Dissertations of Recent Graduates
Over 90% of students who enroll and fully engage in the PhD program ultimately graduate. Our PhD graduates have conducted rigorous and impactful research in a variety of domains under the umbrella of Leadership, Research, or Policy. Please see the table below for the dissertations completed by our most recent graduates (2020-2025).
Dissertation Table
| Name | Dissertation Title | Link | Abstract | Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mattox, James Brian | STEM Degree Attainment Among Military-Affiliated Undergraduate Students | Thesis Link | This dissertation provides a unique investigation into STEM degree attainment among military-affiliated undergraduate students, addressing a demographic that is frequently overlooked or underrepresented in academic research. Employing Schlossberg’s Transition Theory, this study offers a focused theoretical analysis of the unique transitional challenges faced by military-affiliated students pursuing STEM education. Methodologically, the research employs Propensity Score Matching (PSM), a sophisticated quantitative technique, to rigorously assess the causal relationships between military affiliation, the utilization of GI Bill funding, and educational outcomes in STEM programs. Additionally, this study fills a critical research gap by quantitatively assessing how GI Bill funding specifically influences STEM degree attainment and academic success. Furthermore, by incorporating an intersectional examination of demographic factors such as age, ethnicity, and transfer student status, the dissertation provides a nuanced understanding of educational outcomes for military-affiliated students. It also integrates discussions of institutional accountability and support systems, linking educational policy and practices directly to student experiences and success rates. The research offers specific, actionable insights valuable to institutions serving similar student populations by leveraging robust institutional data from a regional comprehensive university in the West. | Spring 2025 |
| Nouri, Mohamed | The Relationship Between Second Language Proficiency and Second Language Achievement, Years of Study, Language Immersion, and Demographics for Service Academy Cadets | Thesis Link | This study investigated second language proficiency levels in reading and listening attained by undergraduate students as measured by Brigham Young University Adaptive Listening Test (ALT), Adaptive Reading Test (ART), and factors that influence and predict proficiency advancement at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA). The study explored factors that influence and predict proficiency advancement by examining the relationship between proficiency levels and predictors, including curriculum-based second language achievement, years of language study, participation in a language immersion program abroad, demographics, and prior experience with the second language. For this study, a quantitative approach based on binary logistic regression analysis has been used to assess the relationship and strength between the dependent variable of second language proficiency level and independent variables. Data obtained from the results of the Adaptive Listening Test and the Adaptive Reading Test administered to language learners in five languages (n = 459) and a demographic survey has been analyzed. Faculty at USAFA administered the test in April 2024 for second language learners studying the following languages: Arabic, French, Japanese, Portuguese, and Russian. It was found that language GPA, years of language study, language immersion participation, age were the four significant factors which increase the odds of achieving higher proficiency in reading and listening. | Fall 2024 |
| Hixson, Hiram | Measuring the Influence of Title IV Student Aid on the Financial Health of Religious Higher Educational Institutions | Thesis Link | This study creates a measurement of Title IV funding influence on the institutional financial health of religious higher education institutions. It justifies a method, grounded in financial accounting standards, of using publicly available data sources for calculating the Composite Financial Index metric to gauge institutional financial health; and measures the reliability of the proposed method. The research also creates a method to estimating the influence Title IV funding has on the revenue health and overall financial health of private not-for-profit higher educational institutions. The results of the measurements are then utilized to measure the influence of Title IV towards revenue health and overall financial health of religious higher education institutions. | Fall 2024 |
| Shaker, Mona Ahmed Monkez | The Transition to Online Education During COVID-19 in Egypt: A Descriptive Study of Educators’ Experiences | Thesis Link | During the COVID-19 pandemic, education was greatly affected worldwide. This impact was particularly significant in Egypt, where the education system, educators, and students faced challenges. This research aimed to explore how educators in urban areas of Greater Cairo (Cairo, Giza, Al Qalyubia) in Egypt perceived the sudden shift to online learning, especially as many had little to no prior experience with online teaching. The targeted population for this quantitative descriptive research design focused on a stratified sample of Egyptian educators in non-governmental schools and universities. A total of 336 survey responses were collected. Five multiple regression analyses were conducted to understand educators’ perceptions, experiences, challenges, and the level of support provided to educators by their institutions and their technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of the study revealed a moderately positive perception of online learning, with the difficulty of teaching online due to the barriers the educators encountered during the transitions. Internet connectivity issues, lack of interaction between instructors and students, and lack of educator training on online teaching were notable barriers among educators and affected their perception of online education in Egypt. The study suggests the need for significant changes in government and educational entities if online education is to be integrated into Egypt’s traditional face-to-face education system. | Fall 2024 |
| Rutberg, Leslie Faith | The Art of Educational Leadership | Thesis Link | This dissertation came to fruition because of my long history as a public-school educator and leader, and my deep admiration for the educators who have dedicated their lives to public service and growing young people. We no longer live in a time in which educators dedicate their life to teaching or leading in public schools. Teacher and administrator retention rates have dropped, and attrition rates continue to grow at an alarming rate (Dee & Goldhaber; 2017; Kraft & Lyon, 2022). If we understand what keeps educators satisfied with their job in public-schools, we can emulate this practice and grow our teachers and leaders to stay in their jobs (Brown, 2018; Day, 2022; Deal & Peterson, 1999; Gamata, 2021; Javanovica & Ciric, 2016; Kaagan, 1998; Kiral, 2020). This study is my way to be part of this change. This qualitative study is a narrative inquiry that looks at educational leaders through field observations, interviews, and artifacts and tells their stories through a transformational leadership lens. Narrative inquiry allows the freedom to retell the stories of these participants and extract the qualities that are demonstrative of effective leadership. The rich stories of these three participants are transformational due to their individual passion to create relationships, support intellectual needs, and lead through modeling that is collaborative, transparent, and ethical (Bass & Riggio, 2006). Transformational Leadership theory (TLT) framed this study. Four prominent themes emerged through this study: teamwork, emotional commitment, growth, and effective programming. These themes are situated within the four components of TLT: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration and are the lens by which the data is disseminated and explored. Story can deeply change lives. It is my hope that those reading this research will relate, assimilate, and want to emulate the leadership practice of the participants. The stories of these leaders will support other leaders in the quest to grow in their own practice and become better educators and better leaders in schools. It is then that we can truly support the young people we serve and support them in the most effective means possible. | Fall 2024 |
| Abeyta, Jennifer Denise | A Double-Edged Sword: Black and Latinx Principals Taking on the Most Difficult Turnarounds | Thesis Link | Since the passage of early federal K-12 school legislation such as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965 and its many evolutionary successors including the No Child Left Behind Act (2002) and the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) there has been increased scrutiny on low-performing schools and particularly their leaders. These accountability measures tend to disproportionately affect schools that often serve Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) students as well as students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The leaders of these schools tend to bear the brunt of the scrutiny and face immense pressure to improve schools and raise student achievement in a short amount of time. For high school principals this proves a more daunting task with the unique nature and current structure of comprehensive high schools in the United States. For principals of color the additional pressures of being a leader of color can add additional stress to the work. Despite the cultural funds of knowledge and passion these principals bring to the communities they serve, leaders of color may face additional adversity such as bias and microaggressions. Utilizing a hermeneutic phenomenological design, data was collected through interviews with 6 turnaround high school principals of color, leading schools labeled as turnaround or priority improvement, as identified by the individual leader’s state education agency. The aim of the study was to discover themes in the principal’s perceptions of how their efforts were impacted by accountability systems, support and obstacles in their work, and their status as a Black or Latinx leader analyzed through a complex systems and an applied critical leadership (ACL) framework. Overall principals understood the need for accountability however many felt their state accountability system had disproportionately negative impacts on their schools and the complex nature of the system was perceived as unsolvable. Additionally, leaders found various levels of support from district administration in key areas to facilitate needed change. As leaders of color, these principals saw a need to support aspiring leaders of color in education and described their pathways to the principalship with a variety of experiences on their journey to leading a turnaround school and the benefits and drawbacks they encountered as Black and Latinx leaders. This study aims to add to the literature on the perceptions of high school turnaround leaders of color and serve as reference for district administrators, state policy makers, and aspiring school leaders of color. | Fall 2024 |
| Reeve-Lobaugh, Emma | Legalizing Hate: Problematization in Queer Content Prohibition Policies | Thesis Link | The conflict between parental rights and public education classroom content is not new; however, the growing number of statewide policies prohibiting queer content and conversations in schools combine parental rights advocacy with historical discrimination against and fear of queer identity. This critical discourse analysis study used Bacchi’s (2009) what’s the problem represented to be policy analysis approach paired with critical discourse analysis (CDA) guided by Wodak’s discourse-historical framework to explore and analyze the problematizations, categorizations, and assumptions made by queer content prohibition policies and the ways those themes appear in public discourse surrounding policy passage and implementation. Framing theory was used to guide the research. Data was collected in the forms of recent queer content prohibition policies themselves, mass media headlines, and public statements from policymakers and school and district stakeholders responsible for or involved in policy implementation. This study addresses a significant gap in the literature exploring the problematization of queer content prohibition policies and, more specifically, examines the ways those problems and themes appear in the language, messages, and views of those most impacted by these policies. | Summer 2024 |
