This study examines the physical environment of school buildings and the effects it has on teacher morale, sense of belonging, and work ethic. Within this mixed-method study, four New York State schools were given the researcher developed School Environment Survey, and multiple school stakeholders were interviewed to determine the extent of these…

Workforce practitioners within community colleges are increasingly faced with pressures from business and industry to offer academic and career oriented programs targeted to the workforce needs of local industry. Most recently, there has been a call from both industry and the White House for community colleges to complete more students in…

In the wake of multistate outbreaks and subsequent economic cost and health causalities, food industry stakeholders formulated policies for their produce suppliers. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's guidance on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) have been the basis for most of the industry initiated GAP certifications or audit processes. In…

The main purpose of this study was to see the effect of a Balanced Literacy program on the students' academic achievement (the 8th Grade NYS ELA exams) between the years of 2005, 2006, and 2007. This study analyzed the effects of Balanced Literacy on student achievement scores at the 8th grade level. In addition, the effect of teacher's training…

Interaction has been shown to be a key component to the success of online and blended learning, so it is crucial to understand how teachers and students perceive the interaction taking place in online and blended K-12 courses. The following study is part of a larger study of the effectiveness and evaluation of the New York State Virtual AP…

This study aims to examine the role athletics plays in academic achievement amongst varsity athletes in a large suburban Long Island school district. The study was motivated by six questions using both a quantitative and qualitative methodology. Those questions aimed to answer the extent (1) the overall grade point average of an athlete compared…

This case study seeks to explore three research questions: (1) What science teaching and learning processes, perspectives, and cultures exist within the science classroom of an urban portfolio community high school? (2) In what ways does the portfolio-based approach prepare high school students of color for college level science coursework,…

New York State is in the midst of vast education reform. This Education reform has produced an environment in which the traditional roles of school personnel have been restructured and standards of accountability have been increased. Teacher leadership has become a vital force in the success of many organizations. Additionally, the rigorous…

The "Response to Intervention Guidance for New York State School Districts" (2010) document indicates Response to Intervention (RTI) is a mandated general education process intended to provide early interventions to struggling at-risk students. The multi-level RTI framework is structured to include targeted evidence-based interventions…

The purpose of this mixed study was to investigate the differences between higher and lower achievement middle school rates pertaining to leadership qualities, opportunity to learn, instructional practices, parental involvement, and professional development. Qualitatively, principals were interviewed using a semi-structured interview protocol.…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of new Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR) legislation on professional development, instructional practices, differentiated professional development and teacher efficacy. Additionally, teacher perceptions regarding the impact of APPR standards and Response to Intervention (RTI) on the…

This study examined the essential skill sets needed to effectively perform as a school business official in New York State. This study surveyed 132 practicing school business officials across New York State and created a needs-based assessment of the competencies required to successfully perform as a New York State school business official. In…

In the wake of new teaching standards and evaluation systems introduced in the United States, teacher collaboration has emerged as a common theme. However, despite these recent changes, teaching is still largely a private act, in which teachers are often secluded from their colleagues. This study investigated the range and variation of the…

For years researchers have been investigating the effects of parental involvement in middle school students. In the United States today, schools lack more in parental involvement as children move up in grades. Some research findings have shown that parental involvement is effective when teachers communicate more with parents and have a focused…

The purpose of this study was to identify what leadership behaviors are associated with each of Spillane's (2006) three conceptually distinct forms of distributed leadership, and to determine whether specific influence tactics (Yukl, Seifert & Chavez, 2008) are differentially associated with each form. A two-phased, mixed methods design was…