Congratulations to Nastacia Gayle who on Friday, October 16, 2026, successfully defended her dissertation proposal.

The title of Nastacia's dissertation is, 'BRIDGING THE GAP: EXPLORING TRANSITIONAL SUPPORTS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES IN THEIR FIRST YEAR OF COLLEGE.

The abstract of this study follows:

Overview of Problem: Students with disabilities move from the entitlement-based protections of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in secondary school to the civil rights framework of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in postsecondary education, which requires disclosure, documentation, accommodation requests, and greater self-advocacy. Limited research explains how first-year students interpret their preparation and institutional supports or perceive their influence on adjustment.

Research Purpose: This interpretive qualitative study will describe students’ transition experiences and examine how transitional supports shape academic, social, and emotional adjustment through the second semester of their first year. Schlossberg’s Transition Theory and its 4 S System of Situation, Self, Support, and Strategies will guide interpretation.

Research Design: The study will use an interpretive qualitative design. Interview and institutional-document data will be analyzed inductively before findings are interpreted through Schlossberg’s framework.

Sample: Purposeful sampling will recruit approximately 12–15 students, age 18 or older, enrolled in the second semester of their first year at a four-year college or university, who received IDEA services in high school and currently identify as having a disability.

Data Collection: Participants will complete 60–90-minute Zoom interviews. Publicly available documents from their institutions will provide contextual information about disability-related and transitional supports.

Dissertation Committee Chair:
Shelley B. Wepner, EdD

Dissertation Committee Members: 
Peter Troiano, PhD
Dominique Phinn, DSW, LMSW, SIPI

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Congratulations to Zoraima Rosario-Rolon who on Thursday, October 15th, 2026 successfully defended her dissertation proposal. 

The title of Zoraima's dissertation is, "MATTERING IN HIGHER EDUCATION: THE ASPIRING ACADEMIC ADJUNCT FACULTY'S EXPERIENCE."

The abstract of this study follows:

Overview of Problem: Colleges and universities increasingly depend on contingent faculty; yet, adjunct instructors frequently encounter low compensation, employment insecurity, limited institutional support, and exclusion from professional and social activities. These conditions may diminish their sense of mattering, psychological well-being, professional identity, engagement, and commitment to their academic communities. Research has focused primarily on adjunct faculty’s working conditions, job satisfaction, and belonging, leaving their lived experiences of mattering comparatively underexplored.

Research Purpose: This qualitative study aims to describe how aspiring academic adjunct faculty in Humanities and Education departments perceive mattering within their academic communities and how those perceptions relate to psychological well-being. Drawing upon Rosenberg and McCullough’s theory of mattering: this study seeks to uncover participants’ experiences of attention, dependence, importance, and ego-extension.

Research Design: The study uses interpretive inquiry as methodology with qualitative methods for research design, and Rosenberg and McCullough’s theory of mattering as analytic lens.

Sample: A purposive sample will include aspiring academic adjunct faculty teaching in Humanities or Education departments at public and private four-year colleges and universities. Participants will hold or are pursuing doctoral degrees; and aspire to full-time, tenure-track or non-tenure track, academic positions.

Data Collection: Data will be collected through semi-structured, 60 minutes interviews that allow participants to describe their experiences and psychological well-being in their own words. Participants will also have the option to provide an image that represents their perceived mattering within their academic community.

Dissertation Committee Chair:
Susan V. Iverson, EdD

Dissertation Committee Members:
Cindy Porter, EdD 
Mindi Reich-Shapiro,  PhD

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Recruiting participants is often one of the most stressful—and least talked about—parts of conducting qualitative research. Many doctoral students spend months carefully developing their research questions, securing Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, and preparing interview protocols, only to discover that finding participants can be far more difficult than anticipated.

As part of my individual capstone project, I interviewed eight doctoral researchers who successfully completed qualitative/quantitative dissertations across a variety of educational topics. Although each study focused on a different population, one common thread emerged: participant recruitment was rarely straightforward. From busy educators and school leaders to highly specialized populations, each researcher faced unique obstacles that required persistence, creativity, and flexibility.

Despite these challenges, several common strategies consistently emerged. Below are the ten most effective recruitment strategies shared by these experienced researchers.

1. Build Relationships Before You Need Them

The most common recommendation was simple: relationships matter.

Researchers who had established professional networks or trusted relationships found it much easier to recruit participants. Many participants agreed to interviews because they already knew the researcher or because someone they trusted recommended participation.

Trust often proved to be more valuable than incentives.

2. Cast a Wide Net

Several researchers admitted that they initially limited their recruitment efforts too narrowly.

