Given that students spend anywhere from 25-35 hours per week at school, educators, support staff, and school administrators have a responsibility to care for students. Teachers are tasked with implementing emotionally intelligent behaviors to provide an environment where students feel like they can reach their personal and academic goals. When discussing emotional intelligence, my dissertation uses the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso (2014) four pillared model of “perception of emotions, understanding emotions, regulating emotions, and using emotions” as a framework for my overall approach, which includes my research questions and hypotheses, survey instrument questions, and interview protocols.

My study surveyed 56 K-12 educators from six schools in Southern California. The six schools included three public and three private schools, spanned the grade levels from K to 12, and varied in terms of the socioeconomic status of students’ families (percentage of students qualifying for Free/Reduced Lunch ranged from 1% to 72%). As it relates to addressing student wellbeing, the educators were asked a variety of questions, such as what issues they perceived as most adversely impacting their students, to matters of teacher self-efficacy and classroom practices. Follow up interviews were then conducted with six credentialed educators, each representing different grade level divisions (elementary, middle, and high school), with half of the educators having taken no courses on emotional intelligence. Coding and statistical analyses were conducted, and resulting composite scales were determined to see what patterns emerged that linked teacher supports, self-efficacy, and engagement factors to the implementation of emotionally intelligent practices and classroom strategies.

The results indicated that teachers felt that teacher credential programs should incorporate courses that helped teacher candidates develop emotionally intelligent behaviors, and that such curricula should be reformed to reflect input from educators and support staff. The findings of my dissertation therefore provide important implications for how administrators and higher education teacher programs can best support and train new teachers so that student wellbeing is effectively addressed to the greatest extent possible.

Students from low-income communities of color face distinct challenges in K-16 schooling and still experience a disparity in educational attainment when compared to other groups. This study centered around the role that career self-efficacy development can potentially play in improving school performance for these students during K-12 education. Data collection for this research occurred at a career academy high school in Southern California which featured students from low-income communities of color. Employing a mixed methods approach, interview responses from two key staff members were collected in addition to survey responses from 145 high school students. The student survey was largely based on the short form version of the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale originally created by Taylor & Betz (1983). Student survey responses were compared to the school performance metrics of grades and attendance through a set of descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. Interview responses underwent an inductive coding analysis. This study finds that key staff members at a career academy high school perceive a clear rationale for career exploration programming as they find there to be a battle for attention with students and also recognize that students from low socioeconomic backgrounds face a lack of exposure to different career options. Staff members also perceive there to be academic and social benefits to such programming. Analysis of the student survey results revealed that there is a positive association between career self-efficacy components and student GPA. The study also finds there to be stronger insights into a positive relationship between career self-efficacy components and school performance for boys as compared to girls. The results of this study have implications for education policy makers and school leaders around emphasizing and incorporating career self-efficacy development into standard K-12 programming.

This study explored the pedagogical practices of teachers in the AP Capstone program to explore the extent to which teachers use culturally responsive approaches in order to address the AP equity gap for Black, Latinx, Native American, and other groups traditionally underrepresented in AP Classes. Using a mixed methods approach, I surveyed a nationally representative sample of teachers and followed up with qualitative interviews. This study found AP Capstone teachers generally claim to consider students’ personal experiences in planning their curriculum, as well as to consider multiculturalism and cultural diversity. However, teachers choose topics dealing issues such as race and sexism to a much lesser degree, and relatively few select topics specifically situated in their students’ unique cultural contexts. This study also found very few teacher demographics associated with use of CRP. However, teacher perceptions and student demographics do show some associations. Additionally, this study identified several AP Capstone teachers who display many characteristics of a culturally responsive teacher. This study identifies some of the practices those teachers enact. These results suggest implications in practice for AP Capstone teachers, AP Capstone teacher trainers, and school leaders of AP Capstone programs. 

Building community is essential to achieving optimal learning conditions. Failure to build community in online courses is linked to higher drop-out rates, feelings of isolation, and lower academic success rate (Adams & Wilson, 2020). Although there is research on building a sense of community in online course settings, much of this work has focused on the asynchronous environment and/or at four-year colleges. Synchronous online learning has become more common since the Covid-19 pandemic and is situated to be a common teaching method for years to come. There is a need for research focusing on synchronous online courses taught at community colleges. While the literature recommends several strategies for building community in synchronous online courses (Berry, 2017, 2019; Chlup & Collins, 2010; McGrath et al., 2014; Tanner, 2012), it is unknown how effective these practices are within our district, nor the extent to which they are used. Therefore, this study seeks to understand strategies mentioned in the literature, as well as other strategies which are currently being used to build a sense of community in the synchronous online environment within the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD).The results of the study show there are nine common practices that faculty independently mentioned as aiding them in building a sense of community in their synchronous online courses (the use of videoconferencing being the top practice). Furthermore, the study found the Community of Inquiry framework to be positively correlated with the perception of successful community building in synchronous online courses. Consequently, this study recommends a new presence, care presence, to be added to the existing presences (teaching, social, cognitive) within the Community of Inquiry framework. While care presence may be seen as an outgrowth of social presence, this study suggests it should be treated as a unique additional presence.

