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Students in the United States are not achieving in mathematics as indicated on the NAEP (2019) exams and other measurements of student achievement (OECD, 2019; O’Dwyer, Wang, & Shields, 2015; NCES, 2019). Mathematically gifted and promising students are especially impacted by this phenomenon, though it is not exactly known what factors contribute to successful teachers of these students. This phenomenological case study focused on the beliefs, instructional practices, and conceptual understanding of mathematics of five teachers in a public charter school for gifted students. Data sources collected included semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and questionnaires based on Swan’s (2006) practices and beliefs research with effective mathematics teachers. Two theories of giftedness served as the theoretical lens for this study: Renzulli’s Three-Ring Model (1978) and Gagné’s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (1985) to better understand these phenomena. Using an interpretive phenomenological analysis several themes emerged in response to each research question. Findings for instructional practices indicated that teachers used both student-centered and teacher-centered practices and consistently utilized differentiated groupings. Additionally, teacher participants believe that gifted students possess both positive traits and challenges and specifically for math, believe that sense-making is key, and math is a subject students should enjoy. Teachers’ conceptual understanding of mathematics is guided by their ongoing practice, the curriculum, and math experiences prior to teaching. These findings indicate the importance of ongoing training and professional development in mathematics and gifted education, as well as the recruitment and retention of teachers who possess a strong conceptual understanding of mathematics, a passion for the subject, and a student-centered approach to teaching.
Keywords: mathematically gifted, instructional practices, beliefs, teachers’ conceptual understanding of mathematics
Despite evidence of the rapid growth of Latinx students throughout the country (Gándara, 2017; He & Yu, 2017), there has been inadequate critical examination of the educational policies and practices impacting this population and their self-identification. Teachers play a crucial role in ensuring that all students, regardless of cultural or linguistic background, receive a quality education that will equip them for post-school success in an increasingly diverse society. Studies suggest that teachers who share the racial, cultural, and/or ethnic identity of their students can play an important role in their success. Unfortunately, Latinx teachers remain starkly underrepresented within the field (Shapiro & Partelow, 2018), even though Latinx teacher representation plays a critical role in not only the academic achievement of Latinx students but is also prevalent in the solving of larger issues related to ethnic and racial identity development and consciousness (Goldhaber et al., 2019) because of the postcolonial structures in schools. Postcolonial structures are implicated by the structural inequality and racial and economic disparities that continue to plague racialized groups throughout society. In order to fulfill this role, Latinx teachers need to richly understand their Latinx identity development and consciousness.
The purpose of this autoethnographic study was to systematically examine and reflect on my lived experiences as an immigrant in the United States to better understand Latinx identity development and consciousness and the role of Latinx teachers in combating the exclusionary practices of postcolonial structures in schooling. Using Latinx Critical Theory (LatCrit) as the theoretical framework, this dissertation focuses on Latinx teachers and the impact of identity development on their role in the classroom. I examined my Latinx identity at different stages of my life and positioned this within the collective experiences of other Latinx teachers to better understand the factors that have contributed to my evaluation of self.
The data collected for this study consisted of a life timeline, transcribed journals I kept throughout my teaching career, cultural artifacts, and an individual autobiographical narrative. This highly reflective process was then analyzed thematically to identify themes and patterns that emerged from the data. The findings revealed three major themes: ongoing identity detachment, Latinx imposter syndrome, and unveiled hypocrisy in education. Ongoing identity detachment highlights my continued loss of identity. Latinx imposter syndrome depicts the feelings of doubt, fear, and fraud I had to overcome in my role as a bilingual teacher of emergent bilingual students. Lastly, unveiled hypocrisy in education captures my awareness and understanding of the marginalization and exclusion within the education system. This study has significant implications for the understanding of Latinx teacher identity development and the influence their self-perception has on their work within the classroom. Recommendations on how to further the discussion on identity development and consciousness and the role of Latinx teachers in combating the exclusionary practices of postcolonial structures in schooling are made to teacher preparation programs, school and district leaders, Latinx teachers, and for future research.
