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

Caregiver engagement has been a topic of study due to the resulting benefits regarding student's school experience. Students are better prepared to transition to kindergarten, receive higher test scores, increase attendance, and report fewer discipline problems when caregivers work collaboratively with school personnel. This study addresses engagement from the caregiver's perspective. Participant funds of knowledge were assessed through interview and group meeting to determine barriers inhibiting engagement and suggestions to alleviate barriers. The purpose of the research was to increase sense of belonging amongst caregivers through the use of funds of knowledge in order to identify barriers to engagement. Once barriers were identified, the participants created a plan to lessen the effects of the barriers. The group uncovered unanticipated barriers and has laid the groundwork for future events at a small rural K-12 school district.

Committee: Matthew Witenstein (Committee Chair); Jonathan Lischak (Committee Member); Layla Kurt (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Leadership

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2019, Antioch New England: Marriage and Family Therapy

In this dissertation, I seek to understand the factors that play a role in the success of African American Scholars in the Marriage and Family Therapy field, by conducting an extensive literature review of factors that may affect matriculation and retention through lived experiences. In the study, I use narrative inquiry, research questions and Husserlian Phenomenological methodology to explore the challenges important to the African American journeys toward success. In the first chapter, I introduced the criteria in which the study focused which highlighted four areas of accomplishments including clinical, teaching, supervision, and research. dissertation that follows. The second chapter presents a critical review of the literature, discussing factors of theoretical orientation, critical race theory and the five tenets that are essential factors within the study. In the third chapter, I discuss the biography of each African American scholar as it relates to the underlined accomplishments overtime including, research, publications, teaching and therapy. Chapter four describes the methodology used to determine the impact of the experiences and how they were interpreted as results. In Chapter five, I discuss the results and common themes found within the African American scholar experiences. Finally, in Chapter six I summarize the results in its entirety and discuss the studies overall impact on the field of Marriage and Family Therapy. Moreover, I discuss the limitations, and future research directions.

Committee: Kevin Lyness PhD (Committee Chair); Walter Lowe PhD (Committee Member); Nicholas Jordan PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Therapy

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2019, Spanish and Portuguese

Anchored in Latino Critical Race Theory, this project analyzes undocumented Latinx narratives across theater, comics, memoir, and music as decolonial cultural production and counter-storytelling. It investigates how each form is used to build affective ties with audiences, call on them to reflect on their own positionality, and imagine new social realities. This is accomplished by simulating the violence of deportation and positioning undocumented communities as foundational to building networks of support and resistance. The works examined here rely on surrogates to publicize and justify everyday undocumented disobedience that otherwise would not be shared for fear of deportation. Critically reading these texts in educational settings is urgently needed to decolonize multicultural approaches that include Latinx literature in apolitical and celebratory ways. Moreover, attending to the diverse and, at times, contradictory perspectives and approaches to social transformation found across these works positions undocumented communities as dynamic social agents that draw on a wide variety of ways to forge a politics of possibility.

Committee: Paloma Martinez-Cruz (Committee Chair); Frederick Luis Aldama (Committee Member); Ana Elena Puga (Committee Member) Subjects: American Literature; American Studies; Hispanic American Studies; Hispanic Americans; Latin American Studies; Literature; Political Science; Teaching; Theater

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2014, EDU Teaching and Learning

Student populations at institutions of higher education across the United States are becoming increasingly diverse with more women, students of color, and students from low-income families enrolling in colleges and universities. Many of these students will be the first in their families to pursue and possibly obtain a college degree (Pascarella, Pierson, Wolniak, & Terenzini, 2004; Reid & Moore, 2008; Terenzini, Springer, Yaeger, Pascarella, & Nora, 1996; Vega & Moore 2012). According to Strayhorn (2008a), 75% of African American students attend predominately white institutions (PWIs). However, their attrition rates remain higher than whites and other ethnic minority college students (D'Augelli & Hershberger, 1993; Loo & Rolison, 1986). Therefore, it is important that research be conducted on first-generation African American students at predominately white institutions. The purpose of this research study was to critically analyze the academic and social experiences of first-generation African American students and their sense of belonging at a predominately white institution in the Midwestern region of the United States. A qualitative research design was employed that utilized one-on-one interviews in order to better understand the lived experiences of these college students. Additionally, critical race theory (CRT) was utilized as the theoretical framework, with specific emphasis on the tenet of counter-storytelling and narratives as a way to understand how race and racism impacted the experiences of first-generation African American students at a predominately white institution. In addition, critical race methodology particularly its attention to race and racism was utilized as a methodological approach for this research study. The following seven themes emerged from the data: (a) pre-collegiate academic and social experiences, (b) academic preparation in high school, (c) academic experiences/academic sense of belonging, (d) social experiences/social s (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Valerie Kinloch Dr. (Advisor) Subjects: African Americans; Education; Higher Education