The goal of this dissertation is to examine how brain regions respond to different types of competition during word comprehension and word production. I will present three studies that attempt to enhance the current understanding of which brain regions are sensitive to different aspects of competition and how the nature of the stimuli and the…

Throughout the United States, undocumented students live in constant fear of their legal status being disclosed, and despite their educational success and professional objectives, face uncertainty and an unknown future. This study has put forward the question of what are the effects of the symbiotic relationship of a historical anti-Mexican…

Emotions find their meanings within human relationships that permit emotions to be experienced, expressed, and explored. Social and emotional competence, marked by an understanding, expression, and control of emotion, is one of the hallmarks of emotional discourse--demonstrated in the very nature of interactive communication as individuals relate…

The purpose of this study was to explore the process and product of African American First Graders as they participated in digital storytelling. Of interest was the role digital tools played in the creation process. Eight participants participated in 18 study sessions during which they composed, recorded, and then shared their digital texts with…

This dissertation investigates Control phenomena in three distinct domains of the grammar of Modem Greek (subjunctive complements, "V-ondas" adjuncts and ke-complements) and proposes a unifying syntactic account of Control by appealing to the tense properties of these domains. I argue that Control in Greek is best analyzed as an instance of…

More than twenty years of research have been devoted to the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification process, much of it focused on the effects of National Board certified teachers (NBCTs) on student achievement. Less attention has been paid to the effects of the process on teachers' skills and practices, while…

By most measures of success--e.g., academic Grade Point Average (GPA), graduation rates, participation in extracurricular and civic activities, and college enrollment--adolescent males are less successful than females. Young males are falling behind in reading and writing and are more likely to be involved in truancy, violence, crime, suicide, and…

Recent literature on the psychological adjustment of parents who have children with disabilities suggests that they encounter a range of challenges beyond those experienced by parents of typically developing children (Achiless, G.M., McLaughlin, M J , & Croninger, R.G. 2007; Brown & Pacini, 1989). This is particularly true when a special needs…

Guided by Bioecological Systems Theory and Schema Theory, I investigated mothers' perceptions regarding the emotional development of their preschool children. Researchers acknowledge mothers' contributing role in influencing children's behavioral displays of emotion, but there is a dearth in the literature on mothers. emotion-related behaviors,…

The dilemmas, struggles, and conflicts of international students are ongoing research topics across disciplines. Utilizing a small culture approach that understands the "making and remaking" process (Holliday, 1999, p.247) of second language users/learners, this phenomenological narrative study explores the experiences of five L2 Chinese graduate…

Educators have known for generations the significance of teaching youngsters to read, but have turned their collective attention in only the past decade or so to the state of inadequate reading in high schools. The view is alarming by many accounts and has led national organizations to urge high school principals to add yet another responsibility…

The learner-centered instructional design model redefines the standard linear instructional design model to form a circular model where the learner's needs are the first item considered in the development of instruction. The purpose of this modified Delphi study was to have a panel of experts in the instructional design field review the…

The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to explore if there was a difference in terms of scores, of English Language Learners with learning disabilities and monolingual English speaking students with learning disabilities. The assessments were the Wilson Assessment of Decoding and Encoding reading scores, Measures of Academic…

Scope and Method of Study: The scope of the study was to compare empirically supported math fluency interventions to a control group as well as each other. The intervention components were isolated to investigate their initial strength as well as adding them together to investigate if the combined intervention was actually stronger or more…

The purpose of this mixed-methods, purposive case study was to investigate the impact of participation in the Metropolitan ISD Principal Coaching Initiative (MPCI) on leadership practice. The MPCI is a district-wide executive leadership capacity building strategy, which combines the District's standards-based leadership curriculum with a…