The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study was to explore the experience of student learning outcomes assessment among four midlevel student affairs managers to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of change readiness to engage in assessment practices. This study sought to address the theory-practice gap in student affairs…

This dissertation examines the connection between policy that guides student conduct process and the application of student development theory. Using multi-case study analysis, four conduct administrators at land grant universities were interviewed to understand the ideals and motivators that guide their practice as they facilitate the conduct…

Improvement science enables researchers to focus on a theory of change in structures and processes in classroom practices. This improvement science intervention was designed to reorient practitioners toward new instructional norms that promote discourse between teacher-students and student-student during instruction. The purpose of this research…

To secure the economic well-being of our country in the current global society, we must be concerned with all students, and all means all. This qualitative research study asserts the need to stop focusing on the achievement gap and work to close opportunity gaps through equitable school practices. This narrative inquiry study critically analyzed…

Elementary teachers are challenged to meet the needs of all types of learners within their classrooms; high ability, learning disabled, average ability, and students suffering from childhood trauma. Childhood trauma impacts the brain of a young person and may keep them in a state of fight, flight, or shutdown, making it difficult to learn. Many…

This dissertation investigated the development of stereotypes surrounding public school children in Brazil, primarily focusing on poor students of Afro descent. It explored how these stereotypes have influenced education policymaking and examined the efforts of Darcy Ribeiro and Paulo Freire to challenge these prevailing notions. Employing…

The research on high-poverty, high-performing schools, suggests instructional leadership is an essential component for principals to be effective school leaders. Unfortunately, in spite of themes in the research, and shifts in principal preparation initiatives, practice suggests principals struggle to hold to instructional priorities. Given the…

Partnerships between schools, universities, community organizations and private businesses have become an increasingly popular response to the privatization of resources accompanying market-based education reforms (Rodriguez, 2020; Warren, 2005). Through these partnerships, stakeholders mobilize resources across sectors and scales in an effort to…

Reading scientists have reached consensus that learning to read requires mastering the foundational skills of phonemic awareness and phonics (Dehaene, 2009; Stanovich, 2000). However, scientifically-based reading research has not fully transformed instructional practice (Castles, Rastle, & Nation, 2018), thereby leaving a science-to-practice…

This action research introduces an innovative construct entitled R.A.I.S.E. (Representation, Amplification of Assets, Inspiration, Support, and Empowerment and Engagement) to scale up leadership excellence in Ontario education systems. Equity (or the E-word) has become a highly contentious and volatile left-and right-wing political hotbed.…

This evaluative study examined the theory-practice gap between MBA graduate school curricula and business practice in marketing. The findings show that both the practice of marketing and the MBA marketing curricula have been disrupted by pervasiveness of data and information technology requiring changes in how the work is accomplished and how…

A prevailing challenge in teacher education is the "problem of enactment," a discrepancy in what teacher candidates (TCs) know or say about practice and what they can actually do or enact (Kennedy, 1999). Current practice-based teacher education research focuses on articulating pedagogies of practice and core practices to integrate…

This dissertation investigates a perennial problem in teacher education: the theory-practice divide. There has always been a rift between theory and practice; however, this gap and the responses to it take on different shapes and meanings based on the reforms, politics, and structures of the time. For example, in the 1980s and 90s Professional…

This qualitative phenomenological study was developed to fill the gap in current research on what extent five teacher educators, from three Midwest and one Southwest teacher education program, are preparing English Language Learner (ELL) preservice teachers to collaborate in ELL teacher education. The results indicate that ELL teacher educators…

The noise in generating an agreed upon definition of instructional leadership that extends beyond theory to the practice of principals has been almost deafening in the last few decades. Many emphasize the need for the role of the principal to adapt to meet the demands of leadership that maximizes student achievement, but lack the specificity to…