Using narrative interviews, this study explored the experiences of belonging among eight first-generation college students (FGCS) who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). By applying Strayhorn's Belonging and Crenshaw's Intersectionality Framework, this study sheds light on the challenges and benefits BIPOC FGCS encounter as…

Chronic absenteeism is a critical predictor for student achievement and high school graduation rates and helps to identify at-risk students. It is a significant challenge in the NYC public school system, driving inequitable outcomes for marginalized students. Since 2014, NYC public schools have used the community school model as an equity…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to understand how principals who lead community schools in New York City make sense of their work and their lived experiences in advancing social justice for their students and school communities particularly during this COVID-19 pandemic. Community schools, by virtue of their design and…

The proposed qualitative year-long descriptive study explored how high school teachers who participated in a Professional Learning Community had their school leadership aspirations impacted while serving in the New York City Public School System. Currently, the system has a dire need to fill school and district instructional, supervisory, and…

Purpose: The study aimed to understand the perspectives of students in college who were homeless. The research question guiding this inquiry was: How do young adults describe their experience of being homeless while in college? Method: Qualitative research using a phenomenological approach guided this descriptive inquiry. Interviews were held with…

For decades, research has explored the learning experiences of students in community college. This study adds to the existing literature and brings in the learning experience for community college students since the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to explore how COVID-19 shifted the learning experience for criminal justice…

The Sullivan County School District, a pseudonym, is a specialized district in NYC catering to newcomers and students at risk for high school dropout. In the 2022-2023 school year, there was a significant increase in enrollment of asylum-seeking students living in shelters. Using an improvement science approach, the aim of this study was to…

Approximately 75.0% of the students in a district in the Bronx, New York, failed to meet grade level state standards in mathematics The district leadership team had implemented numerous improvement efforts but saw little progress. Grounded in Lave and Wenger's Social Learning Theory, adapting Wenger and Snyder's Community of Practice research, and…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore high school principals' perceptions of how a supportive environment, strong family-community ties, and trust assist educational leaders in improving the culture within their schools. Participants of this study included 15 high school principals in the New York City Department of…

The present study examines the impact of on-campus childcare on student parent success. Researchers believe the role stress they experience while balancing their responsibilities as students and parents, combined with their increased likelihood of experiencing financial stressors relative to their peers, impact their success outcomes. Supports…

The continuing rise in economic inequality has caused disparities between wealthy and low-income families in academic achievement, parental involvement, and adult occupational attainment. School leaders have created community schools as a strategy to combat the adverse effects of poverty on students and their families and meet the needs of the…

This dissertation explores how afterschool programming shaped New York City children's experiences from the 1930s-1960s. Centering the many organizations that planned activities for children, I explore the beliefs and institutional dynamics that determined what the work of afterschool involved. With purposes spanning education, recreation,…

Research, nonprofit, and philanthropic organizations have increasingly had a larger influence in public educational institutions as they support particular programs, practices, and policy reforms. This study investigates the case of local organizations that have initiated and institutionalized high school dropout prediction systems called ninth…

The community school model is rooted in John Dewey's (1902) conceptualization of the public school as a hub for the community. This work has evolved over a hundred years and recently experienced prominence in the public eye as a fundamental component of New York City's school turnaround policy. This dissertation describes findings and…

The problem addressed in this narrative inquiry study was that though transfer high schools' programs were designed to improve at-risk students' academic and future life outcomes there are aspects of the processes that have not been assessed. The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry study was to explore the narratives of transfer high…