This qualitative case study sought to better understand the complexity of developing executives to lead in a landscape of disruption and uncertainty, and how to evaluate the effectiveness of the development intervention in a world that is constantly changing. The purpose of this study was to explore how executives make meaning from what they…

Professional identity development of play therapists is an emerging topic of research. Though there is research on theoretical orientation development, there is no research on theoretical orientation development of play therapists. This constructivist grounded theory study aimed at developing a substantive model describing the process of…

This dissertation develops and evaluates the validity and reliability of the Skills Self-Efficacy Scale for Adolescents (SSES-A), a measure designed to assess adolescents' self-efficacy in critical future skills: problem-solving, communication, creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking. Anchored in Social Cognitive Theory and Psychometric…

This dissertation seeks to introduce financial modernization as a distinct subcategory of modernization and present practical applications for sport managers. Modernization literature has shown that, as society advances, levels of complexity increase. Modernization is generally concerned about the impact of technology, transportation, financial…

This dissertation consists of three essays in development economics. The first chapter studies the effects of migrant remittances on economic development and education investments. The second chapter examines the drivers of charitable donations on an online charity platform. The third chapter studies the political economy of education in…

The role of principal supervisors has changed significantly, moving away from a focus on compliance and towards a greater emphasis on nurturing principals' instructional leadership skills. As a result of this evolution, there is now an increased presence of supervisors in schools, but there are no clear guidelines for their activities. This study…

In the Ecuadorian Constitution, universities, as part of the Science, Technology, Innovation, and Ancestral Knowledge System, must develop technologies and innovations that promote national production, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve quality of life. However, in their role as promoters of development through the generation and…

Literacy is an essential component of education and impacts learning potential through life. Development of literacy begins in infancy, and children who experience delays in their development are also at high risk of having delayed literacy development. Multiple programs have been designed to help at-risk children meet their developmental…

Actionability is a critical issue in learning analytics for driving impact in learning, bridging the gap between insights and improvement. This dissertation places actionability at the forefront, integrating it throughout the learning analytics process to fully leverage its potential. The study involves designing, developing, and implementing…

Scholars and Early Childhood Education (ECE) professionals acknowledge the critical nature of prosocial behavior (PSB) skills in the lives of preschool-aged children. Research specifies that children lacking PSBs are socially and academically disadvantaged. Studies have shown that 30% of preschoolers exhibit negative emotional/social behavior, and…

In this Dissertation in Practice (DIP), the lived experiences of professional women who have chosen to leave their jobs in higher education in Indiana are explored. The purpose of the qualitative phenomenological study is to communicate the essence of their lived experiences with leadership development in Indiana higher education. The aim is to…

The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry was to enhance the understanding of executive leadership pathways in intercollegiate Division II women's basketball. Face-to-face semi-structured interview were used to gather perceptions from head coaches and assistant coaches on executive leadership development. The participants included head…

This case study explored the consideration, inclusion, and significance of market forces in the development of strategic planning at higher education institutions. The design examined methods, procedures, behaviors, and attitudes that Presidents in higher education applied to designing strategic planning processes. Guiding this examination was the…

This mixed method research was to develop and validate an instrument to measure paraeducator self-efficacy for paraeducators who work with students with disabilities. This research study's framework was DeVellis' (2017) scale instrument development process conducted in three phases: item development, scale development, and scale evaluation. The…

In an increasingly data-driven society, making decisions with data is a requirement not only for research scientists but also for navigating life more generally (Kjelvik & Schultheis, 2019). An informed citizenry must be prepared to discover patterns, predict outcomes, make decisions with data, and evaluate data-based claims for legitimacy and…