Education Commons^™

Phenomenological Study On Veteran Resource Center (Vrc) In California Community Colleges, Darl Park

Education (PhD) Dissertations

Since the implementation of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the largest student veteran enrollments have taken place at community colleges. Student veterans are considered at-risk students due to their high attrition rates in higher education. There is a lack of literature regarding the experiences of staff responsible for providing support services to student veterans in higher education. Veterans Resource Center (VRC) is the one-stop center for student veterans to help them navigate administrative processes and address any concerns toward degree completion. Thus, VRCs play a major role in student veterans’ academic success, and further exploration of their experiences and voices is …

Rising Costs Of Universities And The Impact On Teaching Effectiveness And Student Outcomes, Patrick Hanna

English (MA) Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to track the rising costs of attending higher education institutions and the professional development of professors compared to secondary and primary educators. While university and college administrations around the United States enjoyed exponential growth in pay, faculty and staff pay has remained stagnant for over 40 years. The increase in costs of attendance despite the stagnant pay for professors highlights the diminishing return on investment for attaining a higher education degree. By examining the concepts of education production function and extrapolating the findings to apply to postsecondary institutions, the lapse in educator development comes …

Trigger Warnings And A Pedagogy Of Trust, Morgan Read-Davidson

English Faculty Articles and Research

"As the director of both the creative writing and rhetoric and composition programs at Chapman University, a mid-sized private university serving 150+ majors as well as 1000+ general education students, it has now become a common and expected occurrence to have both students and contingent faculty come to my office expressing anxiety over course content. While the larger conversation about difficult content and trigger warnings is not new, the sudden need for urgently scheduled meetings with me did not begin until the COVID-19 Pandemic and our move to remote instruction. This seems to coincide with the increase of online and …

Implementing Diversity Training Targeting Faculty Microaggressions And Inclusion: Practical Insights And Initial Findings, Ellen Ernst Kossek, Patrice M. Buzzanell, Brittany J. Wright, Cassondra Batz-Barbarich, Amy C. Moors, Charlene Sullivan, Klod Kokini, Andrew S. Hirsh, Kayla Maxey, Ankita Nikalje

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Despite the importance of faculty diversity training for advancing an inclusive society, little research examines whether participation improves inclusion perceptions and belongingness. Integrating training and diversity education literature concepts, this study examines the effectiveness of training targeting microaggressions in six STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) oriented departments at a research-intensive university. Reactions data collected at the end of face-to-face training suggested that participation generally increased inclusion understanding. Self-assessments on inclusion concepts collected from 45% of participants before and three weeks after training suggest participation increases perceptions of the importance of inclusion, microaggression allyship awareness, inclusive behaviors, and organizational identification. Compared …

Gendered Impact Of Caregiving Responsibilities On Tenure Track Faculty Parents’ Professional Lives, Amy C. Moors, Abigail J. Stewart, Janet E. Malley

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Navigating a career while raising a family can be challenging, especially for women in academia. In this study, we examine the ways in which professional life interruptions due to child caregiving (e.g., opportunities not offered, professional travel curtailed) affect pre- and post-tenure faculty members’ career satisfaction and retention. We also examine whether sharing caregiving responsibilities with a partner affected faculty members’ (particularly women’s) career outcomes. In a sample of 753 tenure track faculty parents employed at a large research-intensive university, results showed that as the number of professional life interruptions due to caregiving increased, faculty members experienced less career satisfaction …

Managing The Career Effects Of Discrimination And Motherhood: The Role Of Collegial Support For A Caregiving Policy At A Research-Intensive U.S. University, Amy C. Moors, Abigail J. Stewart, Janet E. Malley

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Implementing and encouraging use of policies aimed at creating an equitable higher education workplace for women academics can be challenging. Often, policy usage may be avoided due to stigma or fear of being seen as not committed to one’s workplace, especially for expectant mothers. In the present study, we examined how collegial support for using a tenure clock extension policy affects pre-tenure women’s career outcomes. Among pre-tenure women academics at a large research-intensive institution in the United States (N = 63) who took advantage of the tenure clock extension policy, perceptions of collegial support for using this policy were …

