The purpose of this study was to identify the strategies that school administrators indicate they use to develop and sustain the growth mindset in classroom teachers. The researcher interviewed three administrators from a small, rural county in Virginia to gain understanding of established practices (see Appendix D). Two research questions frame this study: What strategies do Virginia public elementary school administrators use to support and sustain the growth mindset of classroom teachers and how do Virginia public elementary school administrators perceive the importance of developing a growth mindset of classroom teachers? This study seeks to contribute to the body of work completed by Dweck (2006) on fixed and growth mindsets. Additionally, this study will further contribute to the research of Abboud (2019), which explored evidenced-based strategies utilized by building principals in California high schools that supported high-yielding student achievement. An analysis of data revealed important steps that help in the development and sustainability of a growth mindset, as well as suggestions for future research. School divisions and administrators could provide teachers opportunities for growth mindset professional development in support of learning strategies for best practices in teaching. School divisions and administrators benefit when teachers are trained in growth mindset development. In addition, the study found, administrators should form PLCs in schools to provide opportunities for sharing and collaboration amongst peers related to growth mindset. School divisions should encourage administrators in providing timely feedback to teachers and follow up related to developing a growth mindset. / Doctor of Education / The purpose of this study was to identify the strategies that school administrators indicate they use to develop and sustain a growth mindset in classroom teachers. An analysis of this relationship revealed important steps that help in the development and sustainability of a growth mindset. The researcher interviewed three administrators from a small, rural county in Virginia to gain understanding of established practices (see Appendix D). Two research questions frame this study: What strategies do Virginia public elementary school administrators use to support and sustain the growth mindset of classroom teachers and how do Virginia public elementary school administrators perceive the importance of developing a growth mindset of classroom teachers? Data were collected and analyzed to determine themes. Major findings of this research reveal four steps administrators used to support teachers in developing, supporting, and sustaining a growth mindset in classroom teachers, as well as suggestions for future research. School divisions and administrators could ensure teachers are provided opportunities for growth mindset professional development in support of learning strategies for best practices in teaching. School divisions and administrators benefit when teachers are trained in growth mindset development. In addition, the study found, administrators should form PLCs in schools to provide opportunities for sharing and collaboration amongst peers to support a growth mindset. School divisions should encourage administrators in providing timely feedback to teachers and follow up related to developing a growth mindset.

Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA), signed into law by President Obama on December 10, 2015, amended several K-12 accountability requirements. ESSA defined high school graduation rate for the first time in federal education law. In ESSA, the Four-Year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (ACGR) was defined as the ratio of the number of students who graduated with a regular high school diploma over the course of four years divided by the number of students who made up an adjusted cohort. Under ESSA, high schools that graduate less than 67 percent of their students were labeled as low performing. The graduation rate differed significantly between high schools and was influenced by multiple factors. Among other factors, the difference in graduation rates might be attributed to increased dropout rates among groups, such as males, racial minorities, low socioeconomic (SES) families, and schools that were located in urban areas (Bower et al., 2013). This study was modeled after the work of Blowe (2011) and White (2015). A quasi-experimental analysis of ex post facto data was conducted to determine if CTE completion affected students' standardized assessment scores and graduation rates. The purpose of this study was to determine if the completion of Career and Technical Education (CTE) sequences was associated with the graduation rates among Virginia students for the 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 cohort years. In addition, the study examined whether there were statistically significant differences in graduation rates among CTE finishers, non-CTE finishers, and total students when regional classifications were considered. School graduation data from the 132 school divisions were grouped according to The National Center for Education Statistics' designated locale classifications type to determine if CTE sequence completion and locale type were associated with graduation rates of each geographic region. The researcher used quasi-experimental, comparative analysis, t-test, and ANOVA to analyze the graduation data of each locale type. The study determined that CTE finishers' graduation rates were significantly higher than students who have not completed CTE programs. In addition, regional classifications had a statistically significant influence on the overall graduation rates for all students. / Doctor of Education / Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA), signed into law by President Barak Obama on December 10, 2015, amended several K-12 accountability requirements for K-12 education. Under ESSA, graduation rates were an essential measure of student outcomes, and high schools that graduated less than 67 percent of their students were labeled as low performing. Across the country, the graduation rate differed significantly between high schools and was influenced by a wide range of factors. Among other factors, the difference in graduation rates might be attributed to factors including increased dropout rates among groups, such as males, racial minorities, Hispanics, low socioeconomic (SES) families, and schools that were located in urban areas (Bower et al., 2013). The achievement of a diploma allowed students to choose their path - whether they wish to attend a two- or four-year college, a technical school, workforce training, or enter the military. This study was modeled after the work of Blowe (2011) and White (2015) in using existing data to determine if CTE completion had an association with earning a diploma. The purpose of this study was to determine if the completion of Career and Technical Education (CTE) sequences was associated with the graduation rates of Virginia students for the 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 cohort years. In addition, the study examined whether there were statistically significant differences in graduation rates among CTE finishers, non-CTE finishers, and total students when regional classifications were considered. That is, the study analyzed the graduation rates of Virginia's 132 school divisions in determining if completing a CTE course sequence affected state graduation as well as regional graduation rates. Schools were grouped according to The National Center for Education Statistics' designated locale classifications type. The researcher used statistical analysis to compare the graduation data of each locale grouping, rural, town, suburban, and city, to the corresponding annual state average. The results of the study indicated that graduation rates for students who finished CTE sequences were significantly higher than their peers who did not finish a CTE sequence and that regional classifications influenced overall graduation rates.

