Education School Theses and Dissertations

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Toward Systematically Trauma-Informed Education: The Introduction of a Healing-Centered Multi-Tiered System of Supports Framework
(2025-05) Feldman, Joseph L.; Scheurich, James; Medina, Monica; Pike, Gary; Swazo, Roberto
This dissertation consists of three manuscripts that collectively argue for more holistic, systemic approaches to trauma-informed education. While the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) framework has been valuable in identifying trauma originating from the home, it inadequately addresses structural and systemic factors, particularly those affecting marginalized racial and ethnic groups. This work advocates for a paradigm shift toward an ecological understanding of trauma, which recognizes the interconnectedness of individual, community, and institutional factors. The goal is to foster a trauma-informed, socially just educational environment that not only helps students overcome adversity but actively works to dismantle the systems perpetuating it. The first manuscript examines the evolution of trauma treatment in K-12 schools, from early interventions targeting specific students to more inclusive trauma-informed models. While universal interventions are beneficial, the manuscript critiques the ACEs framework for focusing predominantly on home-based trauma, often neglecting systemic issues such as racial trauma. It calls for the adoption of systemically trauma-informed practices to address these issues, highlighting the critical role of school social workers in facilitating this shift. The second manuscript builds on this argument by examining how institutional practices in schools, such as zero-tolerance policies and academic tracking, contribute to racial trauma. It critiques the pervasive issues of white saviorism and color-evasiveness, which hinder efforts to address systemic racial inequities. The manuscript advocates for anti-racist trauma-informed models that recognize and address the ways schools perpetuate racial disparities, offering recommendations for school leaders on how to dismantle these harmful practices and promote a more equitable environment. The third manuscript extends the discussion to higher education, particularly social work programs. It critiques the field’s historical contribution to systemic trauma and argues for a critical examination of social work education to ensure it aligns with principles of trauma-informed care and social justice. The manuscript proposes a Healing-Centered Multi-Tiered System of Supports (HCMTSS) framework, designed to support healing and resilience among students, staff, and faculty, emphasizing the collective nature of trauma and the need for systemic change within educational institutions. Together, these manuscripts advocate for an ecological, collective approach to trauma-informed education that prioritizes healing, equity, and social justice.
Spooks, Saviors, and Saltwater: Counter-Narratives of Black Male Math Teachers
(2025-04) Taylor, Evan Marquise; Morton, Crystal; Hayes, Cleveland; Kazembe, Lasana; Nguyễn, Thu Sương Thị; Sumpter, Daniella Ann Cook
This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of four Black male mathematics teachers in large U.S. urban areas, applying Critical Race Theory to examine the impact of education policies on their professional and political identities. The study aimed to contribute to the collection of narratives on the experiences of Black mathematics teachers, particularly Black men. To foreground these experiences, participant interview data is presented as a stage play in the form of instructive vignettes, centering the experiences, knowledge, and identity formation of Black male math teachers. By examining these intersecting identities across contexts, this study offers insights for policymakers and researchers to use in crafting supportive policies and practices that foster political identity development among Black men in the profession of teaching mathematics. Through interviews, the author explores participants’ relationships with mathematics, their responses to anti-Blackness in mathematics assessments, and the development of their professional identities, with each vignette serving as a counter-narrative for analysis and interpretation.
Familial Influence: The Role of Black Families in College and Career Decisions
(2024-12) Davis, Le'Joy Denise; Maxcy, Brendan; Murtadha, Khaula; Nguyen, Thu Suong Thi; Santamaria Graff, Cristina Corrine
This dissertation explores the impact of familial influence on the college and career decisions of Black students that attended urban, low-income high schools. Through a comparative case study approach, the research examines how family dynamics, communication, values, socioeconomic, and social factors shape decisions. The study employs qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews, focus groups, and case analysis, to gather insights from students and their families. The findings reveal that familial support and expectations play a crucial role in shaping students' aspirations and choices, though the extent and nature of this influence varies significantly depending on family structure, resources, and lived experiences. This research highlights the complex interplay between familial and social factors, offering family engagement and policy recommendations aimed at enhancing support systems for students from similar backgrounds and suggesting areas for future research on familial impact in college and career spaces.
