abstract: During the winter semester of 2018, I conducted a series of four workshops to teach parents (n = 6) strategies that could be used from home with their fourth-grade struggling readers. This study was situated in an elementary school located in North Las Vegas, NV. I invited students that scored two or more years below grade level, as indicated by the STAR Reading Assessment (a grade equivalency assessment). The purpose of this study focused on how family engagement resulting from the implementation of four small group workshops delivered by the teacher (and researcher) could affect reading performance of students who were below grade level. This mixed-methods action research study was informed by Bourdieu’s Theory of Cultural Capital (1977), Bandura’s Theory of Self-efficacy (1986), and school, family, and community partnership models. Quantitative data included pre- and post-intervention parent surveys, post-intervention student surveys, and pre- and post-intervention student reading assessments. Qualitative data included field notes and post-intervention parent interviews. A repeated-measure t-test found the difference between student pre- and post-assessment to be statistically significant, t(9) = -3.38, p = 0.008. Findings also indicated that parents utilized the skills learned, increased their self-efficacy in regards to family involvement, and overcame obstacles. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2019

abstract: Teacher candidates completing their senior year student teaching practicum as part of the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University are expected to graduate as professional, high-quality teachers who are classroom-ready and dedicated to the profession. One lacking component of the program is the opportunity for teacher candidates to have personalized learning experiences that develop professional teacher identity in addition to the development of enhanced teaching skills. To address this, an intervention of an Action Research Project (ARP) was added to the final semester of the student teaching practicum. The goal of the project was to increase professional teacher identity, which would lead to increased teaching practices and a more favorable outlook on real-world problem solving in teaching elementary students. This mixed methods action research study included data collection methods to measure how integrating action research into a cohort-based student teaching experience improved teacher candidates’ teaching practices, how it affected their professional teacher identity and how they perceived the project contributed to the formation of their professional teacher identity. Frameworks that guided the study included principles from the Theory of Self-Organized Learning and Social Identity Theory. The participants of the study were seven teacher candidates completing their student teaching experience in an Arizona school district. Data gathered included teacher evaluation scores, results from a “Teacher Candidate Experience Questionnaire,” narratives collected from Teacher Learning Conversations and written responses on a Final Reflection. Results suggested that teacher candidates’ teaching scores either slightly improved or stayed the same following the intervention. Professional teacher identity increased through the integration of the project, while student identity decreased. Through narratives collected from the participants, observations of other teachers and classrooms emerged as the most impactful component of the intervention. Participants perceived that observations contributed to their growth as teachers by providing exposure to more diverse situations, prompting them to feel engaged and inspired, encouraging high expectations and fostering ways for them to make personal connections. Observing in other classrooms did not always provide the examples and structures the participants had hoped for, yet this disappointment also added value to their growth as teachers. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Administration and Supervision 2019

abstract: Student teachers in their final year of college preparation enter a profession that is facing a severe shortage and an alarming rate of attrition. Novice teachers, those with five or fewer years of experience, are faced with myriad challenges that makes retention a problem for the colleges preparing them, the school districts that hire them, and the students that need them in their classrooms. This mixed methods action research study investigated an innovation designed to build student teacher self-efficacy. The expectation was it would increase the likelihood that new graduates would stay in the profession. The innovation taught student teachers to conduct action research within communities of practice. The Concerns-Based Adoption Model was used to monitor their progress. It involved two phases. The first phase measured student teacher self-efficacy prior to and following the innovation, and the second phase measured self-efficacy of former graduates, novice teachers, who had graduated from the preparation same program. Both populations were interviewed to elaborate on the self-efficacy data. Results suggested that student teachers who conducted action research within communities of practice showed a significant increase in self-efficacy. Specifically, the structure of action research guiding their collaborative efforts at problem-solving played a substantial role in increasing their confidence to face their future classroom challenges. The study also found that novice teachers who had performed the same action research within communities of practice retained a higher level of self-efficacy in their first five years of practice. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2019

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This document is an ethnographic account of one researcher's experience during an election season spent with one candidate. The document considers the history of political anthropology as a subfield of anthropology, the deployment of ideology and hegemony as theoretical concepts, and includes a brief history of Tampa and Hillsborough County politics. The document attempts to make connections between the practical necessities of campaigning, with reference to the processual approach of examining micro-political process, and theoretical issues related to the subject of political anthropology, notably the concepts of ideology, hegemony, and the subject of elites in human social organization.

