To be economically competitive, U.S. citizens must be mathematically competent (Wang et al., 2010). However, students in the United States have consistently underperformed those in other industrialized nations in mathematics (Program for International Student Assessment [PISA], 2018), which threatens the economic health of the nation (Achieve, 2013; Auguste et al., 2009; Harbour et al., 2018; Mickelson et al., 2013). Federal education reform was implemented and failed to improve the mathematics achievement of U.S. pupils (Cheong Cheng, 2020). Researchers have found links between teacher knowledge and student achievement; however, factors mediate this relationship (Hatisauri & Erbas, 2017). As a result, non-significant and inconsistent research findings are common. The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to build an understanding of the meaning elementary mathematics educators with average mathematical knowledge for teaching in high-density Black schools (EMEs) ascribe to their instructional reasoning. The EMEs participated in an interview or focus group to explore their lived experiences and understand the essence of their instructional reasoning. The EME participating in this research accredited their instructional reasoning to their schemata for teaching and learning. The EMEs held schemata for how students learned mathematics, the availability or lack of resources available to teach mathematics, their knowledge of mathematics content progressions, and their understanding of students' knowledge. The EME schemata for teaching and learning must be understood to deepen the conceptualization of mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) and inform policymakers to enhance federal and state mandates and stakeholders interested in teacher development and training.

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The degree of validity of various teacher evaluation systems in the Church Educational System (CES) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been questioned. Despite several administrative and scholarly attempts, there has been an absence of an accepted set of dimensions for such measurement. In an effort to specify the desirable attributes and practices of religious educators, CES administrators have defined six CES values and seven principles of edification. One of these values is identified as Edifying Teaching. By CES definition, edification occurs when a student is built up spiritually. The seven principles of edification are believed to be important in fostering teaching that edifies. Although full-time employees have been trained on these dimensions, they are not yet the basis for teacher evaluation. This study explores the dimensions upon which students evaluate their seminary teachers and the potential viability of using the principles of edification as measures. While students may conceptually understand the principles of edification, there is evidence that they are unable to apply them to an evaluation of their seminary teacher. Exploratory factor analysis of student's ratings of their seminary teacher provides evidence that students discriminate upon the two dimensions of teacher-student relations and the teacher's presentation manner or skill. The first of these two dimensions, teacher-student relations accounts for 93% of the variance in this two-factor model.

Teachers in general have a great deal of interest in the well-being of their students. This is especially true of the seminary teacher whose subject matter is designed to not only prepare his student for life, but for eternity. The purpose of this study is two-fold: (1) to determine the influence of the seminary teacher on seminary enrollment statistics as compared with other major influential groups in the twenty-seven one-teacher seminaries in the State of Utah, and (2) to consider the correlation of highly rated teachers to high enrollment percentages.

This dissertation focuses on the role that College Composition courses can and should play in addressing the digital divide and the literacy divide. For this project, digital divide refers to the space between those students who have opportunity to participate in online discourse communities and to contribute to the collective intelligence described by Henry Jenkins and those who have not had this opportunity even though they do have access to current technology. The literacy divide discussed is created when literacy is defined simply as the ability to read and write. Students need to be visually, digitally, and technologically literate. In response to these gaps, I propose reimagining the first-year writing course as a course in storytelling across disciplines and media. Story, oral storytelling, digital narrative, and transmedia narrative are explained. An analysis of several stories including a canonical comic book, a commercial, and a long-term narrative television show are analyzed using Aristotle, Propp, Saussure, Jenkins, Birkerts, and other theorists important to work in Texts and Technology. The guiding question for this project is How can a focus on storytelling using new and digital media in the first-year English composition course create an authentic and relevant learning experience for contemporary students while bridging the digital divide created by the lack of opportunity to participate in the collective intelligence of the convergence culture? Finally, the dissertation includes a research protocol which describes and justifies future research to test the claims made in this dissertation.

The research conducted tested a theory based on work by Tinto (1999), Astin (1984), and the Center for Community College Student Engagement (CCCSE, 2012) that multiple interventions are needed to significantly improve graduation rates at community colleges. The literature says little about this approach for community college students; therefore, this dissertation contributes to the knowledge base for educational programs. A first-year program at a large, diverse community college using multiple interventions assisted in determining the validity of the theory. The interventions built into the first-year program included learning communities, a student success course (SSC), proactive advising, and experiential learning. The CCCSE and others identified these components as high-impact practices for improving student achievement. A common theme and faculty tied interventions together across the first year of the program. The small sample (n = 21) and the fact this was the pilot year represent the most critical limitations in ascertaining the efficacy of the theory. The program's outcomes were evaluated using propensity score matching (PSM). Updates in statistical software continue to make the method easier to implement and evaluate. Consequently, this method is increasing in popularity in education to determine causality where random assignment is not feasible. Hence, the dissertation spends some time describing the method, so others can benefit from the method in their research. The author compared the program group to matched students from the same campus in the fall and spring terms. Characteristics of the match were chosen based on a careful search of the literature and historical data of the institution to ensure that students in the match group would be comparable. Differences in persistence, grade point average (GPA), and credits earned served to determine the effectiveness of the theory in this pilot. The program did not show a statistically significant increase (p > .1) in persistence, GPA, or credits earned over the matched group. Yet, a small effect was measured for GPA (d = 0.51, fall and d = 0.12, spring), credits earned (d = 0.17, fall and d = 0.13, spring), and persistence (OR = 1.28, fall and OR = 1.25, spring). The positive finding encourages more research into the theory of multiple interventions for community college students. In conclusion, future research should include following up with the participants in year two to determine how long the intervention effect persists. Also, increasing the sample size by including other first-year programs run by the institution improves the ability to detect differences and improve confidence. Finally, multiple interventions need to be tried on many different types of students to determine who benefits most.

