Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Educational Studies

Educational justice has traditionally been conceptualized in non-educational terms. Categories of justice with economic and political clout dominate scholarly conversations about educational justice and inform educational policymaking and practice. This leads to a narrow conceptualization of educational justice in distributive terms. The author challenges the hegemony of the dominant paradigm and advances a new paradigm for theorizing educational justice to inform educational research, policymaking, and practice. In developing this new paradigm, the dissertation first establishes the dominance of distributive justice as a guiding principle of US education policy and as a lens for theorizing educational injustice in educational research. It offers a historical analysis of federal education policy focused on the principles of justice that underpinned the policies enacted. Moreover, it presents limitations of distributive justice, thereby, establishing the need to reconsider our understanding of what constitutes an educational injustice and what policies are appropriate for disrupting such injustices. Second, the dissertation advances an account of educational injustice that centers on the obstruction of two distinctly educational tasks: knowledge acquisition and self-formation. In doing so, it reorients education policy and research toward two distinctly educational injustices: epistemic oppression and developmental coercion. It is argued that these are severe educational wrongs that also contribute to pressing social problems and injustices. The dissertation concludes by outlining implications of replacing the standard distributive paradigm with a democratic paradigm of epistemic empowerment and developmental enablement that fosters epistemic agency and disrupts the impact of harmful ideology on moral and intellectual development. It suggests that the new paradigm compels us to reconsider that nature of educational injustice and, relatedly, the locus and scope of ped (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Bryan Warnick (Advisor); Winston Thompson (Advisor); Jackie Blount (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education History; Education Philosophy; Education Policy; Educational Theory; Epistemology; Ethics; Philosophy; Public Policy

Ed.D., Antioch University, 2024, Education

Beginning at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education experienced a sea change in reduced enrollment, altered course delivery models, and increased need for student support. While observing staff's actual impact on the student experience during this time, this study will address the question, “How do professional staff in small private universities a) perceive their contributions to the retention of students and b) perceive their overall value to the institutions they serve?” Owing to gaps in research on professional staff experiences, the literature review synthesizes current trends related to enrollment, retention, and persistence, focusing on small, private, non-profit 4-year institutions; discusses the disparate impact of these trends; examines the context of academic staffing trends; reviews the experiences of professional staff, focusing on critical connections between student and institution, student learning within liminal spaces, gender, and relational practice; and, examining social justice leadership in postsecondary education staffing. This qualitative study employs a constructivist grounded theory method using an initial anonymous questionnaire and interviews with volunteers for a deeper exploration of themes. The pool of nine interview participants comprises mid-level professional staff with at least three years of experience in student-supporting roles from five private universities with under 5,000 students. Potential implications relate to improving student retention practices and eliminating barriers by rethinking staff structures, resource allocation, and investment in student support areas. Further implications are related to staff role satisfaction, socially just models for professional development, and training of the next generation of professional staff. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Committee: Emiliano Gonzalez Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Douglas Judge Ph.D. (Committee Member); Cristy Sugarman Ed.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership; Ethics; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Organizational Behavior

Ed.D., Antioch University, 2023, Education

The objective of this dissertation was to explore how the principles of culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) can inform the design of a junior high school curriculum to enhance science learning by providing meaningful learning experiences to all students. The transformative paradigm provided a framework used as a lens to emphasize the importance of understanding the social, cultural, and historical context in which individuals and communities are situated. CSP and Backward Design Model were applied to develop a curriculum for a sheltered science literacy elective class for below grade level readers. The purpose of using CSP in the curriculum design was to create a more inclusive and culturally sustaining learning environment that would support students in developing strong science literacy skills. Project–based learning (PBL) was used with CSP to allow for flexibility and creativity in project designs that give students the opportunity to explore and experiment with different ideas and approaches in the learning environment. The California Department of Education's descriptions for effective use of CSP in a classroom was incorporated into the curriculum to be used as an assessment tool measuring the effectiveness of the curriculum. The implications of this curriculum development suggest the effectiveness of CSP on science literacy and its connections enhance student performance in science. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, https://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/

Committee: Michael Raffanti Ed. D. (Committee Chair); Emiliano Gonzalez Ph. D. (Committee Member); Heather Curl Ed. D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Curriculum Development; Education; Educational Leadership; Educational Theory; Literacy; Multicultural Education; Pedagogy; Teacher Education; Teaching

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2022, Educational Administration

This qualitative study examines the experiences of general education students in an inclusion class. Previous research on the phenomenon of inclusion has primarily focused on the perspectives of individual(s) with disabilities, and thus has left out the general education student perspective. The primary data collection method was in-depth interviews over the duration of two semesters. This research proved that general education students overwhelmingly support inclusion class experiences. The more positive experiences, the more empathetic talk and a broader sense of community. It is recommended that the current inclusion course program continue. Stakeholders are encouraged to focus on creating new and different inclusion experiences on campus as the benefit of such spaces is apparent in this research.

