The number of English Learner (EL) students in the US has increased over the past two decades and their placement in US public schools has placed unprecedented demands on schools and general education teachers to address the linguistic and instructional needs of those students. Teachers, however, are generally not adequately prepared to work with…

This dissertation research aimed to examine the processes and practices of inclusive education for students with diverse disabilities in a school district in northern California. The first part is a theoretical articulation of a conceptual framework that school districts and local education agencies can use to design, implement, and sustain…

This dissertation is a call to action for the American community college educator to create and carry out a commitment to civic interfaith leadership. The community college educator as civic interfaith leader can and should examine and revise existing curricular and co-curricular resources--especially world religions courses and student…

The expansion of MOOCs (massive open online courses) is very much associated with instructors interested in the craft of teaching, innovating, and experimenting with different methods to improve and expand students' learning experience. The Erasmus+ project MOONLITE has worked to create cross-institutional scenarios and new educational pathways…

Recent research on racial inequality at work offers fruitful new insights on the organizational conditions that foster racial segregation, racial disparities in wages, and racial hierarchies in the labor market and the workplace. Much less is known, however, about the specifically occupational influences that impinge on equitable work outcomes by…

This qualitative study will explore the educational beliefs and practices of elementary principals and teachers in inclusive schools. Nine elementary schools in a unit district are the focus of this study given the significant gains made in closing the achievement gap between students with disabilities and their non-disabled peers. The research…

The murder of George Floyd and COVID-19 in 2020 catapulted the issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to the forefront in every aspect of life: housing, healthcare, Internet access, and education. The perception of university leadership's actions and their ability to make appropriate decisions regarding those issues in creating a campus…

The lack of diversity in STEM professions is an ongoing concern for the US both in terms of social justice and in having a globally competitive workforce. This study provides information for campus leaders to be proactive in considering a wide array of identities to meet the needs of students beyond attending to structural forms of diversity. Data…

Campus communities continue to become increasingly diverse as the U.S. grows more sensitized to, yet polarized over, issues of social justice. In response, many institutions of higher learning are placing greater emphasis on students' experiential learning about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in co-curricular experiences such as new…

This study examined how faculty, administrators, and staff experience the climate for shared governance and explored stakeholders' (faculty, administration, and staff) perceptions of shared governance as a means of cultivating inclusive and transformational leadership. The nonexperimental quantitative design used the collegial organizational…

This research examines how Middle Eastern American college students experience the campus climate of four-year colleges and universities. Using an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design, the study analyzes the factors of campus climate that have the greatest impact on determining the extent to which Middle Eastern American college…

If the potential of higher education to foster transformative, emancipatory learning is to be realized, it is necessary to consider the historical forces and social formations by which postsecondary education is (re)shaped. White supremacy operates in and on educational contexts. The classroom, steeped in power dynamics and characterized by the…

Over recent decades, a challenge faced in public schools in the United States is the appropriate education of students with disabilities (SWDs) in inclusive classrooms. The problem this study addressed is that, despite the implementation of inclusive practices, SWDs in a small rural school district in Virginia have low achievement rates. The…

Gaining popular recognition in the U.S. with the advent of the first White House Maker Faire in 2014, makerspaces have become an increasingly popular feature of the K-12 educational landscape. While makerspaces have been subject to critique related to the lack of inclusivity within the broader predominantly white and male 'maker culture', they…

This qualitative phenomenological study intended to provide further understanding and add to the body of literature relating to Deaf and/or hard of hearing student experiences in hearing community college settings. This study's purpose was to better understand how students who identify as Deaf and/or hard of hearing are sharing and interpreting…