Rooted in relational philosophies, restorative practices (RP) in schools are initiatives that seek to provide alternatives to exclusionary discipline. Restorative conferences (RC), in particular, aim to repair harm and reintegrate youth following a conflict. Despite abundant theorizing about conference benefits and hypothesized mechanisms of…

Educational research is ubiquitous; however, agreement on best practices is not. Although parents, teachers, students, and communities have a vested interest in students' success, varying practices of what is taught, how it is taught, and to whom it is taught are still debated. This study expands upon work done by Dr. Scott Wurdinger and Dr. Ron…

The purpose of this study was twofold. The first aim was to better understand the selection criteria that college students of varying demographic backgrounds find most important when making a final selection of a college or university during their college search process and the promotional information they find to be most useful, particularly…

Much of the research on first-generation college students (FGS) tends to focus on comparing this population of students to its continuing-generation peers and focuses on in-college experiences. This research looks to answer: (1) are there demographic and pre-college characteristic differences between full-time, FGS at different institutional…

The concept of trauma has garnered interest since the Vietnam War and continues to be a visible topic (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment [CSAT], 2014) in the literature. Research has determined that the prevalence of trauma is widespread and its effects are potentially far-reaching, often outlasting the event for many years (Substance Abuse and…

Students of color in the United States participate in undergraduate honors programs at lower rates than their White counterparts. Prior research suggests that students of color do not participate in honors programs for a variety of reasons. Using critical race theory and community cultural wealth as a conceptual framework, I sought to understand…

The purpose of this empirical investigation was to determine the predictable relationship between body type factors, socio-demographic factors, attitudes toward body factors, and the self-esteem scores of undergraduate college students. More specifically, the study was concerned with the predictability of body types, socio-demographics, and…

The purpose of this quantitative causal comparative study was to determine if a statistically significant difference exists between two geographically-similar, demographically-different universities in terms of their White American male students' perceptions of (a) Whiteness as epistemologies of ignorance, (b) Whiteness as ontological…

This dissertation examined community college transfer students' perceptions of how mental health concerns interfere with academics, the ability to stay in school, graduate, and transfer to a 4-year university. The study also examined if community college transfer students perceive that mental health counseling improves their ability to stay in…

To determine if demography impacted the success of graduate students in the online learning environment, this non-experimental study used age, gender, ethnicity, enrollment status, financial dependency, employment status, program (master's or doctoral), and marital status as the independent variables to determine their impact on four dependent…

Collaboration is an established component of service provision for children with disabilities, ensconced in regulation and best practice. Collaboration's importance continues today with the need to serve an ever more diverse student population and the move towards inclusive classroom environments, requiring the services of a variety of…

The research project described herein was designed to measure teacher education students' epistemological beliefs. Teacher education students' epistemological beliefs were compared according to participants' academic and demographic characteristics as well as characteristics of the courses in which students are enrolled at the time of study data…

This quantitative study explored the obstacles African American male students face that can hinder their academic progress at community colleges within the rural regions of Louisiana. This study viewed the collective experiences of African American males in community colleges in order to improve their academic outcomes, completion, and retention…

There is an extreme shortage of registered nurses (RNs) in the United States (U.S.). This shortage is projected to grow to 260,000 RNs by the year 2025 (American Association of Colleges Nursing [AACN], 2010a). In order to meet the current and future health care needs of the population of the U.S., nursing schools would have to graduate at least…

Motivation, self-efficacy, beliefs about intelligence, and attributions about academic performance all play important roles in student success. To determine the relationships between these factors and the influence of demographics upon them, an online quantitative survey was taken of college students measuring their self-perceptions of these…