New England. Teachers engaged with each other to co-construct knowledge and emotional understanding of their practice within this professional community. …

Speculative Essays On Neoliberalism In Education: Dreams Of Resistance And Action For A More Socially Just Future, Lindsey Crumley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The way in which teachers are educated has wide reaching impacts on the ways students in their classrooms are educated. When test scores are regarded as the sole marker of a good teacher, then critical pedagogies and theories are left out of teacher education spaces. This dissertation aims to discuss a multitude of issues, both structural and day-to-day, that plague both education as a whole and teacher education specifically. Additionally, this dissertation aims to show ways in which communities, teacher educators, students, and schools are acting in resistance to the forms of control seen in education. This dissertation will use …

Confronting The Haunted South: A Journey Into The History, Legacy, And Life Of Boggs Academy, Caroline G. Whitcomb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Boggs Academy was a private, Presbyterian boarding school for Blacks that operated from 1906 until 1984 in rural Georgia. The institution, recognized for academic excellence, marked by resilience, and beloved by alumni, existed because of the racism that has plagued this nation since its inception. The stated purpose of this research is four-fold: to record/compile a history of Boggs Academy, to carry on the work Mr. Charles W. Francis began in his Master’s thesis on Boggs Academy, to demonstrate the value of togetherness in qualitative research, and to cast a vision for the future of education built upon the institution’s …

Hyphenated Identity And Negotiated Intersectionality: A Memoir Of A First-Generation Nigerian-American Male Teacher In An Inner City Title 1 Elementary School In Georgia, Gerald Chidiebere Nwachukwu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a memoir where I tell my stories of negotiating cultures, races, ethnicities, and identities in Nigeria, and in the United States as a first-generation Nigeria American teacher in an inner-city elementary school in Georgia. As a labeled African American upon entry into the United States, I did not understand the meaning of being Black because everybody in Nigeria is Black. In becoming Black, I became racialized, marginalized, and lumped into the African American ethnicity. I was rejected for not being Black enough in the United States nor Nigerian enough in Nigeria. Theoretically, I draw upon a wide …

Pipeline To The Casket: Counter-Stories Of Black K-12 Teachers In Georgia Against The Decision To Arm Teachers, Latoya D. Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Across the country, policies that allow teachers to carry guns in K-12 schools have become more prevalent. Despite opposition from teachers, parents, and other stakeholders, conservative-minded lawmakers, supported by the National Rifle Association, insist without evidence that arming teachers prevents gun violence in schools (Crews et al., 2013; Keller, 2014; Weiler & Armenta, 2014). Additionally, these policies do not consider the effects of systemic racism on the safety and security of Black students. Supporting such policies does not take into account the insights and perspectives of the communities most affected by these types of policies. The purpose of this study …

Voices Rising: Exploring The Tensions Of Homeschooled Women Defining Themselves Within A Religious Culture, Natalie S. Immings

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Homeschooling is a familiar form of education, but nuances such as purposes, curriculum and impact on students are less understood due to minimal studies and lack of participation. Existing research has focused on motivations for homeschooling; however glaring gaps exist regarding the impact on student development. This study is essential due to concerns regarding the impact on student identity as well as the recent increase in the number of homeschoolers from a pandemic and other political trends. In an effort to pull back the curtain on the dominant conservative Christian homeschool milieu this study employed a qualitative ethnographic methodology which …

A Different World: The Experiences Of Black Women At A Southern Predominantly White Institution, Latoya Stackhouse

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study investigated the lived experiences of Black women on a predominantly White institution (PWI) campus in the South as they relate to the core themes of Patricia Hill Collins’ Black Feminist Thought (BFT). The core themes of BFT that were the focus of the research were Self-Definition/Empowerment, Safe Space, Controlling Images, Invisibility/Sense of Belonging. Sista circle methodology was used as the form of inquiry with two 60-minute sessions over a two-month span. This methodology was chosen because its focus centers the lived narratives of Black women within a safe space unlike traditional focus groups. Findings from the sista …

The Impact Of Project-Based Learning On Students In High School Chemistry In Rural Maine, Brianna Degone

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Project-based learning (PBL) is an instructional strategy that is promoted throughout education for its use of active learning and ability to connect to real-world applications. Studies have been conducted on PBL ranging from early elementary grades through graduate courses, however little research considers the effectiveness of PBL at the secondary science level. This thesis considers the use of PBL and describes the implementation of a PBL unit in a rural Maine 11th grade chemistry classroom. The thesis aims to better understand the impact PBL has on students’ content learning and additional skills acquired through the PBL learning process. Along with …