Seeing The Tress For The Forest: An Analysis Of Novice And Experienced Teachers' Self-Efficacy And Stress, Allison Serceki

Education (PhD) Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to better understand the relationship between novice teachers’ context-specific self-efficacies and stresses and whether these constructs differed from the self-efficacies and stresses of experienced teachers in middle school and early high school. Novice teachers, or teachers in their first 5 years of teaching, are most susceptible to attrition and turnover, which research indicated is sometimes brought on by stress. Research also showed self-efficacy consistently had a negative correlation to stress. This study used the second-hand dataset obtained from the Teaching and Learning International Survey, focusing on 2560 responses obtained from teachers in the United …

'Training' The Body Politic: Essays On The School Reform Orthodoxy, Jahan Naghshineh

Education (PhD) Dissertations

These essays represent my attempt to grapple with fundamental questions about what I see as the upside-down nature of educational reforms in American society. Why is there a never-ending crisis in America’s public schools? What does it mean when the educational specter from different periods of history is discredited and yet the specter keeps being recycled decade after decade? For example, elites propagated crisis narratives to galvanize support for the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation at the turn of the century. Countless researchers then documented the adverse impacts of NCLB on America’s schools and yet that literature never led …

School Psychologists As Leaders In Professional Practice: An Examination Of Leadership Roles And Perceived Support, Jodi Lachance

Education (PhD) Dissertations

The professional role of a school psychologist leader is a topic of interest for those in the field. Since 1940, state or national associations have outlined recommendations and guidelines for school psychology leadership roles. School psychology leadership aligns with the NASP training and practice model and is critical in promoting best practice. However, we know very little about school psychology leadership in professional practice, and the school psychology leadership literature is relatively void of research. The purpose of this study was to investigate the current status of school psychology leadership in professional practice, identify fundamental components (NASP competencies) perceived to …

Civic Engagement In Education: Insights From California's Local Control Funding Formula, Julie A. Marsh, Tasminda K. Dhaliwal, Michelle Hall, Morgan S. Polikoff

Education Faculty Articles and Research

In this policy brief, we use the case of California's Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) to provide policy makers and educators guidance on how to involve the public in goal setting and resource distribution decisions. We provide clarity around who is and is not participating, why, and what broader lessons we can draw for implementing federal and state education policies mandating public engagement. Our findings indicate tremendous room for improvement. LCFF's target populations (e.g., low-income, English learners) are not more likely to be aware of or participate in decisions than nontargeted groups, which suggests weak accountability for the use of …

Advanced Placement (Ap) Computer Science Principles: Searching For Equity In A Two-Tiered Solution To Underrepresentation, Keith Howard, Douglas D. Havard

Education Faculty Articles and Research

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between students’ participation in the two high school AP computer science exam options and their selected fields of study once they enter post-secondary education. Two studies using national public-use datasets of participation and performance were conducted. Study 1 compared score distributions for the traditional Computer Science A exam to those of the newer Computer Science Principles exam during its first two years of implementation. In Study 1, Chi-square analyses revealed large differences in performance between the two exams, with the Computer Science Principles scores clustering more around marginal pass rates. …

Conceptualizing Equity In The Implementation Of California Education Finance Reform, Taylor N. Allbright, Julie A. Marsh, Michelle Hall, Laura Tobben, Lawrence O. Picus, Magaly Lavadenz

Education Faculty Articles and Research

We examine how district administrators’ conceptions of equity relate to the implementation of finance reform. We use sensemaking theory and four views of equity—libertarian, liberal, democratic liberal, and transformative—to guide a case study of two districts, finding evidence of two conceptions of equity: (1) greater resources for students with greater needs and (2) equal distribution of resources for all students. One district demonstrated an organization-wide belief in the first conception, whereas the other conveyed individual-level understandings of both conceptions. These beliefs were mirrored in resource allocation decisions and informed by districts’ student demographics, organizational identities, and perceptions of adequacy.

