The purpose of this mixed methods exploratory study was to design and validate an instrument Satter's Preservice Educators Social Emotional Competencies Inventory (Satter's PSESEC-I). The 5-point Likert instrument allows preservice educators to self-assess and reflect on instrument items on their abilities to use social emotional learning and…

The implementation of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) has been attributed to a decrease in office discipline referrals (ODRs) and suspensions and to increase academic performance, and engagement, as well as staff, family, and student perceptions of a safe and positive school climate. High schools have had more significant…

Moving Beyond the Ordinal Methodological Controversy: A Systematic Review (Manuscript 1): Ordinal outcome data is a common byproduct of education research. Yet more than seventy-five years after the development of Stevens' original measurement framework, the permissibility of select analytic techniques to ordinal outcome data remains a topic of…

In this dissertation, I utilize the post-structural philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and Fe´lix Guattari as a lens for investigating the proof process. Deleuze and Guattari were both post- structural philosophers who, like many in this tradition, troubled traditional notions related to stable identities, meaning, language, and mathematics. For…

The assessment of human performance is not a new phenomenon. We have evidence that people have been required to prove their worth dating back at least to the Epic of Gilgamesh. What has changed, at least on a large scale, is the importance given to quantitative evidence in the evaluation process. For example, many employers have begun subjecting…

Ferrari (2010) stated 20-25% of people self-identified as chronic procrastinators, which is a common self-regulatory failure involving stalling the initiation or completion of important duties or responsibilities until the last minute, after a predetermined deadline, or indefinitely (Dryden, 2000). This study is the first attempt to translate and…

Social validity of interventions is often conceptualized as a triad of the social significance of goals, the acceptability of procedures, and the importance of intervention outcomes (Wolf, 1978). Social validity measurement is considered an essential part of quality single-case design studies. Yet, the practice has been inconsistently reflected in…

Harmful and inaccurate narratives about the nature of mathematics, and about the mathematical incapability of historically marginalized groups, are pervasive and longstanding. The persistence of these narratives, and their documented negative impacts in school, the discipline, and beyond, have led some scholars to conclude that there is something…

This three-article format dissertation presents a comprehensive examination of the 2017 Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), focusing on its measurement properties across diverse community college student populations. Study 1 centered on the validity of the internal structure of CCSSE. Exploratory and confirmatory factor…

Modern mindfulness is a catch-all term. Just exactly what it looks like within the context of education and how it is taught vastly varies. As such, program fidelity and integrity is questioned. Here a definition of mindful self-regulated learning is proposed and the Mindful Self-Regulated Learning Scale (m-SRLS) is developed. This includes item…

Nonacademic staff in higher education, also known as support staff, is a necessary and under-researched workforce essential for the success of higher education institutions. The higher education needs emphasized by the COVID-19 pandemic, state budget cuts, and increasing levels of turnover from the nonacademic population highlight the need for a…

The study established the validity and reliability of a weighted individual performance-based assessment tool within the utility scope of middle school orchestral strings. The following research questions guided this study: 1. What specific string-playing behaviors and corresponding criteria validate a weighted individual performance-based…

As students transition from the calculus sequence to upper-level mathematics classes, many struggle to understand the purpose of proofs and how to produce them on their own. One tool students and mathematicians alike frequently use is examples to aid their understanding and production of proof. Using examples productively has been argued to be…

This study sought to develop and validate an instrument to test the self-efficacy of teaching engineering design. This study is part of a larger effort to develop an instrument for both pre-service and in-service teachers of Science, Technology, and Engineering education. The focus of this study is on the initial instrument creation process and…

Naturalistic instruction strategies support increased opportunities for young children to practice attainment of communication and social emotional skills. This is critically important for young children with autism spectrum disorder, which is characterized by challenges in communication and social emotional development. Specifically, children…