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Black students in the United States have consistently been denied access to empowering, culturally affirming, and responsive learning experiences in the traditional public system. The epistemological and pedagogical beliefs embedded in a liberatory mindset can subvert this pattern of disempowerment (Shujaa, 1998). Black school leaders (BSLs) who understand the systemic and institutional pressures Black children may face and have to overcome, having undergone similarly racialized experiences in school, are uniquely placed to create liberatory spaces for Black students by recruiting and developing these liberatory mindsets in their staff. This instrumental case study used qualitative research methods of front-porch pedagogy (McTighe & Haywood, 2018) through observations and interviews with BSLs and staff in one urban school. The study explored BSLs’ interpretations of the liberatory mindset, how it impacted staff selection, and ultimately guided alignment with staff on the co-construction of empowering environments for Black students. Findings revealed four elements that guided BSLs’ hiring and professional development decisions and positioned critical hope and personal liberation as levers for Black student empowerment: (a) Liberatory and Responsive Education Systems, (b) Resilience and Personal Growth, (c) Sociopolitical Awareness and Advocacy, and (d) Self-Determination and Courage as Outcome Drivers. The study indicates the importance of giving Black families educational choices, including ethnoculturally autonomous schools, and for leadership and teaching preparation programs to consider community of color epistemologies. It also invites aspiring non-Black educator allies to gain a deeper understanding of how their own epistemological development impacts their pedagogical presumptions of the potential of their Black students.

This is a nontraditional, very creative approach to dissertation writing. Using reflective poetic inquiry, I reflect on my experiences transitioning from pre-service to in-service teacher in the early childhood classroom. I taught for 7 years and encountered many situations that would have been beneficial to know prior to becoming a certified teacher. I explore overarching themes of coworker relationships, undergraduate program preparation, the various responsibilities, classroom environment, teacher evaluation, teacher perspective, and teacher mental health and well-being and how they each impact a teacher’s experience in the classroom. This is accomplished through the epistolary genre and letters to myself as a new teacher, building on a wide arrange of works by poets and theorists such as Pauline Sameshima, Carl Leggo, Jonathan Kozol, Robert Lake, Tricia Kress, William Schubert, Sonia Nieto, and more. Seven letters were written to myself offering scenarios, stories, and advice on what to expect as a new teacher. Each letter is followed by supporting literature and concluded by a poem that brings a rich and diverse set of elements to the table. Through the lens of teaching with passion combined with aesthetic beauty, imagery, and empathy, I bring a new perspective to the understanding of what it takes to be a teacher.

Purpose: The present study explored current speech-language pathology service provision for aging individuals with intellectual disabilities in the United States, including areas and domains of services, factors restricting service provision, and reported knowledge and confidence of individuals within the field of speech-language pathology in providing services, to identify possible gaps of service and needed improvement. Methods: Participants (n = 272) from across the United States completed an online survey to gather descriptive information about current speech-language pathology service provision for aging individuals with intellectual disabilities. Participants were recruited through state speech-language hearing associations and universities with speech-language pathology clinics by email. Descriptive statistics, analysis of qualitative information, and nonparametric tests were used to report on the research questions. Results: Participants reported providing speech-language pathology services to aging individuals with intellectual disabilities in all areas and domains; however, when asked to report areas and domains participants would address more often if they had the resources to do so, all areas and domains were again identified by participants with varying frequencies. Participants identified factors that restricted their ability to provide services to aging individuals with intellectual disabilities. A majority of participants reported feeling confident and prepared to serve aging individuals with intellectual disabilities. Participants’ reported training and confidence in assessing and treating aging individuals with intellectual disabilities had a significant relationship. Participants’ reported experience and confidence in assessing (i.e., swallowing disorders and dementia) and treating aging individuals with intellectual disabilities had a statistically significant difference. Conclusion: The results of this study show speech-language pathology services are being provided to aging individuals with intellectual disabilities in the United States in all areas and domains by prepared and confident individuals within the field of speech-language pathology. However, the results also revealed possible service inequities for aging individuals with intellectual disabilities. Advisor: Judy Harvey

Increased global migration and a myriad of other social and political factors has made today’s universities more diverse than ever. As a result, teachers in higher education regularly find multilingual learners from a variety of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds in their classrooms and must consider this diversity in their teaching. One of the ways that teaching can better serve today’s multilingual and multicultural student population is through translanguaging. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the intentional and unintentional use of translanguaging by multilingual language learners and world language instructors in higher education. Additionally, this qualitative case study aims to explore the perceptions of both teachers and students towards translanguaging, using transformative interviewing to prompt participants to reflect on their own language learning ideologies and the application of translanguaging pedagogies to their teaching and learning. Findings point to numerous ways in which both teachers and students in world language university classrooms use translanguaging to make meaning during their language teaching and learning experiences. In addition, class observations and transformative interviews showed how participants gained reflective self-awareness and began to reconsider more/different ways in which translanguaging could enrich their teaching and learning. The significance of the study lies in a greater understanding of what translanguaging could look like in world language higher education settings, particularly regarding the way in which more inclusive language pedagogies such as translanguaging can allow teachers to recognize and utilize the full linguistic repertoire of their multilingual students while at the same time navigating tensions related to target language use and time constraints. Advisor: Theresa Catalano

Leadership scholars have identified a growing gap between the complexity of 21st century organizations and the capabilities of individuals in positions of leadership to adequately address these challenges. This gap has contributed to a so-called complexity crisis—a situation in which the demands placed on those in leadership positions increases “at a rate that significantly outstrips the rate at which” leaders are cognitively developing (Rich-Tolsma & Oliver, 2016, p. 1). One way to respond to this growing need for complex adult thinking is through metacognitive development initiatives. However, finding educational methods to promote metacognitive development has proven to be difficult. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a course utilizing Case-in-Point (CIP) teaching methods at the University of San Diego (USD) could be a successful strategy for developing metacognitive knowledge in adult students. The study explored a) the experiences of students in a CIP course and whether the pedagogy supported or inhibited their learning and growth and b) the extent to which the constructs and theories of metacognitive development aligned with, or, possibly, contradicted, the data collected. A qualitative approach, using both inductive and abductive methods, was employed to analyze participant interviews, class observations, student assignments, course materials, and developmental assessments. Findings suggest the course is distinctive in its experimental nature and format, and that specific elements of the pedagogy generated transformative participant experiences and produced growth through the leveraging of productive discomfort. Some other elements of the course, however, appeared not only to be uncomfortable but also unhelpful in promoting personal learning and growth. Consistent with these findings, most participants’ assessments often were paradoxical, meaning participants offered affirmation and critique, almost simultaneously, when reflecting on the value of the pedagogy and course experience. Finally, the study found that there was alignment between the course goals and objectives and the constructs of metacognition, but metacognitive development varied depending on the level of student engagement and buy-in to the course pedagogy. This study offered recommendations and insight from the data regarding the course structure, assignments, and facilitation of case-in-point methods moving forward.

Parents of young children with or at risk for disabilities face added stress and challenges every day. This study implemented a rapid coaching intervention to teach a parent naturalistic language interventions such as mapping language onto their child's play, narrating their own play, and arranging the environment. In addition, parents were trained to use a milieu teaching procedure. In addition, a pre-service behavior interventionist and speech-language pathologist collaborated on selecting instructional targets for the child.

Effective pre-service teacher educator programs are among the most important components in preparing the nation’s next generation of educators. Today’s educators collectively work to support the diverse cultural, linguistic, and social needs of students through the unprecedented demands of a transitioning school system. This dissertation examined the components of advisement challenges and opportunities as an impact on the preparation of pre-service teachers in Northern New Jersey. The study explored the influence of approaches available to pre-service teachers in the areas of program structure, a variety of support services, and the role of the advisor-advisee relationship to discover whether such programs contributed to preparing diverse teachers for the unique challenges of entering the education workforce. In the existing literature, characteristics found to influence advisement throughout teacher education programs were evaluated and reported. In addition, this study gained detailed insight from participants on specific challenges faced while completing the pre-service teacher education program that has not been previously addressed in the literature. Sources of data consisted of multiple semi-structured interviews of teachers who completed the pre-service program. Participants were selected for this study with questions based on the literature review to provide insight into their lived experiences, the role of advisement in pre-service education programs, and views on how prepared they were to support the evolving students they serve.