School‐Level Body Mass Index Shapes Children's Weight Trajectories, Ashley W. Kranjac

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

BACKGROUND

Embedded within children's weight trajectories are complex environmental contexts that influence obesity risk. As such, the normative environment of body mass index (BMI) within schools may influence children's weight trajectories as they age from kindergarten to fifth grade.

METHODS

I use 5 waves of the ECLS‐K—Kindergarten Class 1998‐1999 data and a series of multilevel growth models to examine whether attending schools with higher overall BMI influences children's weight status over time.

RESULTS

Results show that, net of child, family, and school sociodemographic characteristics, children who attend schools with higher rates of obesity have increased weight compared to children who …

From “Turning The Page” To Getting Our Noses Out Of The Book: How Ncte Can Translate Its Words Into Activism, Noah Asher Golden, Deborah Bieler

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This article raises questions about the role of NCTE in an era of widespread education reform that often runs counter to a wide body of scholarship and members’ understandings of ways to build strong, equitable educational systems. The authors call on NCTE to reinvent itself primarily as a space from which to take action toward equity and justice. This provocateur piece offers a loving critique of NCTE’s notion of advocacy at a time when neoliberal education reforms limit educators’ capacity to carry out our collective responsibilities to marginalized and vulnerable youth.

Cultivating A Professional Culture Of Peace And Inclusion: Conceptualizing Practical Applications Of Peace Leadership In Schools, Whitney Mcintyre Miller, Annmary S. Abdou

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Beyond the role of educating students across all academic domains, school leaders are tasked with the monumental responsibility of creating positive, engaged systems and cultures that embrace the growing cultural, economic, linguistic, and cognitive diversity in the United States landscape. With collective goals to create peaceful learning environments with capacity to serve diverse learners, many school leaders have embraced school-wide prevention and intervention efforts, such as Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) for social-emotional and behavioral development of students. Unfortunately, due to the inherent complexities and fragmentation of such efforts, many school leaders have continued to experience significant barriers to sustainable …

Practitioner Research In Schools: Revealing The Efficacy Agency Cycle, Edward Resnick

Educational Studies Dissertations

Years of high stakes testing and managerial directives to improve student test scores created a trend of teachers’ declining sense of efficacy and agency. Researchers have yet to examine the perceptions of teachers following requirements to improve student engagement and school climate in an effort to improve academic performance following the authorization of local and national educational accountability reforms. The purpose of this study is to examine how teachers perceive their efficacy and agency in response to the addition of nonacademic measures and the requirement of documented input from teachers and other stakeholders into educational policy planning procedures. Veteran K-12 …

Examining The Variability In General Education Placements For Students With Intellectual Disability, Meghan Cosier, Julia M. White, Qiu Wang

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Despite the overwhelming body of research suggesting that students with intellectual disability benefit from access to general education placements, students with intellectual disability continue to be educated primarily in segregated settings. Furthermore, the percentage of students with intellectual disability included in general education classrooms varies greatly among and within states across the United States. In an effort to explore such variability in New York State, we examined trends in general education placement rates of students with intellectual disability across districts and possible predictors of placement in regular classes. Results suggest that although descriptive patterns of placement exist, a more definitive …

“In A Position I See Myself In:” (Re)Positioning Identities And Culturally-Responsive Pedagogies, Noah Asher Golden

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Culturally-responsive pedagogies require moving beyond blanket assumptions about learners to focus deeply on local meaning-makings. This narrative analysis case study examines the ways a 20-year-old African American man challenges the negative educational identity with which he is forced to contend as he navigates a large and complex urban public school system. The ways in which Jamahl, a seeker of a High School Equivalency, refuses interpellation as an uneducated learner destined to be “nothin'” provides insight as to how formal education might be more responsive to learners' negotiation of deficiency discourses. Embracing agency, specifically through awareness of the ways Jamahl employs …

