Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Infant And Toddler, Children's Health

Book Recommendations

Book recommendation list from the digital library collection focused on books for infants and toddlers.

Espanol Kids, Children's Health

Book Recommendations

Book recommendation list from the digital library collection focused on children's books in Spanish.

Pets, Children's Health

Book Recommendations

Book recommendation list from the digital library collection focused on the topic of pets.

Early Reader, Children's Health

Book Recommendations

Book recommendation list from the digital library collection focused on early reader books.

Espanol Adult, Children's Health

Book Recommendations

Book recommendation list from the digital library collection focused on adult books in Spanish.

Health Literacy, Children's Health

Book Recommendations

Book recommendation list from the digital library collection focused on the topic of health literacy for all ages.

Espanol Young Adult, Children's Health

Book Recommendations

Book recommendation list from the digital library collection focused on young adult books in Spanish.

Manga, Children's Health

Book Recommendations

Book recommendation list from the digital library collection focused on manga.

Sharks, Children's Health

Book Recommendations

Book recommendation list from the digital library collection focused on the topic of sharks.

Superheroes, Children's Health

Book Recommendations

Book recommendation list from the digital library collection focused on the topic of super heroes.

Transportation, Children's Health

Book Recommendations

Book recommendation list from the digital library collection focused on the topic of transportation.

Reflections In The Mirror: An Examination Of Racially Congruent Mentoring Of Black Teacher Candidates In A Teacher Education Program, Mary Louise Gregory

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

The high demand for Black educators in K-12 schools across the United States has caused several teacher training programs to rethink how they prepare Black teacher candidates for the teaching workforce (Andrews et al., 2019; Blazar, 2024; Milner & Howard, 2004). Improving teacher candidate training, especially for Black teacher candidates can boost K-12 Black teacher representation. Literature on Black teacher candidate’s experiences while being mentored identifies several challenges that include issues with implicit bias, microaggressions, stereotyping and other occurrences of racial discrimination (Daly et al., 2024; Hampton et al., 2008; Kardos & Johnson-Moore, 2010; Rodriguez et al., 2020). The process …

Unraveling The Links Between Substance Use And Academic Motivation In Higher Education, Melissa Lynn Goins

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Self-Determination Theory (SDT) posits that the quality of students’ motivation regulation (i.e., autonomous versus controlled) shapes both learning and health behavior, yet few studies have examined the relations among motivation regulation, alcohol and cannabis use, and achievement. In this study, I surveyed 459 undergraduates at a mid-sized public university in the southeastern United States. Participants completed the Academic Motivation Scale-College version 28 to assess autonomous and controlled motivation regulation, a typical-week alcohol grid, a seven-day cannabis grid, and self-reported grade point average (GPA). Results indicated that autonomous academic motivation was uniquely related to GPA; however, neither motivation variable related to …

Un-Tempering The Tempered Radical: A Phenomenological Study Of Black Female Superintendents In Neoliberal Education Systems, Melanie Fitzgerald Daniel

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The persistent and severe underrepresentation of Black women in K-12 educational leadership (just 1.4% of superintendencies) is a critical manifestation of Epistemic Injustice (Fricker, 2007) and the Architecture of Hostility. Dominant managerial paradigms in education structurally suppress the voices and devalue the expertise of Black women, leading to both testimonial injustice (credibility deficits) and hermeneutical injustice (misinterpretation of experience). This context forces them to pursue advancement within systems fundamentally structured to exclude them. This phenomenological study utilizes a nested theoretical framework, comprising Neoliberalism (macro-context), Epistemic Injustice (meso-critique), and Tempered Radicalism (Meyerson & Scully, 1995; Ngunjiri, 2012) (micro-agency), to illuminate the …

Where's Waldo?: Finding The Missing Voice Of The College Counselor, Krystyn K. Dupree

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

College counseling has been integral to higher education for more than a century; however, the role of college counselors has become increasingly complex amid rising student mental health needs, growing symptom severity, and constrained institutional resources. Despite extensive research on college student mental health, little contemporary scholarship has examined the lived experiences of the professionals providing these services. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how college counselors who provide mental health services perceive their professional role within the context of higher education.

Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, this study conceptualized college counselors as embedded within interconnected …

The Paradox Of Discipline: Equity, Standardization, And Black Student Outcomes In Public Schools, Latricia T. Davenport

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Despite efforts to address profound discipline disparities impacting Black students, the implementation of alternative disciplinary approaches like Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and Restorative Justice (RJ) has failed to eliminate significant disproportionality in school discipline. This study investigates how teachers navigate the challenges of disciplining Black students within a paradoxical school environment that juxtaposes equitable, human-centered methods with a historically rooted managerial paradigm emphasizing uniformity and zero tolerance. Drawing upon systemic racism and the concept of 'apprenticeship of observation,' this study explores how teachers' implicit biases about Black students are formed by long-held institutional norms and personal experiences. It …

Finding Utopia: An Examination Of Pedagogical Approaches To Teaching Utopianism In U.S. College Classrooms, Brittany Page Brake

Dissertations

This dissertation investigates how, and if, utopianism is being taught in college classrooms across the United States. Long considered impractical, overly idealistic, and/or politically dangerous, utopianism has been largely marginalized in political science and American culture. However, this project finds that there are instructors teaching utopianism and they are using the concept to challenge students to think differently about governance, justice, and institutional design. Drawing from political theory literature, course syllabi submitted by faculty from different U.S. universities, interviews with instructors, and personal case studies of my own courses at Central State University and Manchester University, I explore how utopian …

Who Gets To Lead? Policy, Systemic Barriers, And Leadership Norms In Education, Kathryn A. Cirilli

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

This phenomenological qualitative study investigated the underrepresentation of women and racially marginalized individuals in the superintendent position, the highest leadership position within K-12 public education. The superintendent position has been overwhelmingly represented by males, even though women were the majority of the teaching workforce. Grounded by institutional theory and viewed through a phenomenological lens, I examined how organizational norms, hiring practices, and access to mentorship contributed to and upheld systemic barriers to the superintendent position. Through exploring the interpreted lived experiences of current female superintendents across public school districts that reflected the national patterns, this research addressed the disparities in …

Exploring Hiring Managers’ Strategies For Recruiting Diverse Educators In A Southeastern State, Keisa K. Davis Ma

Dissertations

This dissertation examined the strategies applied by hiring managers within one state in the southeastern United States to recruit diverse teachers. The purpose of the study was to explore hiring managers’ experiences and knowledge of minority teacher recruitment. The primary research question for this study was: What strategies do hiring managers in the school district under study find most effective in overcoming barriers to recruiting minority educators, and how do they measure their success? Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, and thematic coding was used to arrive at emerging themes, patterns, and perceptions. The findings revealed that while hiring managers …

Notes For The Stalled, V18n04, December 2025, University Of Northern Iowa. Rod Library.

Rod Library newsletter: Notes for the Stalled

Contents:

--- De Stress Days
--- When You Return
--- Did You Know?
--- Student Technology Fee
--- Upcoming Events

Amplifying Mother Leaders’ Voices: A Feminist Inquiry Into Gender Inequity In Higher Education Leadership, Katherine Bard

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

Women now comprise more than half of mid- and upper-level administrators in higher education, yet they remain underrepresented in the most senior leadership roles. For mothers in leadership, this underrepresentation is compounded by gendered structures, expectations, and norms that shape their personal and professional lives in distinct ways. While scholarship has examined working motherhood broadly and gender inequity in higher education separately, little research has focused on how mother leaders experience and interpret gender inequity in higher education leadership. This study sought to address that gap by exploring the lived experiences of ten mother leaders working at research-intensive (R1) universities …

The Graphic Shift: Leveraging Superhero Graphica To Un-Ban Critical Conversations In The Secondary English Language Arts Classroom, Avery Clason

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis investigates the challenges that books are receiving during an era of social and political turmoil based on their content. Understanding why these books are polarizing for most readers and the general public is in direct connection with finding different books that can harbor the same conversations about dense topics and cultivating connections between students, the text, the world, and themselves. While there has been a search to find alternate books that are not considered "political flashpoints,” there has been limited research into the use of superhero graphica in the ELA classroom, especially in connection to utilizing this genre …

Borderlines Of Becoming: Transfronterizx College Students Navigating Surveillance, Hybridity And Belonging Along The Us-México Border, Aylin Garcia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This narrative literature review examines the educational experiences of transfronterizx college students along the U.S.– México border, a population largely absent from higher education scholarship. Drawing on Borderlands Theory, Anzaldúa’s frameworks, and critical perspectives on neoliberalism and militarization, this thesis highlights the border as a site of both constraint and possibility. Structural violence, surveillance, and militarization intersect with linguistic, racial, and class hierarchies to shape students’ mobility, identities, and sense of belonging. At the same time, students mobilize hybrid identities, cultural wealth, and transborder networks to assert agency, cultivate belonging, and resist deficit narratives. It also identifies persistent gaps, particularly …

Book Bans And Border Texans: Testimonios From The Middle, Laura Calvillo Neill

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative study explores how Chicana and Mexican American teachers and librarians along the Texas-Mexico border describe their experiences navigating books bans and curriculum restrictions. Through a Chicana feminist epistemological lens, the research centers the testimonios of four educators who reflect on their lived experiences navigating censorship, representation, and professional identity in politically charged educational spaces.

