The United States higher education institutions' mission is to support students' academic success and career development goals by preparing them to become globally competent citizens and workforce-ready graduates. With student workforce preparation at the core of their mission, there is concern that colleges and universities are not adequately…

Students experience fluctuations in their motivation over time, including deficits in motivation. How students respond to motivation problems has consequences for their future persistence and performance in school. Therefore, it is important to understand how students reason about motivation problems when they arise. In this research, we focus on…

Disproportionate enrollment of minorities in special education has been an equity issue in the United States for decades (Artiles, et al., 2010), often leading to case law and policy changes to provide corrective action. For example, in the 2004 amendments to the Individual with Disabilities Act (IDEA), the federal government mandated states to…

The purpose of the current study is to shed a light on institutional internationalization efforts and undergraduate students' global learning outcomes in four-year higher education institutions in the United States exploring the topic at the student, institutional, and academic-major levels. Specifically, three research questions lead the study:…

The goal of this research is to examine the official yearly document, created by the State of Michigan, to officially rank all public schools from best to worst in our state, and offers an alternative way of evaluating these schools. For several years, between 2010 and 2016 the Michigan Department of Education had created a Top-to-Bottom ranking…

Each student has his/her own behavioral characteristics. Still, groups of students demonstrate great similarities in their behaviors in academic and social life. Such student types reflect both the observable and intangible features of individual students. Previous studies utilized cross-sectional data to derive student typologies. Yet, we do not…

The present study was a qualitative inquiry into the attitudes and needs of faculty in higher education regarding diversity and inclusion training. Faculty are more likely to hold bias against students of marginalized identities (Tinto, 1975; Moss-Racusin et. al, 2012; Phelan et. al, 2017). This bias can often create discrimination and disparate…

Statewide accountability programs are incorporating academic growth estimates for general assessments. This transition focuses attention on modeling growth for students with significant cognitive disabilities (SWSCD) who take alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS), as most states attempt to structure their AA-AAS…

The purpose of the study was to analyze faculty stress with three interrelated parts. First, the study examined the relationship between work engagement, stress factors, stress outcomes, and faculty characteristics. Next, the study analyzed the relationship between students' perception of faculty stress, faculty teaching effectiveness, class size,…

This dissertation explores the professionalization of students enrolled in second language teacher education (SLTE) and their perceptions of the characteristics and obligations of a professional second language teacher (SLT). The sociocognitive approach forms the theoretical foundation, which sees humans as life-long learners and teachers, who…

This dissertation is a qualitative, single case study of an international school in Brazil that explores how school administrators and teachers conceptualize international mindedness, and how it is developed within the curriculum of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. I provide a rich description of the context, developing four themes…

Rater variation in performance assessment can impact test-takers' scores and compromise assessments' fairness and validity (Crooks, Kane, & Cohen, 1996). Rater variation can also undermine a test's validity and fairness; therefore, it is important to investigate raters' scoring patterns in order to inform rater training. Substantial work has…

The purpose of this study was not to disprove the effects of the current, common remedial literacy course design and the literacy practices within that help adolescent RLLs pass statewide assessment tests, but to describe the potential long-term impact of an innovative comprehensive approach to literacy (CAL) framed through an integrated course…

Statement of the problem. Too few community college students who intend to transfer and earn a baccalaureate degree actually do. This is a problem because postsecondary education is a key factor in economic mobility, and community colleges enroll a disproportionate number of nontraditional, part-time and low-income students. Although individual…

This non-experimental study used, with the Educational Testing Service's permission, an updated 1946 Student Opinion Questionnaire (originally designed to compare WWII veterans and nonveterans) to collect data regarding student backgrounds, attitudes and motives, worries and concerns, use of time, and perceptions of respect concerning nonveterans,…