Early adolescence is a critical time for examining academic motivation, specifically motivation to read (Hervey, 2013). In order to support self-determined motivation to read, students’ needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness must be met within the classroom context (Miller & Faircloth, 2014). Since classroom instructional practices are a key component of adolescents’ daily experiences in the classroom, research which investigates the influence of these practices on students’ self-determined motivation to read is needed. In addition, the perceptions of students and teachers regarding the degree to which classroom instructional practices meet students’ needs as well as the influence of classroom instructional practices on students’ self-determined motivation to read must be considered as the perceptions of these two groups of classroom stakeholders rarely fully converge (Delaney et al., 2014; Wang & Eccles, 2014). However, the field is lacking an established measure of both groups’ perceptions of classroom instructional practices and the degree to which they support students’ needs (i.e., competence, autonomy, relatedness) and self-determined (intrinsic) motivation to read. Therefore, this study sought to address this gap in the literature by developing and validating a measure with parallel teacher and student forms called the Language Arts Reading Practices Survey (LARPS). This measure assessed student and teacher perceptions of the degree to which classroom instructional practices in the language arts classroom support students’ needs for competence, autonomy, relatedness, and students’ self-determined motivation to read. The results of this study provide preliminary support for the validity of the student form of the LARPS, with less support for the teacher form of the measure. By assessing both student and teacher perceptions, the LARPS adds to the general understanding of specific instructional practices and how stakeholder groups view these practices regarding their ability to support students’ needs and motivation.

The primary purpose of this study was to explore representations of higher education in film. In order to achieve that objective this study consisted of a narrative analysis of the themes that emerged in films regarding higher education. This study focused on films from the 1950s to the present. The narratives that emerged from the analysis of the films were compared and contrasted to the scholarly literature regarding higher education. The analysis of the films also included juxtaposing the film narratives to the work of postmodern theorists such as Michel Foucault in order to inform the claims made by the researcher. This study focused on seven main themes regarding higher education in the cinema. The higher education themes that were examined in this study were Students, Student Services, Admissions, Race, Finance, Faculty, and Gender. Overall, this study found that higher education in the cinema is not represented as a unified monolithic system. Instead, the findings indicate that the representations of higher education and its different parts were quite varied among the films. In spite of all the differences there was one overall theme that remained constant. This study found that the cinema privileged the traditional, selective, four-year residential university as the model for a higher education institution. An analysis of the representations of students in the films found that the depictions of students in the cinema also varied greatly over time. However, this study revealed that a major discursive student theme that was constant throughout the films was a focus on the sex lives of students. The analysis of the representations of faculty members also proved to be quite varied. This study revealed that the one major discursive theme that was constant in regards to faculty was that all of the faculty members remained employed as academics regardless of the difficulties they may have faced. This dissertation also includes a discussion of the implications of the study's findings and provides suggestions for future research.

Violence in schools in various forms has become recognizable. Awareness of this situation has resulted with proliferation of curricula for conflict education. The purpose of this study was to analyze conflict resolution curricula designed for five to eight year olds. The study examined three issues formulated from the review of related literature: time and space, skill building, and developmentally appropriate practices. The findings included time and physical space requirements for conflict resolution curricula, the suggested skills needed to peacefully resolve conflicts, and an evaluation of the developmentally appropriate activities in the curricula for early childhood ages 5-8.

What qualities, skills, and knowledge produce quality teachers? Many stake-holders in education argue that teacher quality should be measured by student achievement. This qualitative study shows that good teachers are multi-dimensional; their effectiveness cannot be represented by students’ test scores alone. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain a deeper understanding of quality in teaching by examining the lived experiences of 10 winners or finalists of the Teacher of the Year (ToY) Award. Phenomenology describes individuals’ daily experiences of phenomena, examines how these experiences are structured, and focuses analysis on the perspectives of the persons having the experience (Moustakas, 1994). This inquiry asked two questions: (a) How is teaching experienced by recognized as outstanding Teachers of the Year? and (b) How do ToYs feelings and perceptions about being good teachers provide insight, if any, about concepts such as pedagogical tact, teacher selfhood, and professional dispositions? Ten participants formed the purposive sample; the major data collection tool was semi-structured interviews (Patton, 1990; Seidman, 2006). Sixty to 90-minute interviews were conducted with each participant. Data also included the participants’ ToY application essays. Data analysis included a three-phase process: description, reduction, interpretation. Findings revealed that the ToYs are dedicated, hard-working individuals. They exhibit behaviors, such as working beyond the school day, engaging in lifelong learning, and assisting colleagues to improve their practice. Working as teachers is their life’s compass, guiding and wrapping them into meaningful and purposeful lives. Pedagogical tact, teacher selfhood, and professional dispositions were shown to be relevant, offering important insights into good teaching. Results indicate that for these ToYs, good teaching is experienced by getting through to students using effective and moral means; they are emotionally open, have a sense of the sacred, and they operate from a sense of intentionality. The essence of the ToYs teaching experience was their being properly engaged in their craft, embodying logical, psychological, and moral realms. Findings challenge current teacher effectiveness process-product orthodoxy which makes a causal connection between effective teaching and student test scores, and which assumes that effective teaching arises solely from and because of the actions of the teacher.

