Education Commons^™

Analysis Of Productivity Indicators: Perceptions Of Administrators And Faculty Serving At Religiously Affiliated Private Colleges And Universities, Mark Jeremy Farley

Doctoral Dissertations

Since national attention has been placed on accountability and productivity, it is useful for policy makers at religiously affiliated colleges and universities to understand and influence the increase in outputs, given limited sources of inputs and how productivity should influence institutional decision making. The relationship between these institutional outputs and required inputs has become the resounding chorus for numerous higher education productivity research projects (Bogue & Hall, 2003; Hunt, Carruthers, Callan, & Ewell, 2006; NCHEMS, 2009; PASSHE, 2011; SHEEO, 2005; Spellings, 2006; Vedder, 2004). However, little research exists regarding the importance of productivity …

Back From The Brink: The Process Of Revitalization At A Small, Private, Religious Institution, Samantha K. Brown

Doctoral Dissertations

Since the recession of 2008, small, private institutions have faced increased challenges, including little to no return on endowments, reductions in philanthropic support, escalating overhead costs, competition for students, families in need of additional financial aid, and growing public concern about the cost of higher education (Brown, 2011). From 2002 to 2012, 49 four-year, private, not-for-profit higher education institutions closed (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2012). Many were in a state of decline for years before closure (Porter & Ramirez, 2009). However, closure is not the only outcome of institutional decline. Institutional revitalization is an alternative to closure. Limited …

Active Critical Engagement (Ace): A Pedagogical Tool For The Application Of Critical Discourse Analysis In The Interpretation Of Film And Other Multimodal Discursive Practices, Sultana Aaliuah Shabazz

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to develop a pedagogical framework for applying a critical discourse methodology in the analysis of film as a multimodal, narrative construct of social discourse. This orientation is grounded in a cultural studies perspective that recognizes the significance of popular culture and allows me to situate film as a discursive practice, pedagogical resource, and (re)producer of social knowledges. Once situated, the need arises for a systematic method of critical analysis that controls for the rich, discursive landscape of multimodal artifacts without succumbing to over-reduction. My original contribution - the Active Critical Engagement (ACE) framework – …

Examining The Relationships Between Gratitude And Readiness For Self-Directed Learning In Undergraduate Nursing Students, Kellee Renee Vess

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between gratitude and readiness for self-directed learning among nursing students enrolled in a four-year baccalaureate nursing program. For this study a sample of 59 nursing students were selected from a four-year baccalaureate nursing program, situated in a private, faith-based college in the Southeast United States. During data collection, participants were asked to complete the Gratitude 6-item questionnaire [GQ-], the 40-item Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale for Nursing Education [SDLRS-NE], and two demographic questions (i.e., age and class rank). Using both parametric and nonparametric statistics, this study examined eight research questions, and …

Practices And Routines In Siwi Lessons That Develop Skills In Reading, Paulson A. Skerrit

Doctoral Dissertations

The average performance of Deaf and hard of hearing (D/hh) students on test of reading comprehension is several grade equivalents below their high school hearing peers. The reading-writing connection is one way to address the literacy challenges of D/hh learners. This study explored that connection in instruction that was driven with a high fidelity to the principles of Strategic Interactive Writing Instruction (SIWI). The data for this study came from two grade three classes involved in the second half of a Year II project that was part of a 3-year Institute of Education Sciences-funded project to develop SIWI for use …

Consolidation In U.S. Higher Education: A Case Study Of A Regional Institution, Douglas V. Hawks

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this single-site, descriptive case study was to study consolidation in U.S. higher education through the process perspective as posited by Jemison and Sitkin (1986). In their process perspective, Jemison and Sitkin posit that four impediments may occur during the consolidation process that can directly impact the outcome of the consolidation. These four impediments are expectational ambiguity, escalating commitment, activity segmentation, and the misapplication of management systems.

