The study investigates educators' perceptions of Restorative Justice Practices (RJPs) in inclusive classrooms, focusing on students with dis/Abilities, within the frameworks of Social Justice, Critical Race Theory, and Disability Studies (DisCrit). It aims to address a gap in the literature on equity in education, particularly the effects of RJPs…

Care is foundational to the way we reproduce and transform the world around us. Today, in a time marked by widespread calls for racial and social justice, and simultaneous backlash against these calls, it is imperative that we understand the ways that care circulates and operates within racialized struggle. In this dissertation I engage in this…

Training and development are used extensively in the United States to impact employee learning and performance. The considerable investment and expenditures across public and private sectors and the vast number of employees who receive support from training and development professionals warrants exploration into how instructional designers are…

This study addresses university leadership and the need to affirm diversity, equity, and inclusion in order to institute organizational change for social justice. My key research question is, "What are effective ways for leaders to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion with the goal of achieving social justice?" There is much research…

With the increasing demographic diversity and critical focus on social justice in the United States, leaders are under significant pressure to integrate diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) strategies into their core operations and organizational culture. Challenged to think more critically about how to better prepare and support…

Equity and inclusion have consistently been problematic within the field of outdoor and environmental education. Despite numerous positive benefits associated with programming, current trends highlight discrepancies in the affordance of those outcomes. The present dissertation explores equity within the curriculum in outdoor and environmental…

Completion of a college degree has been highlighted as a prerequisite for opportunity (Obama White House Archives, February 24, 2009); necessary for a strong economy (Koropeckyj, et al., 2017). Yet, the rate of completion in the United States remains lower than desired, directing focus toward efforts to promote student success and degree…

There is limited understanding of the connections between community engagement and racial DEI at colleges and universities working to institutionalize engagement. Community engagement is not being institutionalized within an educational system that is a blank slate, nor does it operate within a vacuum. Community engagement operates within a…

Suburban school districts are facing new challenges due to demographic shifts. Suburban schools are shifting racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically (Kotok & Frankenberg, 2013; Wepner & Gomez, 2017). With the rise of social unrest in our country, a glaring light has been focused on the inequities in education toward children of color…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to develop an initial formal ontology of competencies needed by instructional design professionals in higher education. The ontology was constructed using the domain ontology design process. The initial ontology was then validated by eight expert instructional design professionals in higher education using…

This study utilized a quantitative approach to compare extension employee perceptions across organizational structures in the West region on the following issues: program delivery, program evaluation, funding, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The three extension structures characterized in this study were county-based, area-based, and a…

Historically white institutions (HWIs) across the country are, in some way or another, working to address racial disparities within their organizations. As a part of campus diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, DEI advocates work to examine ways to increase faculty and student recruitment and boost the retention of marginalized groups.…

This study explored the experiences and contributions of South Asian Americans actively engaged in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the realm of higher education. The research question that framed this study was: What are the lived experiences of South Asian American DEI educators in higher education? Supporting…

Despite decades of research and many frameworks designed to address the inequities and exclusion in the public school system, large achievement gaps, inequitable systems, and exclusive policies exist. The scholar-practitioner believes instructional coaches are well-positioned to address the inequities and exclusion that exist in the public school…

Many U.S. higher education institutions invest significantly in diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ)-oriented professional development (PD) to help faculty develop knowledge and skills for serving diverse student populations. However, evidence is mixed regarding the effectiveness of DEIJ PD in helping institutions make progress on…