Committee: Corinne Brion (Committee Chair); Karen Lovett (Committee Member); Fritz Ettl (Committee Member) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2015, Foundations of Education

This work is a historical, qualitative analysis of diversity and social justice in teacher education accreditation. The purpose of the study was twofold. The first purpose was determine how NCATE and CAEP conceptualized and emphasized these topics in the standards for the accreditation of teacher preparation over time. The second purpose was to determine the extent to which research or policy influence how these topics were conceptualized within the standards text. To accomplish these purposes, the researcher analyzed electronic versions of the NCATE and CAEP standards text, conducted reviews of educational research and conducted reviews of educational policy. The results obtained demonstrated that the conceptualization of diversity and social justice have changed during the time period covered in the research as a result of both research and policy. The balance shifted to mainly policy influence in more recent editions of the standards. Recommendations for extensions of this work are provided.

Committee: Dale Snauwaert Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Lynne Hamer Ph.D. (Committee Member); Virginia Keil Ph.D. (Committee Member); Mary Ellen Edwards Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education Policy; Educational Sociology; Teacher Education

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2014, Curriculum and Instruction: Educational Technology

Workplace bullying is a significant problem carrying wide-ranging consequences in organizations of various sizes and in a variety of work environments. Research suggests ten to twenty percent of employees are exposed to workplace bullying annually. A review of scholarly literature established workplace bullying as a problem impacting employee and organizational performance, with many researchers suggesting human resource professionals should be integral in addressing workplace bullying in organizations. This study utilized the central tenets of human performance technology, specifically systems theory, to focus on the organizational subsystem of human resources as it relates to preventing, identifying, and addressing workplace bullying. There were three identified purposes to this study. The first purpose of the study was to provide a valid measure of workplace bullying reporting from the perspective of the human resource professional. The second purpose of the study was to take an occupation-specific approach to investigate if employees in correctional organizations report workplace bullying behavior to their organization through human resource professionals at a different rate than in other fields of employment. The third purpose of the study was to investigate if correctional organizations are utilizing performance improvement interventions discussed in current scholarly literature to address workplace bullying. Results indicated human resources professionals in this survey have a different perspective on workplace bullying as compared to those considered in the comparison study. Further, correctional organizations are not widely using performance improvement interventions to address workplace bullying. The Rasch Mathematical Model was used to evaluate the research instrument. The Rasch analysis suggested the research instrument could be revised for improved functionality.

Committee: Berhane Teclehaimanot Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Gregory Stone Ph.D. (Committee Member); Lisa Kovach Ph.D. (Committee Member); Robert Sullivan Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2014, Curriculum and Instruction Mathematics Education (Education)

This dissertation reports on a study designed to estimate the causal effect of taking pure mathematics courses in high school on the likelihood of placing out of postsecondary remedial mathematics. A nonparametric variant of propensity score analysis (marginal mean weighting through stratification) was used on a nationally representative dataset to test for a practically significant causal effect in three groups of students: all comparable students, students who were unlikely to take high-level mathematics courses, and students in a range of demographic categories. In the original analysis, two thirds of the analytic sample had to be discarded because students were not comparable on baseline characteristics; implications of this lack of comparability are discussed. A second analysis included twice as many students by recoding the treatment variable into a more equally-distributed hierarchy of mathematics classes. In both analyses, the estimated causal effect of taking mathematics courses on placement out of PRM failed to reach practical significance; with few exceptions, the same nonsignificant result was found regardless of propensity level or demographic category. The causal effect was lowest among students who had been least likely to take high-level mathematics courses in high school. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the impact of missing values and to test the results under different assumptions. These findings suggest that enrollment in high school mathematics courses may not have as strong of an effect on placement out of postsecondary remedial mathematics as typically claimed in the research literature. More generally, the results suggest that hidden selection bias in many previous education studies may have unwittingly masked the inequity in the U.S. education system. Implications of these findings are discussed for policymakers, student-level decisionmakers, teachers, and researchers.

