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A Special Message On Pride Month And A New Lgbtq+ Faculty Association, Selwyn M. Vickers Md

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Creating Safe Schools: An Exploratory Study Of Educator Perspective On Student Behavior And Restorative Practices In Schools Implementation, Rachel Danielle Vargas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Restorative practices in schools (RPS) is an Integrated Student Support process that many U.S. K-12 schools utilize to combat student behavior and racial disparities against students. Initial research suggests that RPS is a successful tool to drop suspension rates, create safe school environments, and help students stay engaged in school. However, there is not sufficient empirical evidence to support a successful implementation model, leading to mixed results and opinions about the effectiveness of RPS. The purpose of this study was to explore the program processes of RPS and determine effective implementation strategies that lead to successful student outcomes. Data were …

A Comparison Of Machine Learning Techniques For Validating Students’ Proficiency In Mathematics, Alexander Avdeev

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A principal goal of this project was to compare several machine learning (ML) algorithms to explore and validate math proficiency classifications based on standardized test scores. The data used in these analyses came from the 6th-grade students’ mathematics assessment records of the New York State Education Department’s Testing Program (NYSTP). Our approach was to test a number of competing machine learning (ML) algorithms for classifying students’ as proficient based on their test scores and other demographic information. Our samples were drawn from the 2016 test-taking cohort of 6th-grade students (N=156,800). Five classifiers including multinominal logistic regression (MLR), XGBoost, Tree-As, Lagrangian …

Promoting Play-Based Learning Strategies In The Upper Elementary And Lower Middle School Classroom, Michelle L. Randall

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This white paper is framed by an understanding of the proposed influence play has on the process of supporting children’s developmental needs while simultaneously strengthening their ability to receive and recall academic content. The white paper is driven by a self-motivated desire to reimagine the ways in which teachers deliver and review content at the upper elementary and lower middle school level. By upper elementary, I am referring to the 4^th and 5^th grade classroom. By lower middle school, I am referring to the 6^th grade classroom.

The past decade of research regarding play-based pedagogy and play-based …

Time-To-Degree: Bachelor’S Degree Completion For Latine First-Year And Transfer Students, Robert E. Kunicki

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Latine bachelor’s degree completion has grown in the last several decades but has not kept pace with other racial and ethnic groups. Millions of Latines have successfully navigated higher education, yet not enough is known about the conduits and barriers to timely degree completion. This dissertation utilizes LatCrit, Anti-Deficit Achievement, and Intersectionality as theoretical frameworks; employs secondary analysis of a City University of New York dataset; and utilizes hierarchical regression modeling to examine the relative impact of college completion programs, academic momentum, and key demographic variables on time-to-degree for Latine students. Further, to see how these relationships operate differently for …

Colonial Education: Puerto Ricans And The Carlisle Indian School, Progenitors Of The Mythic Identity, Melissa Swinea

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

‘GOD HELPS THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES’ reads a subheading of The Red Man –a historic periodical memorializing the tune of 19th century Americana with references to Godliness and its connection to Indianness and ostentatious capitalism in a canon of school newspapers. The Red Man was the staple periodical of the Carlisle Indian Industrial Institute published monthly and declared “in the interest of Indian education and civilization” for the annual price of 50 cents[1] The subject and recipients of The Red Man would also include 193 Puerto Rican students sent to Carlisle through the U.S.’s campaign to Americanize the Caribbean …

Brujas Of Yesterday, Their Legacy Today, Maggi Delgado

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Brujas of Yesterday, their Legacy Today explores the impact of witch narratives on the lives of Latin American women. This bilingual interactive space collects both myths passed down through generations, ones still taught today, and stories of real women who bear the consequences of the legendary bruja character. Like witch hunts of women who did not fit the model of a “good woman,” the now correctly named femicides are examples of the prevailing misogynistic and anti-feminist rhetoric plaguing Latin American cultures diasporas. With a digital interactive map and timeline, the project aims to breathe new life into these old tales, …

Effect Of The Virtual Simulation Paired Prebriefing-Debriefing Strategy On Nursing Students’ Self-Efficacy Perceptions And Virtual Simulation Performance In The Care Of Patients Experiencing A Myocardial Infarction, Laura M. Penalo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Through the use of virtual simulations (VS) in nursing education, nursing students are exposed to a variety of clinical scenarios that may potentially improve their learning of competencies, increase their self-efficacy, and enhance their future clinical performance. Despite limited quantitative research incorporating evidence-based strategies such as prebriefing and debriefing as part of the VS experience, this educational technology continues to gain popularity. In 2020, the use of VS in the nursing curriculum exponentially increased when the global COVID-19 pandemic impacted traditional in-person clinicals, laboratory, and human patient simulation (HPS) experiences. Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) programs have benefited from the use …

