As policy makers consider revisions to the Higher Education Act (HEA), understanding the impact of increasing the size of Pell grants is important if it is to have the intended impact of improving educational outcomes for lower income students across the various types of colleges and universities. Understanding institutional behavior is a place to…

Theoretical approaches within the cognitive-interactionist framework (Long, 2015) have identified various aspects of L2 input and characteristics of instruction that predict learners' L2 outcomes. Such strategies of L2 teaching relate to shaping characteristics of communicative activities in which the L2 is embedded and modifying L2 input, L2…

This qualitative semi-structured interview study investigated how the opportunity to learn with productive struggle emerges in a teacher's beliefs, anticipation, planning, teaching, and response to struggle in learning mathematics. In this study, the experiences of student struggle in the teaching and learning of fractions was investigated through…

Special education teacher preparation programs are charged with providing preservice teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively implement reading interventions using evidence-based practices. Practicum experiences allow preservice teachers to practice implementing these teaching practices in authentic settings. Preservice…

This dissertation informed researchers about the performance of different level-specific and target-specific model fit indices in Multilevel Latent Growth Model (MLGM) using unbalanced design and different trajectories. As the use of MLGMs is a relatively new field, this study helped further the field by informing researchers interested in using…

Prior research demonstrates that school leaders can help develop teacher efficacy by creating positive school climates, providing opportunities for mentoring and purposeful feedback, and providing meaningful professional learning (Bressman, Winters, & Efron, 2017; Fry, 2009; Ross & Bruce, 2007). Yet despite significant prior research on…

Mathematics education is important for students with developmental disabilities. Additional research is needed that examines interventions to teach grade-level mathematics content to these students. In this single-case multiple probe across participants study, researchers explored the functional relation for four middle school students with…

Feedback is provided to teachers throughout the school year. But how often do school administrators receive feedback on the feedback communicated to teachers and have an opportunity to deliberately practice delivering the information in a concise manner? This quantitative study begins to address school leaders' abilities in the Colonial School…

Educational organizations worldwide face challenges in selecting professional development models that meet the diverse and evolving needs of educators and students. Professional Learning Communities offer a means by which to address these needs. The problem addressed by this qualitative case study was the lack of a successful framework…

Growing concerns of diminishing teacher satisfaction in the workplace and a lack of support in their craft should be a topic of discussion for all school leaders. How do leaders help teachers grow and develop while also maintaining a strong level of support? This research study addresses this question through the process of classroom walkthroughs…

Most students with disabilities in public schools are served in inclusive environments by teams of special and general education teachers working together to support their access to the curriculum and their disability related needs. This program evaluation sought to understand the knowledge, skills, and efficacy of a group of co-teachers following…

In educational measurement, Item Response Theory (IRT) provides a means of quantifying student knowledge. Specifically, IRT models the probability of a student answering a particular item correctly as a function of the student's continuous-valued latent abilities [theta] (e.g. add, subtract, multiply, divide) and parameters associated with the…

Empathy is a consistent predictor of positive counseling outcome. As counselor educators attempted to teach and evaluate CITs' empathy competence, various conceptualizations and measurements emerged. Thus, the purpose of this study was to validate a proposed theoretical model and developed a measure based on the model. One hundred and forty-eight…

This dissertation research chronicles my experiences with emotions and learning as a student conduct administrator throughout the arduous process of investigating, becoming, and transforming by engaging sociocultural theory. Grounded in Authentic Inquiry (Tobin, 2006), this research centers my lived-experience and nuances the role of emotions in…

We place deficit-model labels on students who fall behind educational expectations and standards. Public discourses about underserved students pervade U.S-American politics and popular culture and tend to portray these students in a negative light. This study aims to uncover similarities between the dominant societal narratives about underserved…