As the COVID-19 pandemic shook the very foundation of our educational systems, Connecticut created adjustments through the 2020-2021 Teacher Evaluation Flexibility Plan. Using a qualitative phenomenological research design, three research questions were explored through the theoretical lenses of Knowles' (1978) adult learning theory and Weick's…

Beginning on July 1, 2022, in the state of Connecticut, all new Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for special education began to be written in the new Connecticut Special Education Data System commonly known as CT-SEDS. This investigation sought to understand to what extent Connecticut's implementation of CT-SEDS had impacted parents'…

The program evaluation examined the eighth-grade unit of the Second Step Program as implemented to special education students attending an approved private special education program (APSEP) in Connecticut. At the APSEP, special education students struggle to develop peer relationships, lack feelings of self-efficacy, and require a high level of…

The purpose of this research is to explore the perceptions and experiences of Connecticut's Teacher Education and Mentoring (TEAM) Program's mentors and mentees in the state's ten opportunity districts. The research focuses on mentors who had worked with novice teachers in the last three years and novice teachers who were in their second year of…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine teachers' perceptions of the impact of the RULER approach on both student academic achievement and emotional regulation in one suburban school district. This study explores teachers' perception of the impact of the RULER program in a large suburban district by examining the following factors:…

This study focused on several important aspects of the implementation of Public Act 12-40 on remedial instruction within a four-year University setting. The implementation of the law has been minimally studied as it pertains to student impact. There are seventeen units of the Connecticut State University System so the decision to limit the scope…

The evolving educational landscape of our students' needs post-Covid has highlighted that student response to intervention must be of concern to all educators. Our student population has experienced an event that is like no other in our shared educational histories and our response to the aftermath of this event and how we assist students who are…

The purpose of this study was to examine the current shortage of certified dual-language and bilingual teachers at dual-language programs. Currently, there exist problems surrounding the wider implementation of dual-language education programs as a result of the widespread teacher shortages, which has been shown in the literature to drastically…

High enrollment in developmental education, low completion, transfer, and graduation rates, led to the enactment of P.A. 12-40 (An Act Concerning College Readiness and Completion) by Connecticut policymakers. The purpose of this single case exploratory study with embedded units was to investigate how Connecticut State Colleges and Universities…

This research developed a survey that measures the degree to which challenges are experienced by school and district leaders, and teachers, when attempting to implement legislatively required District Improvement Plans (DIPs). The data indicate that there are certainly challenges when implementing DIPs and that teachers report experiencing a…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to describe one Connecticut middle school's voluntary implementation of a data-driven decision making process in order to improve student academic performance. Data-driven decision making is a component of Connecticut's accountability system to assist schools in meeting the requirements of the No…