The case study takes place in a North Carolina School district diverse in student population and land use, which by some records is experiencing some success with the students it serves. Standardized test data reveals the existence of academic achievement gaps within schools throughout the district. The school district's superintendent…

The focus of this research is in the area of African American male superintendents and their leadership in diverse settings. The research approach adopted in this dissertation used semi-structured interviews with five African American male superintendents that consisted of three main issues: (1) personal; (2) leadership quality/effectiveness and…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate six factors that may influence adoption of virtual private network (VPN) technologies in small businesses with fewer than 100 employees. Prior research indicated small businesses employing fewer than 100 workers do not adopt VPN technology at the same rate as larger competitors, and the…

This study explored an online learning community in a non-formal educational setting and the process participants used in order to share, create, and construct knowledge through their interactions in the online community. Participants in the study were college interns who were part of a grant that focused on providing professional development for…

This qualitative study examined the instructional practices of an experienced African American mathematics teacher to determine his perceived capabilities in augmenting academic proficiency for his African American male students. Provided in this descriptive case study are the lived experiences of an African American male teacher working to move…

Engagement is a worthwhile psychological construct to examine in the context of online training and video games. In this context, previous research suggests that the more engaged a person is, the more likely they are to experience overall positive affect while performing at a high level. This research builds on theories of engagement, Flow Theory,…

Part I. The design and development of organic second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) materials have attracted much interest due to their applications in optoelectronic devices and modern communications technology. Donor-pi-acceptor compounds, D-(CH=CH)[subscript n]-A, often exhibit hyperpolarizability that results in laser frequency doubling (second…

Technology has afforded journalists a myriad of new opportunities to promote and publish content online. This project provides an overview of many of the new practices that have become standard operating procedures for digital media news creation and examines how the heavy imprint of traditional media news values are not contextualized within the…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of preservice mathematics teachers' understanding of inequalities. The design of the study was a multi-case study of secondary mathematics education preservice teachers with a focus on their understanding and the lessons that they plan and implement. Data from individual interviews,…

This qualitative exploratory single-case study was designed to examine and understand the use of volunteer community participants as software developers and other project related roles, such as testers, in completing a web-based application project by a non-profit organization. This study analyzed the strategic decision to engage crowd…

Enterprise information systems (EIS) governance provides guidance, structure, and rules for companies within industry who use information technology (IT) support services, and in particular, for outsourced IT support. This study focuses on outsourcing from the client perspective for higher education and uses the qualitative methodology with a…

Despite a vast amount of national research on superintendent tenure, a paucity of research exists as to the degree in which specific factors influence a superintendent's decision to leave a district. The purpose of the study was to investigate the factors or combination of factors that may influence a superintendent's decision to leave a…

Using a participant-observer perspective, this comparative case study sought to identify similarities between business and education to contribute to charter school training, leadership development, and school reform. This inquiry is a qualitative comparative case study using a participant observer perspective presented in a scholarly personal…

Increasingly, institutions of higher education are being called upon to change. Colleges and universities are being asked to prepare more students for 21st century professions, with tighter budgets and more accountability. Purposeful change can and does happen in higher education, and this study looks at the nature of leadership for change in two…

Swift and Greenberg (2012) observed that variables influencing the decision to drop out fluctuate according to the primary presenting problem, the amount of structure in therapy, the length of treatment, and the clinical setting. Due to these reports, researchers may focus on predictors of premature termination (PT) in treatment settings where the…