Volume Cxlv, Number 22, May 15, 2026, Lawrence University

The Lawrentian

No abstract provided.

Infographic: How Schools Can Help With Student Worries, Dominique Russell

Teacher infographics

A 2025 survey of 400 school students across Australia in years 7-12 focused on the topic of wellbeing. This infographic shares some of the results related to students’ biggest worries and the top 10 areas where they believe that schools could help them.

Teacher Professional Development In Art Museums, Tamar Rosenfeld-Cohen

Educational Studies Dissertations

This study examines teachers’ professional development and learning experiences in art museums, attempting to bridge the gap in the literature regarding the links between teachers’ identities and learning experiences to their teaching, and the disparity between the needs and tenets of adult learning and the teacher professional development experiences that are offered to teachers (Mehta & Fine, 2019).

This study intended to identify the effective and meaningful features of art museum teacher professional development offerings, conceptualize teachers’ experiences in these programs and how art museums can support their own needs, personal preferences, and professional requirements. Based on a mixed-methods research …

Sesquicentennial Commencement [Program], May 15-16, 2026, University Of Northern Iowa

UNI Commencement Programs

Contents:

Brief History of UNI --- 2
Board of Regents --- 3
Institutional Leadership --- 3
Ceremony Symbols & Traditions --- 4
Commencement Over the Years --- 6
University Honors Program --- 8
Graduation with Honors --- 8
Legacy Graduates --- 8
Military Science --- 9
Merchant Scholarship --- 9
Outstanding Student Leader --- 9
Commencement Student Speakers --- 9
Purple and Old Gold Awards --- 10
Lux Service Award --- 11
7 p.m. Program --- 13
College of Education --- 15
David W. Wilson College of Business --- 22
10 a.m. Program --- 29
College of Humanities, Arts & …

May 15, 2026 Ereporter, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

eReporter (campus newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Professional Development Perspectives Of Special Education Paraprofessionals Supporting Students With Moderate To Severe Disabilities, Anna Opacian

Education Department Graduate Theses/Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Exceptionally Flawed: A Look Towards Addressing Inequalities Of Identification In Gifted Education, Madyson A. Mcray

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Gifted education has been a part of our education system for over a century, and yet there continue to be ways we can work to improve the system to benefit all students. One way education professionals can achieve this is by implementing identification systems that cater to students of all races, ethnicities, genders, and abilities. This study aims to highlight and suggest solutions school districts across the nation, as well as the Commonwealth of Virginia, can implement to make the gifted identification process more inclusive to all students. A comprehensive literature review of national and state data regarding current demographics …

Strength And Conditioning Internships In Collegiate Athletics: A Qualitative Examination Of Structure, Design, And Experiential Learning, Peter Kd Kenn

Education Policy and Leadership Theses and Dissertations

Strength and Conditioning (S&C) internships play a critical role in the development of students and graduates looking to enter the S&C profession. However, little research has been conducted to understand the typical structures, responsibilities, and expectations of internship programs or the rationales behind the designs and structures of these programs. Despite the reliance on S&C internships to develop entry-level candidates for the profession, there is a lack of standardization and structure within the U.S. intercollegiate setting. The purpose of this study is to identify how S&C internship supervisors describe the content of their internship programs and to understand the rationale …

From Lived Experience To Essential Understanding: A Phenomenological Study Of Instructional Coaches’ Lived Experiences, Lindsey Reynolds

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Instructional coaching is frequently positioned as a central strategy for improving teaching and learning. While existing research has examined the structural ambiguity and relational complexity of the role, less attention has been given to how instructional coaches experience the emotional demands embedded within their work. This interpretive phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of three public school instructional coaches in a single district to better understand how emotional labor operates within instructional coaching. Through in-depth, semi-structured interviews and hermeneutic analysis, the study examined how participants described and made meaning of the emotional dimensions of their role.