Keywords: postcolonial structures, raciolinguistic ideologies, internalized oppression, immigrant experience, Latinx teacher identity
This comparative case study explored the implementation of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) at two of North Carolina’s Global Ready elementary schools. The following research questions guided the study: 1) How do educators and affiliates of Global Ready elementary schools perceive global education, specifically Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)?; 2) What sustainability topics are covered most by educators at Global Ready elementary schools in North Carolina?; 3) How is ESD incorporated within global education at Global Ready elementary schools in North Carolina (i.e. examination at the curricular, campus, and community levels)?; 4) How do Global Ready elementary schools compare in their conceptualization and implementation of global education, specifically ESD? Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory (1976) and Elser et al. 's (2011) Sustainable Schools Framework served as useful lenses for examining the affordances and constraints of sustainability education at the curriculum, campus, and community levels. A school-wide survey was disseminated to all certified educators at each school to obtain a broad view of ESD implementation within each case. To explore ESD implementation at a granular level, interviews were conducted with select educators, administrators, community partners, and members of a State Education Agency. Further, artifact collection and field visits allowed for the triangulation of data sources. The constant-comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) was utilized in the analysis of interviews and artifacts. Findings from both cases suggest that sustainability education was often used as a means for deepening global learning. At the curriculum level, survey results and interviews with participants indicate frequent integration of social sustainability topics into the curriculum with lesser attention given to topics of economic sustainability. Additionally, while there are many challenges to sustainability education at the curriculum and campus levels, findings suggest that community partnerships may play a role in mitigating some of these constraints. To conclude, the researcher discusses the need to complicate frameworks related to Education for Sustainable Development to attend to the complexity of ESD implementation within and across the curriculum, campus, and community.
This quantitative study sought to operationalize academic resilience through social engagement, family support, capacity for tolerance, and commitment to college among African American first year males at a private, urban HBCU in the United States. This study utilized secondary data from Ruffalo Noel Levitz's College Student Inventory Survey (CSI) Form B administered to incoming first year students over a five-year period from 2011 to 2015. The sample included 223 African American first year male participants. Utilizing a binary logistic regression analysis, the researcher examined the relationship between participants' outcomes and various factors, including social engagement, family support, capacity for tolerance, and commitment to college as a manifestation of academic resilience. The key outcome variables of this study were graduation and retention. Binary logistic regression analyses were conducted in SPSS version 27. Recommendations based on findings are provided for HBCU senior administrators, HBCU faculty, families of African American males, and future research.
This quantitative study examined the awarding of the Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL) in North Carolina public schools. Specifically, the study explored through a multiple logistic regression if the intersectionality of race, language, and class was related to whether a district did or did not award students the SoBL. The dependent variable of total student enrollment was also included. Additionally, within districts found to award the SoBL, this study examined through a multiple linear regression if the variables of race, language, and class related to the rate of graduating seniors who received the SoBL recognition. Total student enrollment was also included as a dependent variable. Results from the multiple logistic regression revealed that total student enrollment, while controlling for language, race, and class was related to whether a district did or did not award the SoBL. Within districts that awarded the SoBL, results from the multiple linear regression revealed that while controlling for race, class, language, and total student enrollment, class was negatively related to the rate of seniors who received the SoBL while language was positively related. Results are discussed through the theoretical framework of critical race theory, and salient recommendations are provided for the future.
Service-learning combines academic coursework with volunteer community service experiences. Its components include the coursework, community service, course credit, and reflection on the experience. Critical service-learning emphasizes social justice (Mitchell, 2008). The broader literature explores both service-learning and critical service-learning, which result in more connections to local communities. Yet, both maintain a central focus on the students engaged in community service, overlooking the rich history of volunteer service within the communities being served. African American communities have been woven together with rich histories of service to the community. Without this historical knowledge, the future of service-learning is destined to continue to utilize an unsustainable model that relies on outside volunteers who come into underserved communities for short periods of time and return to their own lives, leaving the communities to wait on the next wave of volunteers to enter. If the outcomes of service-learning are to impact marginalized communities significantly, then service-learning programs must consider the rich histories of volunteering within these communities. The implications of this study suggest that traditional service learning programs should expand their understanding of the valuable history of volunteering within the Black community.
