Early language research has revealed important insights into the building blocks of language, such as morphosyntactic features and rules and truth-conditions of sentences. Once we situate language in real-life use, however, a wide range of factors come into play. Language interacts not only with the surrounding linguistic context but also with the…

This study examines the influence of action research on California community college practitioners' attitudes, beliefs, and behavior using the Center for Urban Education's (CUE) Equity Scorecard tools and process. This developmental evaluation study began March 2011 and concluded April 2012. The pseudonym of the field site studied is Las…

The accountability movement has shifted its focus from measuring student outcomes, to measuring teacher effectiveness using value-added modeling. In 2011, a major urban newspaper conducted a value-added analysis of teachers' effectiveness at raising standardized test scores, and posted their findings on the Internet. This study spotlights…

The Individual with Disabilities Act has strengthened the role of parents in their children's special education. School social workers are one of the educational professionals in attendance at IEP staffings, yet their role definition continues to be poorly articulated. This qualitative study investigated school social work helpgiving…

What does it mean to have an open mind? Is it desirable? Are we therefore to avoid its opposite, a closed mind? How shall we proceed in producing an open mind or avoiding its opposite a closed mind? The terms open and closed are commonly used as if the meanings of the terms were clear and the expectant goods associated with being open preferred.…

The "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 has created a system, which potentially labeled 82% of US school as "failing" in 2011. Consequences for failing schools go beyond public ostracism to the release of numerous staff and school leaders or the closing of the…

It is evident from reading research that students with learning disabilities (LD) greatly benefit from teacher-student interactions during small group comprehension instruction (e.g., Berkeley, Scruggs, & Mastropieri, 2010). Given that questioning takes up the vast majority of instructional interactions between teachers and students (Chin,…

In this historical dissertation, I examined the process of curriculum development in the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) in the United States during the period 1959-1963. The presentation of evolution in the high school texts was based on a more robust form of Darwinian evolution which developed during the 1930s and 1940s called…

A trend among adolescent readers is the practice of fake-reading. Fake-reading occurs when students who can read choose not to, and develop strategies to fake their way through school-assigned texts to earn good grades. This study examines four resistive readers, or fake-readers, assigned to read Neal Shusterman's "Unwind" (2007)…

The purpose of this study was twofold. First, it sought to add to the body of research and literature on youth leadership development in secondary schools, filling a critical gap in the literature. Second, it aimed to help determine the essential elements of successful youth leadership development programs in the areas of content, pedagogy,…

This study examined the supervision effectiveness of three online peer supervision models as measured by the two outcome variables of case conceptualization skills and self-efficacy. Also, it explored the impact of developmental levels of school counselors on the outcomes of supervision. Practicing school counselors from a national sample were…

This participatory action research study addressed questions of pedagogical strategies, motivation, assessment, and student choice surrounding an inquiry approach to teaching and learning in a 7th grade social studies classroom. Teacher and student data were collected over a 6-week inquiry project stemming from and directed by student choice. Data…

Telemedicine improves access to information and healthcare services. Not only more cost effective and more efficient method of providing health care than the traditional methods, telemedicine is the most convenient method of delivering healthcare. However, the adoption of telemedicine has been challenging. The purpose of this dissertation is to…

The number of incoming community college students, including recent high school graduates as well as nontraditional students, requiring remediation has increased dramatically in recent years. As a result, community colleges are mandated by the state to implement developmental programs to address the diverse academic needs of their students.…

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the impact of "Servant Leadership" in an organization using the following variables: valuing people, developing people, building community, displaying authenticity, providing leadership and sharing leadership. The study also examined whether or not a correlation existed between years of…