This study examines the relationship between a preservice teacher’s early field experiences and ratings given by their cooperating teachers during student teaching. Educator preparation programs have long been tasked with providing quality education to future teachers as they prepare them for a career in the P-12 classroom. Part of this preparation happens in P-12 classroom settings, where preservice teachers observe and interact with students and professional teachers. These early field experiences, which help prepare them for student teaching and the P-12 classroom, are required for teacher preparation program accreditation. This research investigates how changes in the educational environment related to the Covid-19 pandemic closure of schools have created opportunities to assess the effectiveness of early field experiences. This study seeks to address a need for evidence of early field experiences' impact on preparation for student teaching and eventual success as a practicing teacher. Evidence of this impact is vital for teacher preparation programs as they evaluate how effective their current requirements are in the program of study for future teachers. Data collected and analyzed by multiple linear regression will provide empirical evidence addressing the relationship between a preservice teacher’s early field experiences and their professional indicator ratings given by their cooperating teacher during student teaching in order to guide teacher preparation program decisions.

Critical scholars in sociology, philosophy and cultural studies have long said what is wrong with schools, insofar as they function to perpetuate inequality rather than social uplift, generally. Despite this well-researched state of affairs, schooling—of the State-sponsored, public education kind—remains beholden to the economic interests of the dominant classes. Judging from current retention and attrition rates, proficiency levels, and college entrance numbers, schooling has continued to disproportionately benefit White people, especially in relation to their social class. Moreover teachers continue to be disproportionately White and female when compared with their students. Through a critical analysis of teachers’ discourse on Freire, I show how ideologies favorable to the matrix of domination bell hooks (2013) calls “imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy” stifle the possibility of critical pedagogy in public school contexts (p. 4). In tandem with these instances, I analyze how the only participant of color in this study voiced counterhegemonic discourse to challenge unconscious ideologies that his colleagues expressed. In presenting two critical incidents specifically, I share how multiple and conflicting ideologies circulated in the space of teacher study groups as professional development. Through this study, I show how engaging with critical texts and discussion with colleagues was personally and professionally meaningful for participants in spite of perceived limitations and dominant ideologies. To understand how ideology functioned in teachers’ responses to critical pedagogy, I conducted teacher study groups on the whole of Paulo Freire’s text: Pedagogy of the Oppressed. I supplemented study groups with individual interviews and reflective journaling. Guided by Thompson’s (1990) critical hermeneutical framework for ideological critique I located ideological symbolic constructions in teachers’ discourse, which I then analyzed through examination of facework and the unsaid (Fairclough, 2010; Gee, 2011; Goffman, 1959). Exploring language and the worlds it creates in positioning self and others may be useful for other studies related to teacher discourse with and about students. My findings may also contribute to the collective work of realizing social justice education for preservice and in-service teachers at the level of consciousness, where ideology thrives prior to reflection. Implications of the study can be used to inform the intersections of critical pedagogy, teacher education and Whiteness Studies. I recommend schools of education and professional development organizations doing critical work with teachers (who are primarily White) consider how teachers’ unexamined beliefs impede the realization of critical pedagogy, and how these beliefs can be challenged in a professional space guided by institutional norms. Some dominant beliefs teachers belonging to the dominant (White) group expressed supported a larger discourse of meritocracy in the service of colonial ideology, which esteems individual identity prior to group-belonging, the naturalization of oppression, and deficit views of students and families.

This study describes how participation in a university literacy clinic impacts self-efficacy in pre-service teacher candidates. This study was conducted one and a half years into the global COVID-19 pandemic, creating the need for the clinic’s program, Literacy Camp, to be completed through fully virtual means. Thus, ways in which the pre-service teachers’ experience was impacted by the method of instructional delivery was also detailed. Despite the body of growing research related to virtual learning and efficacy outcomes, there was a gap in the literature related to pre-service teachers’ participation in a fully virtual university literacy clinic and its impacts on their self-efficacy. This study was designed with a need to fill this hole in mind. The unique and personal experiences of 23 elementary pre-service teacher candidates completing a yearlong internship and participating in a university literacy clinic were explored in this qualitative case study, framed through a social constructivist lens (Creswell, 2013; Vygotsky, 1978) so that the voice of the individual was elevated and carefully considered. A convenience sampling scheme was utilized to collect and analyze data compiled from three main data sources provided by pre-service teacher candidate participants: an efficacy pre-survey, an efficacy post-survey, and ten daily debrief forms. Four original themes emerged from the data: Building a Learning Culture, Tutor as the Learner, Student First Approach to Intervention, and The Virtual Environment. Findings from this study indicate that participation in the virtual literacy clinic allowed pre-service teachers to successfully plan and implement a full, individualized intervention related to literacy learning for one elementary or middle school student. Participants were able to reflect on their experience to grow as a learner and recognize the impacts they made on their Literacy Camp students. Despite the challenges faced through a fully virtual learning setting, pre-service teachers were able to overcome obstacles and complete their practicum experience, gaining self-efficacy throughout the process.

Curiosity, intrinsic motivation, and autonomy-supportive teaching all promote lifelong learning in both the classroom and Marine Corps. Humans are all born with curiosity. Children inherently practice forms of intrinsic motivation. Most would agree that they do not like being micromanaged - they enjoy a sense of freedom when completing tasks. Despite this, many students learn in a controlling environment and many Marines work under controlling leaders. Though a large amount of time is spent on learning through the first 18 years of life, lifelong learning does not come naturally and is not commonly practiced. The research and ideas discussed below are all means to promote a positive learning environment for students in the classroom and the population within the Marine Corps. If curiosity, intrinsic motivation, and an autonomy-supportive teaching environment can be promoted, it equates to creating a foundation for lifelong learning. These attributes promote confidence, self-identity, and growth as an individual. They will lead to higher test scores, morale, and mission accomplishment without that being its purpose. Lifelong learning can be something we all strive for and seek for ourselves and our Marines. It will benefit us as leaders and the Marine Corps as an institution. There are tangibles to implement in the Marine Corps to promote these attributes.

The perspective of first-year teachers is valuable in identifying the ways in which preparation programs are successfully educating their student teachers. This qualitative study investigates the effectiveness of university-based teacher preparation programs accredited by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Specifically, this study is attempting to gain a better understanding of how the knowledge and skills of novice teachers were efficiently developed in the areas of differentiation, multiculturalism, classroom management, and content knowledge as well as how mentorship through field experience contributes to their growth. To answer the research question, seven interviews were analyzed from in-state, first-year teachers that recently graduated from a Virginia education program. Findings indicated that the evaluation of Virginia programs is consistent with average ratings across the United States except for higher rates of preparation in multiculturalism. It is also recommended that programs instruct using frequent field experience in conjunction with courses.

Voice is a concept that is both highly sought after and elusive in education. While schools aim to foster students’ voices, many academic structures inadvertently conceal their voices and in turn their identities. Definitions of voice have been assumed, vague, or looked at as a writing trait, with little consideration of voices’ dynamic and mediated structures. Drawing on scholarship grounded in sociocultural theories and dialogism (e.g., Bakhtin, 1986; Engeström; 1987, Leont’ev, 1981; Rosenblatt, 1978; Vygotsky, 1978), I contribute a new, tangible definition of voice, in which voice is a dynamic happening, continually negotiated and constructed. This dissertation explores students’ voices, advancing theoretical and empirical approaches to studying voice. Specifically, this study examines how undergraduates manifest their voices and how their voices shift in a children’s literature course. Through qualitative analyses of students’ academic writing, discussions, and reflections I illuminate various resources and structures students employed when manifesting their voice. I describe how students’ voice shifts due to disruptions—events that create instability to students’ predominant way of thinking in a given context. Additionally, I illustrate factors that both conceal and contribute to students’ voices in academic settings, such as students’ racial and gendered identities, group dynamics, and students’ desire to be seen as knowledgeable. This dissertation argues for classrooms to engage students in routine dialogic interaction to expand students’ voices, and to consider the implications students’ racial and gendered identities have on the production of their voices.

