This qualitative study explored how LGBTQ+ ally teachers understand their ally identity in the context of teaching high school social studies. Specifically, it examined how teachers enacted their ally identity in the informal and informal curriculum through the production of classroom spaces, classroom relationships, queer representation in the…

This dissertation aims to elucidate that current school-based mental health services need a more LGBTQI+ affirmative stance to counter and disrupt the heteronormativity, homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia that LGBTQI+ students regularly encounter at school. Many LGBTQI+ students continue to be harassed, bullied, and discriminated against;…

In secondary schools in the United States, youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, or queer (LGBTQ) encounter unwelcoming and unsafe, if not outright hostile, climates, experiences which lead to negative outcomes, both personal and academic. However, school-based supports such as supportive adults, GSA clubs, and LGBT-inclusive…

LGBTQ representations in media and novels, especially in young adult (YA) literature, have become more recurrent and reliable in recent years. While little research exists on youth and transgender stories, existing LGBTQ texts predominantly deal with men, chiefly White gay men (Cart & Jenkins, 2006; Garcia, 2013). To address this imbalanced…

The purpose of the study was twofold: to explore how school counselors and athletic educators experienced implementing the 2010 Massachusetts Anti-bullying law and to explore how participants experienced using the Sharevision structured group reflection process as the format for group discussions. The Sharevision structured group reflection…

In the United States, there is a national agenda to increase the number of qualified science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) professionals and a movement to promote science literacy among the general public. This project explores the association between formal human evolutionary biology education (HEB) and high school science class…

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (GLBTQ) students in public education are challenged with the detrimental effects of homophobic harassment. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to understand the perceptions and lived experiences of former GLBTQ high school students and their experiences with school…

The initiative to increase highly qualified college STEM graduates coupled with the phrase "science for all" pushed by standards-based reform has opened an avenue for science education research. How can we increase students' interests in science careers? Specifically, do marginalized groups require differing instructional approaches to increase…