School districts have adopted policies to limit chronic absenteeism, including changing policies to incentivize teachers to take fewer days off from the school year (Mershon, 2015) due to the effects of a teacher being out of the classroom. These effects include the effects on student achievement (Clotfelter et al., 2006; Ehrenberg et al., 1991),…

Social media spaces are increasingly sites where people learn about the political and social landscape. Because social studies teachers can play a significant role in helping students make sense of a range of political and social issues, it is urgent to examine the role of social media in teachers' sense-making. Thinking with poststructural…

In this multiple case study, I asked ten practicing secondary educators in the Midwest to express the purposes and practices that drive their teaching regarding climate change education. The theoretical framework grounding this qualitative study is that of critical theory, in which one leverages critique to bring about social change. I analyzed…

Today's high school students will face a host of economic problems such as the demise of the social safety net, mounting college student debt, and costly health care plans, as stated in the rationale for financial literacy provided by the Council for Economic Education's National Standards for Financial Literacy. These problems are compounded by…

In early 2015, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL, a division of the American Library Association (ALA) released the final version of the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education ("Framework"). With the "Framework," the ACRL sought to conciliate and address long-standing contentions of…

This qualitative, multiple case study examined teachers' perceptions and strategies used to elicit emotional expression in students' piano playing. Since much of the existing literature depicts the relationship between emotion and music (Juslin, 1997; Perrson, 1993; Tait, 1992), yet little exists which explores conceptualizations of emotion…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore faculty perceptions about effective leadership skills, knowledge, and qualities as identified by female community college academic senators and to examine the relationship of those perceptions to the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) leadership competencies. Examining the…

The dissertation critically analyzes the response of a major research public university to the attacks of 9/11 in order to gain a deeper understanding of public universities' stance on the relevance of Middle East studies, particularly in the context of the serious and far-reaching impact of 9/11. The absence of an articulated position of the…

Teachers working with increasingly diverse student populations are expected, for the first time in American history, to bring all students to high levels of proficiency. American graduates must compete with graduates from other nations, given the realities of the 21st century global economy. American teachers must possess 21st century skills in…

The purpose of this research was to understand the development of teachers' perception of self-efficacy as a result of reflective conversations conducted between a principal/school administrator and a teacher. Self-efficacy, based on social cognitive theory, is dependent upon the perceived level of competency or mastery of the individual and their…

The present study examines the impact of media and the Neoconservative movement on academic freedom in higher education in the United States post 9/11 era. In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, much media coverage focused on the Middle East. In addition to traditional news sources, new Internet based outlets emerged. Some of these websites were…

Secondary student performance in the domain of reading has been a cause for concern for educators and scholars alike. To understand the demands placed on students we must first understand how reading changes within content areas and across grades. Furthermore, we must have an understanding of teachers' conceptions about the texts they teach. This…

This study examined how nine preservice teachers' understandings about teaching social studies changed during one of three secondary social studies methods courses. Considering the significant role of methods courses in social studies teacher education, methods courses provide spaces to investigate preservice teachers' understandings about…