Thesis advisor: Karen D. Arnold / "Parental involvement," a term long part of the K-12 lexicon is now included in the higher education vocabulary. Many college administrators today associate "parental involvement" with a certain pattern of behavior and describe the contemporary traditional-aged student-parent relationship with negative examples. Dubbed by the media as "helicopter parents," this sub-population of overly involved mothers and fathers has come to represent all parents of college students, even though these examples are largely socioeconomic class-based. This qualitative phenomenological study considered the lived experience of the relationship between working class and low-income students and their parents during the first semester of college. All students in the sample were enrolled at four-year colleges and had attended an alternative high school where parental involvement was supported and encouraged. Students (n=6) participated in three open-ended, qualitative interviews and their parents (n=7) participated in two. What constitutes "parental involvement" for working class and low-income students and parents in the context of higher education? This study found that the parents had positive, emotionally supportive relationships with their students. Students were autonomous and functionally independent, but emotionally interdependent with parents. Parents in the study did not have a direct connection to their child's college or university; students served as intermediaries in this parent-institution relationship. Therefore, this sample did not fit the current definition of parental involvement in higher education. As colleges and universities implement parent services as a reaction to the phenomenon of parental involvement, they need to consider alternative pathways for communicating with parents from lower socioeconomic groups, many of whom have not attended college. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Administration and Higher Education.

In Malawi, the new Biology curriculum draws from constructivist approaches. The Biology teaching syllabus emphasises the use of students’ experiences as a resource and the use of active student involvement strategies when teaching the curriculum to enhance conceptual understanding. However, inspection reports show that students are less actively involved in the lessons and the teachers rarely draw from their students’ prior experiences to enhance conceptual understanding. In this study, I investigated some factors affecting four teachers’ use of constructivist approaches when teaching the new biology curriculum in Malawi. Information was collected on the four teachers’ understandings of active student involvement in lessons and students’ experiences, the extent to which the four teachers involved students and built on students’ experiences to enable comprehension of science concepts in the Biology lessons and the factors that promoted/ hindered the use of these practices. Data was collected through lesson observations and interviews with teachers using an observation guide and an interview schedule respectively. Four Biology teachers, two from community secondary schools and two from conventional secondary schools were observed and interviewed. I found that all the four teachers understood students’ experiences as prior knowledge from previous school learning. The teachers understood active student involvement in relation to the type of schools they were teaching. For the teachers in community schools, involving students meant engaging them in group discussion while to the teachers in conventional schools it meant students doing experiments / practical work. Their teaching focused on giving information and little was done to develop students’ metacognitive abilities. According to the four teachers, pressure to cover the syllabus before the national examinations; lack of text books and laboratory equipment; lack of motivation among students; students’ backgrounds; and inadequate students’ fluency in the English language are some of the factors that affect their implementation of the constructivist approaches. Based on the lessons I observed, the teachers’ knowledge of subject matter and teachers’ understandings of the constructivism concept also affect the use of constructivist approaches when teaching Biology in Malawi.

Thesis advisor: Lauren Saenz / Stakeholder involvement is widely acknowledged to be an important aspect of program evaluation (Mertens, 2007; Greene, 2005a; Brandon, 1998). However, limited work has been done to empirically study evaluators’ practices of stakeholder involvement and ways in which stakeholder involvement is affected or guided by various factors. As evaluators interact with and place value on the input of stakeholders, social, cultural, and historical backgrounds will always be infused into the context (Mertens & Wilson, 2012; MacNeil, 2005). The field of evaluation has done little to critically examine how such contexts impact evaluators’ perceptions of stakeholders and their involvement. The present study attempts to fill these gaps, focusing specifically on the relationships among evaluator identities and characteristics, evaluation models, and stakeholder involvement. Using the frameworks of critical evaluation theory (Freeman & Vasconcelos, 2010) and a theory of capital (Bourdieu, 1986), the present study utilized a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach. A sample of 272 practicing program evaluators from the United States and Canada provided quantitative survey data, while a sample of nine evaluators provided focus group and interview data. Regression analyses and thematic content analyses were conducted. Findings from the quantitative strand included relationships between: (1) measures of individualism-collectivism and stakeholder involvement outcomes, (2) contextual evaluation variables and stakeholder involvement outcomes, (3) use of use, values or social justice branch evaluation models and stakeholder involvement outcomes, and (4) whether the evaluator identified as a person of color and the diversity of involved stakeholders. Findings from the qualitative strand demonstrated the role of dominant frameworks of evaluation serving to perpetuate systems of power. Participating evaluators revealed ways in which they feel and experience systems of power acting on them, including participation in, recognition of, and responses to oppression. The qualitative strand showed that evaluation models may be used to help recognize power dynamics, but that they are also used to reinforce existing power dynamics. Implications and recommended directions for future research are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation.

