Secondary Education Commons^™

Productive Discussion Across Political Differences: Understanding Students’ Experiences With Comfort And Discomfort Within Structured Discussions Of Public Policy Issues, Gregory E. Mcavoy, Paula Mcavoy, Rachel Waltz, Emily Grace

Democracy & Education

This study investigates the effectiveness of two pedagogical strategies—deliberation and debate—in fostering productive political discussions among high school students, with a focus on overcoming affective polarization. Paying attention to students’ comfort, engagement, and willingness to participate, this study employs a mixed-method approach using data from surveys, observations, and interviews with students participating in a civic immersion program in Washington, DC. Using deliberative theory and the concept of “productive classroom discussion across political differences,” the research explores the extent to how students perceive each strategy as productive, as well as their experiences of comfort and productive and unproductive discomfort. Additional attention …

Joy In Lifelong Learning: An Introduction To Planning For Learning Disabilities In Museum Education, Elaine L. Davis

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

For over a century, the role of museums as learning institutions has been considered alongside that of schools. However, special education practices are rarely adapted for museum education, requiring educators in museum contexts to undertake extra work to accommodate those with learning disabilities. This thesis used Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Textual Analysis to review pedagogical white papers and academic research on museum programs aimed at neurodivergent audiences. The findings were used to create a professional development guide for museum educators at a range of different types of museums.

The Digital Incorporated Worker Narrative: A Mixed Methods Study Of Digital Capital, Work Selection, And Outcomes In The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Tracie King

Dissertations

Digital technology permeates society and industry, making digital-ready workers necessary for firms of all sizes as a firm seeks competitiveness in the market (Bergson-Shilcock et al., 2023; de Ruyter et al., 2018; Gorski et al., 2022; Karaboğa, 2023; Kim et al., 2017; Qureshi Zia, 2019). Firms seeking digital-ready workers face a complex digital divide that creates a worker shortage (Bergson-Shilcock et al., 2023; Karaboğa, 2023; Qureshi Zia, 2019). This study aims to describe workers' work selection, work experience, and outcomes in a complex digital society.

Most digital divide research focuses on the individuals excluded from owning, accessing, and having skills …

Exploring Secondary Teachers’ Mental Health Self-Efficacy, Perceptions Of Supporting Student Mental Health And Well-Being, Sherilyn A. Kile

Education (PhD) Dissertations

Research has indicated that over half of all lifetime cases of mental health conditions begin before the age of 14 years (NAMI, 2024a), making the adolescent period a critical and formative time. The unprecedented effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has been linked to more mental health problems in children and adolescent youth (Sayed et al., 2024), particularly affecting southern California school districts that implemented distance or hybrid learning models (K. Brann et al., 2022). Secondary teachers are essential referral sources and gatekeepers for linking adolescent children to mental health support (Owens et al., 2014). Given the essential role teachers play …

Affordable Architecture: Promoting Mental Health Through Cost-Effective Design In Underfunded High Schools In Dallas-Fort Worth, Raphaella Malicay

2025 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Mental health awareness has increased over the years as well as numerous strategies to support mental health. Some of these strategies include addressing the built environment. This paper explores the intersection between mental health and the built environment through the lens of affordable architectural methods that would be effective in underfunded secondary schools. This study examines how architecture influences students’ well-being and how certain design strategies can be implemented even in schools that lack the financial resources for adequate infrastructure. Here the focus is on investigating affordable solutions such as improving ventilation, optimizing natural light, having flexible learning spaces, and …

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On The Curriculum Orientations Of High School Teachers, Matthew G. Howard

Education Doctorate Dissertations

Teacher beliefs, particularly about the aims of education, impact what they teach, how they teach, and how they assess learning. Understanding how those beliefs were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic offers insights about COVID’s long-term influence on education. This cross-sectional quantitative study utilized Eisner and Vallance’s (1974) curriculum orientations framework to examine the beliefs of high school teachers, as well as their perceived changes in belief after the pandemic. The study utilized the previously validated Survey of Curriculum Orientations (SCO) as an instrument. A total of 305 high school teachers from a large school district in a major metropolitan area …

Support, School Climate And Teacher Wellbeing In The Wake Of Covid-19: A National Study Using Ntsp Data, Annastashia M. Teepe

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

Research indicates a significant number of teachers planned to leave the profession following the COVID-19 pandemic, with national surveys in 2021 revealing about 25% considering departure. Stress, low pay, remote teaching demands, and lack of support contributed to attrition, impacting school climate, which influences productivity, collaboration, and job satisfaction, and is inversely related to turnover. The shift to remote learning also demanded new skills and exposed technological disparities. This quantitative study examined the pandemic's impact on teachers' perceptions of school climate, support, resources, job satisfaction, burnout, and intent to leave using the 2020–2021 National Teacher and Principal Survey. Factor analyses …

