Analyzing Outcome Research In Aca Counseling Journals: A Content Analysis, Lisa Rickman, Marangelie Velez, Serene Hasan, Elizabeth Lugo, Sejal Barden

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

To assess the current state of evidence-based practices within counseling and counselor education, researchers conducted a comprehensive content analysis of outcome research published in counseling journals. Using quantitative methods to examine publication trends and frequency, the study reviewed 5,266 articles across 21 journals over a ten-year span (2013–2023), identifying 405 outcome studies for inclusion. Findings revealed a substantial gap in outcome research within professional counseling, particularly with respect to methodological diversity and representation of diverse populations. The authors emphasize the need for counselor educators and practitioners to prioritize outcome research to enhance clinical effectiveness and strengthen the profession. Furthermore, the …

Negotiating Professional Identity Development Across Contexts: A Collaborative Autoethnography, Clark D. Ausloos, Rebecca J. Vannest, Hayley Ostlund

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

This collaborative autoethnography (CAE) explores how two counselor educators and one doctoral student navigate professional identity formation across three intersecting contexts: school counseling, clinical mental health counseling, and counselor education. Through critical reflection and collaborative analysis of focus-group data and individual reflections, we identify four themes: Career Flexibility & Adaptability, Identity Formation in Supportive and Restrictive Systems, Role Strain & Stigma, and Values-Driven Practices. Implications call for counselor education programs and higher education systems to embrace multiplicity, non-linear careers, redefine mentorship structures for doctoral students and faculty, and revise promotion criteria to value relationality, and creative, student- and community-engaged …

Predicting Counseling Student Well-Being: The Role Of Faculty And Stress, Kendall G. Woods, Elizabeth K. N. Harper, Michell L. Temple

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Approximately one-third of Americans live in areas with limited access to mental health services, with only one mental health provider for every 350 people (Health Resources and Services Administration [HRSA], 2024; Reinert & Nguyen, 2022). The shortage of mental health providers persists as the need for services grows, a challenge compounded by the 40-60% attrition rate among counseling trainees (Chrzanowski, 2018). Improving counseling program completion is essential to address the mental health workforce shortage. While previous research has emphasized the importance of faculty support for graduate students (Estrada et al, 2019), little research has examined how faculty-student interactions and academic …

Finding Aid For The Mississippi Science Teachers Association Collection (Mum00949)

Archives & Special Collections: Finding Aids (alphabetical)

The collection contains programs, minutes and conference materials related to the Mississippi Science Teachers Association Collection

Practitioners’ Experiences Of Developmental, Individual Differences, Relationship-Based (Dir) Approach In Their Professional Practice With Neurodivergent Clients: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study, Ekaterina Sidor

Educational Studies Dissertations

This phenomenological study explores how professionals experience integrating the developmental, individual-differences, and relationship-based (DIR) framework in their work with neurodivergent clients. Although DIR is recognized as an evidence-based developmental approach in the field of autism support, little is known about how its integration affects practitioners themselves. Grounded in relational-cultural theory and transformative learning theory, the study examines how engagement with DIR influences practitioners’ professional practice and development. Using a qualitative, hermeneutic phenomenological design, data were collected through open-ended questionnaires and in-depth interviews with multidisciplinary professionals from diverse international contexts who completed DIRFloortime training and actively implement DIR in their work. …

Becoming Restorative: An Exploration Of Individual Journeys And The Professional Learning That Supports Them, Jessica Rae Madden-Fuoco

Educational Studies Dissertations

Restorative practices in K-12 schools have been studied primarily for their impact on school climate and discipline outcomes, yet little empirical or conceptual guidance exists for the professional learning that supports educators in becoming restorative. This study investigated three interconnected questions: How do individuals experience the process of becoming more restorative in their personal and professional lives? What key qualities characterize effective andragogy in the teaching of restorative practices? And how do educators perceive the impact of these qualities on their professional learning, development, and ability to use restorative practices in their classroom or school? This study employed two complementary …

The Efficacy Of Emotional Reframing As An Intervention To Promote Adult Transformational Growth, Linda Rossetti

