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K-12 educational outcomes are a powerful reflection of social opportunity, both by meaningfully predicting adult wellbeing across measures like health and income, and by encapsulating the breadth of factors that contribute to a child's preparedness, ability, and opportunity to learn and persist in school. In this light, the persistent deficits in educational outcomes experienced by individuals from traditionally disadvantaged identity groups and classes reflect systemic failures to meaningfully address the numerous shortcomings of education and social policy to create equal educational opportunities for all students. The three papers that comprise this dissertation aim to promote more equitable education and social policy by contributing valuable insights into three vital areas of policy that substantively shape the educational opportunities and outcomes of students in the United States. In the first, I extend the existing literature on how air pollutants can contribute to educational inequality by measuring the association between students' proximity to hog farms, their feces lagoons, and fecal fertilizer spraying, and educational outcomes in North Carolina. In the second, I examine the most important school-level resource for student achievement -- teachers -- and how the processes by which students are assigned to classrooms enables the disproportionate assignment of lower performing, nonwhite, and low-income students to less effective teachers within their schools. And finally, I examine districts' proposed spending of federal COVID-19 relief funds, what differences in spending strategies existed for these extremely flexible dollars, and what potential equity implications may exist for student academic learning recovery in the wake of the pandemic. Collectively, these papers contribute new knowledge in three important areas of education and social policy and foreground several promising future research directions by which greater educational equity and equality of social opportunity can be promoted. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine if implicit bias among Indiana educators might affect the identification of gifted Black students for programming. Educators, within school districts with high minority populations, were asked to provide a demographic survey and then take the Implicit Association Test (IAT). Survey data were then collected to determine if potential demographic information like gender, race, the possession of a high ability license, years of experience, highest collegiate degree, or their professional role had a statistical significance when compared to their IAT score. Using t-tests and one-way ANOVAs, demographic data were able to be interpreted against the participant's IAT score. Although a case for bias was revealed in the descriptive analysis, there was no significant difference that was found with Indiana educator demographic data. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The purpose of this action research study was to investigate by using a PBL design if giving student more ownership in classroom cellphone policies has positive outcomes. This study looked at not only the behavioral aspect of classroom cellphone usage, but also the impacts of using a PBL design on student engagement, ownership, and knowledge construction. This study was also framed on constructivism. Students built on their own prior knowledge and worked collaboratively to solve a real-world problem. The research focused on answering three questions. The first question looked at how students synthesize and evaluate the literature to construct knowledge and create a cellphone policy. The second question asked how a PBL design engages students in that process. The third question asked how ownership impacted student distractibility, anxiety, and academic performance. Both quantitative and qualitative data collection instruments were used and showed that student knowledge construction, and engagement increased as the study progressed. The instruments also revealed a high level of ownership as students were highly invested in their artifacts. Once the student created policy was in place there was a slight decrease in the number of cellphone related behaviors, and the number of warnings that I was giving to students. Importantly, half of the students in the study who were not turning in assignments and had other behavior concerns, had a decrease in the number of cellphone related incidents when the student policy was in place. Also, a larger decrease of three fourths of the types of behaviors that were observed during the trial period was recorded. Over half of the students reported a decrease in their own distractibility after the student policy was in place and felt that cellphones had a positive impact on their academic performance. When asked what they liked most about this intervention, several students reported that they liked having a voice in cellphone policies. An action plan was developed to take the principles of student voice and ownership used in this study and apply them on a larger scale to help increase positive impacts related to student cellphone usage in the classroom. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This action research study explored a constructivist, flipped classroom approach to teaching developmental mathematics. This study was developed in response to a concern regarding a lack of success in developmental mathematics. Throughout the study, adult developmental learners were required to watch video lectures prior to attending class. Class time was reserved for supporting and enhancing the out of class learning with collaborative in-class learning activities. The theoretical framework for the study was grounded in constructivism and supported by a community of mathematical inquiry. Data collection consisted of a beginning of semester survey, minute papers, weeks four and ten surveys, end of semester interviews, researcher journal, and faculty evaluations. The findings of the study were grouped into two sections. The first section focused on the qualitative findings and is organized into seven thematic sections. The first qualitative section discussed the student's beliefs about math, specifically their struggle and frustration with the subject. The next finding, ongoing transformations, examined the student's emerging change in perception, how they went from hating math to liking it, and the enjoyment that the adult developmental learners found in the class. The third finding focused on the shared connections the adult developmental learners were developing with each other while the fourth finding discussed the enhanced independence that the adult developmental learners were acquiring. Learning in the flipped classroom was next and noted that the video lectures gave adult developmental learners time to process mathematical ideas, allowed for flexible instruction, provided a lesson preview and became a study tool for the adult developmental learners. The sixth finding was related to the community of math inquiry theoretical framework and highlighted the collaboration with peers, dialogue and discussion, different perspectives, relaxing climate, and the challenges of group work. The final qualitative finding focused on the way that I teach including my thorough explanations, teaching presence, and the learning aids incorporated within the course. The second section of findings highlighted the quantitative findings. These findings resulted from the weeks four and ten surveys as well as the faculty evaluations. This study concludes with a discussion of the findings in relationship to the theoretical frameworks, presents implications for developmental mathematics and adult education, and includes suggestions for future research. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Despite the fact that women now earn more bachelor's, master's and doctorates than men, a gender gap for women leaders persists in the field of higher education. Women hold only 26 percent of all college and university presidencies with a large variance by type of institution. Women lead 33 percent of associate's level institutions but only 22 percent of doctorate-granting institutions. Extensive research has demonstrated that women aspiring to and serving as leaders face many barriers. The objective of this study was to discover the meaning of adversity in the lives of women leaders in higher education by documenting accounts of women who have navigated through obstacles, barriers and adversities. This study used qualitative research to understand the meanings which participants gave to their experiences with adversity. Twenty-six women holding senior leadership positions in higher education participated in this study. In-depth interviews were conducted to allow participants to recall their experiences with adversity and to reflect on the meanings of these experiences. Participants experienced wide-ranging types of adversity, including gender-based leadership barriers. While adversity had a generally positive effect on participant identity, it had disparate effects on self-esteem, power, connections to others and worldviews. The common thread was that adversity can lead to growth and opportunity but such benefits are intertwined with pain and loss. To make sense of adversity, participants spent time in a sensemaking cycle, in which they attributed meanings, chose actions, updated understandings, and revised predictions and assumptions about the future. Coming to a sense of closure related to participant self-esteem and empowerment. Participants who were unable to make sense of their adversities experienced decreased self-esteem and empowerment while participants who found a meaning or conclude that no meaning exists experienced increased self-esteem and empowerment. Despite the adversity they have faced, participants in this study have survived, and most have even thrived. In navigating adversity, these women actively reframed obstacles and barriers and increased their resilience and self-efficacy. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The variable nature of literacy is discussed in chapter one of this paper, including problems of arbitrary standards, instruments, and criteria. In the second chapter, some of the historical roots of the concept of literacy are traced both to show how the concept of literacy evolved and to show how literacy has always been closely tied to the spirit of the times. The social, political, and educational uses and abuses of literacy assessment are examined and an attempt is made to place current efforts in a social, political, and educational context, including current assessments of functional literacy. The need to assess actual literacy demands and individuals' abilities to handle those demands is stressed in chapter three. In chapter four, possible instruments to do this type of assessment are proposed for job-related literacy demands and the results of a field-testing of these instruments is presented. (MKM)