For nearly three decades, the United States of America has been the consistent leader in incarceration rates worldwide. A number of structural social problems have contributed to this reality (e.g., the school-to-prison pipeline, the 1994 Crime Bill, and aggressive surveillance and policing of poor and minority neighborhoods). Recently, a number…

The occurrence of behaviors that require disciplinary action will always be an issue without programs to support the social and emotional development of students at a young and critical age. The problem school districts face is how to appropriately and effectively provide consequences to different targeted age groups, based on their social and…

Teacher-student relationships (TSR) have long been demonstrated to have significant impact on student outcomes. There has been far less research, however, focused on identifying the specific mindsets that educators' hold which influence their actions toward students. As relationships are situated and contextual and qualitative in nature, this case…

Higher order thinking skills have been embedded into state teaching standards, including Standard 9 of the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards (NJCCCS) for 21st Century Life and Careers. These standards aim to encourage problem solving, critical thinking, reasoning, and real-world application in order to prepare students for the workplace…

Orientation programs on college campuses across the United States exist to serve the needs of new students to transition and thrive in their new setting. Some students may arrive on campus for even more specialized programs beyond traditional orientation programs, such as athletic practice, that focus on academic courses or involve a wilderness…

Children who struggle in mathematics may also lack cognitive awareness in mathematical problem solving. The cognitively-driven program IMPROVE, a multidimensional method for teaching mathematics, has been shown to be helpful for students with mathematical learning difficulties (MLD). Guided by cognitive theory, the purpose of this…

Within the confines of this study, the researcher investigated Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Engineering curriculum goals within Missouri high schools. The study measured Missouri PLTW teachers' perceptions of various elements of the curriculum as well as state and national PLTW End of Course student assessment data to determine if a relationship…

Students with ED are more likely to be placed in restrictive settings than youth with any other disability classification, according to the U.S. Department of Education (2002). Despite a report that states, without prevarication, that improvement in services for children with ED continues to be a U.S. Department of Education (2010) priority as it…

Society is more and more interconnected and interdependent. This results in a plethora of complex social problems and thereby creates the need for individuals with strong decision-making skills. This quantitative study examined the relationship between undergraduate students' participation in academic service-learning and their levels of…

This qualitative study of four executive doctoral programs for experienced educational leaders examines the relationship between specific program features and learning opportunities for students. I found that the weekend format, cohort model, and professionally grounded curriculum and assessments provided important opportunities for reflective…

The purpose of this study was to explore the success of the Freshmen Academy as it relates to student success. A decrease in discipline referrals, improved attendance, passing the end-of-course exams and promotion to the tenth grade is the quantifiable measures that measure the success of the Freshmen Academy. The Freshmen Academy is designed with…

Recent research on social emotional learning (SEL) curricula has shown that implementing SEL instruction within the classroom is a qualified evidenced-based intervention to help students develop fundamental skills for success in life. SEL curricula help teach students essential skills such as recognizing and managing emotions, developing caring…

The focus of this dissertation was the use of restorative justice practices in the collegiate setting. Some have expressed concern with the legal nature of campus conduct processes. Restorative practices have been implemented in criminal justice and K-12 settings and are seen by some as an antidote to overly legalistic campus conduct processes.…

The Great Books hold a special place in scholarly and academic lore in America. Study of the Great Books and liberal education in general were the foundation of a college education since the colonial times, but yielded to electives and other academic trends during the early portion of the twentieth century. By the 1930s, several men sought to…

This study offers an analysis of the learning of practicing teachers as they acquire a deeper knowledge of mathematics. While some professional developers have shifted part of their focus to helping practicing teachers acquire a deeper knowledge of mathematics (e.g., Stein & Silver, 1996), the results from studies often describe what translates…