This mixed-method study examined the effects of the use of the Vocabulary Think Chart in seventh-grade science students’ understanding of scientific vocabulary. Participants included 89 students who attended the only three regular Earth Science classes in the study site. Participants were assigned to the treatment and comparison group according to the teachers’ wish on how they wanted to participate in the study. The experimental group received one week long preparation on the use of the Vocabulary Think Chart, followed by five weeks of using the strategy independently. Results of the study did not show a significant change on students’ scientific vocabulary understanding and raised questions about vocabulary instruction in science classes. Discussion of the results revolves around the Treatment Teacher’s influence in the study, time of intervention, and number of participants.

This dissertation in practice presents a research-based model for staff development utilizing the elements of a professional learning community. The focus of this problem of practice was determined through an analysis of one high school's reading data indicating that 36% of the student body was reading below grade level according to the state assessment test for reading. Researchers have noted that reading demands for college and careers have increased (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2011; Barton, 2000; Common Core State Standards, 2014). If students do not develop reading proficiency to graduate with a high school diploma, they are at risk of limited career choices without college and possible unemployment. Drawing upon a review of related literature in reading education, adolescent literacy, disciplinary literacy, and staff development, a professional learning community model was proposed to address improvement in teacher capacity by demonstrating the knowledge, dispositions, and skills of pedagogical knowledge of the Common Core State Standards (Florida Department of Education, Language Arts Florida Standards, 2014) and the use of close reading techniques to increase reading comprehension of U.S. History students. This design utilizes the five elements of the DuFour (2010) model of a professional learning community including (a) focus of learning; (b) collaborative culture; (c) collaborative inquiry; (d) commitment to continuous improvement; and (e) results oriented mindset. A logic model further delineates the priorities, program plan, and intended outcomes for the implementation of this model.

The JROTC program is one of service and commitment. Its mission is to build better citizens and give them a sense of pride in service to their fellow man. Today these core principles are still needed, but with the increase in the student dropout rate, the JROTC program can be one of many alternatives needed to help public education reach today's youth who are struggling to stay in school. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the impact of the Air Force JROTC Leadership Program on the grade point average (GPA), attendance rate, disciplinary referrals, and dropout rate of JROTC students at an urban high school in southeastern Virginia. The study also addressed the perceptions of school administrators, Air Force JROTC instructors, teachers, JROTC students and their parents on students enrolled in the program during the 2005-2009 school years. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the means, standard deviations and frequency distributions for the groups in the study. Three independent sample t-tests and seven one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA's) were used to determine where there was a statistically significant difference for each group. The Tukey post hoc procedure was used to determine where the difference occurred in the variables. There were three major findings revealed in this study. The first finding indicated that students who participated in the JROTC program had lower grade point averages (M =2.47, SD = 1.17) than non-JROTC participants (M = 3.00, SD = 0.94). Second, administrators had higher levels of agreement (100%) than AFJROTC instructors, teachers, JROTC students and parents that leadership skills were developed in the AFJROTC program. Third, JROTC students (12%) and parents (7%) had lower levels of agreement than administrators, AFJROTC instructors and teachers that the AFJROTC program is used as a recruitment tool. Focus groups results showed strong support for the program from administrators, teachers, JROTC students and parents. These findings suggest that if school districts and educational leaders are to benefit from implementing the AFJROTC program they must understand that the program is not designed to impact academics. The program is designed to develop leadership skills along with helping students become better citizens. Educational leaders in school districts should read the findings and consider utilizing the program as a possible alternative to help students to develop skills to keep them from dropping out of school. / Ph. D.