Perception Of Mental Health Among Students In Higher Education, Kasibah Baig, Leia Aguilar

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Mental health in higher education environments is a topic that has the need for exploration and discussion. Students with poor mental health face additional stressors and challenges in their academic and personal areas of life. It is critical for colleges and universities to address the topic of mental health and understand how it can affect students, as well as to be able to provide the proper support and services. By having more conversations about mental health on campus and providing easily accessible and inclusive resources for students, it can create a comfortable environment on campus for students to be able …

The Implementation Of Higher Education In The Prison System In Mississippi: The Challenges And Benefits, Elizabeth F. Ratliff

Honors Theses

Growing support for higher education in prison has sparked much conversation regarding the challenges and benefits of the programs and their implementation. In Mississippi, this has become an increasingly prevalent issue as the incarcerated population continues to grow and programs continue to be limited in accessibility. Mississippi’s incarcerated population deserves the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills through higher education to better themselves individually and better their communities upon release. However, Mississippi faces unique challenges in its prison system, preventing the benefits of these programs from showing. The purpose of this study is to gain insight into the challenges and …

Using Social Emotional Learning To Connect Social Awareness And Classic Literature, Erin Anderson

Honors Projects

The following case study explores how social-emotional learning (SEL) teaching strategies enhance seventh-grade students’ engagement with classic literature during English Language Arts (ELA) class. Using S.E. Hinton’s classic novella The Outsiders as a foundation for this research, this study examines whether SEL-based lesson plans help adolescents make deeper connections between literature and their own lives. Two groups of students were compared in the study: one group received traditional, comprehension-based instruction, while the other participated in SEL-based assessments, encouraging perspective-taking and personal reflection. This study utilizes qualitative assessments like character analysis, reflection, and surveys to affirm that students who are exposed …

Using Trade Books To Thematically Teach Civil Rights Issues, Alyssa Whitford, Timothy Lintner, Caroline Sheffield

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This semester-long project examined the use of social studies trade books to thematically teach the civic contributions of three individuals who served as change agents in the United States during the late 19^th and early 20^th century. Two were African American men, Robert Smalls and Frederick Douglass, who took civic action to address racial discrimination faced by the Black community following the U.S. Civil War. The other was Ida B. Wells who challenged social inequities and injustices within her community. Throughout this project, sixth-grade students read selected trade books, examined primary sources, completed graphic organizers, and crafted writing …

A Phenomenological Study Of School Staff Perceptions Of The Threat And Prevention Of School Violence, Rebecca Linton

Dissertations

My study addressed the issue of school safety and student mental health in schools in the United States. The purpose of this study was to identify the concerns staff members had about the system and procedures used to track students’ mental health and how staff and students are kept safe within the school environment. The overarching research question for my study was: What are the perceptions of school staff regarding school safety and the support students with mental health issues receive? I used a quantitative research method for my study, collecting data through surveys of teachers and administrators. The survey …

The Impact Of Educators’ Perceptions Of Neurodivegence On Their Self-Efficacy In Teaching Middle And High School Students With Adhd And Autism In Rural Minnesota, Nicolle D. Bettcher Erickson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to explore how we can best support our teachers in matching our ever-changing educational landscape, specifically our neurodivergent learners. When educating neurodivergent students (students with autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), we must understand how to teach these creative, sometimes misunderstood individuals and unleash their full potential. To do so, we need educational practitioners who have healthy perceptions of what it means to be neurodivergent and educators who understand both the talents and hurdles that being neurodivergent may entail. This study examined how non-special education teachers' perceptions of neurodivergence correlated with …

Classroom Teachers' Approaches To Values Education: Exploring Explicit And Implicit Strategies For Teaching And Modeling Values, Maria Ukamaka Clare Okeke

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Abstract This study explores the approaches Nigerian secondary school teachers in Anambra State use to teach values through explicit and implicit methods. Recognizing the need to understand how values are effectively communicated in the classroom, this research delves into the dual strategies employed by educators and their impacts on student moral development. The research used a qualitative interview study approach, which included semi-structured interviews with ten experienced secondary school teachers and a document analysis of teaching resources. This method allows one to investigate the explicit instruction and implicit modeling strategies applied in values education in depth. Findings reveal that teachers …