Collaborative Learning With A Geometry Video Game: The Role Of Elaboration And Game Design In Motivation And Learning, Ethlyn Saltzman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The study examined the effects of a new game mechanic on collaborative learning and mathematical discourse when playing a digital geometry puzzle game. For this study, two new versions of the game “Noobs vs. Leets” were developed. Both versions of the game teach the concepts of complementary and supplementary angles and the angle sum theorem of triangles. It was hypothesized that the version of the game that included a game mechanic that allow players to manipulate the angles, thus creating a more open-ended task, would be more intrinsically motivating, promote elaboration of the geometric concepts, and lead to greater learning …

Pushing Understanding: Curriculum Resources For Digital Pedagogues, M. Rubin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Whether one wishes to admit it or not, the classroom is a distinct and separate space from the rest of the world with its own rules, expectations, and environment. Even when a class takes place outside of a classroom, the space takes on the role of a classroom, if not outright becoming a classroom in every form aside from shape. This is not unlike, for instance, a tabletop game: even if not played on a literal tabletop, a tabletop game remains identifiable as such, and its rules and expectations remain the same, as does even its environment. A course may …

No Excuses Yet No Solutions: The Inherent Anti-Blackness Of The No-Excuses Charter School Model, Tshala A. Pajibo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The No Excuses model of education has routinely been labeled abusive and harmful to students. The No Excuses model has garnered significant pushback from students, families, and stakeholders because of procedures and policies that have caused physical, mental, and bodily harm to young students. While many education stakeholders have examined how No Excuses charters and their policies have harmed Black children, not many have examined why. This paper argues that the No Excuses charter model is completely at odds with Black cultural and educational values. This paper suggests deeper studies of the educational mindsets and opinions of No Excuses …

Navigating College While Homeless: A Phenomenological Inquiry Of The Young Adult Experience, Bertha Fountain

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Purpose: The study aimed to understand the perspectives of students in college who were homeless. The research question guiding this inquiry was: How do young adults describe their experience of being homeless while in college?

Method: Qualitative research using a phenomenological approach guided this descriptive inquiry. Interviews were held with 10 students from three CUNY Community Colleges and the data was analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Resilience theory helped to understand the barriers along with the strengths and adaptive responses of the students.

Results: Students experienced unstable and inadequate sleeping arrangements and food insecurity along with their academic responsibilities. Homelessness …

A Case For Comprehensive Work-Based Learning And Career Education For New York City’S Public High School Students, Jacqueline De La Cruz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As children progress through grades K-12 they are often asked what they would like to be when they grow up, but there are few opportunities for exposure to real world work experiences while they are in school. While many radical scholars have critiqued the primacy of the economic goals of schooling, in this paper I embrace the connection between education and employability to advocate for career education and work-based learning programs to bolster students’ postsecondary plans. Work-based learning does not substitute traditional forms of education and schooling, but when aligned with tenets of learning and career theories, it has the …

When The Elite Control Public Education: A Critical Inquiry On Charter Schools, Marisela Palafox

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis takes a critical look into charter schools in New York City. Through this thesis, I want to answer questions regarding who benefits from the current charter school model in NYC and why this current state of schooling is detrimental to marginalized children. As a former NYC public school student, I know first-hand that good intentions by white educators (and thus white systems) do not always result in beneficial outcomes for the most vulnerable.

The Effects Of Education And Cognitive Skills On Employability And Earnings For Labor Market Entrants: Evidence From Large-Scale Worldwide Survey Data, Yongchao Zhao

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

People’s stock of knowledge, abilities, and other personal characteristics, namely human capital, has been widely regarded as a fundamental input to both individuals' ability to earn a living and to fuel economic growth. Traditionally, formal education has been widely considered as a good investment in human capital and an extensive literature has shown that it has a positive and strong association with labor market success. However, considering the global knowledge economy, which emphasizes skills and knowledge, the economic benefits of formal education are being questioned, as findings from recent research reviews revealed that the overall rate of return to education …

Fostering College Students’ Fact-Checking Skills: Three Studies Assessing Lateral Reading Instruction In A General Education Course, Jessica E. Brodsky

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

While online information is abundant and easily accessible, its quality varies widely. Fact-checkers evaluate online information by reading laterally, i.e., opening a new browser tab to research sources and verify claims. This dissertation consisted of three studies that used course outcomes assessment data to examine the impact of a lateral reading curriculum on college students’ fact-checking skills. The curriculum was first implemented in Fall 2018 as part of a general education civics course. It has been taught every semester since then, though the content and format of implementation have changed. Data used in the current studies were collected during the …

