Education Commons^™

The Impact Of A Common Approach To Instruction Within A Nebraska Rural School District, Bret Allan Schroder

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

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the instructional understanding and effectiveness of a district wide implementation of a Common Approach to Instruction. This research study provided a greater understanding of the affects that such an implementation had on certified staff regardless of grade level, experience, subject, or gender.

This explanatory, sequential, mixed methods study was conducted during the summer, spring, and fall of 2014-2015. The study initially gathered data using an online survey, based on Marzano’s 41 instructional elements, in a single class-B school district in Nebraska. All certified staff members within this school district were …

A Fiscal Model Program Theory Proposal For Training Reentry Citizen Ex-Convicts To Remodel Abandoned Houses, James A. Hanson

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

The purpose of this study was to develop and examine a fiscal program theory model and proposal for training reentry citizen ex-convicts to remodel abandoned houses. A sustainable program theory model describes ways that training and employing these citizens to remodel abandoned houses may be expected to have benefits to a community. The recently released ex-convicts will learn a construction trade, earn a sustainable wage, and the once-abandoned houses will be returned to the city tax rolls. Vocational education and workforce training are key to this program. The literature indicates that national jobless rates for recently released inmates is well …

Exploring Teachers’ Perspectives Of Cooperative Learning To Create Music In Orff Schulwerk Classrooms, Nicole A. Chapman

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Creative Work, and Performance

The Framework for 21st Century Learning identifies four learning and innovation skills to prepare students for a changing world. The 4Cs identified are critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity (Framework for 21st Century Learning, 2015). With the adoption of this new teaching framework, it is important that music educators evaluate their own teaching methods to meet the needs of their students in a changing society. The purpose of this study was to examine how cooperative group learning is currently integrated in the Orff-Schulwerk certified teachers’ elementary music classroom as part of the creative music process. In this qualitative study, I …

Trust Within Higher Education Consortia – A Phenomenological Study Of The Experiences Of Directors And Leaders, James A. Yankech

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

Trust is a foundational element for success within a higher education consortium. Defined as a group of colleges and universities united through collective effort, a consortium allows member institutions to achieve more cooperatively than alone. However these same institutions still compete in many ways – for students, government appropriations, and research dollars as examples. Therefore a balance must be struck between institutional and consortium interests. As a result trust between and among member institutions of a consortium becomes an important phenomenon to be understood. This study examined the phenomenon of trust from the perspective of consortia directors and leaders. Two …

Addressing Security Risks For Mobile Devices: What Higher Education Leaders Should Know, Casey J. Gordon

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

This qualitative study examined the topic of mobile device security at higher education institutions in the Midwestern United States. This study sought to answer the question of how higher education institutions have responded to threats to campus data security posed by mobile devices. It explored the questions of what institutions are doing currently, the policies and procedures they have in place, and what leaders should do in the future.

This research study consisted of four case studies, compiled through interviews with key Information Technology (IT) professionals and faculty at each of the four institutions studied as well as an examination …

Teacher Reaction To Change In The Lutheran Elementary School: A Grounded Theory Approach, Kim D. Marxhausen

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Schools, and the teachers and administrators who work in them, need the flexibility to adapt to current student needs. Past research has focused on organizations and plans for change; little research has been done on individual teacher reaction to change situations leaving a gap in the literature. The goal of this constructivist grounded theory study was to explore how individual teachers, in LCMS Lutheran elementary schools, react when presented with change. Data were collected through interviews involving an event history calendar to facilitate memory. A theoretical sampling process was used to collect and analyze data utilizing a constant comparative method. …

International Doctoral Students, Their Advising Relationships And Adaptation Experiences: A Qualitative Study, Katherine Najjar

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

Thirty four international doctoral students were interviewed to determine what types of advising and mentoring experiences were effective and beneficial, and what experiences had been difficult or unhelpful. The students reported a high level of satisfaction with their advisors and with their program of studies. However, during the interviews, students began to describe other factors that contributed to their well-being and their experiences.

