Individuals of Latinx origin are the largest minority group in the United States, and the fastest growing enrollment demographic in institutions of higher education. Yet, the achievement and opportunity gap that is demonstrated by Latinx students compared to their White counterparts continues to widen. Latinx individuals often experience cultural barriers in postsecondary education, especially in the academic advisor relationship. This study aims to help academic advisor leaders learn the Latinx undergraduate student experience in an effort to improve cultural competence in working with this population, and grow their leadership practices to help their direct reports working with Latinx students. The data for this research were collected via an action research study using observations, document analysis, and semi-structured interviews as data collection methods. The findings indicate that learning through testimonios and personal narratives grows awareness and appreciation for Latinx individuals, but also strengthens workplace relationships. This correlates with improved leadership practices and cultivating an environment of inclusivity. The study’s participants experienced the emotional impact of engaging in diversity, equity, and inclusion work and vocalized a strong desire to continue learning about work in this space. The findings indicate the need for additional professional development in learning about the Latinx student experience, and additional resources dedicated to engaging in diversity, equity, and inclusion work in the university.

Teacher education has lagged in preparing general educators with the knowledge and skills necessary to support the learning of students with disabilities within inclusive classrooms. This study illustrates how small-scale action research can be used in higher education to analyze teacher preparation practices in a concerted effort toward improvement. Participants included (n =35) preservice teachers in a graduate-level university teacher preparation program in the Pacific Northwest. Mixed methods were utilized to examine the impact of lesson study on preservice teacher self-efficacy and capacity to teach students with disabilities within their respective practicum placements. First developed in Japan, lesson study facilitates a collaborative effort between teachers to improve instructional knowledge and skills. In this study, a new variation of lesson study was developed to align teacher preparation course content with High Leverage Practices in special education. Outcomes from this study indicate the need to align coursework with practicum experiences to optimize the acquisition of knowledge and skills through deliberate practice. In addition, this study highlights how High Leverage Practices can serve as a pedagogical bridge between the perpetual division of special and general education teacher preparation programs.

Students with disabilities are entering higher-education institutions at increasing rates, but they are not being adequately prepared for this transition. Transition plans have been created by Special Education teams in the K-12 system, but oftentimes, the student is not an active participant in the development of these plans for their futures. A huge gap in preparing for the transition to post-secondary education is a student’s self-determination skills. Self-determination is a belief that you control your own destiny and are motivated to create your own path in life. This study explores how students with disabilities can improve their self-determination skills through guided practice and small group collaboration. Participants included (n=4) freshmen students with disabilities who were actively engaged with their institution’s Disability Resource Center at a 4-year public research institution in the West. A qualitative practical action research study was designed to explore the impact of implementing a self-determination innovation to support college students with disabilities in improving their self-determination skills. The innovation developed for this study was adapted from Field and Hoffman’s Steps to Self-Determination curriculum. Findings from this study illustrate the need to support transitioning college students with disabilities in understanding their disabilities and how it can and will impact them in the college environment and beyond. Providing students with a safe space to explore their disabilities and the challenges they have encountered in their lives, allows them to identify the barriers to their growth and build a support system of similarly situated students that provide them with a sense of belonging and camaraderie they have not usually experienced in their lives. This study demonstrates how supporting students in improving their self-determination skills can help them build their confidence and self-advocacy skills to persist in higher education institutions.

