Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis
School of Education

Dissertation Database

As the culminating experience of their graduate programs and with the guidance of the faculty, PhD students in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis are producing dissertations which contribute to the knowledge base regarding education and offer important insights about improving educational practices and policies. Listed below are ELPA PhD graduates with links to their dissertations.

12/2024 Mallory Umar Add Hoop Earrings: An Examination of the Career Pathways, Supportive Factors, and Barriers Experienced by Latina Superintendents in the Midwest
12/2024 Blayne Stone, Jr. Learning to Accept that Foster Care Did Not Define Me”: The College-Going Experiences of Black College Students with Foster Care Backgrounds
8/2024 Chad Buboltz Instructional Frameworks that Enhance the Instructional Core: An Exploration of Authentic Intellectual Work as a Driver of Powerful Learning Experiences for All Students
8/2024 Stephanie Leonard-Snead District-Wide Instructional Leadership for Literacy Analyzing Tasks That District Leaders Undertake to Guide Primary-Level Reading Programming at the Site and District Level
8/2024 Stephanie Jureidini How Do Teachers Become Teacher Leaders: A Mixed Methods Comparative Study
8/2024 Yi-Jung Wu Distributed Leadership Practices According to the Comprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning (CALL) in Taiwan’s Elementary Schools
8/2024 Glenn Poole Teacher Attrition and Opportunity Gaps for Multilingual Learners
8/2024 Michele Schmidt How Principals’ Leadership Practices Support Alternative Compensation System Implementation in K-12 Public Schools
8/2024 Kimberly Stieber-White Disrupting or Centering Whiteness: An Analysis of Influences on Secondary Literacy Teachers’ Text Selection for “Struggling” Adolescent Readers of Color
8/2024 Joshua Wallace Beyond the Brother Code: Black Masculinities, Black Feminism, and the Agency of Black Men in Graduate Engineering Programs
8/2024 Khadejah Ray Disciplinary Dissonance? Examining Black Doctoral Students Refusal to Sociology’s Racial Contract
8/2024 Ayse Okur A Longitudinal Analysis of Racialized and Gendered Community College Access: The Role of Institutional Contexts and Labor Market Conditions in Shaping First-Time Enrollment
8/2024 Sarah Harebo Two Worlds Collide: Navigating the Competing Regulatory Schemes of Title IX and Special Education Law in K-12 Schools
5/2024 Vanessa Peña Familial Knowledge and Consejos: The Influence of Mothers on Latina Daughter’s College Choice Pathways
2023-24 Dr. Carolyn Kelley Dissertation of the Year
5/2024 Jill Gurtner High Schools as Empowering Environments: Perspectives of Youth
5/2024 Valerie Crespin-Trujillo “From Theory to Application, Sometimes Things Get Lost”: Policy and Practice Perspectives of Public Postsecondary Transfer Coordinators in Wisconsin
5/2024 Narék Sahakyan Examining the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on English Learners’ Proficiency and Disparities Within EL Subgroups
2023-24 Dr. Carolyn Kelley Dissertation of the Year
5/2024 Maria Widmer Bearing Witness and Bearing Responsibility: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study of the Experiences and Learning Outcomes of Undergraduate Labor Activists
5/2024 Joseph Romero-Reyes Cultivating and Activating Assets in the Vertical Transfer Journey of First-Generation and Low-Income Men of Color in Community College
5/2024 Paris Echoles Ball Is Life: How Black, Community-Based, Youth Sports Leaders Broker Opportunities for Historically Marginalized Communities
5/2024 Mario Morris Are College Student-Athletes Employees? A Legal Historical Analysis of College Student-Athlete Employment Claims
2023-24 Dr. Carolyn Kelley Dissertation of the Year
5/2024 Tianshu Li Espoused Values, Enacted Practices: How International Educators Engage in DEI-Centered Efforts While Grappling With Racialized Institutional Structures
5/2024 Peiwen Zheng Choosing Light over Shadow: A Mixed Methods Study of Community College International Student Well-Being and Educational Momentum
2023-24 Dr. Carolyn Kelley Dissertation of the Year
5/2024 Joel Pollack From Neoliberal Turnaround Toward Liberatory Cultivation: Countering Color-Evasive School Reforms Through Equitable Partnerships for Educational Justice
5/2024 Nicole Soulier “In Community”: A Critical Qualitative Investigation of Engagement With Indigenous Communities to Improve Community College Access
12/2023 Laurie Burgos Leading a Contracorriente (Against the Current): An Examination of District-Level Dual Language Program Leader Equity Leadership Practices in a Midwestern State
12/2023 Viola Miller Unraveling the Impact of Community College Mentoring Programs on the Experience of First-Generation Transfer Students at Four-Year Institutions
12/2023 Tiaira Porter-Beall Understanding Departmental Climate and Retention Among Women of Color STEMM Faculty: A Mixed Methods Study