The ancient Greeks were a group of people who valued intelligence and athleticism above all other human traits; because of their focus, their society became one of the most revered and advanced civilizations in all of history. They were able to significantly influence the Roman Empire's philosophers, rhetoric, and education system. In order for the United States wants to match the Greeks' paramount feats, citizens have to become more learned and fit. The future intellectual development of the United States is at risk of halting progress as a nation if action is not taken. Quintilian's educational philosophies stimulate students' brainpower, but cannot work to its best when schools stock their classrooms with dispassionate teachers. Without mental stimulation, students are prevented from becoming learned citizens capable of social advancements. Moreover, the Greek-designed Palaestra-Dadiscaleum learning environment provides students with the best possible academic and physical educations. The influence of an entire bodily education develops high-quality students who will become intelligent adults capable of making positive change in their community. Over the last decade, the U.S. physical education program has gone through several transformations that have lead to a decline in the importance of fitness as a vital player in the academic school day. To remedy and better U.S. education, schools and teachers must follow the Greek and Roman education methodologies.

This dissertation explores implications about teacher inquiry group (IG) practices through the representations of achievement gap (AG) discourses. The study draws from the challenges, struggles, and accomplishments of a middle school inquiry group of teachers and staff that worked collaboratively, as an institutionalized practice, with the intention to develop recommendations for closing the AG. After five years of collaborative work, the group did not get to develop an action plan. This longitudinal, ethnographic, qualitative study unveils multiple and contested representations of AG discourses and unpacks three assumptions about teacher inquiry group practices as a strategy for institutional and/or individual change: (1) that the group can resolve the issue at task; (2) that members embody the role of researchers; and (3) participation in the group can provide opportunities for transforming discourses. Critical discourse analysis provides the lens for analyzing four years of data collection: field notes, audio and written records from monthly sessions, written feedback and reflections, as well as interviews. My dual role, as member and teacher-researcher, and the use of CDA allowed me to identify critical moments. I describe critical moments as instances in which discourses of AG changed, reproduced, but not necessarily transformed. The analytical tools facilitated intertextual and discourse meaning connections. Data analysis indicated relevant findings: that the inquiry group provided opportunity for discourses to reproduce and change; that critical moments provided possibilities for transformation; that members did not always recognize these moments for which transformations may have eluded them; that inquiry groups have the potential to be a transforming intuitional practice. In general, findings suggested the need for structures that support, encourage, and engage members in "Self" reflection praxis for personal, and collective transformations, if the status quo is to be interrupted.

The United States is rapidly becoming a more racially diverse nation. Racial minority groups are projected to make up 47% of the total population in 2050 and if current population trends continue, they are projected to surpass the non-minority population by the end of the twenty-first century. Furthermore, the Latino population, already the nation's largest minority group, is expected to triple in size and is projected to account for 29% of the total U.S. population by 2050. Unfortunately, the educational pipeline has created a shortage of Latinos in higher education. At the same time, the United States is suffering from a national shortage of registered nurses. It is, therefore, of great concern that the proportion of minority students in nursing education programs is also not keeping up with population trends. Moreover, persistent inequalities in educational opportunities have led to persistent social inequalities between majority and minority groups, including inequalities in healthcare. Increasing racial diversity among health professionals is essential, not only as a matter of educational equity, but also because evidence indicates that diversity among providers is associated with improved access to healthcare for racial minorities. A main route to upward mobility and equality of opportunity for minorities in the healthcare industry is equity of access and success in achieving the baccalaureate nursing degree. There is an increasing body of literature which addresses retention and persistence of minority nursing students; however, the greater majority has focused on Chicano Hispanics and Black students. Further research is needed to identify factors associated with retention and persistence of other Latino groups. This study uses a qualitative design with Spradley's method of ethnographic interviewing to learn about the experiences of Puerto Rican nursing students attending college in the Northeast. Obligations to family, financial constraints and academic under-preparedness are some of the key findings gleaned from analysis of the data.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand how women enrolled in undergraduate engineering programs perceive their undergraduate experience in relation to their anticipatory socialization into the engineering profession. The significance of this study rests in the fact that although over the past few decades millions of dollars have been invested to combat the shortage of women entering and persisting in engineering undergraduate programs, very little improvement has yet been achieved. More importantly, although many factors have been determined to perhaps influence the under representation of women in engineering, a clear understanding of why this phenomenon continues has not yet been established. The findings from this study are intended to provide insight into what women in engineering need to succeed and provide clear recommendations for practice and policy to address the issue.