Successful recruitment often required expanding beyond a single district, state, or organization. Broadening geographic boundaries and using multiple recruitment channels significantly increased participation opportunities.

3. Don't Be Afraid to Follow Up

One email is rarely enough.

Researchers consistently emphasized that polite, respectful follow-up emails dramatically improved response rates. Persistence—not pressure—was key.

As one researcher explained, recruitment requires patience and consistency.

4. Be Flexible With Participants' Schedules

Researchers quickly learned that participants were far more likely to participate when interviews were scheduled around their availability rather than the researcher's.

Early mornings, evenings, lunch breaks, and virtual interviews often made participation much easier for busy professionals.

5. Use Multiple Recruitment Methods

No single recruitment strategy worked for everyone.

Researchers used combinations of:

• Professional organizations
• LinkedIn
• Facebook groups
• Colleague referrals
• Email invitations
• Recruitment flyers

Interestingly, several researchers found Facebook groups produced stronger recruitment results than LinkedIn.

6. Make Confidentiality Clear

Many participants hesitated because they feared their responses could somehow be traced back to them.

Researchers found that clearly explaining confidentiality procedures, pseudonyms, informed consent, and data protection helped participants feel more comfortable sharing honest experiences.

7. Timing Matters More Than You Think

Recruitment success often depended on when invitations were sent.

Researchers recommended avoiding particularly busy periods, including:

• Beginning of the school year
• Testing season
• Report card periods
• Election seasons for politically sensitive topics

Instead, quieter periods often resulted in stronger participation.

8. Be Willing to Pivot

Several researchers ultimately modified their recruitment plans.

Some expanded nationally. Others adjusted recruitment locations or broadened their participant pool.

Rather than viewing these changes as setbacks, researchers described them as necessary adaptations that strengthened their studies.

9. Let Your Network Work for You

One of the most valuable recruitment tools wasn't technology—it was people.

Researchers encouraged colleagues, dissertation committee members, administrators, and even former participants to share recruitment materials with others who met the study criteria.

These referrals often led to the highest-quality participants.

10. Explain Why Their Voice Matters

Perhaps the most meaningful finding from these interviews was that participants wanted to know their experiences would make a difference.

Researchers found that people were more willing to participate when they understood how their perspectives could contribute to future research, inform practice, or improve educational policy.

Purpose, more than compensation, motivated participation.

Final Thoughts

Participant recruitment is rarely as simple as sending a recruitment email or posting a flyer online. The researchers I interviewed consistently described recruitment as an ongoing process of building relationships, remaining flexible, communicating transparently, and adapting when initial plans did not work.

While every research study presents unique challenges, one lesson stood out above all others: successful recruitment is built on trust. Whether through professional networks, personalized communication, or ethical research practices, participants are far more likely to contribute when they feel respected, valued, and confident that their voices matter.

For future doctoral students and qualitative researchers, these lessons provide a practical roadmap for navigating one of the most challenging aspects of the research process. With persistence, flexibility, and a willingness to adapt, recruiting participants can become less overwhelming and far more successful.

Conducting these interviews reminded me that recruitment is about much more than reaching a target number of participants. It is about building trust, respecting people's time, and creating opportunities for individuals to share experiences that can ultimately strengthen research and improve practice. My hope is that these lessons help future researchers approach participant recruitment with greater confidence, persistence, and empathy.

Blog written by Â鶹ֱ²¥ doctoral student 
Victoria DeLucia

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Congratulations to Susan Fenstermacher, who on Friday, September 25, 2026, successfully defended her dissertation.

The title of Susan's dissertation is, "THE ROLE OF DISTRIBUTED LEADERSHIP IN EFFECTIVE SCHOOLS."

The abstract of this study follows:

Overview of the Problem: Many U.S. schools still rely on top-down leadership structures that may not reflect the complex demands of modern education. Although distributed leadership offers a collaborative alternative, limited U.S. based research has examined how its components relate to perceived school effectiveness.

Research Purpose: This study examined the relationship between distributed leadership, specifically collaboration, shared responsibility, and leadership distribution, and perceived school effectiveness among PK - 12 educators in the United States.

Research Design: A quantitative study, cross-sectional, correlation survey design was used.

³§²¹³¾±è±ô±ð: Participants included 106 PK–12 educators and school-based staff from public, charter, private, and parochial schools. The sample represented varied roles, school levels, district sizes, and urban, suburban, and rural settings.

Data Collection and Analysis: Data were collected through an online survey using the Distributed Leadership Inventory and School Effectiveness Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics summarize participant characteristics and variables. Pearson correlation, multiple regression, and moderation analyses examined relationships among the variables.

