This study examined secondary science teachers' conceptions of democratic citizenship and their beliefs about how citizenship relates to science education. These beliefs and conceptions were studied through a framework comprised of theories of belief, citizenship education, and civic engagement with science. Data were collected from 10 teachers…

Students must have a working understanding of the language of instruction to be successful in school. In the United States, English is the predominant language of instruction, and students who come from homes where a language other than English is spoken face the additional challenge of learning both subject matter content and the dominant…

Trauma can have deep impacts on children and the development of their frontal lobe. It is within the frontal lobe that executive functioning skills such as time management, work completion, and organization of materials are housed (De Bellis & Zisk, 2014; Kavanaugh et al., 2016). Symptoms outlined as executive functions are those that are also…

Trauma exposure can significantly impact many aspects of a student's life, hindering health outcomes, relationships, and progress at school. Educators spend a lot of time working with students but are not adequately prepared to manage the challenges that accompany students with trauma histories. The purpose of this project was to create a…

With the sudden movement to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a need to understand the impact on teachers and their ability to facilitate learning in the online setting during this time period in the hopes of understanding and improving on such practices in the future. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to…

Purpose: What are the best strategies for teaching Generation 1.5 community college students in transfer-level English courses? Why are some students successful and others not? The purpose of this study was to determine through a phenomenological design how Generation 1.5 students describe the experience of receiving validation or invalidation…

There is a lack of student engagement in science education that promotes critical thinking, real-world problem solving, innovation, and diversity. The purpose of this action research study was to investigate and develop innovative STEM opportunities for students at the middle school level. Participants and data collected in Cycle 1 consisted of…

There are equity gaps in dual enrollment registration. Literature demonstrates that White and Asian students register for dual enrollment at higher rates than Black and Latinx students. Many students and parents are not aware of dual enrollment opportunities, nor do they fully understand the proven benefits such as saving time, money, and…

Alternative schools are vital spaces for students who are not successful in traditional schools. The knowledge of social and emotional learning (SEL) and the impact it has on students who attend alternative schools specifically is limited. The problem addressed by this study was the lack of success that explicit SEL programs have in meeting the…

Writer identity has gradually become a focus in writing scholarship in recent years. From a social constructivist lens, writer identity is not optional; it resides in all texts. And it is a construct that does not exist in a vacuum, but is shaped by the sociocultural and academic context, and simultaneously individual writers agentively select…

While the completion of a baccalaureate degree is the gateway to a greater quality of life in areas of employment, health, housing, civic engagement, mortality, and economic wealth, the college experience for Black American students is typically coupled with the accumulation of a disproportionately high amount of student loan debt. While the most…

Community college completion has been proven to be a ticket to a middle-class life. Moreover, we know that poverty causes educational barriers, including community college completion. Community colleges across the nation are identifying significant equity gaps between students from poor versus middle-class or affluent households. One solution to…

This dissertation presents three studies exploring mathematics interventions for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) including a review of literature and two intervention studies using manipulative based interventions. Specifically, the researcher conducted a systematic review of literature exploring the current state of the literature on…

A comprehensive high school located in Southern California exhibited a suspension rate of 11.1%, placing it second among high schools within their district during the 2018-2019 academic year. According to the California School Dashboard (2019), students who were African American, Hispanic, English learners, homeless, had disabilities, and were…

Literacy is a gateway to opportunity. In the United States of America, 79% of adults have adequate to proficient literacy skills that provide access to various career and life opportunities in society. However, 21% of Americans are illiterate. Upon further analysis of the literacy statistics in the United States, the data demonstrates there is a…