Specialist in Education, Miami University, 2021, School Psychology

This research study explored the relationship between test anxiety and growth mindset for fifth grade elementary students in a midwestern, urban district. Researchers compared the levels of test anxiety and growth mindset for elementary students using the Implicit Theory of Intelligence Scale (ITIS) and the Children's Test Anxiety Scale (CTAS). The results were analyzed using a Pearson correlation and t-test to determine if there was a relationship between test anxiety and growth mindset. The results of the study indicate that there is a significant relationship between these two variables (r=.364; p=.029). No significant difference was detected between the male and female participants of the study. Future studies may continue to examine the relationship between these two variables as well as the impact that growth mindset interventions could have on student performance in diverse settings.

Committee: Sarah Watt PhD (Advisor); Paul Flaspohler PhD (Committee Member); Amity Noltemeyer PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Education; Educational Psychology; Gender; Teacher Education; Teaching

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2020, Curriculum and Instruction

This dissertation is intended to aid school systems in creating leadership education programs for high school and college aged students. A visualization education curriculum is potentially developed by using the research and commentaries of many pedologists, teachers, counselors, athletes, business individuals, and psychologists. Ideas include a focus on end-goals, S.M.A.R.T. goals, mental imagery, mindfulness strategies, and visualization exercises. With a foundation in helping students value their own identity, this curriculum can help link more personal meaning into the classroom by integrating them into relevant subject matter. In recent years, many researchers have been conducting studies on similar programs outside of education, and many have shown positive outcomes. Studies have shown increases in positive results in overcoming personal/professional challenges and obstacles, better relationships, and stronger values. By making visualization exercises apart of the educational foundation for a school's curriculum, children may gain a mindset that help them relate their goals with their current environment, and will give them a community of support upon which they can continue to build achievement.

Committee: Mark Templin (Committee Chair); Leigh Chiarelott (Committee Member); Dale Snauwaert (Committee Member); Madeline Clark (Committee Member) Subjects: Curricula; Curriculum Development; Education; Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Mental Health; Multicultural Education; Neurosciences; School Counseling; Teacher Education; Teaching

Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership), Youngstown State University, 2024, Department of Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

This dissertation provides an examination of teachers' perceived levels of cultural responsiveness, mindset, and self-efficacy, as well as the perceived effectiveness of their teacher preparation programs in preparing them to teach in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms. The study was framed within the context of inequities and achievement gaps faced by increasingly diverse student populations in the United States contrasted to a historically White and monolingual teaching population and how ensuring that pre-service teachers experience diverse curricula and are exposed to diverse field experience can be instrumental in ameliorating these conditions by challenging mindsets. The study also examined how years of service influenced teachers' perceived levels of cultural responsiveness, mindset, and self-efficacy and how professional development for classroom teachers addressing cultural diversity could be instrumental in closing achievement gaps. The survey consisted of a modified instrument based on the Common Metrics Transition to Teaching Survey (NExT, 2016), specific questions about growth mindset based on the Theories of Intelligence (Others Form) scale created by Dweck and colleagues (Dweck, 2000), and self-efficacy questions based on the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scales (TSES) short-form survey, which was developed by Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2001). Results indicated that teachers with diverse curricula and field experiences reported higher cultural responsiveness and self-efficacy. However, classroom teachers with more than six years of experience reported lower cultural responsiveness and self-efficacy levels, which supports the need for continued education and professional development opportunities for teachers addressing cultural-sustaining practices to increase teacher efficacy. Reflections, discussions, and implications for future research and actions are discussed.

Committee: Jane Beese EdD (Committee Chair); Patrick Spearman PhD (Committee Member); Kristin Bruns PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Leadership

Master of Science (M.S.), Xavier University, 2023, Psychology

The current study sought to understand employee perceptions of organizational change and whether changes implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic would be interpreted differently based on employee mindset and their relationship with their leader. Variables of interest were types of organizational change, growth mindset, leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships, and satisfaction with change. Contrary to the hypothesis, employee growth mindset did not significantly correlate with satisfaction with change. Additionally, although a significant interaction was found between LMX and growth mindset on satisfaction with change, the plotted interaction revealed the observed form of the moderation to be inconsistent with the study's hypothesis. Instead of high LMX strengthening the relationship between growth mindset and satisfaction with change, growth mindset and satisfaction with change were more strongly related when LMX was low. The current study's results extend the theoretical application of mindset theory into the change management domain and provide guidance to organizations related to growth mindset within their workforce and generating leader-member relationships. Limitations and potential areas for future research are discussed.

