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Theses/Dissertations from 2018

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Health Clinics and Adults With Physical Disabilities: an Inclusive Approach, Teresa Elizabeth Jones
There is evidence for health and education communities that call for disability curricula in care provider education. The purpose of this study was to explore what adults with physical disabilities (AWPD) experience in health clinics regard...

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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...

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Continuous Practices During Kindergarten Transitions, Nikole Lajuan Turner Logan
Although children’s development may be continuous, their early learning experience may not be. Absent from the field is literature describing actual teacher practices that are continued from early learning settings to kindergarten. This qua...

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Commonly Used Practices in Hosting International Students by Faith-based Universities in Minnesota, Kalia Sayaovong Lo
The process of hosting of international students in America started in 1946. Since then, there has been a steady increase of international students attending universities in America. In order to be competitive in the global market for inter...

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An Analysis of the Motivational Type Exhibited by Students after their High School Biology Course fulfilling the Minnesota Science Standards in Biology, Cheryl A. Moertel
Ninth-grade students were given a survey modified from the work of Aydin, Yerdelen, Gurbuzuglo, Yalmanci, and Goksu (2014) following completion of their high school biology course which asked for their level of agreement on 18 statements re...

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Teachers’ Perceptions of Value-added Models for Use in Annual Performance Appraisals: a Case Study, Theresa M. Pascual
Motivating and retaining teachers is a critical element of the educational process. In 2011, Florida law required school administrators to implement a Valued-Added Model (VAM) for teacher evaluation, compensation, and retention decisions. H...

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Measuring Student Engagement in Online Secondary Education, Meagan A. Rathbun
The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine which factors in the modified National Survey of Student Engagement benchmark variables, demographic variables, and experience variables relate to student engagement in online secondar...

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An Examination of Educational Non-Verbal Yardsticks Implementation (ENVoY) and the Impact on Teacher Efficacy, Amy Joan Reed
Classroom Management has long been recognized as a potential problem in the educational system that deserves serious attention, as the landscape of today’s classrooms continue to evolve and change as the students who are served become more ...

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Montessori as Metonymy: How Montessori Early Childhood Teachers Approach Race in the Classroom, Teresa M. Ripple
The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how Montessori early childhood teachers approach teaching about race and racial bias in their classrooms. Twenty-four Montessori early childhood teachers participated in an open-ended sur...

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A Study of Life Satisfaction and Its Relationships With Acculturative Stress, Social Connectedness, and Perceived Social Support in International Students Attending Faith-based K-12 Schools, Todd Allen Russ
Life satisfaction has a profound impact on individuals. Social and emotional well-being are tied to positive life satisfaction. This quantitative study explored the relationship between life satisfaction and the variables of acculturative s...

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Total Language Immersion Education and Achievement in Standardized Tests, Ndeye Kany Seck
In this era of accountability, schools work hard to find ways to improve students’ achievement especially performance on standardized tests. This quantitative study utilized two-by-two factorial ANOVAs and Chi-square tests of independence t...

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Understanding Design Thinking as an Approach to Solving Problems at a Large Public University, Ryan Matthew Torma
This dissertation investigated how designers, leaders, and clients at a large public research university enacted and perceived the value of design thinking as an approach to solving problems. A review of the literature found interest but li...

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Adaptive Leadership and Student Achievement, Michelle Faye Wang
The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship, if any, between the adaptive culture of an elementary school and student achievement. The Adaptive Culture Profile Scale collected data from elementary school leadershi...

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Factors Contributing to School Placement for Students With Emotional Behavioral Disorders, Colleen F. Weis
Students with Emotional Behavioral Disorders, in combination with significant and chronic behaviors, are often placed in alternative educational settings. No clear rationale is used by school districts to determine educational placement, an...

Theses/Dissertations from 2017

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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...

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Mentor Effectiveness and Its Correlation With Physician Assistant Faculty Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intentions, Amy Bronson
Growth in physician assistant training programs is resulting in an increasing demand for qualified physician assistant faculty. Gaining an understanding of mentoring in PA education and its relationship to faculty job satisfaction and facul...