Pop/Art: The Birth Of Underground Music And The British Art School, 1960–1980, Andrew Cappetta

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

“Pop/Art: The Birth of Underground Music and the British Art School, 1960-1980” argues that the British art school became a training ground for underground musicians in the 1960s and the 1970s because of changes in art school pedagogy and policy in the post-war period. New educational philosophies propagated during the late 1950s and 1960s, above all Basic Design and Behaviorism, redefined the artist as an intermedial experimenter, collapsed distinctions between fine art and design, and theorized the art object as a dynamic and interactive matrix between the maker and viewer. These initiatives, which evolved from art school reforms that began …

The Cop In Your Head: Criminal Justice Education, Liberalism, And The Carceral State, Nicole Haiber

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis centers policing ideology in higher education and the way it is constructed and fortified through criminal justice programs. In 1968, the Law Enforcement Education Program (LEEP) made funds available to police officers to attend college and awarded grants to universities to create criminal justice programs. The program effectively funneled federal money into the project of professionalizing the police and developed criminal justice as a field devoted to conducting crime research, as defined by the federal government. Criminal justice programs exploded across the country with the availability of LEEP funding, and the City University of New York’s (CUNY) John …

Practicing Abolition: A Digital Roundtable On Abolitionist Pedagogy, Samantha Lilienfeld

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This capstone project explores education and pedagogy as sites for abolitionist practice, and approaches abolitionism as a method by building on the idea of abolition democracy. Using the framework of abolition as a pedagogical practice, I see teaching and learning as urgent tasks of contemporary abolitionism. My project integrates research and scholarship on the abolition of prisons and policing with practices of pedagogy, in part by thinking interdisciplinarily with students and scholars working within CUNY. Practicing Abolition: A Digital Roundtable on Abolitionist Pedagogy incorporates voices from students and scholars about how they practice abolitionist pedagogy in higher education by presenting …

"What’S Race Got To Do With It?”: A Virtual Participatory Action Research Study Of Community College Students Exploring Intersectionality In Queer Studies, Breana Hansen

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify and explore how curricula in queer studies at Community College of the Bay (CCB) reflect and ignore the lived experiences of Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (QTBIPOC) by engaging queer studies students as co-researchers in virtual participatory action research (VPAR). This research utilized the frameworks of Queer of Color Analysis (QOCA) (Ferguson, 2004; McCready, 2013), critical whiteness (Baldwin, 1984; Du Bois, 1903), anti-oppressive education (Kumashiro, 2001), and intersectional theory (Crenshaw, 1989), to examine the experiences of QTBIPOC within queer studies in community college classrooms. The following meta-question guided this research: …

Career Literacy: Developing, Validating, And Establishing The Reliability Of The Career Literacy Continuum Scale, Kesha S. Valentine

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid, reliable measure of career literacy skills called the Career Literacy Continuum Scale (CLCS). Career literacy is a person’s ability to read, understand, evaluate, and make decisions based on career-related information. The study participants were adolescents in grades 6 - 12 who attended public school in the southeastern United States. This study used an instrumentation research design and was conducted in two phases, item generation followed by test analysis and optimization.

Validity was established throughout the process by using content experts and establishing the item and scale validity indices. Item response …

Experiences With Technology Among Hispanic High School Graduates: A Phenomenological Study, Robert Donaldson Jr

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe Hispanic high school graduates’ experiences with access to technology in a southeastern suburban area near Atlanta, Georgia. Although there is research that focuses on factors that lead to Hispanics graduating from or dropping out of high school, the existing research has not focused on the experiences with technology among Hispanic high school graduates. The following research question guided this study: What are the described experiences with access to technology among Hispanic high school graduates near Atlanta, Georgia? Kearsley and Shneiderman’s engagement theory (1998) and Brown, Collins, and Duguid’s situated cognition …

Predicting K-12 Teacher Self-Efficacy From Neuroscience Literacy Factors, Tobey Lewis Nichols

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to explore how K-12 teachers’ self-efficacy correlates to their neuroscience literacy factors--a combination of scientific concept of learning and memory and belief in neuromyths. What teachers know about learning, memory, and the brain influences their instructional strategies and achieving academic goals. The better understanding a teacher has of learning, memory and the brain, the higher efficacy teachers’ have to execute the necessary actions to achieve desired teaching goals. A sample of 110 K-12 certified teachers were recruited from a large school district in East Tennessee to participate in this present study. Data …

