Education Commons^™

Culturally Related Curriculum And How It Influences Preservice Teachers, Ana-Alicia Gonzales

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Variation in the way that teacher preparation programs implement culturally related curriculum leads to different preservice teacher perceptions on preparedness to teach in culturally diverse classrooms. Research has indicated that preservice teachers can feel prepared after taking a culturally related course, but there is a gap in understanding how culturally related curriculum influences preparedness. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative, explanatory study was to explore how preservice teachers' perceived intercultural competence and self-efficacy, which contribute to preparedness, are influenced by forms of culturally related curriculum in a U.S. university teacher preparation program. Deardorff's model of intercultural competence, Bennett's developmental model …

Music Therapy Effects On Social-Communicative Response Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Raymond Payton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are challenged with communicative skills, which can negatively influence their emotional development. As children with ASD in the local school were not demonstrating functional communication skills as measured by the Assessment of Social Skills for Children with Autism (ASSCM), music therapy was introduced as remediation. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which music therapy increased the ASSCM scores. This single subject design study was guided by Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory, which holds that individuals are impacted by various environmental systems around them. The research question addressed the extent to …

Goal-Based Evaluation Comparing Community College Developmental Student Engagement With National Norms, Janice Tucker Lyle

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

At Hillcrest Community College (HCC; pseudonym) most developmental education (DE) students do not progress in their studies from DE to college-credit-bearing courses required to matriculate toward earning a credential. Student engagement is important for student success, but HCC had never completed a study of student engagement among its DE students. The purpose of this quantitative goal-based evaluation was to compare HCC DE student engagement with the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) national norms to determine if engagement contributed to the problem. Kuh's theory of student engagement was the theoretical basis of the study, and the overarching research question …

Pull And Push Factors That Influence A Student's Decision To Drop Out Of School, Monica Ruth Rouse

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The high school dropout rate in the United States has historically been and continues to remain a persistent concern. The dropout epidemic has primarily been studied through a quantitative lens focused on the final decision to dropout rather than the complex sequence of events that factor into the dropout decision. The purpose of this study was to explore the pull/push factors that influenced a student's decision to drop out of high school. In this qualitative study, attention was given to both understanding how students described their reasons for dropping out of school and identification of any factors that could have …

Distributed Leadership And The Development Of A Collaborative School Culture, John Barnes Stubblefield

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Demands for increased school accountability created by No Child Left Behind and Every Student Succeeds legislation has resulted in the implementation of professional development programs in which educators are observers rather than collaborative participants. The problem at a secondary independent charter school in Central Ohio was the lack of a collaborative culture in which teachers and administrators were committed to professional development and accepted collective responsibility for the achievement of all learners. The purpose of the study was to investigate the perceptions and experiences of teachers and administrators about the practice of distributed leadership and how it contributed to the …

Effects Of A Student Success Course On Retention Of First-Year Community College Students, Deatrice Allen Willis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Low retention rates among 1st year students plague many community colleges in the United States, including the study site used for this research. Preparing 1st year community college students both academically and socially are key aspects of combating this issue and enhancing student success and persistence. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the influence of the First-Year Experience (FYE) course in improving student retention and promoting student success. Rodger’s student development theory and Tinto’s theory on retention guided this study. A causal-comparative design was used to examine the difference in retention rates and GPA between students enrolled …

Transformational Leadership In Public Schools Within Impoverished Areas, Suzanna Clifton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Most students in schools from impoverished areas in one southeastern state were not achieving academically according to state-mandated accountability expectations. However, students in 3 impoverished schools from 1 school district demonstrated successful academic achievement according to state standards. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how 14 administrators of these impoverished schools described personal transformational leadership behaviors. The study was based on the conceptual framework of transformational leadership as defined by a set of leadership behaviors. Data were collected from individual interviews and personal reflection surveys of administrators of public schools in 1 school district in which …

Career Pathways Of African-American Women Senior Executives At Predominantly White Institutions, Etheldria Amayah Bonnie Moulds-Greene

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research studies have revealed that African-American women are disproportionately underrepresented in senior and executive leadership positions compared to European-American female and male counterparts at public and private predominantly White institutions, despite their increased representation in university senior leadership positions. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to discover the meaning and understanding of African-American women's career pathway experiences ascending to executive positions at these institutions. Critical race theory and Black feminist thought lenses were used as frameworks to understand participants' career pathways, barriers, and facilitating factors advancing toward leadership. LinkedIn recruitment and snowball sampling led to 9 participants who …

