The purpose of this transformative mixed methods study was to examine the school happiness of upper elementary students in three Connecticut urban demonstration schools. The study examined the differences in students' happiness based on ethnicity, gender, and their interaction. It also investigated the factors that affect students' happiness in…

Society's increased dependence on higher education has put many people of color at a disadvantage, as they continue to be disproportionately underrepresented in academia despite efforts to increase diversity and enrollment of Latino/as in public universities (Jones, Castellanos, & Cole, 2002). The purpose of this study was to explore the…

International partnerships have become an increasingly important trend in African higher education. The creation of partnerships with African universities has been on the rise in the last few years. Different factors (U.S., European, and African initiatives) suggest this trend will continue to increase. This study draws from a survey of a random…

The importance of parental involvement in schools has been the focus of numerous studies (Cotton & Mann, 1994; Hoover-Dempsey & Sadler, 1997; McDermott & Rothenberg, 2000; Trotman, 2001; Epstein & Sanders, 2009). Many of these same studies correlate student achievement with parental involvement and suggest that student achievement is improved when…

The rapid expansion in higher education in the 1960s and early 1970s brought a reexamination of university teaching and learning, placing significant attention on the role of faculty development. The steady growth of this field has been reflected in the establishment of centers, offices, and divisions at many colleges and universities that are in…

The national principal shortage caused by the competing factors of an aging workforce, along with recent changes to the role expectations of the principalship making the position less desirable to potential candidates have been well documented in recent years. Effective schools research shows that principals are second only to classroom teachers…

This research study explores the first-generation undergraduate Latino male student experience at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI) affiliated within Latino Greek fraternities. The Psychosociocultural (PSC) model (Gloria & Rodriguez, 2000; Pope & Reynolds, 2000) that is used highlights the psychological, social and cultural contributing…

In a rural community there is a risk that readers will not find connections to their own lives, which may affect the pleasure gained from reading. The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the use of literature in a small rural elementary school, focusing on how sociocultural factors affect how students connect to and access literature.…

The purpose of this case study was to explore how the specific content knowledge developed in a newly certified literacy specialist's practicum experiences are taken up in her practice as she supports the learning of her struggling literacy learners in the situated context of the middle school. Focused on her perspective, the present study…

The Poarch Band of Creek Indians are a segment of the original Creek Nation that avoided removal and remained in Alabama. This dissertation is a qualitative study designed to record oral histories of Poarch Creek people. Together the tribe and I collected and recorded oral histories from four generations of four Poarch Creek families. In addition,…

Agencies that fund scientific research have called increasingly in recent years for the projects they support to contribute to broader social and educational impacts. However, the means by which these projects might best utilize their own resources to support educational outcomes for young learners have received relatively little attention. This…

The goal of this project is to begin investigating the emergent media practices of current academic disciplines. This dissertation posits that Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) scholars have investigated new media use in undergraduate pedagogy, and to some extent the practices of graduate students. However, WAC scholars have yet to try to…

A differentiated curriculum for the gifted provides learning experiences that are challenging, interesting, satisfying, useful in the application to the real world, transferable to other disciplines and content areas, and allows for choice. While a differentiated curriculum is necessary for gifted learners, students' attitudes, opinions, and…

For decades there has been an on-going debate regarding whether or not retention is the best strategy to use for students who are not meeting academic success--whether determined by a test, grades, or standards. Much of the research has indicated that little is gained academically over time by retaining students, but even more significant are the…

Few aspects of school are as controversial as the practice of grading, for grades affect students' educational opportunities. The purpose of this study was to identify the practices Catholic high-school teachers employed in determining students' grades. The study investigated the extent to which academic achievement comprised the grades teachers…