Research questions guiding this study are focused on why consolidations take place in higher education, how outcomes are measured, and how decisions made during the consolidation are aligned with the stated …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Athletic Satisfaction And Student Adaptation To College, Brian C. Russell

Doctoral Dissertations

Research on the experience of student-athletes at the collegiate level suggests that they may face challenges and hurdles in adjusting to college differently than those faced by students of the general student population. Additionally, research on student satisfaction suggests that a student’s satisfaction has an impact on the academic experience and retention of students, while research on athletic satisfaction suggests a relationship exists between athletic and academic satisfaction for student-athletes. However, it remains unclear whether there is a positive or negative relationship between the experiences of adjustment to college and athletic satisfaction of a student-athlete.

The purpose of this study …

Enriching Teacher Self-Efficacy Through A Support Centric Evaluation Model: A Mixed Methods Study Of Team's Impact On Teacher Self-Efficacy, Elizabeth Marie Norton

Doctoral Dissertations

The effectiveness of teacher evaluation systems is determined by the extent to which they can support improved instructional practice. Research suggests that implementation factors such as attitudes of school leaders (Kimball & Milanowski, 2009), perceptions of fairness (Delvaux, Vanhoof, Tuytens, Vekeman, Devos, & Petegem, 2013), the relationship of the evaluator and the teacher (Weber, 1987), and the quality of the feedback provided can all impact the effectiveness of the evaluation system (Conly & Glasman, 2008; Danielson, 2012; Delvaux et al., 2013; Weber, 1987). This mixed methods study attempted to determine the extent to which these implementation characteristics occurring within the …

You Kind Of Have To Prove It: Gender Microaggressions Within The Lived Experiences Of Women In Engineering, Crystal Rose Diaz-Espinoza

Doctoral Dissertations

This intrinsic case study explored the lived experiences of women within three engineering majors at a mid-sized institution in the Mid-Atlantic using gender microaggressions (Nadal, 2010; Sue, 2007) as a theoretical lens. Data included individual interviews with 28 participants as well as document review from Web pages and observations from physical spaces within the campus engineering building. Data analysis resulted in seven themes in congruence with Sue’s (2007) taxonomy of gender microaggressions and further established the three levels of gender microaggressions distinguished by Nadal (2010). Findings also revealed that barriers within engineering were less visible or outwardly sexist, and that …

The Formation Of Youth-Led Participatory Networks In Urban Bangladesh: A Case Study Of The Bgreen Project, Fadia Hasan

Doctoral Dissertations

Through the lens of a participatory action research platform that I founded called The BGreen Project (BGreen), my research explores networked political economic connections that were developed as a result of this academic-community initiative. BGreen was a participatory action research platform that connected urban high school, college, university youth in an assortment of participatory/deliberative activities in the fields of education and environment. With their ongoing engagement in the participatory network called BGreen, Bangladeshi youth are negotiating their affiliation to diverse political economic structures (for example, their educational institutions) in creative ways and forging innovative methods of transformative participation as …

Mediations Of Multiple Identities In A Private University: International Students’ Experiences In The United States, Beata Z. Dolina

Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT MEDIATIONS OF MULTIPLE IDENTITIES IN A PRIVATE UNIVERSITY: INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES IN THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 2015 BEATA DOLINA, B.A., UNIVERSITY OF WARSAW M.A., HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY Ed. D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Theresa Austin Admitting ever-increasing numbers of international undergraduates, universities are beginning to grapple with the difficulties students experience in adapting to this new, for them, educational context. According to Glass (2012), “Given the growth of international student enrollment, there are compelling reasons to more closely examine the extent to which specific educational experiences may be associated with their learning, development, and …

Translanguaging And Identity In A Kindergarten Classroom: Validating Student's Home Culture And Language In An English-Only Era, Maria Eugenia Lozano Lenis

