Secondary Education Commons^™

Experiences With Coming Out: A Study Of Lgbtq+ Music Students’ Perceptions Of Music Education Pedagogy, Sid Adams

Educational Studies Dissertations

Because LGBTQ+ people are disclosing their non-heterosexual and/or non-cisgender identities at younger ages, music educators should consider how their pedagogical decisions impact an LGBTQ+ person’s decision to disclose their identity (come out). Previous research has explored how to create affirming and inclusive space for LGBTQ+ students to learn within music education spaces. However, past research has been limited on how those decisions impact the LGBTQ+ student’s decision to disclose their identity. I used data from five participants to discover how they perceived music education pedagogical practices and how those practices facilitated or hindered their decision to disclose their LGBTQ+ identity. …

The Impacts Of Authentic Learning On Student Outcomes, Evan Sheppard, Cameron Conner

Dissertations

This dissertation explores the evolving American education system, emphasizing the role of authentic learning in bridging the gap between schooling and employment, especially in the context of the modern post-pandemic student. Authentic learning, characterized by hands-on activities and real-world applications, is posited as a solution to the skilled labor shortage impacting the economy. This study delves into the history and current practices of authentic learning, examining various programs and strategies implemented in educational settings. Utilizing a phenomenological approach, qualitative data was collected through interviews with recent high school graduates to assess the impact of authentic learning on their post-secondary trajectories. …

Embracing Social-Emotional Learning And Nurturing Character: A Systematic Review Of Intersectional-Eq Strategies For Educational Leaders, Leticia G. Candelaria-Archuleta

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

The COVID-19 pandemic expanded education beyond traditional academics, highlighting the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) and character education (CE) for positive youth outcomes. This study examined the role of educational leadership in implementing SEL and CE in schools through a term coined Intersectional-EQ. This study centered on a cutting-edge approach using grey literature, specifically doctoral dissertations, to capture current trends in unprecedented times. A systematic review through Covidence, guided by PRISMA and PICO frameworks, was conducted. Findings highlight the impact of leadership on SEL and CE through an intersectional lens. Future work is aimed to support holistic student growth by …

What Exactly Does Identity Have To Do With Teaching? Exploring The Connection Between A Teacher's Racialized Identity And Their Teacher Identity, Lizette Aguilar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study explores the relationship between race and teacher identity, specifically understanding how the two concepts intersect and (re)present themselves within the classroom environment. This study analyzes six teachers’ narratives of identity, race, and teaching to explore themes of race and identity as they traverse from their earliest experiences with race into their experiences as teachers. Findings conclude that, first, teachers’ narrative identities are a composite of key narratives—important moments of deep impact in the process of identity building—that accumulate over time to form what Dan McAdams (1993) calls personal myths. Since key narratives are continually shaping one’s personal myth, …

Morality In Mississippi Science Education: The Impact Of Instruction On Moral Conviction And Emotions Regarding Genetic Engineering, Emily Jenkins

Honors Theses

Moral convictions have been shown to impact learning about science topics, but there exists a gap in literature about whether education on the mechanisms of DNA technologies, such as the recently developed CRISPR-Cas9 system, can affect moral convictions and emotions regarding its use on humans. To investigate this relationship, we examined the results of how three-hundred and fifty-three introductory psychology students at the University of Mississippi rated their moral convictions and emotions on the subject before and after engaging with instructional material. The results indicated that a majority of participants originally had no position (48.2%) or were morally opposed (41.6%). …

The Impact Of Play-Based Learning On Early Childhood Development, Aubry Mauro

Master's Theses

This action research project emphasizes the recognized influence of play on children’s social, emotional, and cognitive growth. The researcher explored how play-based learning strategies contribute to students’ development, drawing insights from existing literature. The research used mixed methods to analyze the impact of play-based learning on social, emotional, and cognitive development in a sixth-grade classroom. The researcher collected data over six weeks. Initial findings showed the effect of play-based learning on students' development. The baseline data in this action research project showed that this group of students enjoys playing inside, outside, independently, or in a group. The researcher found that …

College And Career Readiness Effects On Minority Male College Retention, Naquiyah Hodges

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The continuously low college retention and low degree attainment of African American and Hispanic men is a generational and decades-long hindrance to the elevation of these marginalized communities in the United States and the state of Texas. In Texas, the last 3 years’ worth of data has proven college-readiness rates of African American and Hispanic college students were significantly lower by large margins than White students in English language arts, math, and both subjects by large margins. Consistent low college retention rates of minority men produce a need to conduct further research of how this phenomenon affects minority men …

Teacher Roles In Correction: Understanding Disciplinary Alternative School Programs In Nebraska, Philip Thomas White Iii