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand, as a lived experience, the impact of repatriation on Third Culture Kids (TCKs). For this study, repatriation was generally defined as the transitional process of an individual moving from a host country back to the home country to attend college. The central research question for this study was aimed to gain insight into the lived experiences of TCKs whose lives were impacted by repatriation for higher education. The research sub-questions were designed to gain an understanding of the perceptions TCKs have about the preparedness of higher education institutions to meet the needs of repatriating students. The theoretical framework for this study was based on Berry’s (2003;2005; 2006) acculturation theory. Berry ‘s (2003) theory was based on TCK attitude towards the home culture and host culture. Berry’s (2005) acculturation theory suggests the individual’s TCK upbringing in a host culture impacts values, beliefs, and identity. Berry’s (2006) theory suggests that the level of acceptance from the host society will impact the repatriation process. There were 12 adult participants who participated, all over the age of 18 and who have spent a minimum of four years living in a host country before repatriating for higher education to the United States. Data collection included a screening questionnaire, semi-structured individual interviews, a single focus group interview, and personal artifacts. Data were analyzed using NVivo to create themes based on repeated words and phrases from the collected data. Five themes emerged: (1) TCK Benefits, (2) Social Repatriation Challenges, (3) Personal Repatriation Challenges, (4) Cultural Repatriation Challenges, and (5) Services and Supports. Several sub-themes also emerged from this study.

Academic librarianship is a constantly changing profession. Open education librarianship has developed as an area of specialization. Effective continuing professional development (CPD) for learning about open educational resources (OER) is needed to meet academic librarians' knowledge and training needs engaged in this area. This narrative case study examines the experiences and perceptions of academic librarians who completed a structured open education leadership program. Interviews were conducted with a selection of program fellows to capture the personal perspectives of the program participants. These interview narratives were transcribed and, alongside program curriculum and participant projects, utilized to answer the study's research questions about the participants' experiences and perceptions of value gained from the program and its impact on their careers. The analysis concluded that CPD programs are effective and valuable to participants when the time and effort participants commit is accompanied by structured, well-managed, scaffolded, interactive learning experiences that prioritize human interaction and network building. When professionals engage in programs like this one, dedicating the time and focus required, they can realize positive professional outcomes and attain a personal sense of accomplishment.

The collective increase of learner-centered teaching and substantial technology use in the classroom has given instructors potential opportunities to support students in developing lifelong learning skills. The ability to manage one’s own learning is an essential skill for lifelong learners in today’s workforce. Heutagogy, or self-determined learning, suggests that individuals have agency with respect to how, what, and when they learn. Heutagogy provides a framework for making the most of these developments, drawing on established learner-centered education theories. The key principles of heutagogy provide a foundation for designing and developing learning environments using social media. In order for teachers to create learning environment that have opportunities for heutagogical learning, it is imperative that teachers successfully practice these methods themselves. It is generally assumed that effective teacher professional development is critical to effective educational improvements and reforms of educational institutions. However, traditional teacher professional development is constrained by time and space. An alternative form of teacher professional development is needed for continual growth and development. Through the theory of heutagogy and the learner-centered pedagogies on which the theory is founded, this research project seeks to contribute to the understanding of the role of social media in supporting the development of teachers’ self-determined learning practices. In particular, this study aims to examine teachers’ perceptions of using social media for professional development, and show how teachers apply self-determined learning for professional development within these social media environments.

The purpose of this practitioner’s piece was to provide educators with a research-based coaching model that will increase opportunities for meaningful collaboration with parents or guardians in order to promote family-centered and socially meaningful child outcomes for their children with autism or other intellectual disabilities. The training model was based on Lane et. al.’s (2016) brief coaching method approach. Other suggested components to parent training included cultural competency, goal setting, planning for generalization, following up and asking for feedback, and troubleshooting any problem behaviors.

Problem Research was needed to determine the relationship between pastoral CE and employee engagement to guide policy implementation as well as future efforts for pastoral professional development within the Adventist organization. Method This study presents a new theoretical Adventist pastor development model integrating several theories and concepts including: the call, the Seven Core Qualities of an NAD pastor framework, andragogy, CE, SDT, and employee engagement. Employee engagement was measured using Herzberg's hygiene-motivation factor employee engagement theory. Comparisons were conducted on six groups of pastors related to selfreported participation in annual CE. Results Major research findings indicate that pastors, perhaps inevitably as humans, are complex, and several factors seem to work synergistically to result in positive hygiene and motivation (employee engagement) scores including: The call, age, having adult children, ethnicity, a combination of CE and age, and a combination of children and CE. Of key importance, increased knowledge and specific life experiences work together to create a more engaged pastor. CE as a stand-alone factor did not have a statistically significant positive impact on hygiene or motivation employee engagement scores based on this data. Factors that have a negative impact on hygiene and motivation scores are family suffering, feeling like leaving ministry, doubting God’s call, ethnicity, and children at home or no children at all, and. The most popular CE activity of Adventist pastors was conventions, the least favorite was creating CE content for peers. Conclusions Recommendations for pastoral professional practice are related to five areas of focus: education, CE policy, coaching and mentoring, work environments, and pastoral family supports. Recommendations for future research are specific to four areas: pastoral CE, pastoral development factors, work environments, and family support. More scholarly research on pastors is urgently needed utilizing a factorial approach.

Current research has reported the benefits of integrating technology into the learning experience for students to promote greater engagement and collaboration. Schools across the country have begun implementing one-to-one learning environments in which each student uses a mobile computing device. However, use of technology in the classroom has failed to produce the expected transformational benefits. In order for technology to be integrated effectively, current research suggests that teacher pedagogy must adjust to the one-to-one classroom approach, and requires professional development to facilitate growth in their instructional practices while integrating technology. Research shows that coaches working one-to-one with teachers can be effective in bringing about the evolution of instructional practice needed to reap the benefits of technological integration in the classroom. The purpose of this quantitative study is to determine the extent to which access to a technology coach or technology integration specialist affects the instructional practices of teachers in a 1:1 environment. This study builds on the research of Joyce and Showers (2002) and Knight (2007), which illustrated the effect of coaching on teachers, though not in the context of teachers’ ability to innovate instruction in a 1:1 environment. This study’s sample consisted of 320 certified middle school and high school teachers from sixteen middle schools and sixteen high schools in New Jersey that reported using a 1:1 teaching approach. Each participating teacher completed a 49-question survey, including 9 questions related to the quantity and type of coaching teachers received in the last twelve months, teachers’ professional and personal characteristics (including years of teaching experience, teacher content area, grade level, and gender), and the schools’ organizational characteristics, including school size and type. It also included 40 questions that measure the level of teaching innovation with technology using the Levels of Teaching Innovation (LoTi ) survey. The results of the study revealed no statistically significant difference in level of technology integration as measured by LoTi between the teachers who had technology coaches and those who did not. The other control variables, personal characteristics and organizational characteristics, failed to yield a statistically significant difference, with the exception of medium- sized schools. However, while the association between coaching and technology integration did not attain statistical significance, the findings suggested that who had coaches were likely to score higher levels on the emerging categories of the LoTi instrument: awareness, exploration, and infusion. This study also revealed that over 90% of teachers reported meeting with their coaches only several times per month or less frequently. Furthermore, close to 80% of teachers surveyed reported meeting with coaches for a duration of less than one hour per month. These results indicate that if schools choose to invest in a technology coach, the continued involvement of administrators is needed ensure the effective use of technological coaching as a tool to facilitate innovating instruction in a 1:1 environment. Coaches must be included as part of an interdisciplinary and cross-curricular team of professional development providers. This inclusion increases the probability that teachers acquire an understanding of the interrelatedness of technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge, which in turn allows them to integrate technology into their teaching in more relevant and meaningful ways.

This case study focused on five Instructional Coaches working in public high schools. The intent of this study was to determine how these Coaches support the adult development of teachers. Three themes emerged from this study: 1) ambiguity regarding the role of Instructional Coaches impacts the performance of Coaches and the adult learners they support, 2) Instructional Coaches struggle to balance the work of supporting adult learners with tasks unrelated to supporting adult learners, and 3) preparation and ongoing professional development for Instructional Coaches is inconsistent in content and frequency.