Doctoral Dissertations

This ethnographic multi-year study examines the effects of federal and state education policies in language-minority school children’s in Western Massachusetts. Specifically, it explores, how, in an increasingly English Only era, a Latina kindergarten teacher resists Massachusetts' restrictive bilingual education law at the same time that she builds on her students’ multi-ethnic identity. Methodologically, this study combines ethnographic and discourse analysis methods and techniques analyzing the curricular effects that the NCLB and the state of Massachusetts language policy have on an underperforming school serving a predominantly Latino/a population. The focus of the study is the literacy practices enacted by a Dominican …

Social Justice Teacher Educators Of Color: Their Work, Perspectives, And Insights, Nini V. Hayes

Doctoral Dissertations

For the first time in the US, the majority of public school students are students of color in addition to being culturally and linguistically diverse (National Center for Education Statistics, 2013). Yet many teacher educators and teachers do not reflect this diversity (U.S. Dept. of Education, 2013). The overwhelming majority of teacher educators and teachers in the U.S. continue to be mono-racial, mono-linguistic, mono-cultural, and of a middle-class background; a workforce that misrepresents the demographics of this nation (Ladson- Billings, 2005). Students deserve educational settings that are a reflection of society’s diversity and also them. Therefore, diversifying the teacher workforce …

Evaluating The Impact Of Construct Shift On Item Parameter Invariance, Test Equating And Proficiency Estimates, Xueming Li

Doctoral Dissertations

Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics at grades K to 12 were introduced in 2009 and at one time had been accepted by 45 of the states in the U.S. The new standards have created national curricula in these two subject areas. Along with this reform, new assessment systems have been developed too. Many of these new tests are showing signs of being more multidimensional than the tests they were replacing because of the use of new item formats, and the assessment of higher level thinking skills and various performance skills. In the short term at …

Special Education Leadership Practices That Support Postsecondary Transition Service Delivery For Students With Severe Disabilities, Laurel A. Peltier

Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT SPECIAL EDUCATION LEADERSHIP PRACTICES THAT SUPPORT POSTSECONDARY AND TRANSITION SERVICE DELIVERY FOR STUDENTS WITH SEVERE DISABILITIES SEPTEMBER 2015 LAUREL A. PELTIER, B.A., GORDON COLLEGE, WENHAM M.A., UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND, KINGSTON C.A.G.S., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Ed.D. UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by Dr. Mary Lynn Boscardin In the past decade, researchers have made new forays into understanding educational leadership and the connections between leadership practices and outcomes for students. While evidence-based leadership practices at the building and district level are critical to the success of students in general and special education settings as a whole, the need for …

Obstacles To Girls' Education And Girls' Lived School Experience In Benin: School As An Institution Of Cultural Transmission, Simeon Afouda

Doctoral Dissertations

The persistence of gender inequality in education has received increased attention over the past few years. Findings from research studies have documented the hardships that girls experience in their day to day school life. Yet, more girls are being sent to school. This study explored the lived school experience of thirty girls in a public secondary school in Benin. Using a qualitative methodology informed by the grounded theory approach, the study investigated girls’ perception of their school experience and the meaning that this experience holds for them. Thirty girls were interviewed on their lived school experienced, and participant observation was …

Implementing Universal Social And Emotional Learning Programs: The Development, Validation, And Inferential Findings From The Schoolwide Sel Capacity Assessment, Cheyne A. Levesseur

Doctoral Dissertations

In order to effectively transport universal social and emotional learning (SEL) programs into natural settings, it is important to understand implementation barriers that may hinder the likelihood of successful outcomes (Fixsen, Naoom, Blasé, Friedman, & Wallace, 2005). The current study is primarily based on the notion that within the planning phase of implementation, few technically adequate assessment measures targeting both organizational capacity (OC) and provider characteristics (PC) for SEL programming actually exist. The purpose is to extend the SEL implementation assessment literature by developing a new rating scale designed to measure SEL implementation barriers (School SEL Capacity Assessment [SSCA]) and …

Integrated Instruction: Perceptions Of Community College Faculty, Lisa Wheeler

Doctoral Dissertations

Community colleges in some states have explored delivery options to accelerate students through remediation and into credit-bearing courses, reduce attrition rates and time-to-degree, and increase retention and completion rates. Two of these options, contextualized and integrated instruction, have demonstrated clear academic advantages for students and promising fiscal advantages for institutions. However, since many of the promising innovations colleges are exploring require faculty to make the biggest adjustments, this study addressed the impact of contextualized and integrated instruction on faculty.