Teacher Beliefs In Title I Schools Compared To Teacher Beliefs In Nontitle I Schools, Tammy Rene Nolan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this multiple case study was to discover and compare teacher beliefs of elementary teachers in Title I schools to elementary teachers in Non-title I schools. Two theories guided this study, Kegan’s Constructive Development Theory (CDT) and Bandura’s Theory of Self-Efficacy. Together the two theories provided a framework for how adults think and form beliefs that influence their decisions and behaviors. This qualitative research sought to answer the following questions: What do elementary teachers in Title I schools believe about themselves as teachers, compared to what elementary teachers in Nontitle I schools believe about themselves as teachers? What …

Harmonica Pedagogy For The Full Inclusion Instrumental Music Classroom, Expanding Opportunities For Students With Disabilities, George Wallace Miklas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The harmonica was once taught in American public schools coast to coast from the 1920s through the 1940s when imports of harmonicas were curtailed due to World War II's efforts. Since then, American public-school instrumental music curricula have long forgotten the only wind instrument that makes music when the student inhales or exhales. The harmonica provides a natural calming effect to the player and medical benefits, including being a tool for overcoming mental health issues and expressing needs and feelings without words. During the era when the harmonica was taught, pedagogy lacked uniformity. Consequently, confusion about the instrument's unique tuning …

Integration Of Non-Traditional Students: Comparing Traditional And Non-Traditional Students' Sense Of Belong, Michelle Leeann Walbeck

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

With an ever-increasing number of non-traditional students enrolling each year, the importance of ensuring their academic success falls primarily on the higher education institutions (HEIs). Each institution has its recipe for success and mostly consists of a student success office to assist when non-traditional students begin to show signs of markers for being at-risk. The reactive approach of waiting for students to show signs of struggle is missing the larger picture. The researcher utilized quantitative correlative and predictive correlative studies to determine if a direct correlation existed between non-traditional students’ perceived sense of belonging, which is at the core of …

Teachers' Experiences In Implementing Technology-Rich Curriculum For Student Achievement: A Phenomenological Study, Dorrothe Jean

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to describe how premillennial teachers at East Orange Public School (EOPS, a pseudonym) respond to technology-rich curriculum. Twelve elementary school premillennial teachers will participate in the study focused on one central research question and three sub-questions: (a) What is the lived experience of elementary teachers implementing technology-rich mathematics curriculum? (b)How do elementary school teachers perceive their preparedness for teaching in a classroom where technology-rich math curriculum has been implemented? (c)How do elementary school teachers describe their transitions from a premillennial curriculum to a millennial curriculum where it has been implemented? (d) How do …

Prepared To Succeed: A Systematic Grounded Theory Examining The Nature, Development, And Perceived Benefits Of Homeschool Teacher Self-Efficacy In Wisconsin, Joshua D. Andrew

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this systematic grounded theory study was to define and explain the development of homeschool teacher self-efficacy and its significance for homeschooling parents in Wisconsin. Bandura’s self-efficacy theory served as the initial theoretical framework for this study, as it defined four general sources of self-efficacy development: enactive mastery experiences, vicarious experiences through social models, social persuasion, and the regulation of physical and emotional states. Through surveys, open-ended interviews, focus groups, and artifacts received from 10 homeschooling parents, this study attempted to define how homeschooling parents perceive homeschool teacher self-efficacy, to what homeschooling parents attribute the development of homeschool …

Actions Of The Principal: Influences On Teacher Self-Efficacy And Motivation, Amanda Maslen Conner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Classroom teachers are a significant influence on student achievement. Numerous studies indicate that teacher motivation and self-efficacy influence their effectiveness in the classroom. Furthermore, studies indicate that the leadership behaviors of the principal can influence the school culture and have a direct impact on teacher motivation and self-efficacy. This study sought to determine if a relationship exists between certain behaviors of administrators and a teacher's self-efficacy and motivation. The study used a correlational design using The Teacher Motivation & Job Satisfaction Survey (TMJSS), The Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES), and the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI). There were 72 high …

Biblical Literacy: An Expositional Christ-Centered Approach To Bible Study, Paula K. Offutt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This action research aimed to examine biblical literacy from an expositional Christ-centered approach to Bible study. Using a triangular curriculum design focusing on scriptural theology, Bible study methodology, and a transformative approach to Christ-centered learning, the action research results revealed that an expositional Christ-centered approach increases biblical literacy. The researcher garnered data by hosting four bi-weekly Bible study sessions employing pre-and-post assessments to capture participants' current and post-state of biblical literacy. The validity and reliability of the pre-and-post assessments were determined by a focus group that reviewed the measurement tools and provided feedback confirming the trustworthiness and dependability of the …