Educational Studies Dissertations

This study investigates the underexplored relationship between adult developmental growth and emotions. Developmental growth requires an individual to respond to self-concept instability by adopting new meaning structures and navigating oppositional emotions. This quantitative study examined the relationship between an emotional reframing intervention and perspective shifts, an indicator of developmental progression. Data collected on three college campuses in the 2024-2025 academic year revealed a strong positive relationship between the intervention and perspective shifts, as evidenced by differences in pre- and post-assessment responses within the studied population, both in aggregate and in specific use cases. The findings contribute to three academic arenas: …

Enacting Leadership And Transforming The World: Hannah Arendt, The Private, The Public, And Transfigurations In Between, Xochitl Mendez

Educational Studies Dissertations

In this dissertation I propose a framework that emphasizes transitions between Private and Public. I argue that individuals can consciously reshape and reformulate these transitions to assert themselves in the world. How can the individual’s own internal realities, ventures, projects and selfhood assert themselves in a fraught world as an act of self-affirmation, leadership, and transformation? New approaches to this question can all be revealed by using transitions between Private and Public as actionable strategies. I re-interpret Hannah Arendt’s Private and Public as she presented them in The Human Condition (1958). I turn these into multivalent and multilayered spaces of …

We Need To Do Better: Exploring Educators’ Perspectives Of Transformative Trauma-Informed Social-Emotional Learning, Heather Stay

Education Doctorate Dissertations

This qualitative, descriptive case study examined educators’ understandings, enactment, and professional learning related to transformative, trauma-informed social-emotional learning (SEL) practices in a center-based emotional support school setting. Data were collected through semi-structured educator interviews and classroom observations to capture a holistic view of pedagogical practices. Guided by the theoretical frameworks of Dis/Crit, Transformative Learning Theory, and Foucault’s Theory of Power, the findings illuminate how educators leverage trauma-informed SEL strategies to support students affected by trauma as they navigate structural and systemic constraints within a normative educational system. Results highlight both effective cultural-sustaining and trauma-responsive practices already in place, as well …

Leadership Regarding The Support And Implementation Of Collaborative Teacher Teams To Advance District Equity Goals, Deborah Holman

Educational Studies Dissertations

Educational leaders increasingly prioritize equity reform processes; however, many struggle to enact sustainable change that addresses persistent disparities in student outcomes. Existing research on district effectiveness identifies key improvement practices but offers less insight into how leaders operationalize these practices effectively. The growing body of research on professional learning communities (PLCs) offers emerging evidence that job-embedded, focused PLCs are a mechanism that can positively impact student outcomes. This study addressed the connection between the improvement practices and PLCs by exploring how school and district leaders leverage collaborative teacher teams as a mechanism for equity-minded reform. Using a constructivist grounded theory …

Trauma Sensitivity In Rural Education: A Teacher-Centric Analysis Grounded In Bronfenbrenner’S Ecological Systems Theory, Karie L. Williams

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative case study examines the ways rural teachers implement trauma-sensitive practices despite having few resources and little institutional support. There is a lack of research regarding what teachers in these settings think about trauma-sensitive practice, how teachers implement trauma-sensitive practice within their classrooms, and what ecological factors contribute to the sustainability of trauma-sensitive practice. The primary question driving this research is “How do K–5 public school teachers in a rural-distant district in Virginia implement trauma-sensitive practices within the ecological systems that shape their professional roles, instructional decisions, and relational work with students?”  This question reflects the study’s purpose to …

Through A Pedagogy Of Play: Kindergarten Teachers' Professional Identity, Self-Efficacy, And Well-Being, Jennifer L. Berube

Educational Studies Dissertations

Abstract

This convergent parallel mixed methods study examined how kindergarten teachers who implement a play-based pedagogy describe its influence on their professional identity, self-efficacy, and well-being. Kindergarten represents a critical educational juncture where tensions between developmental practice and academic acceleration are most pronounced, yet existing research has not adequately examined how pedagogical approaches affect the teachers who implement them. While extensive research documents the benefits of play-based learning for children’s development, the experiences of the teachers who facilitate that learning remain largely unexamined. This study addressed that gap through three integrated frameworks: Self-Determination Theory, Seligman’s model of well-being encompassing positive …

Influence Of The Discipline Of Authentic Movement Practice On Interpersonal Relationships, Joy Ruben Welts