Literature was plentiful on the models themselves and the effect on student outcomes, but a gap existed for the impact of …

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?: Factors Impacting The Decision To Study Abroad Among Students Who Have Expressed Intent, April H. Stroud

Doctoral Dissertations

Study abroad is recognized as a valuable and increasingly essential aspect of higher education in America. Yet, for all the positive attention and high-profile initiatives aimed at expanding participation, the percentage of U.S. undergraduate who studies abroad remains small. Developing a better understanding of the factors that contribute to or hinder study abroad participation is critical to expanding participation. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine factors that influence participation among students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who have expressed formal intent to study abroad. Specifically, this dissertation investigates who is more likely to study abroad and who …

Phallacies: Constructing A Critical Space And Pedagogy For College Men To Engage Across Non-Hegemonic Masculinities, Taj Smith

Doctoral Dissertations

Peer groups are one of those critical social organizations within our cycles of socialization that assist in regulating culturally acceptable practices of masculinity (Connell, 2005; Gilbert & Gilbert, 1998; Mac an Ghaill, 1994). Men's peer groups are viewed as primary social commitments that should not be broken and maintained through performances of masculinity that are influenced by gendered expectations (Migliaccio, 2009). Unfortunately, the regulation that comes with joining such groups often requires collective and individual oppressive practices that result in some men policing other men's attitudes and behaviors (Flood, 2007). As a response to Harris and Barone's (2011) call for …

An Investigation Of Subtest Score Equating Methods Under Classical Test Theory And Item Response Theory Frameworks, Minjeong Shin

Doctoral Dissertations

Test scores are usually equated only at the total score level. If a test mainly measures a single trait, indicating that the test is essentially unidimensional, equating at the total score level could be the best choice. However, when a test is composed of subtests having negligible relationships among them, separate equating for each subtest offers the best choice. Given a moderate amount of correlations among the subtests, performing individual equating for each subtest may be misleading in that it ignores the relationship of the subtests. This study applied and compared several possible subtest score equating methods based on classical …

Slavery On Their Minds: Representing The Institution In Children's Picture Books, Raphael E. Rogers

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines how slavery is represented in contemporary children’s picture books. Given that many primary and secondary school teachers are committed to using picture book fiction to teach students about slavery, it is necessary to explore how slavery is depicted in these texts. One of the goals of this study is to contribute to the discussion about how the featured picture books engage with and respond to the early historiography of slavery, which asserted that Black slave were content and docile and that slave owners were kind and paternalistic. This study seeks to analyze how the picture books that …

Investigating The Predictive Validity Of Three Measures Of Number Sense, Bethany Politylo

Doctoral Dissertations

Number sense has been identified as an important foundational skill in the development of later mathematics competence. Although number sense has historically been difficult to define in the educational literature, operational definitions of the construct typically consist of a collection of early numeracy skills or “number sense components” such as quantity discrimination, rote counting, and one-to-one correspondence. Consequently, assessments of number sense tend to measure a wide variety of these skills. The purpose of this study was to investigate the predictive validity of three measures of number sense: the Test of Early Numeracy (TEN), Number Sense Brief Screener (NSB), and …

Performing Critical Consciousness In Teaching: Entanglements Of Knowing, Feeling And Relating, Kathleen A. Mcdonough

Doctoral Dissertations

At a time when education reform is guided by neoliberalism, accountability and standardization have reshaped teaching as highly technocratic and threatened the democratic possibilities of public education. Even so, many teacher education programs have taken up the call to prepare teachers to teach for social justice, whether framed as multicultural education, critical literacy, or critical pedagogy. A construct that ties these pedagogical approaches together is critical consciousness, with the aim of some teacher education efforts to evoke critical consciousness among preservice teachers. This study focuses on exploring how nine educators from elementary grades to higher education experience and enact critical …

