As an epistemological, axiological, and methodological paradigm, Critical Race Theory (CRT; Crenshaw et al., 2000; Harris, 1993) is a scholarly tool to identify and disrupt inequities, possible via CRT's core tenets towards troubling systemic racism. We argue that political movements in North Carolina (NC) exhibit attempts to delegitimize critical…

Multilingual learners (MLs) represent a substantial, growing segment of the PreK--12 population, including in rural areas. Several forces contribute to the increase of ML students in rural schools (e.g., immigrant labor, refugee crises). As we undergo a major cultural shift from a society that was (misguidedly) viewed as monolingual to one that is…

This study was a qualitative participatory action research study that focused on the lived experiences of Black women who received prenatal care and gave birth in the state of North Carolina. The study was meant to investigate and address the racism and implicit biases these women experienced from the medical community they encountered, and the…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how rural North Carolina teachers, after completing the National Board Certification process, describe how they apply systematic thinking to their teaching practice, reflect on the experience, and learn from experience. Grounded in David Kolb's Experiential Learning Model and The…

Recent research has shown that a religious upbringing renders children receptive to ordinarily impossible outcomes, but the underlying mechanism for this effect remains unclear. Exposure to religious teachings might alter children's basic understanding of causality. Alternatively, religious exposure might only affect children's religious…

In October 2022, the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) dashboard reported 5,266 full-time White faculty and 714 Black faculty. Only 10% of full-time curriculum instructors were Black, whereas 82% were White (Admin, 2019). Since Black faculty are underrepresented, their voices are often unheard. This qualitative research described the…

The increase in the prevalence of mental illness among Black millennials has led to more awareness and advocacy within the generation. However, Black millennial men are still utilizing counseling services at significantly lower rates than millennial Black women and men of other races. Consequently, this leads to an increase in suicide completions…

This grounded theory study seeks to 1) understand what barriers North Carolina kindergarten teachers experience as they implement a new authentic formative assessment, the North Carolina Early Learning Inventory (NC ELI), and 2) identify factors that increase implementation fidelity with the new measure. Data were collected from 10 teachers, from…

Here, we assess whether quantity representations are influenced by the perceptual biases hypothesized to manifest in depressive individuals. In contrast to this clinical model, several prominent models of numerical cognition assume that quantity representations are abstract, and therefore are independent of the items that are being quantified. If…

The expectation for classroom educators to engage in evidence-based decision-making is standard protocol in most K-12 classrooms, yet translating educational research into effective practice is mired with implementation challenges. The research-practice partnership (RPP) model has emerged as a promising framework to support stakeholders as they…

The aim of this dissertation is to inform policy makers when designing and making decisions on performance measure and performance-based funding models. While performance measures are designed to incent and inform college efforts to increase levels of student success, many of the models unfairly assess college outcomes and fund based on those…

This exploratory study uses epistemic network analysis (ENA) to examine the use of extended reality (XR) technologies embedded in post-secondary classes, one in a traditional setting and the other a place-based setting, to examine climate change while utilizing a socioscientific issues (SSI) approach. One group used a virtual reality (VR)…

Purpose: This study examined the impact of bilingualism on affective theory of mind (ToM) and social prioritization (SP) among autistic adults compared to neurotypical comparison participants. Method: Fifty-two (25 autistic, 27 neurotypical) adult participants (ages 21-35 years) with varying second language (L2) experience, ranging from…

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a shift in K-12 educational delivery from primarily in-person classroom instruction to remote learning. Developing broadcast instruction is one way to provide learners who experience barriers to contemporary forms of remote learning, which are typically provided over the internet, a way to access quality mathematics…

How community colleges educate students is an ever-changing proposition, one marked by an increasing number of unfilled leadership positions and an operational landscape even more reliant on labor market outcomes, learning, equity and completion. A growing number of senior leaders approaching retirement has created a wealth of career opportunities…