The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is a service agency whose mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. The COVID-19 pandemic brought a national focus on educational recovery and acceleration efforts, and ED faced a unique opportunity to…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how agency service providers describe their practices for building autonomy and relatedness for trafficked homeless youth in the Southeast. The theoretical foundation was self-determination theory, with a focus on the components of autonomy and relatedness. The guiding research…

Efforts to prevent veteran homelessness in the United States have been ongoing for decades, yet thousands of veterans still face homelessness daily. This case study explores collaborative leadership efforts among nonprofit and government agencies aimed at preventing homelessness among veterans. The research question asks how nonprofit agencies…

As acts of violence in schools increase, schools are unprepared and in-equipped to prepare for targeted violence. This dissertation focuses on how professionals organizations are preparing educational leaders in threat assessment and how school personnel can reach out for support to community resources and agencies who specialize in threat…

Curriculum development is currently being done in a variety of ways: individually, with peers, through an academic committee that may or may not have an industry representative, or through workshops. But the current ways of developing curriculum have challenges and inefficiencies, specifically when using groups and committee (logistical…

Policymaking at the federal level is a complex process that occurs across the three branches of government. There are many potential sources that policymakers can reach out to in order to inform their decision-making, but one not yet explored in early intervention (EI) federal policymaking is organizations. EI includes services for infants and…

This qualitative case study examined the perspectives of Early Childhood Education (ECE) teachers in a Virginia Region III Head Start agency, focusing on factors influencing their intentions to stay and ways to improve retention rates. The study addressed workforce challenges by identifying specific retention factors and exploring solutions. The…

The purpose of this action research study was to examine how leaders can build and sustain organizational culture in a remote work environment in a statewide educational regulatory agency. The study addressed how leaders can implement strategies to build and sustain culture in a remote work environment with fidelity with the goal of improved job…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how 7th-12th grade teachers described their active and passive transfer of the social capital elements of social structure and individual actions to at-risk youths during the reentry process into the general classroom in a Southwestern school district. The theoretical foundation of…

This research probed into women's challenges and biases in leadership positions within male-dominated federal government agencies in the United States. This qualitative Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) methodology builds on Bishop's (2022) groundwork, "The Female Leadership Gap: Breaking Down the Biases and Barriers of Women in…

This research explores the systemic and structural barriers affecting the effectiveness of community schools, particularly in providing mental health services and support, with a specific focus on how principals have responded to these needs in the post-COVID-19 era. Employing qualitative methods, including focus groups with principals from…

Through quantitative research, this study seeks to identify the specific method campus police employ to investigate cybercrime, then identify demographic characteristics (variables) of the agencies that permit or limit the agency's method of response. The correlation between demographic characteristics and the resulting response method represents…

The aim of this dissertation is to analyze the emergence and development of study abroad program providers as a distinct model of study abroad program through archival research and interviews. This particular focus will allow scholars and international educators to understand how program providers emerged, evolved, and responded to the changing…

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted children's mental health, with an increase in referrals for children with behavioral concerns and aggression, depressive symptoms, and school refusal. This influx has made it challenging for teachers to return to the classroom and is placing additional strain on a healthcare system that is already…

This dissertation studies two distinct but equally essential industries: higher education and water utilities. In the context of higher education, I investigate the impact of subsidies on equilibrium prices and quality levels. For water utilities, I explore the differences between public and private providers in terms of productivity and…