Completed Theses of M.S. Urban Education Degree Earners

The list of Master of Science in Urban Education degree earners appears in the table below in the order that they completed their degree starting with Vance Holmes in December 2015. Click on the title of their thesis to read an paragraph abstract of their thesis and find a link to their full thesis, or click on their name in alphabetical order on the left menu.

The School of Urban Education is very proud of the accomplishments of our graduates and the theses they have written as scholars of urban education.

In 2021, faculty expanded the options to complete the Master's degree and now we allow the option of making a 30-minute capstone presentation along with taking an extra 3cr elective instead of writing a formal thesis. Presentation recordings can be found at:
https://www.taskstream.com/ts/programmanager2/MSUrbanEd-CapstoneCompletersPresentations

COMPLETERS' NAMES (in order of completion)	THESIS TITLES	TYPE OF RESEARCH
Vance Holmes	Powerful Beyond Measure: African American Assessments of the Minnesota Teacher Licensure Exam Experience	Empirical
Gina Wilson	How Can Teaching Pedagogy be Adapted for Students Who Are Unlike and Different from Students I Have Previously Taught?	Empirical
Deborah Hansen	The Effects of School-Based Mentoring on Classroom Engagement of Middle School Students of Color in a Mostly White Urban School	Empirical
Ben Berkness	Teaching Letter Sounds To Kindergarteners Using Kinesthetic Memory Cues	Empirical
Scott Weninger	Self-Reflection as a Tool for Students to Prevent Office Discipline Referrals	Empirical
Dan Bettino	Being Valued and Feeling Good: Self-Esteem and the Perceived Value of Home Language among English Language Learners in a Middle School Spanish Immersion Program	Empirical
Anna Santori-Hilfers	Communication Methods Between Mothers and Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Preceding an In-Home Parent Training Programming	Empirical
Edairra McCalister	Black Girls We See You: Unity Circle in Urban High School	Action Research
Abdul Sannie-Ariyibi	Examining the Paradox between Freedom and Discipline in the Classroom	Empirical
Alexis May	Volunteer Activities Based on Student Motivations	Empirical
Abby Kloos	The Effects of Working with Latino Students In The Classroom As Well As Outside To Ensure Success in Mathematics	Action Research
Garrett Lee	Can iPads or Other Smart Mobile Technology Devices Support the Creation of a Positive Learning Environment for High School Science Students? A Review of Literature	Extensive Lit Review
Waleid Hassan	What Are the Workplace Factors That Contribute to Teachers of Color Seriously Considering Leaving the Profession Completely?	Empirical
Sam Shoemaker	Recruitment and Retention of African American Male Adolescents in Leadership Programs	Extensive Lit Review
Adeola Haastrup	A Literature Review about the Benefits, Challenges and Needs for Implementing Information Communication Technology (ICT) into Education in Nigerian Schools	Extensive Lit Review
Matthew Larkey	Teacher-Student Relationships: A Qualitative Study of Student Perspectives and Teacher Interviews	Empirical
Jesse Maloney	An examination of the perceived benefits of diverse out-of-class learning opportunities in an urban middle school	Action Research
Alison Criss	What did I learn as an urban high school English teacher about how to begin YPAR from implementing YPAR for the first time?	Action Research
Craig Kleeberger	Correlation between a mindfulness meditation practice and stress reduction among teachers	Empirical
Bethany Wheeler	Are mindfulness practices implemented in school settings effective in promoting self-awareness in early adolescents and adolescents?	Extensive Lit Review
Marvin Peterson	Does the use of learning management software in classrooms create barriers for urban high school students given inequitable access to internet and technology at home? A review of the literature	Extensive Lit Review
Jerri Malone	Adverse Childhood Experiences and Trauma in Elementary School Students: An Extensive Review of the Literature	Extensive Lit Review
James Malone	What does the research say about the characteristics of effective community-based mentoring programs that prevent drop out of “at-risk” African American high school students?	Extensive Lit Review
Janey Atchinson	An Exploratory Analysis of the Equity in Minnesota's School Funding Model and How it may Affect or Contribute to Minnesota's Continuing Academic Achievement Gap	Empirical
Drayton Cousins	What do the characteristics and outcomes of AP classes contribute to the promise of equity? An examination of a program through using an Effectively Maintained Inequality theoretical framework	Empirical
Gwynder Burnett	Teacher Attitudes and Practices That Affect Teacher Efficacy to Promote Student Learning for Low Achieving Students: A Review of the Literature	Extensive Lit Review
Halat Basheer	What do education futurists predict about the role of the K–12 teachers given changes in technology and increased use of online learning?	Extensive Lit Review
Jessie Begert	Parent Empowerment and Early Literacy Skills: An Action Research Project in Kindergarten	Action Research
John Coleman	Developing and Practicing Growth Mindsets in Mathematics	Extensive Lit Review