“They Write Me Off And Don't Give Me A Chance To Learn Anything”: Positioning, Discipline, And Black Masculinities In School, Quaylan Allen

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This study examines the schooling of black male students in a U.S. high school. Drawing upon positioning theory and student resistance literature, I describe how the students make meaning of the pathologizing positioning practices of the school, including how they resist and internalize dominant discourses about black masculinity and how their performances of particular masculinities within the school are met with surveillance, regulation, and discipline. I argue that schools are locations where dominant ideologies of black masculinities are imposed, contested, and sometimes reproduced.

Necessary But Not Sufficient: The Continuing Inequality Between Men And Women In Educational Leadership, Findings From The Aasa Mid-Decade Survey, Kerry Robinson, Charol Shakeshaft, Margaret Grogan, Whitney Sherman Newcomb

Education Faculty Articles and Research

The gender of school leaders makes a difference in career paths, personal life, and characteristics of workplace. There is additional evidence that men and women are appointed or elected to lead different kinds of educational jurisdictions. Even if those differences did not exist, equitable access to leadership positions for people of different backgrounds would make this an important issue. This article reports gender-related findings from the American Association of School Administrators 2015 Mid-Decade Survey. Findings confirm many of the trends in research on the superintendency over the past 15 years. The profiles of women superintendents are becoming more like their …

Educational Leadership And Social Justice In The United States, Margaret Grogan

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Principals and superintendents of public schools are under intense pressure to raise the level of student academic achievement. The No Child Left Behind Act (2001), mandated the reporting of student test scores disaggregated by race, socio-economic status, English language proficiency, and participation in special education. The aim of the legislation was to eliminate the test score gap between middle class white students and under-represented minorities. However, too many recent graduates still demonstrate very weak literacy and numeracy skills. They are not likely to lead fulfilling lives. School leaders have a moral imperative to address this injustice. Research shows that the …

Formulating A Pharmacy Collection Without A Prescription, Kristin Laughtin-Dunker, Linda Galloway

Library Articles and Research

Librarians without a background in the health sciences were tasked with building a collection to support a new pharmacy school at a traditionally liberal arts institution. Despite little subject expertise, the team assessed current holdings, conducted a review of recommended resources, and collaborated with faculty to prioritize acquisitions to support the developing program as funds became available. The hire of a health sciences librarian provided new opportunities for assessment and for continued collecting. Altogether, this process allowed for the creation of recommended best practices that can be adopted by any librarian procuring resources to support new health science programs.

The Explorations Program: Benefits Of Single-Session, Research- Focused Classes For Students And Postdoctoral Instructors, Jeremy L. Hsu, Anna M. Wrona, Sarah E. Brownell, Waheeda Khalfan

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

We present an update to Explorations, a program at Stanford University that allows undergraduates in an introductory biology course to explore specialized topics in the biological sciences while providing graduate students and postdoctoral scholars the unique opportunity to develop and teach single-session, research-focused classes. We provide an assessment of eight iterations of the program, using program attendance, student and instructor evaluations, senior exit surveys, course grades, and completion of undergraduate honors theses to assess the impact of our program on students and instructors. Students rated their experiences highly, and most reported that the program had a positive impact on their …

Nontraditional Student Risk Factors And Gender As Predictors For Enrollment In College Distance Education, Tammy Crews Pao

Educational Studies Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine whether nontraditional student age, female gender, and the possession of nontraditional student risk factors predict enrollment in distance education college courses. This dissertation used data from the most recent National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:12), which consisted of approximately 95,000 undergraduate students who were enrolled in higher education in 2011-2012. The results of a logistic regression analysis indicated that both nontraditional student age and female gender were strong predictors of enrollment in distance education, whereas the number of nontraditional student risk indicators was a partial predictor. As leaders in higher education are …