The purpose of this modified Delphi study was to identify the dominant technical competencies needed to effectively teach architecture and construction at the secondary and post-secondary level and to determine if there are differences of opinion among educators, recent graduates and business and industry personnel as to what those competencies should be. At the time of publication, the menu of technical workshops offered by the Kansas Center for Career and Technical Education (KCCTE) was determined by the workshop administrator and the director of the KCCTE. To ensure that these workshops provide instructors with the knowledge and skills that align with industry needs, it was imperative to identify the changing technical competencies needed by members of the workforce and the instructors who prepare them. A three round Delphi study was conducted to identify the dominant technical competencies. Participants from the area of education, recent graduates and industry personnel were asked to provide a list of technical skills they perceived to be lacking as students moved from education to industry. A list of 23 technical competencies was created and participants rated each topic on level of importance. The top 15 topics were then selected and participants re-rated those topics based on their beliefs and the Mean rating of the group from the previous round. Some differences in levels of perceived importance was noted between groups. Seven technical competencies were rated highest in perceived level of importance by the three groups. This study provided a basis on which the KKCTE can act to develop appropriate technical workshops to meet the needs of architecture and construction teachers in the state of Kansas.

From Ainsworth to Yutan, from library systems with twelve branches (i.e., Omaha) with a legal service area population of 537,709 to single libraries serving a population of less than 1,000 (which describes 60% of all public libraries in Nebraska), the Nebraska Library Commission serves very different constituencies all with different needs and different resources. Given that diversity of librarianship, as a “Problem of Practice” (Carnegie Program for the Education Doctorate, 2014) I needed to learn how to optimize the continuing education opportunities offered by the Nebraska Library Commission to this diverse constituency. This included attending to the learning needs of public librarians who were enrolled in the Nebraska Public Librarian certification program and, more specifically, the online Basic Skills classes. My problem of practice centers around questions of optimizing continuing education opportunities and tools for public librarians who then are better equipped to continue providing quality and equitable services to their communities. Working with instructors, who are made up of Nebraska Library Commission staff members and Regional Library System Directors, as well as with the students who are enrolled in the Basic Skills classes provides the opportunity for collaboration and partnerships to apply scholarly inquiry directly to practice in order to improve continuing library education in the state. This dissertation seeks to illustrate the connections between my specific problem of practice, the development and evolution of a meaningful solution while exploring future directions as new questions of practice arose, and my role as a practitioner, educator, and scholar of CPED. This dissertation includes discussion of the first self-paced cataloging module and writing about the design process. This design process included critically reviewing previous Basic Skills courses, several redesigns of the Organization of Materials course, as well as the development of an online practice course for the Moodle learning management system. Finally, this study includes the self-paced Organization of Materials module and evaluation of this first iteration followed by discussion of next steps or how this program will progress as this study continues to evolve past this dissertation. Advisor: Edmund Hamann

Educators in higher education are faced with growing pressures to shift pedagogical practices in order to accommodate the growing population of learners and improve student learning outcomes. While the acquisition of knowledge and skills are important to the learning process, they are insufficient in preparing students to function in rapidly changing environments. Curiosity is a vital component in the learning process that, when stimulated, has the potential to increase students’ capacity to think critically. Implementing teaching practices that intentionally focus on how curiosity can be stimulated and enhanced develops students’ abilities to access higher levels of thinking that are essential for in depth learning to take place. This study utilized a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design to determine the extent in which curiosity was stimulated and enhanced through critical reflection activities implemented in two sections of an undergraduate psychology course. The Curiosity and Exploration Inventory II (CEI-II) was administered as a pre-and post-assessment to 48 students to assess existing levels of trait curiosity (propensity to experience). Data from the assessments, as well as from the demographic questionnaire were then used to consider how critical reflection activities, as well as other external factors, impacted students’ state curiosity (curiosity evoked in a particular environment by situational factors). Critical reflection activities were developed using transformative learning theory and reflective thinking models. In the second step, 11 students were interviewed and a cross-case analysis was conducted to discover similarities and differences in how they understood and made meaning of course content. The findings of this study indicated that critical reflection activities did impact students’ tendencies to be curious in a classroom setting. This was partly due to autonomous processing through journaling, but mostly due to their engagement with other peers about their thoughts, feelings, insights, and inquiries about course content learned. The findings suggest that curiosity in the classroom is stimulated and enhanced when students are able to understand how the content is relevant to their learning, and how they can apply and make meaning of it in their lives.

The Center of Graduate Schools (2015) published a report detailing applications, enrollment, and trends in graduate schools across the nation showing that approximately one third of all first-time graduate school applicants in master’s degree programs utilizing the GRE assessment identify their career path in either business or teacher education. The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of classroom teachers who concurrently pursued graduate studies to earn a master’s degree in education and to understand how adult learning provided opportunities for personal growth and the attainment of professional goals. Individual interviews and two focus groups were conducted to uncover the essence of experiences across participant stories. Seven themes emerged from the data: 1) Teacher-scholars’ reasons for returning to higher education varied based on their personal and professional needs, 2) The teacher-scholar experience elicits a vast array of emotions, challenges, and successes, 3) Teacher-scholars were self-driven to start their programs however intrinsic and extrinsic motivation provided encouragement for continued desire for success, 4) Teacher-scholars’ support systems were integral to their success in their master’s programs, 5) Teacher-scholars were reflective about their teaching and learning and used reflection as a tool to improve their professional capabilities, 6) Teacher-scholars used concrete learning experiences to bring their learning into their classrooms and professional lives, and 7) Teacher-scholars’ educational journeys provided opportunities for here-and-now learning as well as increased marketability for a future in the field of education. Additionally, a revision to David Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle (2015) was presented. Participant data highlighted collaboration as a necessary component to teacher-scholar success yet it was not addressed in Kolb’s original model. Results from this study can be used to inform teacher education programs as well as teacher-scholars on the expectations, experiences, and perceptions of teachers who concurrently pursued higher education.

This case study evaluates the effectiveness of a project-based learning professional development training conducted at a literacy center for nine ESL teachers who are working in a workforce literacy environment. The researcher investigated principles of andragogy in the training and examined whether participants implemented the content of the training in their teaching environments via observation, self-reported answers on a questionnaire, individual interviews, and a focus group. There was no direct follow-up after six weeks of the training. The findings of the study indicate that none of the teachers implemented project-based learning in their teaching environment directly following the professional development training.

The goal of this study was to investigate the interaction between professional development and professional capital within international schools in Asia. The researcher employed a multi-site case study to inform the research goals. A conceptual framework based on Hargreaves and Fullan’s (2012) professional capital theory was used to guide the study’s methods and data collection. The data were collected in two phases. The first phase consisted of a digital survey that was distributed to ten international schools associated with the East Asia Regional Council of Schools (EARCOS) and the Office of Overseas Schools (OSS). The survey was analyzed to identify the experiences and perceptions of professional development within international schools. The second phase was comprised of semi-structured interview data from twelve international educators to explore the relationship between professional development and professional capital. The findings of this study helped outline themes of how a professional development fosters professional capital within the international schools. Specifically, international educators use professional development to increase human capital through their experiences to improve personal practice, while developing, retaining, and attracting educators to the international schools. Social capital is impacted through the amount of time international educators allocate to collaborative and networking experiences with other international educators within their field through professional development. By increasing decisional capital, international educators develop expertise with effective professional development guided through the support of mentors by increasing decisional capital. The findings suggest professional development within the international schools studied is connected to an increase in professional capital. The findings also suggest international educators need to maintain a level of autonomy in regard to decision making to continue to increase professional capital within international schools. Suggestions for a refinement of the theory of professional capital leadership include a balanced approach to professional development where teachers use their human capital and school leaders use their social capital collectively to make professional development decisions.

This paper explores fugitive slave advertisements from the pages of the New Orleans Argus in 1828. As the main repository for runaway slave advertisements in New Orleans at the time, the Argus played a critical role in policing and surveillance of the city’s enslaved population just as New Orleans was becoming the largest slave market in the South. Using the Argus as well as historians’ accounts of the city, this thesis argues that as the market in enslaved people grew, slave owners depended upon local jailers in tandem with papers like the Argus, to police the enslaved population. The large volume of these advertisements, however, also testifies to enslaved people’s frequent rejection of bondage. This thesis is designed primarily as an index of the existing ads for 1828 with the aim of assisting further research into these sources.

