School turnaround initiatives are top-down in nature and tend to relegate students and teachers to passive roles rather than empowering them as central change agents in school improvement. The purpose of this qualitative Action Research study was to investigate and deepen the use of student feedback to improve teaching and learning experiences and…

School leaders, educators, and community members are keenly aware that New Mexico has consistently ranked last in the nation in education, childhood poverty rate, and access to appropriate individualized educational support for children (Bobroff, 2019; Martinez, 2021; Rodriguez, 2019; Sanchez & Martinez, 2019). Now is the time to address the…

A mutually-collaborative phenomenological action research study, rooted in the organizational values of the Catholic Marianist tradition, which engages empowerment concepts and positive organization theories to create a framework for the evaluation and iterative improvement of student-employing organizations. This study addresses a lack of…

Previous research related to Youth Adult Partnership, Empowerment and Empowering Environments, and Liberatory School Design all highlight the importance of relationships in ensuring that young people experience school environments as empowering. Currently, there is a lot of interest and energy around redesigning schools to be Learner-Centered, in…

This study investigated the relationship between undergraduate aviation student perception of instructor-student rapport and perceived student empowerment, as measured by the constructs of impact, meaningfulness, and competence. A survey comprised of the 6-item Professor-Student Rapport Scale- Brief (PSRS-B) (Wilson & Ryan, 2013) and the…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore African American students and school administrators' experiences with out-of-school suspension (OSS) and their perceptions of strategies to reduce suspensions. Researchers have identified research-based strategies to reduce OSS, including restorative practices and Positive Behavior…

Math anxiety, a lack of mathematics understanding and unproductive beliefs surrounding mathematics have the potential to cause math teaching anxiety in pre-service elementary teachers. This study sought to investigate the causes of math anxiety in pre-service elementary teachers and develop a course sequence to address those causes, thereby…

This dissertation examines how disabled students and faculty access and navigate higher education through a rhetorical perspective. More specifically, this dissertation focuses on the tactics these disabled rhetors use to navigate encounters with academic ableism and what they can teach faculty about creating an accessible composition classroom. I…

The issue of unfinished learning and achievement gaps in schools has been a persistent concern in recent years, particularly among underrepresented and disadvantaged student populations. AVID Elementary is a promising solution for ensuring students have the necessary knowledge and skills to be college and career ready, as it is based on proven…

In K-12 education, student voice is not often considered when establishing curriculum, addressing school policy, or creating a climate that reflects culturally inclusive teaching practices. Across education systems serving Indigenous communities within the United States, the voices of youth as a form of contribution are silenced, which echoes…

International students' experiences with race and racism in U.S. higher education has received increasing scholarly attention, especially in light of a series of recent environmental hostilities (e.g., anti-Asian hate associated with COVID-19) that have affected the population. This growing body of research has primarily focused on how…

The modern college instructor in the United States faces several unique dilemmas due to students' increased access to information via the internet and social media, increased polarization across the nation, and increased unrest resulting in more experiences impacting mental health. As such, modern instructors are faced with the challenge of…

As third-year medical students transition from the classroom to the high-stakes, high-stress environment of the emergency department (ED), they confront a unique set of challenges that result in significant personal trauma. The literature offers limited insight into the trauma experienced specifically during the shift to emergency medicine (EM) as…

In the present study, I attempted to understand how students perceive their voice in the 2900 student public high school where I serve as principal. The study is a qualitative inquiry that combines human-centered design and action research for its conceptual framework. My dual roles of researcher and principal influenced every aspect of this…

In this exploratory study, I examined the workability of servant leadership theory (Patterson, 2003) in an Ethiopian context for the first time. Patterson's servant leadership theory is comprised of seven servant leadership virtues, agapao love, humility, altruism, vision, trust, empowerment, and service. I investigated the causal relationship…