2023-24 Dr. Carolyn Kelley Dissertation of the Year
8/1/2023 Janel Anderson Care Labor and the American Teacher
8/2023 LaShawn Washington “Let Love Lead”: An Ethnographic Investigation of Relationships, Praxis, and Love Within a Black Women-Led Leadership Program at a PWI
8/2023 Paris Wicker “Who Gets to Be Well”? A Multi Method Social Network Analysis of Well-Being for Black and Indigenous College Students
5/2023 Samuel Coleman Leading to Eliminate Racial Inequities in Student Experiences, Opportunities, and Outcomes: A Case Study of the Personal and Professional Experiences of K-12 School Leaders
5/2023 Scott Everson Student Perceptions of Grading Reform at the Secondary Level
5/2023 Erin Hastey How Do We “Make Sure that Everything We Do, We Have Students at the Center”? Reimagining Community College Board Effectiveness for Students’ Success
5/2023 Abby Koberstein Equity in Suburbia: White Educators’ Sensemaking of Equity
5/2023 Paul Kirby Livingston Context Matters: Culturally Inclusive and Equitable Pedagogies Across Instructional Contexts in Undergraduate Education
5/2023 Walter Parrish “I Love the Work, but I Hate My Job”: A Critical Narrative Inquiry on Academic Bullying Among Faculty at Four-Year Institutions
5/2023 Sylvia Ramirez Working Toward a Degree: The Relationship Between Campus Employment, Student Engagement, and Academic Outcomes for Community College Students
5/2023 Yasmin Escutia Rodriguez A Testimonio Study: Latinx Women Pre-Service Teachers’ Experiences and Teacher Identity Development
5/2023 Megan Schmid Faculty Identity in Higher Education: Beyond Research, Teaching, and Service
5/2023 Tarryn Lael Simmons HBCUs UnHushed: Transformative Spiritual Resilience Within the Life Histories of African American Graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities
5/2023 Anne Stahr Mentoring Faculty for Teaching in Academic Medicine
5/2023 Xiwei Zhu Developing Community College Faculty Toward Inclusive Approaches to Teaching: Institutional Support, Pedagogical Transpiration, and Faculty Assets
12/2022 Sherri Cyra Perceptions of Professional Development Impact: White Educators’ Racial Identity Development and Anti-Racist Practice
12/2022 Megan Arens Tier 2 at the Middle Level: the Role of the RTI Team in Building a Sustainable System
12/2022 Hyunwoo Yang The early childhood education in public education – motivation, workforce, and effects
12/2022 Changhee Lee Rethinking Equity and Innovation in Education: A Systematic Approach to Mapping and Evaluating Innovative Educational Initiatives
8/2022 Elizabeth Hrodey The Use of School and Classroom Interventions to Prevent the Misidentification and Overrepresentation of Black Adolescents in Special Education
8/2022 Kathlyn Stebbins-Hinz Leadership in Service of “At-risk” Students: Lessons from Alternative High Schools
8/2022 Ayesha Inayat Bridging Gaps: Faculty Perspectives on Enhancing Their Teaching and Their Ideas for High Quality Faculty Teaching Development Programs in Pakistan
8/2022 Lydia Gandy-Fastovich Special Education Through the Parent Lens: Experiences, Expertise, and Hope towards Collaborative Partnerships
8/2022 Nancy Nikolay Navigating Reform Efforts: Teachers’ Sensemaking During Curriculum Reform Efforts
8/2022 Neil O’Connell Features of Personalized Learning in Middle School
8/2022 Danyelle Wright The Pursuit Towards Anti-Racist Professional Development for a Wisconsin School District
8/2022 Ashley Gaskew What’s Faculty Have to Do with It? A Critical Analysis of Faculty at For-Profit Institutions
5/2022 Christopher Barnes Your Success Is Our Success: An Exploration of Black Ph.D. Students’ Educational Journeys and Experiences with Mentorship
5/2022 Nicholas Mitchell Principals’ Approaches to Addressing Racial Inequities in Schools
5/2022 Na Lor A Mixed Methods Study of Cultural Inequity in Higher Education
5/2022 Colleen Larsen Dreams beyond Safety: A Critical Qualitative Investigation of the Experiences of Refugee Students at Two-Year Public Colleges in Wisconsin
5/2022 Emilie Hofacker An Alumni Perspective: Posse Program Impact on STEM Degree Attainment and STEM Workforce Transition
5/2022 Sarah Lent A Call for an Education About Whiteness: Intersections of Teaching and Leading for Antiracist Education
5/2022 Sarah Odell Listening for Resistance: Stories Challenging the Binary in K-12 Educational Leadership
12/2021 David Brokopp Elementary Principals’ Decision to Use Exclusionary Discipline and the Influence of School Safety on that Decision
12/2021 Shelby Rogers Transfixed on Eliminating Barriers: Re-conceptualizing Student Success Practices in Contemporary Higher Education at a Public Historically Black College and University
12/2021 Brett Stousland Certifying Intercultural Competence: An Investigation of Districts’ Participation in a State Program
12/2021 Helen Behr Beyond the Closed Door: Teacher Autonomy in Context
12/2021 Byron Sharer Robertson How Do Parental Educational Expectations Change in High School?