| Brenner, Carrie DeAnne | The Stratified Proliferation of 504 Plans in American Public High Schools | Thesis Link | Through a lens of cultural capital, this dissertation explored the complex implementation of Section 504 policy in public high schools, focused on how school-level characteristics and the state-level litigious educational environment impact the qualifying rates of 504 plans. This study of the 2017-18 school year employed data from national databases, including the Office of Civil Rights biennial reports and the National Center for Education Statistics. Variables of interest include school level characteristics of socio-economic status, racial and ethnic demographics, school size, school types, and urbanicity, with the dependent variable being the proportion of students with 504 plans, and a mediating state-level variable of the litigious educational environment. A mediated multilevel linear model (MML) was used to analyze and manage the clustering effects present in educational data. The research highlighted how affluent and privileged families are better at accessing 504 plans to gain academic advantages. The findings supported previous research in identifying disparities in 504 plan qualification rates, influenced by school characteristics on qualifying rates of 504 plans. Additionally, the data showed evidence of a long suspected positive mediated relationship of a litigious climate on the connections between school characteristics and 504 plan rates. The study emphasized the need for improvements to policy implementation at the national, state, district, and school levels. | Summer 2024 |
| Ibarra, Derion Michael | No Child Left Sedentary: Bridging the Policy Rhetoric and practice Gap – A Landscape Study No Child Left Sedentary: Bridging the Policy Rhetoric and Practice Gap – A Meta-Analysis No Child Left Sedentary: Bridging the Policy Rhetoric and Practice Gap – A Comparative Interrupted Time Series Analysis | Thesis Link | No Child Left Sedentary: Bridging the Policy Rhetoric and Practice Gap – A Landscape Study (Manuscript 1) Section 4108 Part C of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) advocates for a well-rounded education that prioritizes a healthy and active lifestyle; however, a discernible gap exists between policy rhetoric and practice. Through the identification of school-based physical activity interventions, this systematic review of the educational landscape suggested that the challenge lies not in the development of these interventions but rather in their consistent implementation across schools in the United States. Each of the identified interventions demonstrated elements contributing to improved students’ academic achievement, health, and physical activity levels, yet achieving widespread implementation remains a challenge. Further research is warranted to uncover these challenges. No Child Left Sedentary: Bridging the Policy Rhetoric and Practice Gap – A Meta-Analysis (Manuscript 2) The objective of this study focused on section 4108 of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (2015), which emphasized providing students with opportunities to be physically active. Despite these policy initiatives, students predominantly remain sedentary during school hours. To address this gap, this study meta-analyzed the effectiveness of K-12 school-based physical activity interventions on students' academic achievement, health, and physical activity levels within the United States. Univariate meta-analytic analyses revealed an increase in physical activity levels; however, no discernible effects were found regarding academic achievement and student health. Additionally, a correlated hierarchical effects model discovered that interventions with structured curricula had more positive effects on student outcomes. This study suggests that instead of prioritizing sedentary activities, our educational system would benefit from incorporating curriculum-based physical activity opportunities for all students. No Child Left Sedentary: Bridging the Policy Rhetoric and Practice Gap – A Comparative Interrupted Time Series Analysis (Manuscript 3) This study employed a comparative interrupted time series analysis (CITS) to assess the impact of the induction of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) on physical education rates and physical activity levels across the United States. A particular focus was placed on contrasting Oregon with the remaining states, given its status as the only state meeting the national recommendations for student physical activity (Society of Health and Physical Educators [SHAPE], 2016). This study utilized national and state survey data to draw broader conclusions and found that Oregon significantly outperforms national averages in physical education attendance for middle school students. Additionally, at the high school level, Oregon’s practices prevent the decline in physical activity plaguing students in the United States. This study argues that the ESSA had a potentially negative impact on physical activity practices and highlights Oregon as a model for other states to mitigate physical inactivity and its health consequences. | Spring 2024 |
| Kulakowski, Emily Caryl | The Fairness Fallacy: A Policy Discourse Analysis of U.S. State Anti-Trans Sports Bans | Thesis Link | The purpose of this study was to investigate the ways in which transgender participation in sport is communicated, framed, and problematized through state legislation. More specifically, this study evaluated the 28 enacted U.S. state bills across 23 states that regulate athletes’ sport participation by requiring them to play as the sex they were assigned at birth. This study applied Bacchi’s policy analysis methodology, what's the problem represented (WPR), and was anchored in a transfeminism theoretical framework. Findings include state legislatures framing fairness and sex equality as the primary objective of their state bills, while problematizing trans athletes as the threat to fairness and equality. Analysis reveals state legislatures’ employment of physiological and political misinformation and disinformation to disseminate their problematization. | Spring 2024 |
| Weiss, Jennifer | A Mixed Methods Analysis of Contemporary Educational Gag Orders and the Political Environments in Which Their Proliferation Is Enabled | Thesis Link | This mixed methods study explored the ways in which neo-nationalism creates sociopolitical conditions that have led to a proliferation of educational gag orders. More specifically, this study relied on critical discourse analysis as well as binary logistic regression analysis and mediation to investigate this phenomenon. A three-pronged conceptual framework, including Policy Diffusion, White Legal Theory, and Critical Whiteness Studies, guided the inquiry. Data was collected utilizing PEN America’s Index of Educational Gag Orders as well as other publicly available documents and texts including legislative copy, floor session transcripts, and news articles. Although there is a plethora of literature on neo-nationalism, both the history of this phenomenon and how neo-nationalism in the United States has evolved and is currently manifesting, the emerging literature and research surrounding educational gag orders in the United States are grounded in descriptive analysis, thus leaving a gap in the literature exploring the link between the rise in neo-nationalism and the rise in educational gag orders. Results from this study provide deeper insight into the current political and cultural environment in which educational gag orders are able to proliferate and thrive and the discourse that enables the enactment of such laws. | Spring 2024 |
| Williams, Marissa Joy | Understanding NCAA DII Soccer Coaches’ Perceptions of Preseason and Self-Identified Leadership Behaviors: A Phenomenological Inquiry | Thesis Link | This qualitative transcendental phenomenological study describes the lived experiences of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II (DII) women’s soccer coaches during preseason. A two-pronged conceptual framework that includes path-goal leadership theory and sensemaking theory guided the inquiry, and data was collected through two rounds of in-depth interviews with NCAA DII soccer coaches. This study will contribute to the extant scholarship on the NCAA, sport coaching, and the preseason period. More specifically, this study addresses a gap in literature by illuminating NCAA DII experiences and examining perceived experiences and leadership behaviors of coaches within the NCAA DII soccer preseason. Findings from this study indicate that NCAA DII women’s soccer coaches describe their experiences with preseason through a balance of coaching the player and the person, implementation of physical, mental, and social environments, and maintaining a realistic lens. Additionally, NCAA DII women’s soccer coaches describe their own leadership behaviors when implementing preseason through flexibility. Overall, this research offers a more profound understanding of the preseason period from the perspective of NCAA DII women’s soccer coaches. It emphasizes the significance of leadership behaviors in the implementation of preseason and identifies potential avenues for improving decision-making during this period through coaching education. | Spring 2024 |
| Kasunich, Ann Louise | Impact of Industrial Agricultural Glyphosate Use on Application Trends and Chronic Diet-related Disease Prevalence in the United States | Thesis Link | Glyphosate, the chemical herbicide in Roundup and other brands, is used to control weeds in agriculture and non-agricultural settings and has been the most widely applied herbicide in the United States and around the world. Glyphosate has been a primary chemical input in the industrial agriculture model, the primary source of the food supply in the U.S. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA 1996), regulated under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), includes standards for registering a pesticide for sale, use, and disposal to safeguard that when used as approved, the chemicals will not cause unreasonable risk to human health and the environment. Although implicated in negatively impacting human health and the environment in independent studies, the EPA maintained glyphosate is safe when used as approved under FIFRA 1996. I conducted quantitative analyses, including interrupted time-series analyses (ITSAs) and comparative interrupted time-series analyses (CITSAs), to determine the extent to which the use of glyphosate in industrial agriculture affected the trends in chronic diet-related disease prevalence from 1990 through 2019 and glyphosate application quantities from 1991–2022 under FIFRA (1996). The ITSA glyphosate model findings indicated a positive statistically significant relationship in the trend of application in the years following FIFRA (1996). Four of the five ITSA disease model findings indicated positive statistically significant or practically significant relationships between the application of glyphosate as approved under FIFRA (1996) and rising trends of chronic diet-related diseases. Findings from the CITSA glyphosate models and disease models were equivocal. These diet-related diseases impacted the health and well-being of U.S. citizens and burdened the national economy due to increased healthcare costs and lost productivity. | Spring 2024 |
| Oleson, Megan Sue | Educators' Self-Perceptions and Ability to Use SEL Instruction in a K-5 Environment | Thesis Link | This qualitative case study explores educators’ perceptions of their own understanding of SEL as well as their perceptions of preparedness to manage SEL and student behavior within the classroom setting. The study highlights the voices and experiences of ten educators at a single elementary school located in southern Colorado. Guided by the principles of social learning theory and the social emotional learning framework, the study looks at instructional modeling and practice of social emotional learning competencies within K-5 learning environments. Based on data obtained through one-on-one interviews, on-site observations, a focus group, and document analysis, findings indicate themes stressing the importance of relationships, consistent practices, and purposeful coaching of expected student behaviors. This study addresses a gap in the literature aimed at understanding current educators’ perceptions regarding the SEL needs of students and the training needed for them to effectively manage an ever-changing classroom environment. In addition, this study supports the ongoing pursuit of ways in which educators can acquire the tools needed to determine best next steps in maintaining students’ SEL responses. Overall, this study shows how intentional application of SEL-based processes can support schools in creating an environment that works to grow students with healthy SEL skills. | Spring 2024 |