Findings/Results: Distributed leadership had a statistically significant positive relationship with perceived school effectiveness. Each leadership dimension significantly predicted perceived school effectiveness independently. Collaboration was the strongest predictor, followed by shared responsibility and leadership distribution. When entered simultaneously, collaboration was the only significant, unique predictor. School size, type, level, geographic setting, and participant role did not significantly moderate the relationship.

Conclusions/Implications: Findings suggest that collaboration is important to perceptions of school effectiveness. Educational leaders, policymakers, and preparation programs should support collaborative structures, teacher leadership opportunities, and shared responsibility across diverse educational settings

Dissertation Committee Chair: 
Dr. Nora C. R. Broege

Dissertation Committee Members: 
Dr. Shelley Wepner
Dr. Robert D. Feirsen

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Congratulations to Luis Guerrerro-Reyes who on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, successfully defended his dissertation proposal. 

The title of Luis' dissertation is, "RAICES QUE RENACEN: EDUCATOR PERSPECTIVES ON THE ROLE OF THE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS MODEL FOR IMIGRANT-ORIGIN STUDENTS IN NEW YORK STATE."

The abstract of this study follows:

Overview of Problem: New York State schools serve immigrant-origin students with academic and social-emotional needs shaped by pre-migration, migration and post migration experiences. Intake processes emphasize language assessment but may overlook trauma, belonging, family circumstances, and other needs. The community school model seeks to address these non-language needs during intake and throughout students' educational journey, however, its implementation remains limited across NYS schools.

Research Purpose: Using Latino Critical Theory, this study explores how school building leaders perceive the Community Schools Model's response to immigrant-origin students' academic and social-emotional needs and which practices support school adjustment.

Research Design: Qualitative interpretive inquiry guided by Latino Critical Theory and the four Community Schools pillars.

Sample: A purposive sample of school building leaders from urban and suburban New York State public community schools or districts whose student populations are at least 30% Hispanic.

Data Collection and Analysis: Data will come from approximately 60-minute, one-on-one semi-structured Zoom interviews.

Dissertation Committee Chair:
Dr. Nora C. R. Broege

Dissertation Committee Members:
Dr. Susan V. Iverson
Dr. Aurelia Henriquez

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The Â鶹ֱ²¥ Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership is proud to recognize 10 newly minted doctoral alumni who defended dissertations in summer and were conferred their doctoral degree in August 2026.  Their completion brings the total alumni network to over 260 scholars and practitioners throughout the region and beyond. Our doctoral graduates investigate problems of practice affecting leaders across various educational contexts.  Dissertation research is a stamina test, no matter when it’s undertaken. For these doctoral alumni, they were "running the course" during turbulent times and conducting  important and timely topics. View their defense blogs and the slideshow of graduates for an overview of their Valiant doctoral research! 

Click on the links to learn more about their dissertations.

Dr. Christina Collins
Dissertation Title: A DESCRIPTIVE QUALITATIVE STUDY OF ELEMENTARY PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF LIGHT PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Dr. Alyssa Heller
Dissertation Title: NAVIGATING CHALLENGES TO ACHIEVING EQUITABLE GRADING: AN INTERPRETATIVE QUALITATIVE STUDY OF SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS IN SUBURBAN MIDDLE SCHOOL

Dr. Jared High
Dissertation Title: TRAINING IN BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION AS ASSOCIATED WITH SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER (SET) ATTRITION: A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

Dr. Taylor Wilson Kennedy
Dissertation Title: DISCOVERING THE SECRET OF WHICH GAMES IMPROVE STUDENT LEARNING:  A META-ANALYSIS

Dr. Erica E. Naughton
Dissertation Title: STORIES OF STRENGTH: BLACK WOMEN PRINCIPALS LEADING IN RACIALLY MINORITIZED SCHOOL COMMUNITIES

Dr. Herman Scriven
Dissertation Title: EXPLORING FOOTBALL COACHES’ PERCEPTIONS OF SUPPORTING THE ACADEMIC SUCCESS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYERS

Dr. Anibal Soler
Dissertation Title: THE ROLE OF SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS IN IMPROVING GRADUATION RATES IN NEW YORK SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Dr. Cheryl Lynn Spada
Dissertation Title: COLLECTIVELY MAKING THE SHIFT: TEACHING NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS AFTER PARTICIPATION IN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE 

Dr. Garrette Carson Sutherland
Dissertation Title: LEADERSHIP ACROSS WORLDS: AN INTERPRETIVE INQUIRY INTO URBAN AND RURAL PRIMARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALSHIP IN BELIZE THROUGH A TRANSFORMATIONAL LENS

Dr. Gelaine Williams
Dissertation Title: COMMUNITY COLLEGE CAREER CENTER PRACTITIONERS’ INTERPRETATION OF THE NACE CAREER READINESS COMPETENCIES: AN INTERPRETIVE INQUIRY

Watch our Graduate Slideshow..

