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International University of Grand-Bassam (IUGB) first opened its doors in Cote d'Ivoire, in a sociocultural context where a significant number of freshmen students were French speakers. Because the instructional language was English, students were faced with a language barrier that triggered more issues including difficulties in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The purpose of this study was to uncover French speaking students' challenges in academic literacy at IUGB and to suggest some solutions that would benefit students and instructors. The research questions focused on faculty members' perceptions of French speaking students' challenges in academic literacy, and their suggestions for improving student proficiency in English at IUGB. Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of learning, as well as Cummins's theory of language acquisition framed the conceptual foundation of this study. A qualitative case study research design was used with data gathered from 8 classroom observations, 8 individual interviews, and 1 focus group discussion. Participants were instructors selected from all 3 schools of the university. Data analysis included open coding and data triangulation. Major findings included students' lack of proficiency in English that negatively affected the beginning of their tertiary education. As a response, faculty members used a variety of instructional strategies to support their students. They also called for administrative authorities to help create an environment more conducive to student proficiency. A project was developed suggesting ways to overcome French speaking students' challenges in academic literacy at IUGB. Implementation of these suggested changes could result in significant improvements in student learning at IUGB and benefit both students and faculty.

As mandated in Maryland public schools, principals cannot suspend students for infractions coded in the categories of disrespect and insubordination. To manage these behaviors, teachers need effective supports from educational leaders. The purpose of this case study was to explore a possible relationship between administrative supports and special education office referrals for disrespect and insubordination at a rural East Coast 8-12 school. The administration provided differentiated professional development by offering options that would meet the varied needs of teachers for classroom management. The theoretical foundation for this study was Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which was used to assess teachers' needs for safety and acceptance to move towards self-fulfillment, one's ability to critically problem solve. Two research questions were used to examine the influence of providing differentiated teacher resources on special education discipline referrals for disrespect and insubordination. The site school also presented results from voluntary, anonymous surveys that asked teachers about their use of classroom management strategies for various behaviors. In the case study, the researcher triangulated quantitative data of office referral rates and archival survey results with qualitative open-responses from the archival survey. For the outcome, the researcher identified themes that represented needs of teachers. The researcher concluded that administrators needed to be empathetic in how they provide teacher supports. The study findings resulted in a project involving training for principals, which included strategies for empathic leadership to better support their teachers. The findings and project outcome may contribute to positive social change by helping to improve classroom management strategies and add to teacher-administrator relationships.

Effective integration of active learning technology tools in classrooms is a key component of 21st century higher education classrooms. Challenged with outdated technology access and traditional classrooms, a local university in North Carolina initiated a strategic plan to update classrooms and laboratories with the 21st century technology. The problem of the study was that limited information existed regarding faculty perceptions regarding benefits of and barriers to integrating active learning technology tools. The goal of this study was to uncover the faculty members' views and perceptions about redesigning classrooms with the active learning technology tools. The technology acceptance model (TAM) framework was used in this qualitative exploratory case study to explore perceptions of 8 faculty members through semistructured interviews. The research questions were focused on exploring faculty members' perceptions about the main benefits and barriers of upgrading the local university's classrooms with active learning technology tools. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed for recurring themes. Insights from this study revealed that it is a teaching technique and style of the faculty members in the use of the active learning technology tools that determined the nature of their perception of success, rather than the active learning tools themselves. The resulting project study is a position paper intended to deliver the results of the case study. The position paper includes recommendations to the senior leadership to increase an understanding from the faculty members' perspectives to better align the implementation of these tools. Positive social change may result from this study, improving 21st century higher education classrooms through more effective implementation of active learning technology tools.

Coteaching is a mandated practice in which students with disabilities are educated in the general education setting among their peers, but it often is not effectively implemented. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of both middle school general education and special education teacher relative to coteaching parity and barriers to effective coteaching practices. Friend and Cook's conceptual framework of collaboration, outlining the importance of understanding roles when working in teams, supported the purpose and design of this study. The research questions were designed to investigate the extent to which the general and special education teachers share coteaching responsibilities and implementation of coteaching practices. Eleven general and special education teachers participated in interviews and observations. Teachers were selected through convenience sampling from a large school district in the Southeastern United States. Data were analyzed with thematic coding and open coding. General education teachers were perceived as clearly dominating lesson planning and delivery during interviews and observations. Common perceived barriers to effective coteaching included low expectations of the special education teacher, limited coplanning time, inadequate training, large class sizes, student behaviors, and issues with special education teacher presence. The results of this study can promote positive social change by helping improve the coteaching environment for teachers and help administrators make informed decisions that will facilitate more effective coteaching decisions.

Reading comprehension is a multidimensional process and a key component of this process is the activation of prior knowledge in the comprehension of text. This study utilized video clips as a means to anchor instruction and assist struggling middle-level readers in comprehending text. Participants in this study were 17 seventh- and eighth-grade students from a rural middle school. The study used a single-subject reversal design. During the baseline phase of the study, students read four different titles before a stable baseline could be established. The data collected were the combined mean scores of the teacher-created comprehension assessments and commercially produced computer-based assessments at the completion of reading each title during all phases of the study. In the second and fourth phases (books 5 and 7), no treatment was used and the regular instructional routine was followed. In the third and fifth phase (books 6 and 8), the treatment (video clips) was introduced to assist the reader with background knowledge pertinent to the content of the book being read. Books 6 and 8 were taught in combination with the viewing of video clips, class discussion of the materials viewed, and the regular instructional routine. Findings from the study were analyzed to explore (a) what effect did viewing video clips as a means to anchor instruction have on the mean classroom scores of combined teacher-developed and commercially developed comprehension assessments for remedial, struggling middle-level readers; and (b) how did viewing video clips related to text topics affect individual student scores on combined teacher-developed and commercially developed end-of-book comprehension questions. The findings indicated that the use of video clips as a means of either activating or developing background knowledge may have a positive effect on struggling middle-level readers' comprehension test scores. This combined condition (regular instructional routine and the viewing of video clips) was better than the regular instructional routine alone; the addition of the video clips appeared to contribute to higher mean comprehension scores.

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The student affairs profession places considerable emphasis on the values of diversity, inclusiveness, and social justice as part of its mission to foster the holistic development of college students. Many vocal conservative critics point to these values as evidence of the liberal worldview that they claim dominates the higher education landscape. This critical, phenomenological study was designed around the premise that higher education, and, specifically, student affairs, is characterized by a liberal ideology that privileges those in the profession who identify as liberal. The study explored the perceptions and experiences of 12 self-identified conservative student affairs professionals in order to better understand the nature and impact of the hegemony that operates within the field. The findings then served as the basis for a deconstruction of the lived ideology of the profession. The premise of the study was affirmed by the experiences of many of the participants. Intent aside, majority status alone appears to confer certain privileges on liberals, allowing them to speak or act in ways that leave some conservatives feeling devalued and marginalized. The study identifies specific manifestations of liberal privilege, as well as a variety of strategies used by participants to respond and/or cope. The study findings reveal that participants differed considerably in how, and to what degree, they experienced student affairs as a hegemonic culture. Possible reasons for this are discussed, along with recommendations and avenues for further inquiry.

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