| Mbise, Lamech Moses | Transition Experiences of International Medical Graduates in the United States | Thesis Link | International medical graduates (IMGs) constitute nearly 30% of the physicians practicing in the US today (ACGME, 2020). That percentage is much higher in such practice areas as gerontology, internal medicine, and family medicine (AAMC, 2021). It is important to understand how these foreign-trained doctors come to the US and how they transition into practice in the healthcare system serving scores of American patients with unique health needs. Extant literature has attempted to explain this transition among different professions, but no studies have examined the process through which foreign-trained doctors adjust in a foreign, unfamiliar environment from the first-hand experience of the doctors themselves. Using cross-cultural transition theory and through interviews with a cohort of international medical practitioners in the US, this study found an alignment between the transition stages advanced by Oberg (1960) and Black and Mendenhall (1991) and the first-hand experience of IMGs working in the US. Additionally, this study contributed to new knowledge in three critical transition areas: how IMGs first come to the US to practice; how they experience different stages of their transition relative to extant literature; and why they decide to apply for the Conrad-30 visa waiver so they can immigrate permanently into the US instead of returning home under the terms of their J-1 visa. Based on the phenomenological methodology advanced by Moustakas (1994) and using structured interviews, this research found that IMGs’ interpersonal skills, patience, and empathy served as anchors from which vital relationships with patients, colleagues, and employers developed. Theoretical and practical implications of this study on IMGs, employers, and policymakers were also investigated, and recommendations were made to expand the Conrad-30 applications to draw more doctors into HPSAs. Specifically, increasing the number of regional commissions and making IMGs aware of that avenue would increase the number of IMG applicants wishing to forgo the two-year home country requirement so they can stay and work in the US. The IMGs recognize the benefits of staying in the US longer than their J-1 visa provides, including increased access to resources to advance their research and more opportunities to change employers or work overtime to increase their incomes. These are benefits IMGs claimed were not available in their home countries, nor were they readily accessible under their J-1 and H-1B visas. This study further recommended guardrails to protect IMGs from discriminatory practices coming from patients, colleagues, and other sources at their practice. | Spring 2024 |
| Palmer III, Richard Joseph | Using the Partnership Success Theory to Explore Physical Therapy Clinical Educator Partnership Perceptions | Thesis Link | Physical therapy clinical education accounts for nearly one-third of any given entry-level Doctor of Physical Therapy program in the US. Consequently, the need for strong clinical-academic partnerships is essential to effectively train the next generation of physical therapists. However, strong and effective partnerships between academic physical therapy (PT) programs and clinical worksites are not always reflected in contemporary education. Moreover, these partnerships are not well understood from the clinical educator's perspective. This study explored the clinical educator's perceptions of partnership back to a specific, affiliated academic program PT using 35 independent variables that can be classified across three categories: clinical educator professional characteristics, clinical site characteristics, and academic program demographics. The Partnership Success theoretical framework was used to design a novel survey to determine perceptions of partnership by the clinical educator respondent. The survey instrument satisfies the criteria necessary to demonstrate adequate validity for use. A total of 30 academic PT programs participated by sending out the survey instrument to their respective databases of affiliated clinical educators. The total number of respondents to the survey instrument was 705 and represented all regions of the US as well as primary PT practice settings as defined by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). A mixed linear model was used for analysis with the first-level variables being those associated with the clinical educator or their workplace, and the second level being variables associated with the academic program the clinical educator was affiliated with. The variables statistically associated with higher perceptions of partnership by PT clinical educators were being an alum of the affiliated PT program (p < .001), having a workplace that the respondent feels is committed to a culture of teaching and learning (p < .001), and having co-worker support for challenging students (p = .030). Through the exploration of these variables, academic programs can be more efficient and strategic in recruiting, developing, and supporting clinical educators both internally in the academic program and in collaborative conversations with site leadership involved with student affiliation decisions. | Fall 2023 |
| Willson Jr, Dale Keirn | A Light in the Dark: A Qualitative Meta Synthesis of Pre-Tenure Faculty Mentorship Promising Practices | Thesis Link | The pre-tenure period for faculty members is often a professionally and personally challenging time. Mentorship and professional development programs serve as an important aid, providing needed support in their pursuit of a positive tenure decision. Institutional faculty mentorship programs often provide this important resource, though their practices differ widely based on a range of factors that are often not well understood. This dissertation used a qualitative meta-synthesis to determine promising, emergent practices in formal and informal pre-tenure faculty mentoring programs across higher education institutions in the United States, with a particular focus on equitable principles and policies for women and faculty of color. Critical theory anchors this study, with the Mentoring Pathways Program Model (MPPM) serving as a conceptual framework. The qualitative meta-synthesis resulted in 93 eligible academic studies from a total of 1,270 potential articles. MPPM coding revealed that institutional mentorship programs often neglect to center the lived experiences of women and faculty members of color within their frameworks, indicating the presence of evasiveness practices. An evaluation of the MPPM itself affirmed that the majority of faculty mentorship programs studied emphasize the four tenets of the MPPM and validate the appropriateness of the model for use in developing pre-tenure faculty members. Emergent faculty mentorship themes from this research include an uneven consideration of faculty and their needs, the trust (and mistrust) of institutional mentorship provision, the rise of non-traditional mentoring models, the use of assessment practices to evaluate mentorship effectiveness, and a self-defined pursuit of excellence. Practitioner recommendations for faculty mentorship program administrators are provided in the final chapter, in addition to a novel faculty mentorship conceptual taxonomy and opportunities for further research. | Fall 2023 |
| Jaramillo, Misty Magdalene | Impact of Principal Leadership on the Effective Implementation of Title I Policy | Thesis Link | This qualitative single-case study describes effective leadership practices implemented in a Title I school that was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School. The study highlights best practices utilized by one school leader to assist new and experienced school leaders in understanding the strategies and impact of principals on instruction, staff development, parent and caregiver involvement, and student achievement. Organizational change theory undergirds this study, which promotes and defines organizational change through teamwork, cooperation, professional growth, and a concerted effort among individuals. From the data collected, findings include that effective leadership practices include the ability of the principal to develop a compelling vision, employ change leadership, foster collaboration with parents and caregivers, and focus on effective professional development and data-driven instruction. This study addresses a gap in the literature by defining effective leadership practices in a Title I school to provide a way forward with the implementation process, which results in consistency and narrowing achievement gaps between students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and their peers from more advantaged backgrounds. This study supports the need to continue the assessment and research of school administrator preparedness to lead Title I schools. Overall, this study provides deep insight into the complexities of school leadership in a Title I school, yet it offers four specific leadership practices that can support school leaders who lead a Title I school. | Fall 2023 |
| Cegielski, Owen | Making Sense of Technological Change in the Post-COVID Era: Digital Leadership and Equitable Learning Opportunities in Colorado’s PK-12 Schools | Thesis Link | The COVID-19 pandemic exposed long-existing equity gaps in technology access in K–12 schools, known as the digital divide. Beginning in early 2020, U.S. schools were forced to halt in-person learning and turn to online synchronous and blended learning models, even though many students in low-income and rural neighborhoods lacked access to internet and computers. This national response, also known as Emergency Remote Education (ERE), was criticized for being inefficient, with most rapid technology changes in schools occurring out of necessity by school administrators, without much time for reflection, professional development training, input from stakeholders, or evaluation of student outcomes. Moreover, technology-enhanced learning has been inconsistently and haphazardly funded at the federal and state levels via relief aid, grants, philanthropic donations, and property tax revenue. Restrictive tax and spending limit laws unique to Colorado have caused the state to feature among the lowest-funded schools in the U.S., necessitating further study as to potential impacts on digital learning. School leaders and information technology (IT) professionals have a responsibility to develop digital leadership competencies and consider new technological changes in education to counter learning inequities resulting from the digital divide. To explore how shared organizational meaning-making was constructed from the technological changes resulting from COVID, Robert Stake’s (1995) cross-case study methodology was employed to conduct interviews with 22 school leaders and IT specialists at Colorado PK–12 urban, suburban, and rural schools. Sensemaking theory and the Fullan change model were used as the lens with which to analyze participants’ perceptions and responses to the rapid technological changes resulting from ERE. Through cross-case composite analysis, the main goals of this study were to identify disparities in student access to tech-enhanced education by geographic region resulting from post-pandemic financial and technological barriers as well as discern the needed digital leadership competencies to drive the creation and implementation of technology policy in schools in the post-COVID era. As a result, four major thematic categories emerged from participant responses: concerns over technology sustainability costs and financial expertise to secure additional technology funding weigh heaviest in urban and particularly rural areas; diminished yet persistent geographic-specific disparities in technology access and use continue to exist; varied digital leadership competencies and willingness to embrace change transcend geography; and inconsistent approaches for technology planning and policy remain and cause a lack of direction at the local level. These findings pave the way for new avenues of research to discover how adequate digital leadership training, school leaders’ willingness to drive change, and collaborative policymaking approaches could potentially reduce the digital divide between the haves and have-nots in America’s public schools. | Fall 2023 |