This research prioritized the identification and retention of African American cultural heritage in the face of dramatic landscape alteration associated with comprehensive redevelopment. As an approach aimed at providing the most comprehensive understanding of cultural phenomenon, the holistic tradition applied by anthropology asserts that it is productive to identify and apply as many sources of data toward engaging research as is possible. Consistent with this goal, this study applied several categories of data toward investigating material symbols of African American cultural heritage in Tampa, Florida. The holistic anthropological approach demonstrated the relevance and complementarity of research documenting cultural heritage and its relationship to Tampa's contemporary urban landscape, urban archaeology, participatory research, anthropological advocacy, and historic designation and preservation research in a community threatened by large-scale redevelopment. Tampa represented a fruitful context for this research because for the second time in less than forty years, the urban landscape historically associated with African Americans in Tampa is slated to be impacted by wide-ranging demolition resulting from the actions of city and county planners. This research is particularly important in Tampa because urban policy carried out in this area of Tampa during the 1970's eradicated the vast majority of physical reminders of the African American cultural heritage in Tampa. This research proposes that even in the face of dramatic demolition resulting in comprehensive change in urban landscapes, anthropologists have an obligation to prioritize material symbols of cultural heritage which in this context represent enduring evidence of African American cultural heritage in Tampa. Collectively the components of this study represent an anthropological model defined as an Urban Model of Applied Preservation (UMAP) designed to facilitate the anthropological engagement of evolving relationships between urban spaces and their cultural associations with urban populations. This model clarifies a set of complementary methods that might be applied toward investigation prioritizing the effects of urban change on cultural heritage.

Physical therapy as an emerging profession is committed to establishing its identity and solidifying its role as a leader in health care. With expertise in human movement, wellness, and disease prevention, physical therapists possess invaluable knowledge and skill to influence public health and enhance patient recovery without increasing cost. Physical therapists have the opportunity to transform the delivery of public health services to meet current and future needs. A major challenge, however, is a dearth of leadership development in preparation programs. Because most physical therapists have not received formal education or explicit training in leadership, a problem of practice exists. This dissertation is a report of a mixed-methods action-research study that explores leadership development among aspiring and practicing physical therapists. It describes a series of professional development (PD) activities designed to foster transformational leadership and a community of practice among a group of clinicians in a privately-owned clinic in north Florida. Qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis indicate positive changes were made in understanding transformational leadership, engagement in community service, relationship building among coworkers, communication, and community of practice after participation in the PD activities. Analysis of results also identified the need for continued relationship development, conflict resolution, and building strong teams. Because a paucity of literature related to leadership development in physical therapy exists, findings from this study may prove useful to the field. The results describe a feasible method of leadership development and sustainability of a community of practice to inspire transformative practitioners who lead in the clinic and the community.

[pt] A pesquisa aqui apresentada tem por objetivo observar o desempenho de aprendizes em uma instituição pública quando é adotada uma pedagogia baseada em uma abordagem pautada em gêneros discursivos. Os alunos em questão são do segundo ciclo do ensino fundamental, na modalidade EJA (Educação para Jovens e Adultos) de uma escola pública do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, e na época da pesquisa demonstravam certas dificuldades para cursar a disciplina língua estrangeira moderna, nesse caso, o inglês. O estudo foi elaborado com o objetivo de examinar as percepções e o desempenho dos aprendizes no curso que enfoca o desenvolvimento da língua inglesa através da habilidade da leitura, usando gêneros discursivos. A pesquisa apresenta uma investigação sobre o impacto que o ensino baseado em gêneros tem nos aprendizes com estas características. De caráter reflexivo, o estudo busca esclarecer do que se trata o ensino que é voltado para turmas de EJA, especificamente no aprendizado de inglês, e defende a visão de que a abordagem baseada em gêneros discursivos é coerente com a realidade desse segmento do ensino público brasileiro. / [en] The aim of this research is to examine the performance of students in a foreign language course, when a change in the pedagogy was introduced, using a genre-based approach to teaching and learning. The students in the study were in the second grade of elementary education, in a project called EJA (Education for Teens and Adult Students) at a public school in the State of Rio de Janeiro, and, at the time when the research was conducted, they were experiencing various difficulties in studying English. This study was designed to examine these learners’ perceptions of reading and their written production in a course in which the development of their language ability is focused on reading skills, through the exploration of genres. The study presents an investigation of the impact of genre-based teaching on learners with these characteristics. Using a reflective orientation, this study seeks to clarify the objectives of adult education classes, and it defends the view that the use of genres is consistent with the reality of this segment of Brazilian public education.

In the United States, a staggering four thousand students drop out every school day. Moreover, in 2016, the graduation rate in Oregon was only 74.8%, one of the lowest in the nation. Research shows that a disproportionate number of youth leaving school are from historically marginalized communities. Many of these youth resiliently return to education at alternative schools. This research sought to explore the educational experiences of youth in alternative schools in their own voices and perspectives. From a theoretical framework based in sociocultural theory, cultural capital, and critical theory, this study underscored the importance of youth voice in changing the education system by incorporating qualitative methods and YPAR (Youth Participatory Action Research). Working alongside seven youth co-researchers who attended an alternative school in Oregon, we interviewed eight other students at the same school about their educational experiences and perceptions of the education system. The youth co-researchers and I co-constructed four themes collectively: "I felt invisible to the teachers"; "Teaching is a sacred act'; "Regular high school is like drowning, it's cruel"; and "Dropping out was [actually] a success." We also compiled counternarratives in the words of the eight student participants, which highlighted how the school system pushed them out despite their desire to learn. Finally, we spoke truth to power, in solidarity with the youth in this study, by presenting our recommendations for educational change to teachers, including how they can co-create spaces with students that foster care and empathy, value youth voice, and are culturally sustaining and identity affirming.

