Black males leave the teaching profession higher than any other demographic. Additionally, there is a paucity of literature detailing what it will take for schools to retain and develop Black teachers according to Afrocentric epistemologies. Using Teacher Life Stories and "Psychology of Black Success" to ground the research, I explore my…

This qualitative dissertation employs portraiture methodology to investigate the lived experiences and perceptions of both special education students and teachers within a nonpublic school setting. Grounded in situated learning and constructivist theories, the study acknowledges the contextual construction of knowledge and students' active role in…

Most of the current literature on the experiences of Chinese international students tends to adopt a deficit-based approach, focusing on the weaknesses, problems, and challenges Chinese students face while studying overseas. In other words, they tend to focus on struggling Chinese students, "problem" Chinese students, and Chinese…

The case study contained within this dissertation is a part of the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP). The aim of this project has been to examine successful school principalship in Alabama through in-depth analysis of qualitative interview data. The primary focus of the study is the nature of school…

This study explores how caregiver-child scientific conversation during storybook reading focusing on the challenges or achievements of famous female scientists impacts preschoolers' mindset, beliefs about success, and persistence. Caregiver-child dyads (N = 202, 100 female, 35% non-White, aged 4-5, [function] = 0.15) were assigned to one of three…

The underrepresentation of people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds in geology, geophysics, and other STEM programs (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is well documented in the United States. Only two universities out of about 107 HBCUs have geology and geophysics degree programs, even though there are…

Although laboratory studies have examined the development of children's prospective memory (PM) and the factors that influence its performance, much less is known about children's PM performance and development in their everyday life. The current study used an online parent diary report approach to examine American 2- to 6-year-olds' PM successes…

As the U.S Hispanic population has increasingly grown throughout the years, the growing population has indicated that there will be change in the makeup of the cultural fabric of the country. The Hispanic population growth has led to the increase in numbers of English Learner (EL) students in both private and public schools in the U.S. which has…

In line with shifts to avoid blaming individual students and instead be critical of systems that produce inequitable outcomes, this research honors the voices of those closest to math instruction: students. This study sought to learn directly from high school students of color about their experiences as math learners. The study surveyed over 400…

Could a transformative, inclusive and emancipatory educational framework like the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) advance academic success for all? Could racism and dis/ableism be dismantled through such an emerging educational trend that offers a redefinition of dis/ability abolishing oppressive pedagogical practices that perpetuate…

This brief presents select findings from the "Conversion of Enrollment Slots from Head Start to Early Head Start (HS2EHS) Case Studies," six case studies of grant recipients that converted enrollment slots from Head Start to Early Head Start in 2021. This brief focuses on "implementing new or expanded Early Head Start services…

Latinx students are making educational gains; however, disparities persist for traditionally marginalized groups. Informed by LatCrit and using Yosso's Community Cultural Wealth model, this study highlights the disparities and societal inequities that Latinx students face while illuminating their cultural assets. Twenty Latinx college students…

In this dissertation, I study the relationships between financial aid, student characteristics, persistence, and completion in three separate chapters. In all three chapters, I use detailed, student-level administrative data from the UNC System beginning in the Fall 2013 semester. The first chapter is entitled "Tuition Reduction and Student…

Culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students who are English learners (ELs) represent over 10% of the overall student population in U.S. public schools. Nevertheless, this population is highly underserved in schools and has some of the lowest graduation rates. This phenomenological research interviewed eight principals to examine how they…

The implementation of educating "Basic Life Support (BLS) competences" in German schools is particularly affected by the often reported "implementational gap" --limited transfer of empirical findings into practice. This Design-Based Research (DBR) study evaluates two different methodologies for BLS teaching, generating…