Student voice is the process of allowing students to work collaboratively with adults to produce a learning culture that is conducive for optimum growth in every student. In a traditional setting, the adults make the decisions and the students are passive observers in the learning process. Data has shown that this traditional culture is not advantageous to student learning for all students. Research has shown that students are seven times more academically motivated when they have the opportunity to have a voice in their personal learning process (Quaglia, 2016). This case study centered on the Northeast Arkansas Regional Student Voice Initiative. The focus of this study was to determine what factors, elements, or components need to be in place for student voice to flourish as well as how student voice creates a positive impact in school culture. The coding revealed the emergence of nine themes: 1) leadership support, 2) time for implementation, 3) buy-in from teachers, 4) teacher training, 5) school procedural impact, 6) student / teacher relationships, 7) student leadership, 8) student-teacher collaboration, and 9) student learning.

More than 2.6 million troops have deployed in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Still, surveys reveal that more than half feel “disconnected” from their civilian counterparts, and this feeling persists despite ongoing efforts, in the academy and elsewhere, to help returning veterans overcome physical and mental wounds, seek an education, and find meaningful ways to contribute to society after taking off the uniform. This dissertation argues that Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans struggle with reassimilation because they lack healthy, complete models of veteran identity to draw upon in their postwar lives, a problem they’re working through collectively in literature and artwork. The war veteran—returning home transformed by the harsh realities of military training and service, having seen humanity at its extremes, and interacting with a society apathetic toward his or her experiences—should engage in the act of storytelling. This act of sharing experiences and crafting-self subverts stereotypes. Storytelling, whether in a book read by millions, or in a single conversation with a close family member, should instruct civilians on the topic of human resiliency; it should instruct veterans on the topic of homecoming. But typically, veterans do not tell stories. Civilians create barriers to storytelling in the form of hollow platitudes—“thank you for your service” or “I can never understand what you’ve been through”—disconnected from the meaning of wartime service itself. The dissonance between veteran and civilian only becomes more complicated when one considers the implicit demands and expectations attached to patriotism. These often well-intentioned gestures and government programs fail to convey a message of appreciation because they refuse to convey a message of acceptance; the exceptional treatment of veterans by larger society implies also that they are insufficient, broken, or incomplete. So, many veterans chose conformity and silence, adopting one of two identities available to them: the forever pitied “Wounded Warrior” or the superficially praised “Hero.” These identities are not complete. They’re not even identities as much as they are collections of rumors, misrepresentations, and expectations of conformity. Once an individual veteran begins unconsciously performing the “Wounded Warrior” or “Hero” character, the number of potential outcomes available in that individual’s life is severely diminished. Society reinforces a feeling among veterans that they are “different.” This shared experience has resulted in commiseration, camaraderie, and also the proliferation of veterans’ creative communities. As storytellers, the members of these communities are restoring meaning to veteran-civilian discourse by privileging the nuanced experiences of the individual over stereotypes and emotionless rhetoric. They are instructing on the topics of war and homecoming, producing fictional and nonfictional representations of the veteran capable of competing with stereotypes, capable of reassimilation. The Introduction establishes the existence of veteran culture, deconstructs notions of there being a single or binary set of veteran identities, and critiques the social and cultural rhetoric used to maintain symbolic boundaries between veterans and civilians. It begins by establishing an approach rooted in interdisciplinary literary theory, taking veteran identity as its topic of consideration and the American unconscious as the text it seeks to examine, asking readers to suspend belief in patriotic rhetoric long enough to critically examine veteran identity as an apparatus used to sell war to each generation of new recruits. Patriotism, beyond the well-meaning gestures and entitlements afforded to veterans, also results in feelings of “difference,” in the veteran feeling apart from larger society. The inescapability of veteran “difference” is a trait which sets it apart from other cultures, and it is one bolstered by inaccurate and, at times, offensive portrayals of veterans in mass media and Hollywood films such as The Manchurian Candidate (1962), First Blood (1982), or Taxi Driver (1976). To understand this inescapability the chapter engages with theories of race, discussing the Korean War veteran in Home (2012) and other works by Toni Morrison to directly and indirectly explore descriptions of “difference” by African Americans and “others” not in positions of power. From there, the chapter traces veteran identity back to the Italian renaissance, arguing that modern notions of veteran identity are founded upon fears of returning veterans causing chaos and disorder. At the same time, writers such as Sebastian Junger, who are intimately familiar with veteran culture, repeatedly emphasize the camaraderie and “tribal” bonds found among members of the military, and instead of creating symbolic categories in which veterans might exist exceptionally as “Heroes,” or pitied as “Wounded Warriors,” the chapter argues that the altruistic nature which leads recruits to war, their capabilities as leaders and educators, and the need of larger society for examples of human resiliency are more appropriate starting points for establishing veteran identity. The Introduction is followed by an independent “Example” section, a brief examination of a student veteran named “Bingo,” one who demonstrates an ability to challenge, even employ veteran stereotypes to maintain his right to self-definition. Bingo’s story, as told in a “spotlight” article meant to attract student veterans to a college campus, portrays the veteran as a “Wounded Warrior” who overcomes mental illness and the scars of war through education, emerging as an exceptional example—a “Hero”—that other student veterans can model by enrolling at the school. Bingo’s story sets the stage for close examinations of the “Hero” and the “Wounded Warrior” in the first and second chapters. Chapter One deconstructs notions of heroism, primarily the belief that all veterans are “Heroes.” The chapter examines military training and indoctrination, Medal of Honor award citations, and film examples such as All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), Heroes for Sale (1933), Sergeant York (1941), and Top Gun (1986) to distinguish between actual feats of heroism and “Heroes” as they are presented in patriotic rhetoric. The chapter provides the Medal of Honor citations attached to awards presented to Donald Cook, Dakota Meyer, and Kyle Carpenter, examining the postwar lives of Meyer and Carpenter, identifying attempts by media and government officials to appropriate heroism—to steal the right to self-definition possessed by these men. Among these Medal of Honor recipients one finds two types of heroism: Sacrificing Heroes give something of themselves to protect others; Attacking Heroes make a difference during battle offensively. Enduring Heroes, the third type of heroism discussed in the chapter, are a new construct. Colloquially, and for all intents and purposes, an Enduring Hero is simply a veteran who enjoys praise and few questions. Importantly, veterans enjoy the “Hero Treatment” in exchange for silence and conforming to larger narratives which obfuscate past wars and pave the way for new ones. This chapter engages with theorists of gender—such as Jack Judith Halberstam, whose Female Masculinities (1998) anticipates the agency increasingly available to women through military service; like Leo Braudy, whose From Chivalry to Terrorism (2003) traces the historical relationship between war and gender before commenting on the evolution of military masculinity—to discuss the relationship between heroism and agency, begging a question: What do veterans have to lose from the perpetuation of stereotypes? This question frames a detailed examination of William A. Wellman’s film, Heroes for Sale (1933), in the chapter’s final section. This story of stolen valor and the Great Depression depicts the homecoming of a WWI veteran separated from his heroism. The example, when combined with a deeper understanding of the intersection between veteran identity and gender, illustrates not only the impact of stolen valor in the life of a legitimate hero, but it also comments on the destructive nature of appropriation, revealing the ways in which a veteran stereotypes rob service men and women of the right to draw upon memories of military service which complete with those stereotypes. The military “Hero” occupies a moral high ground, but most conceptions of military “Heroes” are socially constructed advertisements for war. Real heroes are much rarer. And, as the Medal of Honor recipients discussed in the chapter reveal, they, too, struggle with lifelong disabilities as well as constant attempts by society to appropriate their narratives. Chapter Two traces the evolution of the modern “Wounded Warrior” from depictions of cowardice in Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage (1895), to the denigration of World War I veterans afflicted with Shell Shock, to Kevin Powers’s Iraq War novel, The Yellow Birds (2012). As with “Heroes,” “Wounded Warriors” perform a stereotype in place of an authentic, individualized identity, and the chapter uses Walt Kowalski, the protagonist of Clint Eastwood’s film, Gran Torino (2008), as its major example. The chapter discusses “therapeutic culture,” Judith Butler’s work on identity-formation, and Eva Illouz’s examination of a culture obsessed with trauma to comment on veteran performances of victimhood. Butler’s attempts to conceive of new identities absent the influence of systems of definition rooted in the state, in particular, reveal power in the opposite of silence, begging another question: What do civilians have to gain from the perpetuation of veteran stereotypes? Largely, the chapter finds, the “Wounded Warrior” persists in the minds of civilians who fear the veteran’s capacity for violence. A broken, damaged veteran is less of a threat. The story of the “Wounded Warrior” is not one of sacrifice. The “Wounded Warrior” exists after sacrifice, beyond any measure of “honor” achieved in uniform. “Wounded Warriors” are not expected to find a cure because the wound itself is an apparatus of the state that is commodified and injected into the currency of emotional capitalism. This chapter argues that military service and a damaged psyche need not always occur together. Following the second chapter, a close examination of “The Bear That Stands,” a short story by Suzanne S. Rancourt which confronts the author’s sexual assault while serving in the Marines, offers an alternative to both the “Hero” and the “Wounded Warrior” stereotypes. Rancourt, a veteran “Storyteller,” gives testimony of that crime, intervening in social conceptions of veteran identity to include a female perspective. As with the example of Bingo, the author demonstrates an innate ability to recognize and challenge the stereotypes discussed in the first and second chapters. This “Example” sets the stage for a more detailed examination of “Veteran Storytellers” and their communities in the final chapter. Chapter Three looks for examples of veteran “difference,” patriotism, the “Wounded Warrior,” and the “Hero” in nonfiction, fiction, and artwork emerging from the creative arts community, Military Experience and the Arts, an organization which provides workshops, writing consultation, and publishing venues to veterans and their families. The chapter examines veteran “difference” in a short story by Bradley Johnson, “My Life as a Soldier in the ‘War on Terror.’” In “Cold Day in Bridgewater,” a work of short fiction by Jerad W. Alexander, a veteran must confront the inescapability of that difference as well as expectations of conformity from his bigoted, civilian bartender. The final section analyzes artwork by Tif Holmes and Giuseppe Pellicano, which deal with the problems of military sexual assault and the effects of war on the family, respectively. Together, Johnson, Alexander, Holmes, and Pellicano demonstrate skills in recognizing stereotypes, crafting postwar identities, and producing alternative representations of veteran identity which other veterans can then draw upon in their own homecomings. Presently, no unified theory of veteran identity exists. This dissertation begins that discussion, treating individual performances of veteran identity, existing historical, sociological, and psychological scholarship about veterans, and cultural representations of the wars they fight as equal parts of a single text. Further, it invites future considerations of veteran identity which build upon, challenge, or refute its claims. Conversations about veteran identity are the opposite of silence; they force awareness of war’s uncomfortable truths and homecoming’s eventual triumphs. Complicating veteran identity subverts conformity; it provides a steady stream of traits, qualities, and motivations that veterans use to craft postwar selves. The serious considerations of war and homecoming presented in this text will be useful for Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans attempting to piece together postwar identities; they will be useful to scholars hoping to facilitate homecoming for future generations of war veterans. Finally, the Afterword to the dissertation proposes a program for reassimilation capable of harnessing the veteran’s symbolic and moral authority in such a way that self-definition and homecoming might become two parts of a single act.