Using a testimonio-based methodology, participants shared personal narratives that illuminated how state politics and local interpretations of "appropriate" texts shape classroom and library decisions. Thematic analysis of these testimonios revealed four interconnected findings: 1. Teacher identity under pressure, 2. Censorship and control in the …

Review Of Information Literacy And Social Media: Empowered Student Engagement With The Acrl Framework, Rebecca M. Mccall

Communications in Information Literacy

Review of Santamaría, M., & Pfannenstiel, N. (2024). Information literacy and social media: Empowered student engagement with the ACRL Framework. Association of College and Research Libraries.

Digital Literacy And Family Engagement For Student Success, Genesis B. Mendoza

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The North Monterey County Unified School District (NMCUSD) in Castroville, California, serves a student population in which 87.5% are identified as low-income and nearly half are designated as English Language Learners. Families face significant barriers to accessing educational and community resources, barriers worsened by limited digital literacy and technology access. The NMCUSD Castro Plaza Family Resource Center serves as a vital hub supporting families in the predominantly rural and socioeconomically disadvantaged region. This project aimed to strengthen family engagement and digital inclusion through hands-on workshops. Workshop topics included online student registration and data verification, training on essential district digital tools …

Enhancing Emotional Regulation Skills In Kindergarteners, Erica C. Ayers

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Kindergarten-aged children often have trouble regulating their emotions because emotional regulation is a complex process to comprehend and manage. The development of emotional regulation is crucial in this developmental stage because it sets the child up for academic, career, and social success in life (Schlesier et al., 2019). Failing to learn successful regulation can have negative effects on mental well-being and social behaviors. Therefore, it is essential to teach kindergarteners emotional regulation. For this purpose, I developed two workshops that promoted self-awareness, cognitive reappraisal, and versatility among kindergarteners (4 to 5 years old) at Brookside Christian Little Learners in San …

A Phenomenological Study Into The Experiences Of Introverted Teachers, Bambi A. Hamel

All NMU Master's Theses

Behavior management has long been a challenge for teachers in general, but there has been a lack of research on behavior management through the lens of personality type, such as introversion. This qualitative phenomenological study explored the strengths and skills of introverted teachers to facilitate positive behaviors in their classrooms, as well as challenges they encountered. In a semi-structured interview, five teachers from a school district in the Central Upper Peninsula of Michigan were presented with a specific set of questions (See Appendix C) targeting their experiences in behavior management as introverted teachers. The results highlighted the teachers’ unique traits …

A Study Of Preferred Modality Of Education And Perceptions Of Academic Success Of Post 9/11 Student Veterans, Jason R. Wakefield

Theses and Dissertations

Veterans are pursuing higher education at increasing rates due to the benefits available upon separation or retirement from military service. Many choose online programs for flexibility, while others prefer traditional, in-person instruction. Regardless of modality, student veterans often face significant challenges completing their degrees. “When student veterans first enter college, they must transition to the overwhelming, independent, and fast-paced lifestyle of a college student” (Semer & Harmening, 2015). While online learning may contribute to these difficulties, other factors also hinder success.

Colleges and universities continue to explore why student veterans struggle to complete their programs, yet underlying issues may distort …

Rethinking The Performance Evaluation, Jason C. Crowley

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This paper delves into the complexities of performance evaluations within community college settings, aiming to inform a more effective approach specific to the unique characteristics of staff attracted to this work. Grounded in the understanding of validity in psychometric measurement and management theories, it seeks to identify evaluation criteria that prioritize enhancing the working environment which is known to impact overall organizational performance over traditional results-driven metrics to measure individual staff performance. Key theoretical underpinnings include discussions on validity, highlighting that measuring validity against the underlying goal of the performance evaluation (i.e., increased organizational performance) has been largely ignored in …