Thesis advisor: Irwin Blumer / Public and private schools are adopting new technological software to manage student information in a web-based format. These programs have the capability to provide students and parents with on-line access to grades and higher quality assessment information with the hope that students take information about their grades and use it formatively to improve in the classroom. Teachers, however, have historically kept their grade books private and increasing transparency into grading represents a major change in teachers' communication of student achievement. This qualitative case study examines the impact of increasing transparency in assessment by providing parents and students access to web-based grading information on teachers' perceptions of the quality and effectiveness of communication with parents and students, teachers' perceptions of student motivation, teachers' application of the program, and teachers' perceptions of their communication with each other. Seven teachers participated in this research study over the course of one semester at a large, suburban New England high school. The data from this study showed that increasing transparency in assessment to students and parents resulted in changes in the nature and substance of communication between teachers, parents and students. Teachers reported changing their use of the program over the course of the semester in order to provide greater clarity of assessment data to students and parents and, as a result, students were able to use it formatively to improve student learning. Teachers reported that the greatest impact of this program was in improved communication with students leading to increased student effort and a sense of student ownership over grades. Teachers also felt that increasing transparency in assessment influenced communication and collaboration among teachers. The findings of this research study provide implications for educational practice, policy, future research and leadership. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Administration.

Thesis advisor: Larry H. Ludlow / Higher education has renewed its focus on civic engagement due to a growing recognition of the distinctive opportunities for students to internalize civic values during college. This unique role has become increasingly important in context of the shifting trend in American youth away from traditional political participation towards increasing involvement in civic life. Past research in higher education and youth civic engagement has suggested connections between participation in and attitudes supportive of civic engagement across both civic and political realms. To further investigate this relationship, this dissertation looked at how students' civic engagement involvement and attitudes develop over time, tracking how participation levels in civic, political, and expressive activities impact the acquisition of a comprehensive set of civic attitudes during students' undergraduate tenure. The specific attitudes of interest in this study were students' self-efficacy through community service, politics, and civic involvement, commitment to civic accountability, and tolerance of diversity. This dissertation utilized data from two cohorts (N=137) of a multi-year study at a single institution as its main data source, with data from a nationally-representative sample of college students used for scale development and anchoring. A mixed-method three-factor within subjects design was used to explore the development within and between students' civic engagement involvement and attitudes across their four years at college by gender and minority status. Through the Rasch rating scale model, repeated measures analyses of variance, and repeated measures analyses of covariance, students' longitudinal commitment to civic engagement was shown to be much more complex than expected. Canonical correlation analysis was then used to address the connection between students' involvement and attitudes within their freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years. While the results of this study were typically non-significant with regard to students' development of civic engagement involvement and attitudes, these findings provided valuable insights into the relationship between participation in specific types of activities at certain stages of students' college experiences and the acquisition of particular civic engagement attitudes. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation.

Thesis advisor: Karen Arnold / Traditional aged college students currently enrolled at institutions of higher education have never known a time without technology and through social media, can interact and engage with one another regardless of physical space. Technology provides fast, easy, efficient, and constant means of communication, and students use social media while simultaneously engaging in campus activities. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between student use of socially interactive technology (SIT) and engagement and involvement in the undergraduate experience. Social media included in this study refers to cell phones, text messaging, Instant Messaging, email, and social networking sites (SNS). Borrowing items from the Net Generation Survey and the National Study for Student Engagement (NSSE) an instrument was created to analyze time dedicated to technology, use by demographics, technology as a predictor student of engagement, as well as qualitative data. Results from 154 participants show that students use technology for approximately eight hours per day, male students in the sample are overrepresented at the lowest levels of social media use, and social media types are correlated with one another. Following a factor analysis on the independent technology items and the dependent engagement items, regression analyses were employed to explore this relationship. Qualitative data illustrate that technology use can distract students from academic activities, and limits interpersonal communication. Conversely, it is beneficial in that students are constantly updated on class discussions, campus events, and with peers and family. Given these findings, because of students' frequent use of technology while engaged or involved in campus activities, concerns regarding the quality of these experiences are discussed. Additionally, redefining the traditional meaning of campus involvement is appropriate. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Thesis advisor: Irwin Blumer / Thesis advisor: James Marini / The effects of a formal empowerment and education program on parent's empowerment and involvement in their child's education. By Michelle Gomes Sanchez Through decades of research and data collecting, the effects of parent involvement in their child's education on a student outcomes has been examined through countless lenses; each with findings indicating its tremendous positive impact with benefits that extend beyond a child doing better in school. This dissertation, through a cross case-analysis of six parents, attempted to determine if parents felt more empowered as a result of participating in an education and empowerment program and in turn if that feeling of empowerment compelled them to be more involved in their child's education. The study examined changes in parent attitudes and perceptions of empowerment, as well as levels of engagement after participating in the training program that was specially designed to provide them with the skills needed to become better involved in their child's education. The workshops focused on empowering them with knowledge about social and cultural capital as well as different issues related to the development and education of their child such as communicating effectively with your child, creating a homework environment, having powerful parent teacher meetings, creating valuable two-way lines of communication with the school, as well as understanding child development. Overall, the project created a very successful parent program that increased parent involvement by providing workshops specifically targeted at educating and empowering parents in order for them to feel more confident in their abilities to be an effective advocate for their child. The study made cleat that parent involvement can not just be a statement in your handbook or mission statement; it must be a priority of the school and be embedded into the school culture, with staff buy-in and deliberate parent education about cultural and social capital and its effects on their involvement and must provide them with the resources needed to most effectively navigate the school system. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Administration.