12/2021 Molly Carroll Field Experience Organization
8/2021 Jacqueline Forbes “So We Made Our Own Table”: An Exploration of Three Black Educational Organizations in Atlanta
8/2021 Casey Blochowiak The Positive Deviance Improvement Approach in Education: A Case Study of School and District Application
8/2021 Dawn Crim Hard Row to Hoe: Unearthing the Barriers, Challenges & Resiliency of African American Women Presidents at Baccalaureate Institutions
8/2021 Kelly Demerath Who Is Career and College Ready: Equity and Outcomes in Dual Enrollment Programs
8/2021 Mark Stateler The Influence of School Resource Officers on School Climate in Rural Settings: Perspectives of Students, Principals, and School Resource Officers
8/2021 Timothy Rosenthal What Role Do Instances of Toxic Masculinity and Gender Stereotyping Play in Middle School Boys’ Decision-Making Processes Regarding Joining/Continuing in School Choir Programs?
8/2021 Ellie Bruecker An Exploration of Financial Aid Application Patterns and College Access: Three Studies Using High School-Level FAFSA Data
8/2021 Allison Degraaf Building Teachers’ Instructional Capacity in a Balanced Literacy Framework
8/2021 Nicole Marble Fostering Rigorous Learning Opportunities through Academic Conversations and the Teacher Professional Learning that Supports Sustained Schoolwide Use
8/2021 Mary Dueñas You’re Not Really Here Because You Deserve to Be Here: How Latinx College Students Experience Imposter Syndrome
8/2021 Francis Redmon Listening to Stories Students Tell About the Impact of Personalized Learning on Their Learning and Lives
8/2021 Kimberly Amidzich Understanding the Role of Equity in School Improvement Science: A Tale of Two Districts
8/2021 Barb Novak Persistent Barriers to Equity: State Statutes and State Education Agency Regulations and Guidance about Specific Learning Disabilities
8/2021 Minseok Yang Unforeseen Costs and Casualties: The Impact of Teachers’ Union Reform on Teacher Labor Market Responses
5/2021 Laura Eicher In Schools with Equitable Practices, What is the Elementary Principal’s Role to Improve Reading Achievement?
