The early years of a child's life are a crucial time for brain development and stress can play a critical role in compromising its development (Zadina, 2014; Zull, 2011). Fink (2019) explains physical and mental stress as being characterized by heightened excitability and arousal, perceived adverse situation, and lack of control. This normal,…

Teachers' assessment literacy affects the quality of assessments and is, therefore, an essential part of teachers' competence. Recent studies define assessment literacy as a dynamic, contextual and social construct, situated in practice and mediated by teachers' identity and conceptions of assessment. This study provides a further elaboration of…

COVID-19 has permeated news since December 2019 and has impacted all areas of life. Despite widespread coverage of COVID-related risks, there is limited understanding of adolescent resilience in Global South contexts (e.g., Africa) and against the backdrop of COVID-19. We, therefore, conducted a qualitative secondary analysis of 79 documents…

Because the dominant narrative in the media around teachers is fixated on the burnout and unhappiness they are experiencing, this dissertation study explored the joy female Critical Teachers of Color experienced while teaching during the COVID-19 global pandemic. In this qualitative study, I employed both autoethnography and portraitures as a way…

This research study investigated the trauma that teachers experienced and the coping mechanisms that they found effective while attempting to complete their duties during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study will be beneficial for school districts to be able to provide effective stress management and resources for their employees. The following…

The current project measures international students' dietary acculturation challenges focusing on sub-Saharan Africans in the U.S. The analysis examines responses from 142 questionnaire respondents. Respondents filled out a self-administered survey that inquired about their eating practices in their country and since they moved to the U.S.…

This qualitative study examined how Black women graduate students engaged in radical healing through the Homeplace Research Collective at the University of Florida. The purpose of this study is to investigate the lived experiences of Black women graduate students by focusing on the challenges they encounter within the academy and how their…

Although students from Africa are among the least represented groups among international students in U.S. higher education, the number of enrollments in U.S. schools has significantly increased (Institute of International Education, 2020). The steady rise in African international students suggests a compelling need to qualitatively examine these…

The 'new normal' setup of education posed challenges on courses requiring learners' collaboration. Despite the proven advantages of collaborative writing, several challenges still confront the learners which may affect the quality of their output. Collaboration per se is already a challenge for learners in face-to-face classes, more so in online…

Black American collegiate women encounter microaggressions. The need to constantly regulate intense emotions in a sanctioned way to avoid further gendered-racial ramifications may increase emotional distress and lead to the use of high effort coping, such as the Strong Black Woman (SBW) schema. This anonymous online mixed-data study explored the…

Objective: The purpose of this study was to measure college students' coping strategies and change of lifestyle during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants: Students from the State University in California were recruited during July 2020. Methods: A total of 11 focus group meetings were conducted. Results: Students' coping strategies were analyzed…

Working at the university level prepares campus employees to deal with a diversity of negative issues and even with crises. COVID-19 did away with the rule book for how to handle university crises as universities fell into the middle of a worldwide pandemic beyond what almost every university employee could have imagined. When administrators first…

This qualitative study examined the stories of women of color (WOC) executive leaders working on a California State University (CSU) campus, exploring how they have achieved success and persevered in the face of systemic barriers. Drawing on in-depth interviews with eight WOC leaders, this dissertation explored their individual experiences and…

Black women administrators should be included in the discourse around experiences in leadership on their campuses, understanding these experiences will shed light not only on how to develop and retain this group, but also on these additional needs of this group. The experience of Black women administrators is a topic that has not been studied…

This study explores the unique experience of disrupted sojourns and early reentry among U.S. college students who were abruptly repatriated from their study abroad experience in March 2020. Using a combination of focus groups and interviews with 25 U.S. returning students, the findings suggest that students' experiences were characterized by…