Sarah Henning	Not So Universal: Retaining Students of Color in School Music Ensembles	Empirical
Ciara Murphy	Segregation in Schools An Extensive Review of Literature About Schools in the Minneapolis and St. Paul Metro Areas Segregating Students	Extensive Lit Review
Allison Raney	An Investigation of the Impact of Weekly, Embedded Professional Development on Teachers’ Self-Efficacy	Action Research
Laura Watkins-Baker	The impact of Inclusion for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder, General Education Students, and General Education Teachers: An Extensive Literature Review	Extensive Lit Review
Olivia Wulf	Creating Queerly Responsive Classrooms in Minnesota: The Importance of LGBTQ+ Representation in Urban High School English Curriculum	Extensive Lit Review
Michaela McCoy	The Specific Racialized Experiences of Multiracial Students in American Schools, and the Impact of Those Experiences on Socioemotional and Academic Outcomes for Multiracial Students: An Extensive Literature Review	Extensive Lit Review
Lidia Miranda Carrillo	Ethnic Matching Theory Centralized in Ethnic Studies	Extensive Lit Review
Mark Spurlin	The Bull in My Room: Effective Uses of Technology and its Impact on Achievement	Extensive Lit Review
Therese L. O’Meara	School-based Mental Health Supports for Students of Color: A of Review Literature	Extensive Lit Review
Sheila Takanen	A Critical Race Pedagogy for a Privileged Audience	Extensive Lit Review
Michael McCartan	A Review of Research on the Effectiveness of a Flipped Learning Structure in Secondary Mathematics Classrooms	Extensive Lit Review
Blair Hanson	Supporting Emergent Bilinguals in a Secondary Mathematics Classroom: An Extensive Review of the Literature	Extensive Lit Review
Samantha Pendragon	Queering History: How LGBTQ Representation Can Be Integrated in Minnesota High School Social Studies Classrooms	Empirical
Lisa Fralish	Centering Critical and Multiple Perspectives to Transform Social Studies: Inclusive Narratives in Minnesota’s Elementary Social Studies Standards	Action Research
Anna Lehn	Toward a Liberatory Classroom Raciolinguistics: An Extensive Literature Review on Translanguaging in Middle School English Language Arts Classrooms	Extensive Lit Review
Sonja Muus	What Impact Does the Implementation of Cogenerative Dialogues Have on the Educational Experience of Secondary Students? A Review of Literature	Extensive Lit Review
Donelle Harvey	The Toxicity of it All: A Review of Literature about Microaggressions and Problematic Leadership Experienced by Educators of Color	Extensive Lit Review
Jackelyn Doyle	No Longer an Absent Narrative: Implementing Culturally Sustaining Practices in Literacy and Social Studies Integration Through the use of Critical Literacy and Counter Storytelling in the Urban Classroom	Extensive Lit Review
Jessica Franklin	Teaching Language Arts for Linguistic Justice: An Extensive Review of the Literature	Extensive Lit Review
Samantha Hedden	The Mental Health and Well-Being of Educators: A Review of Literature	Extensive Lit Review
Kiera Kisic	Building Dialogic Classrooms in Urban Middle Schools and High Schools	Extensive Lit Review
Courtney Antone	Give Me Teaming or Get Me Out of Here: An Extensive Review of Literature on the Benefits of Interdisciplinary Teaming for Students and Teachers	Extensive Lit Review
Megan Soosai	Taking Anti-Racist Classrooms Beyond Wishful Thinking: Pedagogical & Classroom Reflections to Empower the Systematically Disenfranchised and Disillusioned	Action Research
Matt Shaver	A Challenging But Worthy Endeavor: Exploring the Perceptions of Teacher Mentees Within a Critical Policy Framework	Extensive Lit Review
Mike Ward	Acknowledging My Diseases: White Privilege, Substance Use Disorder, and Recovery	Empirical
Julia Pearlstein-Levy	How Should Urban Middle School Social Studies Teachers Incorporate Local History About Students' Communities into Curriculum in Order to Strengthen Students’ Connection to their Communities and Raise Students’ Critical Consciousness? A Review of the Literature	Extensive Lit Review
Lynnea Waydula	An Impossible Hurdle: An Extensive Review on Educational Barriers for Multilingual Learners with Disabilities	Extensive Lit Review
Josh Neurer	Successes and Challenges of Argumentation in Urban Science Classrooms: A Review of Literature	Extensive Lit Review
Tracy Larson	Nature’s Equigenic Effect on Reducing the Opportunity Gap for Urban Students of Color in a Post-COVID Learning Environment: An Extensive Literature Review	Extensive Lit Review
Unis Boye-Weah	Parent Involvement in the Eyes of Liberian Parents	Empirical
Ayan Ibrahim	How Can Schools Communicate and Work with Immigrant Parents to Increase Involvement to Help Multilingual Children Be Successful in Schools?	Extensive Lit Review
Amina Hussein	Honoring Urban Student Identities in the Classroom	Empirical
Andre Borka		Empirical
Sabra Heimerl		Empirical
Julia Gartzke		Empirical
Drew Torrance		Extensive Lit Review

Author: Urban Teacher Program Manager
Last modified: 1/13/2023 2:40 PM (EST)

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Completed Theses of M.S. Urban Education Degree Earners

Completed Theses of M.S. Urban Education Degree Earners

COMPLETERS' NAMES (in order of completion)

THESIS TITLES

TYPE OF RESEARCH