One of the earliest indications that a student may be interested in STEM paths is the students' own self-efficacy for science as well as how they may see themselves in a STEM career as part of their science self-identity (Schlegel et al., 2019). Currently, there is a need to contribute to research that can assist agencies such as the National…

I conducted this study to determine if rural scholars faced unique challenges as applicants to medical schools. I created a 34-question, novel survey, "Challenges of Medical School Applicants," and broadly distributed it to medical schools across the country. I collected and analyzed a total of 178 responses. Rural and urban cohorts were…

The history of Indianapolis' Near Westside, its residents, and the Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis (IUPUI) campus, demonstrates how disenfranchisement, economic injustice, and spatial injustice intricately intertwine higher education institutions and residential communities. Where homes once stood, now stand institutions of…

This dissertation systematically explores the origins and evolution of the charter school movement in the United States from 1985 to 2015. I begin by analyzing the role of governors in K-12 education policymaking and find that while governors have generally placed greater emphasis on K-12 education policy over time, Republican governors have…

The purpose of this historical study was to establish the purposes and intent of the common levy in Nebraska's learning community. The development of this unique regional educational structure consisting of eleven school districts in the Omaha, Nebraska metropolitan area is central to the study. The research detailed the context of the decisions…

Location-based social networks (LBSNs) have recently attracted the interest of millions of users who can now not only connect and interact with their friends--as it also happens in traditional online social networks--but can also voluntarily share their whereabouts in real time. A location database is the backbone of a location-based social…

High school grade point average and college entrance test scores are two admission criteria that are currently used by most colleges in Yemen to select their prospective students. Given their widespread use, it is important to investigate their predictive validity to ensure the accuracy of the admission decisions in these institutions. This study…

The purpose of this study was to conduct a formative evaluation of the efficacy of the Team Advisory program, an in-school intervention in an urban public high school using fitness to teach study skills and social responsibility, based on the perspective of its faculty (n = 9). The first research question asks what do Boston English Advisors…

Through an examination of the underserved urban population, this paper takes a look at how the use of games and simulations may provide a means of closing a gap in education which has lingered for several decades. Discussion on how this engagement might look as both a class learning algebra through game programming and gameplay is reviewed. As…

This case study examined strong quantitative skills, social capital skills, and soft skills of urban college graduates using data from the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality Household Survey. The urban college graduates lived in Atlanta, Boston, or Los Angeles and had bachelor's, master's, PhD, and professional degrees. Among the three skills…