The National University System Repository exists to increase public access to research and other materials created by students and faculty of the affiliate institutions of National University System. Most items in the repository are open access, freely available to everyone.
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Item The Consequences of Secondary Teachers’ Low Efficacy in Delivering Writing Instruction: A Phenomenological Study(2026-04)The problem addressed by this research study was secondary English teachers’ low efficacy in delivering writing instruction, which results in the deficient writing performance of students in Maryland public high schools. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of secondary English teachers with low efficacy levels in delivering writing instruction. Pre-service and in-service professional development lacks adequate focus on writing instruction to prepare teachers for success in delivering the content effectively in their role. Teachers’ preparedness influences their psychological well-being and confidence to perform. The study’s final purposeful sample included seven secondary English teachers with more than 1 year of experience teaching students in grades 10 – 12. The research participants were employed in the state of Maryland at one of the three public high schools. Data was gathered through semi structured interviews and a focus group and confirmed through member checking. The three major themes that emerged from data analysis using NVivo 15 software were: (a) culture of learning, (b) strategies to deliver writing instruction, and (c) teacher preparation. Three recommendations for practice were: (a) to revisit the pre-service training for new teachers, (b) for school system leaders to provide more communal in-service training to encourage reflective conversations around writing instruction, and (c) for the leaders of school systems to develop professional learning communities centering on writing instruction delivery and student support. Recommendations for future research were to (a) add an interview question where teachers exemplify their success in delivering writing instruction, (b) delve deeper into instructional writing strategies used by successful teachers in a focus group question, (c) include student writing artifacts to show growth, and (d) include an interview question about students’ preparation for technology competency for success on online high-stakes writing assessments.Item An Exploration of General Education English language arts: reading Teachers' Knowledge and Perceptions of Tier II Response to Intervention in a North Louisiana School District(2026-04)Response to Intervention is an multitiered educational framework intended to support students who are struggling academically. Tier 1 and Tier 2 consist of interventions implemented by the general education teacher in the general education classroom. The problem addressed in this study was the lack of information regarding general education teachers’ knowledge and perceptions about the guiding principles of effective implementation of Tier 2 of Response to Intervention and resources necessary for successful student outcomes. The purpose was to explore the knowledge and perceptions of general education reading teachers in one northeast Louisiana school district regarding the effective implementation of Tier 2 of Response to Intervention. Critical theory aided in highlighting the importance of understanding power structures that influence educational teaching and outcomes. A qualitative, collective case study was conducted through interviews and document analysis. Purposive, criterion sampling was used to recruit nine general education reading teachers of first through third grade. Saldaña’s two-cycle coding method was applied for data analysis to answer the research questions aimed at gathering information on participant knowledge and perception of Tier 2 of Response to Intervention as well as resources needed to improve student learning outcomes. Five themes were revealed to answer the research questions. Participants shared their knowledge and perceptions of Tier 2 Response to Intervention and what resources they believed necessary for positive student reading outcomes. All nine teachers discussed the importance of research-based, individualized, differentiated interventions to meet each student’s specific needs, consistently monitoring progress, and utilizing data to make intervention decisions. The participants’ perceptions of Tier 2 Response to Intervention were based on the district-mandated computer program, Lexia® Core5® Reading (Lexia). They expressed concern that students with difficulty and highlighted the need for administrative support and collaboration.Item Mental Health Therapy Efficacy Differences as a Function of the Delivery Method of Telehealth or In-person(2026-04)This quantitative causal-comparative study examined whether perceived therapeutic efficacy differs between in-person and telehealth delivery of outpatient mental health counseling. The research addressed the lack of clarity about how the rapid expansion of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic may have influenced clients’ perceptions of treatment effectiveness. Grounded in social psychology theory, the study explored how relational processes and perceived interpersonal quality shape clients’ experiences of therapy across modalities. A purposive sample of 70 adults receiving services at a Utah outpatient clinic participated, with 35 completing in-person counseling and 35 using telehealth. Therapeutic efficacy was measured with the Session Rating Scale (SRS), and an independent samples t-test compared mean scores across groups. Results showed no statistically significant differences between modalities, indicating that clients perceived therapy to be equally effective whether delivered in person or remotely. These findings support existing research showing comparable outcomes across modalities and extend the literature by providing post-pandemic data from a general outpatient population. Implications highlight the need for clinicians to develop hybrid-competence skills and routinely incorporate alliance-based feedback tools into telehealth sessions. Future research should examine mechanisms—such as therapeutic alliance, psychological presence, and relational attunement—that may explain why efficacy remains stable across delivery methods, as well as explore how different client subgroups experience modality in a permanently hybrid mental health landscape.Item Green Bucket - Red Bucket Paradigm(2026-04-15)Education often reduces complex learning to simplified scores, obscuring the processes they represent. Central to this problem is the distinction between assessment and evaluation: assessment is qualitative, focused on describing learning and guiding improvement, while evaluation is quantitative, assigning value through scores. When these functions are merged prematurely, feedback loses its instructional value and scores lose accuracy. The Green Bucket–Red Bucket paradigm addresses this by separating qualitative and quantitative judgment. In the Green Bucket, AI-infused rubrics generate structured, non-graded feedback that supports revision and clarifies expectations. In the Red Bucket, the same rubric converts established qualitative evidence into quantitative outcomes, ensuring consistency and transparency. This approach restructures how judgment operates in education by allowing qualitative understanding to develop before numerical value is assigned. Supported by AI, this separation reduces bias, improves alignment, and produces more accurate, transparent, and equitable representations of learning.Item The Grading Architecture: Measurement, Systems and Reform in Higher Education(2026-04-16)This book analyzes grading in higher education as a system of measurement shaped by design rather than by instructor leniency or student motivation. It argues that grade outcomes emerge from structural features such as scale thresholds, rubric construction, assessment formats, and institutional policy contexts. By reframing grade inflation as a systemic design issue, the text explains how grading architectures generate GPA distributions and affect the interpretive value of transcripts. It offers a design-oriented framework for educators, administrators, and researchers to understand and redesign grading systems to maintain validity, differentiation, and credibility. Topics include the separation of assessment and evaluation, shifting A-range thresholds, persistent inflation absent policy response, AI’s impact on evaluation, rubric reliability, two-tier examination models, and program-level feedback systems, alongside practical tools for structural reform grounded in measurement principles.
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