Quantitative Comparison Of Novice And Veteran Teachers' Cultural Beliefs, Janet Adrienne Riley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Poor scores on standardized tests on the part of African American students are a problem at an urban high school in the U.S. Midwest. A factor potentially contributing to this problem is that teachers' cultural beliefs may not be well matched to those of students. This gap is important because cultural beliefs have an influence on the academic achievement of students. The cultural mismatch may be reduced as teachers gain experience with students' cultures and diversity, but it is not known the extent to which experience is beneficial in the Midwest urban high school setting. The purpose of this quantitative …

Native American Parent Perceptions Of Their Children's Success In Reading And Mathematics, Kandace Cheryee Robertson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The focus of this study was on how to help narrow the achievement gap between Native American students and their non-Native peers in an urban Oklahoma school district. A qualitative case study approach was used to answer the questions of how parents of Native American students perceive their children's academic success in reading and mathematics in Grade 1- Grade 12 and why they believe their children have consistently (or historically) performed below district, state, and national expectations in these subjects in an attempt to better understand the achievement gap. Progress reports, institutional reports, and standards-based test scores were indicative of …

A Phenomenological Study Of High-Performance Teachers' Happiness At School And Home, Sarah Abuaqel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This research study is focused on understanding the phenomenology of happiness of High Performing Teachers (HPT) working in an elementary school located in a Midwest City. The purpose of the study was to understand positive and negative emotions of HPT, through their experiences at work and home. Qualitative methodology through in-depth interviews was employed for this study. Tomkins' affect theory of happiness (ATH), was used to assess and explore positive and negative emotions of participants of the study. In this study a purposeful sample of 11 participants that work in elementary school located in a Midwest City, participated in in-depth, …

Bullying On A College Campus: A Qualitative Study, Arnita D. Walls-Pickett

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Bullying in higher education has become a global concern on college campuses and is occurring there in face-to-face encounters and through social media. Bullying contributes to hundreds of thousands of students dropping out of their higher education programs annually. This study brings more awareness to the uncivil behaviors occurring on college campuses. It uses for its conceptual framework the fourth of the Seven Vectors of Identity Development articulated by Chickering and Reisser: developing mature interpersonal relationships. This study's 2 guiding questions investigated whether bullying took place on a single college campus and how the bullying revealed itself. Further, this study …

Transformational Leadership Practices And Student Achievement In Diverse Urban Elementary Schools, Matilda Maria Mendez-Keegan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The relationship between transformational leadership and student academic achievement in diverse urban elementary schools is under-researched. However, studies have indicated that there are no evident gains in student achievement when administrators and teachers differ on views of effective leadership practices. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between teachers' perceptions of administrator leadership practices and student achievement in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics within diverse elementary schools. Burns's seminal theory on transformational leadership was the theoretical framework for this study. The research questions were designed to explore the relationship between teachers' perceived rating of transformational …

Student Retention At Online Learning Institutions, Johnetta P. Banks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

At a local community college in Texas, student retention remained a concern as enrollment was increasing while online student retention was decreasing. The purpose of this study was to examine student retention in online courses at the college. The conceptual framework that guided the project study was Tinto’s integration model, which provided insight as to why students choose to leave or continue their educational journey. The overarching question that guided the study queried the factors influencing students’ decisions to take online courses at the higher education level. A qualitative case study was used to capture information on 10 students regarding …

Secondary Physical Education Teachers’ Perceptions Of Adolescent Females’ Cardiovascular Fitness, La Shundra T. Carter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Cardiovascular fitness levels in physical education have decreased for males and females in an inner-city high school, with female cardiovascular fitness decreasing the most. Cardiovascular fitness is important because participating in cardio exercises decreases health issues such as obesity and cardio problems. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore the views of teachers regarding low cardiovascular fitness among adolescent females in physical education and how a professional development could help teachers to address the problem. Bandura’s social learning theory was used as the study’s conceptual framework. Semistructured and open-ended interview questions were used to collect data from …

Teacher Job Satisfaction And School Leadership, Saroya N. Pendleton-Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Teacher Job Satisfaction and School Leadership

by

Saroya N. Pendleton-Brown

MSA, Fayetteville State University, 2011

BBA, Baker College, 1993

AAS, Jordan College, 1991

Doctoral Study Completed in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Education