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Through semi-structured interviews with teachers and semi-structured interviews-turned-testimonios of students, I have sought to understand the purposes and consequences of Disciplinary Alternative Programs (DAP). Four different locations from across the state of Nebraska were utilized with 16 teachers and two students participating. Research questions considered the purpose of DAPs to better understand how these programs fit into broader systems of schooling. While highly cautious IRB oversight limited the number of students who could be participants in this study, their insights were substantially augmented by the sixteen educators from such environments who were also interviewed. Participant responses offered nuanced and …

Engaging Teacher-Student Relationships With All Students, Jess Teal

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Positive teacher-student relationships are essential for a safe classroom that promotes academic achievement and social/emotional development for all children. Teachers need specific practices and resources to support them in establishing positive teacher-student relationships with all their students. All students deserve a consistent adult connection and to call school a safe place to learn and grow.

Defusing Escalating Situations, Louis Lamont Fletcher Phd, David Allen Watson

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

The Executive Director of Facilities and Operations and the Director of Safety and Security for a Colorado School district with 28,000 students will share tools, techniques, and experiences with conflict resolution. The presenters will outline the recognizable precursors to conflict, the importance of the individual's initial reaction, and provide tools to facilitate de-escalation. This interactive presentation provides relevant tools to de-escalate conflicts between peers, supervisors and subordinates, teachers and students, teachers and parents, school security officers and students, superintendents and board members, and school districts and community members.

Intersecting Identities And Adjustment To The Primary-Secondary School Transition: An Integrative Review, Joanne Harris, Rebecca Nowland, Megan Todd

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

The primary-to-secondary school transition is a milestone for children because of the multiple changes they must navigate. Although most adjust successfully, approximately 30% of children have difficulties during this transition. Intersecting identities are also likely to influence how children navigate the adjustment of the school transfer, but there have been no syntheses of existing evidence relating to the impacts of intersectionality. We conducted an integrative review using eight databases (Education database, ERIC, ProQuest Education, PsychInfo, Scopus, SocIndex, Sociology Database, and Web of Science) and searched for quantitative or qualitative studies that examined how intersecting identities impact children’s self-concept, mental health, …

Factors That Inhibit And Support The Work Of School-Based Mental Health Providers, David B. Naff, Jennifer Murphy, Alexandra Javna, Wyatt Aldrich, Erin Standish, Jeen Joy, Ciana Cross, Sandra Saji

MERC Publications

This research brief comes from the MERC Supporting Mental Health in Schools study. Launched in 2021 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study explores research-based strategies for supporting mental health in PK-12 school settings, as well as the emotional and professional capacity of PK-12 faculty and staff in the MERC region to support the social and emotional wellness of their students. This brief shares takeaways from a systematic literature review that highlight the factors that inhibit and support the work of school-based mental health providers, including school counselors, school social workers, and school psychologists. It outlines the roles …

Social-Emotional Learning In High School: How High Schools Engage, Educate, And Empower Youth, Jessica L. Atkins

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

In recent decades, the mental health needs of youth have increased, as has interest in social-emotional learning (SEL) in K-12 schools. SEL instruction has been proposed as a way to meet these growing needs while schools struggle with shortages of school-based mental health professionals. While extensive research has been conducted regarding SEL, the majority of these studies have focused on structured programs in preschool and elementary-level populations. As a result, students at the secondary level, particularly those in high school, have received limited attention. In this dissertation, I present my research that explores SEL at the high school level.

This …

Investing In Critical Consciousness And Civic Engagement In Underfunded Schools, Molly Dailey Andersson

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Throughout this thesis I confront inequity in its pervasive and far-reaching form of American K-12 school finance. By analyzing the inequitable school funding practices of funding formulas and debt repayment structures, I explore how past and present-day school funding practices have evolved through the values and modes of racial capitalism and more recently, neoliberalism. Through Critical Action Research, I challenge the hegemonic hold racial capitalism and neoliberalism have on school funding by critiquing the educational practices and relations it helps produce. Despite the pernicious scale of inequitable school funding practices, Critical Action Research allows for imagining and shaping an education …

Examining High School Mathematics Teachers' Research-Based Instructional Practices And Their Relationship To Students' Learning Outcomes: A Convergent Parallel Mixed-Method Study, Isiaka Busari

Theses and Dissertations--Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education

This convergent parallel mixed-methods study examines the relationship between high school mathematics teachers' research-based instructional practices and students' learning outcomes in Algebra 1 classrooms at a high school in a central region of a Southern U.S. State. The research addresses improving mathematics proficiency in the United States, where national performance remains below average. Guided by psychological and social constructivism, the study involved three Algebra 1 teachers and 171 students. Data were collected through classroom observations using the Mathematics Classroom Observation Protocol for Practices (MCOP²), teacher interviews, and student pre-and post-tests. Quantitative data from tests and MCOP² were …

