This dissertation traces the way hair is framed in judicial texts about dress code policy in the U.S. between 1969 and 2023. Using 46 court cases from district, appellate, state supreme, and federal supreme courts, the study first considers how dress code is brought to courts over these 54 years, and the kinds of legal claims made in these cases.…

This qualitative phenomenological study investigates the transition to college experience for students with learning disabilities who participated in a high school transition-to-college curriculum. Utilizing individual, semi-structured interviews with seven graduates from an independent school for students with learning disabilities currently…

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), schools and families collaborate to determine educational decisions for children with special needs. However, successful collaboration occurs when special education practitioners and families build strong partnerships. This study employed a mixed-methods action research design to…

The problem that this Education Leadership Portfolio (ELP) sought to address was the traditional conduct resolution (TCR) process at the University of Delaware (UD) provides too few options to resolve conduct and conflict issues that promote learning and personal growth for students who do not pose a potential threat to those involved or the UD…

This dissertation examines the legal literacy of school administrators and the lack of mandated training regarding school law, specific to the First Amendment. With continual changes in education school administrators can function as the change agent for schools through the lens of self-efficacy. This dissertation is organized into three bodies of…

In the landmark 1969 "Tinker v. Des Moines" case, the Supreme Court ruled school districts could censor student speech if it caused a material and substantial disruption to the educational process or if the speech infringed upon the rights of others. Since then, the Supreme Court has also allowed schools to abridge students' speech…

This dissertation utilizes a qualitative approach to research, guided by policy analysis and evaluative case studies. The purpose of the study is to examine what information is made available to parents regarding their rights, and the rights of their child, when utilizing a voucher or education savings account to attend a private school. The…

This qualitative case study utilizes a nested research design, including both survey and interview data, and a campus ecology framework to analyze students' perceptions of free speech and sense of belonging at a single institution in South Central Texas. The recent conflict on campuses surrounding free speech is indicative of deep tension…

The special education to prison pipeline is a documented facet of the school to prison pipeline, in which Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and other youth of color disproportionately experience exclusionary school discipline, increasing their likelihood of incarceration. The special ed to prison pipeline is a sub-trend in which BIPOC youth who are…

Students with disabilities bring various backgrounds and experiences to colleges and universities in the United States. The right to access higher education with such individualized needs are central tenets to federal civil rights laws. The confluence of increased participation in higher education by students with disabilities and their need for…

The purpose of this research study was to understand the role of self-advocacy for students with mental health conditions (SWMHC) by exploring their perspectives. Participants in this study were enrolled students at a public 4-year university within the United States who were registered with student disability services, have a mental health…

The purpose of this study was to seek to understand and describe the lived experiences of college students identified as having autism transitioning to adult status and the meaning they made of becoming independent. The essence of the shared expressed experience was sought for a new understanding of what it is like for students with autism as they…

There is significance in addressing spiritual and religious dimensions in the counseling process, which results in the need for training materials and strategies to facilitate their ethical integration within the context of public-school counseling. Spirituality and religion play integral roles in many individuals' lives, offering frameworks for…

Zero tolerance policies were designed to create safety by implementing automatic exclusion (e.g., suspensions, expulsions) for misbehavior in response to rising school violence in the United States. However, evidence over the past four decades shows that these policies fail to increase objective and subjective safety, and instead foster poor…

Title IX of the Education Amendments Act was signed into law on June 23, 1972. The goal of the legislation which was signed into law by President Nixon was to correct shortcomings of the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964 that allowed for equal access to education opportunities for individuals regardless of race, religion or national origin. The…