This study was a descriptive-analytical survey of faculty at selected public Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in North Carolina. A cross-sectional study was conducted using quantitative research methods. A Likert scale survey entitled Pre-kindergarten through College (PK-16) Survey of Awareness and Involvement Scale (SAIS) was…

The purpose of this study was to determine perceptions of faculty senators regarding intercollegiate athletics as well as to evaluate their knowledge of athletics' academic and financial governance within Southeastern Conference (SEC) universities. The SEC has a long history of athletic excellence as well as well-established athletic cultures on…

The purpose of this mixed-method study was to investigate digital native preservice teachers' self-efficacy beliefs regarding their technology experiences and skills at the beginning and at the end of their field placement semester. Digital natives, as defined by Prensky (2001), are students born after 1980 who have been raised with digital media…

This qualitative study examines the unique challenges of multilingual students (referred to in the study as "L2 students") in a first-year writing class at a large public U.S. university. Following a case-study approach, the experiences of three L2 students, three native English-speaking students (referred to in the study as "L1…

School psychologists are adult learners. They support children and youth within the K-12 system who are facing academic, emotional, behavioral, or systematic barriers to education. Among the most vulnerable are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth, and school psychologists need to learn to be LGBTQ competent. The purpose of…

The purpose of this study was to develop substantive theory regarding decision making by the novice nurse in a rural hospital setting. Interviews were guided by the following research questions: What cues were used by novice rural registered nurses in order to make clinical decisions? What were the sources of feedback which influenced subsequent…

This dissertation examines interactions between sushi chefs and customers at sushi bar counters, using both ethnography and conversation analysis methods, with a particular focus on the communicative practices and embodied actions participants deploy both to make requests for food, and to receive and register these requests. It is argued that…

Community college trustees are officials entrusted by the public to oversee the resources and property of community colleges; the board of trustees is seen as the link between the institution and the community they serve. Trustees make decisions that affect every aspect of an institution; therefore the accountability of these individuals at the…

An investigation of the relationship between background knowledge and reading comprehension performance on standardized reading tests (the California STAR Test) was conducted with sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade ethnic minority children from low-income backgrounds (N = 68). Predictor variables examined included perceived background knowledge…

Disproportionate numbers of underrepresented minorities (URMs) work in health professions as compared to minority representation in the general population. Meeting the health needs of a population is predicated on health provider racial concordance. A qualitative, phenomenological approach was used to explore 10 faculty participant's lived…

With alarming frequencies students are viewing the acts of academic dishonesty as commonplace. Cheating is now considered an alternative form of academic behavior which is situationally dependent upon the risks involved. Any apparent institutional, faculty, and student indifference to academic dishonesty communicates to students that the values of…

This dissertation contains three independently conducted studies on factors that affect the math achievement scores of preschool-aged children. The first study examined the associations between children's executive-functioning (EF) and math achievement scores at 54 months of age. Results suggest that EF is strongly associated with children's…

The purpose of the qualitative study was to explore the strategies teachers from the third, fourth, and fifth grades are employing to engage students and provide an in-service training where identified needs are not being met in a school district in Connecticut. No empirical studies have been conducted to explore what strategies teachers in the…

The purpose of this study was to examine the college-choice process of high achieving students. Employing current literature and previous research, it combined current models of college choice and the influential factors identified throughout the literature while utilizing the concept of bounded rationality to create a conceptual framework to…

The purpose of this mixed research study was to investigate early assessment and identification for dyslexia in kindergarten through second grade, and to examine whether teachers' knowledge and beliefs lead to the practice of retaining students in grade rather than recommending formal dyslexia assessment. This study investigated both kindergarten…