Title 1 middle schools have always faced unique challenges. Students belonging to families with low socio-economic status and financial stress have to overcome various barriers before they are academically successful and ready for college, career, and life. The COVID-19 pandemic forced students to engage in education outside of traditional school…

There are low participation rates and low literacy and numeracy gains for students in federally funded adult education programs, resulting in students not gaining the academic skills they need to improve their workforce employability. The purpose of this nonexperimental quantitative correlational study was to determine if U.S. jurisdiction…

Developmental math courses have long been considered a barrier for students (Benken et al., 2015), especially for minority and low-income students, who are enrolled in developmental courses disproportionately to their peers (Chen, 2016). Research has shown that various redesign efforts (e.g., multiple measures placement, corequisite support,…

Using data from a statewide couple relationship education (CRE) program efficacy study, this implementation science study considered whether and how classmates influence gains from CRE exposure. We pursued a theoretically and empirically supported model to explore whether class climate, indicated by classmate characteristics, influenced change in…

With the number of refugees continuing to grow across the world, teachers must be prepared for meeting the complex needs of refugee students. This qualitative study explores the experiences and perspectives of 17 educators in a school with a high refugee population. Using an action research approach, educators describe the key background…

This dissertation explores the role that shame plays in schools in the United States, both historically and today. Through utilizing the Scholarly Personal Narrative (SPN) arts-based inquiry method, I consider my own encounters with shame both as a student and teacher, and position these stories as a jumping-off point to further investigate the…

Since the 1990s, colleges and universities throughout the United States have witnessed a substantial increase in student population demographics. In particular, upticks have been reported in the number of first-generation students enrolling in colleges and universities. There is evidence that first-generation college students often face…

In this study, I used feminist identity development as a theoretical framework to explore the experiences of 12 college sorority women. Participants shared stories from their college and early life, including the experiences they identified as the most influential to their growth and development. Five main themes of what influenced their feminist…

The college marching band provides students with opportunities that foster student development, defined as the personal growth and identity development of students due to environmental factors in higher education. However, previous research has not focused on the role of college marching band participation in student development. The goal of this…

The purpose of this study was to understand faculty perspectives of institutional change. The context for the institutional change was a shift from a largely traditional student population with a focus on the liberal arts to a range of adult and non-traditional students seeking professional degrees. The three research questions which guided the…

Colleges implement success courses to improve student outcomes. Since expanding its curriculum to include nine success courses, Illinois Eastern Community Colleges (IECC)--a multi-college community college district in rural, southeastern Illinois--has not determined the efficacy of these courses on student success. The purpose of this study was to…

The real-world problem concerning the question of leadership preparedness of international students attending private, Jesuit Catholic universities was studied using a constructivist narrative inquiry method. From the rich stories of five participants, six experiential themes emerged from the data analysis done by hand coding. The themes were…

Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), Summer Bridge Programs (SBP)across the California State University (CSU) system vary in design and delivery. This mixed-methods study investigated six CSU SBP designs, delivery, and 4-year graduation rates of SBP participants during the 2015 through 2019 years. The qualitative portion of this study consisted…

The purpose of this quantitative comparative study is to analyze the demographic and program choice data of students who completed a study abroad program in the United States over a 10+-year period and to determine the impacts of those factors. The literature is well saturated with the benefits of students engaging in any type of study abroad…

Problem: The demand to recruit highly skilled managers and laborers in Vietnam has encouraged educational institutions to upgrade the quality of their higher education programs and to evaluate their effectiveness. Andrew University's MBA program did not have an assessment developed to evaluate the program's effectiveness in Vietnam. It required an…