This dissertation focuses on interdisciplinary problem-solving teams used to address the academic needs of elementary students struggling with reading. Use of teams has a strong theoretical base and wide endorsement by educational leaders, but limited empirical base. Three studies explore teams that convene students of differing academic status:…

This study examines whether MidYIS and YELLIS cognitive ability tests (CATs) are appropriate methods for the identification of giftedness in Design and Technology. A key rationale for the study was whether CATs and able to identify those students with the aptitudes considered of importance to identifying giftedness in Design and Technology and…

Working in conjunction with a local school district in the United States, we developed a professional development project--called the Multiliteracies Teacher Institute Project (M-TIP). It composed of a series of three interrelated university courses that were designed to provide university graduate credit and professional development to teachers…

Educational research using visual methods has the power to transform the society in which we live and the communities in which we work. We must not naïvely imagine that having the desire to make change in people's lives will mean that it will happen, as sometimes there may be surprising, unintended negative repercussions as well. Other…

The overarching goal of multicultural education is "to help all students acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to participate in cross-cultural interactions and in personal, social, and civic action that will help make our nation more democratic and just" (Banks, 2006, p. 202). In pursuit of this goal, teacher educators…

Schools in Guam function to Americanize immigrants by adjusting different sociocultural values to American mainstream beliefs and practices which are considered norms, such as the matters of hygiene, manners, and farming and food preparation process. However, the educators in this study manifested their different ways of understanding and an…

Most of the scholarship on gifted Black children focuses, legitimately, in a disproportionate way on underrepresentation, namely, identification and placement issues, barriers, and recommendations. Comparatively speaking, less attention has focused on socio-emotional (or affective) and psychological needs and development of these students.…

Drawing on recent theories of boundary processes, status and ethnicity, I investigate processes of group-making in the post-Civil War era (1865-1905) when Americans were faced with two daunting political projects: rebuilding the nation, and creating a new racial order to replace the abolished system of bond slavery. Although scholars have…

Research has shown that academic achievement among racial minority groups, particularly African Americans, and the majority Caucasian group is profoundly disproportionate. A number of variables have been shown to influence the academic achievement of students, such as stereotype threat, racial identity, and academic self-concept (Awad, 2007;…

The purpose of this review of literature was to describe affinity spaces and identity formation for children of color in schools and recommend texts currently in use. The literature reviewed included studies utilizing qualitative and quantitative research and the Undoing Racism workshop. Topics reviewed include affinity spaces, understanding…

Research indicates that up to 65% of children diagnosed with ADHD may continue to display general behavior problems, as well as specific symptoms of ADHD, later in life. In most of the studies, ADHD college students' self-esteem is strongly aligned with their social skills. The purpose of this study was to find directions that will assist ADHD…

This study examined three institutional researchers from three different Hispanic-serving community colleges in southern California to examine how they would use data to act as agents of organizational learning and raise awareness of Hispanic students' educational outcomes within their respective institutions. This study was of a qualitative…

This dissertation examines the strategic practice of virtual racial embodiment, as a case study of African Americans attempting to complicate current constructions of race and social justice in new media. I suggest that dominant racial constructions online teeter between racial stereotypes and the absence of race. Virtual racial classification and…

Technological fluency involves having a deep understanding of information technology as well as an identity as someone who engages with technology in meaningful and complex ways. Hence, it is more fruitful to think about individuals not as developing technological fluency but rather as becoming technologically fluent. Although physical access to…

This study explores experiences of women as they pursue post-secondary computing education in various contexts. Using in-depth interviews, the current study employs qualitative methods and draws from an intersectional approach to focus on how the various barriers emerge for women in different types of computing cultures. In-depth interviews with…