The contemplation of the potential future gains and consequences of current behavior, known as future orientation, can be of special importance in the counseling field as it might have positive and preventive implications on physical and mental health. In its simplest form, future orientation refers to people's subjective view of the future…

A quantitative studies systematic review with narrative synthesis was conducted to explore the risk and protective factors among Latinx college students' mental health. This systematic review also aimed to identify the relevant demographic variability to the mental health of Latinx college students, and the relationship between mental health and…

In this study, I surveyed 337 teachers representing 47 Wisconsin rural elementary schools with similar rates of economic disadvantage but exceeded expectations on the 2018-2019 Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (WI DPI) Report Card. Participating teachers were asked to anonymously complete Wagner's (2006) school-culture-triage survey and…

This heuristic study explored student success initiatives and practices of select community colleges as implemented during students' pre- and post-matriculation periods and whether those colleges have united them into a cohesive design. The pre- and post-matriculation timeframe is the most critical segment of the student's entire academic career…

Black students represent about 13% of the students who enroll in higher education and only 27% graduate within four years (NCES, 2021). Given national enrollment rates are declining, (NCES, 2022) higher education leaders face rising pressures to ensure the students who do enroll continue to matriculate toward graduation. Guided by a proposed…

The purpose of this dissertation was to understand how Black middle school students interpret the relationship with their mathematics teachers. This study is situated within research exploring the nuances of the Black-White achievement gap. National assessment data provide that more than 80% of eighth-grade Black students enter high school working…

Although researchers have indicated that counselors' clinical experience positively predicts increased cognitive complexity, most research on the topic has not addressed how counselors' own experiences shape their cognitive complexity. Completed research on counselors' cognitive complexity has been primarily quantitative, included European…

This dissertation centers on the study of Kaqchikel word associations and the social variation that exists within them. Theoretical and methodological considerations for this project stem from the fields of psycholinguistics, variationist sociolinguistics, and cognitive linguistics. Together, these form an approach that fits within a blossoming…

Due to the diversification of school systems, schools are being challenged to engage in more culturally responsive practices to meet the needs of diverse students. Therefore, this study utilized Gay's (2002) model of culturally responsive teaching to assess the relationship between sociocultural factors and the academic competence and mental…

Previous research indicated teachers' attitudes significantly impact the success of inclusion programs for students with disabilities. In this quantitative, correlational study, the capability of cultural dimensions (Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions) to predict components of urban, secondary inclusion teachers' attitudes (the Tripartite Model of…

This dissertation uses the Conceptual Blending Hypothesis from the socio-cognitive method presented and refined by Kecskes (2002, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2020) to explain how the lexical choice of bilinguals differs across sociocultural situations. Quantitative (lexical density, lexical diversity, and lexical sophistication) and qualitative (lexical…

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the factors that influence the college choice process for first-generation, low-income, and academically at-risk students in a TRIO Upward Bound program. The literature review theoretically explores the multi-level factors with Perna's college choice model, social construction theory, and Bourdieu's social,…

This study explored the relationship between a superintendent's leadership style and their strategic planning and change management process using a qualitative methodology with a case study design. Purposeful sampling methods were used to identify 13 superintendents from the Southwest and Midwest regions of the United States. The participants were…

Using data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, this study looks at the variances in student admission knowledge and parental admission guidance by socio-economic level and tests the relationships of cultural capital variables on four-year college enrollment. While previous studies have found a relationship between cultural capital and…

There has been a rapid increase of the Chinese immigrant youths enrolling in U.S. higher educational institutions. The question of how college-level Chinese immigrant youths develop their citizenship is critical to American educators in order to provide better civic preparation. The present mixed-method study investigated Chinese immigrant youths'…