Kristin B. Pierce successfully defended her doctoral dissertation

From left to right: Dr. Bill Black, Outside Chair, Dr. Yi-Hsin
Chen, Kristin, Dr. Victor Hernandez, Dr. Bill Blank,
and Dr. Eddie Fletcher

Tampa, FL. Congratulations to Kristin B. Pierce! She successfully defended her dissertation entitled, Do Mathematics and Reading Competencies Integrated into Career and Technical Education Courses Improve High School Student State Assessment Scores? on March 29, 2013. As suggested by the title, the purpose of her study was to determine whether students who participated in CTE courses that integrated core mathematics and reading standards performed better on a test of mathematics and reading skills compared to students who participated in traditional, non-integrated courses.

Her doctoral committee included Dr. Victor Hernandez who served as her major professor, Dr. Bill Blank, Dr. Eddie Fletcher, and Dr. Yi-Hsin Chen. To facilitate the dissertation defense, Dr. Bill Black, Associate Professor in Educational Leadership, served as the Outside Chair.

Kristin is currently serving as a Curriculum Specialist in the Volusia County Schools District. Her professional experience includes work as a marketing/merchandising manager; an interior designer in commercial and residential design firms; a freelance interior designer and business owner, BP Interiors; an adjunct instructor for interior design and marketing programs at Daytona Beach College; and a secondary business and marketing instructor. 

Kristing entered the doctoral program in career and workforce education in fall 2008 with an interest in conducting research on curriculum integration issues. To this end, she conducted a quasi-experimental study tested a contextual teaching and learning (CTL) model for integrating reading and mathematics competencies through 13 introductory Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses. To learn more about her study, you may visit her dissertation page and for additional pictures of her dissertation defense you may check here.

Congratulations!