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The Effects of Common Core State Standards For Mathematics On Students and Teachers In 6-12th Grades.
No full textThe purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) on students and teachers, from their introduction in 2013 to 2025. During my undergraduate program, in my placement I made some observations about students and how well they were comprehending what the standards were asking them to do. Seeing a disconnect led me to wanting to find out the effects of the CCSSM on 6-12th grade students and educators. This thesis is looking at three specific effects the CCSSM has had on secondary grades since their implementations in 2013. Those effects are mathematical test scores, preparation for STEM-focused majors and careers, and the standards impact on secondary educators. Currently the design of the study is to interview secondary educators to see firsthand what it is like implementing the CCSSM into their classrooms. They would be asked a series of questions to gain their insight on topics like general test scores, preparation for stem-focused majors and careers, and their thoughts on implementing the standards
Developing Computer Science Teacher Leaders in Rural Georgia: Year Three Evaluation of Ga-RCSL
No full textThis presentation reports results from the third-year evaluation of the five-year Georgia Rural Computer Science Leaders (Ga-RCSL) project, funded by an NSF Noyce Track 3 Grant. The evaluation examines how Ga-RCSL supports 16 STEM teachers from rural middle and high schools in south Georgia in developing as computer science teacher leaders by fostering collaboration, reducing professional isolation, and strengthening teacher identity and self-efficacy. Data sources included surveys, interviews, portfolios, and social network analysis. Findings indicate that Ga-RCSL is strengthening rural computer science teacher leadership pipelines and contributing to retention in high-need contexts. Survey data revealed modest growth in participants\u27 sense of identity as computer science teachers. The greatest increases in confidence and ability to teach computer science occurred from year one to year two, with smaller or plateauing gains in year three. Interviews highlighted professional growth and systematic contributions, demonstrating competencies in instructional leadership, collaboration, and advocacy. Teachers applied professional learning in classrooms and influenced peers through coaching, curriculum design, and advocacy. Social network analysis across three waves (2022–2024) showed increased density and reciprocity in teacher work and collaboration networks, suggesting sustained reductions in teacher isolation. Implications for sustainability, district partnerships, and future professional learning models are discussed
Creating Meaningful Context: Preservice Teachers Learning Through Fraction Word Problem Development
No full textThis collaborative project engaged preservice teachers in creating fraction word problems from given number sentences, followed by iterative faculty feedback and revision cycles. Preservice teachers grappled with identifying appropriate contexts for fraction operations, ensuring mathematical accuracy, and considering pedagogical implications for their future classrooms. This poster presents example student-created problems across revision stages and shares preservice teachers\u27 reflections. Students reported deepened understanding of fraction concepts, heightened awareness of creating contextually relevant problems, and new insights into scaffolding strategies for future students. Findings suggest that problem creation with structured feedback supports preservice teachers\u27 knowledge for teaching fractions
Becoming In-Between: The Multilingual and Multicultural Consciousness of Three Turkish Women Teachers in the U.S. South
No full textThis paper examines the evolving multilingual and multicultural consciousness of three Turkish women teachers living and working in the U.S. South as they navigate their identities within transnational educational contexts. Using cross-cultural narrative inquiry (He, 1998, 2003) and grounded in identity and in-betweenness theories (Anzaldúa, 1987; Bhabha, 1994; He, 2003), the study explores how these educators embrace and integrate multiple linguistic and cultural heritages in both their personal and professional lives. The concept of “becoming in-between” captures the fluid and ongoing process of developing a complex, hybrid consciousness that informs their teaching practices, sense of self, and relationships with students and communities.
Findings highlight the critical role of multilingual and multicultural consciousness in supporting immigrant teachers’ professional growth, resisting monolingual and monocultural norms, and fostering inclusive, culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris & Alim, 2017). This research contributes to scholarship on gender and education by centering the lived experiences and transformative identity work of immigrant women educators in multicultural classrooms, illuminating how narratives of in-betweenness can serve as powerful resources for pedagogical innovation and cultural resilience
From Burnout to Balance: Centering Joy and Care in Faculty–Student Mentoring
No full textThis presentation draws on the article, I Need You to Survive: Black Women Resisting White Supremacy Culture for Faculty and Student Wellbeing, which examines how mentoring relationships between Black women faculty and Black students serve as acts of resistance within higher education. Grounded in autoethnography and critical race theory, we highlight how affinity-based mentoring disrupts tenets white supremacy culture while redefining wellbeing for both faculty and students. Key findings illustrate that (1) mentoring replenishes faculty wellbeing through collective healing, (2) counter-spaces such as #BlackTeachersMatter reframe success to prioritize balance, affirmation, and relationships, and (3) intentional decision-making around career and identity can model liberatory practices for students.
Conference attendees will gain tools for identifying and challenging systemic practices that undermine wellbeing in academic spaces. They will also explore strategies for fostering communal care and building sustainable faculty-student relationships that resist institutional oppression. By centering our experiences as Black women, we invite faculty across disciplines to reimagine mentoring as a mutually sustaining practice that disrupts interlocking systems of oppression while cultivating spaces of joy, affirmation, and thriving
Navigating Hunger and Academic Success: College Students’ Experiences with Food Insecurity and Campus Food Pantries
No full textFood insecurity is a growing issue faced by many college students, and there is an increasing call for more qualitative research examining food insecurity on college campuses. It may be posited that students who experience food insecurity but have access to resources are more likely to succeed academically than those without access to such resources. This research examined how the resources provided to college students experiencing food insecurity influenced their academic success at a university in the United States. This study explored the experience of four students who identified as food insecure and utilized campus resources to address this issue. Through a thematic analysis of the qualitative data, the findings suggest that students who accessed these resources believed their academic success had improved as a result. Overall, the results indicate that resources for addressing food insecurity are important for student academic success
Nude: A Transition to Subjectivity in Japanese art and Beauty
No full textThis essay examines the tumultuous shift the Meiji Era of Japan encountered towards conventions of arts and the notion of ‘beauty,’ visually analyzed through the collisions in the depiction of nudes. Nudity identifies westernization and a new input in the Japanese arts system, becoming a hybrid of tradition and modern. Accompanied by the early influence pioneered through Kuroda Seiki and the creation of a lineage and teaching of yoga art—the appropriation of Western art practices. This essay highlights that this convention of beauty, wherever it comes from and taught by precursors, capturing and expressing an ambiguous concept of ‘beauty,’ can result differently, as exemplified through one of Kuroda’s students, Teotsugoto Yorozu. Yorozu and Tetsugoro’s nudes encompass the genre of nudity, each in a distinctive way. Juxtaposing these two artists’ most notable works, a culmination of how artists during the era approached the radical idea of unified beauty is interpreted as a vindication of Japan’s breakthrough towards modernity and a realization of balance, personality, and an acknowledgement of subjectivity