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to identify and describe community partnerships in Urban, Title 1 Elementary Schools. Fifty-one principals from the Southern and Midwestern regions of the United States completed a 19-question on-line survey designed to explore community partnerships in Urban, Title 1 Elementary Schools. Of the 51 principals who completed the survey, 26 agreed to participate in a semi-structured interview. The findings of the study suggest that community partnerships play an essential role in supporting Urban, Title 1 Elementary Schools. Finding community partners can be challenging. Principals who wish to engage community partners should identify the needs of the school prior to seeking community partners or implementing a community partnership program. Community partnerships came from businesses and corporations, faith organizations, or volunteers in the community. The partners primarily provided activities that were student-centered or school-centered. The activities that provided the greatest impact were student-centered activities that were focused on relationship building and promoting a greater understanding of life outside of the classroom. Advisor: Marilyn L. Grady

The purpose of this study was to describe the experience of college for homeless students. Using a phenomenological approach, the researcher completed interviews in which participants were asked to describe what college was like for them. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a hermeneutic approach. All interviews were analyzed within the contexts of each other to identify themes. The participants all lived in a world of homelessness that they could never fully ignore. The world of homelessness was grounded in the contexts of the body and other people. An encompassing central theme of “Escaping the Homeless World through College” wove throughout the interviews as students described the ways in which college did or would help them escape. This central theme was divided into long- and short-term escapes. Three themes emerged within the central theme including: (a) “Meeting Basic Needs,” (b) “Emotional Stress,” and (c) “Isolation.” Each theme revealed the ways in which the world of homelessness intruded on and created barriers to the participants’ college goals. The theme “Meeting Basic Needs” contained the sub-theme “Lack of Ability to Focus on Studies” and the theme “Isolation” contained the sub-theme of “Independence.” Study findings suggest that homeless college students experience physical, emotional, and interpersonal challenges that hinder their ability to perform in school even though they are motivated to attain a college degree that they think will enable them to escape homelessness and find a job that will provide stability and security.

In this study, the relationship between Emotional Intelligence (EI) and substance abuse was examined. Limited research has been conducted to examine the role of EI as a contributing factor in a college student’s propensity to engage in substance abuse related behaviors. This study utilized correlation analyses to explore the relationship between the constructs of EI and substance abuse among a college student sample (N = 105). EI encompasses a subscale of abilities (perception of emotions, managing emotions in the self, Social skills or managing others’ emotions, and utilizing emotions) that were measured in undergraduate college students who completed the Schutte Self Report Emotional Intelligence Test, and The Simple Screening Instrument for Substance Abuse Self-Administered Form. Based on the EI construct, 6 research questions were generated. The study utilized Descriptive Statistics, an Independent Samples T-Test, a Pearson Product-Moment Coefficient of correlation (Pearson r), and Analysis of Variance to evaluate differences that existed between groups and the relationship between the variables of Emotional Intelligence and Substance Abuse. The results demonstrated a statistically significant relationship existed between the EI subscale of managing emotions in the self and substance abuse at the -.215 level. This study adds to the existing knowledge of the role of EI as a predictor of risky substance use.