Issues described included language difficulties and problems developing relationships with other students. Although most students developed close, personal relationships with advisors or departmental colleagues, few students reported having large numbers of friends and associates outside of their …

The Organization And Structure Of The Governmental Relations Function In Community Colleges: A Case Study At Five Texas Community Colleges, Steven E. Johnson

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

Governmental relations, how institutions of higher education interact with appointed and elected governmental officials, has not been well defined or widely researched. This is especially the case at community colleges. Today, community colleges enroll half of all students in the United States in higher education and have become the largest sector of higher education in Texas. The need for community colleges to understand and to influence policy and funding decisions through governmental relations has intensified as Texas has faced pressure on state revenue as a result of two economic recessions over the past decade.

To understand how Texas community colleges …

Principal Leadership In High-Performing, High-Poverty Elementary Schools, Marc J. Cohen

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

The focus of this mixed methods study was on Maryland Title I elementary principals who led schools to achieving adequate yearly progress during the 2011-2012 school year. At the time of the study, slightly more than one third of the Title I elementary schools in Maryland and throughout the U.S., achieved this status (U.S. Department of Education, 2013).

In-depth interviews were conducted with twenty-five principals from Title elementary schools in Maryland. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) Leader Form was administered to the participants as well.

This study findings indicated,

1. Principals of high-performing, high-poverty elementary schools were more transformational in …

A Primer On Grant Writing For Foundation Support For First-Time Grant Writers In Academic Libraries: Challenges And Opportunities, Peter L. Kraus

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

In a majority of academic disciplines, grant writing is a skill that is often self-taught or acquired informally by trial and error. Few academic disciplines have grant writing as standard part of their curriculum at the graduate level. In the past, grant writing has received little or no emphasis in traditional library education since library science faculty themselves have a poor record of pursuing external funding. Yet, grant writing is a critical skill for new and experienced librarians. For many librarians, the prospect and challenge of writing a grant can seem daunting; however, with institutional support and the support of …

Pathways To Student Success: A Multiple Case Study On Four-Year Colleges’ Organizational Change In Performance Funding States, Lindsay K. Wayt

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

Federal and state policies have recently moved the higher education accountability focus from access to completion. As completion and other student success accountability measures are put in place, institutions are going through organizational change to accommodate these new policies and to adjust their focus onto student success measures such as retention and graduation rates. This multiple case study’s purpose was to describe the institutional efforts and changes at small- to medium-sized, four-year public institutions in states where at least 20% or more of state funds are or are planned to soon be allocated based on performance metrics. The findings of …

Understanding The Transition Experience Of Community College Transfer Students To A 4-Year University: Incorporating Schlossberg’S Transition Theory Into Higher Education, Tony A. Lazarowicz

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

With over 60% of college graduates attending multiple institutions (United States Department of Education, 2006), many starting at community colleges, the importance of understanding community college transfer students’ stories is critical to retention and graduation agendas at colleges and universities nationwide. Schlossberg’s Transition Theory has recently been introduced into higher education literature as a conceptual framework for working with various student populations such as student veterans (Wheeler, 2012; Rumann, 2010); student athletes (Henderson, 2013); and students on academic probation (Tovar & Simon, 2006) among others. Minimal work has incorporated Schlossberg’s Transition Theory into studies of community college transfer students; thus …

Assessing The Relationship Between Student And Faculty Perceptions Of Student Engagement At Central Mountain College, Brandi R.K. Atnip

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

This study compared the perceptions of students versus faculty at Central Mountain College with regard to the issue of student engagement. Central Mountain College participated in the Community College Survey of Student Engagement and the Community College Faculty Survey of Student Engagement during the spring semesters of 2009, 2011, and 2013. The institution was provided with aggregate results from these survey administrations by the Center for Community College Student Engagement. Prior to this study, the survey results had not been accumulatively evaluated by the institution.

The study aimed to determine areas where there was congruence and incongruence between the students …

Can You Help Me? What A Mid-West Land Grant University Is Doing To Help Formerly Incarcerated Students In Higher Education, Terrence S. Mctier Jr.