Findings indicate that emotional …

From The Classroom To Careers: A Quantitative Analysis Of High School Longitudinal Data Examining How Culturally Responsive Teaching Shapes Mathematics Achievement, Stem Aspirations, And Early Stem Workforce Entry Among Students Of Color, Francisco Velez

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Abstract

This dissertation examines how culturally responsive teaching shapes mathematics achievement and STEM outcomes for high school students of color using data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09). Culturally responsive teaching, grounded in theories of cognition, sociocultural learning, and asset-based pedagogy, emphasizes instruction that validates students’ cultural identities, connects academic content to lived experiences, and fosters deeper engagement and academic confidence. Despite substantial qualitative evidence supporting culturally responsive teaching, large-scale quantitative studies remain limited. To address this gap, this study developed a composite measure of culturally responsive teaching using teacher-reported HSLS:09 indicators aligned with key dimensions of …

Centering Testimonio: Understanding Chronic Absenteeism Through The Eyes Of Multilingual And Newcomer Families, Alexandra Sanchez

Educational Studies Dissertations

Chronic absenteeism remains a persistent concern in K–12 education and is often framed through deficit-based narratives that place blame solely on students or families. This qualitative study examines how a multilingual learner (MLL) and newcomer caregiver understands and experiences school attendance within her child’s public charter school community. Grounded in testimonio as both a methodological and epistemological approach, this study centers the lived experiences and knowledge of a caregiver navigating schooling within a new sociocultural and linguistic context.

Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted in Spanish and subsequently translated into English for analysis. An inductive coding process was …

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 …

Exclusionary Disciplinary Composition Outcomes: Schools With High African American Enrollments And Schools With Low African American Enrollments, Darrell A. Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Racial disparities in exclusionary disciplinary outcomes remain consistently documented across United States public schools, with African American (AA) students disproportionately represented in in-school suspension (ISS) and out-of-school suspension (OSS) outcomes. The purpose of this quantitative comparative study was to examine whether statistically significant differences existed between (a) the percentage of students receiving ISS who were AA and (b) the percentage of students receiving OSS who were AA in selected Mississippi public high schools with high AA enrollment (≥70%) and low AA enrollment (≤30%) during the 2022–2023 and 2023–2024 academic years. The study utilized archival, publicly available, school-level discipline and enrollment …

Why Become A Teacher? Perspectives From Undergraduate Students Majoring In Secondary Mathematics Education, Benjamin E. Jordan

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative dissertation was an exploration of the motivations and factors influencing undergraduate students to pursue a degree in secondary mathematics education through traditional route teacher preparation programs. Grounded in a pragmatic theoretical framework, the researcher attempted to respond to increasing teacher shortages by seeking to understand why students continue to choose the teaching profession despite documented challenges. Prior research indicated two driving forces students consider when choosing a major: intrinsic influences and extrinsic factors. Semi-structured interviews with six undergraduate students from three Southeastern Conference, R1 land-grant universities were conducted. Four academic advisors from four Southeastern Conference, R1 land-grant universities, …

The Lived Experiences Of Mississippi School Leaders Addressing Food Insecurity In Their Schools, Krista Vowell Nicholson

Theses and Dissertations

Title of Study: The lived experiences of Mississippi school leaders addressing food insecurity in their schools Pages in Study 135 Candidate for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Food insecurity among children in the United States remains a significant concern for educational leaders. Researchers have consistently found a relationship between food insecurity and diminished student academic outcomes. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine how school leaders and teachers in schools in Mississippi describe their lived experiences responding to students dealing with food insecurity. The research study included semi-structured interviews with 12 principals and teacher leaders from four …

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’ …

Principals’ Perceptions On How Artificial Intelligence (Ai) Is Used In Schools By Administrators, Teachers, And Students: A Mixed Method Research Study, Dianna M. Sopala

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Abstract

In the same way electricity changed how people lived, artificial intelligence (AI) is being hailed as that next transformative technology that will change every aspect of daily living, including education.  As AI is in its infancy and humans are just beginning to make sense of this new technology, educators are trying to integrate it into the educational landscape.  While many technologies are often initiated at the district level, school principals are often charged with leading the adoption and implementation of new technologies within their school.  Additionally, New Jersey has decided to invest $165 million dollars into being the artificial …

Unveiling Unseen Obstacles: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Black Women's Tenacity In Doctoral Programs, Yolanda V. Jackson

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This phenomenological study explores the lived and student experiences of Black women pursuing Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degrees in the United States, centering the underexamined internal barrier of Imposter Syndrome — the persistent experience of intellectual fraudulence in the face of demonstrated competence.

