According to the "2016-2017 Rural Schools Spotlight Report," Texas is home to more than 1,240 school districts with almost 665 serving less than 1,000 students. One focus for the Texas Education Agency (TEA) has been serving the needs of small and rural sites as they comprise more than 50% of the state's districts. In South Texas, a…

Background: The Dogwood Mountain School System (DMSS) faces the challenge of trying to address the apparent drop-off of female student interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and increase female student interest and engagement in STEM. Purpose: The purpose of this action research study was to understand how individual…

According to Brenan (2021), 77% of Americans are concerned about the morals and values in America. Morality is embedded in the foundation of the United States and its educational system, with ethical dilemmas requiring leaders to be intentional and cognizant (Dahl, 2015; Johnson, 2021; Lickona, 1993; Smith, 2020). The California public educational…

Farmed animal sanctuaries provide lifelong care to formerly farmed animals. Many strive to educate their community about farmed animals and promote more compassionate lifestyles, such as veganism. Important to this is cultivating empathy and concern for the well-being of individual farmed animals. Essential to well-being is agency, which is the…

The enrollment of students in the United States public school system is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse. According to research, students of color benefit from having teachers and leaders who look like them as role models and the classroom dynamics that diversity creates. However, the ethnic and racial diversity of teachers and…

Student misconduct continues to trouble institutions, negatively affecting institutional mission fulfillment. Although student codes of conduct and related processes exist to establish standards and address behavioral concerns, little research has proactively explored what characteristics impact student moral behavior intentions and understanding,…

This dissertation aims to: 1) characterize the range of beliefs museum practitioners have about racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity; 2) their understanding of the role of race, culture, and ethnicity in minoritized learners' sensemaking; and 3) the areas of tension and symmetry between practitioners' values and their perception of their…

The purpose of this qualitative hermeneutical phenomenological study was to understand the mindsets of preservice educators regarding mandatory training in pre-violence indicator patterns at XYZ University. Pre-violence indicator patterns are defined as behaviors symptomatic of violent or aggressive behavior. The theory guiding this study was…

The purpose of this study was to identify secondary school leaders' preferred responses to gossip (RTG) and to examine the relationship between their attitudes towards gossip (ATG) and preferred RTG in public secondary schools in Southern California. This exploratory study used 2 rounds of online surveys. In Part I, 29 school leaders identified…

Adequacy of funding for public institutions of higher education in the United States is significantly important to an array of stakeholders, including, state legislative bodies, decision-makers in the arena of higher education, and notably, consumers of higher education. State allocation of resources for higher education demonstrates variability,…

This study examines how cultural values may impact East Asian parents seeking educational services for their child. Using the lens of acculturation theory to analyze qualitative and quantitative data, findings reveal a complicated relationship between racial identity and the special education space. The quantitative data substantiates a…

This dissertation examines the effect of a Buddhist-based program of mindfulness, taught as part of the curriculum of a graduate program, on the relationship of teacher-practitioners with their work. Collecting data on the experiences of three cohorts over a nearly three-year period, this longitudinal case study examines the experiences of…

Engineering higher education is growing rapidly across the world, especially in the Global South. For many of these countries, the dominant engineering university models were imported and established by colonial European empires. These imported systems of higher education and engineering evolved to meet the local contexts of Europe and the United…

Calls for accountability continue for higher education institutions by internal and external stakeholders. College and university budgets continue to flatline or shrink, and often co-curricular programs can bear the weight of the budget cuts. There is a need for a reporting metric that shows more than the financial value of these programs as well…

One of the challenges humans face is making collective decisions with regards to controversial issues related to science, namely socio-scientific issues (SSIs). Genetic modification, nuclear energy, experimental drugs, 5G technology are a few examples of SSIs. Some of the concerns posed by such issues are compromise to privacy and identity, threat…