<p> This dissertation was a case study of student perceptions in two history classrooms in a large suburban high school. In each classroom examined for this study the teacher was committed to using social studies inquiry and mobile technology in their instruction. Students were also expected to complete assignments and conduct inquiry with mobile technology. The purpose of this study was to examine the voice and experiences of high school students, and how high school students construct meaning through inquiry and mobile technology in the social studies classroom. 109 students participated in observations, focus groups, personal interviews and submitted completed examples of inquiry with technology. There were four general themes uncovered in the data for this study. The four themes that generated the findings for this study are that students engaged in inquiry using mobile technology (a) embraced the availability of resources and information when planning and conducting inquiries (b) reflected on communication with teachers and peers during the inquiry process (c) expressed that mobile technology provided opportunities to engage in learning and enhance knowledge outside of prescribed assignments (d) and used various creative outlets of mobile technology to communicate outcomes. </p><p>

<p> Creekside High School is a high-performing public high school where students who are not White or Asian face a racialized school environment. This dissertation examines the school&rsquo;s initiative to detrack its ninth grade Algebra class. Detracking is the process of placing students in heterogeneous classes instead of grouping students by ability. The framework of design-based research was adopted to perform this study. Design-based research places the researcher and practitioners in collaboration working to iteratively design interventions. Chapter Two is a qualitative study that examined the perceptions of tracking shared by teachers and the community. This study found that the community holds many misperceptions about detracking due to lack of communication from the school and the district. However, the study also found a small group who want to build more equitable solutions. Chapter Three is a quantitative study of student outcomes. There was a slight drop in student grades between the tracked course and the detracked course with no drop in exam scores. Furthermore, students in the detracked course were more successful in their subsequent Geometry courses. Chapter 4 is qualitative study of pedagogy and teacher perceptions. Pedagogy changed during the detracking process. The tracked course was very teacher-centered, and the rigor was not universal due to there being two levels of Algebra. During the first year of the detracked course, the course became much more student-centered, and the average level of rigor increased. However, for advanced students, rigor and challenge were missing, and this was an area of focus for the second year. Teacher perceptions also changed throughout the process. The teachers on the team have grown into viewing Mathematics as an interconnected, non-linear system of thought and have moved beyond questioning detracking to developing solutions. Chapter Five is a qualitative study synthesizing all of the data collected in Chapters Two through Four. These data were used to propose a leadership framework called Critical Design-Based School Leadership. Critical refers to the use of a critical lens focused on equity and Design-Based refers to the use of design-based research techniques as the mechanism for school leadership.</p><p>

<p> Educational institutions&mdash;and, more specifically, principals&mdash;are faced with meeting the mandates and demands set forth by local, state, and federal initiatives. Accountability has forever changed the context in which the traditional role of a principal leads. This study examines the beliefs, attitudes, and opinions of public high school principals on distributed leadership within a context of accountability. In addition, it investigates their trust levels. The study of subjectivity can be employed utilizing systematic a mixed-methods approach called Q technique. This methodology has the power to reveal the shared viewpoints or intersubjectivity and models held by public high school principals. Data were analyzed from 28 suburban New York public high school principals located in Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, or Westchester counties concerning their beliefs regarding the potential barriers and impediments in distributing leadership responsibilities within the context of heightened accountability. In addition, it assessed their trust levels as these levels related to distributing their leadership. This study identified and examined 3 models of shared viewpoints held by public high school principals. Background characteristics were utilized to describe the clusters of participating principals. These characteristics consisted of: years of experience as a public-school administrator, years of prior experience as a teacher, highest level of education, and decade graduated from high school. Information was also gathered regarding principals&rsquo; beliefs in the effectiveness of distributed leadership. The 3 Q models revealed, consensus and disagreement. To identify and understand where changes in leadership must be made, it is necessary to research school leadership from an alternative perspective by understanding the intersubjectivity of high school principals.</p><p>