| Maida, Kristi | “Even If My Kid’s Sick, I’m in the Hospital Doing My Homework:” A Narrative Inquiry Into the Lived Experiences of Latinx Parenting College Students | Thesis Link | This qualitative study examined the lived experiences of Latinx student parents in postsecondary institutions at universities in Colorado and Texas. Using narrative inquiry, this study is anchored in Yosso's (2005) community cultural wealth framework and centers the voices of participants. This research is informed by the scholarship on student parents in postsecondary education as well as the cultural wealth Communities of Color add to spaces of higher education. In order to understand Latinx students' experiences in pursuing college degrees as parents, as well as recognize their unique contributions to their respective universities, this study focuses on their strengths and is presented through the use of a nature allegory. This inquiry contributes to the extant scholarship on Latinx student parents pursuing advanced degrees, addressing a gap in the literature surrounding this unique subpopulation of students, and how they are changing the deficit-based narratives for themselves and their children. Results from this study provide insight into the various cultural capitals Latinx student parents use to navigate postsecondary education and lead to several recommendations for enhancing policies and practices that support and empower this population of students. | Fall 2023 |
| Springston, Danielle Nicole | The Gender of Science: A Critical Analysis of Gender Representation in Secondary Science Textbooks From Secular and Religious-Based Publishers | Thesis Link | The curriculum used in educating young people has the ability either to serve as a catalyst for the development of a science identity or potentially sway individuals away from the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). This study critically analyzed gender representation across ten secondary education biology/life science textbooks from two distinct types of publishers: secular and religious-based. Content analysis was used to examine the extent to which gender representation differed across the indices and images included in secular and religious textbooks, while semiotic analysis was used to examine the messages conveyed through the images and associated captions. This analysis was guided by a framework of liberal feminist theory. The study found consistent underrepresentation of women and problematic representation of women in images across textbook types. Four main findings were established: women were frequently portrayed as patients in health care settings, they were often shown in the act of eating, the settings in which women were found varied across text types from professional labs to home kitchens, and textbook publishers showed preference to male-presenting bodies when creating diagrams. The findings highlight the need for educators to evaluate the messages being conveyed to the learner through the hidden curriculum. | Fall 2023 |
| Roberts, Valerie LaVonne | A Phenomenological Study of the Social and Emotional Learning of Students With Autism During the COVID-19 Pandemic | Thesis Link | This phenomenological study was designed to illuminate the impact of the educational changes due to COVID-19 on the social and emotional learning (SEL) of children with autism and the strategies their caregivers used to support them. To understand the impacts of COVID-19 on the SEL of children with autism, nine caregivers were interviewed to understand their experience during this challenging time. The interviews were analyzed using Moustakas' (1994) data analysis methods, with the CASEL framework to refine the themes. The CASEL framework competencies of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making provided a foundation for understanding the impact of COVID-19 on the SEL of students with autism. Key findings of the phenomenological study reveal the ways in which students were negatively impacted by the pandemic in each of the five CASEL competencies. Additionally, this study highlights effective strategies used by caregivers to support their children with autism during the pandemic, specifically task management and social/emotional management skills. Recommendations for practitioners, policy recommendations, and future research opportunities conclude the dissertation. | Fall 2023 |
| Furey, Monica | Family Involvement in Schools: A Local Perspective | Thesis Link | Parent involvement in children’s education has a long history in the United States. Over the last several decades, research has demonstrated the positive effects of parent involvement on student outcomes. Consequently, parent involvement strategies have been written into education law in the United States and abroad. An intrinsic case study was employed in a Colorado school district (named Pine Grove School District (PGSD) in this study) to investigate and analyze parent involvement in a high-performing school district. A variety of stakeholders were interviewed, including parents, teachers, and administrators, to determine the ways in which PGSD involves parents in the school district community, the barriers parents experience to being involved, and any benefits that parents, students, PGSD, and the schools experience because of that parent involvement. All stakeholders believed there are multiple avenues for parents to be involved in PGSD, and that many parents are involved in their children’s education in a multitude of ways. The participants were aligned in their experiences of how communication from the schools and teachers occurs, how that communication engenders trusting relationships between the schools and parents, and the impact that parent involvement has on student outcomes. There are also opportunities for more directed, two-way communication between schools and parents to encourage and enhance that involvement. | Fall 2023 |
| St. Louis, Kayleen | Understanding Self-Efficacy and Career Satisfaction in New Student Affairs Professionals | Thesis Link | This phenomenological study aimed to better understand how new student affairs professionals perceived their sense of self-efficacy and how it impacted their career satisfaction, especially during the COVID-19 global pandemic. This study examined the lived experiences of new student affairs professionals. Data were collected through a series of journal reflections and in-depth interviews from 12 participants. Data analysis revealed three distinct themes: (a) influences on self-efficacy, (b) importance of career satisfaction, and (c) COVID-19’s impact on new student affairs professionals. These findings indicated that of Bandura’s (1986) four foundations of self-efficacy, the most prevalent for the study participants were mastery experiences and physiological state in determining their self-efficacy beliefs. Additionally, self-efficacy was not a large determinant of career satisfaction, whereas workplace culture and relationships played a role. Finally, the COVID-19 global pandemic had an initial negative effect on career satisfaction; however, most participants reported higher career satisfaction following the decline of pandemic-related job restrictions. Participants were varied on whether their self-efficacy beliefs were impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic, but many believed the pandemic was a challenge that increased their self-efficacy. The information gleaned from this study can inform student affairs practitioner graduate preparation programs and equip supervisors and institutions with needed information on new student affairs professionals’ career satisfaction, self-efficacy, and crisis needs. | Fall 2023 |
| Lovato, Desiree | Perceptions 0f Public, Voluntary Feedback Interactions | Thesis Link | Feedback can be a catalyst for individual improvement and aligning personal skills with group values; it can also be a cancer that infects people with fear that prevents learning. Previous research has identified problems related to feedback, elements that impact its effectiveness, and qualities that define effectiveness for individuals. It has not examined the application of these elements in a group context. This study examined how people perceive voluntary feedback interactions and how the way people make sense of those interactions influences other parts of their lives. This multiple case study is rooted in social learning and framed by sensemaking to understand patterns between participants’ experiences in Southern Colorado Toastmasters clubs. Keywords: feedback, growth-mindset, sensemaking, social learning, knowledge-sharing, Toastmasters. | Spring 2023 |
| Cullen, Rachel | The Cyclical Experience of Teacher-Coaches: Understanding Role Conflict and Relationships with Students and Athletes | Thesis Link | This qualitative transcendental phenomenological study describes the lived experiences of teacher-coaches, those who simultaneously hold official positions as licensed teachers and athletic coaches, as they cope with role conflict and navigate relationships with students and athletes. A three-pronged conceptual framework that includes role conflict, relational capacity, and social cognitive theory guided the inquiry, and data were collected through two rounds of in-depth interviews with teacher-coaches from the state of Colorado. This study contributes to the extant scholarship on teacher-coach role conflict, teacher-student relationships, and coach-athlete relationships. More specifically, this study addresses a gap in the literature by humanizing the teacher-coach experience and examining how role conflict and relationships influence one another in teacher-coaches. Results from this study indicate that the teacher-coach experience is cyclical in nature, with role conflict—which stems from both internal and external factors—and relationships influencing each other differently over time. Overall, this study provides deeper insight into the complexities within the teacher-coach dual role, highlighting the challenges and providing opportunities for administrators to make changes to better address the needs of teacher-coaches and the students and athletes with whom they work. | Spring 2023 |
| Peterson, Elizabeth Sarah | Moving Beyond the Ordinal Methodological Controversy: A Systematic Review (Manuscript 1). Cubic Spline Interpolation for the Treatment of Ordinal Outcome Data in Education: A Model Fit Comparison of Parallel Approaches (Manuscript 2). Cubic Spline Interpolation for the Treatment of Ordinal Outcome Data in Education: an Empirical Examination of Select Approaches (Manuscript 3) | Thesis Link | Moving Beyond the Ordinal Methodological Controversy: A Systematic Review (Manuscript 1) Ordinal outcome data is a common byproduct of education research. Yet more than seventy-five years after the development of Stevens' original measurement framework, the permissibility of select analytic techniques to ordinal outcome data remains a topic of debate. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper was to provide the necessary background from which to begin considering alternative means for examining such data. Peer-reviewed and published journal articles concerned with the ordinal controversy were obtained from Web of Science via systematic review techniques. Additional sources covering statistical analysis were also referenced in order to provide an encompassing description of the intellectual landscape that is ordinal methodology. While by no means meant to inspire consensus, this paper is designed as a concise resource for both beginner and advanced researchers alike to be apprised of their data analysis options. Cubic Spline Interpolation for the Treatment of Ordinal Outcome Data in Education: A Model Fit Comparison of Parallel Approaches (Manuscript 2) Cubic spline interpolation is used extensively in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines but has yet to find application within the realm of education. Accordingly, the purpose of this comparative methodological exploration was to juxtapose this novel approach with three procedures common to the social and behavioral sciences. Using simulated data combined with adapted computer code, this study aimed to determine the theoretical and utilitarian significance of cubic spline interpolation for the treatment of ordinal outcome data in education. Results ultimately showed that cubic spline interpolation outperformed linear regression, logistic regression, and ordinal logistic regression when working with leptokurtotic and platykurtotic ordinal outcome data. Furthermore, cubic spline interpolation performed the same or better than linear regression regardless of ordinal distribution and better than ordinal logistic regression when working with negatively skewed, leptokurtotic, and platykurtotic ordinal outcome data. Such a result not only highlights the problem-solving potential of cubic spline interpolation but more importantly opens the door for investigation into other statistical models largely unconsidered by social and behavioral science researchers. Cubic Spline Interpolation for the Treatment of Ordinal Outcome Data in Education: An Empirical Examination of Select Approaches (Manuscript 3) Cubic spline interpolation is a promising method of nonparametric regression in the social and behavioral sciences but currently lacks empirical testing. Therefore, the purpose of this comparative methodological exploration was to replicate and extend earlier work rooted in simulation. Using cross-sectional data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 together with adapted computer code, this study sought to validate the problem-solving potential of cubic spline interpolation for the treatment of ordinal outcome data in education. Replication results demonstrated that cubic spline interpolation outperformed linear regression on markers of model fit. In contrast, extension results revealed that linear regression outperformed cubic spline interpolation on markers of coefficient precision. Such results both corroborate the applicability of cubic spline interpolation while also highlighting an urgent need for continued research into its information value. | Spring 2023 |
