The purpose of this mixed-methods study is to evaluate the impact of Morrison High School's ninth grade transition program, the Freshman Academy, on student outcomes. Based on the outcomes, decisions will be made to determine if the Freshman Academy is meeting students' needs or if the program elements need to be revisited to improve student…

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…

Significant emphasis is currently placed on STEM education as a vehicle to encourage American youth to enter science, technology, engineering, and math-related professions. Gifted students are a natural resource of future innovators for these fields; however gifted programs are largely overlooked for program support. Since 1973, the Virginia…

The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of elementary school principals in Southeastern Virginia regarding implementation of 21st century skills. The Partnership for 21st Century Learning Skills framework was used as a foundation to identify the skills needed for the 21st century. In addition, the framework was used to examine…

This study examined whether the phenomenon of "parental over-involvement" occurred in the Virginia Community College System. Concern has been expressed in the popular and academic literature in recent years over the increased level of parental involvement at four year institutions whose student bodies consist almost exclusively of…

Over a decade after the regulation change in Virginia allowing individuals without teaching experience to pursue school counseling careers, no known study had focused exclusively on differences site supervisors observe when training school counselors from different professional backgrounds and the extent to which those counselors employ a tailored…

The purpose of this study was to understand professional development for paraprofessionals supporting students with ASD in Virginia. This understanding was reached through explanatory, sequential mixed methods design. Surveys and interviews provided insight into training practices, training needs, and training barriers. An interpretation of their…

A mixed method, sequential explanatory approach provided insights' regarding critical issues relating to K-12 professional growth and development as well as understanding the effect upon their teaching practices and student achievement. The population of this study consisted of a convenience sample that contained a regional group of educators from…

This explanatory mixed-methods policy analysis describes how school counselors' thoughts and attitudes contribute to the implementation fidelity of the Academic and Career Plan (ACP) policy in a suburban Virginia school division. A quantitative survey investigated counselor thoughts about the policy, implementation behaviors, and counselor ideas…

The Virginia Tech Summer Academy (VTSA) Program, developed by through a collaborative partnership between faculty, administrators and staff concerned by attrition among first year students, was introduced in summer 2012 as a campus initiative to assist first-year college students transition and acclimate to the academic and social systems of the…

Color vision deficiencies affect approximately eight percent of the male population (Birch & Chisholm, 2008; Cole, 2007; Jenny & Kelso, 2007; Neitz & Neitz, 2000), yet the condition is often overlooked in the educational setting despite the pervasiveness of color in the school (Suero et al., 2004). The purpose of this study was to…

This study focused on the aspect of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) that require the inclusion of all limited English proficient (LEP) students in testing situations, simultaneously making an effort to close the achievement gap. NCLB indicates that each state is to assess students in a language…

Through a non-experimental descriptive and comparative mixed-methods approach, this study investigated the experiences of sixth grade earth science students with groundwater physical models through an extended SE learning cycle format. The data collection was based on a series of quantitative and qualitative research tools intended to investigate…

The purpose of this study was to describe experienced practitioners' beliefs about inclusion and their perceptions of what early childhood special education (ECSE) preservice teachers need to know and be able to do to effectively support early childhood inclusion. This study used a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach to describe the…

The purpose of this mixed-methods explanatory case study was to determine the impact of a reduced school calendar on student achievement for students in grades 9 through 12 in two rural school districts in Virginia and to explore meanings associated with this change. The study focused on two research questions: how does student performance during…