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Global teaching opportunities have opened doors for teachers to look for prospective changes in their careers. The problem was international teachers accept offers to teach in the United States but face challenges for a smooth transition in the education system that affects students. The experiences of international teachers in implementing the U.S. curriculum are undocumented, resulting in literature gaps. The purpose of the qualitative transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of international teachers in U.S. classrooms in the education system. The study focused on the transitional and social challenges of international teachers that affect the smooth transition in the U.S. education system and teachers' pedagogical approach that influences the expectations of the U.S. education system. Deardoff's intercultural competency theory and Lave and Wenger's situated learning theory served as the theoretical framework. The target population was international teachers who earned a United States teaching license with a minimum of 1 year of teaching in an East Coast school district. Seventeen international teachers were selected through the purposive sampling technique, and semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data collection included transcripts, audio recordings, and reflexive notes. Otter.ai and Microsoft Teams were used to transcribe the data. Thematic analysis resulted in themes such as cultural adjustment, social inclusion, student performance, teacher interaction, and support system. Findings revealed international teachers experienced challenges during the initial years, but there was gradual improvement in their performance through support. Policymakers and recruiters should provide comprehensive support through international teacher programs and mentoring programs.

This dissertation examines the effects of participation in grassroots organizing on the capacity and commitment of public school parents and community members to engage in future activism. The study used a mixed-methods research design, drawing on qualitative and quantitative data collected from individuals involved in seven exemplar organizations. A growing literature has examined the impacts of grassroots community organizing on public schools, but to date, there has not been a systematic examination of how participation in such efforts influences the personal trajectory of members involved to determine if they develop greater propensity to engage in activism, in school reform or other social issues, over the long term. Drawing on social capital, resource and learning theories, I develop a conceptual model explaining how and why involvement in grassroots organizing increases the propensity for future activism among participants. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to test this model. Results indicate that participation in organizing is significantly and positively related to: (1) beliefs in collective action; (2) sense of self-efficacy; and (3) feelings of community attachment and engagement. The relationship between participation and the propensity for activism was influenced by organizational learning practices, specifically, the extent to which members were helped to develop democratic leadership skills, understanding of systems and advocacy knowledge, and awareness of their capacity to generate change. Organizational strategies that supported this development include: (a) apprenticeship and mentoring; (b) a focus on engaging members through participatory deliberation and action; and (c) the cultivation of members' understanding of power dynamics and their critical consciousness. Learning strategies appeared most influential on newer members, suggesting a need to develop higher-order learning opportunities for more experienced members. This study is relevant to policymakers, researchers and practitioners who aim to improve urban public schooling. Successful reform requires creating a normative and political context that will be supportive of change both inside schools and within the surrounding community. Therefore, forms of parental engagement that enhance community members' awareness of the structural contributors to schooling inequalities, and build their leadership and base of power to address them, are critically important to generating long-term improvements in public schools. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Although anxiety disorders are some of the most prevalent mental health conditions, current pharmacotherapies are often ineffective or associated with negative side effects because the neural mechanisms underlying anxiety are not well understood. Previous studies have identified the amygdala and ventral hippocampus (vHPC) as two of the major structures involved in anxiety. The Tye Lab has used optogenetic techniques to show that acute activation of basolateral amygdala (BLA) neurons that project to the vHPC increases anxiety-like behavior in mice, while inhibition of these neurons decreases such behavior. We sought to build on this work to test whether these anxiolytic effects can be sustained long-term. To manipulate neurons, we utilized stabilized step-function opsin (SSFO), a light sensitive cation channel that upon stimulation with a single pulse of light, produces a sustained activation of cells. It is well established that significant increases or decreases in neural activity trigger homeostatic mechanisms that alter the excitability of cells, and we hypothesized that by leveraging this phenomenon we could alter anxiety-related circuits in a long lasting manner. Using a dual viral infection technique, we expressed SSFO tagged with an enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (eYFP) fluorophore only in those BLA cells that projected to the vHPC. Control mice received virus containing eYFP alone. Stereotactic surgery was used to inject the viruses bilaterally into the appropriate brain regions of adult wild-type C57BL/6J mice. Optical fibers were implanted over the BLA, and one minute pulses of blue light (473 nm) were delivered to the mice twice a day for five consecutive days. Two well-validated behavioral assays, the elevated plus maze and the open field test, were used to measure anxiety-like behaviors in these mice. Testing was conducted 7, 30 and 90 days following stimulation and we observed a decrease in anxiety-like behavior in SSFO mice at all three time points, suggesting that reprogramming of the BLA-vHPC circuit had occurred. In order to characterize the synaptic changes that mediated this behavioral phenomenon, we also used dendritic spine analysis and patch clamp techniques to measure mini excitatory post synaptic currents (EPSCs). We found that after SSFO stimulation, BLA-vHPC cells demonstrated lower frequencies of EPSCs and reduced spine densities. Thus, it appears that the changes in synaptic strength mediated through the reduction of functional synapses and excitatory neurotransmitter receptors on BLA-vHPC cells could be some of the mechanisms underlying the anxiolytic effects observed upon SSFO stimulation., Health Sciences and Technology