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Congratulations to Lisa M. Torres, who on Thursday, September 10, 2026, successfully defended her dissertation. 

The title of Lisa's dissertation is, "HOT COMBS AND HAIR JOURNEYS: CHRONICLING BLACK WOMEN'S LIVED EXPERIENCES OF HAIR DISCRIMINATION IN PREDOMINANTLY WHITE SCHOOLS."

The abstract of this study follows:

Overview of Problem: Narratives of the lived experiences of Black young women in K-12 schools remain largely absent from educational scholarship; as their narratives are frequently ignored, Black young women are increasingly marginalized in school settings due to hair discrimination.

Research Purpose1: Guided by Black Feminist Thought (Collins, 2022) and Black Girlhood Studies (Brown, 2009), my study aimed to chronicle the personal stories of Black women who have experienced hair discrimination while attending predominantly White K-12 schools.

Research Design: Narrative, Interpretive Qualitative Inquiry

Sample: There were 21 participants in this study, aged 18 to 66, who attended predominantly White schools. Participants were required to self-identify as Black women, be 18 years old or older, and have experienced hair discrimination in K-12 predominantly White school settings to qualify for participation.

Data Collection and Analysis: Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Creswell and Poth’s (2025) data analysis spiral approach guided my analysis, utilizing open coding to identify emergent patterns and themes.

Findings/Results: Five themes emerged, along with their corresponding subthemes. The overarching themes were The Spectacle of Black Women’s Hair, Representation and Belonging, The Struggle is Real, Identity Crisis, and Hyper-visibility and Invisibility.

Conclusions/Implications: This study chronicled Black women’s lived experiences of hair discrimination in predominantly White K-12 schools, illustrating that hair expression was far more than an aesthetic choice; Black girls’ hair was a focal point used to regulate and police their identities. Participants’ narratives showed that belonging required cultural affirmation, positive representation, and safety in expressing identity through hair. These findings highlight the need for culturally affirming policies, practices, and supports that reflect Black girls’ lived experiences. Listening to Black girls and acting to protect rather than punish them is essential for mitigating hair discrimination and fostering more nurturing and inclusive learning environments, where historically marginalized students are seen, valued, and supported. Recommendations were included for policymakers, school leaders, educators, and school-based mental health staff.

Dissertation Committee Chair:
Dr. Kenneth Mitchell

Dissertation Committee Members:
Dr. Samatha White
Dr. Sagrario Rudecindo-O'Neill

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Congratulations to Torsie Anderson Judkins, who on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, successfully defended his dissertation.

The title of Torsie's dissertation is, "COUNTER-NARRATIVES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS ACADEMIC AND SOCIAL EXPERIENCS IN INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS: A CRITICAL QUALITATIVE STUDY."

The abstract of this study follows:

Overview of Problem: Independent schools often describe themselves as inclusive, values-driven communities, yet African American/Black students can experience belonging as uneven, conditional, and shaped by whiteness and elite institutional norms. Recent post-2020 racial reckonings intensified questions about how independent schools respond to race, student voice, and institutional accountability.

Research Purpose: Guided by Critical Race Theory, this study amplified the counter-narratives of African American/Black alumni of independent schools and examined how they made meaning of academic and social experiences related to belonging, identity negotiation, race, intersectionality, and institutional culture.

Research Design: This study used a critical qualitative design with semi-structured interviews. Participant narratives were treated as experiential knowledge and analyzed through an inductive first reading, in vivo coding, analytic memoing, and a second theory-based coding pass connected to CRT, belonging, intersectionality, and institutional culture.

Sample: The study included 14 African American/Black alumni, age 18 or older, whose independent-school experiences included K-8, K-12, high school, boarding, day-school, and multi-school pathways.

Data Collection and Analysis: Interviews were conducted via Zoom, transcribed, reviewed by participants, de-identified, and coded manually. An audit trail tracked recruitment, transcript review, coding, pseudonyms, and data-security decisions.

Findings: Three themes emerged: racialized belonging was conditional and space-based; students learned to fit, shift, and protect themselves; and 2020 exposed the gap between institutional language and Black student needs.

Conclusions/Implications: The findings suggest that access to independent schools is not the same as belonging. Independent schools must move beyond statements and generalized inclusion language toward sustained adult practice, curriculum accountability, affinity support, and structures that reduce the racial labor Black students are asked to carry.