| Watson, Kathryn | Meta-Analysis of School-Based Mental Health Interventions | Thesis Link | This meta-analysis was designed to examine the effectiveness of school-based mental health interventions. After refining search criteria, 1,138 articles were returned from ERIC, EBSCO, and Psychological Behavior Science Collection. Next, article abstracts and full text were screened to ensure each article met the study criteria before articles were coded. After coding, the researcher conducted meta-analysis and meta-regression, which examined the relationship between school-based mental health interventions and moderators (e.g., study, intervention, and outcome measure characteristics). The results of the meta-analysis show that school-based mental health interventions are effective. Key findings of the meta-regression reveal program length does not influence the effectiveness of an intervention, social-emotional learning interventions are the most effective, and school-based mental health interventions are more effective at the secondary level than the primary level. Therefore, implications for practice are that decision-makers should be intentional about incorporating school-based mental health interventions into their school community. Policymakers must also consider reforming systems that evaluate student success to prioritize student health. Finally, future research should focus on examining the effectiveness of school-based mental health interventions for BIPOC populations and across school settings such as rural and urban schools, as well as examine the effectiveness of program or intervention intensity. | Spring 2023 |
| Whitney, Paige | Personal, Behavioral, and Environmental Domains Influencing the Perceived Health of University Employees | Thesis Link | Employees of higher education play an important role in cultivating campus and community health and wellbeing. However, the ebbs and flows of the COVID-19 pandemic have added additional complexity, uncertainty, and strain to the physical and mental health of this critical and understudied population. Therefore, the current cross-sectional correlational study explored the physical, mental, and environmental determinants of perceived health in higher education employees to help cultivate creative health and wellbeing solutions. Through the use of logistic regression, it was found that sleep, body mass index (BMI), flourishing, and the extent to which employees felt the university cares about their health and wellbeing were the four significant factors that increase the odds of having higher levels of perceived health. In addition, exploratory mediation analyses reinforced the reciprocal and interconnected nature of an individual’s summative evaluation of their health. By breaking this multifaceted idea of “perceived health” down into behavioral, personal, and environmental factors, and highlighting the four domains that emerged as significant in this study, individuals and groups can use this as a guide to help elevate and support the perceived health of university employees. | Spring 2023 |
| Hood, Jonathan Lloyd | The Role of Division III Athletics in the Workplace | Thesis Link | Despite a general belief that students pursue higher education to advance their knowledge and plan for a career, there is limited research dedicated to how student-athletes view their lives following graduation. Furthermore, the existing career-related research provides mixed evidence regarding overall workforce preparation, a focus on revenue-generating sports, and heavy quantitative inquiry, all of which contribute to a need for understanding Division III student-athlete career satisfaction. With career satisfaction being described as a reaction to how an individual believes their workplace values are reciprocated by their employer, the following study investigated how a subset of Division III student-athletes competing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) perceive their value development, which the literature describes as being directly connected to levels of career satisfaction. Accordingly, this qualitative phenomenological study included semi-structured interviews with 16 former Division III soccer players who are one to three years removed from graduation. While the participants demonstrated a moderate level of career satisfaction, there were emergent themes prevalent within the group that contributed to greater career satisfaction. Specifically, the participants described athletic involvement, family guidance, and professional work experience as core influences in the development of workplace values, which were linked to identifying favorable employment. However, given the limited scope of this study and the individualistic nature of the phenomenon, there is a need for additional examination. | Spring 2023 |
| Kuskie, Kari | Fostering Resilience Through University Resilience Centers: Three Models of Intervention | Thesis Link | As educators are becoming more aware of the mental health needs of young adults and the impact of trauma and poverty on student learning and development, there is an increased need for different pedagogical approaches that view the student holistically in the classroom. In addition, staff and faculty are experiencing burnout in record numbers. An increasing number of institutions of higher education are beginning to expand the classroom-only focus on resilience to create centers on campus dedicated to the resilience of students, staff, and faculty who are processing stress, trauma, or other adverse situations. Through a multi-site case study, this dissertation discovered the goals and goal orientation of three resilience centers, the best practices of these centers, thematic connections to race and socioeconomics, and the centers' role and connection to inclusive practices on their respective campuses. Further, the study revealed the tools often used in resilience centers which shape center products and training, such as cohort models, wellness practices, and trainings addressing microaggressions. Themes from this study revealed that the centers were reimagining resilience programming in the context of wellness and creating organizational partnerships which advanced center abilities to foster resilience on their respective campuses and surrounding community. Organizational partnerships also leveraged center abilities to address issues of diversity and inclusion within resilience programming. Study findings have led to several recommendations for practitioners and scholars seeking to establish new centers at their respective institutions, including calls for additional funding to support evaluation research and university promotion of these centers both inside and outside university walls. Keywords: resilience, higher education, adversity, trauma. | Spring 2023 |
| Dias, Jeanette Gail Leland | An Analysis of the Montana University System Performance Funding Policy’s Impact on Undergraduate Degree Production | Thesis Link | Performance funding policies are politically popular; however, research on performance funding has shown that these policies are ineffective and can have unintended negative consequences, particularly for lower-resourced institutions and underserved students. The purpose of this study was to determine if the Montana University System performance funding policy was effective at increasing the production of undergraduate credentials and to determine how the policy’s impact may have varied across different degree types. This study also examined if the inclusion of equity incentives in the policy influenced the degree production of Native American and post-traditional undergraduate students. This study used a comparative interrupted time series regression to compare degrees conferred data from Montana institutions subject to a performance funding policy to a group of regionally and demographically similar institutions not subject to the policy. Results indicated that the Montana University System performance funding policy was not effective at increasing any type of undergraduate credentials and that, although the equity incentives may have had a positive, practically significant impact on credential production for Native American students and post-traditional students immediately after policy implementation, the effect was not sustained long-term. | Spring 2023 |
| Brunton, Natalia | Equity in Colorado Public School Funding | Thesis Link | The Colorado State Constitution provides for thorough and uniform education (Colo. Const. art. IX, § 2) in public schools throughout the state. This study analyzes trends in state and local per-pupil funding of public schools in Colorado, with special attention to funding gaps between poorer and wealthier districts. The Colorado Public School Finance Act of 1994 attempted to close these funding deficits for schools from economically disadvantaged communities to assure equitable access to education for all Colorado students. In 2014, the Colorado legislature modified the school funding formula to adjust for persistent discrepancies and continued expansion of the variance between the economically advantaged and disadvantaged school districts and local education agencies. Within this research, an interrupted time series analysis is used to highlight trends in state and local portions of school funding, as well as changes in differences between per-pupil revenues in districts in high and low property value communities. In Colorado, annual per-pupil revenues sent to school districts have been steadily increasing at the state level since 1993. Perhaps not surprisingly, wealthier districts, on average, received more in local funds compared to their poorer counterparts. To make up this difference, districts with lower tax bases receive higher per-pupil funding from the state. The complex school finance formula defined in the Public School Finance Act of 1994 and adjusted by the Colorado legislature in 2014 succeeded in increasing overall school funding but fell short of achieving its ultimate goal to provide equitable education to all children, irrespective of their socioeconomic status and geographic location. Hypothesized findings and conclusions center on the need to address school reform within the existing economic and social conditions and the addition of an increased focus to redirect the national conversation about adequate measures of equity in school finance, specifically relative to financing educational opportunities for special population groups. The findings of this study contribute to theoretical understandings of equity in school finance and provide guidance to policymakers about the application of special populations and school context to public school finance policy frameworks. Keywords: adequacy, education, equity, school finance. | Spring 2023 |
