Living in an era of test-based accountability systems, how do we hold accountability tests accountable? Many accountability decisions made today are based on the assumption that test scores successfully reflect the effect of instruction. However, only instructionally sensitive assessments, not the instructionally insensitive ones, reflect the…

Classroom walkthroughs as a means of providing data for inquiry between principals and teachers and between teachers show promise for improving classroom instruction. Using data collected from classroom walkthroughs and through the development of a community of practice where administrators and teachers utilize dialogue and inquiry around these…

The purpose of this mixed-method study was to investigate digital native preservice teachers' self-efficacy beliefs regarding their technology experiences and skills at the beginning and at the end of their field placement semester. Digital natives, as defined by Prensky (2001), are students born after 1980 who have been raised with digital…

This dissertation describes an ethnographic case study of an elementary school in a border city in Southern Arizona. Its purpose is to explore teachers' professional lives at Cactus Elementary School (CES; pseudonym) through classroom observations, interviews and informal conversations. The majority of the fieldwork was conducted in the…

This dissertation aims to understand the apparent failure of speech in post-Mao literature to fulfill its conventional functions of representation and communication. In order to understand this pattern, I begin by looking back on the utility of speech for nation-building in modern China. In addition to literary analysis of key authors and works,…

This dissertation presents a multidisciplinary means of determining the actual content (foodstuff, non-foodstuff, or lack of contents) of Classic Mayan (A.D. 250-900) vessels. Based on previous studies that have identified the residues of foodstuffs named in hieroglyphic texts (e.g. cacao), this study is designed to further investigate foodstuff…

School-wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) programs integrate research-based practice within a three-tier approach of prevention and intervention to impact change within school systems. Research suggests positive changes in student outcomes with the implementation of SWPBS. Supported by social-ecological and behavioral theory, this longitudinal…

This dissertation focuses on the works of two well-known African Francophone novelists, Ahmadou Kourouma from the Ivory Coast and Mongo Beti from Cameroon. The objective of this study is to look at the influences of African oral traditions and analyze the literary transposition of semantic structures from African languages and cultures into the…

This dissertation analyzes the geography of information in the 21st century where BigData, social networks, user generated production of content and geography combine to create new and complex patterns of space, context and sociability. Both online and offline, social networks are creating a space that simultaneously unifies individuals and…

Being in a doctoral program requires a substantial amount of one's time, energy, and commitment. Doctoral students face many challenges while pursuing their degrees. For example, some may be on financial aid, work full-time, and/or have a family. While doctoral students face many hurdles, Black doctoral students face additional barriers. The…

This study focuses on the institutionalization of information security in the banking sector. This study is important to pursue since it explicates the internalization of information security governance and practices and how such internalization develops an organizational resistance towards security breach. The study argues that information…

For decades, research has been conducted regarding alcohol consumption and behaviors, binge drinking, alcohol prevention, and education programs; however, there is limited research investigating a student's decision not to drink. In particular, there is minimal research on the experiences of underage female college students who have chosen to…

The purpose of this study was to describe levels of RTI implementation in West Virginia elementary schools. Little is known about the national efforts that states are collectively undertaking to scale up implementation of RTI (Hoover, Baca, Wexler-Love, & Saenz, 2008). West Virginia's elementary schools were required by state policy to…

In distance education via videoconferencing, students at classroom remote sites learn without the physical presence of their teacher and other classmates at the host site. As a result, the learning experience of remote site students differs from host site students. Therefore, instructional leaders should make every effort to minimize the adverse…

This study explored how faculty members at regular higher education institutions in China perceived the National Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Evaluation (NUTLE). Specifically, this study examined how the NUTLE influenced faculty teaching and research and how the NUTLE influenced student learning outcomes. Primarily descriptive and…