Committee: Morrie Mullins Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Leann Caudill Ph.D. (Committee Member); Eric Barrett M.A. (Committee Member) Subjects: Organizational Behavior; Psychology

MAE, Otterbein University, 2023, Education

The curriculum presented is for struggling high school readers so that they can use mastery experiences with two high yield reading strategies – self-questioning and summarizing – to improve their reading comprehension, which will build self-efficacy and help them to develop a growth mindset. The question that drove this research is what is the best way to meet the academic needs of a diverse student population in a remedial reading class in a way that helps them to build their literacy toolbox and develop a respect for and maybe even a love of lifelong learning? The curriculum is built upon current research of the Active View of Reading Model in conjunction with best practices in reading comprehension strategies and tools to build self-efficacy and a growth mindset. The unit plan outlines how to use a variety of graphic organizers to help students organize and comprehend short stories, videos, novels, textbooks, and non-fiction resources that can be found in an Environmental Science classroom as well as ways to utilize self-questioning and summarizing to increase students' comprehension. It also incorporates Fisher and Frey's Gradual Release Model and collaborative conversations to help students increase self-efficacy.

Committee: Dee Knoblauch (Advisor); Allison McGrath (Committee Member); Carrie Scheckelhoff (Committee Member) Subjects: Reading Instruction; Secondary Education

Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership), Youngstown State University, 2023, Department of Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

The achievement gap is commonly associated with high poverty urban schools, however, in suburban, middle class America, the achievement gap still manifests itself (Ogbu, 2003). Commonly referred to as an excellence gap, this gap is the discrepancy between high performing African American students and their peers (Rambo-Hernandez et al., 2019). However, there are high performing African American students that achieve success in schools. This mixed methods study explored the lived experiences of high performing African American students in a suburban school. The two-part study included a survey with quantitative questions, Growth Mindset scale, and Grit scale, as well as qualitative interviews. There were 18 participants for the survey and 10 participants for the semi-structured interviews. The findings identified challenges for high performing African American students including isolation, microaggressions, curriculum, representation, recommendations, and competition. To combat these challenges, high performing African American students identified family, friends, engagement in school, and the ability to code switch as personal factors in their academic success, while school factors for success included the school environment, supportive staff, relationships, and extracurricular activities. This study provides a counternarrative to the underperforming African American students in public schools. By studying high performing African American students in schools, school leaders can focus their efforts to create a school environment where all students succeed.

Committee: Jane Beese EdD (Committee Chair); Christopher Basich EdD (Committee Member); Kristin Bruns PhD (Committee Member); Patrick Spearman PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Education

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2023, Leadership and Change

When curious, we admit we do not know. With the contemporary workplace emerging through increased complexity, leaders are compelled to shift mindsets and practices from more traditional methods to those more in service to the uncertainty of the day. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to generate an integrated theoretical framework for curious leadership, a validated scale for its measurement, and practical methods for engaging differently in the context and practice of leading. Drawing from the literature review of relational leadership, adaptive leadership, complexity leadership, growth mindsets, and curious behavior, and from my practice, 12 sub-constructs were identified as possible scale components of curious leader behavior. A mixed-methods approach was taken with three differently composed focus groups who reviewed the 12 sub-constructs and honed them to four based on their intersections in Phase 1 of the study. In Phase 2, a survey was thereby developed identifying 66 items for further subsequent appraisal. A finalized survey was undertaken with 274 respondents. From principal and confirmatory factor analysis, four sub-scales were eventually identified: Encourage Emergence, Enable Openness, Engage Experiments, and Honor Humanness resulting in the development of the Gick Curious Leader Capacity Scale. The scale's application and future implications for research and practice are discussed. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, https://aura.antioch.edu/, and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu.

