Submissions from 2019
Preparing Equitable and Culturally Responsive School Leaders, Kimberly Hartung and Tracy Lynn Reimer
Equitable school leadership is intentional; it requires learning, listening, action, and reflection. This study explored how two school administrator preparation programs, focused on culturally responsive instructional leadership and critic...
Multiethnic and Missional: God’s Heart for an Integrated and Diverse Church, Justin Saul Hiebert
The American church is largely segregated and homogenous. This has not only stunted the growth of the church but led to an ineffective and limited mission vision. The contemporary American church must reclaim the biblical mandate to be both...
Addressing the Educational Challenges of Latino Students, Molly A. Ireland
One of the largest minority student populations in the United States is Latinos. Despite the large population, there is a significant achievement gap between Latino students and their white classmates. This literature review examines the is...
Can the Church of God Pursue Ethnic Diversity in Leadership?, Fijoy Linord Johnson
The Church of God denomination has more than seven million members in 185 nations and territories. More than 36,000 congregations serve around the world. The Church of God denomination has been in existence for 130 years and in its entire h...
iCURE (Iterative Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience): A Case-Study, Angela K. Stoeckman, Yingqi Cai, and Kent D. Chapman
Several models suggest ways to expose undergraduates at minority serving institutions or institutions with limited research infrastructures to the iterative process of research. Apprentice-based research experiences allow students to work o...
Impacts of Inclusion on the Academic and Social-emotional Skills of Students With Special Education Needs, Tara L. Wood
This literature review examined studies focusing on how students with disabilities are benefited by receiving services in the general education classroom, or least restrictive environment. It also aims to determine the negative impacts of s...
Theses/Dissertations from 2018
Parent Teacher Cross-cultural Collaboration in Special Education, Elvera O. Agboka
Classrooms today are so diverse that it cannot go unnoticed. Diversity ranging from academic levels, religion, culture, etc. The focus for this thesis is how to create a collaborative environment with parents of students from different cult...
The Inclusion of Students With Significant Disabilities and Their Access to the General Education, Megan E. Freeman
Students with significant disabilities are continually placed in restrictive settings with a focus on functional and life skills becoming more excluded from their peers in the general education setting. This limits their access to the gener...
The Relationship of Underrepresented Minority Status With Choice Process When Considering the Physician Assistant Profession, Christina Hanson
Representation of African Americans, Latinos, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Alaskan Natives in the Physician Assistant (PA) profession is not growing at the same rate as in the general population, leaving these groups underrepresented in...
The Pros and Cons of Inclusion for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the Mainstream Classroom, Benjamin Kwofie
General education placement are believed to offer innumerable benefits for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), however, decisions about including students with ASD remain controversial. This thesis highlights the benefits and chal...
Diversity Ideology in the CCCU: A Critical Discourse Analysis, Desiree Libengood
As American demographics shift, it is necessary for institutions of higher education to adapt to the needs of an increasingly diverse student population. Christian colleges and universities have often been criticized for their lack of diver...
An Evaluation of Co-teaching Models and Best Practices to Meet the Needs of Providing Equitable Educational Opportunities for English Language Learners, Sophie M. Ly
The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and evaluate best practices in a co-teaching setting between two licensed educators, one being the content teacher and the other an English Language Learner (ELL) specialist. The focus is on main...
Unity in Diversity: an Intentional Plan to Move from Inclusion to Belonging to Becoming, Brian R. Mowrey
The goal of this thesis project was to develop an intentional plan to embrace and celebrate unity in diversity at Walnut Hill Community Church. The church enjoyed diversity in race, ethnicity, age and ability but had no plan to embrace and ...
Effective Inclusion Practices for the Academic and Social Success of Students With Intellectual Disabilities, Caitlin J. Siems
This paper includes a comprehensive literature review of the research and best practice implications for providing effective inclusion in the general education setting to individuals with intellectual disabilities. Similarly, it reviews the...
Social and Emotional Learning in Daily Instruction for Intermediate Elementary Students., Laura R. Williams
Teachers today are consumed with a vast number of responsibilities. All teachers, no matter what licensure or specialized area, have the same responsibility to ensure that students receive an equitable and quality education by providing stu...
Theses/Dissertations from 2017
Creating an Inclusive School Environment and Experience for Minority Students in a Faith-based University: a Case Study of Undergraduate Programs, Caroline O. Abiaziem
Higher education institutions are experiencing the need to advance their understanding of diversity and inclusion on campus. Therefore, this study was to explore the experiences and challenges of minority students in the undergraduate progr...
Increasing Academic Achievement and Motivation Through the Use of One-to-one Technology in the Intermediate Classroom, Derrick Stephen Davis
This study explored the impact of one-to-one technology on motivating students to higher academic achievement within math and reading curricula in the fourth-grade and fifth-grade intermediate classrooms. Located at an urban/suburban PreK-5...
Typology and Terrain: In Qualified Defense of the Standard Threefold Typology in Theology of Religions, Paul R. Eddy and Robert McKim
Over the last several decades, a three-fold typology – using the labels exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism – has been widely adopted in discussions of theology of religions. At the same time, this now-standard typology has come under su...
Student Religious Ideologies as Predictors of Openness to Diverse Others, Curt Hinkle
As Christian higher educational institutions and particularly Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) member institutions seek to become more diverse bodies and prepare students to become people of influence in a pluralistic g...
Examining High School Placement Methodology With Strategies to Improve Students With Autism Outcomes, Elaine Martin
Graduation statistics indicate that students with disabilities like Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are now completing high school at an average rate of about 60 percent. The purpose of this literature examination and application is to analy...
Success for Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, Julie J. Soderlund
Special education students with emotional and behavioral disorders have the right to receive an education that addresses their specific, individual needs. There are many challenges that accompany these students. It is beneficial for teacher...
Theses/Dissertations from 2016
Empowering Congregations to Move from Simple Hospitality to Celebration of Ethnic Diversity within Their Church, Stephen R. Gibson
This thesis addresses the question of how a large church can best pursue ethnic diversity. Using qualitative research methods the researcher demonstrated that the best practices found among secular organizations in pursing diversity are eff...
A Day in Their Shoes: Lived Experiences of Five Agricultural Education Teachers Working with English Learners, Julie A. Ketterling
This dissertation took a phenomenological approach in order to take a deeper look into the experiences of five agricultural education teachers that taught English Learner (EL) students and factors that affected those experiences. Dunkin and...
Building an Inclusive Workplace Culture: With Special Focus on the South African Context, Seth Naicker
We are living in a world of ever-increasing diversity. It is diversity in general, but also diversity specific to the aspect of people. People are engaging one another across culture, language, race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ab...
Theses/Dissertations from 2015
"Repairs are Pending": A Mixed Methods Investigation of the Effects of No Child Left Behind on Rhode Island's Public School Libraries, Laurie Anne Dias-Mitchell
Throughout history, free public and school libraries have been symbols of freedom and democracy, of equitable access to cultural, intellectual, and technical resources. Since the passage of No Child Left Behind in 2001, there have been only...