California community colleges have a completion crisis problem, with over 70% of students failing to graduate. This study was conducted to identify effective support services in the Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) program, which serves marginalized community college students. This EOPS program study surveyed almost 2,000 EOPS students, who are served in 14 community colleges in the Los Angeles region, to explore effective support services that lead to positive retention and completion outcomes. The study had three phases: (a) the review of retention data of EOPS students in the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), (b) the EOPS student survey, and (c) the EOPS staff survey.

The study revealed that the most used EOPS support services by students were (a) EOPS counseling, (b) book vouchers/grants, (c) student educational planning, and (d) priority registration. Student respondents revealed the most impactful EOPS support services were (a) book vouchers/grants, (b) EOPS counseling, (c) cash grants, (d) student educational planning, and (e) priority registration. Similarly, the EOPS staff ranked the most impactful support services as (a) EOPS counseling, (b) book vouchers/grants, and (c) priority registration. The services least used by respondents were (a) foster youth support, (b) the Cooperative Resources Agencies for Education (CARE) program for single parents, and (c) graduation assistance. The least impactful services ranked by the EOPS staff were (a) foster youth support services, (b) gift cards, and (c) graduation assistance. These results indicate that staff hold similar views to their students of the top EOPS services. Such similarity in ranking also indicates that students share with the program’s staff an understanding of what is most impactful and where they believe resources should be most effectively directed.

The study also reviewed retention rates of EOPS students versus non-EOPS students at all nine colleges in LACCD, and revealed that EOPS students’ retention rates were over 20% higher than non-EOPS students. These results indicate that EOPS is operating effectively to improve retention rates for participants. The intent of this study was to identify effective support services in the EOPS program to determine which services students used and valued, to identify which services EOPS staff thought were helpful, and to examine retention and completion rates systemwide. After reviewing and analyzing the data, the evaluation showed that the study’s objectives had been achieved.

Backed by billions of dollars of venture capital (Yelenevych, 2022) and the potential to revolutionize teaching and learning, education technology (edtech) companies have become an increasingly important part of the education ecosystem (Herold, 2022). Beyond their influence in classrooms and district offices, edtech companies are also influencing educators’ career trajectories. Edtech companies are eager to hire educators with experience in school-based roles (Dill, 2022), and for some educators, working in edtech could be a way to impact K–12 education in a new capacity. However, there is a lack of information about how to navigate such a transition. Educators interested in edtech must engage in their own research, making decisions about their future with inadequate information and support. Furthermore, there is even less information about the experiences of K–12 educators once they have successfully made the transition into edtech. This mixed method, explanatory sequential study provides insights into the motivation and experiences of educators working in edtech. A survey was conducted to generate insights about the characteristics of K–12 educators working in edtech, their motivations, experiences, expectations, and perceptions of their identity and impact. In addition to the 108 survey responses, interviews with 10 participants yielded several key findings. First, the educators in this sample were pushed out of their school-based roles by the professional demands associated with working in schools and districts; they were pulled into edtech because they believed that working in edtech would improve their quality of life. Second, the study participants experienced challenges at their edtech companies associated with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and with company leadership; they felt supported when onboarding was effectively designed and when support was built into the organizational structure. Third, the participants’ expectations about achieving better work/life balance and impacting the field of education in a new way were mostly met; their expectations of diversity initiatives and opportunities for promotion were not met. Finally, participants still identify as educators and believe they and their edtech company positively contribute to the field of K–12 education.

Since the late 1960s, the enrollment of African American students in higher education has steadily increased. Furthermore, the community college system and specifically the California community college system has seen the highest rise in the enrollment of African American students. Despite the rise in their numbers, African American male students who have relied on the California community college system as a conduit to a better life continue to have the lowest academic achievement outcomes and are the most likely to leave college. Although research shows that the persistence and academic achievement of college students is linked to the interactions they have with faculty and their peers, little is known about whether these relationships are also connected to the academic achievement of African American males attending California community colleges, nor is it understood how psychosocial factors influence the achievement. This dissertation built on a study conducted by Reid (2007) in which Tinto’s institutional integration theory (e.g., Tinto, 1993) was extended by assertion that African American males who are academically successful (and not just persistent) are also well integrated in the academic and social milieu of their college campuses. Reid’s study also hypothesized that their level of institutional integration which influenced their academic achievement was linked to their racial identity attitudes and self-efficacy beliefs.