<p> This study explores the factors that shape students&rsquo; experience with instructional choices in classroom-based settings, and the role of instructional choice design in positively influencing student engagement and the development of self-regulation skills among high school students who attend an urban high school in the Mid-Atlantic Region, referred to as Aspiration High School. A range of cultural, structural and human resource factors are found to have a limiting effect on students&rsquo; experience with quality instructional choices in school, and as a result, limits their opportunities to practice and develop the self-regulation skills necessary for navigating choices at levels of complexity that mirror the world beyond school (Winne &amp; Perry, 2000; Winne &amp; Hadwin, 1998; Winne, 2001). Teachers and students of Aspiration High School were surveyed to gather insights on their experiences of and perceptions on choice in learning. Two teachers engaged in a series of collaborative lesson design cycles that involved choice-based lesson design, implementation with observation, lesson debriefs, and student work analysis, as well as pre and post student interviews and focus groups. This study identified five elements of high-quality choice designs, and argues for quality choice design as an important mechanism for cultivating learner engagement (Katz &amp; Assor, 2007), developing interventions to support self-regulatory skill development among learners, and nurturing pedagogical shifts among teachers toward more learner-centered designs and practices.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this dissertation is to extend General Strain Theory (GST) to examine prosocial, asocial, and antisocial behavior in response to bullying. In GST, Agnew (1992; 2001; 2013) asserted that negative emotions can lead to criminal or aggressive coping but there are a number of factors that increase or decrease the propensity to respond aggressively (Agnew, 1992; Richman &amp; Leary, 2009). In this dissertation, I examine whether and how rejection (operationalized as bullying victimization) is associated with aggressive responding as opposed to prosocial (e.g., befriending others) or asocial (e.g., avoiding people and social events) responding. This dissertation consists of three studies testing theoretical variables of bullying victimization as well as behavioral responses to four types of bullying: physical, verbal, relational, and cyber. Study 1 of this dissertation examines risk and protective factors for types of bullying victimization. Study 2 applies GST to test the effect of social support, or the availability of alternative relationships (i.e., having others to count on or turn to for social support), on responses to four types of bullying. Study 3 tests the effect of power dynamics on responses to physical and relational bullying. In conducting this research, I hope to: 1) integrate interdisciplinary bodies of literature to examine risk and protective factors of bullying victimization and behavioral responses to bullying and 2) improve understanding of how these experiences are affected by the power dynamics involved in bullying. Overall, the results of this dissertation suggest that types of negative emotions and behavioral outcomes vary by type of bullying victimization. Cyber bullying was found to have more negative consequences than any other form of bullying. Across all four forms of bullying, social support was found to be associated with an increased likelihood of youth engaging in prosocial behavior. Implicit power, or the perception that one&rsquo;s bully has a high social standing at school, significantly influenced responses based on the type of bullying. However, even when controlling for power dynamics, social support was still associated with increased prosocial behavior in response to bullying victimization. Theory and policy implications are discussed. </p><p>

<p> Personalized learning for students has been an emerging trend which seeks to support teaching and learning in the 21st century (Netoch, 2017). This study identified beliefs of secondary educators on the different aspects of personalized learning for students. Areas covered in this study included teacher professional development on the personalized learning process, amount or quality of teacher support for the implementation of personalized learning, the impact of technology on personalized learning with classroom instruction, and any obstacles to the personalized learning process. Findings from this study were compared to identify connections between responses as they related to the research questions. Many teachers surveyed indicated they felt instructional technology was needed but not necessary for all aspects of personalized learning. Most secondary teachers indicated some form of personalized learning was prevalent in their school. The majority of teachers indicated their students seldom or never utilized assistance on problem-solving help from automated tutoring services. In another related area, less than 50% of teachers reported students seldom or never used personalized learning systems feedback from automated systems regarding their own learning strengths and weaknesses. A majority of teacher respondents valued professional development offered to them through the school, as well as the support they received. A majority also somewhat or strongly agreed the professional development aided them in implementing technology for personalized learning in the classroom. Finally, one of the major obstacles reported by teachers was the excessive time needed to develop content for technology-based instruction.</p><p>

<p> Pressure has been put on educators to increase the achievement of all students, yet the primary emphasis has been put on moving low-performing students toward base proficiency instead of improving the proficiency of all student groups (Baum, Renzulli &amp; Hebert, 1995; Colangelo, Assouline &amp; Gross, 2004; DeBray &amp; Blankenship, 2013; Xiang, Dahlin, Cronin, Theaker &amp; Durant, 2011). Additionally, educational leaders are increasing the push for students to be engaged in rigorous academic courses, oftentimes without appropriate support for either the students or staff (Cleaver, 2011; Plucker, Giancola, Healy, Arndt &amp; Wang, 2015; Schaps, 2005; Smarick, 2013; VanderArk, 2014; Walton &amp; Spencer, 2009). </p><p> The goal of this study was to examine the support systems provided for students in advanced academic programs and their level of academic success. By examining not only student populations, but also the educators that may be providing support, a unique opportunity is created to compare and determine the outcome through multiple lenses. In order to explore this topic, surveys were created containing both open and closed-ended questions on the views of academic, emotional and social support provisions as well as future planning and effectiveness of all support areas. Surveys and semi-structured follow-up interviews were conducted with three participant groups; alumni, administrative personnel, and teachers. Triangulation of information was accomplished with the use of additional statistical tests which were performed to determine the relationship between support and student success. </p><p> Quantitative results determined that there was no correlation between any of the four support areas and student success. However, qualitative results disagreed with the statistical results and provided rich information on not only the view of support that was provided, but also the areas of concern and frustration for all three participant groups.</p><p>

