College and career readiness (CCR) has become a priority in national education policy, leading to changes to CCR standards, practices, and measurements. In response to the COVID pandemic, school closings altered student engagement in career and technical education (CTE) courses. CTE teachers played a crucial role in providing CCR support to…

Despite claims that K-12 public education is the great equalizer so that individuals may achieve their aspirations regardless of background (Growe & Montgomery, 2003; U.S Department of Education, 2021), educational and career outcomes continue to be predicted by socially defined aspects, such as race, ethnicity, native language, disability,…

Despite decades of passing civic initiatives to revitalize civic education, youth citizen participation, and young adult voter registration is low--most youth cannot even name one member of U.S. Congress. It also cannot be assumed youth will naturally become civically engaged and aware through their family and community. In addition, people of…

The purpose of this study is to determine which factors influence the achievement of program objectives for Kyrgyz Republic alumni of the U.S. governmentally sponsored UGRAD program. The UGRAD program was designed to provide university students from the former Soviet Union an opportunity to study at an institute of higher education in the United…

This qualitative case study explored working class individuals' perceptions of social mobility in a changing the community. The explored community was traditionally a working class community. It was near a metropolitan area that was growing more prosperous. Many residents commuted to the metropolitan area and the community started turning into a…

Where are the women in computing? This dissertation explores the underrepresentation of women in computing as a cultural issue. After considering the role of women in the history of computing, it examines contemporary interventions to address gender bias and promote gender diversity in the tech sector and Silicon Valley. Not for profit…

Some Southwestern Pennsylvania middle school (MS) principals who employ the teaming model, an aspect of transformational leadership (TL), are meeting the state proficiency standards. There are schools in the same geographic region whose principals employ the teaming model but are failing to meet the state proficiency standards. The purpose of this…

American society is currently experiencing a surging interest in contemplative practices. The secularization and professionalization of contemplative practices can be seen in the adoption of mindfulness-based approaches in sectors as wide-ranging as technology, nonprofit, and higher education. Amongst all these fields, institutions of higher…

This dissertation focuses on examining the motivations, experiences, and perspectives of socially elite urban Chinese students who attend emerging internationally focused public high schools in China and who plan to study at U.S. universities. Drawing on critical theory, I integrate critical curriculum studies with educational policy studies to…

There is a deficit of male and female students entering the fields of math and science, and the need for highly educated individuals in these areas is expected to increase. While various factors may play a role in creating this deficit, there is a lack of research on one factor, that of student attitudes toward science. The theories of social…

Without education, many South Sudanese will continue living in poverty. There are numerous factors that limit their educational opportunities including tribal warfare, colonialism, missionary malpractice, civil wars, a high illiteracy rate, low government funding, and threats of war. These factors have left a substantial deficiency in available…

In a North Texas school district, students taking online courses in a variety of subject areas were not successfully completing courses at the district's expected levels. The district pays for courses and student support while remaining financially responsible to the community and programmatically to students' online success. Students'…

Research has documented that many new entrants to the workforce from adult basic education (ABE) programs are critically lacking in the preparation and technology skills needed for workplace success. To address this problem, this basic interpretive qualitative study was implemented to examine and identify the basic technology skills perceived by…

Technology integration in school curricula promotes student achievement, yet a gap exists in the research demonstrating strategies of teachers who overcome barriers to successfully integrate instructional technology. This phenomenological study explored the strategies of 10 elementary teachers who overcame barriers to technology integration to…

Students who grow up speaking regional dialects benefit from learning code switching (CS) strategies to allow bidialectal communication across their social worlds. This rationale proposes that students' home language of Appalachian English is acceptable at home and should be preserved; however, another set of language patterns, those of Standard…