August 2019

The problem in a middle eastern school was the high annual rate of teacher attrition, which is above 25% per year. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine teacher perceptions of the attrition rates as they relate to the school leadership style at this study site. Herzberg's theory of motivation, which provides insights regarding job satisfaction, …

Influence Of Administrators Support On Third Grade Student Behavior In Schools, Alicia Vink

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research indicated that teachers' perceptions of administrator support behaviors, behavioral interventions, and students' classroom behaviors have a strong connection to students' academic outcomes. A lack of administrator support practices present challenges to teachers' effectiveness and students' academic and social success. The purpose of this quantitative study was to address the relationships among teachers' perceptions of administrator support, the FAST (Families and Schools Together) behavioral intervention program, and teachers' perceptions of student classroom behavior. Spillane's distributed leadership theory was used as a framework. The data were a subset of archival data from a target population of approximately 200 teachers working at …

Information Sources That Influence The Financial Literacy Of Puerto Rican College Students, Enid Alvarez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers agree that Puerto Ricans lack basic financial knowledge that would allow them to participate in the financial system actively. However, the literature did not provide any data about the knowledge transmission practices that Puerto Ricans use to gather and transmit financial knowledge. As a result, there was a limited understanding of the social learning processes used by Puerto Rican college students to make financial decisions. Using consumer socialization and family financial socialization models as the theoretical framework, the purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental study was to identify the information sources that Puerto Ricans use to gather financial knowledge. A …

Academic Accountability Between Charter And Public-School Principals In New Jersey, Nicole Goodman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this study was to explore school principals' accountability with student academic performance. Charter and public-school principals are responsible for the learning process and academic development. Previously published literature did not reveal a clear understanding of the policies and practices that contributed in obtaining the desired student academic outcomes. Parsons's theory of action served as the foundation for analyzing principals' decisions to achieve accountability and comply with the policies established by the regulating authorities. A snowball sampling of school principals included a public charter school principal and 5 traditional public-school principals in the state of New Jersey. A …

Staff Members' Perceptions Of General Education Development Programs In Virginia's Correctional System, Andrew Lee Beamon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Virginia Department of Corrections mandates that all offenders without a high

school diploma or general equivalency diploma (GED) are required to be enrolled in

GED programs offered in the prison system. However, these programs have shown

varying rates of success. Supported by the constructivist theory, the purpose of this

qualitative case study was to identify how correctional education staff members

perceived the effectiveness of the GED programs. Data from surveys and interviews with

9 educational correctional staff members were collected and analyzed for themes.

Findings indicated that (a) participants use computer software for effective instruction,

(b) offenders who were …

Impact Of Charter School Legislation On Public K-12 Education In Pennsylvania, Stuart Whiteleather

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Charter and cyber charter schools were legislatively permitted to operate as publicly funded educational institutions in Pennsylvania with the passage of Act 22 of 1997. Examining the tuition payments from traditional school districts funding charter schools and resulting economic, operational, and programmatic impacts on traditional K-12 education was the purpose of this study. Conflict theory provided the theoretical framework which proposes that inequity and competition for limited resources is the result of powerful groups exerting their influence on the greater society. This study's research questions focused on determining the impact tuition payments to charter schools had on public K-12 student …

Lebanese Elementary Teachers' Perceptions About Metacognitive Skills For Students With Learning Disabilities, Tassoula Semaan Bassous

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Teachers in Lebanese schools are still using outdated traditional strategies for instructing students with learning disabilities (LD). The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to understand Lebanese elementary teachers' perceived barriers to providing effective metacognition skills instruction and increase the understanding of how teachers are supporting students with LD to use metacognitive strategies to enhance their own learning. The conceptual framework used to ground the study was Flavell's metacognitive theory. The purposeful sample included 12 elementary special and regular education teachers selected from 6 different Lebanese schools in 5 areas in Lebanon. Each teacher participated in a semistructed …

Mathematics Teacher Perceptions Of Lesson Design, Data Reflection, And Achievement In Professional Learning Communities, Vicki Mashelle Bridges

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In a north Texas school district, district administrators were concerned that mathematics scores at the target middle school have fallen below the state average since 2010. Despite professional development (PD) provided by the district, administrators believed that teachers were not using professional learning community (PLC) data reflection practices to improve mathematics performance. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore middle school teachers' as well as the administrative dean's perceptions of the levels of depth regarding teacher dialogue and collaboration related to mathematics instruction, classroom delivery strategies, data analysis of student performance, and lesson design within PLCs. The …

