Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2022, History

As Ohio rural public schools' administration transitioned from local control to county and state control, Amish families allied with each other and with non-Amish rural families to retain their influence in the schools their children attended, negotiating a mediated freedom to educate their children. When it became clear by the mid-twentieth century that school officials prioritized following state education policy and keeping state funding over allowing school patrons to run the local schools, Amish families started parochial schools. In these schools, Amish women gained both a professional space and cultural influence, as school classrooms became a feminized domain. Amish schools' gendered organization resembled early twentieth-century public schools' masculinized administration and feminized workforce. I contend that just as rural public schools carved out a space of mediated freedom in administering their schools, even with ever-growing county and state bureaucracy, Amish women have developed their own space of mediated freedom, within the confines of male school administration.

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2011, Educational Leadership

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether charter schools produce higher test scores than traditional public schools within the largest eight urban school districts in Ohio. With an emphasis on techniques and contexts borrowed from critical race and feminist empiricist frameworks, this study examined state test data and provides insight into charter schooling reform. The results of the overall study suggested that charter schools were not performing significantly better than traditional public schools. The few times that differences did occur,traditional public schools were outperforming their charter school counterparts.

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2008, Leadership and Change

Smaller schools have become an extremely popular school reform model. Research that connects them to student achievement is being used to support and create autonomous small schools as well as schools-within-schools. While it would seem to be a logical application, the schools-within-schools model is not performing at the levels expected as indicated by the small schools research. Research on these two different school settings needs to be separated, examined, and applied independently. Areas lacking research include questions about which aspects of schools support the functioning of the school, such as leadership. This study used Q-methodology to study leadership in a small private school in Seattle, Washington. The school has 84 students and ranks at high levels on several scales of leadership and climate that have been correlated to high levels of student achievement. Q-method quantifies the opinions of study participants in such a way as to find groups of similar responses represented by factors. This study found an unusually high degree of consensus among the participants of the study and that there were no clear distinctions between the perspectives of the groups. The resulting single factor in this study is characterized by identifying the actions and leadership of the teachers as being most important to smaller school leadership. Also, student leadership and making leadership a part of the whole school program was given a high degree of importance. Leadership by the head of school and leadership actions of the parents were rated lower, respectively, in terms of importance for an effective smaller school. The electronic version of this dissertation is at Ohiolink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd.

Doctor of Education, Ashland University, 2013, College of Education

This study focused on the comparison of a modern Christian school and a classical Christian school in the Midwestern United States. The modern Christian school used in this study was a member of the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) and the classical school was a member of the Association of Classical and Christian Schools (ACCS). A 37 question survey was developed and used to measure and compare the spiritual formation of students in fourth, eighth, and twelfth grade attending each school. Survey questions of Christian knowledge, belief, and action were the focus of the survey. Answers to the survey questions were compared between grades, between schools, and within schools to determine the different levels of spiritual formation and commitment to the Christian faith in the students at each school. Special attention was given to the Trivium of classical education compared to current modern instructional methodologies. Statistically significant differences were determined to exist between the students attending the two schools and Fowler's Development Theory was used to explain the results. The results from this study suggest that the classical Christian school produces students with a higher level of Christian faith formation than the modern Christian school.

Specialist in Education (Ed.S.), University of Dayton, 2023, School Psychology

Anxiety is the most prevalent mental health disorders impacting today's children and adolescents. Based on recent studies, a growing number of young adults in the United States are being diagnosed with mental health disorders, including anxiety due to hormonal changes in combination with a need to achieve, unlimited access to technology, peer pressure, easy access to substances, and so forth. Therapy dogs are being used to intervene in schools and help students cope with symptoms related to anxiety. The present study examined the impact of incorporating a therapy dog in a mindfulness-based intervention aimed at reducing anxiety in adolescents. The study was implemented in a high school setting with three students who demonstrated elevated levels of anxiety, measured by the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children 2nd Edition. The participants rated their anxiety symptoms before and after each mindfulness intervention session using the Subject Units of Distress Scale (SUDS). A therapy dog was incorporated into sessions on an alternating schedule to examine resulting changes in the effectiveness of the intervention. Findings indicated that the therapy dog along with the mindfulness intervention reduced anxiety more than the mindfulness intervention sessions alone. Implications for incorporating school-based therapy dogs to support students who experience anxiety at school are discussed.