This study was designed to explore the impact of interdisciplinary research on the likelihood of a doctoral student obtaining a faculty job upon degree completion. Additionally, this study examined the important individual and institutional components of socialization that contribute to differences in career outcomes. A socialization framework likely substantiates the extent to which doctoral training environments are consequential to careers. Results were obtained from a sample of 28,928 doctoral students who participated in the 2021 Survey of Earned Doctorates. Hierarchical Generalized Linear Modeling was used because it measures the effects of both student characteristics and institutional factors. The findings from this analysis suggest student demographics are an important predictor, but the significance of those characteristics' changes when doctoral field of study is considered. Additionally, there are institutional characteristics that impact the likelihood of obtaining a faculty job related to the proportion of various student backgrounds, faculty backgrounds, and broad field of study, and the prestige of the institution. The independent variable of interest, interdisciplinary dissertation, was not statistically significant at the student level, but the proportion of doctoral students completing an interdisciplinary dissertation at the institution level was statistically significant and negatively associated with obtaining a faculty position adjusting for other institutional factors. These findings show the importance of applying hierarchical models to research questions related to career outcomes for doctoral students. Without a hierarchical model, this important differential finding across levels would have been hidden. / Doctor of Philosophy / There is currently a surplus in doctoral degree production compared to a shrinking number of faculty jobs in academia. Interdisciplinary research experiences in doctoral education are becoming more popular and it is important to determine how participation in these programs influences a student's career prospects upon receiving their degree. This study was designed to explore the impact of completing an interdisciplinary dissertation on the likelihood of obtaining a faculty job upon degree completion. A model was used which considers characteristics of individual students as well as characteristics of the institutions they attend. Findings of the study show that for a student, completing an interdisciplinary dissertation does not have a statistically significant influence on their likelihood of obtaining a faculty job. However, the proportion of students completing an interdisciplinary dissertation at a particular institution has a statistically significant negative association on the likelihood of obtaining a faculty job. Additionally, student demographics were only significant until the broad field of study was considered in the model. Beyond student characteristics, there are institutional characteristics that impact the likelihood of obtaining a faculty job and these are related to the representation of various student backgrounds, faculty backgrounds, institution prestige, and the proportion of doctoral students in each broad field. These findings show the importance of considering both student and institutional characteristics.

This study was undertaken to explore emotional stress experienced by early adolescents in dual-earner families. Data were collected from 152 eighth-grade adolescents, (67 males and 85 females). Degree of role strain, use of coping responses, and level of psychological resources were examined for influence on stress levels in the student, family, and friend roles. Overall, adolescents indicating lower stress levels evidenced stronger psychological resources and used Social Support and Family Support more frequently as coping strategies. Implications of these findings are discussed. / M.S.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / The research study focused on the reasons why professional women are leaving corporate life at mid-career. In a series of in-depth interviews, fifteen mid-career women who had left large organizations recalled their initial expectations of corporate life and expanded and illustrated the ways they felt that these expectations had not been met. There were two key findings. The first was that while the women interviewed needed to work interdependently with others in order to grow professionally, develop personally, and to achieve satisfaction in their work, the corporations in which they worked were seen to hold mainly contrary values. Predominantly, the corporations in which they found themselves esteemed masculine ways of working, rewarding individuality, self-sufficiency, and individual contribution, and valuing tangible outputs, competitiveness, and rationality instead of valuing relationships, interdependence, and collaboration that the women sought. The second finding, corollary to the first, was that the women interviewed had experienced disconnections in the workplace. They felt disconnected from colleagues, clients, and co-workers, from meaning in the work itself, and most importantly, from themselves. By mid-career, they had concluded that in order to find satisfaction, growth, and development in work, and to be rewarded for their relational skills that they considered essential to success, they needed to leave corporate life. Miller and Stiver's (1997) relational theory of women's psychological development helps to explain the women's sense of disconnection in large corporations. The data make clear, consistent with the theory and relational practice, that a central question of development and satisfaction in the professional workplace for the women interviewed was "whether relationships can change so that they can allow and encourage expansion" (p. 53). / 2999-01-01

