The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the integration of technology in classrooms. This has highlighted the need for a deeper understanding of how students experience these learning environments. In response, this case study explored how students experience blended learning in post emergency learning through a digital equity lens. The analysis of…

The purpose of this study was to determine the structures and support systems implemented to foster a district educational equity and culturally responsive professional development series. In this qualitative study, an action research design team implemented a four-part professional learning series to describe the impact of an educational equity…

Many departments seek to improve their equity, diversity, and inclusion using data-informed methods; however, not much is known about how closely department leadership aligns their review practices with appropriate theory. This dissertation seeks to explore four areas: 1) how are equity, diversity, and inclusion are being conceptualized (implied…

The research addresses how post-secondary education can enhance Black student participation in STEM fields, which historically lag behind their White counterparts. Through improvement science, the researchers test the effectiveness of providing scaffolded learning and awareness modules for faculty and staff to enhance curricular design efforts and…

The researchers believe that post-secondary education can provide a greater number of Black students with degrees in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). Using improvement science, this research aims to test whether providing scaffolded learning and awareness modules around success in STEM programs for faculty and staff…

This research study explored the culturally responsive school leadership (CRSL) development of a cohort of doctoral students immersed in a Leadership in Schooling program. In this study, a phenomenological qualitative research approach was utilized to capture the essence of each practitioner-leader's personal story as well as to identify and…

School choice has influenced several educational reforms in the US and across the world in the last decades. These reforms have often promoted school autonomy, parental choice, and competition between schools to improve quality and equity. Whether those reforms work in practice is well examined, but the roles of policy design such as the extent to…

The opportunity gap between Black and Brown students and their White counterparts in math performance is present in our middle school math classrooms. This opportunity gap creates an urgent need for educators to prepare middle school math teachers with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to build the math content and math identity of…

This dissertation in practice seeks to design an approach to inclusive programming based upon a human capabilities approach to supporting struggling learners, including those who are not receiving special education services. The study examines the evolution of special education law and inclusive programming to highlight the ongoing struggle to…

Student success inequities in online gateway math courses exacerbate the problematic trend that too few marginalized, community college students complete a degree, especially during the time of COVID-19 in which this study was situated. This critical participatory action research study examined the experiences and perspectives of the on-the-ground…

This research presents the investigation of physics students' and physics faculty members' professional development and a design methodology via which we could best support them in their professional development. In particular, the first part of this dissertation will focus on undergraduate upper-division physics students' conceptual learning and…

The purpose of this study was to explore the association of NCLB/accountability with educational output and input for New York State, collectively. Focusing on ELA and Math achievement in 4th and 8th grades, this study demonstrated the association of accountability outcomes in three ways: "accountability design, school proficiency level, and…