The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to investigate kindergarten teachers' beliefs about literacy and the relevance of assessments at the kindergarten level, the literacy skills kindergarteners should possess, how these skills are acquired, to what extent their beliefs about literacy influenced their instructional…

Many employers state that they expect college graduates to have "soft" or domain-general skills like critical thinking, and universities claim to teach these skills. To prove colleges are delivering on their promise--and to demonstrate that employers are picking the best personnel fairly--colleges, students, and employers need a valid…

This study explores how children from two to nine years of age develop Computational Thinking (CT) skills. The term "CT" denotes a set of cognitive processes that are useful for framing and solving problems using computers and other information processing agents. Acquisition of CT skills is traditionally associated with learning to code…

Teachers' assessment practices greatly influence student learning. However, the level of assessment literacy among teachers is inadequate relative to classroom assessment standards and expectations. Assessment literacy includes interpreting results of various assessments, creating assessments that are aligned to learning targets, using assessment…

School systems across the United States increasingly use performance-based assessments (PBAs) as alternatives to traditional standardized tests, like the SAT, to make post-secondary and workforce readiness (PWR) determinations. However, very little research has been conducted to validate such alternative assessments as valid indicators of a…

In healthcare, cultural competence is an essential skill identified as one of the most modifiable factors in resolving health disparities. Through the lens of multiple frameworks, including the Process of Cultural Competence in the Delivery of Healthcare Services, multicultural education, and reflective practitioner, this study seeks to explore…

School districts continue to strive to enhance students' academic achievement. Various studies and literature highlight the significance of the role of non- academic subjects, which in Ontario, Canada, are referred to as learning skills. Teachers in Ontario are mandated to report on six learning skills three times in a school year within their…

Traditional, standardized instruction and assessment practices are insufficient to promote the development of skills such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication, which have been deemed necessary for post-secondary success (Darling-Hammond & Adamson, 2013; Milner, 2018; Rickles et al., 2019). They also serve to…

Research has shown that only some teachers use learner-centered approaches in their instruction. However, it is unclear why and how those teachers use such approaches in their instruction. The purpose of this study was to examine one program--feedback, feed up, and feed forward--to understand why and how teachers choose to use this…

There is little empirical research related to how elementary students develop computational thinking (CT) and how students apply CT in problem-solving. To address this gap in knowledge, this study made use of learning trajectories (LTs; hypothesized learning goals, progressions, and activities) in CT concept areas such as sequence, repetition,…

Career Technical Education (CTE) at the high school level is a sequence of courses that prepares students with the academic and technical knowledge and skills needed to either continue their studies or enter the workforce after high school (Gray & Lewis, 2018). While there is research regarding how high school CTE programs support academics,…

This dissertation investigates the intersection of economics of innovation and human capital development to understand how to empower individuals and marginalized communities to be directed to innovation and STEM disciplines. The research focuses on three main chapters: Chapter 1 examines the effectiveness of an education program in teaching and…

Dual language programs are a form of bilingual education in which emergent bilingual students receive instruction for content and literacy in two languages (Thomas & Collier, 2019). Dual language programs are developed from policies founded on ideologies that are based on instruction for monolingual students, therefore favoring predominantly…

Although the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS) present a detailed set of "Science and Engineering Practices", a finer grained representation of the underlying skills is lacking in the standards document. Therefore, it has been reported that teachers are facing challenges deciphering and effectively implementing the…

Competency-based education (CBE) has become well-accepted as a powerful way to personalize learning. Today's advanced technologies have enhanced CBE even further. Practitioners in the field are seeking means to take advantage of technology to increase CBE's effectiveness and efficiency, especially for adult learners. Microlearning and digital open…