| Lawson, Chelsea Adrien | Authenticity and Assessments: Using State Assessment Data to Understand the Impact of Federal Education Policy Change | Thesis Link | Federal education policy has been a feature of the United States’ education system beginning in 1965 when Lyndon Johnson introduced the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as part of his “War on Poverty.” Since then, the ESEA has undergone numerous revisions with each successive presidential administration. Part of the policy administration process includes evaluative procedures aimed at ensuring accountability to the learners for whom the policies are designed. This study examines the effect of the policy shift from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This study utilized assessment data and interrupted time series analysis (ITSA) to evaluate trends in policy effect both pre- and post-policy to determine whether the policy shift achieved desirable outcomes. This study provides evidence that the shift in policy resulted in some nominal academic gains along with evidence of some narrowing in achievement gaps. | Spring 2023 |
| Springston, Danielle Nicole | The Gender of Science: A Critical Analysis of Gender Representation in Secondary Science Textbooks From Secular and Religious-Based Publishers | Thesis Link | The curriculum used in educating young people has the ability either to serve as a catalyst for the development of a science identity or potentially sway individuals away from the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). This study critically analyzed gender representation across ten secondary education biology/life science textbooks from two distinct types of publishers: secular and religious-based. Content analysis was used to examine the extent to which gender representation differed across the indices and images included in secular and religious textbooks, while semiotic analysis was used to examine the messages conveyed through the images and associated captions. This analysis was guided by a framework of liberal feminist theory. The study found consistent underrepresentation of women and problematic representation of women in images across textbook types. Four main findings were established: women were frequently portrayed as patients in health care settings, they were often shown in the act of eating, the settings in which women were found varied across text types from professional labs to home kitchens, and textbook publishers showed preference to male-presenting bodies when creating diagrams. The findings highlight the need for educators to evaluate the messages being conveyed to the learner through the hidden curriculum. Keywords: curriculum, science, STEM, gender representation, stereotypes, science identity. | Summer 2023 |
| Radigan, Patrick | Do For-Profit Colleges Encourage Their Students to Vote and Volunteer? | Thesis Link | For-profit colleges have long been a feature of the American higher education landscape, and the quality of the education they provide has always been under question. This paper investigates the effects of attending a for-profit college on voting and volunteering as compared to individuals who attended a not-for-profit college or no college at all. Utilizing data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1997) from 2004 to 2013 and a cross-sectional identification strategy, I find that students attending a not-for-profit college had greater odds of voting in the 2004 and 2008 elections, while those who attended a for-profit college had no different odds of voting than those who were not attending college. Additionally, I find that students attending a not-for-profit college had greater odds of volunteering in all four years of this study. My research indicates that the type of college one chooses to attend does influence civic participation and that operators of for-profit colleges have an opportunity to encourage their students to vote and volunteer. | Fall 2022 |
| Burton, Eric Alan | The Benefits of Teaching Empathy: An Empirical Study | Thesis Link | This study investigated the effect of an empathy-specific character education curriculum to increase empathy levels in students and to determine whether any measurable benefits were noted aside from an increase in empathy, such as improving academic performance, decreasing absenteeism, and reducing negative behaviors in schools. The data collected from this randomized controlled trial were analyzed using ordinary least squares regression and mediation models. The results showed the curriculum appeared to increase the empathy development rate among girls and decrease the empathy development rate among boys. No significant findings were found on the effect of the curriculum on race, and no significant relationship was found between race and empathy. Higher levels of empathy were related to lower levels of negative behavior among students, with no significant effect from the curriculum. Greater levels of empathy suggested higher GPAs, with no significant effect from the curriculum. Neither student empathy levels nor the curriculum had a significant effect on absenteeism. | Fall 2022 |
| Grandorff, Catherine | Speaking of Women: An Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis on Discursive Representations of Diversity and Women in Three Southern Colorado Institutions of Higher Education | Thesis Link | While the presence of women at institutions of higher education has been normalized over the last century, how colleges and universities engage with and represent this group, which now comprises over half their student bodies and 31% of full-time faculty positions (Turner Kelly, 2019), is more complicated. This discursive study analyzes the rhetorical representation of women in the strategic plans and online homepages of three southern Colorado institutions of higher education. Using critical feminist and intersectional theoretical frameworks and intersectionality-based policy analysis, this dissertation investigates how linguistic and visual choices frame diversity and women, as well as how the documents identified above reproduce or challenge a culture of equity or inequity. Findings include the engagement of three primary discursive themes: discourse of access, marketplace discourse, and discourse of attention. The artifacts from institutions considered engaged in both promising and problematic ways with each of these discursive themes. Ultimately, this study supports the view that discursive framing constitutes power relations and legitimizes hegemonic structures, and it offers strategies for building upon practices that challenge traditional modes while adjusting practices that tend to reify them. | Spring 2022 |
| Winters, Regina | The Short-Lived Effect of Gainful Employment Regulation on Public Service Certificates: Mixed Method Policy Analysis | Thesis Link | The following mixed methods dissertation explored if gainful employment regulations (GER) resulted in distinct administrative responses by higher education institutions depending on institutional control. Combining two conceptual frameworks—punctuated equilibrium theory and new institutional theory—to form New Institutional Isomorphic Punctuated Equilibrium (NIIPE), the study explored the longitudinal quantitative assessment of public service postsecondary certificate completion rates. Using an interrupted time series regression, the study assessed the expected immediate and longer-term policy influence of GER on higher education programming by institutional control. Then, qualitative interviews with public program service directors and financial aid officers provided missing perspectives from the existing GER policy analysis that have not excavated program-level response to GER implementation. | Spring 2022 |
| Armstrong, Joy L. | HISTORY AND BELONGING: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF PARTICIPATORY PUBLIC ART MURALS IN COLORADO | Thesis Link | Public art is an increasingly respected medium of communication, creative expression, and neighborhood development, with proliferating bodies of research on the economic impacts of investment and the individual benefits of engagement. As a specific subset of public art, participatory initiatives are active opportunities for idea exchange that include community members as partners in the collaborative process of conceptualization and implementation. This phenomenological inquiry into the individual and social impacts of participatory mural projects included semi-structured interviews with 20 participants, artists, and administrators, analyzed through the lens of a standpoint theory paradigm and application of Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems theory. Data were analyzed and categorized into two overarching themes of Honoring History and Sense of Belonging as the essence of the experience and central to meaning making, both significant to the individual but also with the potential for widespread and lasting societal effects. Also emerging from this study’s findings were recommendations for best practices in the field of participatory public artworks, including the necessity for authentic leadership, community-driven processes, and commitment to ongoing relationships with constituents as critical for success. This study contributes to the literature on contemporary approaches to public art as inclusive endeavors striving to build a more just society through the act of co-creation, offering a modified framework that visualizes a model of community participation as central to expansive resonance throughout the social ecosystem. | Fall 2021 |
| Buchanan, Michelle C. | A Qualitative Exploration of Ways Generation Z Is Influencing Corporate Culture around Employee Lifecycle Management | Thesis Link | Generation Z, born between 1995 and 2015, is a scantly defined and scarcely studied cohort. As this generation matures, it is increasingly important to articulate its defining workplace characteristics to ensure businesses can attract and retain the next generation of leaders. This qualitative study explored ways 16 executive leaders across 12 business industries perceived Generation Z was influencing business approaches to strategic employee management. This study was designed to inform learning and development policies and procedures relating to the way in which Generation Z will be recruited, onboarded, incentivized toward retention, and professionally developed to meet strategic business objectives and succession management. By exploring generational workplace culture gaps, employers can adjust to shifts in multigenerational employee expectations supporting accessible and agile communications, flexible and hybrid work structures, pay and compensation shifts, redesigning the employee experience, and overhauling learning and development around holistic career development. Generation Z, a technology-expected and transparent generation, also brings to the workplace an expectation of employee-based adaptation rather than corporate-based adaptation, i.e., employees bring with them the workplace culture of expectation for technology-enabled communications, immediacy of information, increased compensation, and prompt career development and advancement. | Fall 2021 |
| Dean, Sean | Mathematics Early Alerts: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis | Thesis Link | Many undergraduate degrees have a mathematics requirement that students must complete to graduate. Mathematics courses are often access points and can become barriers to student progress. To address this, post-secondary institutions may implement early alert programs to offer a systematic approach to identifying and intervening with students exhibiting at-risk behaviors. This study applied expectancy value theory as the lens to explore the characteristics of students enrolled in mathematics courses who have been identified as being at high risk of failing. Through qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), this study explored the questions: (1) for a student who has been alerted, what characteristics or behaviors lead to passing the course, and (1a) are there necessary and/or sufficient causal combinations of these student characteristics and behaviors that lead to the outcome of passing the course? (2) Is the student's participation in the intervention, as measured by a meeting with the math success coach and/or being included in the fuzzy set “resources,” a sufficient and/or necessary condition for passing the course? (3) Is the student's membership in the fuzzy set “early flag” necessary and/or sufficient to lead to the outcome of passing the course? | Fall 2021 |