Educational Studies Dissertations

This mixed methods study explored how practicing the Discipline of Authentic Movement impacts relationships. This research was conducted to fill in the gaps around attunement and use of the Discipline of Authentic Movement as an intervention to support healthy relationships. Five self-selected adults met on Saturday afternoons for eight weeks to practice the Discipline of Authentic Movement. They completed a pre and post Revised Adult Attachment Scale and reflected weekly on their experience through journaling. Participants reported that it was the structure of the Discipline of Authentic Movement that allowed them to feel more comfortable being themselves with others. The …

Yes, We Can: Understanding The Experiences Of Brown (Latino/X) And Black Male Students Success At Community Colleges, Carlos L. Maynard

Educational Studies Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This is a concurrent mixed methods study that examines the factors and experiences of Brown (Latino/x) and Black male students enrolled in community college (CC) and their higher education success. The following research questions guided the study: what factors contribute to these male CC students’ successes? What experiences contribute to these male CC students’ successes? How do these male students make meaning of their experiences with CC college stakeholders during their success journey? An asset-based integrated conceptual framework was developed to better understand relevant demographics, other factors, and the students experiences with college professionals and peer student workers contribution …

Educated Sons And Evolving Traditions: A Qualitative Exploration Of Male Family Roles, Inheritance Customs And Cultural Identity In Matrilineal Meghalaya., Boby John

Educational Studies Dissertations

Abstract

This study examines how increased access to higher education among Khasi boys reshapes family roles, inheritance customs, and cultural identity within the matrilineal society of Meghalaya, India. While matriliny has often been portrayed either as empowering women or disadvantaging men, limited scholarship has explored how access to higher education interacts with gendered inheritance structures and moral responsibility within such systems. This research addresses that gap by investigating how educated sons, youngest daughters (Ka Khadduh), and elders experience continuity and change in contemporary Khasi families.

Guided by Cultural Capital Theory, Social Role Theory, and Cultural Modernization Theory, the study employed …

Black Excellence By Design: A Critical Framework For Transforming K–12 Education, Darnell T. Williams

Educational Studies Dissertations

This dissertation examines Black Excellence as a historically grounded, culturally situated, and politically consequential construct in K–12 education. Using constructivist grounded theory and a critical analytic lens informed by Black Feminist Thought, BlackCrit, Critical Race Theory, and Decolonial Theory, this study examines how Black Excellence is defined, enacted, and protected by Black educators, school leaders, and district-level administrators working within racially stratified and ableist educational systems. Drawing on in-depth interviews and constant comparative analysis, the findings conceptualize Black Excellence not merely as academic achievement, but as a relational, cultural, and political practice sustained through what this study theorizes as Protective …

A Phenomenological Study Of Elementary Educators’ Experiences Identifying And Responding To Student Asocial Evidence Associated With School Violence Risk, Karen Elizabeth Mcdavitt

Educational Studies Dissertations

The phenomenon of school shootings is a frightening reality for parents, teachers, and students. Schools should be safe spaces for children; instead, classrooms are spaces in which acts of horrific violence in classrooms occur far too often. Perpetrators of school violence almost always leave a destructive path of warning signs. These warning signs are often exhibited through asocial evidence identifiable in their early years. This phenomenological study examined ways that elementary educators have identified and intervened with students exhibiting asocial evidence associated with school violence risk. An online survey collected qualitative and quantitative data from forty-four elementary educators. Eight of …

From Skilled Labor Pipeline To College-Prep Track: A Study Of Admissions, Access, And Intent In A Massachusetts Vocational High School, Jennifer Ferland

Educational Studies Dissertations

This mixed methods study examined the effectiveness and equity of vocational high school admissions in Massachusetts, focusing on an oversubscribed regional vocational high school and its largest urban comprehensive feeder school. Although vocational schools were created to provide equitable, high‑quality career and technical education, and to prepare students for skilled employment, most vocational students now pursue postsecondary academic pathways, contributing to shortages in the trades. At the same time, traditional admissions criteria—focused on grades, attendance, and behavior—have historically limited access for English Learners, students with disabilities, low‑income students, and students of color. The purpose of this study was to investigate …

From Anxiety To Resilience: A Case Study Of Female-Identifying Middle School Students At A Math Summer Camp, Elizabeth Teixeira

