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<p>The purpose of this study was to examine best teaching practices utilized by virtual K&ndash;3 instructors through a qualitative content analysis of distance education journals, dedicated virtual school blogs, and electronically-documented surveys completed by virtual K&ndash;3 instructors. Two theoretical perspectives informed this study, socio-constructivism and activity theory. Socio-constructivism provided a lens addressing factors contributing to the implementation of best practices, while activity theory functioned as a descriptive means for considering the implementation of best practices within the context of varying activity systems (Vygotsky, 1978; Engestrom, 1987; Leont&rsquo;ev, 1978; Luria, 1976). The sample consisted of 5 distance education journals, 4 dedicated virtual school blogs, and 11 electronically-documented surveys completed by virtual K&ndash;3 instructors. The qualitative content analysis revealed that in following best practices virtual K&ndash;3 instructors were responsible for setting clear expectations, personalizing instruction, accommodating diverse learners, building a community of learners, implementing evidence-based teaching practices, using technology effectively in the online classroom, participating in professional development activities, and actively working with parents and administrators to improve the learning environment for virtual K&ndash;3 students. </p>

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<p> This qualitative study featured two research endeavors. The first was a narrative inquiry of six teachers at Weedpatch Charter School as they understood curricular and pedagogical decision- making. These teachers, along with the Weedpatch Charter School founder, participated in this study soon after the curriculum and instruction decision-making had undergone a democratization effort whereby a top-down administrative approach was replaced by a teacher- led effort. Ironically, WCS school leadership welcomed the latter effort, despite the antiteacher legacy of the charter movement, which has long featured "at will" employment and no collective bargaining. The second component of this study was a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the curricular and pedagogical manuals used at WCS before and after the democratization effort. The findings in this study point to a dialectical set of developments at WCS that made it possible for teachers to move from a period of disillusionment into a period of active teacher agency. Similarly, the document analysis findings point to the need for more nuanced understandings of the ideological underpinnings of charter schools. </p><p> Discourse analysis determined that WCS did not necessarily present a classic example of neoliberalism. Given the latter nuance, the manual that the teachers created was counterhegemonic, liberatory, and ultimately contextual and contingent upon that very unique WCS dynamic. As such, the conclusion of this study was that charter leaders could learn from teacher understandings not by being prescriptive but by abiding by what the author has coined contingent collectivism.</p>

<p> This is a normative ethical analysis of school discipline policies. The overarching objective of this work is to inform school practices that directly benefit students. Chapter one examines the current state and practices of student discipline within schools. It focuses upon the pervasive use of suspensions to deal with non-violent student offenses and the adverse consequences that result from the applications of suspensions. Chapter two analyses three theoretical frameworks as they inform the developmental of a threshold for the ethical application of punishment. Developmental liberalism informs the understanding of the role that schools have in exhausting educative measures before the use of force, Self-Determination theory provides the foundation for psychologically nurturing school environments as necessary for the curtailing of adverse student behaviors, and School Community theory acknowledges the essential aspects of curriculum in engaging students. Chapter three sets forth a model for making ethical decisions within schools, and provides an analysis of principles and educational aims that directly inform this process. Chapter four explores the "crime and punishment" phenomenon within school discipline and provides the theoretical rationale that is offered to support such arguments. The chapter concludes with a discussion of when, if ever, it is appropriate to suspend students from school. Chapter five examines existing approaches to student discipline that align with the requirements of the threshold for ethical application of discipline and a well-informed ethical decision making process. </p>

<p> The purpose of this project is to argue that in order for social and emotional learning (SEL) goals to achieve their intended outcomes for students and society, religious pluralism must be reflected in student instruction. SEL involves the use of evidence-based practices to provide opportunities to develop competencies related to self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making which are intended to enable students to demonstrate morally appropriate actions and ethical decisions, which I am calling "right behavior." </p><p> It is my argument that one's understanding of right behavior embodies both implicit and explicit moral beliefs based on one's worldview which reflects a certain conception of the good life and the good society. In many cultures this concept is shaped by the dominant, organized religion of the group. However, the religious diversity in the United States since its inception led to an American tendency to privatize religion and avoid meaningful public deliberation of competing views of the good life and the good society. However, I contend that this paradigm is no longer adequate for equipping twenty-first century students with the background knowledge, critical thinking, problem-solving, and ethical judgment skills required for full participation in the social, political, and economic spheres of society. Instead, I am proposing a SEL-religious studies model that values religious freedom, equality, and neighborly affection, and recognizes the presence of moral and religious pluralism in American society. </p>

<p> Both the nation and California are faced with a critical threat to our long term strength and welfare due to an acknowledged deficit in STEM ready students and workers as we head into the 21st century. The STEM workforce gap requires integrated conversations and solutions as it impacts multiple stakeholder groups who do not necessarily fully comprehend each other's needs and challenges. There is a broad consensus that increasing the STEM workforce is critical to the U.S., impacting standard of living, as well as national security in areas such as international competitiveness, combating terrorism and addressing global warming, to name just a few. Historically, the world has looked to the U.S. as the globe's preeminent source of innovation. However, critical indicators have caused industry, educators, policy makers, and communities to take a deeper look at some alarming trends. For example, a U.S. Department of Commerce study noted that the U.S. has made no progress in its competiveness since 1999, and is beginning to lose ground to other countries that are actively building their scientific and technological infrastructures. </p><p> This study utilized the literature review to explore the power of applying system's thinking to this complex social problem. In addition, the study quantitatively demonstrated the current state of alignment in California across two key stakeholder group's leaders, industry and education by exploring the following areas: 1. Are the perceptions of two respondent stakeholder leader groups aligned relative to nine identified California STEM goals? 2. Are the perceptions of the assignment of roles across the California STEM stakeholders related to the two respondent group leaders' affiliation? 3. What is the current state of collaboration in California based on the perceptions of the two respondent groups' leaders? </p><p> The quantitative research demonstrated alignment of the key stakeholder leaders around what is important relative to the goals of California's STEM workforce gap as well as alignment around which stakeholder leaders should be executing specific tasks. The research also underscored an aligned understanding of the current lack of collaboration that exists across stakeholder leaders in California.</p>

This dissertation defends state support of the arts as an educational public good. It begins with a critique of the traditional justification for subsidy, the appeal to cultural perfection. By challenging the perfectionist position from two distinct perspectives--political and aesthetic--this critique reveals the potential value of constructing a plausible, nonperfectionist alternative. The dissertation then works to develop such an alternative by appealing to the instrumental potential of art as an educational public good. Unlike the perfectionist approach based on the intrinsic value of art, this justification is founded on a general commitment to democratic self-rule. After defending a particular account of this commitment and its implications for educational policy, the dissertation works to show how art can serve as a valuable component in an overall scheme of democratic education. The positive argument for art's democratic value consists of three distinct elements. The first draws on Aristotle, Kant, and Hannah Arendt in explicating several structural similarities that exist between aesthetic and political judgments. The second element describes how interpretation is essential to both engaging art and participating in politics. Taken together, these first two elements of the argument describe how art and politics both engage--and thus practice--many of the same skills and abilities. The third element of the argument explores the potential political value (and political risks) of the state's encouraging citizens to engage a diversity of cultural expressions. The dissertation concludes by describing several policy implications of the democratically-based justification of subsidy (e.g., increased local control over subsidy decisions), and by evaluating the justification in light of the best arguments against subsidy. These include a libertarian argument from self-ownership, Joel Feinberg's argument based on the Benefit Principle, an objection from moral offense, and several objections from state neutrality.