The purpose of the mixed methods study was to develop and validate the CSIS-360, a 360-degree feedback assessment to measure competencies of school improvement specialists from multiple perspectives. The study consisted of eight practicing school improvement specialists from a variety of settings. The specialists nominated 23 constituents to…

Community colleges are disproportionally over-enrolled with both low income students and students of color, while four-year institutions are under-enrolled with the same groups. The vast majority of these students enter the community college with a goal of transferring to the four-year institutions they were unable to access from high school, yet…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the impact of an arts-based media literacy program on the leadership efficacy of adolescent girls. The participants of this study were 19 middle school girls who participated in an after-school, arts-based media literacy curricula known as Project Girl. The group meetings were led by female…

Research suggests that improvements to community mental health (CMH) care for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are needed. Recent research examining the feasibility of training CMH therapists to deliver a package of evidence-based practice intervention strategies (EBPs) targeting challenging behaviors for school-age children with ASD…

This study is based on an intervention designed to enhance early childhood teacher candidates' critical thinking abilities. The concept, elements, standards, and traits of critical thinking were integrated into the main course contents, and the effects of the intervention were examined. The results indicated that early childhood teacher…

We report the implementation and evaluation of a "peer assisted learning" (PAL) scheme designed to reduce the so-called "cooling off" phenomenon in undergraduate mathematics. "Cooling off" occurs when mathematics undergraduates lose motivation and interest in their studies, despite having previously actively chosen to…

This study reports on a three-year group randomized controlled trial, the Cyber Friendly Schools Project (CFSP), aimed to reduce cyberbullying among grade 8 students during 2010-2012. In each year, 14-15 year old student "cyber" leaders acted as catalysts to develop and implement whole-school activities to reduce cyberbullying-related…

This study investigated the impact of a CALL teacher education workshop guided by the TPACK-in-Action model (Tai, 2013). This model is framed within Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK, Mishra & Koehler, 2006) and advocates a learning-by-doing approach (Chapelle & Hegelheimer, 2004) to understand how English teachers develop…

Collaborations between the K-12 teachers and higher education or professional scientists have become a widespread approach to science education reform. Educational funding and efforts have been invested to establish these cross-institutional collaborations in many countries. Since 2006, Taiwan initiated the High Scope Program, a high school…

The purpose of this study was to revisit Coombs' suggestions for teaching the crisis communication course using service-learning as a framework. The author sought to assess the effectiveness of using this method in terms of the benefits to both students and the partnering organization and students' perceptions of whether they met the learning…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine and explore the institutional policy levers that facilitate successful educational outcomes in a TRiO funded Student Success Program at a large, urban research university in the Mid-South. Three research questions guided the study: (1) how do the educational outcomes of the university's TRiO…

African American and Latino students attending Title I schools in the metropolitan Atlanta area were not reading on grade level. The majority of students are low performing readers and minimally met the reading comprehension requirements. The 2015 average 8th grade reading score for these students was 246 out of 500. This applied dissertation was…

Art programs for people with disabilities may encourage creativity, promote engagement, emphasize inclusion, and extend access and opportunities for community involvement. This mixed methods study utilized quantitative and qualitative data, repeated measures, action research, and stakeholder collaboration to develop and implement an evaluation…

The authors evaluated a reform program known as "Strategic Staffing" in which principals were given increased autonomy to modify the delivery of instruction without compromising academic content. The program's central feature was reassignment of school leaders and key staff members from settings in which they were successful to schools…

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the therapeutic process and outcomes of cognitive behavioral therapy used to treat anxiety disorders in twenty-two elementary school-aged children (7- to 11-year-olds) who had autism spectrum disorder, by using child and parent verbalizations and behavior collected during a randomized controlled…