In this dissertation I argue that philosophical theorizing about moral responsibility has not paid sufficient attention to the epistemic dimensions of our practices of responsibility. This dissertation asks how we pursue justification and agreement about moral responsibility in our actual social practices, and, finding those pursuits often less than ideal, further asks how we ought to do so. In chapter one I seek to vindicate these claims by reviewing the extant moral responsibility literature, pointing out at various junctures what I call “paths not taken” and “epistemic lacunae.” In chapter two I engage with work in contemporary social, cognitive, and moral psychology to sketch a picture of how we actually pursue judgments about responsibility, psychologically speaking. With this “ping-pong” model in hand, I identify some particularly common and robust “epistemic disruptors” that undermine our ability to hold one another responsible in the ways which philosophical theories often imagine.

In particular, I focus on the way in which blame judgments are susceptible to these disruptions. Given this set up, chapters three and four of the dissertation deal with some practical upshots for the ethics of blame. In chapter three I argue for introducing the norm of Powerful Restraint, which suggests that in contexts where there are large gaps in social power, the powerful should refrain from blaming downward. In chapter four I further motivate this kind of revisionism and asymmetry, focusing on the ways in which our currently constituted practices of responsibility intersect with issues in the contemporary literatures on pragmatic encroachment and cultivated ignorance.

Continuation high schools serve students for multiple reasons. Among them are low credit attainment, excessive absences, probation status, and discipline problems. Students in these programs often have many educational gaps. In the state of California, continuation high schools have been an educational option for this vulnerable student population since 1919. This segment of the school system seeks to offer students with diverse educational challenges and obstacles a second opportunity to complete their education. Presently, there is little research connected to the success of continuation high school graduates’ level of persistence in any type of higher education. This study examined the influence teacher-student relationships had on a particular group of continuation high school students who, in spite of challenges associated with continuation-education deficit mindset, were able to attain academic success in higher education. The study sought to explore how the practices of comprehensive high school sites intersected with those of a specific continuation high school. Social Capital and Critical Race Theory provided the conceptual lens to analyze teacher–student relationships. The researcher captured students’ and teachers’ perceptions in order to analyze how their interactions and relationships could be strengthened to ensure student academic success and provide continuation high school students with options upon high school graduation.

The United States is a diverse nation, and it is projected that over the next few decades, Whites will no longer be the majority. In fact, the Hispanic population is growing, and this change in the country’s racial and ethnic demographics will impact many facets of the American life. The review of literature shows that culturally relevant teaching/pedagogy (CRT/P), specifically in readings of ethnic literature, fiction, and text written about and by individuals of color, increases students’ sense of ethnic identity, and results in students feeling a strong sense of agency and belonging in academia. These factors contribute to students’ success and help narrow the achievement gap. Specifically, there is a dearth of literature about culturally relevant reading in accelerated basic skills reading courses at community colleges. This mixed-methods research study sought accelerated basic skills students’ perceptions about their reading experiences. The results of their responses, to a survey and their explanations during an interview, revealed that while they find engaging with ethnic culturally relevant texts important, there is not a direct positive impact on students’ academic achievement, sense of belonging in higher education atmosphere, and motivation to read as a result of engaging with such texts.

Keywords: culturally relevant reading, accelerated basic skills composition, community college basic skills

In Native American communities, the idea of “school” often has negative connotations because of the overt and covert use, by current and past school systems, of forced assimilation practices intended to eradicate Native American cultures. Native Americans, historically and currently, have experienced longstanding micro-aggressions and attempts by the United States government and religious groups to exterminate their culture and their own people. From the very beginning of formal education, Native children were forcibly removed from their homes and taken to boarding schools where the intent was not only to separate the children from their families, but also to separate them from their entire cultures. This attempt of forced assimilation, under the guise of education included emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, thus forming a traumatic foundation of Native American experiences in the United States education system. Fast forward to present times: Native American students continue to navigate an education system which is based on Eurocentric ideologies that creates racially charged environments at schools daily. In spite of these conditions, Native American students are expected to achieve at the same level of success as those who do not share the same negative experiences. While research has documented these experiences in middle school, high school, and higher education, it is important to expand that focus to the foundation of the educational journey, starting with early childhood education. Delving deeper into the experiences of Native American people, this study will provide insight into the occurrences of micro-aggressions and racism that start at the very beginning of the educational journey.Keywords: Native American, Native American Education, Indian Education, Indigenous, Indigenous Education, Early Childhood, Early Childhood Education, Racism, Microaggression

Since California’s adoption of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) in 2013, K–12 school districts have been given more autonomy in setting funding priorities and enacting policies through actions and services for students. The state supplies unrestricted funding to K–12 districts in return for an accountability document, the LCAP, which sets goals for the district in spending those funds. The LCFF supplies districts with additional funding based on its population of (a) English Language Learner (EL) students, (b) free/reduced lunch students, and (c) homeless or foster students. The funds are intended to provide equitable funding for these students, but since the districts are able to set their own priorities for spending those funds, the state does not compel the districts to spend them in a targeted fashion.

