For social and emotional learning (SEL) initiatives to have the greatest positive impact on students, they must be implemented schoolwide. There is an urgent need for schools to shift away from traditional SEL frameworks toward transformative SEL (TSEL). TSEL program implementation cannot be done in isolation; rather, it must be fueled by a shared…

Lack of social-emotional skills such as self-awareness and emotional regulation can have a detrimental impact on behaviors and academic success in elementary school. This study sought to understand and improve the implementation of social-emotional learning (SEL) terminology for students and teachers at a Massachusetts elementary school.…

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 Massachusetts edTPA Pilot and Field Test (2010-2013) was launched by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to evaluate the possible adoption of edTPA within that state. Guided by Cochran-Smith et al.'s (2013) Politics of Policy Framework, this mixed-methods study examines this policy initiative by analyzing the…

The purpose of this study was to reveal the degree to which the Massachusetts Sheltered English Instruction Endorsement (SEI) course supported teachers of English learners (ELs) so that EL instruction could be amended or modified and school district efforts to support ELs and teachers could be addressed accordingly. This study examined the…

In order to upgrade school buildings and make them healthier for students and staff, a recent trend has been to build environmentally sustainable schools, which benefit the environment and offer improved learning experiences for students. This qualitative case study examined Sustainability High School, a school in Massachusetts that successfully…

Public education reforms that attempt to more accurately determine the impact of individual teachers on student learning outcomes have resulted in recent changes to educator evaluation systems. In Massachusetts, teachers are evaluated according to their performance on the standards of effective teaching and their progress on student learning and…

As part of its ongoing effort to fulfill the expectations of Massachusetts' Vision Project Agenda for its public colleges and universities, Northeast Community College collaborated with the non-profit organization, Complete College America, to develop the Academic Pathways. The Academic Pathways [or APs] are a pre-determined block of first…

The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to identify and understand the leadership strategies used by Massachusetts high school administrators during the early implementation (first four years) of one-to-one computing. The study was guided by two research questions: (1) How do high school administrators describe their experience leading the…

In this qualitative case study the researcher examined educators' perceptions of an RTI/MTSS model of instruction and how staff perceptions relate to fidelity of implementation. The purpose of this research was to investigate educators' understanding of the critical components necessary to support implementation of RTI/MTSS framework. The…

Principals play a key role in the improvement of student learning. School leaders have been shown to have a noticeable impact on the learning outcomes of students, even though this impact is often complicated and indirect (Hallinger, Bickman & Davis 1996). Principals that focus on improving the teaching and learning in classrooms are known as…

In 1998, the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, with assistance from the Developmental Assessment and Placement Advisory Committee, adopted an assessment policy that set standards for college placement testing at Massachusetts public colleges and universities. The purposes of the policy were to place students more adequately suited for…

Research and practical experience has shown that, more often than not, the professional development opportunities that are provided for teachers are not intentionally structured to meet their individual needs nor do they have a systemic impact on the knowledge base and skill sets of an entire faculty. Furthermore, the continuous pressure that…

This dissertation study chronicles the creation of a computer-based, asynchronously delivered diversity training course for a state agency. The course format enabled efficient delivery of a mandatory curriculum to the Massachusetts Department of State Police workforce. However, the asynchronous format posed a challenge to achieving the learning…

Teacher evaluation systems have tremendous potential in helping teachers grow in their profession. A standards-based teacher evaluation system with a rubric and multiple sources of data has the potential to create a collaborative environment that focuses on the continuous improvement of each teacher in the district. This ultimately leads to an…