Developmental academic advisors' perceptions of their effectiveness in student retention are based on experiences with students. The problem addressed in this study was advisors' outcomes are not matching the expectations of administratively targeted retention initiatives mandated outside of their day-to-day practice. The purpose of this…

In the wake of the 2016 and 2020 U.S. presidential elections and the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing public attention has been paid to the ability of citizens to use and understand news media, information, and digital technology. Conversations about media literacy--the ability to critically engage with media--are ongoing in the press, schools, and…

The American Council on Education's (2017) most recent "American College President Study" found that only 30% of colleges and universities in the United States are led by female presidents. While some previous scholarship has addressed female college and university leaders in various ways, this study focused on communication factors that…

A decline in response rates was found for agricultural education research studies using survey research methods. The use of incentives and various response modes can affect survey response rates and were the focus of this experiment. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of survey response mode and incentives on response rates…

This dissertation is a multi-method study that investigates the concepts of culturally responsive teaching and culturally relevant pedagogy in theory, policy, and practice. It examines the roots of culturally responsive and relevant education as originally conceptualized by educational scholars Gevena Gay and Gloria Ladson-Billings. Through…

I study the technology transfer process at universities and federal laboratories, based on 49 interviews of postdoctoral scientists and their supervisors (principal investigators or PIs) at two large U.S. research universities and four major National Institute of Health and Department of Energy federal laboratories. This dissertation is unique in…

This thesis investigates the choice between reflexive pronouns (e.g., "herself") and personal pronouns (e.g., "her") in the expression of subject coreference in English locative prepositional phrases. A persistent puzzle for syntactic theories of pronoun licensing, commonly known as binding theories, it has long been observed…

Countless scholars have utilized Critical Pedagogy as a philosophical frame to reorient teaching and learning as, among other things, a conversation between teacher and student. As an educator and theorist, Frank Abrahams has championed a Critical Pedagogy for Music Education that aims for the "acquisition of a critical consciousness, the…

An online learning system has the capacity to offer customized content that caters to individual learner's need and has seen growing interest from industry and academia alike in recent years. Different from traditional computerized adaptive testing setting which has a well-calibrated item bank with new items periodically added, online learning…

The George Floyd Protests of the Summer of 2020 initiated public conversations around the need for antiracist teaching. Yet, over time the discussion evolved into policy debates around the use of Critical Race Theory in civics courses. The rapid transition masked the fact that we know little about Americans' policy preferences. Do Americans…

Structural equation modeling (SEM) is being applied to ever more complex data types and questions, often requiring extensions such as regularization or novel fitting functions. To extend SEM, researchers currently need to completely reformulate SEM and its optimization algorithm -- a challenging and time-consuming task. In this paper, we introduce…

Different research methods can yield unique insights into literacy learning and teaching--and, used synergistically, can work together to move the field forward. Now revised and updated with 50% new material, this definitive text presents widely used methods and provides students and researchers with a clear understanding of when, how, and why…

The last 20 years of federal legislation have seen a growth in the requirement that evidence-based practices be used to ensure improved student outcomes. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) and No Child Left Behind (2001) each require educators to research, develop, and implement new practices aimed at meeting this expectation.…

In an era of rapid development, the world is showing greater openness towards diversity and inclusiveness. There is also an increasing amount of career-related research that has shed light on the LGBTQ+ population. Still, the literature reports many career issues that concern young LGBTQ+ individuals. The current article aimed to highlight the…

Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings is the former Kellner Family Distinguished Professor of Urban Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She served as president of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in 2005-2006. Dr. Ladson-Billings has contributed widely to the development of…