MS, Kent State University, 2023, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Geography

The concept of water insecurity suggests that inadequate safe water access is not only about people lacking enough clean water sources. It also includes when people face social, emotional, political, and environmental issues in relation to water. Knowledge of this concept is limited to household contexts. We know very little about how it manifests in other settings such as schools, healthcare facilities, and workplaces. This thesis deploys embodiment theory and the capability approach to explore the everyday experiences and well-being implications of water insecurity in an urban Ghanaian girls' boarding school. Based on interviews with recent graduates, the study uncovers that girls experienced water insecurity in boarding school by internalizing water-related physical burdens, emotional distress, and social problems. These embodied experiences were underpinned by perennial water shortage and the rules, social norms, and geography of the school. The study also finds that participants felt more water secure at home than in school due to their relatively high socioeconomic class, urban residence, and families' support. Finally, it unpacks that water insecurity in boarding schools impacted girls' well-being by limiting their physical and mental health, education, and other capabilities. These findings have implications for enhancing efforts aimed at improving water access in schools and other non-household settings, including the Sustainable Development Goals.

Doctor of Education (EdD), Ohio University, 2012, Educational Administration (Education)

The purpose of this study was to investigate fifth-grade student achievement in Ohio public charter schools as compared to student achievement in traditional public schools, and to determine whether the performance of charter schools changed over time. Research questions asked 1) how does student achievement in Ohio's public charters compare to that of traditional public schools, and 2) do Ohio's charter schools show increased student achievement over time? Drawing on an approach used by Miron (2002; 2005; 2007), adjusted, or filtered scores were created by using the slope and intercept obtained from two regression models (one for reading and one for mathematics) that were performed with traditional public schools for each of the six years of the study. This approach allowed the investigation to control for the influence of student achievement predictors generally recognized in the research literature: socioeconomic status, ethnicity, special needs status, and school size. The result produced three measures for each of the schools: actual scores, predicted scores based on the adjustment for demographic variables and the computed difference between the actual and predicted scores. Score differences were then compared and analyzed over time to determine whether the gap between public charter and traditional public school achievement changed. As public charter schools matured, and as the number of operational public charters increased, T-test results confirmed that charter school performance in Ohio improved. In the sixth year of the study, the level of charter school achievement approximated that of traditional public schools. Results of the study have policy implications regarding public charter school funding, methods to properly assess school-wide student achievement, and the equitable treatment of both public charter and traditional public schools with regard to sanctions related to student achievement outcomes. Further, study findings can be used to guide future (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2007, Educational Leadership

Access to a quality education is a recurring theme in the history of African-Americans. From America's infancy to the present, African-Americans have steadfastly held to the conviction that a quality education was inextricably intertwined with notions of freedom and upward mobility. Historically, most African-American parents relied on public schools to provide that education. However, by the mid-1980's, many African American parents became disillusioned with public education, and those who possessed the requisite resources to do so, began to abandon urban public schools, choosing to educate their children in suburban schools, independent private schools, and parochial schools. Researchers studying school choice primarily focus on charter schools and school voucher programs, giving little consideration to the abandonment of urban public schools by the African-American middle class. This qualitative study investigates the experiences of seven middle class African-American parents to ascertain how they constructed their decisions to exclude urban public schools as educational options for their children. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews, which allowed for the structure of qualitative inquiry and the flexibility and fluidity of natural conversations. In addition, more than twenty-five informal interviews and conversations with African-American parents of various socioeconomic levels were conducted. The parents' narratives revealed five concerns: academic achievement; discipline and safety; teacher quality; racism, and cultural issues. An analysis of those concerns resulted in two major findings. First, parents do not believe urban schools possess the requisite resources to effectively educate their children and enable them to gain admission to a reputable college or university. Second, parents do not believe their children can acquire the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed as a prerequisite to become economically and socially successful i (open full item for complete abstract)

PHD, Kent State University, 2011, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Foundations, Leadership and Administration

This study is an inquiry into the possibilities and limitations of school consolidations. The study begins by exploring the history of school reorganization from the common school movement to the present. From this history we learn that unchallenged assumptions regarding school consolidations and efficiency and effectiveness gains have thrived. My research draws attention to the scarcity of post-consolidation studies that provide discernable evidence that either school or district consolidations have resulted in enhanced efficiencies or effectiveness. Difference-in-Difference (DiD) Estimation calculations were performed on national and state data looking for evidence that consolidations improved efficiencies or effectiveness. The results are inconclusive. Thrown into the mix of efficiency and effectiveness goals was consolidation for equity, which came into play in the 1960s. The study of consolidation through the lens of equity shows that desegregation and fiscal considerations have remained the foci of the pursuit of equal educational opportunity, for about fifty years. Looking at the Warren City School District's consolidation experience over the past three decades, we see that consolidation based on the premise of educational equity has often resulted in upheaval for minority and economically disadvantaged children, their families, and their communities. The elusive concept of local control of schooling is examined to ascertain whether local control can act as a bulwark against consolidation efforts. We learn that there is no consensus concerning what local control means, at what level it exists, and who actually does the local controlling. Furthermore, we see that the state has extraordinary powers to wrest any local control that a community may enjoy. The study concludes with an exploration of the significance of neighborhood and local schools in struggling communities. Consolidation too often removes schools from the most fragile of communities, resulting (open full item for complete abstract)

