ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7
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- All Subjects: Educational Administration
- Creators: Hermanns, Carl
Description
Parent involvement is a concept that is used to describe the ways schools attempt to connect with parents for the educational benefit and support of students. Schools engage in strategies and invest in programs to increase parents’ involvement at and with the school, employ personnel to support parents, and develop workshops aimed at supporting parents’ understanding of academic content as well as to develop partnerships between parents and teachers.
The purpose of this study was to investigate how parents viewed themselves as partners with their children’s teachers and what they believed their roles were in their children’s education. This qualitative study was conducted through interviews with parents who were recommended by school staff as having above-average or below-average involvement. Ten parents in a low-income public school in the southwestern United States were selected for an initial interview, and four of those ten were chosen as focal parents for additional rounds of interviews. All three rounds of interviews took place over a four month period in the spring. The interviews were used to document and analyze how parents viewed themselves and the roles they have in their children’s schooling.
The findings from this study illustrate the similarities in behavior, attitude, and self-view between parents recommended by school staff as having above-average and below-average involvement. Additionally, this analysis describes how effective partnerships between home and school (including current teachers, former teachers, and school support staff) can help support parents as lifelong advocates for their children. When parents are intentionally made to feel vital as partners in their children’s schooling, their confidence in their ability to support their children’s education is strengthened.
The purpose of this study was to investigate how parents viewed themselves as partners with their children’s teachers and what they believed their roles were in their children’s education. This qualitative study was conducted through interviews with parents who were recommended by school staff as having above-average or below-average involvement. Ten parents in a low-income public school in the southwestern United States were selected for an initial interview, and four of those ten were chosen as focal parents for additional rounds of interviews. All three rounds of interviews took place over a four month period in the spring. The interviews were used to document and analyze how parents viewed themselves and the roles they have in their children’s schooling.
The findings from this study illustrate the similarities in behavior, attitude, and self-view between parents recommended by school staff as having above-average and below-average involvement. Additionally, this analysis describes how effective partnerships between home and school (including current teachers, former teachers, and school support staff) can help support parents as lifelong advocates for their children. When parents are intentionally made to feel vital as partners in their children’s schooling, their confidence in their ability to support their children’s education is strengthened.
ContributorsQuirk, Jennifer (Author) / Powers, Jeanne (Thesis advisor) / Hermanns, Carl (Committee member) / Uxa, Nancy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
This mixed methods action research study examined the effectiveness of an Education and Career Action Plan (ECAP) Advisory Program on students’ formation of postsecondary education and employment plans.
The study took place at a public high school in northern Arizona. Participants included thirty-three 11th-Grade Advisory students, four 11th-grade advisors, and me, the action researcher. One quantitative data instrument and three qualitative data instruments were used for data collection. Each of the four data collection instruments provided insight about one of the study’s research questions.
The quantitative data from this study addressed whether the intervention had an impact on the ECAP Advisory Program’s ability to enhance students’ postsecondary knowledge. Results from the quantitative data demonstrated significant positive change, indicating that, through their participation in an ECAP Advisory Program, students developed their postsecondary education and employment knowledge.
The qualitative data from this study addressed how the participants experienced the intervention by providing a deeper understanding of their experiences with their ECAP Advisor and the ECAP Advisory Program. Results from the qualitative data indicated that students’ perceptions of postsecondary education and employment planning changed substantially during their participation in the ECAP Advisory Program. As the study progressed, student participants reported they could more appropriately visualize the postsecondary education and employment environments that aligned with their interests. Furthermore, because of the time allocated for lessons and activities in the ECAP Advisory Program, students participants also reported feeling more prepared to pursue postsecondary education and employment opportunities as the ECAP Advisory Program progressed. And perhaps most importantly, student participants reported that their advisor positively impacted their postsecondary education and employment planning.
Overall, in association with their participation in the ECAP Advisory Program and relationship with their ECAP Advisor, students expanded their postsecondary education and employment knowledge levels, developed and modified their education and employment goals, and felt more prepared to pursue postsecondary education and employment opportunities.
The study took place at a public high school in northern Arizona. Participants included thirty-three 11th-Grade Advisory students, four 11th-grade advisors, and me, the action researcher. One quantitative data instrument and three qualitative data instruments were used for data collection. Each of the four data collection instruments provided insight about one of the study’s research questions.
