All dissertations completed at Western Michigan University are entered into ScholarWorks. Some may be embargoed or restricted by the authors and may be only available from on-campus computers. Print copies are available through interlibrary loan for dissertations before 2013. If you have any questions, please contact wmu-scholarworks@wmich.edu.
This department was called Educational Leadership until around 2000. Then departmental responsibilities were redistributed between Educational Studies and Teaching, Learning, and Leadership, both active until 2007. This list includes dissertations from all three of those earlier departments.
Dissertations from 2023
Community College Students’ Awareness of Their Reading and Writing Proficiency, Martha Paulina Campusano Rojas
School Accountability Within the Dominican Republic: A Qualitative Study of School Principals’ Beliefs and Knowledge, Massiel Cohen Camacho
Experiences of Female Muslim International Graduate Students with Children in the U.S.: Strategies to Cope with Academics and Family Life, Nizoramo M. Haitova
Felicidad Aplataná: How Dominican Migrants Living in the Nordic Countries Make Sense of their Happiness, Ivanna Lajara
Opportunity That Transforms Lives: Exploring the Lived Experience of Graduates from a New Community College in the Dominican Republic, Sally Joslyn Peña Martinez
Reflections of Elementary Principals Leading Through Disruption and Crisis: An Exploration of Pandemic Leadership, Nicole Renee Peterson
Leadership Identity Development Among Aspiring Women Leaders in Higher Education: A Phenomenological Study of Formal Mentoring, Malia E. Roberts
Using the Lens of Flourishing to Understand the Professional Well-being of K-12 Teachers Who Have Worked in Urban Schools for Over a Decade, Candis M. Thomas
Teaching without a Roadmap: A Mixed Methods Study of New Teachers' Experience with a Missing Curriculum, Christopher Reid Williams
Dissertations from 2022
The Role Of Motivation In Employee Disposition And Choosing To Act Among Manufacturing Employees: A Grounded Theory Of Discretionary Effort, Shawn Michael Andrews
Teacher Perceptions of Competence in Supporting LGBTQ+ Students, Christina Beushausen
Lost In The Cloud: The Experiences Of College Students With Visual Impairments In An Online Environment, Gwen A. Bostic
A Qualitative Case Study of Health-Related Baccalaureate and Graduate Web-Based Simulated Clinical Learning Platforms, Kathrine Choura Branch
Crafting a Different Kind of Story: Experiences of Creative Writers Leading in Higher Education, Meredith L. Dodson
Using a Design Thinking Approach in Human Resource Practices in North America, Corinne Diane Eswar
Pathways to Success for African American Students at Predominately White Institutions: A Qualitative Study Exploring Academic Readiness, Jeffery Jackson
Teacher Evaluation In Saudi Arabia Relative To National And International Teacher Evaluation Standards And Best Practices, Suhayb Kattan
Equity In Grading: Teachers' Grading Practices And Beliefs Towards Student-Teacher Responsibility In The Classroom, Nathan Andrew Ledlow
Factors that Influence High School Students' Postsecondary Career Decisions in a Guaranteed-Tuition Based School District, Tracy Y. Miller
Organizational Culture in Schools: The Impact of Positive Culture on Staff Retention at Vista Charter Academy, Karrie Elizabeth Munster
Universal Pre-K in Comstock Public Schools, Meadow A. Nuyen
Complex Adaptive Systems Leadership in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous (Vuca) Environment: a Case Study of a First-Year Female Superintendent of Color, Karika Ann Parker
Predictors Of First-Time National Board Passage For Respiratory Therapists, Jennifer Kay Riggs
Exploring The Development Process Of Innovative Graduate Programs For Adult Learners At A U.S. Midwestern Public University, Ibrahim Rustamov
Self-Regulation in the Learning Experiences of School Choice Students, Melody Lynn Schmidt
The Manufacturing And Engineering Partnership Program: An Examination Of A Partnership Between Manufacturing And CTE, Laura Schoenborn-Preuss
Analysis of the Issue of New Mexico Black Male Educators’ Underrepresentation in Education Within New Mexico, Robert Sims Jr.
