This single embedded case study utilized a content analysis of syllabi and other documents, along with interviews and observations, of two California teacher education programs to explore how social justice-oriented and transformative practices were conceptualized. The courses - topics, text, assignments, and instructional practices - were…

This dissertation explores the lived experience of short-term substitute teachers in K-8 public school settings, aiming to deconstruct common assumptions and identify areas for improvement in support systems. A case-selection variant of an explanatory sequential mixed methods design was utilized. In the first phase of the study, quantitative data…

Nurses who care for clients in the 21st century must possess an understanding of the etiology, pathology, and therapies of a multitude of diseases. The preparation of pre-licensure nurses for a complex health care system is a fundamental requirement for colleges and universities of nursing. With the rapid pace of genetic discoveries from the 1990s…

The problem is that there is a lack of information regarding the strategies that school leaders use to plan, develop, and implement nontraditional secondary school schedules. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to determine the strategies that secondary administrators use to successfully plan, develop, and implement a school schedule…

This qualitative study examined elementary school teachers' transitions from in-person to remote social-emotional learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in a northeastern US public school district. This study addressed the following central research question using Bandura's (1977) self-efficacy theory and CASEL's Framework (2021) for social and…

This qualitative study investigates the perceptions of alternative school administrators in North Carolina about the impact of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) on them and their campuses. The study interviewed four alternative high school administrators with schools labeled as Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) during the 2018-2019…

The objective of this study was to better understand what aspects of place and curriculum influence experiences for underserved youth in an environmental education program. For instance, how can environmental education managers create program experiences that maintain depth and focus, while honoring the unique ways students connect and find…

This inquiry explores the dynamics of community college faculty experiencing a critical change event. The study is situated in faculty response to environmental paradigm shifts, evolving organizational mission contexts and changing roles and responsibilities that are a result of the transition of one traditional community college organizational…

During the spring of 2020, a South Georgia school implemented distance learning due to COVID-19, with little administrative support for the teachers for online instruction. This quick transition may have impacted teachers' self-efficacy beliefs about teaching online. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore middle school…

This research focuses on the ways in which preservice teachers evolve in their beliefs and understandings of literature while they are enrolled in a semester-long course, TLS 480, Children's Literature in the Classroom. I was the instructor of the course and served as a teacher researcher using qualitative research and Louise Rosenblatt's…

The purpose of this study was to examine the process through which high school mathematics teachers direct their own learning and professional growth. Improving our understanding of the process of self-directed learning has significance in the field of mathematics education due to the degree to which the Common Core State Standards movement has…

In 2018 the Trump Administration's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) under Betsy DeVos moved to institute new recommendations for implementing Title IX in American educational institutions. In this dissertation I converse with the OCR regarding their new guidelines for interpreting Title IX in colleges and universities with respect to sexual…

Research on learning styles often focuses on the learning style of the student; however, the learning style of the educator may affect instructional choices and student learning. Few studies have addressed the lack of knowledge that exists in universities with respect to educators' learning styles and a lesson framework (development, delivery, and…

Globalization's impact on higher education institutions in the United States, along with universities around the world, has been unprecedented. Internationalization--the process of infusing, implementing, and integrating an international dimension to the primary functions of higher education institutions--has been the general response. But…

Higher education in America is resilient; in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges, higher education manages to weather the storm of change, pressure, doubt, and criticism. Consider the following challenges: shifting demographics, escalating tuition, decreased state funding, retention and graduation rates, flat tuition revenue,…