With many global problems affecting the human population in recent years, which would include aging and increase in chronic diseases, hospitals are becoming overwhelmed by patients. To overcome this issue and ensure appropriate treatment is provided, many proposals and projects have been developed. Quality management is an aspect of care that is needed to minimize the time people stay at hospitals and improve the efficient delivery of healthcare services, while also, the presence of accreditation provides an international mean to assure proper quality of care and performance improvement is delivered. While performance improvement is mainstream in many fields, it is under developed yet highly pertinent to the healthcare sector in order to improve patient care and here is where the importance of this research is illuminated. The current research investigates the impact of accreditation on performance measurement in hospitals as an effective external assessment scheme. While also, investigating the effect of following international standards developed by accreditation organizations and maintaining high quality of care and performance improvement. Moreover, the current research was conducted at hospitals in different cities of Saudi Arabia, which could be generalised to the whole country and similar healthcare systems including: Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Based on the pragmatism philosophy, this research is of an exploratory nature, which adapts a mixed method design to collect data from different hospitals in different cities. The main finding of the current research is the provision of a framework which demonstrates the alignment and its connection to the external and internal environment. Moreover, the data were collected through case studies and questionnaires which provided the validation of the current research framework, two new internal environment factors namely: involvement and standardisation and an outcome to the alignment namely improvement. Hence, this research argues that following national and international standards of care are enablers for hospitals to achieve performance improvement and high quality care. Furthermore, the findings of this research suggest that accreditation is directly linked to performance improvement and is essential for the quality of care in hospitals.

Recognition that corporations are embedded within societies is playing an increasingly significant role in shaping strategic decision making in modern business organisations. Corporate community involvement (CCI) is becoming an increasingly salient aspect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and encompasses a diverse range of activities from philanthropic giving and employee volunteerism to cause related marketing and sponsorship, and supports a range of community needs from education and welfare to cultural and artistic development. As such it provides an ideal focus for exploring the economic, strategic, cultural and institutional influences on CCI. This thesis presents the first systematic analysis of CCI behaviours in Turkey. Turkey, as a secular, developing, largely Moslem country with a growing economy, provides a comparative research context that is culturally, economically and institutionally distinct from other environments within which CCI has been studied. A conceptual model has been developed based on the application of the behavioural theory of the firm. The model engenders the studies which aim to explain the situation of CCI in an institutional, cultural, and national context and through the CCI model, it is expected that the multicultural and complex characteristics of the CCI phenomenon can be understood. The findings suggest that shareholder/investors and community groups positively affect the companies in taking the decision to engage in CCI. The documented relationship between CCI, ownership type, and other firm characteristics also had important implications. This study finds that larger firms are more likely and smaller firms less likely to become involved in CCI activities. Local Turkish companies are keener to contribute large amounts in corporate giving than foreign ones. There is a strong orientation of CCI in Turkey to projects concerned with education, healthcare and the arts. The three common exclusions are politics, religion and animal rights. The majority of CCI expenditures in Turkey took the form of sponsorships. Engaging in CCI under a CSR department is not thepreferred choice in Turkey usually the companies wants to engage in their CCI activities under other business functions. The companies generally separate their philanthropic and sponsorhip activities from each other. Key types of CCI such as employee volunteerism, cash resources or gifts-in-kind, are undertaken under the auspices of these philantrophy and sponsorship and considered to be resources allocated to engage in these types of CCI. This thesis fills the gaps in the existing literature with respect to the lack of conceptual and empirical studies about the necessity of investigating the topic of CCI from a holistic perspective; the necessity of application of other theory(ies) which are able to describe the whole CCI situation instead of describing it piecemeal, and the necessity of discovering different institutional contexts because existing research is geographically narrowly drawn and usually concentrated in the U.S and Western Europe. The thesis is structured to fill these gaps and the contributions are made based on the lacks of the existing studies on CCI.

How will digitalization influence the role of corporate headquarters (CHQs) and their relationships with their operating units? We recently asked 67 senior CHQ managers this question. The results suggest that CHQs expect to become more powerful and more involved in their operating units. These conclusions seem to be driven by perceptions that the ongoing digitalization will provide CHQ managers with more timely and better information. In this "Point of View", we discuss the potential pitfalls of such a narrative. We also offer ideas for how to avoid mistakes and ensure that CHQs increase their value-added in times of digitalization. In particular, we suggest that CHQs place emphasis on social interactions for data to be effectively collected and analyzed, for decision-making power to be adequately allocated, and for CHQ involvement to be informed and necessary.