This study investigated whether the type of course materials used by instructors in postsecondary education had an impact on their teaching approach. The study focused on two approaches to teaching, teacher-focused and student-focused, and examined the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) versus commercial materials as the independent variable.…

Millions of teachers have exited the teaching profession as of 2020 and over 50% are likely to leave the profession during the next five years. High emotional stress is most often cited as the primary reason for the loss of teachers. There is also an increasing number of students entering school who having experienced various forms of trauma, such…

Anthropogenic climate change and recreational use of coral reefs has led to the degradation of essential ecosystems globally. Over half of the world's coral reefs have been destroyed causing a loss in biodiversity due to overfishing, sea level rise, intensifying storm activity, and habitat destruction from human activity, making reefs one of the…

Low-income first-generation students represent a significant portion of U.S. undergraduates, and they face unique challenges that other students do not, which can influence their decision to stay within their programs. Therefore, a better understanding of what resources a program can provide to support these students and what drivers can keep a…

School climate has been shown to improve student academic performance. Therefore, improving school climate has become a central goal for schools across the nation as a means of improving student achievement. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between three aspects of school climate (leadership, teaching, and resources) on 3rd…

Amidst increased enrollment, economic recession, and state budget cuts to postsecondary education over the past two decades, two and four-year colleges and universities have employed a multitude of different approaches to managing resource allocation. At the crux of this issue is the internal struggle each institution faces: improving the level of…

This study explored the influence of school funding and climate on student achievement in Illinois public elementary schools, examining de-identified individual fourth-grade students and their achievement scores during the 2018-19 academic year. Data sources included the Illinois Achievement Readiness (IAR) assessments for reading and math,…

This study is an analysis of the five factors identified through the research literature on job satisfaction and special education teachers to identify which factor was the strongest predictor of job satisfaction. The factors identified as predictor variables and examined in this study include: Relationships with Administration, Relationships with…

In the first chapter titled "Cognitive Ability, Education, and Fertility Risk", I explore the role of cognitive ability in fertility timing. Women in the bottom quartile of the cognitive ability distribution are nine times more likely to have their first child as a teenager. First, I document the differences in age at childbirth by…

Years of teaching experience have long been taken as an important indicator of teacher and school quality in primary and secondary schools. However, research on the effects of teacher years of experience on student outcomes has shown mixed results. To investigate the source of variation causing these mixed results, this study examined a broad…

Research on teacher professional development (PD) reveals teachers do not implement what they learn at professional development with consistency or fidelity. This quantitative predictive correlational study examined whether special education teaching experience, administrator support through time and planning, administrator support through…

There are fewer forestry/natural resources pathway classes being taught in Georgia high schools than any of the other main areas (Georgia Agriculture Education, 2019). Georgia high school agriculture pathways are a series of three interrelated courses designed at giving high school students specific skills and expertise in a designated area. The…

Employee turnover continues to be discussed as an outcome in Human Resources (HR), but comparatively few studies have examined the relationship between turnover as the independent variable and institutional outcomes. Although the call to HR practitioners has often been made over the past 20 years regarding the importance of tying HR programs and…

This mixed-methods action research study investigated the impact of makerspaces on student creativity. Seventy fifth-grade students were exposed to makerspaces for 12 weeks. Quantitative data were collected using two assessment instruments. Prior to the experience, the students were given a preassessment of their creative potential using the…

Statement of Purpose and Method of Study: Historically, Mississippi has lagged behind the rest of the nation in student achievement and funding for education. This comparative quantitative study investigated whether significant differences in student achievement as measured by mean composite ACT scores of high school juniors in Mississippi public…