Instructional Rounds And Problem-Solving: An Evaluative Case Study, Cheryl Ann Scalzo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the target district, instructional rounds (IR), were implemented to reform district-wide educational practices to increase student problem-solving skills over time. This evaluative case study investigated the perceived efficacy of IRs as a model to address student problem-solving. Specifically, the study examined the influences, if any, that the IR process has had on problem-solving, academics, and pedagogy since implementation. The study was framed by Bandura's social learning theory as it states that behavior is learned from one's environment through the process of observation. Qualitative data were collected from 86 stakeholders through a district-wide questionnaire, semi-structured interviews with 8 administrators, and …

Teachers' Perceptions Of African American Middle School Males' Reading Performance, Louis David Figueroa

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

School administrators at a middle school in the northeastern United States lacked understanding regarding reading services and teaching strategies to improve African American middle school (AA MS) males' performance on standardized state reading assessments. English language arts (ELA) teachers' perspectives on and experiences of teaching reading to AA MS males at the target site were explored using Kolb's model of experiential learning. A qualitative intrinsic case study with an anonymous survey was used to collect data at the target site. Fifteen individuals who met inclusion criteria of being 6th- or 7th-grade ELA teachers at the target site were recruited using …

Characteristics Of Successful Early Childhood Educational Leaders, Darla Tucker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem that precipitated this study was the marked differences among early childhood education leaders in the quality of leadership for private early childhood entities as indicated by a voluntary quality rating improvement system in a Midwestern state. The scholarly literature lacks studies on characteristics of high-€quality leadership in early childhood education. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive case study was to explore characteristics of quality early childhood leadership based on examination of successful early childhood programs using leadership trait theory as a conceptual framework. Research questions were designed to examine characteristics of successful early childhood leaders based on the …

Teachers' Evidence-Based Practices For Reading Deficiencies, Rebecca Ann Nugen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem investigated in this study was that students at a rural elementary school in the midwestern region of the United States were not meeting achievement targets in reading on state standardized tests despite implementation of the district's evidence-based reading curriculum. With a conceptual framework based on Webb's depth-of-knowledge model and Piaget's sociocultural learning theory, the purpose of this single case study was to explore teachers' perceptions regarding the use of evidence-based teaching practices and how those practices influence students' reading skills. Using purposeful sampling to select licensed, experienced participants, the insights of 7 elementary reading teachers were collected through …

Qsen Competency Confidence Levels In Two Groups Of New Registered Nurses, Yvonne A. Davila

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Healthcare agencies and stakeholders expect registered nurses to be competent at all times. When nurses are not confident in competencies, negative patient outcomes can occur. The purpose of this quantitative quasiexperimental with posttest only study was to investigate Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) competency confidence levels of 2 groups of new nurses who had 5-6 months of clinical experience. Framed by the Duchscher theory and the QSEN framework, the research question was developed to examine the differences between QSEN competency confidence levels of new nurses who participated in a prelicensure program plus a residency program and nurses who …

Wright's Competency Model And Quality And Safety Competencies, Staci Shanks

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Competent nurses are instrumental in assuring that a patient receives safe patient care of the highest quality. Patient care that lacks quality places patients at risk of poor health outcomes and results in negative financial impacts for the organization. The purpose of this staff education project was to develop nurse competency education for a facility's competency program, which merged the Wright competency model with quality and safety education for nurses' competencies. The nurse competency staff education program was evaluated by the organization's stakeholders for inclusion in the competency program. The whole-part-whole model, Knowles's adult learning theory, and Lewin's change theory …

The Effects Of Expressive Writing On Emotional Intelligence In College Undergraduates, Elizabeth Harrington Walker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Attending college is often so stressful that as many as 40% of students leave without earning a degree. Many students desert during their first and second years of study. Emotional intelligence has been associated with effective coping skills, student achievement, and psychological well-being. The act of expressing emotions through writing has been shown to engage many capabilities associated with emotional intelligence. Few studies have examined the effects of expressive writing on emotional intelligence. The theory of emotion regulation provided theoretical framework. The purpose of this quantitative experimental study was to examine the effects of expressive writing on emotional intelligence and …