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

Formerly Incarcerated Students (FIS) can be found enrolling in colleges and universities across the United States. When looking at the lack of support and resources available for FIS (who are currently enrolled at a collegiate institution) in higher education, a growing number of researchers identify the transitional experience as problematic for individuals with a criminal background. Although there is recognition of problematic issues for enrolling ex-offenders at any given institution because of safety concerns, lack of knowledge, and concerns of recidivism, one major problem still persists, and that is the lack of resources that are available in higher education. This …

Undergraduate Chinese Student College Choice: Chinese Student Growth At The University Of Nebraska–Lincoln, Jacob Hoy-Elswick

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

In this mixed methods study, the researcher explored the importance of institutional characteristics and people who were influential in the college choice of first-year undergraduate Chinese students at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL). The purpose of the research was to understand the impact and interplay of variables that previous research has shown to be significant in Chinese student decision making and how those variables applied to first-year students at UNL. A quantitative survey was administered to and completed by 25 students (n = 25) and analyzed through multivariate correlations. Qualitative surveys were then conducted with three students to gain depth …

University Of Nebraska Board Of Regents Policies, Contains Amendments Through April 10, 2015, University Of Nebraska Board Of Regents

Policies, Acts, and Materials: University of Nebraska Board of Regents

First section:

RP-1.1.1 Direct Responsibilities of the Board Under the constitution and statutes of the State of Nebraska, the Board of Regents has the authority and the responsibility for the general government of the University of Nebraska. It must exercise general supervision over all elements of the University and control and direction of all expenditures and establish the general operating policies of the institution. To assist it in the discharge of its responsibilities, the Board of Regents employs a staff and faculty who have the professional competence to develop and operate the University's programs. The Board delegates, through its Bylaws …

Practical Applications For Student Affairs: A Phenomenological Exploration Of How Black Male Undergraduate Persisters Describe Retention And Social Integration At A Midwestern Pwi, André L. Fortune

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

For decades higher education has incurred challenges with increasing undergraduate retention and degree attainment. Lately these challenges, including focus on increasing Black male undergraduate degree attainment, have become a national concern. Scholars like Vincent Tinto (1987, 1993, 2012) have dedicated research to explain why students leave or stay in college. His findings identified the majority of students voluntarily leave institutions for nonacademic reasons that occur outside of class. On many campuses outside of class experiences, which Tinto labeled social integration, are primarily facilitated by student affairs practitioners.

The concept of social integration as a factor in student retention provided …

The Study Of Pre-Service Teachers Participating In Candidate Learning Communities: A Mixed Methods Study, Barbara Sunderman

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

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of instructional skill and professional dispositions of pre-service teacher education candidates’ understanding of their own teaching skills. The research examined perceptions before and after the clinical experience while participating in a Candidate Learning Community. In this mixed-methods study, perceptions were quantitatively measured with a pre-survey and a post survey of 17 participants and qualitatively described by 11 participants in follow up interviews; each intensely studied teaching skill and professional pedagogy in coursework and cooperative classrooms.

The research revealed significant increase in personal perception of teaching skills and dispositions during the …

Value And Contribution Of The Participation In Intercollegiate Athletics On The Personal Development Of Community College-Aged Students, Michele Gill

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

The purpose of this study is to better understand the value of the extracurricular experience for college students. Gaining insight into the variety of opportunities for student personal development as a result of participation in intercollegiate athletics and extracurricular activities during college is explored by this study. Quality student engagement activities and understanding the reasons for engagement contributing to personal development continues to be valuable information in development of student on campus programming at colleges and universities. This qualitative study takes a phenomenological approach to describe the experiences of students involved in intercollegiate athletics competition at a small rural serving …

Saying No To College: First Generation, Low-Income Students And The Decision To Not Attend College, Deena M. Curtis

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

The transition of first generation, low-income students from high school to college has been studied in depth but not necessarily from the viewpoint of the students who chose not to attend college or those who fail to complete the processes necessary to attend college. This study focuses on the students attending an alternative/charter school in a large, Midwest metropolitan area and the decision process they have used in making their higher education plans. This qualitative case study follows a unique methodology designed to identify the bounds of the case rather than having predetermined boundaries for the case.

