Educational Administration and Supervision Commons^™

Behind The Scores: How Federal Education Legislation Influenced Dayton Public Schools’ Special Education System For Students Of Color, Simran Kaur

Aurora

This paper analyzes the district special education system of Dayton Public Schools’ through federal legislation requirements and state-reported data to evaluate access, implementation, and equity. Findings show that while the district meets several procedural requirements at federal levels, students with disabilities (especially Black students) face limited access to general education environments, family engagement, and disability identification at a local level. Risk ratios reveal subjective disability categories, which is contributing to the district’s low Achievement Gap Closing rate through the state-wide report card.

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 …

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 …

Does Match Matter? Examining The Role Of Student–College Match And First-Year Stem Retention, Christopher J. Shemanski

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This quantitative study examines how student–college match relates to first-year STEM retention in a nationally representative cohort of four-year, STEM-intending students from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) linked with institutional data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Building on probabilistic approaches to college match, the study first estimates each student’s predicted probability of admission to institutions in five selectivity tiers using high school GPA, standardized test scores, highest mathematics course completed, AP mathematics credits, gender, and socioeconomic status. It then compares the predicted tier with the selectivity of the institution actually attended to classify students …

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” …

Principal Perceptions Of Autonomy And Its Relationship To Job Satisfaction, Kay H. Barlow

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examined the relationship between principal perceived job autonomy and principal job satisfaction through the lens of Self-Determination Theory. Specifically, it addresses the research question: What is the relationship between principal autonomy and principal job satisfaction? Using bivariate correlations and Ordinary Least Squares regression analyses, the study investigated overall and domain-specific autonomy, including human resources, instructional leadership, facilities, and finance, and their association with overall and subscale measures of job satisfaction including salary, promotion, supervision, benefits, contingent rewards, working conditions, coworkers, the work itself, and communication. Findings indicate a positive and statistically significant correlation between perceived job autonomy and …

Student-Athlete Flourishing In Intercollegiate Athletics: A Mixed Methods Study, James Hines

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Comprehending the complexities associated with student-athlete well-being while competing on campus is important for both institutions of higher education and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Studies relating to student-athlete well-being have researched many different areas such as suicide prevention (Gross et al., 2020), mental health treatments (Ryan et al.,2018), and injury recovery (Martin et al., 2021). Few studies have examined student-athlete flourishing which focuses on helping individuals thrive and reach their greatest potential. This study employs an explanatory sequential mixed method design to examine student-athlete flourishing along with factors associated with student-athlete flourishing. Survey data (N=89) provided insight on …

Portraits Of Resiliency And Possibility: Women Superintendents As Trailblazers For Future Leaders, Lisa Michelle Martin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Women remain underrepresented in the superintendency despite comprising the majority of the educational workforce. This qualitative study examined how women superintendents access and sustain the role. Grounded in Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) and using portraiture, the study explored how self-efficacy and contextual conditions shape leadership trajectories. Data were collected through interviews and analyzed by adopting narrative coding and cross-case portraits. The cultivation of self-efficacy, the accessibility of opportunities through connections, and the management of systemic obstacles influence trajectories. Sustainable leadership was strengthened by adaptive capacity and extensive professional networks. This study promotes an asset-based perspective and emphasizes the necessity …

Who Am I As An Elementary Cs Teacher? The Identity Development And Struggles Of Elementary Teachers As Computer Science Teachers, Burak Sahin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study investigates how elementary teachers develop and negotiate their identities as computer science (CS) teachers within the expanding presence of CS in early K–12 education. As CS is increasingly integrated into early grades, many teachers are expected to teach it without formal preparation. It positions them to simultaneously learn, teach, and construct a professional identity in an unfamiliar domain. Using an interpretive phenomenological approach, this study examines teachers’ lived experiences of identity development by drawing on identity theory (Gee, 2000) and the performance, recognition, and competence framework (Carlone & Johnson,2007) to understand how identity is shaped through practice, institutional …

Implications Of Role Ambiguity: Task Assignments For Secondary Assistant Principals, Melonie Poster

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Despite increasing calls for equity and instructional leadership development, the role of the assistant principal (AP) remains inconsistently structured across schools. Research suggests that APs are frequently assigned managerial responsibilities, while access to instructional leadership experiences associated with principal preparation may vary (Goldring et al., 2021; Gonzales et al., 2022; Pollock et al., 2017). Grounded in the Learning-Centered Leadership (LCL) framework, this study examined how leadership responsibilities are prioritized and distributed among secondary APs in Nevada’s Clark County School District (CCSD) and whether assignment patterns vary by AP and school characteristics.