The literature on higher education classroom climate and its relationship to teaching and learning is dominated by studies and theorizing regarding the role of the instructor. But when instructors use learner-centered approaches and diffuse the role and authority of the teacher, students gain a higher level of influence in the learning experience of their peers. In this phenomenological case study of a unique graduate seminar, I interpreted the thematic structure of the student experience of other students (SEOS). Data sources included field notes, audio recordings of class sessions, weekly student post-class reflections, and individual and focus group interviews with students. Students experienced each other as “All Together in This Space,” the context of their experience in which the following themes were figural: Student “Investment” was described in terms of subthemes “Responsibility,” “Getting Hands Dirty,” and “Genuineness;” students were “Completely Caught Up” in each other’s stories and course content, and the experience of other students “Spilled Out” of the typical classroom setting; and students experienced “Coming to Appreciate Variations” in a learning progression that included subthemes of “Diversity,” “Seeing Variations,” and “Changes in Being.” The transformational learning students described as part of their SEOS included valuing things they did not value before, changes in perspective on major areas of life like time, and the ability to listen even in the face of strong disagreement. Thus, a strength of this study is its ability to capture longitudinal progression over the academic semester. The results from this study provide a unique contribution to the fields of classroom climate and transformative learning with a road map that instructors can use to help their students engage more deeply with course content and each other and a classroom climate framework that can guide course design.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the learning satisfaction of graduates or completers from the Career and Technical Teacher Education (CTTE) in-service program at a public university in the state of Kansas. The conceptual framework and the survey instrument were adapted from the Performance-Based Teacher Education learning packages and revised based on current educational situations, technologies, and terminologies to measure participants’ learning satisfaction. The participants included 96 career and technical education in-service teachers who had completed their degrees or certificates requirements from the CTTE in-service program between 2004 spring and 2015 summer. An on-line survey was administered by using SurveyMonkey. The return rate was 61.46% including 51 participants whose data were valid. The findings of this study included: (a) the graduates or completers generally felt satisfied or very satisfied about how their knowledge and skills learned from the program fitted their teaching practices and (b) the learning satisfaction were not impacted by graduates’ or completers’ teaching school types as well as educational levels. However, the graduates or completers who received degree(s) from the program had significantly higher learning satisfaction than the graduates or completers who received a certificate only.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the discourse of literacy coaching conversations within the Reading Recovery Teacher Leader training year. Both Reading Recovery and literacy coaching have been well researched, however there were gaps in the literature concerning the role of the Reading Recovery Teacher Leader within Reading Recovery and the details of literacy coaching interactions, specifically the language of coaching sessions. This study sought to address these gaps in the literature by examining the discourse of Reading Recovery Teacher leaders and their coaches as they participated in literacy coaching sessions during their 2014.2015 training year. Eleven coaching sessions were analyzed through the lens of Discursive Psychology and the Discursive Action Model in order to address the research question What is the nature of literacy coaching conversations within Reading Recovery Teacher Leader training? Data from the study included audiorecordings and transcripts from 11 coaching conversations, Reading Recovery lesson artifacts, and coaching notes. The central finding of the study was that the discourse of coaching conversations within Reading Recovery teacher leader training focuses on improving teacher decision making. Within the coaching conversations, coaches asked questions about decision making, and coachees offered accounts of decision making in response to the questions posed and often without being prompted by questions. Coachees engaged in responsibility taking through coach extended invitations or clear questioning by the coach to highlight teaching actions. There was some responsibility taking on the part of coachees when coaches were posed why questions. There were also instances where why questions did not facilitate teacher accountability and instead elicited hedging, blame, and/or defensive justifications. The findings suggest that questioning approaches are important to consider when attempting to facilitate accountability as teacher responsibility taking.

Much of the resistance for returning to education seems to be related to the same reasons students left school to begin with. The reason for dropping out and resisting to return to school may be a result of too much emphasis on academic preparation and too little emphasis on satisfying the perceived needs for preparing a youth for adulthood. Four themes emerged from the field-note based interviews: (1) all students do not learn the same way, (2) there is a need for more participatory learning, (3) learning should be relevant to life as perceived by the student, and (4) there is a dislike of computer content that is not supported by personal instruction. While these themes are supportive of past research efforts and may not seem remarkable, the solutions offered by the participants to improve these problems are worthy of consideration, and may be of use to both secondary and adult education.

Vocational education has gained support and endorsement from the Obama Administration as a way to advance the American public in economic and social prosperity in this coming age. Time and resources are crucial as traditional and adult learners seek the skills they need for competitive employment. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the predictive relationship between learning and study strategies and academic performance (GPA) among first semester vocational adult learners and vocational traditional learners. The participants for this study were selected from a convenience sample of vocational college students at a northwestern, rural, four-year college with an academic and vocational division. The sample included traditional learners, students between the age of 18 to 24 years-old and adult learners who completed the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) during Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, and Fall 2014 vocational student success enrollment interviews. Adult learners included students who were 25 and older, and younger students who had adult responsibilities such as full-time employment or dependents. LASSI subscale scores were matched with corresponding first semester cumulative grades and demographics. Two multiple regression analyses were conducted on the predictive relationship between subscales of the LASSI and GPA for Vocational Adult Learners and Vocational Traditional Learners. As a result, it was identified that there were no predictive relationships between subscales of the LASSI and GPA for Vocational Adult Learners or Vocational Traditional Learners. This study failed to reject both null hypotheses.

The use of online learning as a medium to deliver education has seen exponential growth over the past decade. Online learning environments have become a major part of education pedagogies; and as technology improves, evidence indicates that this trend will continue. Organizations and institutions have embraced this movement and are leveraging the benefits of using today’s computer and communications technology as a tool to impart learning to students. The federal government is no exception and has used the online model as a material component in its training and education strategy. The purpose of this study was to explore the online learning experience of criminal investigators within Homeland Security Investigations and the perceived effectiveness of Virtual University, the online learning platform utilized within the United States Department of Homeland Security to deliver training to its personnel. A mixed methods design was used to understand users’ experiences with Virtual University and their perceptions of online learning through Virtual University as a means to deliver virtual education courses. For the study, Special Agents were surveyed and asked to evaluate various factors related to online learning generally, and components of Virtual University specifically. Based on the results gleaned from the survey, additional Special Agents were interviewed and asked open-ended questions designed to explore their experiences with online learning and Virtual University. The study found that Virtual University, though not perfect, was perceived as a convenient, flexible medium to deliver learning. Although it appears that Virtual University is being underutilized, the study did reveal several ideas that are proposed as recommendations for improvements to the system.

This is an inquiry into how online instructors embrace the diversity of their student body while facing the inherent differences between a traditional face-to-face class and one that is taught online. Current research suggests that diversity in a traditional classroom is an asset if the instructor is sensitive to students’ backgrounds. This paper examines if such philosophies in traditional classrooms translate well into a distance education environment, where the student body may be even more diverse than a face-to-face class, but possibly unrecognizable because of the lack of physical cues. Research on the topic of multiculturalism in an online classroom is limited; therefore, this paper helps to highlight the need of such conversation in the study of education. Multicultural pedagogy is usually acknowledged as an asset in a traditional classroom, but can the same techniques and ideas be transferred to online learning, and, if so, how? In this qualitative study, I conducted interviews with five instructors who teach both online and face-to-face classes to gain instructors’ perspectives on the topic online instruction, and specifically in the areas of support for both the instructors and students, community, and, curriculum. Adviser: Elaine Chan

Electronic medical record systems have become essential for giving patient care at health care institutions. The purpose of this study was to explore the training provided to staff at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Northwest Family Medical Center in an effort to identify participant training experiences, needs, and perceptions. This study included qualitative, case study research. There were fourteen participants in the study. A focus group interview was conducted with eight administrative and training participants. Interviews and observations were conducted with six staff members. The literature review of this study discussed educational theories including andragogy and training techniques. It also reviewed current research on healthcare informatics and the training provided to clinical staff during educational and organizational trainings. Due to the case study nature of the study, multiple reliability and validity measures were utilized including; an open researcher positionality, triangulation through multiple data sources, purposeful sampling and member checks. Data collected were coded as themes and explanations emerged. The study found that training was lacking for study participants but all wanted training that matched the training techniques suggested through research.

This study was designed to identify the degree to which the directors of adult basic education programs in Arkansas perceive they have program quality support, as evidenced by a well-defined mission and role in the community, a management system, human resources management, and a suitable learning environment. To collect data for this study, NSCALL's Evidence-based program self-assessment (2006) was modified and administered electronically. Thirty-nine administrators of adult education programs funded by state and federal grants under the Arkansas Department of Career Education were invited to participate. The survey consisted of 40 questions scored on a 5-point Likert type scale, four open responses questions, and three demographic questions. The study found that the directors of local adult education programs in Arkansas agree that their programs have a well-defined role in the community. Directors strongly agree that they have quality management systems, but almost a third of directors strongly disagree that they have an adequate budget for their program. The directors agreed that they have quality systems to manage human resources and provide suitable environments for adult learners. No significant differences were found in the responses between the different demographic groups examined.

Graduate medical education (GME) is essential to preparing physicians for independent practice in the United States. Oversight of GME programs requires strict attention to accreditation requirements, state and federal regulations, and high educational standards. Residency program coordinators are an essential part of GME administration. Program coordinators play a critical role in GME residency programs, provide essential, non-medical administration functions, and are positions that are required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. This study examined the job tasks of residency program coordinators using a job crafting framework. This mixed methods study used a job crafting scale developed by researchers in the Netherlands and qualitative interviews to develop a profile of the program coordinator job and determined that program coordinators do engage in job crafting behaviors. Data from this study can be used to improve the employment status of program coordinators, further integrate program coordinators into critical residency functions such as recruitment and identification of struggling residents, and improve residency program outcomes.