5/2021 Dominic Ledesma From language access to communicative equity: Understanding the role and impact of language access accommodations for linguistically diverse parents in K-12 public schools
5/2021 Brett Nachman “I Found My Place”: Unraveling Autistic Community College Students’ Experiences in a College Autism Transition Program
12/2020 Nicholas Reichhoff Layered Instructional Leadership for Coherence: A Case Study of District and School Level Practices
12/2020 Tanushree Rawat Ambitious and Routine Tasks for Integrating Technology in Schools: Stories of Two Rural Public Schools in India
8/2020 Julie Kallio Solving Problems Together: Findings from the Early Stages of a Networked Improvement Community
8/2020 Brit Wagner New Landing, New Transition: A Phenomenological Investigation of the International Student Arrival Experience
8/2020 Robert DeMeuse Check Yes or No: Identifying Factors that Predict Rural Wisconsin Public School District Referendum Passage
5/2020 Andrew Erdmann Out of the Closet: Examining Residence Hall Climate at a Large Public Research Institution for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans* and Queer+ Students
5/2020 Daniel Corral Demographic and Policy Factors Shaping Hispanic Undocumented Student Outcomes: Three Quantitative Studies Based on a Large-Scale Survey
5/2020 Carmen Bartley Creating Access to Meaningful Resources and Relationships: Critical Brokerage Practices in a Public Elementary School
5/2020 Cassidy Kist Opening the Door? How Wisconsin School Districts Respond to Increased Mathematics Graduation Requirements and Its Impact on Students’ Educational Opportunities
12/2019 John Harper Habits of Mind of District Administrators: An Exploratory Study
12/2019 Ning Sun Is Active Learning a Viable Approach to Community College Student Success in STEM? Investigating the Link between Learning Experiences, Self-Efficacy Beliefs, and Academic Outcomes
12/2019 SoHee Hyun Challenges Facing Immigrant Transfer Students Persisting in American Higher Education
12/2019 Taylor Weichman Cultivating 21st Century Learners through Facilitation of Adventure-Based Education
8/2019 Gwendolyn Baxley not available in data base
8/2019 Yeseul Choi Pathways of Academic Resilience: Exploring the Multiple Developmental Trajectories of Low-income Students During Early Education
6/2019 Boeun Choi Attributes of Living-Learning Communities that Contribute to College Students’ Learning
6/2019 Heather Roth The Intersection of Equity Systems Change and African American Student Success
5/2019 Jamila Lee-Johnson I Am Becoming: Understanding the Experiences of Undergraduate Black Women at Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Elected Student Leadership Positions
5/2019 Candance Weidensee How School Leaders Support the Development of Growth Mindsets in Teachers to Benefit Diverse Students
5/2019 Aaron Engel The Resistance Principals Face and Their Response to that Resistance when Including Students with Disabilities
5/2019 Rachelle
Clardy-Brown		 The Elementary Principal’s Role in Professional Development and Learning Communities: How to Support Continual Professional Growth
5/2019 Jody Hare The Return of Near-Completers to Higher Education for Degree Completion: Adult Students Seeking Closure
5/2019 Brittany
Ota-Malloy		 Nothing to Lose But Our Chains: Voices of Black Women’s Activist Experiences on a Predominantly White Campus
2018-2019 ELPA Higher Education Dissertation of the Year
5/2019 Hyoung Joon Park Practices Used by STEM Faculty for Gathering Formative Student Feedback: Beyond Traditional Student Evaluation
5/2019 Jeffrey Fleig The Roles and Practices of the Superintendent in Equity Systems Change
5/2019 Shannon Anderson Principal and Teacher Collaboration for Social Justice in Predominately White, Affluent Schools
5/2019 Angela Montpas African American Parent Perspectives on Positive Relationships with Their Children’s Teachers
5/2019 Charles Wiza High School Students’ Sense of Belonging in Relationship to Inclusive Practices
5/2019 Nnabugwu Ekwelum Education’s Silent Exodus: A Critical Exploration of Race & the Shortage of Black Men in the Teaching Profession
5/2019 Benjamin Burns The Role of Identity Development in Principal Responses to Staff Resistance to Equity
2018-2019 ELPA K12 Dissertation of the Year
1/2019 Laura Sangroula School Leaders Who Cultivate a Mutually Reinforcing Learning Environment in Schools with
Spanish-speaking English Language Learners
5/2018 Chelsea Blackburn-Cohen Globalization and the Mobility of Ideas: A Critical Account of Academics in Exile at Colleges and Universities in the United States
5/2018 Janelle Ramsel Addressing the 1:4 with IX in the B1G: How the Big 10 Interprets Federal Guidance into Student-on-Student Title IX Sexual Assault Policies
5/2018 Sheltreese McCoy Where Is My Place?: Queer and Transgender Students of Color Experiences in
Cultural Centers at a Predominantly White University
8/2017 Jihye Kam Role of institutional diversity : student affinity for preferred college major
8/2017 Tangela Blakely Reavis College choice interrupted or facilitated : a qualitative case study examining how social class and schools structure opportunity for students in urban high schools