Committee: A. E. Lize Booysen DBL (Committee Chair); Carol Baron PhD (Committee Member); Donna Chrobot-Mason PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Management; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior; Social Research

Doctor of Education, Ashland University, 2020, College of Education

This dissertation researched underachievement tendencies of gifted learners and growth mindset. Researchers have concluded underachievement tendencies can lead to social and emotional difficulties and intrapersonal issues (See Tan, Kian Tan & Surendran, 2016; Roedell, 1984; Rubenstein, Siegle, Reiss, McCoach, & Burton, 2012). Gifted students often battle frustration, avoidance, and depression (Chan, 2012; Esparza, Shumow, Schmidt, 2014; Speirs Neumeister, 2016; Turner et al., 2002). Without intervention, some students fall behind academically and socially, which can lead to low satisfaction with life, drop out, depression, or suicide (Denholm, 1991; Krakovsky 2007). This study focuses on one student with academic talent who exhibited underachievement tendencies. The purpose of this study was to examine the experience of a gifted third-grader participating in Brainology's® growth-mindset intervention. Documenting the effect the experience had on the underachievement behaviors of this case student illuminated the possible impacts of a growth-mindset intervention on this student's behavior, responses, and attitudes.

Committee: Judy Alston Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Peter Ghazarian Ed.D. (Committee Member); Jennifer Groman Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education

Specialist in Education, Miami University, 2019, School Psychology

Grit and growth mindset are two non-cognitive factors related to academic success. This study explored the following questions: 1) do the mindsets or grit of gifted students differ from the mindsets or grit of the general student population, and 2) are there any associations between young students' grit, growth mindset, and academic achievement? The study's sample consisted of third graders (N=35) in a sub rural Midwestern school district, some of which had been identified as `gifted' (n=13) by the school district. Their grit, mindset, and academic achievement and growth in math and reading were assessed through the Short Grit Scale (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009), Growth Mindset Questionnaire (Dweck, 2008), and STAR reading and math tests (Renaissance Learning, 2014), respectively. Results from one-way ANOVAs indicated that gifted students exhibited higher levels of grit than non-gifted students, and gifted students displayed significantly less growth in math and reading from fall to spring compared to non-gifted students. Pearson correlations indicated many significant associations between the variables of interest, differing by gifted identification status. This study questions whether gifted identification, as well as grit, may actually negatively impact student growth and explores implications in the field of education and School Psychology in particular.

Committee: Sarah Watt PhD (Committee Chair); Vrinda Kalia PhD (Committee Member); Kristy Brann PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Psychology

Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership), Youngstown State University, 2019, Department of Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

The constructs of mindset, leadership, and school climate interact within the school environment. Mindset drives decisions and behaviors, decisions and behaviors determine leadership style, and leadership style influences school climate. Finally, school climate impacts student achievement and success. Much of the research related to mindset, however, has been focused on students. The purpose of this study was to expand the research regarding mindset and school leadership. This quantitative, descriptive study surveyed building principals in 10 counties in northeast Ohio to determine their growth or fixed mindset. The Theories of Intelligence Scale (Others Form) was utilized to determine the principals' mindset. In addition, demographic questions such as gender, level of education, experience, community type, building level, and building size were included in the survey. The study found that 72.2% of principals had a growth mindset, 14.2% had a fixed mindset, and 13.6% scored as unclassified. There were no notable differences between the demographic groups. The findings from this research provide the basis for understanding the mindset of building principals. These results have implications for principal preparation programs and administrator professional development. In addition, the results provide information that can be used to grow transformational leaders within the school environment.

Committee: Jane Beese EdD (Committee Chair); Charles Vergon JD (Committee Member); Xin Liang PhD (Committee Member); Victoria Kress PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Leadership; Educational Theory; School Administration

Specialist in Education (Ed.S.), University of Dayton, 2019, School Psychology

Research suggests that adopting a growth mindset can have positive implications for students' academic outcomes, adjustment, academic emotions, and motivation. Having a growth mindset is also positively associated with resilience, which is positively associated with psychological well-being. The present study examined the relationship between high school students' self-reported levels of growth mindset and psychological well-being. Results of a survey given to (n = 85) high school students demonstrated no significant relationship between students' overall levels of growth mindset and psychological well-being. Further, results indicated that no significant relationship existed between growth mindset and any individual domain of psychological well-being (i.e., autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self-acceptance). Implications for practice and future research in the area of growth mindset are provided.

Committee: Elana Bernstein Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Sawyer Hunley Ph.D. (Committee Member); Thomas Lasley Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Psychology; Psychology; Secondary Education