Expanding Democracy In Classrooms: History Teacher Candidates' Perceptions Of Student Feedback As A Democratic Teaching Practice, Irene S. Laroche

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines the perceptions of middle and high school history teacher candidates about the use of student feedback as a democratic teaching practice. It explores preservice teachers' responses when asking students to comment about the use of interactive, student-centered teaching. In a collaborative action research approach, qualitative research methodologies were used to document experiences of candidates as they designed and implemented student surveys in classes and responded to what students said. Participants included 14 history teacher license candidates at a public university in the Northeast United States who were completing their pre-practicum and student teaching field experiences in history …

Microteaching In Pakistan: Perspectives Of Novice Higher Education Faculty About The Contribution Of Microteaching To Their Learning And Practice, Salma N. Khan

Doctoral Dissertations

This mixed-methods research documents the self-reports of novice higher education faculty of Pakistan about the contribution of the microteaching module of Master Trainer Faculty Professional Development Program (MT-FPDP) as well as the factors that either supported or hindered faculty in using their new knowledge and skills. My literature review on microteaching, which until recently had been a neglected field for two decades, includes higher education development needs as ‘adults-teaching-adults,’ microteaching as a response to novice teaching issues, and a contextual analysis of the model in different settings. I analyze and interpret the findings using a conceptual framework that synthesizes adult …

Conditions Supporting The Development Of Scientific Argumentation In High School Chemistry Classrooms: The Role Of Question Prompts And An Interactive Simulation, Tugba Keser

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to provide benefit to preservice and inservice science teachers, who have an interest in applying scientific argumentation in their high school chemistry instructions, by investigating role of question prompts and an interactive simulation supporting the development of scientific argumentation. In particular, the study examined the quality of students’ arguments changing over time in scientific argumentation when they constructed and defended their arguments using the “Gas Properties” computer simulation. For this purpose, forty-seven11^th grade students from four classes first worked in pairs and then, all the pairs returned the classroom for discussion. One …

Reading Queerly In The High School Classroom: Exploring A Gay And Lesbian Literature Course, Kirsten Helmer

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore how teaching an English literature curriculum centered on the stories, experiences, cultures, histories, and politics of LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex) people constitutes a meaningful site for teaching and learning in a high school classroom. The dissertation offers insights on how the teaching of LGBTQI-themed texts in English language arts classes can be reframed by bridging the goals, practices and conceptual tools of queer theory to critical literacies teaching. The project follows principles of critical qualitative research and employs an ethnographic case study approach with the purpose of transforming educational …

Postive Behavioral Interventions And Supports In Out Of School Time: Providing Professional Development Via Consultation And Performance Feedback, Sheera Hefter

Doctoral Dissertations

American youth are in need of supervision after the school day concludes. After School Programs (ASPs) provide students with safe and supportive venues that have the potential for encouraging student growth and development. ASPs across the country struggle to find high quality professionals to staff their programs; adequate training for these professionals is also limited. There is also significant evidence linking strong teacher-student relationships to both academic and social success. Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a framework that has a strong evidence base to support success in promoting a proactive approach to behavior management within school settings. The …

Using Systemic Functional Linguistics To Inform A Language Pedagogy In A Middle School English Classroom A Case Study, Holly I. Graham

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative case study analyzes how a middle school teacher used the tools of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) and genre based pedagogy (GBP) to support linguistically and culturally diverse students in analyzing informational texts critically in the context of curricular and school reforms in the United States. Using a combination of ethnographic case study methods (Dyson, 1993; Davies, 1999; Merriam, 2005; Dyson & Genishi, 2005) and critical discourse analysis (Eggins, 1999; Fairclough, 1995) the teacher collected an extensive corpus of diverse data over a school year. Focused data collection consistent with case study methods included instructional materials, paper and electronic …