Survey data from principals and APs were analyzed to …

An Ex Post Facto Study: The Social Validity Of Two Evidence-Based Instructional Practices, K. Ryan Wennerlind

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

For over 15 years, the opportunity for individuals with intellectual disabilities to continue education in inclusive postsecondary education programs has steadily risen (Baker et. al, 2018). Poor employment trends for these individuals has motivated institutions to provide more educational opportunities by increasing the number of such programs. Education is consistently linked to greater employment opportunities and the potential for greater earnings as more education is achieved (BLS, 2023). Research attests this connection by studying individuals’ experiences in education after high school. In addition to greater employment opportunities, those individuals receiving postsecondary education services are also earning wages at a higher …

Lay Presidents In Jesuit Higher Education: How Ajcu Lay Presidents Learn About, Articulate, And Express Jesuit Mission And Identity, Carl Joseph Caceres

Dissertations

Since the year 2000, over the course of the past quarter century, lay presidents went from being an emerging phenomenon to becoming the majority of presidents in the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU). Lay presidents are now the norm and no longer the exception, as 24 of the 28 institutions of the AJCU are now lay led. This qualitative research study intended to explore how lay presidents of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) in the United States who have been at their current institution for at least three years, came to learn about Jesuit mission …

Swept Into The Crisis: A Phenomenological Study Of Staff And Adaptive Leadership During The Pandemic, Alexandra Deremer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Beginning in the fall of 2020, the pandemic created unparalleled challenges as schools reopened following extended closures, requiring school communities, with staff at every level, to rapidly adapt to evolving protocols, expanded job responsibilities, and ongoing uncertainty. This phenomenological study explored how building staff, such as custodians and teachers, perceived the leadership behaviors exhibited by principals during the implementation of COVID-19 disinfecting mandates and changes to school operations. Using Heifetz et al.’s (2009) adaptive leadership framework as a foundation, the intent of this research was to address three specific research questions that centered on staff perceptions of administrators’ response plans …

Caught In The Sap: An Argument For Satisfactory Academic Progress Reform Toward Equity For College Students, Z.W. Taylor, Sarah Pauter

Journal of Student Financial Aid

This issue article explores how satisfactory academic progress (SAP) policies act as a major filtering mechanism within the federal student aid process, with a particular focus on how these policies impact student persistence and equity. While the majority of research on financial aid has concentrated on the challenges of the FAFSA application process and how aid supports student retention, less attention has been given to how institutions develop and impose SAP policies and how students navigate these policies and maintain eligibility for federal and other forms of student aid. As a result, this issue article articulates a two-pronged argument to …

Readiness Roadblocks: Identifying Financial Challenges And Financial Wellness Among First-Year College Students, Vanessa Peña, Daniel J. Wilson, Susan P. Farruggia, Annette Wright, Aisha El-Amin

Journal of Student Financial Aid

This paper explores the financial challenges and financial wellness of first-year students from a large, public, urban research university in the Midwest. Utilizing a financial wellness lens, we uncover students’ financial preparation and identify key financial challenges they face in managing college expenses while exploring how institutions can better support students in understanding and planning for the financial costs of higher education. Our findings highlight students were encouraged to attend college but lacked financial preparation and support, limiting their ability to manage their college expenses; the financial advice and resources provided often did not align with students’ actual experiences and …

The Impact Of Trump Administration Immigration Policies On Connecticut Educators And Families, Elena C. Bielesz

Honors Scholar Theses

Anti-immigrant rhetoric, policies, and practices, which have grown increasingly prevalent due to the current national political climate, have adverse effects on the mental health of immigrant families and the teachers that support them in Connecticut. This study seeks to represent the opinions of Connecticut K-12 MLL (Multilingual Learners) Education Teachers and Administrators whose daily lives are impacted by the anti-immigrant and anti-refugee policies and procedures. The study employed a human subjects-based approach supported by a review of related literature. MLL Educators from around the state of Connecticut were interviewed. These interviews found that while immigration-based trauma and stressors are common …