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of the innovation, the Professional Learning Community-Orientation Modules (PLC-OM), on new teachers’ (NTs) attitudes towards and self-efficacy for PLCs and their self-efficacy and abilities as NTs. The school district in which this study took place did not have any support for NTs who entered their Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). The PLC-OM was designed to address the lack of support for PLCs, increasing NTs knowledge of PLCs and PLC skills and empowering them to act within collaborative networks. The literature review includes various, relevant studies from areas such as new teacher retention, specifically induction and mentoring programs, NT collaboration, and NT self-efficacy and past research around PLCs and online learning communities. The theory guiding this study includes sociocultural theory, social cognitive theory, and communities of practice. This mixed-methods action research study was conducted within southeastern Pennsylvania and included a total of 18 participants from elementary, middle, and high school. The innovation was implemented over a 13-week period with participants engaging in asynchronous and synchronous activities through Schoology, a learning management system. Participants completed pre- and post-innovation surveys and the Perceived New Teacher Growth Level Survey. Additionally, throughout the PLC-OM, NTs completed a Flipgrid introduction, discussion board responses, and PLC reflections. Flipgrid is a video recording platform that allows participants to create short videos and share with a group. They also engaged in virtual synchronous meetings as an entire cohort which were led by the researcher and focus-group interviews. Quantitative data was analyzed through descriptive statistics and a one sample t-test for the pre- and post-innovation surveys while the qualitative data was analyzed using a grounded theory approach, specifically the constant comparative method. All data was triangulated to confirm and corroborate findings. Results suggested that the PLC-OM was beneficial for NTs and contributed to an increase in self-efficacy for PLCs and as NTs. NTs showed an increase in knowledge of PLCs and their PLC skills including interpersonal skills that can assist with collaboration. Additionally, the PLC-OM positively influenced NTs attitudes toward PLCs and their abilities as NTs. The discussion focuses on clarifying the following: the changes in NTs self-efficacy for PLCs and as NTs; the attitudes of NTs toward PLCs; and the influence of the PLC-OM design.

Learning to read in English is difficult for adult English language learners due to their diverse background, their level of experience with literacy in their first language, and their reason and desire for wanting to learn to read in English. Teachers of adult language learners must consider the educational and language experiences of adults enrolled in English as a Second Language (ESL) classes in order to provide adequate learning opportunities for a diverse student body. Promoting learning opportunities for adult Arabic speakers was an area of interest for me when I first began teaching adult English language learners six years ago. The purpose of my action research study was to provide the adult Arabic speakers in my classroom with strategies they could use in order to read accurately in English. Current research used to guide my study focused on the difficulties Arabic speakers have with the orthographic features of the English language. As I conducted various cycles of action research in an ESL reading class, I developed an intervention to support adult Arabic speakers gain an understanding of the sound spelling system of the English language inclusive of instructional strategies to support accurate word reading. Data was collected to identify the individuals experience in learning to read. I included a pre and post miscue analysis to help identify the common error patterns of the participants of my study. Over an eight-week period, I followed a constructivist approach and facilitated word sorts to help students identify common sound spellings found in the English language. Instructional strategies were included to help the participants decode multisyllabic words by bringing awareness to the syllable types found in the English language. The findings of my study revealed that Arabic speakers benefited from an intervention focused on the sound spellings and syllabication of the English language.

This thesis investigates the policy surrounding English Language Learners (ELL) on both a federal and state level, with an emphasis on the state of Arizona. Arizona ELL policy and pedagogy have been the subjects of research nationwide; many studies demonstrate that ELLs struggle before, during and after participating in Arizona ELL programs (Lillie et al. 2012; Roa 2012; Office of Civil Rights 2012). Despite this previous research there were limited comprehensive overviews of the data that had been collected as well as recommendations that could be created utilizing the data. This thesis addresses that void of information through 1) A comprehensive literature review of the framework of policies used on the federal and state level, and 2) recommendations provided that are based on the findings of the literature included in the review. Study findings present that there is limited literature to support the English-Only policies currently enforced in the state of Arizona and that students would be better served to utilize other language acquisition approaches that view their primary language as a resource rather than a problem. Additionally, the literature suggests that there needs to be greater oversight in what language is being used to define certain groups so that all students receive proper resources and that there needs to be more communication about federal and state guidelines currently in place. It was recommended that extended research be conducted given recent policy shifts in the state of Arizona that occurred while the thesis was written, that future policy should account for greater inclusivity as well as continuous support, and that the state of Arizona reframe most of its current policies to be more fully aligned with research-based strategies.