As the number of minority students in public schools increases in the U.S., the teacher workforce and administration remain majority White. Increased access to service-learning will help mitigate opportunity gaps that exist in marginalized communities. Service-learning combines academic coursework with volunteer community service experiences, which can be beneficial to in-service and pre-service teachers. Changing the structure of service-learning opportunities to include the voices of African American women is critical to expanding the structure of volunteer efforts, specifically within urban school environments. Using Seidman’s In-Depth Interview Protocol, this research explores the experiences of African American women educators with service-learning and volunteering in local communities and schools. The study examines how Black women educators saw service-learning and volunteering as part of their identities. The findings indicate that service is central to their definitions of social justice work in education and beyond through the concepts of: (a) giving back, (b) serving, (c) family, (d) Black womanhood, (e) leadership and (f) spirituality. The results of this study illustrate how educators’ lived experiences expand conceptions of service. The participants viewed service-learning as being crucial to student and teacher success in urban environments.
Keywords: service-learning, critical service-learning pedagogy, social justice, volunteerism
Since the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling against school segregation, Black women teachers (BWTs) have had perpetually high rates of attrition, despite their legacy of providing high quality, emancipatory education. Thus, the purpose of this study was to contextualize the attrition of critical BWTs to better understand the factors that would support their sustainability in urban schools. Specifically, I investigated (a) the relationship between Black women’s intersectional identities and their experiences as critical educators in urban schools, (b) the compounding factors that led to their ultimate departure, and (c) the complexities of their decision to leave the profession.
Using Black feminist thought and cognitive dissonance theory as my framework, I employed sista circle methodology to study fifteen post-service critical Black women teachers. Each participant engaged in an individual interview, one of three sista circles, and a written reflection. Data analysis revealed three major themes that offer rich context and a complex narrative of why critical BWTs love and leave the classroom: instinct vs. opposition, commitments vs. personal needs, and dissonance-reduction strategies. As they are examined, these themes suggest several actions that can be taken by key stakeholders to support their professional sustainability.
ABSTRACT
WILLIAM RAY LEACH. Ambiguous Loss and Parental Traumatic Brain Injury
(Under the direction of DR. DREW POLLY)
Parental traumatic brain injury (PTBI) and the effect it has on adolescents living in the home has been mostly avoided in the current literature. Even more rare in the literature is the idea of ambiguous loss, coined by Boss (1991). An ambiguous loss refers to a loss of someone who has not died, but who is also not the same person as before the injury, physically or mentally. Consequently, the loss is unclear and requires constant recalibration by the uninjured family members to accept their ever-changing injured family member. Together, no researcher has ever studied ambiguous loss as it relates to PTBI.
This study focused on three research questions:
Research Question 1: As it pertains to PTBI, what is the influence of ambiguous loss when experienced during adolescence?
Research Question 2: When PTBI is experienced in adolescence, how does the perception of ambiguous loss result in tangible consequences later in life?
Research Question 3: In what ways do adolescents experiencing ambiguous loss from PTBI describe their family, self, and situation?
Using a qualitative approach, this phenomenological dissertation found that ambiguous loss affects adolescents in different ways and at different times after the injury has occurred. Ambiguous loss can also result in tangible consequences later in their life. The time since the injury can affect the severity of feelings of ambiguous loss, however, this study also found that PTBI adolescents can exhibit traits of resilience through their experience.
Historically, standard English language ideologies have been perpetually ingrained in American educational practices and policies (Smitherman, 2017; Wong & Teuben-Rowe, 1997). These practices are not limited to K-12 studies and maintain a position of dominance in higher education (Álvarez-Mosquera & Marín-Gutiérrez, 2020). Calls for diversity in curriculum and pedagogical practices currently involve increasing demands for linguistic inclusion that reflects the diversity of student populations (CCCC, 2020). This study explores how Black women students across the diaspora who use home and/or native languages, dialects, and accents navigate their identities in academic spaces of higher learning where standard English language ideologies are often the only acceptable language varieties that are valued or encouraged. Data was collected through the use of virtual semi-structured interviews using Seidman’s (2006) method of three 90-minute interviews. A single focus group interview with all three participants was conducted as well. All interviews took place during the summer of 2021. Data was analyzed using a qualitative, narrative-based approach that included emphasis on both small stories (De Fina and Georgakopoulou, 2012) and dominant narratives (Lyotard, 1984). This research suggests the experiences of Black women in college composition and communications include themes like feelings of rejection, inadequacies, pressure to conform, and a lack of linguistic agency.
