Elementary teachers are generalists, usually with a reading background. As such, a number of teachers have low self-efficacy about teaching mathematics for conceptual understanding. Researchers suggest that some major categories associated with this problem are not enough adequate professional development (PD) addressing conceptual understanding…

Background/Prior Research: Research shows that teacher quality is the single most powerful influence on student learning (e.g., Nye et al., 2004; Rivkin et al., 2005), yet teachers report that they are not well prepared to implement standards- based mathematics education with heterogeneous groups of students. Banilower et al. (2018) found in a…

High quality professional development programs and opportunities for teachers are a vital aspect in improving early student achievement. This study adopts a professional development model which tested the difference in early literacy skills and performance of students (n=2028) in Grades 1-3 over a 12-week teacher training program (n=25). The data…

Professional learning communities (PLCs) are an essential avenue for high-quality change and work. Maintaining unity among groups with differing opinions is challenging. This mixed-methods study aimed to assess elementary teachers' current perceptions of PLCs to determine their effectiveness by answering four research questions: What are the…

The focus of professional development for teachers is to increase teaching skills and student academic success. Challenges in retaining and hiring teachers are causing local, state, and national organizations that represent teachers to rethink ways to support teachers within the profession. The professional and psychological needs of teachers have…

The COVID-19 pandemic has arguably been one of the most consequential public health events of the modern era, claiming the lives of millions of people worldwide and creating extensive economic, social, and political disruptions. The public and private education sector was particularly impacted, with schools closing their doors and shifting to…

Purpose: The purpose of this journal-ready dissertation was to determine the degree to which cyberbullying prevention and intervention efforts were provided at different school levels (i.e., elementary, middle, and high). In the first journal article, the extent to which the frequencies of cyberbullying teacher trainings differ by school level was…

Grade 3-5 students in southeastern Arkansas are reading below grade level despite the efforts of educators. The study explored educator perceptions of the Reading Initiative for Student Excellence (R.I.S.E.) professional development, in which educators learn about Science of Reading (SOR) instructional strategies and how to implement them in the…

This study examined United States (U.S.) K-12 science teacher interactions with parents during Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) reform following teachers' professional development (PD) participation, as well as parent accounts of understanding and support for NGSS. Fourteen teachers and 15 parents completed an online surveys and phone…

In a midwest, rural, and high-poverty elementary school, teachers expressed concerns about difficult student behaviors in their classrooms. It was important to address the problem because student misbehavior disrupts the learning of all students in the classroom. To provide information to the school that could inform possible interventions, a…

There is growing recognition of the prevalence of "within school churn", a phenomenon in which teachers remain within a school but are assigned a new grade level or course. In this study we examine the consequences of within-school churn for the pedagogical content knowledge of elementary teacher participants in an NSF-funded science PD…

Billions of dollars are spent every year on teacher professional development (PD) programs (Fermanich, 2002; Odden et al., 2002; TNTP, 2015; U.S. Department of Education, 2014). The few rigorous evaluations of PD programs that have been done usually report a null effect on student achievement, leading many scholars to conclude that teacher PD…

The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable assessment tool to measure music educators' participation in and perceptions of their high-quality professional development (PD) experiences. A sample of 450 in-service music educators across the United States completed a 78-item rating scale embedded within 10 domains reflecting…

Background: Understanding teachers' appraisals of student wellness services and supports during COVID-19 is essential to strengthening services and improving student health outcomes. This mixed-method study aimed to examine US PK-12 teachers' appraisals of student wellness services and supports during COVID-19. Methods: This study focuses on…

Professional development has been deemed ineffective for several decades. This ineffectiveness could stem from the one-size-fits-all professional development designs, and the inconsistencies and contradictions pointed out in professional development research (which is used to create these designs). Investigating how subject taught (STEM and…