The increased visibility of transgender students in higher education institutions highlights the need for institutions to recognize the types of barriers encountered by this student population in order to implement institutional approaches to help retain these students. As such, this study sought to understand the impact of institutional…

The purpose of this study was to examine how educators working within a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) framework make sense of data, how they use data for instructional decision-making, and how the data use cultures at the district and school levels influence this data use. The study was designed with a theoretical framework informed by…

Early interventions for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can increase the success of children diagnosed with ASD by preparing them academically and socially for school, which has lifelong benefits. The general problem is that despite the known benefits of early intervention, many children do not receive services or even diagnoses at an early age.…

Growing concerns of diminishing teacher satisfaction in the workplace and a lack of support in their craft should be a topic of discussion for all school leaders. How do leaders help teachers grow and develop while also maintaining a strong level of support? This research study addresses this question through the process of classroom walkthroughs…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine factors that lead to teacher attrition and the role agency plays in it. For the purposes of this study, agency refers to teachers' capacity to make choices, take principles action, and enact change. A total of 20 former teachers were interviewed to discuss their lived…

The purpose of this naturalistic inquiry study was to explore parents' rationales for enrolling their children in a Classical Christian education (CCE) school accredited by the Association of Classical Christian Schools (ACCS). The curriculum of CCE is unique in its biblical and classical (Trivium and Quadrivium) content, its pedagogical…

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the reasons for small private college participation in intercollegiate athletics during the COVID-19 pandemic. The dissertation also provides context to institutional staff members' decision-making processes and experiences charged with overseeing athletics participation. Finally, the dissertation…

This multi-site case study uses Policy Implementation Process Examination (PIPE) and a variegated diagram to represent the evolution of interpretations in a human sense-making framework as it relates to Ohio House Bill 410, legislated in 2016. The purpose of the research is to study how implementing agents such as school district personnel respond…

The purpose of this study was to explore the decision-making processes of Black high school students, regarding their post-graduation plans (e.g. going to college, entering the workforce, etc.).While there is seemingly more attention, research, and money spent on college outreach, preparation, and promise programs (Perna, 2002), recent literature…

How do college non-completers list schooling on their resumes? The negative signal of not completing might outweigh the positive signal of attending but not persisting. If so, job-seekers might hide non-completed schooling on their resumes. To test this we match resumes from an online jobs board to administrative educational records. We find that…

The purpose of this study was to explore parent opinions of the teaching of social-emotional learning (SEL) competencies in middle school. Three over-arching questions were examined. First, do parents believe that it is important for SEL competencies to be taught? Next, do sixth grade parents have a different opinion of the teaching of SEL than…

Music teachers commonly lack basic awareness of and skill in navigating various education policy areas. One explanation for this lack of policy acumen is the general absence of policy content within the preservice music teacher curriculum. While music teacher educators have primary responsibility for curricular decisions, music education program…

During the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic had a secondary effect of increased media content loaded with mathematical, often probabilistic information (and misinformation). Our exploratory study investigates the probabilistic intuitions, misconceptions, biases, and fallacies in conditional probability reasoning of mathematics teacher…

Group design research studies can provide evidence to draw conclusions about "what works," "for whom," and "under what conditions" in special education. The quality indicators introduced by Gersten and colleagues (2005) have contributed to increased rigor in group design research, which has provided substantial…

There is little research addressing teachers' beliefs and judgements concerning students with identified Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND), a group which is regularly cited as experiencing disadvantages in their schooling compared to peers. This paper draws on research which examined the beliefs and judgements of a set of arts…