The purpose of this retrospective study was to develop an understanding of how one group of adults who graduated from a Virginia regional alternative program made sense of their experience in an alternative education setting. Specifically, this study sought to determine if adult participants, several years later, perceived participation in the…

Many individuals transition into teaching positions without the benefit of effective professional mentoring. This study was conducted to better understand the interactions in which mentors and proteges engage and to inform future design of mentor support for novice teachers. The research examined mentor/protege interactions within a year long…

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 writing program administration literature in rhetoric and composition has long advocated the use of local data to determine the direction each writing program should take. Using a mixed-method design employing a standard survey and in-depth interviews, this dissertation describes how writing programs across institutional and programmatic…

Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (ECMHC) has been linked to increased teacher competence and efficacy, as well as increased social skills and decreased challenging behaviors for participating children (Green, 2009). Partnerships for Early Childhood Mental Health ("Partnerships") is an ECMHC program in Southeastern Ohio. This…

As global demands for workers in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields persist, there are increased opportunities for historically underrepresented African-American and Latino youth to fill STEM career pipelines. African-American and Latino youth have long faced disproportionately high unemployment rates. Joblessness has been…

The United States' Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce is growing slower than in the past, in comparison to demand, and in comparison to other countries. Competitive talent conditions require the United States to develop a strong pipeline of STEM talent within its own citizens. Given the number of female college…

Students choose to attend liberal arts institutions for a number of different reasons, including small class size, breadth of academic material, and emphasis on life-long learning (Astin, 1999; Pascarella, Cruce, Wolniak, & Blaich, 2004). Those attending small liberal arts colleges have come to expect that they will have a higher level of…

"I think what I learned in the IB [International Baccalaureate] program...well, in a way I felt like--have you read Great Expectations? When Pip gets the stipend from the mysterious person and he's walking out and the clouds are lifting up and he can see all the possibilities--that's how I felt with the IB program." -Student reflection…

A review of studies selected from the Educational Resource Information Center (ERIC) covering the years 1985 through 2011 revealed three key evaluation components to analyze within a comprehensive teacher evaluation program: (a) designing, planning, and implementing instruction; (b) learning environments; and (c) parent and peer surveys. In this…

Alternative certification programs for primary and secondary school teachers face a difficult challenge: they must develop highly qualified and high quality teachers while adapting to the unique on-the-job training needs of their participants. Research literature indicates that many programs suffer from a lack of cohesion between coursework and…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the transfer of learning by uncovering how various factors supported the integration of knowledge and skills gleaned from the Faculty Development: Integrated Technology into Nursing Education and Practice Initiative (ITNEP) programs into nursing education curricula. Through interviews…

The purpose of the evaluation was to evaluate two alternative programs in a North Carolina (NC) and South Carolina (SC) public school district to determine if they are effective in delivering constructive interventions that modify student behavior once students have left the programs and have returned to their regular learning environments. This…

According to research on the career cycle of teachers, leadership experience is one of the factors that may influence how teachers think about their career goals. This has implications for schools and districts that seek to retain and recognize the most successful teachers. One urban school district sought to expand leadership roles by creating an…

Mentoring has been used in various fields as a professional development and acculturation tool (Kram, 1991) and is used extensively in higher education (Cunningham, 1999). However, despite numerous studies based on faculty mentoring, those conducted at Christian institutions of higher education have been limited. The study was framed by several…