Three Essays on Social Networks and Schools, Yunzheng Zheng
Dissertations from 2021
Dreamers: Stories of DACA Recipients in Higher Education During the 2018-2021 Political Climate, Alicia Billini
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS): Does Stronger Implementation Relate to More Equitable Student Outcomes In School Discipline?, Stephenie C. Bruce
Understanding the Experience of Mid-Level Community College Change Leaders, Kelley L. Conrad
Investigating the Connection between Teacher Professional Development and the Lesson Planning Process, Kyle B. Corlett
Exploring That Fulbright Magic: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study of Fulbright-MESCYT Alumni Who Return to the Dominican Republic, Joshabel De La Cruz
Exploring Principals’ Experiences with Social Justice Issues in Their Work as School Leaders, Djimtibaye Otalbaye
How Immigrant English Language Learners Used Internal Fortitude to Utilize Supports and Overcome Obstacles to Graduate from High School, Mark C. Peterson
School Principals’ Awareness of Their Emotional Intelligence and Connections to Leadership, Lourdes M. Pimentel Soto
The Acquisition of Dental Competencies and Clinical Skills: Perceptions from Students, Faculty, Practicing Dentists and Industry Professionals in the Dominican Republic, Laura Virginia Reyes Alardo
Predicting Student Success in Coursework within a Regional Online School: An Analysis of Student-Level and School-Level Predictors, Cary J. Stamas
Dissertations from 2020
Saudi Arabian Women’s Lived Experiences Attaining Higher Education Deanships: Paths, Supports, and Challenges, Sarah Abdullah Allhoian
Dominican Public-School Novice Principals’ Description of Their Early Career Experiences and Needs Entering the Principalship, Mary Francis Benzo Hernandez
Experiences of Middle School Principals with Accountability-Related Stress and Coping Skills, Gus T. Calbert
Teachers’ Experiences in Schools that Serve Rural Communities in The Dominican Republic: Their Readiness to Respond to Challenges, Nidia Beatriz Columna Pérez
Implementing a Professional Learning Community in a Private School in the Dominican Republic: An Instrumental Case Study, Miguelina Adelaida Coronado Cornelio
Parent and Guardian Perspectives Regarding Attendance: Evidence from a Governmental Early Childhood Education and Care Program, Rita L. Cruz Santelises
Trauma and Social Frameworks: the Effect of UASD-Government Conflict Between 1966 and 1978 over Perspectives about Higher Education, Jesús Leonardo D'Alessandro
How and Why Higher Education Information Technology Professionals Keep Their Skill Sets Current, Vicky L. Deur
How Elementary Teachers Demonstrate Leadership in the Classroom to Increase Science Learning, Dipsy Anais Etanislao Gonzalez
Choosing to Be a Teacher: Understanding the Career Choice of Academically Excellent University Students Who Had Graduated from High Performing High Schools in the Dominican Republic, Marcela Maria Fuster de Hernàndez
Adjustment Issues as Students Transition from High School to the Dominican Republic's First Community College, Alexandra Julia Garcia Munoz
Teacher Perceptions Regarding the Purpose of K-12 Education, Peter M. Grostic
Adopting Educational Technology: A Study of Dominican Republic Higher Education Faculty Related to their Classroom Usage, Attitudes, Barriers, and Motivations, Leipzig Elizabeth Guzmán Mena
Community College Student Success: Connections to Student Perceptions of Faculty Behaviors, and Classroom Motivators, Victor A. Henry Ubiera
The Voices of Single-Headed Household African American Mothers Concerning the High School Completion of Their Daughters, Lametria A. Johnson_Eaddy
The Role of Search Consultants in Interpreting and Communicating Organizational Identity During Presidential Searches at Small, Private Colleges, Dawn M. Markell
Understanding the School Experience of Recent LGBTQ+ Graduates in the Dominican Republic’s Education System, Rossina Matos
Relationships between Kindergarten Entrance Age and Attendance Rates in Kindergarten through Second Grade, Julie A. McDonald
Novice Second-Career Teachers: Experiences and Meaning-Making of the Transition Process, Paula Dennisse Núñez del Rosario