The findings of …

Moisés Sáenz: Vigencia De Su Legado (English Translation), Edmund T. Hamann

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This book mainly offers the biography of Moisés Sáenz (1888-1941), founding architect of Mexico's system of public schooling and former student of John Dewey, describing in particular his roles in creating rural schools, initiating bilingual education (for Mexico's indigenous populations), and experimenting with linkages between schooling and community development. The volume also includes the author's reflection on the relevance of learning about Profr. Sáenz for his own intellectual trajectory (which includes studying the movement of students between Mexico and the US) and reflections by Mexican educators Humberto Leal Martinez and Juan Sánchez García.

Principals’ Use Of Classroom Walkthrough Observations To Improve Instruction: A Grounded Theory, Mitchell R. Kubicek

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

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to generate a theory that explains the process of improving instruction in Nebraska public schools through the use of classroom walkthroughs. Classroom walkthroughs are brief, frequent, and unannounced observations conducted by building principals and other instructional leaders. Five Nebraska public school principals were invited to participate in taped interviews. Snowball and chain sampling was used to select additional teacher participants for interviews. Through these interviews conceptual labels were assigned, a core category (phenomenon) identified, and a theoretical model developed describing: (a) causal conditions that influence the phenomenon, (b) strategies that result from …

The Role Of Nebraska Public Elementary School Principals In The Preparation For State-Wide Testing: A Mixed Methods Study, Carrie L. Kolar

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

Assessment is used to determine whether students are meeting the goals of education. In Nebraska, the goals are measured through statewide testing to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind. As the requirements of No Child Left Behind increase, this study described the strategies used by Nebraska public elementary school principals in an effort to improvement student achievement.

The researcher gathered literature in order to identify the role of the principal in the assessment process and found the focus to be on the preparation of the statewide testing but little on the role of the principal. The literature revealed …

One-To-One Laptop Initiative: Perceptions Of Teachers And Administrators, Damon Mcdonald

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

The purpose of this explanatory mixed methods study was to explore the perceptions of teachers and administrators about the one to one laptop initiative in Nebraska schools. Parallel studies from the five largest and five smallest school districts were identified by the Nebraska Department of Education School Finance Formula and Organization Services. High schools in each district were chosen that have had one-to-one laptop initiatives for four or more years. The study examined teachers and administrator perceptions regarding: (a) the one-to-one implementation, (b) student engagement, (c) student grades, (d) benefits of one-to-one technology, and (e) the continued success of one-to-one …

One-To-One Laptop Initiative: Perceptions Of Teachers And Administrators, Brian Maschmann

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

The purpose of this explanatory mixed methods study was to explore the perceptions of teachers and administrators about the one to one laptop initiative in Nebraska schools Parallel studies from the five largest and five smallest school districts were identified by the Nebraska Department of Education School Finance Formula and Organization Services. High schools in each district were chosen that have had one-to-one laptop initiatives for four or more years. The study examined teachers and administrator perceptions regarding: (a) the one-to-one implementation, (b) student engagement, (c) student grades, (d) benefits of one-to-one technology, and (e) continued success of one-to-one initiatives. …

Civility And Academic Freedom After Salaita, David Moshman, Frank Edler

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The 2014 unhiring of Professor Steven Salaita by the University of Illinois raises at least three distinct issues: (1) the right of faculty to speak out in public on matters of public concern; (2) the academic freedom of academic departments to make academic decisions; and (3) the role of civility in education. After differentiating the third issue from the first two, we extend the discussion to other recent cases involving civility in education. The cases range from overt coercion to implicit threats and subtle pressures. We explain that uncivil speech is generally protected by the First Amendment but that this …

University Of Nebraska- Lincoln: Fact Book

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Administration: Papers, Publications, and Presentations

Fact Book Table of Contents

Front Cover............................................................. 1

Introduction ........................................... 2

Table of Contents.................................................................. 4

General Information

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Core Values (LEADERS)................................... 7

The Role of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln ....................................... 8

The Missions of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln ......................................... 8

Teaching........................................................................................................... 9

Research.................................................................................................. 10

Service........................................................................................... 10

Institutional and Professional Accreditations................................................. 11

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Administrative Organization Chart .................. 14

Student Credit Hours (SCH)

Total SCH: Fall Semester Since 1979 ...................................................... 15

Total SCH: Spring Semester Since 1993 .......................................................... 16

SCH by College and Course Level, Fall and Spring Semester, 5 Year Trend ... 17

SCH by College and …