8/2017 Van Lac Centering Student Voice: Doing Participatory Action Research Alongside Minoritized Youth
5/2017 Michelle
Weisrock		 Professional learning in high achieving elementary schools
5/2017 Maurielle Amechi not available in database
5/2017 Kelly Wickersham Where to go from here ? toward a model of community college students’ decision-making around postsecondary pathway selection
5/2017 Alexis Bourgeois A Community Development Corporation and the cultivation of educational opportunity
5/2017 Adam Ross Nelson Learning and development as a result of student conduct administration
5/2017 Sandra Kiddoo Exploring Associate Degree Outcomes of Stacked Credential Models at Two-Year Colleges
5/2017 Ramon Ortiz The Latino male educational trajectory : a precollege econometric model and 21st century implications
12/2016 Miao-Ching Liu Conformity, resistance, and gaming : the impact of world university ranking on faculty scholarship at a Taiwanese university
12/2016 Anne Lang Characteristics of human resource management systems that promote inclusive practices
12/2016 Charity Chandler Factors contributing to and militating against retention of gay & lesbian faculty : faculty perspectives
12/2016 Laura Wartman Bloker The Perceptions of Team Members on the Use of Data in Placement Decisions for Students with Disabilities
12/2016 Susan Wenker Factors contributing to and militating against physical therapists’ decisions to work with older adults
12/2016 Dominique Bradley Lost in Translation? An Investigation of the Pre-service to Classroom Experience
12/2016 Sara Cutler White Teacher, Black Students: Racializing Successful Mathematical Pedagogy
8/2016 Christopher Sadler Supporting beginning general education teachers in meeting the needs of a diverse classroom : a study of induction practices
8/2016 Deniece Dortch Interrupting the usual : African-American doctoral students experiencing race at a predominantly white institution
8/2016 Ken Bates The International Baccalaureate Diploma Program’s impact on college preparation : the student perspective.
8/2016 Mankah Zama Sticks, stones, and digital phones : the legal implications of K-12 bullying
8/2016 James Finley Experienced school leaders and continued learning
8/2016 David Perrodin How educational administrators prepare schools for high-stakes safety situations : a focus on elementary schools in rural and suburban contexts
8/2016 Desiree Alva Understanding Latino students’ sense of belonging in engineering : the impact of institutional agents at one predominantly White institution
8/2016 Valyncia Raphael Expanding the single story : Black female athlete experiences playing country club sports at a predominantly white institution
8/2016 Hyekyung Lee Nontraditional-age students and college completion : exploring the holistic effects of institution, family, and work
5/2016 Se Woong Lee Pulling back the curtain : the relationship between teacher quality and students’ educational outcomes
5/2016 Lisa Steinkamp Cultivating post-secondary opportunity and service : youth and young adult perspectives on a high school leadership program
5/2016 Sandra Garbowicz David Hiring practices in high performing schools
12/2015 Nathan Wills How people learn in K-8 blended learning Catholic schools : floating, failing, and filling Tetris gaps
8/2015 Tetyana Schneider Hmong American students who majored in STEM in two-year colleges in the Midwest : experiences before, during, and outside of college which contribute to their development as global citizens
8/2015 Cassandra Schug The role of the superintendent in system-wide success for pre-K-12 English Language Learners
8/2015 Sun Young Yoon Causal mediation mechanisms in inquiry-based science professional development
8/2015 Melodie Wyttenbach The educational experience of DACAmented students : utilizing capitals to confront barriers and navigate the American educational experience.
5/2015 Morna Foy An exploration of institutionalized structures as employer engagement strategies in the Wisconsin Technical College System
5/2015 Todd Gray ABC for the ABC’s : can ABC/M improve budget allocations and cost efficiencies in a Wisconsin public school district to help sustain educational programming?
5/2015 Madhu Verma My voice, My Choice : reflections from second generation Asian Indian American college women
5/2015 Bradley Piazza How do technical college leaders initiate and implement change to facilitate comprehensive internationalization at their campuses?
5/2015 Sharon Contreras School-wide organization, structures, and processes used to achieve high performance : a multicase study of high-poverty elementary schools with high percentages of students of color
5/2015 Amy Zelenski Theatre-based Empathy Training in Medicine: Exploring the Spaces In Between
5/2015 Peter Wilson Advancing Opportunities for All Students: Superintendent Leadership Teams in High-Achieving School Districts
5/2015 Rob Manzke Attributes of Innovative Global Citizenship Programs at Mid-Sized Public Universities
5/2015 Meg Filkins YouTube as a K-12 Professional Learning Tool: What New Media Videos Can Teach Educators About RtI and PBIS