The study investigated Black women's perceptions of Imposter Syndrome, the lived and student experiences that contribute to feelings of imposterism, and the coping mechanisms and strategies they employ to persist and succeed in doctoral programs. A pre-screening survey administered to 124 Black women enrolled in doctoral programs across the United States measured …

Leading Beyond Concrete Ceilings: The Lived Experiences Of African American Women Presidents At Predominantly White Institutions, Marsha Philemon

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Despite their significant educational attainment, African American women remain significantly underrepresented in higher education presidential leadership, comprising fewer than 5% of presidents at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the lived experiences of 13 African American women who serve or have served as presidents of four-year, doctoral-granting PWIs. It explored how they ascended to the presidency, navigated barriers, and sustained themselves in the role. Guided by the engagement, retention, and advancement (ERA) model and by glass ceiling theory, semi-structured interviews were conducted to better understand each participant’s presidential journey. In response to the …

Employers' Perception Of The Hiring Process And Implications For Black Men Without High School Diplomas, Tracy Mcphatter

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study explored employers’ perceptions of the hiring process and its implications for Black men without high school diplomas. Data were collected using qualitative methods, including semi-structured interviews and survey tools such as Prolific and Survey Monkey. Between August 2024 and May 2025, 232 applications were approved, with five rejected; 161 were returned and two timed out. Ultimately, 14 participants completed the study. In April 2025, the study was modified through Seton Hall University to recruit more Black participants. Although 22 individuals expressed interest, none completed the interviews. Participants represented diverse backgrounds, with preliminary questions capturing gender, age, race, industry, …

Evaluating Computer-Based Instruction To Improve Teacher Competence In Function-Based Antecedent Strategy Implementation, Valentina Arias

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Teachers often manage challenging student behaviors without formal training in behavior analysis, which can increase stress and reduce instructional time. This study evaluated whether computer-based instruction (CBI) is an effective and cost-effective way to train early education teachers to understand why challenging behaviors occur and how to prevent them, using antecedent strategies. Ten general education teachers working in a private, neurodiverse-inclusive school participated. They completed a brief training delivered through computer modules developed in PowerPoint that taught them how to identify functions of behavior and select functionally equivalent antecedent strategies to decrease challenging behaviors. Learning was measured using pre/post tests …

Wrap-Around Support Services For The Spanish-Speaking Immigrant Student And School Belonging, Genesi Miles

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Wrap-Around Support Services for the Spanish-Speaking Immigrant Student and School Belonging

Genesi Miles, Ed. M

Immigrant students and families continue to navigate systemic barriers that limit equitable access to educational opportunities and meaningful school engagement. Language differences, racism, transportation challenges, childcare constraints, intimidation, and concerns related to legal status frequently hinder immigrant families’ participation in schools (Sibley & Brabek, 2017). In New Jersey, approximately one-third of immigrant parents live below 200 percent of the federal poverty line (Hofstetter & McHugh, 2021), further compounding these challenges. Despite these realities, many U.S. schools lack intentional planning to support immigrant populations, a gap …

Understanding How Teachers Define And Employ Civics Education In Non-Elective Social Studies Classrooms, Joseph Kyle

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study explored the perceptions of civics and civic education held by secondary school teachers of non-elective social studies classes in four schools within the same school district. Using a qualitative approach, this study examined how veteran teachers understood and defined civics, the ways in which they employed civics education in their teaching methodology and daily lessons, and the challenges or obstacles they perceived, if any, incorporating lessons reflecting a progressive experimentalist methodology. The study was undertaken in response to popular and governmental rhetoric reflecting a lack of civil discourse and alleging a lack of civics in public education, as …