White Rainbow Weaponization: White Gay Males Understanding and Use of Racial Identity Privilege in Urban Post-Secondary Education
(2024-12) McKay, Matthew William; Thorius, Kathleen King; Scheurich, James; Hayes, Cleveland; Benjamin, Lehn
This qualitative study explores how white gay cisgender males navigate their racial and LGBTQ identities within urban post-secondary education (UPSE) settings. Grounded in Critical Whiteness Theory (CWT) and Queer Theory (QT), I examined how these individuals comprehend, utilize, and challenge their racial privilege alongside their marginalized sexual identity. Specifically, I investigated "White Rainbow Weaponization" (WRW)—the strategic use of white racial identity to maintain power and privilege within LGBTQ spaces. Thirteen white gay cisgender males participated in the study, which utilized semi-structured interviews, racial autobiographies, and vignette exercises to provide an in-depth account of their experiences. Key findings revealed that participants often perceived their whiteness as invisible until they entered racially diverse environments, aligning with the notion of whiteness as an unmarked norm. Many acknowledged leveraging their racial privilege within LGBTQ spaces, recognizing that being white afforded them advantages not equally accessible to LGBTQ individuals of color. The participants' narratives highlighted a complex dynamic between acceptance and discrimination. While they benefited from racial privilege, they also faced obstacles due to their LGBTQ status, revealing how these intersecting identities shaped their experiences in UPSE environments. Participants expressed discomfort in engaging in conversations about race, often fearing they might say the wrong thing or be perceived as racist. Exposure to researcher-introduced artifacts documenting the experiences of LGBTQ students of color heightened their awareness of systemic challenges and prompted critical self-reflection. This led to increased empathy and, for some, a commitment to future action to address racial inequities. The findings underscore the need for more inclusive policies and practices to counteract systemic whiteness and promote equity for all LGBTQ students within UPSE institutions. This study illuminates the dual challenges and benefits of holding intersecting identities, providing a nuanced understanding of the experiences of white gay cisgender males in UPSE settings. It highlights the importance of community and support networks for personal and academic growth and calls for intentional efforts to promote inclusivity and equity within educational institutions.
From Compliance to Empowerment: Mediating Teacher Activity in Data Team Meetings Through Cultural Historical Activity Theory and Collaborative Inquiry in the Context of Neoliberal Education Reform
(2024-07) Rusnak, Kathryn Noel; Thorius, Kathleen King; Maxcy, Brendan; Morton, Crystal; Murphy, Hardy; Scheurich, Jim
This qualitative case study focuses on the impact of neoliberal education reform on an urban charter school serving students of Color. This study has two main objectives: to examine how neoliberal reform influences the goal-oriented actions of data meetings (DMs) in an urban elementary school and engages in a formative intervention methodology to collaborate with educators in addressing(mediating) our assumptions around the ways of measuring what students know and learn, paying particular attention to how teachers' language and decisions reflect neoliberal ideologies. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) methodology and an expansive learning cycle provide a framework to collect and analyze data of teachers' goal-oriented actions in the context of neoliberal reform and standardized testing to aide in understanding and interpreting joint activity systems in educational institutions. The study's significance lies in the potential for intentional teacher learning activities that challenge and transform the marginalizing effects of neoliberal education reform, particularly in relation to standardized testing at the intersections of race and ability. Key findings of the study are the complex challenges educators face in balancing accountability policy requirements with the unique needs of their students. It emphasizes the importance of professional learning that moves away from individual performance toward collective agency.
Black Grandmother Power: The Art and Wisdom of Caregiving and Leadership
(2024-02) Rowley, Latosha Morvette; Jackson, Tambra; Santamaría Graff, Cristina; Murtadha, Khaula; Morton, Crystal
Black grandmothers often take on the dual role of caregivers and leaders within their families. The caregiving and leadership practices demonstrated by grandmothers enables Black children to resist social inequities and oppression that they encounter in their lives. The narratives of Black grandmothers and their caregiving and leadership roles remain underexplored/absent from the existing research on the Black family. This research proposes to fill the gap in literature by analyzing multiple case studies in which Black grandmothers testify to their lived experiences with deploying caregiving love to ensure the social, emotional, physical, educational, and spiritual well-being of their grandchildren. These case studies have been analyzed through the theoretical lens of Africana Womanism and Black Womanist Leadership. By understanding the leadership experiences and efforts of Black grandmothers, as well as the barriers they have encountered because of their intersectional positionalities they occupy, there are applicable insights into culturally responsive school leadership, instruction, curriculum, policies, and practices. Uncovering these insights can improve academic growth and development for Black children.
Co-Constructing Identity: A Qualitative Study of the Interplay of Identities in Instructional Coaching Conversations
(2023-10) Bhathena, Catherine Dontie; Teemant, Annela; Lester, Jessica; Mutegi, Jomo; Medina, Monica; Wiley, Craig
Research on coaching has been increasing over the last few decades, particularly for literacy and math. What is limited in coaching research is investigations of the process that leads to teacher and student impacts. Additionally, while some research has investigated what makes an effective coach, little has focused on the specific roles of discourse and identity in changing instructional practices. In this comparative case study, I will analyze the identity discourses of teachers and an instructional coach, myself, to investigate the interplay between coach and teacher identity and how identities and instructional practice are intertwined. The overarching research question guiding this study is How do the teachers and I, the coach, co-construct our identities in coaching conversations focused on changing instructional practices to benefit multicultural/multilingual learners? Findings in this study include that 1) teacher identity is inseparable from teacher learning, 2) coach identity is inseparable from coach learning, and 3) the interplay of coach and teacher identities impacts coaching conversations. My findings here support the need for more theorizing and research on the interplay of coach and teacher identities. My findings also indicate the need for intentional coach professional development focused on coach identity development and understanding of how teacher identity is intertwined with coach identity and the effectiveness of coaching as professional development.