Students entering the "Composition and Literature" classroom find themselves presented with a number of challenges as they learn to analyze literature beyond reader comprehension. The online learner experiences even more obstacles while approaching an often-difficult curriculum without the guidance of a residential instructor. For this reason, the online learner must adapt and develop autonomy in learning. Reader Response literary critics place great emphasis on the reader while determining meaning in a text, and Louise Rosenblatt explored the connection between the reader and the text in her Transactional Theory. To assist online learners in their endeavor, this study aimed to determine a relationship between students' learning styles with the Felder Index of Learning Styles and students' response to literature with the Literary Response Questionnaire. Using a Chi-square, a statistically very strong relationship was found between learning style and approach to literature as well as gender and approach to literature.

Due to their limited resources, rural, older adults in the United States are at risk for poor diet-related health outcomes. Nutrition education is a key component in improving health outcomes in older adults. Cooking Healthy, Eating Smart (CHES) is a nine-lesson curriculum designed to teach rural, older adults culturally appropriate nutrition and food safety information. Funding to hire health professionals to deliver such a curriculum is limited, presenting the need to explore a less expensive mode of dissemination. In this community-based, participatory research study, a formative evaluation and feasibility study were conducted to examine the use of volunteers to deliver a nutrition and food safety curriculum to rural, older adults in South Carolina. Seven focus groups were conducted with members of the South Carolina Family and Community Leaders (SCFCL) and members of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) in the four regions of South Carolina to explore barriers and facilitators of volunteers delivering CHES (N=65 participants). The focus group findings informed the development of the volunteer training manual. A comparative case study method was used to examine the feasibility of a volunteer-based approach by observing and describing the delivery of CHES by two groups of volunteers in SC. The case study findings, including volunteer knowledge change, self-efficacy change, curriculum experience, program experience, and project team observations of volunteers indicated that using volunteers to deliver CHES is a plausible approach with the assistance of paid staff or project team members.

Adult learners are a rapidly expanding student population, constituting more than 40 percent of college students today (Stokes, 2006). Research on adult learners has historically focused on their experiences within adult-centered institutions where they make up the majority student population. Although older students challenge the status quo of higher education, traditional institutions continue to dismiss their needs in the development of policies and practices. The structure of higher education is historically designed to serve youth and assumptions are often made about students that often overlook the needs, availability, and interests of adult learners. For many adult learners who prefer the perceived prestige of public research universities, they have no other option but to push forward despite the lack of institutional support. This study contributes to the limited research on adult learner experiences within public research institutions, and provides necessary insight into the subjective experiences of students with competing adult roles. This qualitative phenomenological study examines the unique experiences and needs of eight adult learners at Great Plains University. Great Plains University is a four-year public research institution located in the Midwest region of the United States. Qualitative interviews were conducted utilizing a semi-structured, informal interview protocol with eight undergraduate students who identified as 25 years of age or older, and were enrolled at least part-time in a degree-seeking program. The findings indicated that adult learners’ outside systems of support and needs greatly influenced their overall perception of institutional climate. The researcher provides practical recommendations for serving older students at an institution predominantly attended by traditional-age undergraduates and offers recommendations for future research. Adviser: Debra Mullen

This qualitative phenomenological study investigated the effects of online learning for deaf college students as opposed to the mainstream classroom setting. This study specifically analyzed the writing and reading skills of deaf students in general and the development of English literacy of prelingually deaf students and those from non-English speaking countries. The use of online teaching tools had significantly improved postsecondary education for deaf students in the United States, particularly in these three categories. A phenomenological study was conducted to express the perspectives of deaf college students regarding the topic. Participants of this research were sixteen deaf online college students who use American Sign Language (ASL) as their native tongue and currently attend an online class in one of the three Conviron Colleges in Northeast Florida. Results of this qualitative phenomenological study were obtained directly from the deaf student participants. Their direct statements highlighted several areas in which they felt their interactions with computer and internet technology could be improved. Namely, there was a consensus among the deaf student participants. They related there was a "technology gap" to overcome before they could optimally pursue learning online. Also, participants noted that teachers in service to the deaf students attempting to access online learning software were themselves lacking in the know-how necessary to achieve optimal learning. This study can provide prospective students and educators within the higher education sector a better understanding of the experiences of deaf students in a distance-learning program. Moreover, the findings of the current study provide an opportunity for potential distant learning students to understand the implications of online learning before their actual participation.

This study examined the impact of online instructor actions on student satisfaction in online, graduate education courses. Students at an online institution that offers graduate degrees in Educational Leadership, Curriculum and Instruction, and Educational Technology completed the Priority Survey of Online Learners, which included questions about various aspects of their online learning experience, specifically focusing on timeliness, responsiveness and frequency of online instructor actions. This causal-comparative, quantitative research study employed survey strategy of inquiry. The sample consisted of 256 graduate, education students at an online, private institution. Paired t-tests were employed in data analysis. The results of this study revealed that online instructor actions in the areas of frequency, responsiveness and timeliness are statistically significant on online, graduate education student's satisfaction.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how adult learning and development theories and principles are represented in theater. The study also investigated if there was significant evidence to support the idea of using dramatic works as an example to illustrate adult learning and development theories and principles as an educational tool. Ten plays were analyzed along with an accompanying rubric that the evaluator completed while reading the plays. The rubric searched for information if adults and/or educators were present in the text, how andragogy and barriers were presented, along with other theories and principles. The findings suggested that there is evidence of adult learning and development theories and principles depicted in the dramatic works. The findings illustrate that the theories and principles are represented with various strengths of evidence as valid examples to represent the theories and principles. The results of the study should further enlighten the concept of using literature to represent ideals of higher education and encourage theater, both live and written, to be used to represent theories and themes to individuals seeking knowledge on the development and challenges of adult life.

This study uses practitioner research to examine secondary mathematics teachers’ learning of literacy integration practices in the context of a district-wide literacy professional development series. The author, a secondary mathematics curriculum and instruction facilitator in a large, Midwestern suburban district, engaged in a two-year partnership with seventeen Mathematics Teacher Facilitators (MTFs) who taught literacy practices to their colleagues via a train-the-trainer model. This study provides an explicit rendering of professional development practices and ongoing, job-embedded learning vignettes of six MTF’s experiences in (a) teaching literacy practices to their colleagues and (b) how they learned and enacted these practices in their classrooms. Nested in calls by the Common Core State Standards for English-Language Arts (CCSS-ELA) and Response to Intervention (RTI) process, this research is a flagship for literacy integration professional development in mathematics. The MTFs’ detailed descriptions provide valuable information regarding the discipline-specific literacy practices of secondary mathematics and offer important considerations for staff developers, curriculum coordinators, including the author, literacy/instructional coaches, and administrators seeking to improve literacy integration. Adviser: Kathleen Wilson

More teachers are experiencing professional development within blended/virtual learning communities, which I consider a fruitful avenue for expansion of new literacies in K-12 classrooms. However, new literacies challenge traditional structures in education even as new rules of corporate-sponsored reform and high-stakes accountability serve to reinforce these structures. Within this context of contradictions, a cohort of teachers from a rural, remote county in the southeast United States participated in a blended learning environment in their final semester of graduate-level coursework in Reading Education. Some of the teacher-learners, whose own attitudes and motivations toward technology were as diverse as the tools themselves, resisted new modes of learning, especially self-reflection through digital video. To better understand situational forces as well as the participants’ own identities as sources of resistance, I designed an activity-theoretical study that draws upon Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), New Literacies, and multiple realities perspectives. My data sources included observations and field notes, analysis of course documents, and interactive interviews. I applied grounded theory to code the data and used the initial findings to draft a case study report. I then used CHAT’s heuristic tools to graphically depict the tensions of joint activity between the school system and university course settings. I also developed activity portraits of three teacher-learners. My findings suggest the following implications for blended learning in Reading Education: seek better coordination and articulation of joint activity, avoid being overly prescriptive of digital tools, and engage participants more frequently in open dialogue about problems and issues. The findings also point to an enhanced role for CHAT to stimulate a theory-to-practice feedback loop for the practitioner-researcher.