Refugees have a significantly lower rate of higher education enrollment than the rest of the population, which can contribute to continued dependency on donors and can lower their chances of geographical and social mobility. This study sought to investigate the obstacles and facilitators which can support refugee enrollment and success throughout…

Teacher Leadership has been advanced as a solution to numerous educational issues faced such as ineffective professional learning and school improvement. However, not much is known about how teacher leadership can be nurtured through in-service professional learning programs. Utilizing survey, document analysis, and semi-structured individual…

This phenomenological study examined students' experiences with the academic support services provided during their enrollment at an Early College High School (ECHS) in South Texas. The participants in this study earned an associate degree from a community college while enrolled in an ECHS. Semi-structured one-on-one interviews were conducted with…

Online learning is becoming more prevalent (Aylmer, 2020) and institutions are seeing an increase in disabled students (HEFCE, 2017; Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of the University System and Research [ANVUR], & National Conference of University Delegates for Disability [CNUDD], 2021; Rao, Edelen-Smith, & Wailehua, 2015).…

Increasing numbers of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are being placed in the general classroom requiring educators to know how to use evidence-based strategies and interventions to address challenges related to their social skills and behaviors. The purpose of this case study was to understand rural school educators' perspectives…

New graduate registered nurse unreadiness for professional practice is a growing, critical global issue that threatens public safety. While research has associated this academic under-preparation to preventable medical errors, poor quality care outcomes, and high new graduate registered nurse attrition, little is known about prelicensure nursing…

Decades of research have elucidated the practices associated with effective professional development (PD) for educators, yet evidence suggests that school practices in the United States do not regularly meet these criteria, and even when they do, they may not have the desired effect on student outcomes (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017; Didion et al.,…

This project study addressed the problem of low persistence of Black men in community college. A southeast Texas community college study site implemented a mentoring program specific to Black men in 2013 following a data report from The Achieving the Dream program. Although the mentoring program had been implemented with progress, there were no…

Children with emotional and behavioral disabilities who would potentially benefit from Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) with therapy dogs do not have consistent access to this type of intervention in school settings due to a lack of defined policies and processes at both individual school and district levels. The focus of this qualitative…

Unlike many disaster scenarios, there was no guidebook for school communities to consult as they wrestled with the ensuing fallout of a global pandemic. This emergency offered educational policy makers a rare opportunity to not only evaluate current attitudes towards online learning, but also discuss the realities and impacts of large-scale…

Latino/a college enrollment rates have increased over the years. However, graduation rates are not rising at the same rate as enrollment. One of the programs designed to help increase Latino/a college retention and graduation rates is the College Assistance Migrant Program. This program assists students with tutoring, counseling, stipends, health…

This research study was designed and conducted to evaluate the regular education teacher's perspective on the effective use of Project Read to adequately instruct spelling mastery at the first grade level. The Project Read curriculum is divided into three major strands including phonics, reading comprehension, and written expression. Project…

This dissertation examined the influence of action process dimensions on team decision performance, and attitudes toward team work environment and procedures given different degrees of collaborative technology affordance. Process models were used to provide context for understanding team behavior in the experimental task, and clarify understanding…