The past two decades have seen a rapid increase in neuroscientific evidence being used to characterize how contextual, structural, and societal factors shape cognition and school readiness. Measures of functional brain activity are increasingly viewed as markers of child development and biomarkers that could be employed to track the impact of…

The present study aimed to test if perceived pubertal timing was related to marijuana and alcohol use through deviant peer affiliation. Additionally, we examined if the deviant peer pathway was moderated by impulsiveness, gender, or both. Data were collected from 342 youth, most of whom had a family history of substance use disorder. Youth…

This study aims to determine the process of creating the psychoeducational module for preventing child marriage for high school girls in Wajo Regency, Indonesia and to find out the product specification aspects of the psychoeducational module for preventing child marriage for high school girls in terms of the accuracy, feasibility and usefulness…

This study explores the experiences of STEM teachers who participated in professional development (PD) workshops focused on supporting the use of a socioscientific issues (SSI)/socioTransformative constructivism (sTc) framework as an avenue to incorporate SSI into lessons and empower students to become agents of change outside the classroom. The…

The problem addressed in this study was the negative impact salary has on adjunct faculty job satisfaction and under what conditions adjunct faculty experience job satisfaction in higher educational institutions in the United States. The purpose of this study was to explore adjunct faculty attitudes and perceptions of how salary impacts adjunct…

Modeling with mathematics (MP4) is a mathematical practice standard that can be used to engage students in mathematical content standards as well as additional mathematical practice standards. Research has shown the benefits of mathematical modeling (e.g., Aguirre et al., 2019; Cirillo et al., 2016a), but also the challenges teachers can face…

"Shakespeare Fixes: Equitable Approaches to Shakespeare Pedagogy in U.S. High Schools" examines the world of Shakespeare professional development and pedagogy for high school teachers. Shakespeare's works occupy a unique place in U.S. schooling, where, due to both the entrenched status of his works in U.S. curricula and the challenging…

Motor deficits are a phenotype observed in children with autism. When provided with motor intervention, the children progress across different developmental domains. The problem is teachers in self-contained classrooms for nonverbal children with autism faced obstacles that needed to be overcome in implementing a motor intervention plan in public…

Unfilled teaching positions are rising in South Carolina, increasing year over year. To combat this problem of practice, I conducted an improvement science study to understand factors that impact teacher satisfaction levels aimed to raise teacher retention rates. The study aimed to allow teachers to identify areas that school administrators can…

Success of the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework relies upon school-wide participation and buy-in. The problem was that failure to attain staff buy-in impedes the successful implementation of PBIS. While research on school leadership and PBIS separately is vast, a gap exists in the literature identifying leader and…

This study aimed to investigate the impact of LETRS professional development on reading proficiency. I used ANOVA tests to analyze third- through fifth-grade EOG assessment scores for changes in proficiency from 2021-2023. The results indicated a statistically significant change in the means for all grades. Third-grade results reflected the most…

Background: When New York City's (NYC) Division of Early Childhood Education (DECE) enacted their historic expansion of free programming for four-year-olds under Pre-K for All, they designed a complex system of professional learning (PL) to support teachers and high-quality programming. This study, developed in partnership between NYU and DECE,…

Too often, the value of culturally responsive and sustaining education (CRSE) is limited to addressing student motivation and engagement rather than being seen as valuable for academic achievement and rigorous student learning. This brief calls on education leaders to prioritize a broader range of outcomes, including students' development of…

In recent years, there has been a widespread commitment in Connecticut to diversify the educator workforce by increasing the number of educators of color. The state has invested resources and set clear expectations, but the challenge is now how to best position districts and schools to achieve these results at scale. The Connecticut State…

This dissertation consists of two distinct bodies of work. The first leverages a unique aspect of fire ant biology to investigate a potential role for a supergene in genetic assimilation. A supergene refers to a chromosome structural rearrangement, such as an inversion, that regulates the production of an alternative phenotype within a species. In…