Student-College Match And Retention For Students With Disabilities, Robert Cohen

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Abstract

Outcomes of the student-college matching process have been shown to influence important postsecondary outcomes, including persistence, retention, and degree attainment. However, limited research has examined how matching outcomes operate for students with disabilities. This dissertation investigates student-college matching patterns for students with disabilities and compares the results with matching quality for students without disabilities. This study also examines the relationship between matching outcomes (undermatch, equal match, and overmatch) and first-year retention. Particular attention is focused on the nature of these relationships and any differences by disability status. Data is used from the Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS:12-17), and filtered to …

Transitioning To The American School System: Insights From Immigrant English Language Learners And Factors Influencing Their Success, Yolanda Gomez

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This qualitative study examined the factors influencing the post–high school experiences of immigrant English Language Learners (ELLs) in the United States. Fourteen recent high school graduates from the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Ecuador, and Peru participated in semi-structured interviews. Data was analyzed using grounded thematic coding within a social-ecological framework. Four interconnected themes emerged: (1) Language Acquisition, including challenges and empowerment through developing English proficiency; (2) Support Systems, such as family, teachers, peers, and community mentors; (3) Social and Cultural Integration, facilitated by extracurricular involvement and adaptation to new norms; and (4) Resilience and Personal Growth, reflected in persistence, self-efficacy, and …

Child Study Team Attitudes Toward Inclusion, Kathleen Derillo

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The inclusion of students with disabilities has been the focus of both quantitative and qualitative research for more than fifty years. Despite extensive evidence demonstrating positive outcomes for learners with and without disabilities, including improved academic achievement, social skills development, and improved school culture, inclusion rates in New Jersey have remained largely unchanged. Students with disabilities continue to be educated in segregated settings at disproportionate rates. The purpose of this quantitative study was to learn about the attitudes toward the inclusion of students with mild to moderate disabilities held by Child Study Team (CST) members. The CST is composed of …

Defying The Catholic Secondary School Enrollment Decline: A Case Study Exploring Strategic Enrollment Management Practices In An All-Boys Catholic High School, Traci A. Koval

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Catholic secondary schools in the United States continue to face persistent enrollment decline, closures, and consolidations, creating an urgent need for sustainable and mission-centered strategies. This qualitative case study examined Hillcrest Catholic High School, an all-boys Catholic secondary school in the Mideast region, as a best-practice model for enrollment resilience. Guided by Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Theory, the study explored how SEM principles were operationalized across eight pillars: mission and branding, institutional strategy, culture and belonging, programs and outcomes, family engagement and retention, tuition and financial strategy, marketing and recruitment, and selection and onboarding. Data were collected through interviews, focus …

Exploring Catholic School Teachers' Perceptions Of Factors That Support Longevity: A Qualitative Study, Kelly A. Koval

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

John Staud, the executive director of Alliance for Catholic Education (2022) stated, “The greatest crisis facing Catholic education, and education in general, is the recruitment and retention of talented and committed teachers and leaders for our schools.” Thus, the purpose of this qualitative study is to illuminate and explore the practical experiences of teachers who have longevity in Catholic schools with respect to their perceived needs, challenges and support in the mid-to-later years of their career path. Through the lens of self-determination theory, this study aims to describe the internal and external factors that teachers describe as “playing a role” …

The Role Of State Policy In Influencing Teacher Academic Expectations: A Quantitative Study, Jessica Varevice

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Standards-based reform has shaped American education for decades, yet the mechanisms through which state policy influences what teachers expect of students and how those expectations shape student outcomes remain understudied. This quantitative study investigates the relationship between state education policy, teacher academic expectations, and student achievement in elementary and middle schools within a single charter management organization (CMO) operating in both Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey. The study utilizes a unique natural experiment: twenty-four schools sharing a common curriculum, instructional model, salary schedule, and leadership structure, but operating under two distinct state accountability systems. This design allows state policy …