| Ferguson, Shaundawna Nicole | Behavioral Intervention Policies on College Campuses in the State of Colorado: A Collective Case Study | Thesis Link | This collective case study was conducted to determine the perceptions and gaps higher education administrators responsible for conducting behavioral intervention on their campuses believe exist. In addition to determining the gaps in the application or support for behavioral intervention on college campuses in the state of Colorado, this study identifies how the development of a statewide behavioral intervention policy could be used to benefit institutions of higher education in decreasing high-risk or violent incidents on their campuses while also offering safer environments for campus communities. | Fall 2021 |
| Garnar, Martin Luther | Understanding the Experiences of Academic Librarians of Color | Thesis Link | The purpose of this qualitative narrative analysis study was to examine the experiences of academic librarians of color with a goal of identifying contributing factors toward their decision to remain in or leave the profession. Five active academic librarians of color and five former practitioners were interviewed. Using Critical Race Theory as the theoretical framework, the participants' counternarratives explore five themes: their personal experiences as academic librarians of color, including microaggressions and racism; the importance of connections; their experiences with the profession of academic librarianship, including its professional culture, its workplace culture, and whiteness in the field; the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion, including recruitment, mentoring, and retention; and the solutions they offered to address their concerns. Recommendations include changing the approach to and content of graduate education in library and information sciences, hiring more people of color, providing mentoring, talking about race within the profession, and reexamining the core values of librarianship as espoused by the American Library Association. | Fall 2021 |
| Obregon, Victoria | Validation and Resiliency of Mexican Migrant Farm Worker Students in Institutions of Higher Learning | Thesis Link | This qualitative phenomenological study examined the factors influencing Mexican Migrant Farm Worker (MMFW) students’ persistence in higher education. MMFW students are a subset of the Latinx student population that endure unique challenges such as constant travel due to following seasonal crops for work and family language barriers. Limited information on MMFW in higher education makes this research significant as the population continues to grow. Twelve MMFW students from three Colorado universities were interviewed to understand the MMFW students’ specific barriers and how they overcome obstacles to persist in their education. The study sought to answer the following questions: What influences Mexican migrant farm working students' persistence in higher education? What recommendations do MMFW students offer to enhance their persistence in higher education? MMFW students tend to have less experience in education and have fewer family members connected to academia; therefore, understanding positive impacts on resiliency will help create guidance to contribute to the success of current and future migrant students in higher education. In-depth interviews provided insight into the lived experiences of MMFW students in higher education and highlighted the internal and external components that enabled persistence in college. Four substantial themes were identified: significant in-and-out-of-college familial support, navigating hurdles in higher education, creating new identities in college, and experiencing institutional racism. The recommendations for research and practice demonstrated the importance of institutional and community support to achieve MMFW students' goals of obtaining a four-year college degree. Recommendations for future research included a need for quantitative research to methodically measure MMFW student persistence, family, and college. | Fall 2021 |
| Starkey, Kathryn Elizabeth | A Policy Paradigm: Faculty Perspectives of and Experiences with Colorado Prior Learning Assessment Policy | Thesis Link | Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) is an important policy that enables adult learners to complete their credentials by demonstrating their life experience is worthy of earning college credit. PLA policy in the state of Colorado remains a priority for the government and state agencies, and understanding Colorado faculty perspectives of and experiences with PLA is important for both institutions of higher education and state policymakers to continue to expand PLA for the state. This qualitative intrinsic case study with embedded cases investigated this phenomenon through the analysis of 15 interviews with Colorado faculty from two- and four-year institutions and a plethora of documents ranging from university websites, policy documents, and state agency memos to unveil four major themes that yielded important considerations for best practices of developing and implementing PLA policy statewide. | Fall 2021 |
| Belet, Lilika Amy | Targeting Historically Underserved Populations for Concurrent Enrollment in Colorado | Thesis Link | The state of Colorado passed the Concurrent Enrollment Programs Act (2009) with the intention of expanding higher education to individuals from historically underserved populations by implementing access to college courses for students still attending high school. Participation in Concurrent Enrollment increases the likelihood of students attending and graduating from college. This study utilized a qualitative multiple case study design to examine if and how Concurrent Enrollment coordinators in local education providers in Colorado target students from historically underserved populations for participation in Concurrent Enrollment. This study also sought to understand the perceptions of Concurrent Enrollment coordinators in community colleges on if and how students are targeted for participation in Concurrent Enrollment programs. Additionally, this study sought to gain insight into how key players in Concurrent Enrollment perceive the intentions of the statute, specifically access to Concurrent Enrollment for students from historically underserved backgrounds in higher education. The themes that emerged from this study are: defining “historically underserved,” perceived benefits of Concurrent Enrollment, identifying students for Concurrent Enrollment, barriers to participation for historically underserved populations, ensuring access to and participation in Concurrent Enrollment, unequal access to other college credit-bearing programs, and changes to Concurrent Enrollment due to COVID-19. | Summer 2021 |
| Franklin, Malia Ann | The Lived Experience of Women Participating in a Women's Higher Education Leadership Development Program: A Phenomenological Study | Thesis Link | Gender parity in higher education leadership continues to be an unreached goal despite decades of programs and efforts to help women advance to the upper echelons of higher education institutions. This phenomenological study was designed to explore the lived experience of women who participated in a women’s higher education leadership development program, the Academic Management Institute (AMI). AMI was established to support the career aspirations and career trajectories of women in higher education institutions, as well as to heighten their sense of self as women. This study investigated the lived experience through the theoretical lens of visionary feminism and gendered organizational theory, which were helpful lenses for viewing this study. While the findings showed that women were motivated to participate due to experiences of inequitable treatment and expectations, inability to escape from exclusion, and desire for knowledge and perspective acquisition, being true to self and a vast sense of deficiency were limiting to their career aspirations, career trajectories, and sense of self. This study provides valuable insights for women, higher education administrators, policymakers, and government officials who are in positions to influence the goal of reaching parity in higher education leadership. This study also adds to the understanding of women’s experiences and outcomes gained from participation in women’s higher education leadership development programs similar to AMI, which provide much-needed information on the efficacy of such programs. This knowledge can also be used to advance professional practice, improve work environments, and drive policy changes. | Summer 2021 |
| Haisley, Phillip K | Student Engagement and Academic Success: A Regression Analysis of Institutional Level Nsse and Ccsse Data on Rates of First-Year Retention and Graduation | Thesis Link | Student retention and graduation in higher education are important goals for institutions across the U.S., yet improving rates of first-year retention and graduation has proven challenging. One strategy promoted for improving these rates of student success is increasing levels of student engagement in the classroom and within the larger academic context. Two surveys, the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), have been designed to measure student engagement using self-reported data. Research suggests survey responses are linked to learning and student success (Kilgo et al., 2015; Kuh et al., 2017; Pike, 2013; Price & Tovar, 2014; Shinde, 2010). However, questions remain about the exact relationship between the surveys and student success, particularly since little research has been conducted on the most recent version of the NSSE (developed in 2013). This study employs an ordinary least squares regression to examine the relationship between institutional averages on the two surveys (NSSE/CCSSE) and institutional rates of student success (first-year retention and graduation/transfer) while accounting for key covariates. Results suggest that several engagement practices measured by the surveys have significant relationships with student success, including positive relationships for supportive environments and collaborative learning, and negative relationships for student-faculty interaction, learning strategies, and student effort. | Spring 2021 |
| Martinet, Tony | Begin with the End in Mind: A Phenomenological Understanding of How Teachers Conceptualize the Purpose of Education | Thesis Link | Educational reform efforts strive to improve the educational experience for students in the United States; however, there is no clearly articulated purpose for public education in the United States beyond making students “college and career ready,” an ambiguous and vague goal. Because of the undefined focus, teachers find themselves struggling to balance competing obligations to serve all the needs of students—academic, emotional, and social. Using a phenomenological research design, this study describes how 16 secondary teachers from a Midwest school district conceptualize the purpose of education and use it to guide decisions in their classrooms. Data were collected through two in-depth, semi-structured interviews with each participant. Teachers have a complex purpose for education—to provide more for students than to simply transmit content. The common purpose that emerged among the participants was that education should prepare students to succeed beyond high school. Specific themes explain the challenges participants experienced in implementing their purpose and what alignment or divergence they perceived with the purpose of other educational decision-makers. Understanding what teachers believe to be the purpose of education has implications for other teachers, educational leaders, and teacher preparation programs. | Spring 2021 |
| Adams, Matthew | INVESTIGATING THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF TEACHERS INTERACTING WITH DIFFICULT STUDENT BEHAVIOR | Thesis Link | Teacher attrition is a nationwide problem, and one of the main causes of this attrition is the burnout and stress teachers experience from interacting with difficult student behavior. To understand teachers’ lived experiences of interacting with this behavior in their classrooms, this study utilized a phenomenological methodology to interview 28 public middle school teachers. They were asked both to describe their experiences interacting with difficult student behavior and to explore possible causes giving rise to these experiences. Teachers reported that the texture of their experiences interacting with difficult student behavior consisted of what the study defined as feelings of expansion and contraction toward their students. The underlying structures that created these feelings were a teacher’s ability to reframe difficult student behavior, a teacher’s sense of personal efficacy, and a teacher’s disposition. The essential meaning of teachers’ experiences interacting with difficult student behavior was conceptualized as carrying positive meaning and significance through experiences of expansion, and a lack of meaning and significance through experiences of contraction. The degree to which teachers could reframe difficult student behavior, possess a sense of personal efficacy, and cultivate a favorable disposition determined teachers’ location on the continuum of meaning. Findings regarding the nature of these experiences can inform policy discussions regarding pre-service teacher training, teacher professional development, and efforts to reduce teacher burnout and retain teachers in the profession. | Fall 2020 |