From Elementary School To Doctoral Education: An Autoethnographic Journey, Gwendolyn D. Dailey

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Every child has a right to education, and their skin color should not determine their education quality. However, since the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), it has been proven that race continues to matter in the success and failure of education (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001). The persistent achievement gaps between students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, as well as the disparities in access to high-quality educational opportunities, demonstrate how race and ethnicity shape the educational experiences of students of color (Stanford Center for Education Policy Analysis, 2012). Unfortunately, stories such as Ruby Bridges of New …

Analyzing The Impact Of An Informal Mathematics Teaching Experience On Preservice Teacher Mathematics Teaching Self-Efficacy, Kayla Fruth

Honors Projects

A teacher’s sense of efficacy is their belief in their capability to successfully accomplish a specific task. Teachers with a high sense of efficacy exert more effort, persistence, and commitment to teaching, which leads to higher student achievement and attitudes. The purpose of this study is to determine how participation in an informal mathematics teaching experience impacts preservice teachers’ sense of mathematics teaching self-efficacy. This research was conducted at one informal mathematics teaching experience, during which, all participants completed pre-surveys and post-surveys rating their mathematics teaching self-efficacy using the MTEBI. Later, some participants were interviewed to gain insight into their …

Design Thinking’S Effect On Empathy Development In Middle School English- Language Arts, Kim Starkey

Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the impact of Design Thinking on students' empathy development in middle school English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms. The study involved two middle school instructors with eight classes, implementing Design Thinking, Reader's Workshop, and traditional ELA curriculum in different combinations (n =102) and two control classes (n =27).

The Adolescent Empathy Measure (AMES) and rubrics for analyzing student writing samples were used to assess changes in empathy. The AMES was given before and after the interventions, and the writing samples were analyzed before and after the interventions as well. The findings indicate …

Implementing Transformative Education With Participatory Action Research: A Review, Niroj Dahal

The Qualitative Report

I write this review of the book, Implementing Transformative Education with Participatory Action Research, for readers, writers, and novice and veteran researchers in various social sciences disciplines and educational landscapes. The book explores using Participatory Action Research (PAR) to implement transformative education. The book argues that PAR can be used to create contextualized, sustainable, and student-centered learning environments. It offers invaluable insights from experts who have actively worked on innovative approaches to school transformation. The book also provides practical guidance and research-based strategies to help scholars effectively navigate challenges and implement transformative education. Overall, the book is a valuable …

From We To Me: Moving Towards An Examination Of Self Identity In An Online, Global, Collaborative, Learning Environment, Danielle P. Espino, Eric Hamilton, Kristina Lux, Seung B. Lee

Education Division Scholarship

This paper reflects on previous work using QE to examine patterns of discourse of adolescent learners in a virtual, global, collaborative informal learning setting. The collective impact of involvement in the project on participants’ experiences was observed in various reflective interviews over the last five years. The deep reflection of this work resulted in a research shift from the general impact on the participants to a shift towards examining how such experiences shape self-identity, such as recognizing identity congruence, relational self, and overcoming negative identity fostered by master narrative frameworks. An initial examination of pre-assessment interviews indicates that younger students …

Secondary Educator And Administrator Perceptions Of Positive Behavior Interventions And Supports And Student Academic Achievement, Cynthia Everitt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study addresses secondary educator perceptions of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and student academic achievement. PBIS is a proactive approach with a multitiered framework. When used properly, PBIS can be a tool for school faculty to establish behavioral expectations and procedures, prevent disruptive behavior, and improve the school climate and culture. This phenomenological study was conducted using two secondary schools in West Virginia. Participants were identified and chosen through purposive sampling techniques according to their years of experience teaching and utilizing PBIS interventions.

The data for this study included unstructured, open-ended interviews based on three research questions. …

Establishing Connectivity And Trust In High Schools During Covid-19, Lisa De Leon, Matthew D. Wilkens

The Scholarship Without Borders Journal

Although meta-leadership was originally a framework used to examine healthcare leadership in crisis, it is also a valuable framework for educational leadership. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused school leaders to endure a crucible of fire in every area, such as balancing children’s safety with losses to education quality. The action plans of educators are frequently in flux as the pandemic evolves and unfolds. The continuation of this crisis has led to uncertainty, and at times, chaos.