An Exploration Of Teachers’ Perceptions And Experiences Serving Students Of Incarcerated Parents In A Rural Setting, Melissa P. Phelan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The increase in the United States prison population over the past several years has precipitated a record number of children in the public school system with incarcerated parents. Consequences of this trend have recently been given significant attention by researchers due to the myriad of difficulties noted to be associated with parental incarceration. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions, experiences, and insights of educators in a small rural district in Texas as they serve students experiencing parental incarceration. Presentation of an educator in context schema was provided by the application of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological …

School Leaders And Exclusionary Practices: A Study Of Discretionary Daep Placements For Minority Special Education Students, Tiffany Laine Weiss

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study addressed the perceptions of assistant principals, counselors, and school district-level administrators about the overrepresentation of minority special education students in district alternative education placements. The purpose of this study was to examine the discipline practices at three middle school campuses in one 6A urban school district to understand minority special education students’ overrepresentation in discretionary district alternative education placements. The researcher conducted one-on-one interviews with assistant principals, counselors, one dean of students, one assistant superintendent, and one special education director. A document analysis and a data review were conducted to triangulate the results. The findings indicated that years …

Black And White Student Achievement Gaps In Tennessee, Haley Dirmeyer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Achievement gaps between Black students and White students have existed since public education was desegregated, and they still persist despite efforts to close the gap. This research describes the achievement gaps between Black and White 3^rd through 8^th grade students in the state of Tennessee from 2017-2019. This is a non-experimental, quantitative, comparative-analysis describing the ELA and math test scores of Black students and White students in each of the three geographic regions of Tennessee. Data were arranged in 2x2 contingency matrixes to compare the expected frequencies of students in each race scoring on-track and mastered versus below …

K-12 Economically Disadvantaged Students, Poverty, And Education: Ecological Narratives Of Successful Raised-In-Poverty, Texas Educators, Rebecca N. Morris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research study aimed to understand how successful Texas educators who grew up in poverty understood and improved the educational experience of economically disadvantaged students. This study utilized a structural ecological theory and three theories of social relationships (Social Identity, Standpoint, and Cultural Capital). This phenomenological and qualitative study used a cross-sectional, descriptive, online case study design rooted in narrative nonfiction. Virtual interviews with six successful Texas educators that grew up in poverty were conducted. A narrative method of analysis was utilized to generate codes then organize them into themes, and to construct and compare the narrative findings. The results …

A. B.A.L.A.N.C.E.: A Well-Being Research Study, Reggie Gwinn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study has been to investigate the impact of a well-being intervention, using a well-being curriculum, known as A. B.A.L.A.N.C.E.. The method of educational criticism and connoisseurship was used as the qualitative method. Educational criticism is rooted in the process of expressing the specific qualities of one’s observations, while educational connoisseurship is rooted in the process of appreciation. The intervention will be conducted by an interventionist, myself, who gave the 10-lesson intervention to six 6th grade (11 – 12 years old) participants over a two-week period. This was orchestrated over a technological platform known as Zoom. It …

Teaching With Passion And Compassion In Challenging Times: A Narrative Inquiry Into Elementary Teachers' Experiences In Georgia, Erin Scroggs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores how teachers maintain their passion and compassion for teaching in spite of the impact of work-related challenges and subsequent obstacles upon their personal and professional lives. While much research has been conducted into teacher stress, very little has been done to connect the effects of stress on teachers’ health and passions for teaching. Abby, Nick, Passion, and Anna, four elementary school teachers from different areas, counties, schools, and school districts in the State of Georgia, participated in the study. Theoretically, I draw upon an array of works such as teaching towards freedom (Ayers, 2004, 2010, 2016), teachers …

How Do Special Education Teachers View The Phenomenon Of Black Male Overrepresentation In Special Education?, Lelon B. Jeffers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the student population in many U.S. public schools grows increasingly more diverse, the need to assess the educational practices utilized in public schools grows as well. It is imperative for educators to make a concerted effort to ensure the rights and needs of minority students are being addressed in public schools. It is the duty of educators and policy makers to protect those students who are most marginalized by society. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the phenomenon of Black male overrepresentation in special education, and to ascertain the views and perspectives of special education teachers …