The purpose of the case study is to describe how one large school district in the United States has expanded their expectations for students based on the perceived need for graduates to compete in an increasingly global job market. The study "summarizes" the processes for establishing districtwide systems to support these expectations. The case…

This dissertation investigates how five Korean ESL (English as a Second Language) students in U.S. secondary schools develop academic writing while they navigate U.S. academic expectations and cultural norms. This qualitative study describes the experiences with academic writing practices and identity reconstruction as well as the relationship…

This study explored the personal journey of 11 White college administrators who were identified as inclusive leaders at a predominately White institution (PWI), recognized nationally for its work on partnering diversity and excellence. One overall question guided this study: How do White college administrators describe their journey to becoming…

This dissertation investigates a possible service-value gap between faculty valuing of service categories and their perceptions of departmental valuing of these service categories at the University of Colorado. The service gap was shown to be statistically significant for most service categories on most campuses using a t-test for each…

This study describes and explains purposefully selected university and community college administrators' perceptions of the Florida statewide articulation agreement and the resulting institutional practices as they pertain to underrepresented transfer students. The theoretical framework that undergirds this dissertation is three-fold: social…

In recent years there has been a considerable increase in the number of students with disabilities enrolling for postsecondary education. However, graduation rates for students with disabilities have not been commensurate with their enrollment rate at postsecondary institutions. Some factors for low graduation rate among students with disabilities…

Backpackers are pioneers of mobility, who provide a unique domain for critical tourism research. The lineage of backpacker ideals, including pursuit of authentic experiences, independence, escape and social interaction, can be traced back to the "tramps" of the 1880s and the "drifters" of the 1970s. The recent emergence of the "flashpacker"…

This ethnographic study focuses on a community college VESL program in the Pacific Northwest that attempts to address the critical employment needs of a growing number of English language learners (ELLs). Immigrants are routinely barred from mainstream career and technical programs because content is linguistically inaccessible. This college VESL…

The multicultural competency instruments have been criticized for their ability to accurately assess this construct. Specifically, the lack of adherence to an operationalized definition is at the heart of the problem. In order to improve the theoretical foundation of multicultural competency, this study extended previous research by Ladany and his…

The United States continues to lag behind other countries in its adoption of health information technology. A failure to increase adoption will jeopardize the nation's ability to reduce medical errors, address the rapid growth of healthcare costs, and enact effective healthcare reform. Health information technology (HIT) implementation success…

The learning and support needs of students identified as gifted are addressed in a variety of ways throughout the United States, but there is little consistency in state laws, and some states have few or no laws regarding gifted education, leaving this to local districts. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania does have laws and policies in place,…

This study was designed to improve teachers' confidence levels for inclusive education. Two groups of teachers in one elementary school participated. One group of teachers participated in special trainings and met in small focus planning groups with special education teachers. One group did not participate in the trainings and focus groups. Both…

In our current era of increased globalization, constraints on language variation in postcolonial English varieties are multifaceted. Local and global language ideologies collide and multiple sources of influence converge in present-day patterns of linguistic variation in emerging English varieties. While research into the structure and…

As boys in the upper elementary grades become increasingly influenced by peer pressure, many are less likely to participate in singing activities because singing is considered a "feminine" activity. The purpose of this research was to explore if there was an effect on upper elementary boys' level of participation during group singing activities…

Positioned within the social constructivist view of learning that individuals make meaning from their experiences and through their social actions and interactions, this qualitative study explores the ways in which nine instructors of underprepared adult English as a Second Language students made meaning of their classroom experiences. Through…