This study examines how meta-leadership, with emphasis on connectivity, has been applied by educational leadership in American high schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. 2020 …

Creating Inclusive Classrooms With Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy, Melissa Kane

Doctor of Education in Secondary and Middle Grades Education Dissertations

This is a qualitative phenomenographic study that uses the theoretical frameworks of Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (CSP) (Paris, 2012), Intergroup Contact Theory (Allport 1954), and Social Constructivism (Smagorinsky, 2007) to evaluate how 7^th grade students at a Title I middle school in the Southeastern United States experience the phenomenon of peer relationships in the context of a CSP writing unit. Students created, peer edited, and shared multimodal “Where I’m From” (Lyon, n.d.) poems in intentionally created groups. The researcher collected data via participant interviews, participant journals, and a researcher reflection journal. Findings indicated that students developed a better understanding of …

Holistic Teaching Practices Through A Growth Mindset Lens: A Case Study Examination Of Ela High School Classrooms, Joshua R. Gallegos

Education Dissertations

A prevalent issue that exists in education is students who demonstrate a defeated or fixed mindset—that is, when students view their intelligence and academic abilities as something that is inherent and cannot be changed overtime. Most of the research on growth mindset takes place in math classrooms, as the literature suggests that math is more frequently viewed as a subject area in which students have fixed mindsets. Additionally, most of the research on growth mindsets involves the use of quantitative research methods as opposed to the use of qualitative methods. Furthermore, there is a lack of research that examines teaching …

Meet Me In The Middle: A Scoping Review On Understanding Adolescent Needs In Climate Communication, Gwendolyn Monica Hoff Anderson

Master's Projects and Capstones

The greatest effects of climate change are likely to be felt by youth. Young people are disproportionately affected by climate change due to their critical developmental stage and lack of power, and they experience both higher severity and prevalence of mental health issues related to climate change. Strong emotions have long been recognized as potential catalysts for action, or they may lead to paralyzing feelings of being overwhelmed. Climate communication is a critical tool to spark climate concern and encourage action. Activism, in turn, may help youth manage their anxiety about climate change. This scoping review examines emerging evidence on …

Predictors Of Secondary School Students’ Future Technological Academic And Professional Readiness: A Study Of Teachers And Students’ Factors In Learning Online, Autumn H. Ottenad

Education Dissertations

This research endeavors to investigate the factors that influence satisfaction with online learning among secondary students in hybrid or blended environments in the United States. With a focus on social-emotional learning and digital citizenship, the study begins the exploration and the impact of teacher interactions, teaching presence, self-management of learning, and academic self-efficacy on students’ satisfaction with learning online and how this satisfaction can impact their future readiness to use technology effectively. The study involved a sample of 320 secondary students and a supplemental survey of 32 teachers who completed online surveys that took no longer than 10 minutes to …

In Pursuit Of Failure: A Project-Based Learning Approach To Introducing Generative Failure Into High School Physics, Bradford O'Brien

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

It is important that students encounter and learn how to respond to failure in their high school experience. In traditional education systems, failure (for students and teachers) is often penalized in a way that stigmatizes failure and disincentivizes intellectual risk-taking. In my experience, as a high school physics teacher, I have witnessed firsthand the impact of the stigmatization of failure in the science classroom. Educators in the science classroom can use projects, lessons, and reimagined grading systems to cultivate a different mindset around failure for their students. As a conceptual physics teacher, I believe that my classroom should be a …

The Connective Tissue Of Well-Developed Interests: A Case Study Of A Science Research Classroom, Deborah M. Brand

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine ways that long-term interests in high school students could be inspired and facilitated in educational contexts. In particular, it explored how a high school Science Research (SR) program cultivated belonging and supported autonomy in ways that inspired and promoted well-developed individual interests. This type of interest is characterized by an enduring desire to pursue learning out of an intellectual and emotional need to gain understanding; it drives behavior, motivation, and cognition toward particular activities and ideas. Classroom belonging is derived from this sense of connection and purpose a student feels from the …

Special Education: Inclusion And Exclusion In The K-12 U.S. Educational System, Erik Brault

Dissertations

The U.S. Department of Education defines students with disabilities as those having a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more life activities. Previous research has found that students with disabilities placed in inclusive environments perform better academically and socially compared to students with disabilities who are placed in segregated environments. Yet, we know that inclusion in K-12 general education classrooms across the country is not consistently implemented.

The purpose of this study was to better understand the effects, if any, of general education high school teachers’ personal and professional experiences and knowledge on their attitudes toward educating …

A Systematic Review Of The Relation Of Restorative Justice Principles & Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports In K-12 Schools, Katherine Richardson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Alternatives to punitive punishment and discipline have gained popularity as research has supported the advances towards safer and more positive school communities. This includes multi-tiered service models, such as Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS). Additionally, a restorative justice (RJ) approach can offer non-punitive, relationship-centered practices for avoiding and addressing harm, responding to violations of legal and human rights, and collaboratively solving problems. However, limited research has been conducted looking at the connection between RJ practices and frameworks such as PBIS, which are already implemented in a many schools. The purpose of this systematic literature review was to review the …