This study investigated principal leadership in building a culture of disciplinary literacy. Previous studies investigated and validated the uniqueness of disciplinary literacy (Moje, 2015; Shanahan and Shanahan, 2008; Spires et al., 2018). Case studies on individual schools looked at literacy within the context of a specific school community (Faulkner, 2012; Francois, 2014; Gilrane et al., 2008). These studies, although they touched on teacher and principal leadership, did not focus on leadership at the core of creating a community of literacy. This study focused on the essential actions and dispositions of principals who successfully built and maintained a culture of disciplinary literacy. Eight principals from a large, suburban Northeastern school district were interviewed to ascertain their actions. Open coding with constant comparative analysis yielded common themes, dispositions, and actions of principals. Common leadership themes emerged as principals discussed leading disciplinary literacy: demonstrate why change is needed, recognize that leading literacy requires a plan, link the district priorities to disciplinary literacy, distribute leadership, provide targeted professional development, and utilize established resources. What emerged from this study was that one person alone could not build a culture of literacy within a school. Rather, changing instructional practices to put literacy at the center of learning requires the community to embrace literacy. As school leaders look to improve equitable outcomes for all students, they must look at the variation in instructional practices across the disciplines and ensure that literacy research-based practices are being used across all content areas. Change of this magnitude is a multiyear shift with student learning at the center of all instructional decisions. The complex task of leading instructional change requires a principal to learn about disciplinary literacy. If schools want equitable education for all students, principals must understand and place priority on disciplinary literacy. / 5 / This study investigated principal leadership in building a culture of disciplinary literacy. Disciplinary literacy is the ability to read, write, think, and discuss like an expert in the field. For example, classes with disciplinary literacy at the core would ask students to read like a scientist or write an original score like a musician. Previous studies investigated and validated the uniqueness of disciplinary literacy (Moje, 2015; Shanahan and Shanahan, 2008; Spires et al., 2018). Case studies on individual schools looked at literacy within the context of a specific school community (Faulkner, 2012; Francois, 2014; Gilrane et al., 2008). These studies did not focus on principal leadership at the core of creating culture of disciplinary literacy. This study focused on the essential actions and dispositions of eight principals who built a culture of disciplinary literacy in each of their secondary schools. Common leadership themes emerged as principals discussed leading disciplinary literacy: demonstrate why change is needed, recognize that leading literacy requires a plan, link the district priorities to disciplinary literacy, distribute leadership, provide targeted professional development, and utilize established resources. As school leaders look to improve equitable outcomes for all students, they must look how literacy is taught in the disciplines and ensure that students have an opportunity to learn the real-life practices of professionals in the field. The complex task of leading instructional change requires a principal to learn about disciplinary literacy, so he or she can encourage teacher-experts to explicitly teach authentic disciplinary literacy skills in their classes.

The purpose of this study is to understand how engineering students perceive the patterns of culture at the disciplinary level using Hofstede's constructs (power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity). The methodology design for this study is mixed methods. More specifically, the design of this study is an explanatory sequential design that begins with the collection and analysis of quantitative data from a version of Hofstede's survey developed by Sharma (2010), followed by subsequent collection and analysis of qualitative data, with the qualitative analysis being informed by preliminary results from the initial quantitative phase. Results from the quantitative study led to a review of the literature regarding Hofstede's main critiques and how other authors have successfully implemented his model in different contexts, and qualitative data collection with semi-structured interviews with undergraduate students. There are three aims of this study, which are addressed and presented in three separate manuscripts. The first aim (Manuscript 1) was identifying if Hofstede's theory of dimensions of national culture can map to academic disciplines. Results from surveying 3388 undergraduate students provided scores on Hofstede's dimensions for each major. Responses matched the national culture of the students rather than the disciplinary culture; therefore, Hofstede's theory didn't map to explain cultural differences in academic majors. The second aim (Manuscript 2) of this study was to review the extensive available literature regarding the critiques of Hofstede's model and its implementation in different settings. Results provided with conceptual, and methodological critiques and misuse of his theory that allowed us to understand the value of his model to understand cultural differences at the national level, as well as the value of the dimensions to inform our qualitative research design. The third aim (Manuscript 3) of this study was to explore students' perceptions of disciplinary engineering culture and how it compared to other disciplines using a qualitative interview protocol that provided rich findings that complement the quantitative results. Results from interviewing 24 students in industrial and systems engineering, electrical and computer engineering, marketing, and industrial design provided with valuable information on how students perceive their disciplinary culture in terms of what it is valued, how they learn, how it is taught, why they learn, how it is going to be used in the workplace, and the reason for select the major. Implications for research and practice in the engineering education field are provided to inform how to make decisions on engineering curriculum, and engineering classrooms and try to find ways to improve some of the issues that engineering education has been facing for the last decades. / Ph. D.

The original design of zero-tolerance policies was meant to support school safety through an anti-drug and violence campaign but in the years following their implementation, school districts have employed them repeatedly without merit. Exclusionary practices have become controversial, leading to high rates of recidivism, imbalanced implementation toward minority groups, and the loss of learning while suspended or expelled. Just as effective educators respond and intervene to instructional practices that are not proving successful, an overhaul of disciplinary practices was necessary for academic and emotional health. Restorative practices have emerged in recent years as an alternative process to the antiquated system of exclusionary measures. The previously used disciplinary structure inhibited the education of students, diminished opportunities for relationships to form and flourish, and had the potential to damage the well-being of all students involved in a negative event. In recent years, school districts across the country have recognized a need for improvement in the education system. Educators are spearheading efforts to combat the widespread epidemic of illiteracy and increase the level of college and career readiness. As a result, time, funding, professional development opportunities, and research have been dedicated to support this endeavor. While a number of resources are allotted for instructional purposes, the emotional element of student success is often overlooked, only widening the gap between success and stagnation. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine pre-K through fifth grade teacher perceptions of integrated restorative practices in their respective classrooms and how these practices affected disciplinary measures and intervention.

