Students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) represent between 5% and 10% of the total number of students in public schools in Saudi Arabia (Abu Nayyan, 2015). Further, 80-90% of students with SLD exhibit reading difficulties including difficulties in reading comprehension (Mercer & Pullen, 2009). Although there is a large number of…

New forms of visualizations are transforming how people interact with data. This dissertation explored how undergraduates learn with infographics. The following questions guided this research: (i) What do we know about the factors influencing the processing of data visualizations? (ii) How do task-level and learner-level characteristics impact the…

Reading on grade level by the third grade is such an important skill for children to acquire for success in elementary school and beyond. National literacy rates show that only about one in three American students perform at or above grade level in English Language Arts. The ABCUSD has approximately 4,000 teachers in the system. It is unlikely…

Many studies have been conducted to determine if graphic organizers are effective instructional tools. However, extensive research has not focused on teachers' perceptions and usage of graphic organizers in the content areas of English/language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Therefore, this study investigates how middle school…

Special education teachers who provide educational opportunities for students in low-incidence programs within a Southern urban public school system in the United States faced challenges when trying to promote independence. The purpose of this project study was to understand the perceptions of teachers and the approaches they seek to best support…

Recent research suggests that one-fifth of United States households use non-English languages in the home setting. Ethically and effectively supporting culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) clients (e.g., autistic individuals) presents a growing challenge to practitioners of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Though efforts to address the…

Universal Design for Learning is a recommended framework to meet the needs of diverse college students. Using the framework leads faculty to use technology. The problem was a knowledge gap concerning the instructional materials faculty used when sharing learning content to facilitate the academic success of first-year students enrolled at a…

The Common Core State Standards have driven an awareness for college and career readiness in schools today. This effort has brought to light the role text complexity plays in the classroom and the importance of students being exposed to complex text. Educators' understanding of complex text and their expectations when choosing text is…

Co-production theory has been defined as the process by which organizations and individuals contribute to providing a good or public service that betters specific outcomes. This dissertation probes four different research questions related to understanding the coproduction process in schools. These questions are grounded in organizational theory…

Software engineering is a growing field, with ever-increasing demand for capable engineers who can design, implement, and test the software that is needed for the modern world. With this increasing demand for software engineers, there is a corresponding increase in the demand placed on computer science programs that graduate these engineers.…

This qualitative case study explored instructional decisions exemplary primary teachers (kindergarten-third grade) made in order to engage students in mathematics. The phenomenon of teachers altering, supplementing, or utilizing district-given materials to support student engagement and understanding was studied. Specifically, this involved…

Computer science instructors typically have many responsibilities, such as creating material, delivering lectures, clarifying student questions, and grading student deliverables, while the demand for computer science education has been increasing. Handling all of these responsibilities is challenging in itself. However, it is made worse when…

The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore how a program of full-time religious secondary teachers and administrators adjacent to secondary school's experience, understand, and engage in distributive leadership practices for improving educational outcomes in the Western US. The conceptual framework that guided this study is a…

Social studies education has traditionally aimed to foster productive citizens. However, recent societal polarizations have added complexity to this objective (Levy et al., 2023). Amid these challenges, understanding remains limited regarding how teacher preparation programs are adapting their social studies methods curriculum. Grounded in…

This research study focuses on students' and faculty's awareness and preparedness during an active-shooter event. The study examines the perceptions and abilities of the students and faculty at a large southern university. The study surveys the participants current ability to use and their opinions of using the emergency alert notification system…