Data-Based Decision Making In School Counseling: Utilizing Multiple Single-Case Indicators To Evaluate Interventions, Ryan J. Mcgill, Kelly S. Kennedy, Randy T. Busse

Education Faculty Articles and Research

As the field of professional school counseling continues to move toward a data-based decision making model of service delivery, there is a need for dissemination of best practice methods for evaluating whether school-based counseling interventions are effective. In that vein, the purpose of this article is to review several methods of data-based decision making within a single-case outcome evaluation model, as well as their potential applications for school counseling interventions. To aid practitioners, the potential use of these methods is demonstrated in a case example and accompanying graphic displays.

Examining The Relationship Between School Climate And Peer Victimization Among Students In Military-Connected Public Schools, Kris T. De Pedro, Ron Avi Astor, Tamika D. Gilreath, Rami Benbenishty, Ruth Berkowitz

Education Faculty Articles and Research

In the Iraq and Afghanistan war context, studies have found that military-connected youth—youth with parents and/or siblings serving in the military—have higher rates of school victimization than their nonmilitary-connected peers. A positive school climate—where students perceive high levels of school connectedness, caring relationships and high expectations from adults, and meaningful participation—is associated with lower rates of victimization in secondary public schools. Based on a survey of 7th, 9th, and 11th grade students (n=14,493) enrolled in six military-connected school districts (districts that have a significant proportion of military-connected students), this study explores victimization rates and the role of school climate, deployment, …

Social Justice And Technocracy: Tracing The Narratives Of Inclusive Education In The United States, Scot Danforth

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Over the past two decades, the percentage of American students with disabilities educated in general classrooms with their nondisabled peers has risen by approximately fifty percent. This gradual but steady policy shift has been driven by two distinct narratives of organisational change. The social justice narrative espouses principles of equality and caring across human differences. The narrative of technocracy creates top-down, administrative pressure through hierarchical systems based on quantitative performance data. This article examines these two primary policy narratives of inclusive education in the United States, exploring the conceptual features of each and initiating an analysis of their application in …

A Comparative Analysis Of Diversity Initiatives: Administrative Policies & Academic Curriculum, K.B. Jenny Kim

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The object of my thesis research is to examine the existing diversity initiatives and campus climate of Chapman University and a comparative institution, Loyola Marymount University. The focus area of study will be racial/ethnic diversity within the various levels of the institution, with the primary focus on students and institutional support. The topic by nature is nuanced and complex, with interwoven layers of hierarchy and various scopes of campus climate including but not limited to: academic curriculum, co-curricular programs, availability of human resources in related expertise, and general accessibility of resources pertaining to diversity. The main objective is to examine …

Race, Culture And Agency: Examining The Ideologies And Practices Of Us Teachers Of Black Male Students, Quaylan Allen

Education Faculty Articles and Research

This study examines teachers of Black male students in a United States secondary school setting. Qualitative methods were used to document teachers' ideologies of and practices with their Black male students. In general, teachers drew upon competing structural and cultural explanations of Black male social and academic outcomes, while also engaging in practices that contested school barriers for Black males. Teacher beliefs about and practices with their Black male students were inconsistent in many ways, yet their agency on behalf of Black males might be understood as essential to Black male educational progress.

The Influences Of Mathematics Self-Efficacy, Identity, Interest, And Parental Involvement On Stem Achievement In Algebra For Female High School Students, Nicol R. Howard

Educational Studies Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the predictability of STEM achievement in Algebra for female high school students utilizing mathematics self-efficacy, mathematics interest, mathematics identity, and parental involvement. This study employed data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09/12) which consisted of 3,938 female eleventh-grade participants randomly selected from 944 public and private high schools during the fall 2009 academic year. The results of a hierarchical multiple regression indicated that mathematics identity was the strongest predictor of STEM achievement for female high school students, regardless of race. In spite of this significant relationship, STEM achievement outcomes …