Educational Studies Dissertations

Mathematics anxiety, defined as a fear that hampers engagement in mathematical tasks (Richardson & Suinn, 1972), affects nearly 50% of students (Johnston-Wilder et al., 2014) and has a disproportionate impact on female students (Devine et al., 2018; Stoet et al., 2016). Math anxiety is often treated in the research literature as a relatively stable trait. This perspective may not fully capture how anxiety manifests in specific moments of mathematical engagement or account for the role of environmental conditions that can both precipitate and mitigate anxious responses. In response to these gaps, this study investigates how mathematics anxiety manifests in …

Elementary Residents And Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy In Mathematics, Quayisha F. Clarke

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative interpretive embedded case study examines how seven preservice elementary mathematics residents in a Northeastern teacher residency program identify and enact culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) (Paris and Alim, 2017) in their math instruction, and how their intersectional identities shape these enactments. Drawing on CSP, intersectionality, and discretionary spaces (Ball, 2018), the study explores how residents interpret, reason through, and make moment-to-moment decisions that affirm students’ learning in mathematics.

Data were collected across two semi-structured interviews, three classroom observations, post-observation debriefs, lesson plans, coursework artifacts, and a researcher's reflexive journal. Analysis followed a hybrid inductive–deductive approach, using thematic and axial …

Sing Without Even Light - How The Arts Inform And Enhance Learning, Creativity, Imagination, And Wellbeing In Elementary Classrooms In Kajiado, Kenya: Discovering Creative Confidence, Lindsay L. Stewart

Educational Studies Dissertations

Creativity and imagination can be felt, described, seen, and measured. In this study, this is achieved through a reflective process and awareness of creative practice and its potential. The process can aid and increase understanding of self, cognitive and creative process, social-emotional interactions, agency, and action, and reveals an individual’s developmental level of creative confidence.

A gap exists in student and teacher voice regarding their creative awareness and confidence. This study reveals how 29 children ages 8-15 and 14 teachers from Kajiado, Kenya, describe creativity and imagination, supporting both learning and wellbeing.

The study applies an Arts-Based Research approach, primarily …

Built For This: An Autoethonographic Study Of A Journey Through Leadership Rooted In Reflection, Resilience, And Reinvention, Weslie Etienne

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative autoethnographic study examined how leadership was experienced, enacted, and sustained by a Black woman navigating district-level leadership within predominantly White institutional contexts. Grounded in Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, and Black Feminist Thought, this research centered lived experience as a site of knowledge production and employed longitudinal journaling and artifact analysis to capture leadership development as a temporal, relational, and embodied process. The study was guided by three research questions: (1) How did race, gender, and institutional structures shape leadership development and experience? (2) How were leadership identities constructed, negotiated, and sustained through self-authored narratives? and (3) How could …

Nurtured Meaning: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study Of The Tree Of Life In Contemporary Women's Art, Christina A. Defilipp

Educational Studies Dissertations

The Tree of Life has historically flourished across cultures as an archetypal image of interconnection, regeneration, and continuity. In the Anthropocene, however, its symbolic vitality is reframed by the realities of environmental crisis. This study investigates how contemporary women artists across the globe sustain and reinterpret the Tree of Life’s meaning to express themes of ecological, spiritual, and cultural relevance. Employing a qualitative design grounded in hermeneutic phenomenology, the study analyzes publicly available artworks and published reflections, including interviews, catalog essays, and artist statements. A purposive sample of twenty women artists from diverse cultural traditions forms the dataset, each represented …

Exploring Teacher Efficacy:Teaching Practices And Strategies To Enhance Student Success, Terilyn Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Through interviews with a diverse group of educators across grade levels and subject areas, the researcher explored teachers’ lived experiences focused on their instructional efficacy and teaching practices influencing student success. Guided by Bandura’s self-efficacy theory, the purpose of the study was to examine how teachers’ beliefs in their instructional capabilities shaped their classroom practices. The researcher analyzed participants’ narratives using a thematic analysis approach to identify recurring patterns and themes related to instructional practice, professional beliefs, and classroom experiences. Participants represented varying years of teaching experience, content areas, and school contexts, providing a comprehensive perspective on instructional efficacy across …