The study employed a qualitative phenomenological approach in which twelve African American male students, who were recruited from one Southern California community college, were interviewed to learn about their educational experiences and perceptions. The goal of the study was to provide a voice to this student subgroup which continues to under-perform academically. The findings of the study highlight the importance of race, faculty connections and intrinsic motivation factors in reaching academic goals. The study provides recommendations, based on the findings, for educators, administrators and other community college stakeholders to better assist African American males attending community colleges in California to attain their educational goals.

Cyberbullying is a complex and challenging problem that affects nearly a quarter of school-aged students each year (Holfeld & Grabe, 2012; Patchin & Hinduja, 2015). Interventions aimed at decreasing the prevalence of bullying in schools have turned to whole-school approaches (Salmivalli, 2014). Through this whole-school lens, bystanders have become a key population for researchers to study, as most bullying incidents, including cyberbullying, have witnesses (Lenhart et al., 2011). These witnesses, or bystanders, have the power to intervene on behalf of the victim, and most bystanders report the desire to help, although most do not in fact intervene (Jones et al., 2015). What bystanders consider helpful in cases of bullying, however, is largely missing from the literature. This study aimed to close that gap by asking 20 middle-school cyberbystanders what they considered helpful in their online communities, as well as what factors may motivate them to be helpful (e.g., popularity, friendship, intensity of bullying). Each middle-school cyberbystander (nine female, 11 male) participated in a one-on-one, semi-structured interview that lasted approximately 30-45 minutes. Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed, and coded to explore the themes that emerged. For the students in this study, the most helpful action cyberbystanders could take was peer support. Peer support was defined as comforting victims, spending time with them, and listening to them. However, the most important factor in determining whether to help was how close the victim was to the bystander. The closer the victim was to the cyberbystander, the more likely the cyberbystander was to show support for the victim. The belief in peer support was extended only to close friends, not non-friends or strangers. One of the main reasons for this preference was that cyberbystanders did not believe they would know what to say or how to comfort someone outside of their immediate friend group. Another key finding was cyberbystanders’ aversion to defending a victim, even if that victim was a friend. Defending was largely viewed as a public act, and as such, students had a heightened fear of peer backlash for posting messages of support in a group chat, which could result in the cyberbystander getting bullied.

Teachers are the foundation for effectively implementing personalized learning environments. This comparative case study investigated 16 teacher’s experiences with a personalized learning program by focusing on users of the Pinnacle Learning program at two, low-income school sites in southern California. This research’s conceptual framework is based upon Venkatesh and Davis’ (2000) determinants of perceived usefulness and Venkatesh and Bala’s (2008) determinants of perceived ease of use. Ultimately, this study reveals that in general teachers perceive personalized learning as relatively advantageous to their role in the classroom due to its fairly high level of ease and high level of usefulness, thus making teachers more likely to continue acceptance of this technology at their school sites.

During this study’s exploration of teacher beliefs about the Pinnacle Learning program, four specific areas were explored: training, use of program elements, classroom roles of teachers using a personalized learning program, and site implementation issues. By understanding teacher beliefs and attitudes on their use of and experience with personalized learning technology, this study was able to identify areas of concern that can be addressed and areas of strength that are beneficial to continue at each school site. Teacher input on the adoption of a personalized learning platform provides the often missing teacher voice from the research available on personalized learning. Input about how the role of teacher is changing may inform preparation programs and ongoing professional developments for teachers. Additionally, data from this research may help low SES schools who are considering the adoption of an online personalized learning platform as there have been limited studies which solely focus on this student demographic.

Thirty-two teachers and 71 students from urban middle schools were surveyed to examine the extent to which dimensions of teacher social-emotional capacity (SEC) were associated with teachers’ perceptions of building supportive teacher-student relationships (TSRs) with students, especially Black male students (BMSs), and the extent to which these students’ perceptions of TSRs were associated with classroom belonging. The study found that teachers high in SEC and in the SEC dimensions Relationship/Social Skills and Responsible Decision Making were less likely than their counterparts to report challenges in building supportive TSRs with all students and that there was a positive association between students’ perceptions of supportive TSRs and their sense of classroom belonging. Study findings have potential for closing the opportunity gap for BMSs. Recommendations for practice include targeting teacher professional development to improve teacher SEC overall and in the SEC dimensions Relationship/Social Skills and Responsible Decision Making.