The quantitative data from this study addressed whether the intervention had an impact on the ECAP Advisory Program’s ability to enhance students’ postsecondary knowledge. Results from the quantitative data demonstrated significant positive change, indicating that, through their participation in an ECAP Advisory Program, students developed their postsecondary education and employment knowledge.
The qualitative data from this study addressed how the participants experienced the intervention by providing a deeper understanding of their experiences with their ECAP Advisor and the ECAP Advisory Program. Results from the qualitative data indicated that students’ perceptions of postsecondary education and employment planning changed substantially during their participation in the ECAP Advisory Program. As the study progressed, student participants reported they could more appropriately visualize the postsecondary education and employment environments that aligned with their interests. Furthermore, because of the time allocated for lessons and activities in the ECAP Advisory Program, students participants also reported feeling more prepared to pursue postsecondary education and employment opportunities as the ECAP Advisory Program progressed. And perhaps most importantly, student participants reported that their advisor positively impacted their postsecondary education and employment planning.
Overall, in association with their participation in the ECAP Advisory Program and relationship with their ECAP Advisor, students expanded their postsecondary education and employment knowledge levels, developed and modified their education and employment goals, and felt more prepared to pursue postsecondary education and employment opportunities.
ContributorsDonner, William James (Author) / Hermanns, Carl (Thesis advisor) / Zucker, Stanley (Committee member) / Erwin-Mahlios, Erin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
It is vital for schools to have qualified teachers educating our children. Institutions with teacher preparation programs supply a valuable service to their communities by providing classrooms with devoted professionals who thrive on helping children learn, and the Teachers College, where this study is set, is one such institution. The Teachers College offers two pathways to gain teacher certification: a traditional bachelor’s degree in teaching areas such as elementary, secondary, or special education, as well as master’s degrees in those same teaching areas which offer students with a bachelor’s degree in an area other than teaching, another pathway to teacher certification. Many people who receive their bachelor degrees and then return to college to earn advanced K-12 teacher education degrees are from the millennial generation. The decision to return to college to earn a master’s degree with teacher certification can be a stressful one. Millennial students seeking teacher certification often have fulltime jobs and families, and therefore need the process of returning to school to be quick and efficient. How well these prospective students communicate with the admissions staff at their school of choice will determine if they receive the information needed to complete their applications. The focus of this study is to investigate if a proactive advising text message innovation developed for this study called TextEd, used during the admission process for graduate level, teacher certification programs at the Teachers College, affected applicant communication levels and customer satisfaction through the application process. More specifically, surveys and interviews were conducted with applicants from three teacher certifications programs to determine if TextEd was an effective tool for communication with millennial applicants. Results indicated that applicants’ preferred method of communication was their cell phone, and an increased level of customer satisfaction occurred when using a proactive advising approach with text messaging during the admissions process.
ContributorsO'Malley, Katherine I (Author) / Hermanns, Carl (Thesis advisor) / Caterino, Linda (Committee member) / Fogerty, Glen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Teacher mobility is a policy issue that affects students and school across the country. Despite a long-standing body of research related to teacher mobility, relatively little is known about how teacher-school pairings affect teachers’ decisions to stay at or leave their schools. Therefore, this study tested a model of teacher-school fit with a focus on the value that teachers and principals place on standardized test scores. Survey responses were collected from 382 K-8th grade public school teachers from 22 schools in two school districts. The results show that teachers who placed higher values on standardized test scores reported slightly higher levels of teacher-school fit and were slightly less likely to leave their schools within five years. Additionally, teachers’ self-assessed teacher-school fit showed a strong, positive relationship with teacher retention. These findings suggest that a better understanding of the factors that affect teachers’ sense of teacher-school fit may help reduce teacher mobility.
ContributorsVagi, Robert (Author) / Garcia, David (Thesis advisor) / Hermanns, Carl (Committee member) / Ida, Masumi (Committee member) / West, Stephen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
The purpose of this action research study was to better understand how aspiring school leaders orient themselves toward present and future uncertainty and to explore what mindsets and conceptual understandings they believe they need to lead through uncertainty. An innovation, delivered through a graduate course on leading change in a Master of Educational Leadership program, focused on supporting participants’ mindsets and conceptual understanding toward leading change in the midst of uncertainty, including the COVID-19 global pandemic. A total of 34 students participated in this qualitative case study. The educational innovation was designed by this action researcher and was informed by transformative leadership theory, design thinking, and imagination. Four sources of data were used to answer the research questions, including students’ written assignments and video reflection assignments, as well as researcher course observations and semi-structured interviews with participants. Major findings suggested that the educational innovation was effective in supporting participants identity development as transformative leaders, as well as supporting participants’ adoption of design thinking mindsets and use of imagination as tools for leading change in complex systems and during uncertain times.