A violência escolar é um fenômeno complexo, dinâmico e multicausal, que envolve estudantes, professores, famílias e comunidade, como protagonistas e/ou vítimas da violência. Entende-se que a escola não é a única responsável pela produção da violência. No entanto, dependendo da maneira como a instituição lida com os problemas e conflitos instalados nesse contexto pode gerar as situações de violência escolar. Trata-se de um fenômeno que também tem suas raízes em questões de ordem sociais e econômicas, exigindo, programas de prevenção multidimensionais, com ações intersetoriais. A justiça restaurativa é uma estratégia para o enfrentamento da violência escolar, utilizada em diversos ambientes regidos pelas interações sociais, pois possibilita maneiras de resolução de conflitos no ambiente escolar. Esse estudo qualitativo, em que foi utilizado o método da pesquisa-ação, teve como objetivo compreender as percepções dos professores de uma escola pública da rede estadual de educação básica de Ribeirão Preto/SP sobre violência escolar, e desenvolver uma ação educativa para sua prevenção. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida em uma escola, que está inserida em um complexo contexto socioeconômico e cultural, com histórico de violência e dificuldades na condução do processo de ensino-aprendizagem. Participaram dessa pesquisa 10 professores do ensino fundamental e do ensino médio. Como instrumento de coleta de dados, optou-se pela observação participante, grupo focal e questionário. Os dados coletados, foram submetidos à análise temática indutiva e apresentados em duas etapas: momento investigativo e momento educativo. Reconheceu-se dificuldades e problemas prevalentes no ambiente escolar, experiências de violência escolar entre professores e estudantes e as estratégias que eles utilizavam para a prevenção da violência escolar. A partir dos problemas identificados foi realizado o Círculo de Cultura, como ação educativa. Essa ação foi elaborada baseada no modelo dialógico de Paulo Freire, que permitiu abordar a compreensão dos professores sobre os conceitos de conflitos e de violência escolar, promovendo reflexões sobre as habilidades direcionadas à gestão construtiva de conflitos e prevenção da violência escolar. Discute-se com base nestes resultados qualitativos a relevância do desenvolvimento de ações intersetoriais, visando a implementação de mecanismos de enfrentamento da violência escolar. Entende-se que não existe um recurso simplista para a prevenção da violência escolar, pois cada sociedade possui características e conflitos próprios, sendo necessária uma investigação ampla para saber qual seria a melhor atuação em determinada realidade escolar, na perspectiva de uma abordagem global com implicações na estrutura escolar. Mas é importante destacar o papel da escola no ensino/aprendizagem da transformação positiva do conflito, possibilitando a aprendizagem de formas de resolução não-violentas e, consequentemente, contribuindo para a melhoria das relações humanas / nteractions, as it provides ways of resolving conflicts in the school environment. This qualitative study, using the action-research method, aimed to understand the perceptions of the teachers of a public school of the state school of basic education of Ribeirão Preto / SP on school violence, and to develop an educational action for its prevention . The research was developed in a school, which is inserted in a complex socioeconomic and cultural context, with a history of violence and difficulties in conducting the teaching-learning process. Ten primary and high school teachers participated in this research. As an instrument of data collection, we opted for participant observation, focus group and questionnaire. The collected data were submitted to thematic thematic inductive and presented in two stages: investigative moment and educational moment. Difficulties and problems prevalent in the school environment, experiences of school violence between teachers and students and the strategies they used for the prevention of school violence were acknowledged. From the problems identified, the Culture Circle was carried out as an educational action. This action was elaborated based on the dialogical model of Paulo Freire, which allowed to approach the teachers\' understanding of the concepts of conflict and school violence, promoting reflections on the skills directed to the constructive management of conflicts and prevention of school violence. Based on these qualitative results, the relevance of the development of intersectoral actions is discussed, aiming at the implementation of mechanisms for coping with school violence. It is understood that there is no simplistic resource for the prevention of school violence, since each society has its own characteristics and conflicts, and a broad investigation is necessary to know what would be the best performance in a certain school reality, in the perspective of a global approach with implications in the school structure. But it is important to highlight the role of the school in the teaching / learning of the positive transformation of the conflict, enabling the learning of non-violent forms of resolution and, consequently, contributing to the improvement of human relations