The purpose of this study was to extend the analysis methods in PACELAB APD 3.1, a recent commercially available aircraft preliminary design tool with potential for MDO applications, for higher fidelity with physics-based instead of empirical methods and to enable the analysis of nonconventional aircraft configurations. The implementation of these methods was first validated against both existing models and wind tunnel data. Then, the original and extended PACELAB APD versions were used to perform minimum-fuel optimizations for both a traditional cantilever and strut-braced wing aircraft for a medium-range regional transport mission similar to that of a 737-type aircraft, with a minimum range of 3,115 nm and a cruise Mach number of 0.78. The aerodynamics, engine size / weight estimation and structural modules were heavily modified and extended to accomplish this. Comparisons to results for the same mission generated with FLOPS and VT MDO are also discussed. For the strut-braced configuration, large fuel savings on the order of 37% over the baseline 737-800 aircraft are predicted, while for the cantilever aircraft savings of 10-30% are predicted depending on whether the default or VT methods are utilized in the PACELAB analysis. This demonstrates the potential of the strut-braced configuration for reducing fuel costs, as well as the benefit of MDO in the aircraft conceptual design process. For the cantilever aircraft, FLOPS and VT MDO predict fuel savings of 8% and 23%, respectively. VT MDO predicts a fuel savings of 28% for the strut-braced aircraft over the baseline. / Master of Science

This thesis seeks to properly identify and illuminate the disciplinary practices of the K-12 classroom that necessitate, cultivate, and perpetrate colonial violence to maintain the established order (anti-Black racism) of our modern American society. To accomplish this, the relationship between the white teacher and non-white student is problematized by combining the conceptual frameworks of George Yancy’s white gaze and Maria Lugones’ racist/colonial gaze. This analysis highlights the ulterior motives of the “teacher look,” an action that utilizes shame to instruct students on how to behave properly in the classroom, through the authoritative role of whiteness in managing knowledge, understanding, and subjectivity. From these conclusions, it is shown that whiteness is granted perceptual authority over the Other through the rhetoric of modernity. This rhetoric disillusions the public of the ideological structures that ensure white supremacy and the white subject as a self-contained substance existing independent of some Black qua inferior. In attempting to overcome this disillusioned state, multiple decolonial avenues and pedagogical practices are employed to dismantle the authoritative role of whiteness and the instrumentality of shame in the disciplinary prospects of the “teacher look.” By approaching the problem of race in America through the disciplinary mechanism of its education system, this project seeks not only to ascertain the institutional and systematic ways that white teachers and white students uphold and inscribe racist ideology through their social practices and relationships, but also to empower students of color to resist and transcend the limitations imposed upon them from the white world.

Demands of the workplace and society have made 21st-century knowledge and skills critical elements for success. As a result, the role of teachers in adequately preparing students to meet these demands continues to grow. National and state standards also call for increased attention to multimodal reading and writing. Today’s teachers must have the skills to effectively integrate technology into teaching and learning, supporting student development of digital reading and writing skills. Unfortunately, many teachers do not feel adequately prepared to do this (Hutchison & Reinking, 2011). Teacher education preparation programs must intentionally design programs to prepare teacher candidates for this challenging task (Starkey & Yates, 2020). The purpose of this study was to determine teacher candidates’ perceptions of technology integration and to understand their preparedness to integrate technology into a disciplinary literacy lesson. The conceptual framework for this study consisted of 4 interwoven theoretical perspectives. Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986) was used as the overarching foundational framework, with the New Literacy Perspective (Leu et al., 2004), the SAMR Model (Puentedura, 2006), and the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) as additional lenses for interpretation of the findings. This qualitative case study examined 11 Elementary Education teacher candidates as they planned for and created a disciplinary literacy lesson plan. A variety of data sources were collected, including pre- and post-technology surveys, documents, verbal protocols, and semi-structured interviews. First and second-cycle coding was applied to the data to determine themes. The data revealed that participants’ technology integration was generally inconsistent across the SAMR levels. Often, participants’ thinking processes revealed a deeper level of technology integration than their actual integration in lesson plans did. Additionally, 4 participant profiles emerged as a result of the levels of technology integration in participants’ disciplinary literacy lesson plans: (a) Minimal Integrators, (b) Inconsistent Integrators, (c) Consistent Integrators, and (d) Insightful Integrators.

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