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Instructional Coaching and Reflective Practice, Jessica Marie Cabak
Instructional coaching as a mode of professional development has gained popularity among school districts for its job-embedded, ongoing nature (Knight, 2012). Absent from the field is an effective method of measuring the impact of coaching....

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The Factors That Contribute to Success in College Freshmen With Specific Learning Disabilities a Descriptive Study in Learner Characteristics, Caleb J. Conklin
Once students graduate from high school and enter postsecondary education the academic support services change. This study uses a qualitative methodology to investigate the perceptions of students’ with specific learning disabilities (SLD),...

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Establishing and Maintaining Collective Faculty Trust in the High School Principal, Brenda M. Damiani
This study explored the process by which high school principals established and maintained collective faculty trust in the principal (FTP). High school principals face the challenge of establishing FTP in settings generally larger than thei...

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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...

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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...

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The Influence of Emotional Contagion on the Formation of Group Affective Tone within the Student Cohort Model, Michael J. Jensen
The use of the cohort model within higher education has produced outcomes that have been either positive and adaptive or dysfunctional and maladaptive due to the unique identities formed by cohorts. The purpose of this study was to examine ...

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Job Embeddedness: the Pulls of Staying for Teachers in the International School Setting, Ann M. Jurewicz
The purpose of this study was to explore the factors that influence retention of teachers in the international school setting using the construct of job embeddedness. As the largest global study of its kind to date, 975 respondents hired fo...

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Beauty in online learning environments: A quantitative study of the impact of expressive aesthetics on student engagement in blended courses, Shane Alexander Kelley
With the growing proportion of blended and online courses in higher education, it is increasingly important to understand how the online learning environments of these courses can impact student engagement. One important element of these on...

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How Do Different Stakeholder Groups Describe Their Feelings About Low-ability Math Groups?, Maria B. Kreie Arago
Two significant challenges confronting math educators in the United States today are overall achievement rates that lag behind many countries, and a sizeable achievement gap between White students and students of color. Research provides so...

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Pioneers in Education and Faith: Spiritual Development of First Generation College Students, Diane M. Krusemark
Spirituality may be a factor in the success of first generation college students. Leading spiritual development theories were built on the dominant population of continuing generation college students. This qualitative research explored the...

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Through the Eyes of Teachers: Relationships Between Principal Communication Style and School Climate, Ryan Lee Lang
The purpose of this quantitative study was to see if a statistically significant relationship existed between principal communication style and school climate as perceived by elementary teachers in high achieving Title 1 elementary schools ...

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Identification of Gifted Students with Learning Disabilities: Case Study of a New Jersey Urban/Suburban School District, Ngozi D. Martin-Oguike
The purpose of this case study is to explore the extent to which gifted students with learning disabilities are being identified and supported by examining educators’ experience and practice. A district categorized as urban/suburban in a mu...

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African American Female Principals at Urban Turnaround Arts Schools: Identification of Characteristics That Contributed to Their Success, Leona Robinson-Derden
The purposes of this qualitative study were to (a) identify leadership characteristics of female African American principals at successful Turnaround Arts schools and (b) explore the leadership factors that allowed these principals to impro...

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Cultural Disparities: An Ethnography of First Generation Students of Rural, Generational Poverty, Theresa Anne Spanella
The purpose of this qualitative, ethnographic study was to identify the cultural norms, beliefs, languages, values assumptions and rituals of first generation college students from rural, low socioeconomic status in order to better understa...

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A Phenomenological Study of the Students Who Were Actively Engaged in the High Achievement Program at a Suburban High School, Lee-Ann Stephens
Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes are seen as steppingstones to college. There is a belief that these classes are the foundation of collegiate matriculation for students of color. In response to this pathway the Hig...

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Students With Specific Learning Disabilities; Perceptions of Postsecondary Accommodations, Barriers, and Self-advocacy, Jodi Elizabeth Stohl
Once students graduate from public education, the supports for individuals with disabilities change significantly. The law requiring school districts to support students with disabilities no longer applies upon graduation. As the familiar s...