Education researchers have often studied the effect that funding models and education finance policy can have on student outcomes with little consensus on the effects of targeted funding. Under the LCFF, funding is more directly related to student outcomes because decisions about actions and services are set at the district level, and not at the state level. This provides an opportunity for districts to create and implement programs and services that directly reflect their particular challenges and the strengths of their communities. This study attempted to establish a correlation between district policy, as set in districts’ LCAP documents, and EL student achievement in four districts by using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods analysis to show that districts with specific, active, and detailed policies for increasing EL student achievement are more likely to achieve that goal. The four districts were selected via a quantitative analysis of all California school districts, identifying the two that increased EL student achievement—in two state reported metrics, “Percentage Redesignated Fluent English Proficient” (RFEP) and “Percentage Making English Growth Target” (EGT)—the most after implementation of the LCFF and LCAP funding paradigm (years 2011–2013 versus 2013–2016), and the two with the greatest decrease in EL student achievement for the same years. A qualitative analysis of the LCAP documents for these four districts show that the visibility of actions and services that support EL students in a targeted manner is correlated with an increase in EL student achievement. These results are further illuminated with interviews, conducted with district personnel from the two districts with the highest increased EL achievement in the LCFF era, which show greater involvement with families and the community in creating a more equitable environment in which their EL students succeed. These results are contextualized in the ongoing policy and education research discussions of new local accountability systems in California, equitable funding for EL students, and the effect of unrestricted funds on student outcomes.

This research will explore first-generation college students’ (FGCS) experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. FGCS come from a home where neither parent nor legal guardian has a college degree, yet, in contrast, continuing-generation students—who will be referred here as CGCS—are college students who have at least one parent or legal guardian who has earned a college degree (Mehta et al., 2011). FGCS students graduate—persist—at a substantially lower rate than CGCS (Chen & Carroll, 2005; Ishitani, 2003; Ishitani, 2006; Mehta et al., 2011; Warburton et al., 2001). Studies have shown that FGCS work longer hours and have more financial responsibilities (Inman & Mayes, 1999; Mehta et al., 2011; Nunez & Cuccaro-Almin, 1998), and for the most part, feel ill-equipped to enroll in college (Mehta, 2011; Rodriguez, 2003). Notably, FGCS are disadvantaged in several ways, according to pre-COVID-19 research as they are less likely to seek academic support from staff, for example, and they tend to underutilize other services (Beattie & Thiele, 2016; Hicks & Wood, 2016; Mates et al., 2021). Moreover, FGCS are also more likely to connect with relationships at home, and they tend to have fewer developed college networks, which is perhaps unsurprising (Mates et al., 2021; Stuart et al., 2011). Thus, when schools and institutions shifted to the online setting across the nation in March 2020 because of the pandemic, students from lower-income communities, including FGCS, may have found it especially difficult to participate in educational activities or complete their assignments because of inconsistent internet or a lack of access to equipment (Case et al., 2021). In response, many campuses provided computers—either laptops or Chromebooks—and many also addressed other concerns like internet—by distributing hotspots—or facilitating participation in Zoom classes—by making headsets and webcams available (Hart et al., 2021). In addition to institutional support, distance education teams prepared and delivered faculty professional development that focused on humanizing online instruction. Humanizing instruction acknowledges that participation and success are social structures influenced by students’ background and experiences within the instructional setting (Pacansky-Brock, 2019). A method of humanizing online instruction is integrating the Community of Inquiry Framework. This research study will utilize Garrison, Anderson, and Archer’s Community of Inquiry (CoI) Framework which has three interrelated essential components—teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence—with the purpose of promoting online communication in higher education (Garrison et al., 2000; Garrison et al., 2001). Through a sequential mixed-methods design, this study attempted to learn directly from FGCS if their perceptions of online instruction changed during the pandemic as it pertains to how online courses were designed and the relationships they developed with instructions and their peers. Keywords: First-Generation College Student, Online Instruction, Perception, Community of Inquiry, Interactions, Relationships, COVID-19.

