As students transition from the calculus sequence to upper-level mathematics classes, many struggle to understand the purpose of proofs and how to produce them on their own. One tool students and mathematicians alike frequently use is examples to aid their understanding and production of proof. Using examples productively has been argued to be…

The purpose of this dissertation is to describe the environment of current Texas Subchapter E University charter schools in Texas and some of the teachers that currently work at those charter schools. Two research questions guided this study: (1) What are teachers' experiences in Texas University Charter schools? How do their experiences compare…

This doctoral dissertation explored communication between school principals and teachers and how those types of communication impact school culture. The information also investigated how much teachers communicate with each other. Communication breakdown has become one of the issues most affecting organizations, which has caused slow improvement…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) cemented a standardized testing assessment culture in the United States but research has highlighted the inequities (Au, 2020; Dixon, 1978; Grodsky et al., 2008; Khan, 2020; Moses & Nanna, 2007), unreliability (Hunt et al., 2010; Pizmony-Levy & Green Saraisky, 2016) and negative impacts (Berryhill et al., 2009;…

Background/Purpose: Over two decades of research has demonstrated that collective teacher efficacy has a significant effect on student learning, and numerous studies have explored environmental variables related to high levels of collective teacher efficacy (Donohoo, 2018, Donohoo et al., 2020; Eells, 2011; Hattie, 2016). Donohoo et al.'s (2020)…

It has been established in prior research that parent involvement and school-family partnerships have the potential to positively impact student achievement; however, creating and maintaining positive and productive parent-teacher communication can be difficult. Since teachers function as the link between school and the home, there is an increased…

The shortage of autism specialists and lack of culturally sensitive autism assessment tools are helping to perpetuate racial and ethnic disparities in autism identification and treatment. Using DisCrit as a framework, this quantitative study examined the utility of one autism assessment tool, the Social Responsiveness Scale, second edition (SRS-2)…

Community colleges are under ongoing pressure to increase the success of students placed into developmental courses; while many reforms focus on the length of course sequences, there is also attention on how students are assessed and placed. Studies of these assessment and placement (A&P) methods focus primarily on predictive validity; one…

For this dissertation, Academic Support Technology (AST) is defined as any institutionalized technology activities and purchases that are performed in support of the instructional efforts of that institution. AST is the technology support that includes, but is not limited to, Student Information Systems, Learning Management Systems, Classroom…

Program-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PWPBIS), an early childhood extension of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), is a multi-tiered system of supports that has shown promise in fostering the social, emotional, and behavioral development of young children in preschool settings. The literature indicates…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the positional identity of outdoor educators (OE) within educational spaces. Numerous studies have reported the myriad benefits of outdoor learning, but do not address the factors, contexts, and experiences that impact OEs' identity formation and professional trajectory. Through an embedded mixed methods…

This study focuses on pre-service teachers' experiences and beliefs about critical literacy, the importance of critical literacy, and the lack of explicit practices known about how to teach critical literacy in pre-service teacher education. Data were collected for eight weeks using the Critical Literacy Beliefs Survey (CLBS-1). A sample (N=405)…

Teacher evaluation systems are designed to provide teachers with feedback to improve their practice. The feedback, however, is oftentimes not delivered in a way that considers the underlying cognitive processes that teachers experience when presented with performance feedback (Jordan & Audia, 2012). According to performance feedback theory,…

Adolescent mental health is a growing concern in the United States. Children who experience mental health issues struggle in the school environment if their needs are not met. Teachers play a critical role in the classroom when identifying students who struggle with mental health issues. The purposes of this convergent, parallel mixed-methods…

This study examines a measure of critical consciousness (CC) of educators created by the author, based on the concept of CC as seminally developed by Paulo Freire. A three-factor conceptual model and measurement scale are developed and validated through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Findings and limitations are discussed, as well…