Globalization and rapid changes in technology have led to a shift in the skills employers need. These changes have resulted in a gap between the skills people have and those required by industry. This exploratory case study sought to better understand the uniquely human skills employers desire and technical educators should teach in order to…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how American vocational students describe personal, behavioral, and environmental factors that contribute to their career decisions in the state of Utah. According to the problem statement, it was not known how American vocational students describe the personal, behavioral, and…

A large proportion of students with disabilities (SWD) have social skills deficits that make it difficult for them to succeed in school, work, and life. This quantitative, quasi-experimental, non-equivalent, pretest-posttest, control group study was designed to explore whether SWD can better transfer their learned social skills to natural…

Learning to read is essential, especially for our youngest learners, as the foundational skills for learning to read can determine the future success of our students. The disruptions to learning from the COVID-19 pandemic have affected education. Researchers are still working to understand the depth of learning loss students have experienced.…

Mormon college students may leave or delay their studies to serve missions for their church, typically for 18 to 24 months. This dissertation studies the impact of serving a mission on the spiritual development and psychological wellbeing of these students. Using a two-factor ANOVA fixed-effects, nonexperimental design, five measurement scales on…

Settler-colonial narratives permeate the social studies curriculum. This qualitative study engages the experiences and reflections of three teacher-participants as well as the researcher as an additional teacher-participant to explore how and why practicing teachers teach against settler colonial narratives. The study is framed through a…

Achieving equity in education is an ongoing challenge, especially in the education of multilingual learners (MLs) in U.S. school contexts. Extant research demonstrates teachers' lack of preparation in equitably teaching multilingual learners. Traditional professional development efforts are insufficient to change the current landscape for teaching…

Modern technological advancements have transformed the way in which humans communicate, including writing. Today's students must not only be able to master the mechanics of good writing, but they must also become competent using writing programs in an online environment. English Language Arts teachers are the primary users of these writing…

The goal of this study was to examine the professional development experiences of two contrastive participants while they were creating standards-based individualized education plan (IEP) goals using a virtual world called TeacherSim. Two specific focuses of the study were on how special educators engaged with the task of creating standards-based…

Competency-based education (CBE) has become well-accepted as a powerful way to personalize learning. Today's advanced technologies have enhanced CBE even further. Practitioners in the field are seeking means to take advantage of technology to increase CBE's effectiveness and efficiency, especially for adult learners. Microlearning and digital open…

Driven 2 Teach is a privately funded program for history teachers in the state of Utah. The program emphasizes the importance of teacher travel to educate history teachers in the places where history happened. This study investigated the program's influence on participant gains in learning about history and how to best teach about the past, social…

Technology is a critical component of the American economy. Analysts have claimed it is imperative that the United States maintain its status as a worldwide leader in technology or its economy, standard of living, and security are in jeopardy. Yet every year, more technology jobs are created than can be filled by qualified college graduates. A…

The rapidly expanding use of technology in education has brought about the need for principals to be prepared as technology leaders. Although, there is a need for principals to be prepared as technology leaders, many currently are not prepared for this role. It is crucial that principals are prepared in order ability to lead their school in…

Prior research of rough-and-tumble play (RTP) has shown mixed results--different definitions, varying functions, and positive and negative outcomes. Few researchers have studied interventions to address RTP in school settings. With unclear evidence of RTP outcomes and the extent school interventions are addressing RTP in school settings, this…

This study of four case studies looks at how secondary math, music, science, and social studies teachers' attitudes and classroom practices were affected by their participation in the Central Utah Writing Project (CUWP) summer institute. Participant interviews, observations, and artifacts were analyzed by looking at themes for effective…