The M.S. Chemistry -- Chemical Education Specialization program at South Dakota State University provides in-depth general chemistry coursework to in-service high school science teachers in a virtual format. The goal of the program is for the teachers enrolled to become more effective teachers while gaining content knowledge in chemistry; in…

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…

Arts entrepreneurship educational efforts within U.S. university music departments vary between institutions. Music history and theory course sequences and content remain relatively unchanged over the decades. Set against this, arts entrepreneurship is still in its conceptual phase as administrators and educators navigate elusive definitions and…

The purpose of the study was to gain an in-depth perspective of rural special education teachers' experiences and beliefs regarding the characteristics of mentoring programs that will assist beginning special education teachers to remain in rural districts. A basic qualitative design was used in the study. The following research question guided…

In the expanding landscape of transnational higher education (TNHE), cases have begun to emerge that serve as possible bellwethers for future challenges. These challenges include geopolitical conflicts and concerns over foreign influence that threaten the viability of continued TNHE delivery. To explore this issue in depth, this study focused on a…

This study aimed to investigate and improve the college readiness of students in an innercity public school. Recent statistics on college completion in a prominent city in the U.S. reveal that only 52% of students from inner-city schools graduate with college degrees within six years. This is quite worrisome, considering that 71% of jobs in that…

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…

The present study will investigate the efficacy of "Trauma-Informed Mind-Body Wellbeing Program" ("TI-MBW"), a 10-12 session yoga-based program for community members in Kenya which has a 5-day training period for yoga teachers. The yoga teachers were trained by the Africa Yoga Project (AYP), an organization which aims to…

Across the United States, hundreds of universities house dance programs, and the vast majority of degrees offered through these programs focus on modern dance. Despite the mainstream popularity and cultural esteem of the dance genre of ballet, fewer than fifteen university programs offer ballet-focused degrees. From this relatively small number of…

There are profound implications for students who suffer from mental illness, have unmet social emotional needs, and those who are being taught by ill-prepared teachers with little self-confidence in their ability to adequately address student needs. Teachers spend a significant amount of time with students who experience social and emotional…

This study explored the implementation of Project Lead The Way (PLTW) integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curriculum in four first grade classrooms. Data was collected from four teachers and two media specialists via interviews and student PLTW Light and Sound unit assessment scores. A self-efficacy survey was…

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…

This instrumental case study explores the experiences of visiting faculty members at an American university's international branch campus (IBC) in Singapore. It is concerned with one aspect of the broader topic of quality assurance in transnational higher education: the manner in which faculty hybridize their home campus course curricula for use…

As we work and study in our increasingly globalized society, there is a growing trend of Chinese piano students choosing to pursue their higher education in the United States. Elite music institutions in America are also seeking and recruiting a large number of Chinese pianists. This trend raises questions regarding the similarities and…

This paper discusses a collaborative inquiry (CI) that explored a California community college program known as Puente. The purpose of the inquiry was to bring together different stakeholders involved with Puente---students, mentors, counselors, and instructors---to engage in group dialogue and share their perceptions about the functions of the…