While residents of Los Angeles County appear to have access to seemingly endless postsecondary opportunities within their proximity, the geography of opportunity for accessible options of higher education leading to bachelor's degrees in the area requires further exploration. This case study explores the spatial contexts and 3-year transfer…

Recent trends and education research focused on teacher shortages and why teachers were leaving the profession. Music educators and specifically band directors faced heightened stressors because of their jobs. The many hats a high school band director wore included numerous tasks such as organizing, teaching, and coaching innumerable students in…

Elementary social studies resources have faced criticism for well over 30 years. Text that is too complex (Beck et al., 1989; Beck & McKeown, 1991), contains questionable content (Chu, 2017; Wade, 2012), and is boring to students (Kelley, 2021; Schug, 1982) and teachers (Zhao & Hoge, 2010). More recent studies have found that teachers are…

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of high school students' perceptions of their Geography course in a Southeast Texas high school. Five focus groups of students were assembled (seventeen students in two groups of four and three groups of three participants) and asked a series of six questions relating to the different…

In the modern era, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have revolutionized diverse fields yet a deficiency in geographical education lingers in the U.S. educational system. This dissertation offers a thorough analysis of this gap, focusing on the potential of the GIS as an innovative solution for enriching geographical education. The Geospatial…

In response to speculations about the impending obsolescence of higher education's most emblematic sites, I explore how campuses thrive by fostering civically vibrant and not-strictly-curricular forms of writing and rhetoric. I draw from the spatial turn in rhetoric/composition, as well as from scholarship on the field's civic aims, to reframe…

Social studies educators often find that creating relevant lessons that will engage students both intellectually and personally is challenging (National Council for the Social Studies [NCSS], 2013; Yilmaz, 2007). By exploring the lived experiences, educators might better understand the nuances of the period being investigated that can benefit…

In this dissertation, "Animate Literacies," I argue that conventional notions of literacy sponsorship (Brandt) fail to account for all the complexities of meaning making and power relations in queer lives, especially in othered places like Appalachia. I conduct queer literacy research in Appalachia in order to expand the scope of…

Students often fail to develop a sophisticated understanding of scientific topics despite years of formal education designed to help them do so. Through studying how students learn the physical sciences, conceptual change researchers have amassed a large body of evidence that people, rather than being empty vessels who passively accept scientific…

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the possible impact of project-based learning on student learning perspective and achievement in a social studies classroom. American schools are in an era of standardized testing based on standards-driven curricula that only teaches basic recall and recognition. School curriculum should be focused on…

It is estimated that about 1.8 million undocumented young adults are eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). With DACA, undocumented young adults can work legally in the U.S. with a two-year work authorization subject to renewal and are considered low priority for deportation. In addition, with an external application (advanced…

Educational quality is a way to influence the future of the American economy (Hanushek, 1986). Large-scale assessments are designed to determine quality in education by measuring student achievement. A connection exists between the standards, teachers, and assessments that form a system of accountability within education. State and national…

This dissertation documents the lives of six science teachers whose multifaceted identities were influenced over time by Hawai'i's unique sociocultural and biogeographical factors. Narrative inquiry was utilized through individual interviews which spanned a five-year period. From "restorying," identity narratives and maps were…

In policymaking, social movements, and media, education pathways are presented as the primary solution for low-income Black communities. To examine this dominant belief, this study utilized a critical case study approach to investigate a historic Black suburban neighborhood, Twinsburg Heights, in Northeast Ohio. The study combined Black Studies,…

This qualitative research study explored the ways in which sociocultural and professional emotional geographies contribute to female high school English teachers' perceptions of the work of teaching, as well as how they shape their professional identities. Data collection methods over a 12-week period included a researcher reflective journal,…