PHD, Kent State University, 2009, College of Education, Health, and Human Services / Department of Educational Foundations and Special Services

This foundational study was designed to track the decline of urban Catholic parochial elementary schools in the former steel-production center of Youngstown, Ohio — a situation that I examine from historical, sociological, and philosophical perspectives. While my study employs standard historical research methods, it also features a strong theoretical dimension that draws on literature pertaining to American Catholic identity. The study will argue that Catholic disunity — a product of both sociological trends and religious reforms — played a significant role in the decline of urban parish schools. While the fragmentation of U.S. Catholic identity has often been addressed in general studies of American Catholicism, it has been discussed less frequently in research concerning the decline of one of the Catholic community's most iconic institutions: the urban parochial school. Hence, this study of Youngstown's parochial schools draws upon two distinct bodies of literature — dealing with American Catholic identity and American Catholic education, respectively — in an effort to identify and interpret factors contributing to the decline of a once robust system of parochial education.

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2007, Urban Studies and Public Affairs

Goals of social equality, eradication of poverty, and national security have peppered U.S. educational history. In response curricula, policies, and processes are constantly evolving to meet perceived needs. Nowadays “academic achievement” and “accountability” are of greatest interest to stakeholders. While students are tested for proficiency in a myriad of subjects and schools are held responsible for the outcomes, we are just beginning to understand the conditions that must exist within a school to ensure students are able to learn—what it takes for schools to be “ready.” This study extends what has been recently learned about schools' readiness for children, as defined by the National Education Goals Panel and measured by an abridged version of the High/Scope Ready School Assessment (2005). It examines the relationship of social context to schools' readiness for children. Social context data is drawn from the Ohio Department of Education and the U.S. Census databases. Multiple linear regression analysis is employed to assess the effect the independent variables have on school readiness.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1937, Graduate School

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1936, Graduate School

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1946, Graduate School

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1963, Graduate School

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1923, Graduate School

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1967, Graduate School

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1964, Graduate School

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2024, Educational Administration

This dissertation examines parents and teachers' perceptions of effective parental involvement in education, situated within Epstein et al.'s (2009) framework of six typologies of parental participation. The study, through a comprehensive comparative analysis, reveals critical insights into the disparities and commonalities in how parents and teachers perceive effective parental involvement and its impact on student achievement. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, incorporating quantitative measures of parental and teacher perceptions alongside qualitative insights gained from the Turkleton Community Schools (TCS) environment.

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), University of Findlay, 2024, Education

The Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework is a research-based model that yields positive behavioral, social, emotional, and academic outcomes (Horner et al., 2009; Horner, 2014; Mathews et al., 2013). However, schools have reported varied success rates with implementation and achieving desired outcomes. While hundreds of studies have been conducted on PBIS implementation, few have focused on small, rural school populations. This mixed methods study used linear regression analysis to investigate the relationships between PBIS implementation levels, teacher efficacy, and professional development. It involved data from an administrator screener, multiple teacher surveys, and interviews with teachers and administrators from small, rural schools in Ohio. The independent variable examined was teacher efficacy and the dependent variables include quantity of training and type of training. Qualitative data from two administrator and two teacher interviews was used to gain insight into the challenges and obstacles that interfere with PBIS implementation. Their responses were recorded and transcribed using Zoom Meeting platform. Deductive and inductive coding processes were applied to identify facilitating and impeding factors. Results revealed no significant relationship between teacher efficacy levels and the type of training schools provided. However, a positive relationship was found between the quantity of training received and teachers' collective efficacy scores. These findings yielded a predictive model showing that collective efficacy scores increase about one point on a 9-point Likert scale for every 4-5 hours of training. In addition, qualitative results confirmed the previous research that identified administrative support, ongoing coaching and training, and positive teacher belief/staff “buy-in” as facilitating factors in PBIS implementation. Furthermore, the study found that a grassroots effort over legislative demands, staff collabora (open full item for complete abstract)