Whose Innovation? Philanthropic And School-Based Visions Of High School In The Xq Super School Competition, Brett G. Murphy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The XQ Institute, funded by Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective, launched a design competition in 2015 to find the most innovative high schools in the country. Their goal was to spark a movement that would revolutionize secondary school in the United States, a system they claimed was 100 years behind the times. Called the Super School Project, the winning ten teams each received $10 million. While XQ claims that the best ideas about high school reform come from communities and student voice, they also have funded selective ideas about “innovation,” including computer-based personalized learning. The organization’s efforts have grown in …

Teaching Mathematics For Labour Emancipation: An Autoethnography Of A Math Teacher In Mykonos, Dimitris T. Maris, Konstantinos P. Christou

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

A wealthy society does not necessarily ensure a good education for its students, just as it does not guarantee wealth for its workers. In this paper we visit a junior high school mathematics classroom on the Greek island of Mykonos, where a significant number of students are employed. In this context, we explore how a mathematics teacher, inspired by social justice mathematics, can empower students in their work environments. We adopt an autoethnographic approach in our narrative, presenting the process of designing and implementing specific mathematical activities aimed at revealing the issue of labour exploitation in the touristic Greek islands. …

Expanding Our Horizons While Maintaining Our Balance, Daniel K. Blewett

Library Scholarship

The constant winds of change have blown more collection development demands to the doorsteps of community college libraries, resulting in a stress on resources. Libraries are being asked to do more with the same or fewer resources. Many community college libraries are now supporting more than just the traditional career and technical educa- tion, or general education courses. Dual enrollment, new programs, and partnering with four-year institutions for new articulation agreements, are examples of the changing needs community colleges may experience. As institutional needs continue to evolve it will be necessary for community college libraries to expand their collection development …

The 1920s Klan, More Than Just The South: A Historiographical And Pedagogical Assessment, Nicolas Soucy

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

I. Synthesis Essay..............................3

II. Primary Source Documents.........16

III. Textbook Critique.........................28

IV. Textbook Rewrite.........................31

Computing In The Commonwealth: Specialized Education In Computer Science And Information Technology For High School Students In Virginia – An Environmental Scan, Amy Corning, Jonathan D. Becker, Jon Graham, James Carrigan, Keisha Tennessee

ICRE Publications

Over the past two decades, Virginia has invested substantially in STEM education, in part through specialized programs focused on computer science and information technology (CS/IT). This study represents the first effort to identify Virginia’s specialized secondary CS/IT programs and examine them collectively. Findings from the statewide environmental scan indicate that the programs are delivered through a wide variety of institutional structures, including Governor’s STEM Academies, Governor’s Schools, specialty centers, and academies, but most often through Career and Technical Education (CTE) centers. Programs tend to be concentrated in metropolitan areas, and some rural divisions may not be served. The programs provide …

6. Mark: Sources And References, Matthew Lipman

Secondary School Curriculum

This sequential bibliography matches the 1980 edition of Mark page by page. It contains both sources—works that influenced Matthew Lipman in writing the novel—and references to philosophical works he and Ann Margaret Sharp recommend to explore the novels’ philosophical themes.

"What Is Title Ix? What's It Mean?": An Instrumental Case Study In Today's Secondary Schools, Kristin Haggerty

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Sexual harassment and assault, as defined by Title IX, are widespread issues in middle and high schools, yet schools often fail to provide sufficient education to students and staff about the policy and its protections (Grant et al., 2019). Title IX is a federal law designed to ensure fair and equal treatment of students and employees in educational settings while also overseeing the handling and adjudication of sexual misconduct allegations (Klusas, 2003). This study was conducted using instrumental case study research. 36 staff members from the middle school, high school, and administration of a mid-sized school district in Southeastern Pennsylvania …

Lived Experiences Of School Counselors’ Facilitation Of Small Group Counseling In Public High Schools, Joshua D. Hurley

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to explore the lived experiences of school counselors’ facilitation of small group counseling in public high schools. Prior research has shown that high school counselors utilize small group counseling at a lower rate than their elementary school counterparts. Researchers have identified two primary barriers that school counselors face in the implementation of small group counseling in schools to include time and internal fear and anxiety. This study investigated the lived experiences of 11 school counselors in their facilitation of small group counseling in the public high school setting. Through data analysis, three …

Adolescents’ Advanced Stem Course Intentions: Predictors And Reasoning, Jacqueline Cerda-Smith, Emine Ozturk, Angelina Joy, Kelly Lynn Mulvey