ContributorsScragg, Benjamin S (Author) / Giorgis, Cyndi (Thesis advisor) / Hermanns, Carl (Committee member) / Loescher, Shawn T (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
Student tardiness has not received as much attention as absences in research on school attendance, despite the disruptions to learning it can cause. The purpose of this study was to design, implement, and study an alternative intervention—the Student Training for a Restorative Outlook for Needed Growth (S.T.R.O.N.G.) Program—to the existing punitive tardy detention practice at a high school where tardiness was a problem. The program promoted on-time behavior to school and class by utilizing positive restorative practice elements along with self-paced learning modules focused on growth mindset, goal setting, punctuality, and organizational skills. The driving force behind the creation of the S.T.R.O.N.G. Program was to determine if this intervention could support a change in students’ intent to be on time for class. Students in the S.T.R.O.N.G. Program intervention participated in three steps, beginning with individual restorative conversations and a group restorative conversation. In the second step, students engaged in learning module lessons related to growth mindset, goal setting, punctuality, and organizational skills. After each learning module, students reflected on their learning in individual journals. In the final step, students exited the intervention with a student feedback form. This mixed-methods action research study involved collecting data from interviews, surveys, and reflective journals. Thirteen students participated in the intervention and took an initial student intake questionnaire asking them about their student experiences in the existing punitive tardy detention practice. Qualitative data were coded, analyzed, and used with quantitative data to triangulate findings. The results of the study indicated that students were not in favor of the existing punitive tardy detention practice and preferred an alternative, positive tardy practice that supported self-improvement to help with their on-time behavior. Results also showed the S.T.R.O.N.G. Program to be useful and effective at teaching students information related to the constructs in the learning modules, resulting in students declaring a positive attitude.
ContributorsRobertson, Christopher Bryce (Author) / Harris, Lauren M (Thesis advisor) / Hermanns, Carl (Committee member) / Steitz, Julie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
ABSTRACTLeading change is one of the most daunting tasks for K–12 site leaders. It is well established that the site leaders’ influence on student learning is profound, and the importance of implementing changes to improve practice is paramount. This action research study aimed to examine how a research-based professional development and coaching program could impact site leaders’ attitudes, beliefs, practices, and the teachers’ perceptions. The study occurred over 14 weeks at a public elementary school. The intervention contained two professional development sessions, which included learning and planned implementation of research-based strategies and weekly coaching sessions once the school year started. The theories that supported this study included change leadership, distributed leadership, transformational leadership, social cognitive theory, sensemaking, and literature on veteran teachers.
A mixed methods action research design using quantitative and qualitative data was gathered simultaneously through a pre- and postintervention collection. Data was gathered from Monday Memos, a staff meeting observation, staff meeting agendas, coaching field notes, the Staff Perception Survey, and interviews which were all used to analyze then address the research questions. During the qualitative data analysis, the codes were categorized, and themes were examined to determine any shifts from the initial data compared to the postintervention data. Due to the small sample size and lack of data normality on the Staff Perception Survey, instead of a conventional t test, the more conservative nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test was applied to assess pre-to-post differences. Results indicated no statistically significant differences between the pre- and postintervention survey among individual items or collective construct items (i.e., teacher voice, shared vision, removing obstacles, and building culture).
The results suggest that there was a shift in how the site leaders conceptualized their role as a leader of change through the coaching program intervention. It was expanded, hopeful, and the site leaders saw the increased weight of their role in the impact of leading change. Further, through the research-based coaching program, site leaders changed their practice regarding their consistency and both expanded and shifted change strategies. In conclusion, limitations give perspective while implications for practice and research provide for an exciting future.
ContributorsBaldwin, Jennifer Sue (Author) / Judson, Eugene (Thesis advisor) / Hermanns, Carl (Committee member) / Plough, Bobbie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022