Transition education is a required component of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Information Act of 2004, and all students who have disabilities must have a transition education plan to prepare them for life after high school. However, there are no definitive standards for transition programs, and it is unclear how administrators with…

Providing equitable education for all students is the responsibility of administrators, teachers, and parents. Even though the MTSS/RtII Framework has evolved from the RtI and RtII models, the basis is the same: intervening and identifying students' needs and analyzing data and programming instruction to meet all students' needs. Even though in…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is a difference in the perception of the presence of the 5 attributes of a learning organization between site leaders and teachers. Senge (1990) used the 5 areas of mental models, personal mastery, shared vision, team learning, and systems thinking to describe the necessary…

When families consider investing in their children's education they must weigh the perceived costs against the potential benefits, which becomes increasingly difficult as the cost of higher education continues to rise. Using a family systems approach, this phenomenological study explored the central research question, "How do families…

University instructors experience continual technological change that affects their classroom teaching and their relationships with students. Few studies have been conducted regarding instructor views about student off-task multitasking during class. This study used a qualitative design with a phenomenological approach to discover meaning that…

A low rate of successful transition and degree completion for community college (CC) students who intend to complete a baccalaureate through transfer to a four-year university has been an unresolved problem in higher education. With more students entering higher education through CCs, successful CC to university transitions have become a critical…

This qualitative descriptive study examines and evaluates an internal, grow-your-own, community college leadership development program. Participants in a community college leadership development program self-reported their leadership knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) before, during, and after participation in the program. Study…

This study utilized a convergent parallel mixed methods design to study teachers' concerns during implementation of instructional coaching for math in a rural PK-12 district in north Texas over a three-year time period. Five campuses were included in the study: one high school (grades 9-12), one middle school (grades 6-8), and three elementary…

The purpose was to investigate common experiences of superintendents as they responded to realignment of leadership responsibilities during an organizational change initiated by mayoral control. To discover the shared essence of changes in leadership responsibilities experienced by superintendents, individuals "told their stories" to…

Effective partnerships for education reform "require that schools view parents and communities not simply as customers or clients but as partners in the educational process" (Sanders, 2009, p. 1695). In 2012, seven Seattle area school districts and the Puget Sound Educational Service District (the PSESD) were awarded funding for the Road…

This qualitative grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006) study seeks to explore the relationship between social studies education and sustainability education. It does so by first examining the conceptualizations and classroom practices of social studies teachers to determine their perceptions of social studies through their narratives and what they enact…

Academic quality in for-profit vocational (Gainful Employment) programs is a concern for all stakeholders. However, academic quality is not easily defined. The Department of Education's Gainful Employment Rule defines academic quality With a few easily measured metrics such as student retention and job placement rate, despite the fact that…

Introductory undergraduate physics courses aim to help students develop the skills and strategies necessary to solve complex, real world problems, but many students not only leave these courses with serious gaps in their conceptual understanding, but also maintain a novice-like approach to solving problems. "Matter and Interactions"…

This multi-sited ethnography analyzes challenges and opportunities in the design and development of digital media systems in the Office of Research and Development (ORD) at the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Drawing heavily from interviews conducted over the course of three years, primarily with scientists at the ORD's…

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate how educational research, specifically Research-Based Instructional Strategies (RBIS), is adopted by education practice, specifically within the engineering Statics classroom. Using a systematic approach, changes in classroom teaching practices were investigated from the instructors' perspective.…