Faculty Publications – Psychology

Taking advanced science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses in high school can support persistence in STEM. Given gender enrollment inequities in many advanced STEM courses, the current study explored potential gender differences in predictors of and reasoning about advanced STEM course intentions in a sample of high school students. Participants (N = 750, M_age = 15.10 years, SD = 0.83, 50.5% boys) attending five public high schools in the southeastern United States responded to online questionnaires regarding their current STEM classes and advanced course intentions as well as an open-ended item to capture their STEM intention reasoning. …

I To I (Insights Into Islamic) Financial Literacy Among Secondary School Students, Nur Syamilah Md Noor, Nor Hanim Elias, Mardziyah Mohd Isa Mohd Isa, Muhammad Abrar Bahaman, Razinda Tasnim Abdul Rahim

International Conference on Business and Management Research (ICBMR)

Financial literacy is a crucial life skill that enables individuals to manage resources responsibly and make informed economic decisions. In the context of secondary school students, early exposure to financial education provides a foundation for future financial stability and resilience. This study, Insights into Islamic (I to I) Financial Literacy Among Secondary School Students in Perlis, explores the level of awareness, understanding, and practice of financial literacy from an Islamic perspective. The research emphasizes core Islamic financial principles such as the balance between needs and wants, the significance of saving and investing through permissible means, and the prohibition of riba …

Effects Of Parent Involvement In Their Children’S Academic And Behavioral Performance, Megan Menozzi

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to investigate the best practices to increase parental involvement in their children’s school activities by recording and scribing the experiences of certified teachers. Prior to this study, the current school experienced a decrease in parental involvement with their child’s scheduled school activities. As the school carry on with planning scheduled events for parental involvement, teachers were still expected to be prepared to implement curriculum in the classrooms, while ensuring children’s needs were being met by way of continuous communication with families.

The researcher developed a qualitative phenomenological approach. The design allowed the researcher to interview …

The Continuing, Resistance Popularity Of Critical Race Theory- Informed Pedagogy, Kaavonia Hinton, Karen Chandler

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

The article focuses on the ongoing commitment of educators to incorporate critical race theory (CRT)–informed pedagogy in English classrooms despite legislative efforts to suppress it. Topics include the historical and political context of anti-CRT policies, the personal and professional responses of educators to these restrictions, and student-centered strategies used to navigate and resist such limitations in meaningful and legally cautious ways.

An Exploration Of The Relationship Between School Counselor Access And Latine Students’ College-Going Behaviors, Kristen Tuxbury

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the relationships between school counselor access and Latine students’ college-going behaviors using data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09). The study was guided by critical race theory and Yosso’s community cultural wealth model (2005). Binary logistic regression models, Chi-square tests of independence, and descriptive statistics were used to explore the associations between school counselor access, Latine student college-going behaviors, and caregiver expectations. The findings show stronger associations between caregiver expectations and Latine student college-going behaviors than school counselor access. Additionally, findings provide evidence that experiences of oppression are likely barriers to Bachelor’s degree programs …

Exploring The Stem Career Identity Development Of Black Women Across Their Lifespan, Veronica Hurd

Theses and Dissertations

Although STEM is the fastest-growing career sector, Black women are grossly underrepresented as they account for 2.5% of the workforce. Research highlights that this underrepresentation is due to racialized structures in K-12, postsecondary, and career settings that restrict Black girls’ and women’s STEM opportunities. While macrosystems such as hegemonic ideologies, attitudes, and social conditions shape Black girls’ and women’s opportunities in STEM, they continue to persist and achieve their career goals. To explore these barriers and Black women’s persistence in this industry, this study draws from the autobiographical memories of 10 Black women in the field or formerly in the …

An Examination Of The Effects Of School-Based Experiences On High-Achieving Black Female High School Students Using Photovoice 2.0, Kameron R. White Mcdaniel

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

This study used a youth-led participatory action research inquiry and Photovoice 2.0 methodology to investigate the school-based experiences of seven high-achieving black female students across two public high schools. The objectives of the project were to explore how high-achieving Black high school girls perceived their academic identity within their school setting, and to determine any school and/or classroom contextual factors that affected these participants' school-based learning experiences and outcomes. The demographic makeup of each school was also evaluated through qualitative analysis to consider if it served as a moderating variable in participants’ reported school-based experiences. It is through gained insight …

Truth, Reconciliation, And Neoliberalism: Remembering And Forgetting Pinochet’S Chile, Aimee Leigh Gallagher

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

I. Synthesis Essay………………..................4

III. Primary Documents and Headnotes.....26

IV. Textbook Critique……………….............36

V. Textbook Entry…………………………....42