Examining How Disability Resource Professionals In Higher Education Enact Whiteness In Maintaining Power And Privileged Structures, Paula Possenti-Perez

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation examines how Whiteness operates with the delivery of disability-related accommodations on US college campuses. The research in this study focused on three questions: (a) How do disability resource professionals individually begin to make sense of their Whiteness personally? (b) How do disability resource professionals recognize and account for their White racialized frame and Whiteness in their individual professional judgment and decision-making? (c) How do disability resource professionals describe the ways Whiteness as ideology manifests in the field of disability resources, through its professional norms and systemic practices across disability resources in higher education? Twelve White disability resource professionals, …

Beyond Cough Drops And Band-Aids: An Interpretive Phenomenological Study Of Certified School Nurses’ Professional Scope And Enacted Roles In Pk–12 Settings, Brandy Gershon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative dissertation explored the underutilization of certified school nurses (CSNs) in PK–12 educational settings across urban, suburban, and rural school districts in western Pennsylvania. Despite their advanced preparation and wide-ranging scope of practice, school nurses are often limited to providing episodic care, including first aid, medication administration, and treatment of minor injuries. This limited use reflects a significant misalignment with their professional scope of practice, which encompasses chronic disease management, health education, mental health support, care coordination, and leadership in public health. Guided by role theory (Biddle, 1986), this study examined how school nurses perceived and interpreted their professional …

African American Male Administrators’ Perceptions Of Leadership Expectations At The Secondary Level, Dimitri D. Williams

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

The underrepresentation of African American male administrators at the secondary level in public education, paired with racialized leadership expectations, demands a deeper examination of their lived experiences. This qualitative phenomenological study explored the perceptions that came from the lived experiences of African American male administrators at the secondary level, with particular focus on their various leadership journeys, perceived expectations, and identity construction within predominantly Caucasian spaces. This study is rooted in Critical Race Theory and the conceptual frameworks of double consciousness, code-switching, tokenism, and impostor syndrome. This study investigated how race influences leadership expectations, professional advancement, and daily administrative practice. …

From Farewell To Fáilte: The Voices Of Iowa’S Irish Daughters, Katie Hermanson

History Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

Irish women’s immigration to Iowa brought rich culture and lasting impacts, despite their contributions being silenced by history. Women left Ireland for economic opportunity and education abroad to support their impoverished families. Millions emigrated between 1830 and 1915, spreading across the world. The Irish women who came to the United States encountered discrimination and cultural stereotyping as they worked in domestic service, developed religious orders, taught school, owned businesses and raised families. Women bore the burden of supporting their families in Ireland by sending remittances home and communicating between countries. Their cultural identity as exiles dwelled in guilt for leaving …

A Study On Community And Technical College Students' Identification Of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Cynthia J. Carow Schiebe

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether students could identify culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) and, to what extent, in a community or technical college classroom where a set of goals and strategies had been established to guide methodology. Previous research on CRP traditionally focused on the educators’ or administrators’ interpretation of what students had learned when CRP was used as a methodology to reduce the opportunity gap. Students in classrooms where CRP was used were able to identify content that was aligned with their needs and wants, bring their own lives into the class without fear, balance their …

A Critical Analysis Of The Influence Of Ideology On Education Governance In An Urban, Midwestern School District, Carl Bryan

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This study examines how ideology operates within local education governance through a critical theoretical lens. As state and national education policies, accountability mandates, and partisan political discourse increasingly shape local school governance, this research investigates how power relations, ideological influences, and equity concerns are embedded in school board decision-making processes and public discourse. Addressing a gap in existing scholarship on ideology in education governance, the study employs a qualitative case study of an urban public school district in the Midwestern United States. Data sources include individual interviews with school board members, critical discourse analysis of school board meetings, and analysis …

Perceived Principal Influence Tactics And Early-Tenure Teacher Status, Vanessa Perez-Peterson, Christopher Benedetti

