Date

8-20-2026

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)

Chair

Janet Vosen

Keywords

literacy, limitations, experiences, cognitive, behavioral, environmental

Disciplines

Educational Leadership

Abstract

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to explore the lived experiences of teachers in supporting literacy among secondary students at a suburban secondary school in Connecticut. The lived experiences of literacy limitations among students were generally defined as a lack of literacy resources or inconsistent literacy support across courses and grade levels. Bandura’s social cognitive theory guided this study, particularly regarding the cognitive, behavioral, and environmental experiences of teachers and their students’ literacy limitations. The Central Research Question was: What are the experiences of secondary teachers in supporting literacy growth among students? This transcendental phenomenological study on literacy limitations in secondary schools was conducted in a suburban high school in Connecticut. The high school was comprised of Grades 9-12 and had an approximate population of 1,300 students and 200 faculty and staff. I implemented three data collection approaches for this transcendental phenomenological study: individual interviews, document analysis, and focus groups. The data analysis for this transcendental phenomenological study followed a method of organizing and describing data, as proposed by Moustakas, to apply to the individual interviews and focus groups. Three themes, each having three subthemes, emerged from the data collection: personal determinants (cognitive abilities, attitudes, and expectations), behavioral determinants (skills, self-efficacy, and practice), and environmental determinants (social norms, community access, and influences).

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