Museums today frequently consider education as one of their priorities. As such, museum administrators will provide resources, field trips, or professional development opportunities to support teachers and schools. In an era of high-stakes testing, museums, like schools, are also influenced by standards that may dictate what information is taught and when. Therefore, to remain relevant and useful to school systems, museums have altered their educational practices to align with standards. Some museums choose to provide professional development workshops for educators that focus on a topic included within those standards. The Holocaust, a topic that is mandated by over 30 states, is an example of one such topic—albeit one that might also be difficult or controversial to teach. A regional Holocaust Museum that has chosen to provide a weeklong professional development opportunity for educators on teaching the Holocaust serves as an example of a museum providing support to local school divisions. However, the literature indicates that museums and teachers, while both working toward the goal of educating students, often have little communication with each other. While multiple studies have examined how teacher participants react to professional development workshops, far less attention has been paid to those that plan such opportunities. The multi-tiered issue of interest, then, is that little is known about how museum educators plan a Holocaust-related professional development opportunity, what role they play in workshop implementation, and what they consider to be crucial when preparing teachers to cover the topic This qualitative inquiry focused on understanding how museum educators planned and presented a weeklong Holocaust education workshop for teachers. The research question was developed to determine how museum staff members understand the Holocaust and Holocaust education, and how that understanding influenced their role when implementing the workshop. Data collection methods included observation and semi-structured interviews. Analysis methods utilized in this study included first and second cycle coding methods, as well as episode profiles for each participant. The key finding from this investigation suggests that museum educators' understanding of the Holocaust and Holocaust education greatly shaped their planning processes, as well as the role they fulfilled in workshop implementation. Though museum staff members agreed that the Holocaust is difficult knowledge, they each approached the topic and how it should be taught in a different manner. The implications of this study, its limitations, and suggestions for future research are detailed herein. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a ten week career education course on the concept of career maturity and the impact of decision-making style on outcomes. A pre-post-test design was used with career maturity being assessed by Super's Career Development Inventory (CDI), and decision-making style being determined by Harren's Assessment of Career Decision-Making - Styles (ACDM-S). A treatment and control group were used, and due to disproportionate sex and age characteristics across groups these two variables were used as covariates in concert with the pre-test in the ANCOVA analysis of the experimental effects. Discriminant analysis, reliability estimates (KR-20) and factor analysis provided validation evidence for the ACDM-S as a classification instrument. Significant (p ≤ 0.05) increases in career maturity as measured by the CDI were found in only Scale B (Resources for Exploration), however Scale A increases approached the assumed significance (p ≤ 0.05) level of probability. Significant (p ≤ 0.05) interaction effects between groups and styles were found on Scale A. Rational decision-makers in the treatment group increased, while for other styles control group means remained higher or equal to the treatment group means. Both Scale A and B are attitudinal in nature, while C, D, and E are cognitive. An informal post-experimental interview of one third (n=20) of the treatment group suggest generally positive reactions to the career education class, but substantive negative reactions to the CDI instrument. / Ed. D.

Just like other artistic disciplines, animators are tasked with bringing characters to life through movement, whether for personal or professional motives. Games are a diverse field that sees a wide range of animation needs, but there lie consistent threads that lead to the success of a video games movements aesthetically and functionally. For aspiring animators there remains one consistent question: what does it mean and entail to create animation in the highly competitive game industry? This culminating experience paper aims to discuss the similarities and differences between student and professional work to highlight the importance and what it entails to work within creative restraints to create quality gameplay animation on demand. By analyzing animations, game development, and personal experience animating in different roles and scenarios, this paper seeks to highlight studio workflows, challenges, and steps to see to the success of an animation while adhering to quality and creative standards.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the chronological age of one's diagnosis and dysfunctional career thoughts among college students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. What is currently known about the timing of ADHD diagnosis and how it could potentially impact or have an effect on one's career thoughts as it pertains to making educational and career decisions is nonexistent. Given the increase of ADHD among college students, it was worth exploring the impact that age of one's diagnosis has on career thoughts. / Ph. D.

Professionals called upon to design and deliver online professional development face unique challenges in fulfilling those roles when they may have little or no training experience within the online medium. Using research-based recommendations from the literature via a design and development methodology, this study operationalizes findings into Gilbert's (1978) Behavior Engineering Model to create guidelines for designing and delivering continuing professional development within the online medium. An expert review serves to validate and lead the revision process for the guidelines. This study describes the literature, guideline development, experts' reviews, and the validation of the guidelines. / Doctor of Philosophy / Often, individuals in the workforce are asked to design and teach professional development that is not delivered in a face to face setting. It is a challenging task that could be made easier by following guidance that has been developed by instructional designers and researchers. As such, this study highlights the techniques and best practices located within the publications from the fields of professional development, online learning, and instructional design. These techniques and best practices have been organized into a performance improvement model established by Thomas F. Gilbert entitled The Behavior Engineering Model (1978) and follows the research method known as development research. The findings of this study were reviewed by three experts who research the areas of online learning, performance improvement, and instructional design.