The social aspects of faculty instructional development programs are increasingly recognized because the programs' impact is greatly influenced by social interactions among faculty participants. These interactions allow faculty members to reflect on and improve their teaching practices. Although the literature has shown that effective…

The purpose of this phenomenological was to identify and understand how Black Male Initiative programs contributed to the completion of an undergraduate degree for Black males at HBCUs. The study's central research question was: What role does the Black Male Initiative (BMI) play in Black male undergraduate degree completion at HBCUs in the U.S.?…

In light of the current discourse around the alleged discriminatory nature of the SAT and ACT exams against underrepresented minority students, and the increase in American institutions of higher education choosing to adopt test-optional freshman admission policies, this study sought to identify weather these policies are associated with changes…

This dissertation examines the efficacy of a professional development program in developing data literate and culturally proficient community college instructors. Existing research suggests that there is a need for high-quality professional development in Cultural Proficiency and data literacy for community college instructors to make continuous…

Shifts in the healthcare environment, particularly the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, have resulted in the cancelation of most Level I experiential learning opportunities for occupational therapy students limiting required hands-on learning experiences and impacting the required academic content for graduation for…

School principals continue to struggle with building effective inclusive programming for students with disabilities. While principal preparation programs (PPPs) provide adequate training in social justice leadership and equity issues, they lack in direct training in special education. Using the theoretical framework of Disability Studies in…

Depression is a mental health diagnosis that affects many children and adolescents each year. While traditional methods of treatment include therapy and medication, physical activity could also be used as an additional tool to help combat depressive symptoms. A total of 51 articles were found to address the possible benefits of physical activity…

The program evaluation examined the eighth-grade unit of the Second Step Program as implemented to special education students attending an approved private special education program (APSEP) in Connecticut. At the APSEP, special education students struggle to develop peer relationships, lack feelings of self-efficacy, and require a high level of…

The purpose of this mixed-methods action research study was to understand how a knowledge-building intervention changes the perception of rural high school juniors on the perception of staying local for college after high school. This study also investigates the ways in which participants used their social capital to begin to change the stigma of…

This study examined the impact of Personalization for Academic and Social Emotional Learning (PASL), a school based social emotional reform implemented in the Broward County Florida Public Schools. Taking advantage of a phased roll out of PASL, we analyzed data collected during the first implementation year (2017-18) and compared 205 9th grade…

Interactive, text message-based advising programs have become an increasingly common strategy to support college access and success for underrepresented student populations. Despite the proliferation of these programs, we know relatively little about how students engage in these text-based advising opportunities and whether that relates to…

The Open University (OU) has around 1800 students studying in prisons (Students in Secure Environments, 2019) with no internet access. They study offline with no access to the OU library's online resources. This case study explores the student volunteer scheme introduced to help students in prison to indirectly access online library resources. It…

The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' perceptions of the Illustrative Mathematics (IM) using data from teacher interviews from year 1 and year 3 of their implementation of IM. In year 1, 22 Algebra 1 teachers were interviewed; in year 3, 13 teachers participated. Interviews were conducted using a semi-structured protocol that included…

According to health care reports, more than 250,000 deaths annually are attributed to medical error, prompting interprofessional education (IPE) initiatives as one way to improve healthcare delivery. The problem is that little is known about the effect of simulation learning with standardized patients on occupational therapy (OT) and physical…

Minnesota's Preschool Development Birth through Five grant (PDG) is a partnership of the Minnesota departments of Education, Health, and Human Services, along with the Children's Cabinet, to align education and care systems?across the state.?The three-year, $26.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services supports…