In this dissertation, I K-8 mathematics teacher agency and learning within a research-practice partnership (RPP) context. I asked three primary research questions: (a) How is teacher agency enacted within the RPP?; (b) what do teachers perceive they are learning from their participation in the RPP?; and (c) how is teacher agency connected to…

This mixed methods action research intervention study analyzed the influence of social music improvisation (SMI) on students' behaviors and perceptions of their connectedness to others in a virtual middle school classroom setting. Nine 10-minute SMI sessions allowed for the accumulation of data, with two additional pre-sessions being informative…

This was a qualitative study of the influence of Research Experiences for STEM Educators and Teachers (RESET) on a teachers' classroom practices and identities. RESET is a year-long professional development and research experience for teachers supported through the Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP). This research study inductively analyzed…

Social justice education is critical work that should be integrated into the teaching and learning in schools. Because this learning is not an isolated event, nor does it solely exist within the classroom walls, family engagement structures are of importance. Both social justice education and effective family engagement involve inclusive…

The following designed-based implementation research (DBIR) study explores the impacts of a research-practice partnership (RPP) on two fifth grade ELA teachers and the researcher as they engaged with the designing and implementation of two critical literacy pedagogy (CLP) units through the adaptation of mandated New York State Common Core (NYSCC)…

This developmental research aims to: (1) examine the developmental processes of the application called MagicSpells, a haptically-enhanced, digital, vocabulary acquisition application design for learners with dyslexia, (2) investigate the structure and design of the application, and (3) analyze the results of the reviews and usability tests…

The present dissertation in practice (DiP) proposal delineates an action research study designed to evaluate the use of problem-based learning (PBL) in an eighth-grade earth science class to assess the impact of PBL on student achievement. I have observed that students often struggle with developing an understanding of how the motions of the sun,…

In this dissertation, I explore what it means to different people, in different places throughout life's spectrum, to create a space to learn. This dissertation is a collection of work that I have written throughout my time at the CUNY Graduate Center. The chapters herein represent an arch of my learning over the past five years. The title,…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the social and cultural instructional process on independent reading. In addition, the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the administrator-teacher relationship on educational practices in a lab site classroom. Using an action research design, data was collected through…

This study focuses on discovery of what combination of scaffolds will allow 8th grade social studies students to successfully interact with primary source historical documents. The teacher-researcher examined the impact of scaffolding on two obstacles to learning in the discipline of history: (a) the inability of students to navigate successfully…

For decades, researchers have studied teacher efficacy. In the past decade or so, however, collective teacher efficacy has been at the forefront of educational research as an extension of teacher self-efficacy. Educational researchers have been studying this construct to determine its impact on student achievement, teacher quality, and school…

I conducted a two-year case study of a cohort of two middle school mainstream teachers, one a mathematics and science teacher and the other a language arts teacher, and one elementary teacher involved in the LSciMAct ("Transforming Literacy, Math and Science Through Participatory Action Research") professional development project. The…

This investigation examined the transition from a spiral science curriculum to a field-focus science curriculum in middle school. A spiral science curriculum focuses on a small part of each field of science during each middle school year, more of a general science concept. In contrast to that, the base of a field-focus curriculum is that each…

The purpose of this autoethnographic narrative inquiry was for the researcher to describe and explain how he discovered, constructed, and refined his sense of moral purpose as a principal during his seven-year tenure at Orange Pines Middle School. He inductively analyzed and reflected primarily on self-authored texts tied to critical professional…

Gifted academic achievement has been identified as a major area of interest for educational researchers. The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether there was a relation between the quality of gifted programs as perceived by teachers, coordinators and supervisors of the gifted and the achievement of the same gifted students in 6th and 7th…