<p> Enacting a vision and surviving as a first-year high school principal in a new suburban school district can be a complex and difficult journey. Secondary-level principals have varied roles, including the improvement of teachers&rsquo; practice and student achievement, branding (or rebranding) the school, and acting as community leaders. This retrospective autobiographical research study of an experienced school administrator during the first year of a high school principalship will examine how a principal enacts his vision and educational philosophy while managing the daily operations and expectations associated with a comprehensive suburban high school against the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (2015). Current educational research does not describe the experiences of high school principals&rsquo; comprehensively. Similarly, the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL) (2015) are relatively new and unexplored concerning their alignment to the role and responsibilities of first year principals. The literature review reveals the role&rsquo;s complexity, its changing nature, and how principals lead change and deal with conflict while also defining and exploring the notion of a principal&rsquo;s style. The literature review examines the known aspects about the first year of the principalship. Lastly, the literature review examines the evolution of the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (2015) and how these standards relate to professional practice. As the participant-researcher, the high school principal, engages in his first year in a new building and district, the question &ldquo;How do a first-year principal&rsquo;s experiences and understanding of their role and responsibilities align with the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders?&rdquo; will be explored.</p><p>

<p> Science education has undergone multiple reforms over the years, yet each reform continues to produce little change in student success. The latest reform of the standards&mdash;Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)&mdash;look to change that trend by focusing on what students can do, rather than just what they know. Modeling Instruction (MI) is one research-based pedagogy that is in alignment with the NGSS concepts of student-led classroom instruction. This proven strategy has been used across the U.S., but often in isolation, rather than as the routine classroom instruction throughout a school&rsquo;s science department. </p><p> Changes in new teaching methods, such as those needed to implement MI or NGSS, are not easy for schools to make. They require entire organizations to shift their beliefs in how education appears, with students actively working and presenting content, while the teacher walks to the students, facilitating and asking questions. Leadership within the school can help this transition take place, by providing structures and processes that support others attempting to make changes in their practice. Effective leaders not only provide a plan, but they also create a supportive climate in which goals can be achieved. </p><p> This qualitative case study looked at the leadership of schools that have implemented MI across the science curriculum, which includes Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Characteristics of the leaders, such as leadership style and structures, provided information on how to make a successful change in instruction. Data was collected via interviews with school leaders and school faculty, and observations taken at the school. This data was then coded to identify common themes and trends. </p><p> Results of this research showed that leadership played an important role in the implementation of MI in secondary science classrooms. Key attributes were provided by school leadership to help with the implementation. Professional development provided the staff with the tools needed to learn the techniques of the new methods. Time for collaboration was also given, which allowed the staff to help each other with any problems that had arisen along the way. Finally, support was given by the leadership when teaching staff had problems with their implementation. These characteristics allowed for the change from traditional instruction to MI at two high schools, while minimizing problems and creating an atmosphere, which inspired creativity. </p><p>

English language, which does not have a precedent in the respect that it is used by such a variety of speakers with so many different first languages in such a wide range of contexts across the world, has served to make the complex nature of language more visible to us. Given such an opportunity, a considerable amount of research has been devoted to the description and analysis of what people do with this global lingua franca (i.e. people’s language practices, performances, and consequential linguistic variation and change). However, on the other hand, little research has approached what people say about this global phenomenon. Given this gap, this PhD thesis explores the ways people think, talk about and make sense of English, language, communication, and various other issues and concepts surrounding this area of global language practices, since the nature of language cannot be fully understood from observation and description of actual language use alone. It is for this purpose that this thesis begins by engaging with academic theories of, approaches to, and research on English in a global context and language ideologies. Such conceptual understanding underpins the approaches taken in this research, which specifically explored East Asian English users’ ideas of and beliefs about English and language through a questionnaire survey and qualitative in-depth interviews. Explorations and discussions of the findings of this study emphasise the point that what is accessible in people’s talk on language is emphatically not only their ideas of English or language at face value. People’s micro-level everyday practices and macro-level social expectations and norms are merged and condensed into their accounts on language through their interpretive filters, which is an invaluable source that help linguists have a better understanding of language both as a practice and concept. These insights pose critical questions for language attitude research and add deeper considerations to discussions of language(s) and language users in the field of English as a lingua franca.