Theses/Dissertations from 2016

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Flipped Learning Instruction: Differentiating Mathematics Instruction Through the Use of Technology, Nathan A. Flansburg
This study examines the relationship between mathematics achievement and the instructional approach used (flipped versus traditional). A suburban school district located outside of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul implemented fli...

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Rural Principals on the Move: Why They Leave, Cynthia Hansen
The purpose of this study was to investigate the personal, institutional, and environmental factors that influenced a principal’s decision to leave his or her school. Respondents included six elementary principals in rural Minnesota who lef...

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Good Goodbyes and Happy Hellos: The TCK Transition to Postsecondary Education, Sarah R. Hoverson
The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to discover the lived experiences of Third Culture Kids transitioning to postsecondary education in the United States, and what role social media had in building or maintaining brid...

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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...

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Improving Parental Engagement Through The Use of Reading Apps, Evelyn M. Lemons
A qualitative case study was conducted in a rural Title I school in the Piedmont of North Carolina using a pre and post-intervention survey and participant interviews, during the summer of 2016. The intervention was a workshop for parents t...

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Relationship Between Grade Configuration and Parent Perceptions about Schools, Jason J. Lind
This was a comparative case study that used in-depth interviews of parents to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of two grade configurations, and the possible influence of grade configuration on parent participation and parental a...

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Big Five Personality Traits and Other Predictors of Academic Success in Physician Assistant Students, Wade Avery Nilson
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between cognitive and noncognitive variables, and academic performance among Physician Assistant (PA) students. Noncognitive variables (i.e. personality traits) were assessed using t...

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Arts Integration and Student Achievement, Sheryl Denise Ray
Abstract This is a quantitative cross sectional survey design dual method study to test a theory that relates arts integration to achievement for students in grades two through six at three arts magnet schools and five non-arts schools in t...

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Teacher Burnout: A Comparison of Schools in North Dakota, Wayne R. Samson
Teacher burnout is a substantial issue in education today, and its negative effects have been seen across the United States. This quantitative study will focus on the state of North Dakota and analyze teacher burnout through the lens of the...

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A case study of how teacher preparation programs in Minnesota are preparing elementary teachers to work with English Learners, Sarah Lynn Stay
As the population of English Learners in mainstream classrooms across the United States continue to increase, it is critical that all classroom teachers (not just English language specialists) take responsibility for and are adequately prep...

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The Impact of Principal Turnover on PBIS Success: A Quantitative Analysis, Katie A. Svenby
The purpose of this study is to quantitatively analyze the impact of principal turnover in the principal’s office on the successful maintenance indicators of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). The study sampled identifie...

Theses/Dissertations from 2015

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Minds-In-Motion Maze Movement Activities in the Regular Education Classroom, Angela Rose Bray
Movement is important for brain development. This qualitative, multi-case study investigated the effects of the Minds-In-Motion Maze targeted movement program on the students at a small, private school in the Midwest. Case studies encompass...

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The Impact of Servant Leadership on School Climate, Michele M. Cooke
The topic of this research was the impact that servant leadership has on school climate. The participants were educators employed in the International Schools Group School District housed in Saudi Arabia. This was a quantitative study emplo...

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"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...

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The Transference of Mindset: Middle School Student Perceptions of the Influences of Implicit Theories, Jodilu Anne Dodd
Recent studies have shown the predictive nature of mindset and motivation. Students tend to have one of two mindsets: a growth mindset or a fixed mindset (Dweck, 2000). Those with a growth mindset believe that their knowledge can increase a...

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A Study of Parent Satisfaction of the Transition from Junior High to Senior High School for Students with Special Education Needs, Colleen M. Feldman
The purpose of this study was to understand the parental perspective and satisfaction with the transition process as their child, who is a student with special education needs, moves from the junior high to the high school setting. For stud...

