"There is a marked difference between possessing knowledge and skills and being able to use them well under taxing conditions. Personal accomplishments require not only skills but self-beliefs of efficacy to use them well" (Bandura, 1993, p. 119). Low school leader self-efficacy leads to the poor performance of school leaders and…

In this dissertation, I empirically investigate the changes in the market structure after new entrants, and how these changes affect the welfare of market participants. In Chapter 1, using records for public and charter schools in New York City, I empirically show that public schools adjusted after charter schools entered the neighborhood. I…

The purpose of this exploratory study is to assess the ways in which instructors teaching first-generation college students at a branch campus come to understand these students as being different from other students they teach, and if and how they develop teaching practices and pedagogies more effective for first-generation students. There is a…

Public schools in Pennsylvania are required to provide English Language Development (ELD) instruction to all English Language Learners (ELs) in content classes through collaboration between classroom teachers and English as a Second Language (ESL) specialists (Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2017, July 1). There are many barriers to…

This study used a design research framework to teach secondary high school science students about environmental sustainability. A high school teacher and researcher collaborated to design a two week environmental science unit to help students make sense of complex environmental sustainability issues. This dissertation study sought to answer the…

This study examines how students who are experiencing reading difficulties in school are being supported. Topical interviews were conducted with eight special education administrators focusing on how their school district addresses students who are experiencing reading difficulties. Three major findings emerged through a qualitative coding…

International branch campuses (IBCs) are ventures in higher education that continue to make a global footprint in the delivery of higher education transnationally. However, there is limited knowledge on the intentionality of key leaders about whether to replicate the campus culture of home institutions at their respective IBCs. The purpose of this…

Institutions of higher education are being tasked with utilizing corporate business practices to recruit and retain their students. The purpose of this action research study was to investigate causes of negative customer service and improve the service approach of the Residential Education department at a private, liberal arts institution. Data…

An educational researcher sought to collaborate with a classroom instructor to introduce problem-based learning as a new teaching intervention. First, a classroom instructor was approached to consider how a problem-based learning instructional approach might fit with their existing curriculum plan. The researcher and the classroom teacher used a…

Conflicts are inevitable when diverse populations of students, administrators, and staff function in close proximity in the community college setting. Effective methods of resolving conflicts focus on supporting both sides in a dispute while creating an environment within which the participating stakeholders benefit from their interactions. Common…

In Experiment 1, I conducted a functional analysis of student rate of learning with and without a peer-yoked contingency for 12 students in Kindergarten through 2nd grade in order to determine if they had conditioned reinforcement for collaboration. Using an ABAB reversal design, I compared rate of learning as measured by learn units to criterion…

This qualitative phenomenological study explored identifying characteristics and necessary components of educational innovation in K12 international schools in Asia. Two research questions guided the exploration of observed characteristics of innovation and global leader's perceptions of components of innovation. The findings suggested observed…

Schools across the nation have responded to stringent accountability measures in No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and later by the Obama administration's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) (2009). In addition to those policy decisions there had also been a strong call to reform the leadership of K-12 schools from national,…

This dissertation maps the landscape of the cross-national educational transfer of American higher education in the Arabian Gulf region, with a case study of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service in Doha, Qatar. It examines how and why Qatar has borrowed, and Georgetown has lent, the American model of higher education, specifically…

No one policy exists as a nexus between K-12 public education and post-secondary education in the United States. Three critical factors suggest that many colleges will be financially insolvent after 2020. The first is declining K-12 birthrates, which are enrollment feeders of post-secondary colleges or universities. As a result of the declining…