This research aimed to assess students' perception of the campus climate as it relates to issues of gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation at a community college in Hawai'i. Despite LGBTQ+ individuals' historical acceptance in Hawai'i, little research explores their current experiences within higher education, specifically…

The University of Hawai'i (UH) is among the many colleges and universities worldwide taking steps to integrate Indigenous people, cultures, and histories into its structure, policies, and institutional culture to close achievement gaps and empower Indigenous scholars and their communities. As one of ten campuses in the UH system, Leeward Community…

The University of Hawai?i at Manoa's (UHM) most recent Strategic Plan highlights the university's mission to be a Hawaiian Place of Learning (HPoL) while sustaining a commitment to global competitiveness. At the same time, multiple stakeholders at UHM have continued to push for greater recognition and engagement with the university as an…

Retention rates are considerably lower for students attending two-year postsecondary institutions when compared to their counterparts at four-year postsecondary institutions. This disparity may stem from the greater number of nontraditional students at two-year postsecondary institutions, who often struggle to balance their studies and…

The rapid shift to online teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic impacted Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) across the globe. Educators faced an unprecedented shift from traditional to online classrooms. This basic interpretive study aimed to understand the experiences and perspectives of community college faculty in a public university system…

Teachers across the United States are responding to an increasingly diverse classroom environment. Problems unfold where teachers face challenges in adapting curriculum to diverse learners. Historically, most research has focused on the voices of teachers in urban classrooms, however; the voices of teachers in rural classrooms with indigenous…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to better understand the lived experiences of novice teachers in K12 Hawaii schools implementing professional learning communities (PLCs) and what, if any, influence their experiences have on their resilience and retention. The research questions that guided this study: What are the lived…

Educational reform efforts are necessary for state and local educational agencies to prepare students to meet the demands of the 21st century and to follow federal and state education laws. In efforts to support low-performing schools, education officials have concentrated educational reform on replicating the characteristics of high-performing…

The primary aim of this study is to promote social justice and educational equity by empowering the voices of parents and community members in a rural public-school community with a diverse minority population. The research questions focused on understanding how their perceptions, beliefs, experiences, and values influence their engagement with…

In the realm of higher education, a national and local priority in the United States and Hawai'i is the push for timely degree completion. Of particular concern are the retention and degree completion rates for Native Hawaiians. Interactions with counseling and advising professionals have the potential to significantly impact the quality and…

This dissertation documents the lives of six science teachers whose multifaceted identities were influenced over time by Hawai'i's unique sociocultural and biogeographical factors. Narrative inquiry was utilized through individual interviews which spanned a five-year period. From "restorying," identity narratives and maps were…

This qualitative study was a life history multiple case study investigating the issue of student retention at community colleges in Hawai'i using oral interviewing as a primary method of data collection. The purpose of the current study was to investigate what role motivation played in a student's decision to persist at a community college in…

College enrollment and completion rates among low-income and historically underserved students are lower than those of their middle- and upper-income counterparts. "Promise scholarships," also known as "last dollar" scholarships, are becoming an increasingly popular way for states throughout the U.S. to incentivize…

Ample evidence suggests that environmental problems, and their impacts to present and future generations, require our utmost attention. Education within schools "and" communities play critical roles in shaping the perceptions and relationships people have to their natural and social environments. However, few studies have examined the…

This study uses Astin's (1999) Inputs-Environment-Outcomes (I-E-O) framework to investigate if a developmental math summer bridge program had a significant effect on six (6) student success measures; three pertaining to mindset/behaviors leading to student success: (1) college self-efficacy (CSE); (2) sense of belonging; and (3) engagement and…