Education Commons^™

The Impact Of Poverty Informed Faculty On Community College Student Success, Barbara J. Embacher

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Community college completion has been proven to be a ticket to a middle-class life. Moreover, we know that poverty causes educational barriers, including community college completion. Community colleges across the nation are identifying significant equity gaps between students from poor versus middle-class or affluent households. One solution to close equity gaps and increase student success rates for students experiencing poverty is to educate college faculty through professional development. This includes 1) information on the causes, myths, stereotypes, and other facts about poverty, 2) the impact poverty has on student achievement, and 3) instructional strategies that can help students experiencing poverty …

School Autonomy Distributed Leadership And Teachers’ Use Of Innovative Teaching Practices, Cailen O'Shea

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The primary aim of this research is to understand how school autonomy and distributed leadership supports teachers’ use of innovative teaching practices. Innovative practices such as increasing cognitive activation and enhanced curricular activities have shown to have significant positive effects on student outcomes (Le Donné, Fraser, & Bousquet, 2016). Based on internationally representative samples including 7,436 lower secondary school principals and 117,876 teachers from 34 countries surveyed in the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013 data, this study analyzed the effect of school autonomy and distributed leadership on teachers’ use of these innovative teaching practices. The findings demonstrate that …

The Road Taken That Has Made All The Difference: A Narrative Inquiry Of Student Engagement And Success In Butler Community College's Accelerated Learning Program In English, Troy Nordman

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate whether students who completed the accelerated learning program (ALP) in English at Butler Community College in fall 2016 perceived a three-part, structured approach to the course as having been a significant factor to their persistence and successful completion of the course. These perceptions were gathered during the spring 2017 semester through one-on-one, face-to-face interviews with 12 students from the fall 2016 cohort. Utilizing the conceptual framework of narrative inquiry proposed by Clandinin (2006) allowing the individual student narratives to weave a common, thematic context, this study examined the specific factors associated with …

College-Going Experiences Of Male Foster Youth Alumni Who Have Stopped-Out Of College, Felipe D. Longoria

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This qualitative research study examined how foster care experiences and masculinities influenced male foster youth alumni’s decision to go to college. The study also sought to understand the in-and-out-of-college factors that led participants to exit college prematurely. Five participants were each interviewed twice for data collection purposes. Findings from data analysis indicated that establishing and maintaining relationships in college were challenging and affected an already vulnerable population in their help-seeking behavior. Recommendations are offered for higher education professionals and areas for future research are noted.

Advisor: Corey Rumann

Exploring The Factors That Influence And Motivate Female Students To Enroll And Persist In Collegiate Stem Degree Programs: A Mixed Methods Study, Rosemary L. Edzie

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Nationally, the need for an increase in interest, enrollment, and degrees awarded from science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) degree programs continues to suffer. While students are enrolling in collegiate STEM degree programs, it is not occurring at a rate that meets the workforce demand. In addition to the concern that there is not a sufficient amount of collegiate STEM majors, there is a concern over too few females enrolling and persisting in collegiate STEM degree programs.

This mixed methods sequential exploratory research study considered the factors that influence and motivate undergraduate female students to enroll and persist in collegiate …

Exploring The Multiple Dimensions Of Intelligence Identity In High-Achieving Students, Amy A. Holland

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the important elements reported by second-year undergraduates at Midwestern University (MU) as they renegotiated their intelligence identity of being the smart one. The five participants were members of the 2012-2013 first-year cohort of Jumpstart Business Community (JBC). Per inclusion in JBC, the students identified as high-achieving students and/or were classified as accelerated learners in high school. The reconceptualized model of multiple dimensions of identity from Abes, Jones, and McEwen (2007) informed this study in the examination of renegotiation of the intelligence identity.

The main research question of this study was what …

Culturally Proficient Teachers, Lori R. Piowlski

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Action needs to be taken by teacher preparation programs to prepare culturally proficient educators who are able to deliver equitable instruction and inspire all students to strive for greatness if the achievement gap is to be closed. Existing literature mainly describes the importance and urgency to prepare future teachers for the changing demographics with classrooms across the United States. There is not significant literature on how it is being done. Therefore the purpose of this qualitative study was to discover how university teacher education programs are preparing teachers to be culturally proficient. A cross-reference of data collected from Adequate Yearly …

A Distance Education Classroom Designed To Facilitate Synchronous Learner And Instructor Interactions, Stuart P. Bernstein

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a live, synchronous distance delivery technology would facilitate interaction, immediacy, and presence between an instructor and his contiguous and remote classrooms, and whether it would facilitate interaction between the two groups of students. This study researched the opinions of students on whether they felt the platform facilitated interaction between the two groups of learners, both groups of learners and the instructor, and both groups of learners and the content.

This research followed the development and testing of a synchronous delivery platform that would replicate a traditional, interactive, classroom in a remote …

Being There: A Grounded-Theory Study Of Student Perceptions Of Instructor Presence In Online Classes, William G. Feeler

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of experienced individual online students at a community college in Texas in order to generate a substantive theory of community college student perceptions of online instructor presence. This qualitative study used Active Interviewing and followed a Straussian grounded-theory design to guide the collecting and coding of interview data in order to identify emerging categories and generate substantive theory. The researcher collected data through interviews with 16 online students, all of whom had taken at least four online courses at a community college.

A constant comparative analysis of the data generated …

The Perceptions Of Elementary Principals About Their Role In The Establishment Of Collaborative Workplaces In Their School Buildings, Bradley Sullivan

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this case study was to develop an understanding of the elementary principal’s perceived role in creating and sustaining a collaborative workplace environment within their school. Collaboration among education professionals, when used effectively, is one strategy that has demonstrated improvement of instruction and student learning. As such, in this context the role of the principal becomes more complex and challenging. This study examined the perception of the elementary principal’s role regarding the establishment and perpetuation of a collaborative workplace environment for teachers that is focused on improving student learning within their buildings.

In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 …