Committee: Robert Klein (Committee Chair); Hea-Jin Lee (Committee Member); Gordon Brooks (Committee Member); Ginger Weade (Committee Member) Subjects: Mathematics Education; Statistics

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2013, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Educational Studies

This dissertation is an arts-based action inquiry into a grassroots educational partnership for social justice in an era of high-stakes standardized testing and teaching. Drawing on educational research in the public interest and multicultural theory (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 2006; Banks, 2006), I examine how students, teachers and educators who participate in an educational partnership organized by story describe and address the challenges, barriers and constraints they face in public schooling. It unites the work of a variety of social justice workers in education by organizing through stories and other arts-based inquiry activities (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009; Gruwell & Freedom Writers, 2007; Sunstein & Chiseri-Strater, 2002) to create a dystopian novel about the current and future issues facing public education. Using arts-based qualitative research guides (Barone, 2006; Maxwell, 1996; Vickers, 2010; Winter, 1991) and action research principles (Brydon-Miller, 2007; Cammarota & Fine, 2008; Freire, 1970; Anderson, Herr, & Nihlen, 2007), I inquire into current and past educational practices, policy, and partnerships and theorize future ones based on the expressed experiences of students, teachers, and teacher educators, as well as through dominant paradigms for schooling and teaching. In a brave new world of public education seeing the erosion of state funding and increased dependence on foundation grants and private entities, partnerships guided by social justice stories of students, teachers, and other educators, offer an important way to communicate across organizations and contexts more effectively, enable a shared culture of empowerment, share costs and resources, and develop social innovations in schools that are community-based and globally aware.

Committee: Miriam Raider-Roth Ed.D. (Committee Chair); Mary Brydon-Miller Ph.D. (Committee Member); Holly Johnson Ph.D. (Committee Member); Chester Laine Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education

EdD, University of Cincinnati, 2005, Education : Urban Educational Leadership

Historically, the issue of HIV and adolescence has not generally been considered a priority for most school educators and administrators. As treatments for HIV have advanced over the years, more students infected by the disease have been able to participate in learning environments in the public schools. With the No Child Left Behind Act permeating schools, urban administrators, and educators are forced to focus primarily on academically based achievement standards; negating the social, medical, legal, and moral complexities of students who are infected with HIV. The purpose of this research was to explore the attitudes of administrators and teachers in urban schools. This study found that their attitudes about HIV and HIV positive adolescents centered on 3 main themes:(1) the (non)compassion on the part of the administrator or teacher depending on the mode of HIV transmission, (2) their beliefs about factors that impede student learning, and whether a medical condition can be considered an impediment, and (3) the professional experience of the administrator and teacher that impacts school change.

Committee: Dr. James Koschoreck (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2009, ED Policy and Leadership

Although a popular subject in philosophical literature, responsibility has been an underdeveloped construct in the fields of education and psychology. This study examined ways teachers understand and enact a sense of personal responsibility for the promotion of social justice in their classrooms as a specific form of responsibility-taking. Social justice provided an ideal case study because it is not a part of the fabric of education and its promotion is not mandated by policy or milieu in most public schools. As a result, teachers must take it upon themselves to engage in justice-seeking pedagogy and must also define for themselves what such teaching looks like in their own classrooms. The study employed a three-tiered data collection approach in which self-report surveys, cognitive appraisal interviews using the surveys, and classroom interviews and observations were used to examine pre-service and practicing teachers' beliefs and practices as a large group and as individual cases. Findings suggest participants across tiers subscribed one of six orientations towards toward teaching multicultural content using relevant pedagogy, as indicated by survey analyses. Cognitive appraisal interviews using the survey also suggest teachers apply several modes of reasoning even when they arrive at the same choices on the survey instrument. This suggests participants lack a common language or manner of thinking about multicultural education or responsibility. Finally, interview and observation participants who considered themselves multicultural educators, or teachers for social justice, discussed their beliefs and practices in a variety of ways. In all cases, this kind of teaching was synonymous with multicultural pedagogy through a representation or interpersonal interaction paradigm. Participating pre-service and practicing teachers also discussed their sense of teachers' professional identities through specific items on the survey, directed CAI questions, and interview q (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Bryan Warnick PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Heather Davis PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Anita Woolfolk Hoy PhD (Committee Member); Ann Allen PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Psychology; Educational Theory; Multicultural Education; Philosophy; Psychology; Social Research; Teacher Education