Despite being among the fastest growing ethnic minority groups in the United States (Pew Research Center, 2020), Latinx continue to lag behind their White counterparts in almost all aspects of postsecondary academic attainment, including degrees conferred (Castellanos & Gloria, 2007; NCES, 2021a, 2021c). As a result of the stunted pipeline of Latinx matriculating through the doctorate, this racial attainment gap extends beyond the classroom and into positions of leadership in academia. According to Latina doctoral persistence literature, current educational policy and practice are culturally devoid and, as a result, does not consider the unique academic patterns and experiences of Latinx students. Using a phenomenological research design, this study explored the various social and personal capital Latinx students, especially Latinas in educational leadership programs, bring to academia. A dual-lens conceptual framework, of cultural proficiency and community-cultural wealth, guided this study and assisted in conceptualizing the academic experiences of Latinas who completed a doctoral program, with a specific focus on persistence and program completion rates.

For over four decades, restorative justice has gained momentum as a viable alternative to punitive discipline in U.S. K-12 schools. Although school-based restorative practices research in is still emerging, studies have shown promise in school systems (Ashley & Burke, 2009). Likewise, restorative approaches, namely the use of restorative community conferencing in the U.S. juvenile justice system (Bazemore & Schiff, 2015; Rodriguez, 2007) is showing promising results in decreasing the criminalization of youth. Propelled by the school-to-prison pipeline, restorative community conferencing offers a paradigmatic shift in how justice is viewed, understood, and pursued. The restorative philosophy requires a belief that justice should be healing, which is achieved by attending to the relationship between the person responsible for the harm, the person harmed, and the community relationships (Van Ness & Strong, 2010; Zehr, 2015). Despite the emergence of restorative justice studies with a focus on recidivism rates, experiences of racially minoritized youth have not yet been explored. Black youth are historically underserved yet overrepresented in exclusionary practices, despite an absence of evidence of improved outcomes (Okilwa & Robert, 2017). Through examination of the lived experiences and stories of Black young adults, this phenomenological study will employ critical race theory and ecological system theory as a dual lens to understand what is good and successful about restorative community conferencing.Keywords: Black students, appreciative inquiry, critical race theory, juvenile justice, K-12, restorative justice, phenomenology, school-to-prison pipeline.  

Self-compassion has been shown to bolster resilience (Leary, Tate, Adams, Batts Allen, & Hancock, 2007), intrinsic motivation (Neff, Hseih, & Dejitthirat, 2005), and a general sense of well-being (Arimitsu & Hofman, 2015) as students cope with academic and life stressors. While research has begun exploring gender as a factor for self-compassion in college students (Lockard, Hayes, Neff, & Locke, 2014; Neff, Pisitsungkagarn, & Hsieh, 2008; Yarnell, Neff, Davidson, & Mullarkey, 2019), and, to a lesser extent, race (Hayes, Chun-Kennedy, Edens, & Locke, 2011; Lockard at al., 2014), there still remains a critical void of literature. Self-compassion researchers who focused on college settings have yet to explore the intersection of gender and race and have failed to consider social class entirely. To address this void of literature, the following phenomenological study explored self-compassion in 10 single mother California Work Opportunities and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) students of color at a Southern California community college. Through a thematic analysis of individual interviews and take-home journals, four common experiences of emotional distress were identified: (a) Identification as a Welfare Recipient, (b) Academic Performance, (c) Ongoing Welfare-to-Work Requirements, and (d) Restricted Time With Child Dependents. Of these experiences, three elicited connections with intersectional oppression in the areas of gender, race, and social class, with one, Restricted Time With Child Dependents, excluding a connection with racial oppression. Common ways in which participants relate to themselves during these experiences, and in general, showed connections with less self-compassion in the areas of self-judgment and overidentification, with an even split in the area of isolation versus a sense of humanity. Participation in CalWORKs and Cooperative Agencies Resources for Education student support groups and workshops where students openly share personal adversities appeared to mediate this split. Findings from this study offer important implications for the use of an intersectional framework to examine complex topics like self-compassion and offer insight for the development of a group-appropriate self-compassion intervention. The findings also demonstrate a need for welfare reform and for community college leaders to better address the mental health of single mother CalWORKs students of color at their institutions.