Despite decades of passing civic initiatives to revitalize civic education, youth citizen participation, and young adult voter registration is low--most youth cannot even name one member of U.S. Congress. It also cannot be assumed youth will naturally become civically engaged and aware through their family and community. In addition, people of…

As K-12 organizations continue to increase adoption of cloud-based information technology such as Google Apps for Education, there is a need to understand the factors that influence behaviors of school leaders in adopting and using these technologies. The purpose of this study was to explore the motivations and learning experiences of school site…

This study applied feminist theory (Crossman, 2018) and glass ceiling theory (Dunlap & Schmuck, 1995) through the lens of a transformative worldview framework (Creswell, 2014) to understand the formal and informal learning experiences of superintendents in southern California. The purpose of this study was to examine the differences between…

This three-article dissertation specifically examines one challenging element of teaching history to young children: the representation of historical violence and adversity, using fourth grade curriculum and instruction surrounding the topic of Spanish colonization of California as a case study. This era, known as the Spanish mission period in…

The purpose of this collective case study was to explore digital badging in educational institutions as support for K-12 practitioners struggling to integrate technology into pedagogical practices. The researcher conducted a mixed-method study that captured perceptions about digital badges and follow-up interviews with selected badge users to…

The urgent environmental issues of today require science-literate adults to engage in business and political decisions to create solutions. Despite the need, few adults have the knowledge and skills of science literacy. This doctoral dissertation is an analytical case study examining the science-learner identity development of Exploratorium Field…