The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted traditional K-12 education worldwide, forcing a rapid shift to emergency remote teaching and learning. This dissertation utilizes a three-article approach and investigates the multifaceted impact of the pandemic on urban charter high school students and their principals in under-resourced communities. The first…

Efforts taken to promote self-regulated learning (SRL) in elementary school have positive effects on learning outcomes. Few studies examine the role of motivation in relation to other SRL components, namely cognition and metacognition. Additionally, few SRL studies involving elementary students focus on motivational supports. Interventions that…

Over the past few decades, the number of students with disabilities attending postsecondary institutions has increased. Although many students with disabilities access postsecondary education through community colleges, research related to students with disabilities in community colleges is minimal. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973…

In the spring of 2020, many colleges and universities had to move their classes online due to COVID-19. This move to the virtual environment highlighted a growing problem in higher education, being increase failure rates for online students. This study addressed two research questions: 1) To what extent does the use of short lectures and small…

Nationwide female students are participating significantly less in technology/engineering programs and career pathways although there is a tremendous positive outlook for career opportunities in technology and engineering. There exists a sizable gap between male and female participants in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)…

Arab Muslim students continue to face various forms of islamophobia on campus despite efforts from the college to make campus more welcoming and inclusive. As Muslim students express concern about the rise of islamophobia on campus and bigoted rhetoric on social media, college leaders, administration, and faculty have an imperative role to play in…

This qualitative study discusses a phenomenological inquiry approach utilizing semi-structured interviews to understand how ten full-time Native American students experienced their sense of belonging at a rural community college. There are very few studies providing in-depth perspective on sense of belonging of Native American students attending a…

The teacher education practicum has been shown to have a significant impact on beginning teacher effectiveness and teacher retention (DeAngelis et al., 2013; Ingersoll, 2014; Scott et al., 2014). The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the practicum experience from the perspectives of early career teachers, mentor teachers, and…

As the U.S. and student populations continue to diversify, examining the relationships between college coursework and the students' perceptions of institutional support of diversity in conjunction with learning outcomes is crucial. Higher education's goal is to prepare students for life post-graduation, including being active participants in our…

Much research has been done to explore social media on students and instructors and their perceptions of social media use in higher education, but little research has been done on teachers in secondary education and their perceptions of social media use in the classroom. Due to the lack of research, the purpose of the study was to examine…

The increasing shift for higher education institutions to recognize career readiness as an institutional priority (Cruzvergara et al., 2018) is leading the need to identify ways to scale student engagement in at least one high-impact practice (HIP), such as experiential learning opportunities, prior to graduation (Huang et al., 2018).…

Given the "linguistically diverse population" of Kuwait (Tryzna & Al-Sharoufi, 2017, p. 79), English has become a "lingua franca" (Crystal, 2003) which facilitates communication among other non-native speakers in everyday life. Kuwait's Minister of Education (MOE) reports experiencing an English teacher shortage (Kuwait…

Native American communities work to preserve and enhance traditional culture in urban and rural environments through an emphasis on strengthening sovereignty and self-determination in order to protect and promote culture and arts programming, giving opportunities for community members and students. Interventions for youth often utilize…

The problem addressed in this study was that the English as foreign language teachers in five government elementary schools were not consistently instructing in a manner that contributed to a student-centered learning environment when teaching reading comprehension. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of…

This dissertation in practice explores common themes between teachers' perspectives of effective professional development experiences and the perceived impact of professional development on classroom teaching practices. The following questions guided the study: 1. What are teachers' perceptions of completed professional development activities in…