Undergraduate Educational Research Experiences in the Study of Interior Design, Julia Virginia Pimentel Jiménez
Dominican Nursing Students’ Self-Reported Mastery of International Nursing Competencies, Wady Ramirez
Women’s Lived Experiences in their Pathways to Leadership Positions in Universities in the Dominican Republic, Laura Sartori
An Exploration of Preschool Choice with Low-Income Families: The Critical Role of Positive Attitudes, Behavioral Norms and Control Beliefs, Laurel E. Schmitt
Schools’ Civil Rights Obligations to English Learners: Leadership Perceptions on Key Issues, Pamela R. Schwallier
The Effect of Principal Leadership on Student Achievement: A Multivariate Meta-Analysis, Huang Wu
Dissertations from 2019
Saudi Arabian Female English Language Teachers’ Perspectives on Instructional Supervisors and Supervision, Afaf Mohammed Albalawi
Factors Contributing to the Attrition of New Student Affairs Professionals, Nicole Millar Allbee
Superintendent Practices and Initiatives for Building Principal Instructional and Collaborative Leadership Capacity in a High-Performing High-Poverty School, Fatemah Ali Al Ramel
Principal Leadership and the Development of Teacher Professionalism and Autonomy within a Collaborative School Culture, Sukinah Ali Al Ramel
The Impact of Character Education Programs on Middle School Bullying Behavior, Kelly M. Amshey
The Learning Experiences of Practicing School Leadership Coaches: A Multiple Case Study, Dustin Anderson
The Role of Mental Models in Sensemaking during the Data-Driven Decision-Making Process and Their Impact on Instructional Practice, Ann M. Bingham
The Lived Experience of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder Transitioning from High School to a Liberal Arts College, Joseph D. Bishop
Artist as Academic Leader, George H. Brown
The Efficacy Actions of Priority School Leaders during the Dynamic Change of School Reform, Micole D. Dyson
University Auxiliary Services: A Review of Factors Impacting Privatization Decisions, Rita S. Gordon
The Relationship between Student Math Achievement and Teachers Utilizing a Process Involving Interim Instructional Assessments, Douglas B. Greer
The Impact of Goal Orientation and Learning Organization on Mobbing of Academic Advisors in the U.S., Bette A. Ludwig
The Use of Principal Feedback from Teachers to Create Effective Leadership, Kevin Richard Macina
Female Senior Student Affairs Officers’ Experiences in Decision Making Across Their Careers, Somaia Hamza Mustafa
Delaying Kindergarten Entrance by Participating in Pre-Kindergarten and Academic Achievement in Elementary School: Red-Shirting and Achievement Scores, Rachael Postle-Brown
Change in Attribution Perspective, Shame, and Academic Identity for Freshmen on Probation Enrolled in University Academic Recovery Courses: A Mixed Methods Study, Christine L. Robinson
College with Conviction: Formerly Incarcerated Students’ Sense of Belonging in Higher Education, Colleen Kay Stano
The Social-Construct of Race and Ethnicity: One’s Self-Identity after a DNA Test, Kathryn Ann Wilson
Dissertations from 2018
Effective Teaching and Learning: Flipped Learning in the Classroom, Mohammed Fahad Alsobaie
Ten Elementary School Teachers’ Voices: How They Build Effective Literacy Learning in the Lives of Their 2nd Grade Children, Merfat Ayesh Alsubaie
University Leaders’ Experiences in Advancing the Development and Transformation of Emerging Saudi Public Universities, Abdulrahman Hamed Alsulami
Instructor Sense of Community and Instructional Practices as Predictors of Student Sense of Community: A Hierarchical Linear Modeling Analysis, Laurie K. Burgess
Looking Inward: Higher Education Public Relations and Internal Communication, Kelly A. Campbell
Response Shift Bias: An Examination of Measurement Invariance in Self-Reported Change, Katherine Nelson Daniels
Experiences of Underrepresented Minority Students in Health Professions Programs, and Their Journeys to the Programs, Alisha L. Davis
The Role of Response to Intervention in Michigan High Poverty Elementary Schools That Are Beating the Odds, Alina J. Fortenberry