The Role Of Math Anxiety – And Associated Support Mechanisms And Strategies – In The Academic Success Of Stem College Students, William Jacob Tschume

Theses and Dissertations

Math anxiety has been widely documented as a barrier to student success, yet its role within institutional student success frameworks – particularly in gateway STEM courses – remains underexamined. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between math anxiety, academic support mechanisms, and academic performance among undergraduate STEM students enrolled in a gateway mathematics course at a large, public, research-intensive university. Guided by the Debilitating Anxiety Model, student success frameworks, Social Cognitive Career Theory, and equity-oriented perspectives, this study addressed three research questions: (1) how student demographic characteristics relate to levels of math anxiety, (2) the …

Exploring The Effect Of Students' Exclusionary Discipline On Their Academic Achievement In A Rural High School., Danya Turner

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the extent to which exclusionary discipline practices, specifically in-school suspension and out-of-school suspension, are associated with academic achievement among high school students. More specifically, the study investigated the relationship between students’ exclusionary discipline days and performance on Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP) assessments in Algebra I, Biology, English II, and U.S. History. The study was guided by the Opportunity to Learn (OTL) framework, which emphasizes the importance of access to instructional time for student academic success. Archival discipline and assessment data were collected from a rural public high school in east-central …

Tracing Hazing Across Adolescence: Examining How Prior Hazing Experiences Shape Hazing Motivation And Tolerance Among Newly Initiated Ifc Fraternity Members, John Michael Vanhorn

Theses and Dissertations

Hazing remains pervasive and underreported, disproportionately affecting adolescent and emerging adult men, particularly within athletic teams and fraternity contexts. Although hazing is most often studied within collegiate organizations, many students encounter hazing behaviors prior to college, yet little is known about how these early experiences shape later hazing perceptions, motivations, tolerance, and masculine norms. Grounded in Bronfenbrenner’s Process-Person-Context-Time (PPCT) model, this dissertation conceptualizes hazing as a developmental process shaped by repeated social interactions, individual characteristics, contextual environments, and time across adolescence and emerging adulthood. Using a two-paper approach with a quantitative, longitudinal survey design, study 1 examined fraternity new members’ …

Enhancing Professional Development Opportunities For Mississippi Early Childhood Education Technology Students, Sheri H. Anders

Theses and Dissertations

This capstone project examined professional development opportunities for early childhood students enrolled in Early Childhood Education Technology (ECET) programs in Mississippi. Grounded in Situated Learning Theory and aligned with the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Professional Standards and Competencies, this study used a desk-based systematic literature review to examine how ECET students engage in professional development during preparation, how standards-aligned experiences support preparedness and professional identity development, and what barriers limit access to meaningful opportunities. Findings indicate that professional development during preparation is often informal and inconsistent; however, participation in professional communities such as conferences, coaching, …

The South Got Somethin' To Say!: Black Student Affairs Professionals Sustaining Equity Work Amid Dei Dismantling, Jaborius D. Ball

Theses and Dissertations

Scholarship within the academy extensively interrogates the realities of Black faculty but neglects the lived experiences of Black Student Affairs Professionals (BSAPs). This omission renders BSAPs labor and experiences institutionally invisible while reinforcing the narrative of equity work being a racial obligation pushed on Black professionals rather than institutional responsibility. Although representing 15% of the higher education workforce, this gross percentage is disproportionately concentrated in lower-paying, non-exempt staff positions (e.g., service, office/clerical) rather than in decision-making authority (CUPA-HR, 2025). Despite structural marginalization and inconsistencies, institutions rely on Black professionals to bear the brunt of racialized equity labor work classified as …

Mandates Versus Capacity: Utilizing Pace To Proactively Approach Teacher Evaluation For High School Administrators In Mississippi, Jessica Paige Posey Cumberland

Theses and Dissertations

A lack of teacher support from administration remains one of the leading reasons provided by teachers leaving the classroom exacerbating the growing teacher shortage nationwide. Over the past twenty years, policies have been passed in the form of teacher evaluation systems in order to ensure support for teachers is provided and that quality educators are servicing public school students in the U.S. Oftentimes relying on already overburdened administrators in the school to provide the mandated support without the consideration of the existing environmental demands of the administrator, specifically time as a resource, the potential for administrators to cope with the …