Dissertation Committee Chair:
Dr. Susan V. Iverson

Dissertation Committee Members:
Dr. Nora C. R. Broege
Dr. Nicole Joseph 

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Congratulations to Laura Mitchell, who on Friday, September 4, 2026, successfully defended her dissertation.

The title of Laura's dissertation is, "PUBLIC MIDDLE SCHOOL LIBRARIANS NAVIGATING BOOK CHALLENGES: A QUALITATIVE STUDY."

The abstract of this study follows:

Overview of Problem: Since 2021, a surge of book challenges and bans has thrust school librarians into the center of public scrutiny as they navigate growing pressures to remove or restrict materials that reflect diverse experiences and identities. Librarians are caught between their professional obligation to uphold intellectual freedom and external pressures to remove or restrict materials, leading them to make decisions that carry significant ethical, legal, and personal consequences.

Research Purpose: Guided by critical librarianship, this study sought to understand how certified public middle school librarians across the United States experienced, navigated, and responded to book challenges and how professional values and systems of power shaped their decisions.

Research Design: A critical qualitative design examined librarians’ experiences within contexts of power, policy, and ideology.

Sample: The sample included 11 certified middle school librarians from U.S. public schools serving students in grades 6-8. Participants held a Master of Library Science (MLS) or equivalent certification and had experienced one or more book challenges, removals, or restrictions since 2020.

Data Collection: Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted via Zoom; audio was transcribed. Data were analyzed using Yin’s (2014) five-step analytic process.

Findings: Theme 1, Vulnerability, revealed how the legislative and political climate created a sense of professional vulnerability that reshaped participants’ daily professional practice. Theme 2, Policy Paradox, captured tensions between established reconsideration policies and experiences with administrative authority, procedural bypass, and quiet censorship. Theme 3, Doing the Work, illustrated how participants enacted professional values through relationships, alternative pathways to access, and the preservation of representation. Across the themes, professional values remained central to how participants exercised professional agency within increasingly restrictive environments.

Conclusions/Implications: Despite increasing censorship efforts and professional vulnerability, participants continued to enact their professional values and exercise professional agency in service of students. This study demonstrated how vulnerability, policy implementation, advocacy, and resistance became embedded in everyday professional practice within systems of power. Ultimately, restrictive conditions changed the circumstances under which participants practiced, but not their understanding of what librarianship should be—creating opportunities for students to read, explore ideas, discover new perspectives, and develop a lifelong love of reading.

Dissertation Committee Chair:
Dr. Susan V. Iverson

Dissertation Committee Members:
Dr. Mary Coakley-Fields
Dr. Vikki Terrile

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Congratulations to Joe DeProssino who on Monday, August 31, 2026, successfully defended his dissertation proposal.

The title of Joe's proposal is, "STRENGTHENING CHARACTER AND SOCIAL BONDS THROUGH ATHLETICS: A QUALITATIVE INTERPRETIVE INQUIRY OF HIGH SCHOOL COACHES' PERCEPTIONS OF GOALS FOR STUDENT ATHLETES."

The abstract of this study follows:

Overview of Problem: Public high schools have long embraced the idea of balancing academic achievement with social-emotional, character, and civic development. Rigid curricular mandates, due to standardized testing requirements and political pressures, often hinder content area secondary teachers from integrating ethics into curricular instruction. However, school mission statements consistently prioritize character growth. Consequently, athletics serve as a vehicle for the achievement of these goals, with coaches playing a key role in fulfilling schools’ developmental missions.

Research Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative interpretive study is to explore how high school coaches perceive their role in building relationships that foster student-athletes’ social-emotional and moral development. The study will examine strategies high school coaches employ to use athletics as a vehicle to reinforce student-athletes’ commitment to school goals and community values. And finally, the study will try to understand how high school coaches communicate and model norms that promote civic responsibility, fairness, and rule adherence in athletic settings. Using Travis Hirschi’s Social Bond Theory as a lens, the study will examine how coaches are strengthening the social bonds of attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief.

Research Design: Interpretive qualitative design

Sample: Diverse group of 20 high school coaches with at least five years of experience.

Data Collection: Semi-structured interviews and document analysis.

Dissertation Committee Chair:
Dr. Kenneth Mitchell

Dissertation Committee Members:
Dr. Joe Durney
Dr. Brandon Beck

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The Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership from Manhattanville, offered in partnership with Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES, utilizes a forward-thinking approach to educational leadership that is ideal for practicing and aspiring leaders in any educational context. It is designed to support the goals of educational professionals who seek to develop their leadership skills for career advancement or current job enhancement.   

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