The challenge of transitioning into high school is associated with social anxiety, decreased grades, increased absences, and overall motivation to learn. Based on anecdotal evidence from 9th grade teachers in the Ohio School District, teachers had poor rapport with some of their students, and 9th graders were being retained more often than were students in any other grade. Grounded in Noddings's care theory, the purpose of this mixed methods sequential case study was to explore perceptions of rapport between 9th graders and their teachers. Guiding research questions were used to discover student and teacher perceptions about their relationship as it relates to care, respect, and communication. Archived data from Gallop Poll surveys given to 9th grade students at 3 schools (n = 163) demonstrated student perceptions of their relationships with teachers. Additionally, 15 teachers were randomly selected for a focus group interview about rapport with students. The interview transcripts were coded for emergent themes related to the guiding questions. The analysis of the Gallup Poll data included calculation of the mean, standard deviation, median, item score range, mode, and raw-data frequencies/percent for responses to answer the respective research questions. Responses on the survey showed that students perceived a moderate level of bonding with teachers, while the interview data showed that there were issues related to communication with students, administrative support of teachers, and sincerity of teacher care for students. The project outcome is a professional development about communication amongst teacher and students, teachers and teachers, and teachers and administration to improve rapport and reduce the prevalence and impact of adverse events such as dropout and other forms of disengagement.

Students' classroom engagement is a strong predictor of positive educational outcomes including academic achievement, GPA, and standardized test scores. Most existing research has focused on the role of quality parenting and teaching in the development of student engagement. However, some research has shown small, yet significant effects of influences from students' peer groups on the development of their engagement. The goal of this study was to explore whether some children are more susceptible to the effects of their peer groups, and to examine a series of possible factors that might amplify the influence of a target students peer group on the development of that students' own engagement over the course of an academic year. In a re-analysis of an existing data set (Kindermann, 2007), peer group profiles of student engagement were examined as predictors of changes in individual engagement from fall to spring. It was expected that peer groups' levels of engagement would vary in their predictive power for changes in students' own engagement over the school year, depending upon individual levels of peer relatedness, the number of peers with whom the student affiliates with, student perceptions of parental involvement, as well as person-to-group differences in engagement. Gender differences were expected to be non-significant. As expected, results from two sets of analysis indicate no significant gender differences in susceptibility to peer influence. Furthermore, results suggest that susceptibility to peer influence on school engagement may depend upon the number of peers with whom a student affiliates with, parental involvement, as well as person-to-group differences in engagement. However, contrary to expectations, results suggest that a student's susceptibility to peer influence may not depend upon self-reported peer relatedness. Details of the analyses, results, strengths, limitations, and implications for future research are discussed.

The return to in-person schooling post-COVID-19 pandemic has brought increased pressure on educators to ensure academic success for students. This study examines the school climate of 40 elementary and middle schools in California's Central Valley and its impact on academic performance and attendance, comparing pre-pandemic (2018-2019) with post-pandemic (2021-2022 and 2022-2023) data. Additionally, the study explores the influence of positive student-teacher relationships on academic outcomes and chronic absenteeism. Utilizing the PLUS School Climate Survey, this research sought to identify significant differences in survey scores pre- and post-pandemic, as well as examining the predictive power of student-teacher connectedness on academic performance and chronic absenteeism. This research found statistically significant differences among 6th-8th grade students regarding perceptions of school connectedness throughout the years. There was a significant increase from the 2019-2020 to 2021-2022 school years followed by a significant decrease from 2021-2022 to the 2022-2023 school year. The 2019-2020 and 2022-2023 school year data on school connectedness was not significant. Results also indicate there was a significant positive relationship between students and teachers and their academic performance. In the 2022-2012 school year, when the students had a positive view of their relationship with teachers and staff at school, the student’s ELA and math scores increased. This analysis also examined the relationship between the student’s relationship with teachers and their chronic absenteeism. There were not statistically significant results. These findings aim to provide insights for educational stakeholders to implement targeted interventions to improve school climate and enhance student success amidst post-pandemic challenges.

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