| Comfort, Brandan | The Study of Open Enrollment Programs in Two Colorado Metropolitan Areas | Thesis Link | The number of Colorado students using open enrollment to attend a public school outside their neighborhood has grown significantly over the last two decades. The Public Schools of Choice Act of 1990 and the open enrollment public school policy were implemented to improve academic achievement for students of color and students from impoverished backgrounds, reduce racial, ethnic, and economic isolation, and provide a choice of educational programs to Colorado families. This study examines the determinants of interdistrict open enrollment student migrations in the metropolitan areas of Colorado Springs and Denver. Findings suggest determinants of open enrollment flows in these metropolitan areas align with similar research studies conducted throughout the United States. Families leave lower-performing, more diverse districts for socioeconomically stable and higher-achieving districts. Additionally, socioeconomically disadvantaged school districts struggle to recruit students through open enrollment programs. Such findings point to a public education choice process that has significant financial and cultural impacts on school districts and communities. This study serves as a call to action for policymakers to reevaluate the current implementation of the Public Schools of Choice Act of 1990. | Fall 2020 |
| Martinet, Tony | Begin with the End in Mind: A Phenomenological Understanding of How Teachers Conceptualize the Purpose of Education | Thesis Link | Educational reform efforts strive to improve the educational experience for students in the United States; however, there is no clearly articulated purpose for public education in the United States beyond making students “college and career ready,” an ambiguous and vague goal. Because of the undefined focus, teachers find themselves struggling to balance competing obligations to serve all the needs of students—academic, emotional, and social. Using a phenomenological research design, this study describes how 16 secondary teachers from a Midwest school district conceptualize the purpose of education and use it to guide decisions in their classrooms. Data were collected through two in-depth, semi-structured interviews with each participant. Teachers have a complex purpose for education—to provide more for students than to simply transmit content. The common purpose that emerged among the participants was that education should prepare students to succeed beyond high school. Specific themes explain the challenges participants experienced in implementing their purpose and what alignment or divergence they perceived with the purpose of other educational decision-makers. Understanding what teachers believe to be the purpose of education has implications for other teachers, educational leaders, and teacher preparation programs. | Fall 2020 |
| Arndt, Adric | PREDICTING STUDENT OUTCOMES USING PRINCIPAL EVALUATION RESULTS OF SB 10-191: AN HLM APPROACH | Thesis Link | The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 grew out of concern that the American education system was no longer competitive in the international community. The Act considerably increased the federal government’s role in holding schools accountable for the academic progress of all students (Klein, 2018) and required students to be tested in reading and mathematics in Grades 3 through 8 and yearly in high school through Grade 11. By the 2013–2014 school year, all states were required to bring students to the “proficient level” on the state test. This expectation, along with Race to the Top (RTT) funding priorities, led Colorado to pass Senate Bill 10-191, which changed the way all Colorado principals’ and teachers’ effectiveness is evaluated. This policy requires Colorado educators to be evaluated through a standardized professional practice rubric and the academic growth of their students. For principals, the state developed the Principal Quality Standards that became their evaluation tool. With some research showing that principals have an indirect influence on student achievement and other research demonstrating direct impact, this study determined that principals do have an impact on student outcomes indirectly. Principal Quality Standard II, instructional leadership, has the strongest relationship with both English language arts and mathematics outcomes for students, while Standard V, managerial leadership, shows a systematic effect with mathematics outcomes. However, the relatively small effect sizes and the small amount of change in student scores suggest that improving principal effectiveness as measured by the Principal Quality Standards may not be the most effective way to enhance student achievement scores. District size and per-pupil revenue moderate the impact of some of the Principal Quality Standards but not all. | Spring 2020 |
| Garcia, Curtis Lee | Investigating Relationships Between Measures of Teacher Quality and School Context in Colorado: A Multilevel Moderated Mediation Analysis | Thesis Link | Recent education reform efforts have used high-stakes teacher evaluations that include measures of student performance as a strategy for enhancing teacher quality and student achievement. While research has raised some doubt about the effectiveness of such policies to achieve their goals, there remains a need to understand how various measures of teacher quality relate to one another and the extent to which school contexts affect measures of teacher quality. This study utilized a quantitative multilevel moderated mediation analysis to investigate the relationships between measures of teacher quality based on qualifications, those based on evaluations of teacher practice, and those based on teacher effects on student outcomes. The findings of the analysis revealed that teacher education level and years of experience are positively associated with higher teacher effect estimates, and these effects are partially mediated by teacher practices. The rural status of the school was found to have no significant effect on the relationships between teacher qualifications, teacher practices, and teacher effect estimates. The findings of this study contribute to theoretical understandings of teacher quality and provide guidance to policymakers about how constructs of teacher quality and school context might be applied within large-scale teacher evaluation policy frameworks. | Spring 2020 |
| McNamee, Michael | ALUMNI IDENTITY: A STRUCTURAL EQUATION APPROACH TO BELIEFS AND BEHAVIORS | Thesis Link | The relationships between alumni identity, engagement, and donations have been widely studied, but their true nature is still largely unknown due to the diverse factors suspected to contribute to donor motivations. Using the framework of organizational identity (OID) theory, this study comprehensively examined the way in which these constructs interact with each other using structural equation modeling (SEM). The alumni community of a small, selective, liberal arts college served as the population of interest. The data consisted of an alumni survey, institutional engagement information, donation records, and demographic information. The three tested models differed in how donations were measured and utilized separate outcome variables: donor status, cumulative giving, and number of gifts. The results suggested different relationship characteristics in each model, emphasizing the importance of using multiple metrics in alumni donation research. Engagement was found to significantly predict both OID and donations in every model, and its significance highlights OID theory’s deficiency in accounting for relevant post-graduation experiences. The donor status model most supported OID theory by showing the importance of identity in initial support behaviors. The other models did not support the theory and emphasized the importance of using engagement as a predictor variable. Engagement was a stronger predictor than OID for both total giving and the number of gifts. While engagement is a consistently strong predictor of donations, there is evidence of the relationship being mediated by OID. OID was not significant in predicting total giving. The models advance the understanding of the field by showing that while both engagement and identity are key to predicting donations, identity is more crucial to the initial giving decision, and engagement is key to the formation of long-term giving habits and increased amounts of support. | Spring 2020 |
| Webster, Marjory | TUITION DISCOUNTING: PROMOTING ACCESS IN AMERICAN POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION? | Thesis Link | The early 21st century is a time of anxiety about the increasing cost of postsecondary education in the United States, in significant part because high tuition appears to threaten access to the American Dream. Socioeconomic mobility is an integral component of the American Dream; the role of education in upward mobility has been quantified in human capital theory and for a time was recognized and encouraged in both the public and private sectors of postsecondary education (Checchi, 2006; Hanushek, 2010; Hensley et al., 2013; Levin, 2009; Marginson, 2007; McMahon, 2009; Psacharopoulos, 2006; St. John & Asker, 2003). In 1965, supported by newly published human capital theory and building on the success of the GI Bill of 1944, Congress passed the Higher Education Act (HEA). Among the goals of the HEA was to open access to postsecondary education for underserved communities in order to share and grow the bounty of America by increasing human capital through increasing educational attainment of the population (Bailey & Danziger, 2013; Brown, 2016; Gaston, 2014; Hawkins, 1999; Higher Education Act, 1965; Thelin, 2011). This legislation was intended to enable every American to reach their productive potential because good for individual citizens was equated with good for the country. In the postsecondary education private sector, this support for greater access by underserved and underrepresented communities was manifest in competition to enroll the top students from these communities. In the late 1960s, private colleges and universities introduced the use of financial incentives offered to select students as an enticement to enroll (Brown, 2016; Gaston, 2014; Hawkins, 1999; Higher Education Act, 1965; Thelin, 2011). Commonly called tuition discounting, this popular technique is now employed by over 90 percent of postsecondary institutions, both public and private. However, current political discourse has accused the postsecondary education sector of falling short by being exclusionary and ineffective (Kelly, 2014; Lee & DeSantis, 2014; Ponnuru, 2015; Schejbal, 2012; Taylor, 2012). The critiques are that the practice of tuition discounting no longer promotes access by underserved communities to postsecondary education and that admission of under-qualified applicants has caused postsecondary dropout rates to rise. This study sought to better understand these criticisms and to explore ways that institutions could support student success through reprioritization of financial resources. Using longitudinal panel data collected by the U.S. Department of Education, this study explored the use of tuition discounting at postsecondary institutions since 1987 and examined whether and how three factors have changed over time: the diversity of the student body, student success rates, and the allocation of institutional resources. The data indicate that the use of tuition discounts does not correlate with increased access by underserved communities, although enrollment by students of color is steadily rising, and that effective reallocation of financial resources has supported student success, particularly over the past decade. Findings conclude that tuition discounting can be used as one tool in a long-range strategic plan to meet institutional goals, with the support of the governing body and the coordination of top administration. | Spring 2020 |