Neva Fah Get Home: Constructions of Black Roatánin Identity in Roatán, Honduras
(2023-10) Wilmoth, Idalia Theia; Jackson, Tambra; Morton, Crystal; Etienne, Leslie; Edmonds, Joseph Tucker
This dissertation focuses on Black identity formation throughout Central America’s Caribbean Coast. Within the Global South and Africana Studies there has been little to no research that centers Afro- Caribbean’s from Central America. Countries such as Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama are primarily focus points. Afro- identity in Honduras is overlooked. Most of the available scholarship centers Honduras’s Afro- indigenous population, the Garifunas. Within the Bay Islands of Honduras, there is Roatán which is natively full of Black citizens. This dissertation fills the historical gaps by using narrative inquiry, podcasting, and conducting interviews with first and second generation Roatánins. As these Roatánins create hemispheric migrations, their Black identity is collapsed into the racial categorization of the United States in ways in which they leave their ethnic identity. Black Roatánins identity is racialized within an historical continuum of geographical space. The major research questions guiding this study were: (1) How do Black Roatánins (re)create or (re)construct Roatán identity? (2) How do they describe their lived experiences in relation to race and racism? 2(a) What racial and cultural context are key influencers in their identity development and lived experiences? (3) How do they describe their racial identity in relation to their nationality? And (3a) In what ways does the legacy of colonization by Honduras impact their racial identity development? The research design was undergirded by Black geography theoretical framework and narrative inquiry. Data sources consisted of podcasts and five individual interviews. Seven themes emerged from Black geography analysis of the data. The seven themes included: (1) ‘Black Geographic Imagination: Spatial Imaginaries/Memories’, (2) ‘Homeland’, (3) ‘Cultural Displacement’, (4) ‘Triple Consciousness: Social Context of Identity and Citizenship Making,’(5)‘Honduras Religious Institutions and Respectability Politics,’(6) ‘Constructing Citizenship’, (7) ‘Diasporic Identification: Triple Consciousness. Findings from this study yielded implications for future research and theory in the Global South and higher education.
Critically Conscious White Teachers: A Case Study
(2023-05) Priester-Hanks, Mary Louise; Scheurich, Jim; Thompson, Chalmer; Murphy, Hardy; Blackmon, Sha'Kema; Murtadha, Khaula
Racism is a pervasive and destructive force in society and has no place in schools. White teachers, like all teachers, are responsible for creating a safe and inclusive learning environment for all students. This means being aware and actively working to combat their own biases and stereotypes, providing equal opportunities and support to all students. This instrumental, qualitative study captured the narratives of five White-identifying critically conscious teachers to understand how their critical consciousness is expressed and the opportunities and challenges they experience because of their anti-racism work. The central research question of this study was: How do critically conscious White teachers in a Southern Indiana school district experiencing demographic shifts engage in anti-racism work? Janet Helms’s White Racial Identity Development (WRID) theory was used to explain the teachers’ work towards anti-racism in schools. The findings from this study indicated that White identifying critically conscious teachers White teachers: a) leverage their privilege to promote anti-racism, b) use culturally relevant practices, c) engage in co-conspirator work, d) actively collaborate with BIPOC students and teachers, e) are instrumental in supporting anti-racism efforts, f) are content with making a positive impact on students and society, g) perceive and experience negative professional consequences as a result of their anti-racism work. This study has important implications for teachers, school administrators, and education system stakeholders.
The Spaces Between Us: An Affective Examination of Individual and Collective Memory in Parental Decision Making
(2023-02) Silverman, Elena Hatton; Nguyễn, Thu Sương Thị; Maxcy, Brendan; Scribner, Samantha; Schall, Carly
No pseudonyms are used in this dissertation. I found it very difficult to write about my participants using names that aren’t theirs. These are people who I know, who I have relationships with, who have been with me in one way or another for much of my life and choosing random and unrelated names for them felt wrong. However, to protect their privacy, they will be referred to throughout by single initials. All city and school district names have been omitted from this work. In sentences that discuss the participant’s current location I insert (name of city). In sentences that reference where we grew up, I include (the city we grew up in). When removing names needed for contextualization, I include an italicized parenthetical note. Writing by hand and handwriting play a significant role in this dissertation. Central to method as well as theory and discussion, much of the early work done in the process was all handwritten as were the letters that were sent back and forth for data collection. While you will not see handwriting throughout this dissertation you will read about it and will be able to see images of original handwritten text in the appendices.

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