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The Professional Development Needs of Teachers Necessary to Implement and Sustain iPad Use in Secondary Classrooms, Diana Miller Fenton
With the recent adoptions of 1:1 technology initiatives with iPads in schools, it is urgent to provide professional development opportunities for teachers to maximize student use. This study provides vital information on the professional de...

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A Study Comparing Academic Achievement in Reading of Gifted Students in Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Grouped Settings, Kimberly L. Grengs
This is a quantitative study using archival data to focus on the achievement of students identified as gifted and talented in four schools in the Midwest in the same district. This study attempted to find if differences in student reading p...

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Blended Learning for Gifted and Talented Students, Chris John Hergenrader
Blended learning is a curriculum presentation method that includes both online and face-to-face aspects. Educators who use blended learning tout it for its ability to allow for effective differentiation of instruction while bringing increas...

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Midwest Elementary School Principals and the Use of Social Media, Jennifer Christine Hill
The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine the use of social media among elementary school principals in Minnesota. The survey collected data from elementary school principals across the state of Minnesota gathering demographic ...

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A Reading Motivation Intervention for Students with Learning Disabilities, Students with ADHD, and Their Nondisabled Peers, Alanna M. Lienig
Motivation research and its effect on reading has been limited for students with disabilities. In the present study a combined motivational intervention (intrinsic standards, positive label, and extrinsic standards) was used wit 48 second a...

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The Impact of 1:1 iPad Devices on Student Engagement in the High School Classroom, Jennifer L. Middendorf
A technology initiative was adopted in a Minnesota suburban school district integrating 1:1 iPad devices into the elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine the impact 1:1 ...

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Teacher Perception of Principal Leadership and School Climate in Persistently Lowest-Achieving Schools, Kerri L. Nelson
The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between the outcome of principal leadership and school climate in persistently lowest-achieving (PLA) middle schools in Iowa as perceived by teachers. Additionally, it attempted to a...

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A Narrative Inquiry Into the Experiences of Evangelical Christians Leading in Public Schools During Culture War Skirmishes, Gary F. Sehorn
The intent of this exploratory, descriptive narrative inquiry was to understand the experiences of selected evangelicals serving as public school administrators who lead in the midst of skirmishes involving evangelical Christians and the lo...

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Evaluating Teacher Immediacy in K-12 Online Learning Environments, Lisa M. Silmser
Educators who serve students in online classrooms display a unique set of skills necessary to engage students, however little research and no teacher evaluation tools exist to guide K-12 online teachers in the evidence-based practices neede...

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The Use of Technology to Enhance Individualized Learning in Postsecondary Educational Students with Multiple Intelligences in an Anatomy and Physiology Classroom, Kimberly Carpenter Stanley
This purpose of this dissertation was to determine whether or not the use of computer enhanced supplemental material in a postsecondary anatomy and physiology classroom would be perceived to positively affect students’ opinions regarding th...

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“If You’re Not Having Fun, What’s The Point Of Playing?” Adolescents’ Best And Worst Interscholastic Sport Experiences, Troy D. Urdahl
Interscholastic athletics are purported to provide many benefits for participants. Some studies have shown the benefits of playing sports, but others have cautioned the expense is not worth the investment and not all outcomes of participati...

Theses/Dissertations from 2014

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Minnesota Public School Principals and Education Law, Barton C. Becker
This quantitative, exploratory, descriptive study extended the research of Magone (2007) and measured the perceptions of Minnesota public school principals, superintendents, and school district attorneys regarding education law. The focus o...

Theses/Dissertations from 2013

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My Child Is an Angel from Allah: Perspectives from Muslim Parents of Children With Special Needs in the United Kingdom, Katie J. Bonawitz
This applied dissertation investigated how Muslim parents of children with special needs bring understanding to raising their child with special needs. This researcher conducted a qualitative study to find out if Muslim parents from differe...

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Keeping Good Teachers Teaching: A Study of the Retirement of Baby Boom Teachers, Dean Erickson
Baby boom teachers, born between 1946-1964, are in the midst of making retirement decisions. Some choose to remain teaching as long as they physically and mentally can handle the demands of the job, while others look for the first opportuni...