School Leadership Review

Teacher staffing stability remains a persistent challenge for schools, particularly during the early years of teachers’ placement. This study examined whether teachers’ perceptions of principal influence tactics were associated with early-tenure status, defined as 0–3 years at their current campus. Guided by influence tactics theory, a quantitative, cross-sectional design was employed using survey data from 167 certified teachers in Southeastern Texas. Participants completed the Influence Behavior Questionnaire–General (IBQ-G), and composite indices of noncoercive, soft-coercive, and hard-coercive tactics were included in a logistic regression model, along with teacher and principal demographic variables. None of the three influence-tactic categories was significantly associated …

Mind Over Measure: The Role Of Self-Care Practices In Mitigating Mental Health Strain Among K-12 Educators, Jerry Burkett, Ryan Hulla

School Leadership Review

Teacher mental health is a critical concern in K-12 education, with high rates of burnout demanding effective protective strategies. This study investigated the relationship between five dimensions of teacher self-care (Physical, Psychological, Emotional, Spiritual, and Professional) and overall mental health outcomes, while specifically exploring differences between elementary (K-5) and high school (9-12) educators. A sample of K-12 teachers completed the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5) and the Self-Care Inventory. Correlational analysis found that all five self-care dimensions were significantly and positively associated with mental health, with Professional Self-Care demonstrating the strongest link (r=.48, p

Principals’ Questioning Practices As Drivers Of Innovation And School Improvement, Miguel M. Gonzales, Tiberio Garza, Elizabeth Leon

School Leadership Review

The art of asking questions plays a pivotal role in leadership and organizational change. This study examined the questioning practices of school principals for school improvement. The Discovery Skill of questioning, as illustrated in the Innovator’s DNA Framework outlined by Dyer and colleagues (2019), was adopted as the guiding framework. Data were gathered with a survey with open-response items from 124 school principals on their questioning behaviors for school improvement. Findings showed principals’ questioning from the qualitative investigation confirmed that most principal questioning habits resided in the description territory within the Innovator’s DNA Framework context. The findings suggest that school …

Leading A School District During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Teresa M. Murphy Phd

Educational Studies Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic altered the conditions of district leadership and required superintendents to make high-stakes decisions amid uncertainty, public scrutiny, and sustained operational disruption. Although scholarship on educational crisis leadership has expanded, fewer studies center superintendents’ own accounts of the knowledge, skills, and conditions that shaped their leadership during COVID-19, and its professional impact. This phenomenological study examined district-level crisis leadership during the first two years of the pandemic, with attention to crisis problem solving, role isolation, crisis communication, and superintendent sustainability. Three research questions guided the study: (1) What knowledge and skills did superintendents perceive necessary for leading during …

20260505: Women's Center, 1988-2025, Student Affairs

Guides to University Archives

These items include materials from the office of the Women's Center at Marshall University from 1988-2025. Items were received in 2026 and include Green Dot Training, Women of Color Celebration, Ms. Quotes, Women Connect and Women's History Month (2010-2011), Women's Center Events from 2011-2012, program attendance of programs from 2012-2014; Program Contracts; Run 4 RAINN event, Women of Marshall Award Nominations, and Parthenon Issues where the Women's Center was mentioned. This is not an exhaustive list. Please download the finding aid for a full list of contents.

Learning In The Third Place: Community-Based Educational Programs At A Bookstore Cafe, Tiana Henry

Capstone Collection

This capstone proposes an alternative learning program, where learning in the third space of a bookstore café is developed in St. Ann, Jamaica. The program responds to gaps in culturally relevant, community-centered educational spaces that reflect Jamaican heritage, support diverse learning styles, and extend beyond traditional classroom structures. A needs assessment consisting of a stakeholder survey and follow-up interviews demonstrated interest in experiential, arts-based, and place-rooted learning opportunities among educators and community members, despite a limited sample size and minimal youth participation. Findings also highlighted the need for stronger community engagement strategies, intergenerational knowledge exchange, and accessible spaces that integrate …

2025-2026 Annual Report - Undergraduate Curriculum Council, Undergraduate Curriculum Council, East Tennessee State University

Undergraduate Curriculum Council Minutes

No abstract provided.