In order to address prevalent barriers to equitable education, it is critical for preservice teachers to recognize their potential for enacting change as they prepare to enter Pre-K to 12th grade classrooms. This critical qualitative study focused on preservice teachers' attitudes, perceptions, and views of their unique roles in advancing social…

This doctoral dissertation explores how site principals can best support their teachers in implementing trauma-informed practices at the universal level of support. Trauma affects an astounding number of school-aged children, indicating the need for increased support within the classroom environment utilized throughout the school day and…

The primary focus in this study was to capture the experiences of parents who have participated in the IEP process. Specifically, the research expounded on how parental experiences during the IEP process impacted or informed education plans for their children and informed education leaders seeking to improve the IEP process experience. This study…

What does it take to create an educational environment committed to social change? What is the role of the teacher in this process? The researcher? Education offers a radical hope of learning for freedom over conformity. Still, this form of liberatory education can only occur through consistent reflexivity that critically examines systems of…

Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities (EBDs) are often pushed out of the least restrictive schooling environment due to schools' inability to meet their unique learning needs (OSEP, 2020). School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (SW-PBIS) is a research-based framework for helping school teams establish social and…

Since the early 1980s, American educational reformers tried to improve schools through standards, high-stakes tests, and punishments for those schools that failed to meet the mark. In North Carolina, many schools with diverse populations and low socioeconomic status struggled to succeed, receiving the state performance grade of D or F and the…

The purpose of this dissertation research was to capture the lived experiences of teachers in an independent private school during a four-year period of multiple systemic changes. This was done in a retrospective manner to gain firsthand insights from within the systemic change. The perceptions on change from teachers with varying academic…

Research indicates that precision agricultural education (PAE) in Oklahoma affects environmental quality, water conservation, and crop yields. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the nature and perceived effectiveness of PAE in Oklahoma secondary agricultural education classes. The study was framed by the diffusion of…

The purpose of this study is to understand how change takes place in schools of education by examining three institutions involved in the "Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate." More specifically, this study will investigate how schools of education and their academic departments adopt, adapt, or reject change efforts and how…

Over the last two decades there has been heightened interest in redefining faculty scholarship in higher education (Boyer, 1990). Trends have included the development of cultural frameworks for understanding how disciplines and institutions influence faculty work and how socialization processes impact academic career development. Despite the fact…

Information Literacy (IL) competencies are defined as "the ability to locate, evaluate, and use information effectively" and are considered essential for students in their academic lives and future careers (ALA, 1989). IL plays an important role in developing critical thinking and problem solving skills, and improving academic…