This dissertation examined disparities in initial placements and Length of Stay in Custody of children in North Carolina experiencing child maltreatment. This research examined how the Length of Stay in Custody and type of initial placement was associated with the age, race, and gender of children who had been removed from the care of their…

Teacher preparation programs include a variety of field experiences designed to support preservice teacher growth including early field experiences, student teaching, and clinical internships. Limited research was available regarding how hosting a preservice teacher may result in long-term learning and professional growth (Bruemmer, 2018;…

The percentage of English Learners (ELs) in public schools in the United States has grown from 9.2% or 4.5 million students in the fall 2010 to 10.4%, or 5.1 million students in the fall 2019 (NCES, 2022, para. 1). With the ever-increasing numbers of ELs in our public schools, it is apparent that more and more ELs will be among the mainstream…

While there is a great deal of research that examines the value of effective principals, there are few studies that explore the selection and placement of principals. As demonstrated in the research, the selection and placement of principals is important because effective principals impact school outcomes, including increased student academic…

The U.S. is no longer one of the world leaders in mathematics. In the future, more graduates will be needed to fill more than a million mathematics-intensive positions. However, the number of post-secondary learners graduating with mathematics-intensive degrees has been declining since 1984. Therefore, there will not be enough graduates to fill…

Mentoring dialogues are the discourse between the mentor, often referred to as the cooperating teacher, and the student teacher that may include feedback and reflection on practice (Hennissen, Crasborn, Brouwer, Korthagen, & Bergen, 2008; Tsui, Lopez-Real, Law, Tang, & Shum, 2001; Zeichner & Liston, 1985). While some researchers have…

Although individual leadership behaviors, particularly those of a college president have been studied extensively, the possibility of leading at the group level, particularly the relationship of leadership behaviors of the college executive team and its effect on student retention, remains unclear. Based on 68 college executive leader responses,…

The purpose of this research was to provide evidence of the impact career and technical education courses have on students after graduation. Numbers of Career and Technical Education (CTE) completers have continually dropped at the participating schools for the past five years. Five categories of placement after graduation were studied including…

Despite uncertainty related to student outcomes resulting from remediation (Bettinger & Long, 2009), eleven states mandate remedial education through common placement testing and standardized cutoff scores rather than permitting individual postsecondary institutions to establish remediation guidelines. Colorado, in particular, offers an…

Foreign educational credential assessment is responsive to assessors' social, economic, and cultural stimuli. Academic institutions, industries, and governmental bodies treat placement specialists' recommendations as signals of cross-cultural productive capacity, giving significance to the methodology of foreign education-system analysis. A…

The purpose of this study was to explore variables impacting dispositional empathy in doctoral psychology students. While there is a great deal of research regarding empathy in practicing psychologists and mental health professionals, little is known about empathy in psychology trainees. This is especially surprising given the importance of…

Organizational forms can become institutionalized in the sense that their existence and application is taken-for-granted and perceived as legitimate by stakeholders. Over time, new organizational forms can emerge that challenge perceived legitimacy of the established form. From this perspective, this dissertation examined institutionalization in…

Online instruction has become a common form of learning that provides students with the opportunity to access courses from anywhere. Preservice early childhood teachers can choose to obtain their degrees online or from the traditional college setting. Preservice teachers develop self-efficacy from the onset of coursework. This self-efficacy…

West Georgia Technical College (WGTC) did not offer online learning support courses and was losing students to other colleges that offered those courses online. Adding to this problem, online learning support class sections were not being added without sufficient proof that students could receive the same level of education in an online section as…

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative research study was to explore how young adults who have an autism spectrum disorder perceive their life choices after secondary education. The focus participants in the sample were young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). For the purpose of this research, ASD includes autism and Asperger's…