Despite research demonstrating the effects of hostile school climates on the academic achievements of minority sexual and gender identity (MSGI) youth, little attention is paid to preparing future teachers to work with this diverse student population. Given the importance of making learning environments safe and welcoming for all students, this…

Demand for quality service provision in the human services industry requires that private nonprofit organizations have the administrative and management capacities to ensure successful implementation and sustain staff development programs. Unfamiliarity with implementation challenges, and limited awareness of implementation strategies, can trigger…

The growth in online education has led to the need for specific strategies that online instructors can use to assist students with the unique challenges of the modality. While many teaching theories can work online, adaptations need to be made to address issues with retention, persistence, and the immediacy that can arise in computer-mediated…

Student ratings of instruction (SRI) can be a valuable indicator of teaching because the quality measurement of instruction identifies areas where improvement is needed. SRI is expected to evaluate and enhance teaching strategies. Evaluation of teaching effectiveness has been officially implemented in Taiwanese higher education since 2005. This…

This study sought to explore the lived experiences of five female, first-generation, low-income students who attend a metropolitan commuter university, and investigate how a structured undergraduate research experience exerts influence on the women's academic and social involvement. A qualitative case study with a narrative and grounded…

This dissertation is focused on analyzing phonological contact between Slavic and non-Slavic languages in southeastern and northeastern Europe, with the particular goal of describing how the social context of language contact interacts with linguistic factors to shape the outcome of contact-induced change. On the basis of case studies drawn from…

The U.S. is the leading nation for international students to pursue higher education; the majority of whom are from countries with significant differences in culture and language from American students. As such, many international students start higher education in ESL support programs. While on the surface international students supposedly add…

This mixed methods study explored the nature of a benchmark assessment program and how well the benchmark assessments predicted End-of-Grade (EOG) and End-of-Course (EOC) test scores in an American Indian school district. Five major themes were identified and used to develop a Dimensions of Benchmark Assessment Program Effectiveness model:…

This dissertation's purpose was to better understand how messages received through different cultural mediums influences the development of social success skills. Black male students were chosen as the focal participants for this year-long study because they are included among the groups whose social success skills development are thought to…

National and local standards in history are evolving from standards on history content to standards on critical thinking and analyzing historical documents. The purpose of this research was to determine the effects of professional development received by K-12 teachers on infusing historical thinking skills into their history instruction. Changes…

As online education continues to expand, colleges are demanding faculty to keep up with the pace and add new online classes. Oftentimes, online instructors rush the course creation process by focusing more on the course content than creating a sense of human presence in the virtual online community of learners. It was theorized that by simply…

The increased focus on the implementation of scientifically research-based instruction as an outcome of No Child Left Behind ("Understanding NCLB," 2007) has resulted in the widespread use of scripted reading curricula (Dewitz, Leahy, Jones, and Sullivan, 2010), which typically represents Eurocentric and middle class forms of discourse,…

This study presents the findings related to the use of homebound instruction as a special education service model and to the practices and perceptions of service providers in the areas of personal effectiveness, model effectiveness, and administrator support. A self-administered survey was distributed to a national sample of 484 educators from two…

This dissertation is composed of three distinct chapters, each of which addresses issues of estimating treatment effects. The first chapter empirically tests the Value-Added (VA) model using school lotteries. The second chapter, co-authored with Michael Wood, considers properties of inverse probability weighting (IPW) in simple treatment effect…

This critical case study addressed how the achievement gap reflects the culture gap between teachers and historically underrepresented students. This study allows educators to consider how attitudes on culture and diversity impact student achievement. It makes visible existing teacher and student relationships in a rural school system through the…