Research suggests that current teachers' writing instruction does not prepare students for the demands of college and career writing, a problem that has persisted for decades. The purpose of this survey study of third- and fifth-grade teachers (N=159) across the U.S. was 1) to determine changes in teachers' frequency teaching writing using a set…

Insufficient teacher preparation, ineffective instructional methods, and cultural biases often lead to the misapplication of culturally responsive practices, exacerbating the educational opportunity gap between marginalized and nonmarginalized students. When schools do not address these issues of ineffective teaching and bias, marginalized…

Institutions of higher education are under increased scrutiny as graduation rates decline while student loan debt soars. One proposed strategy to improve completion rates is to give additional support to those students who are most at-risk of leaving college before graduating. Research has shown that first-generation students are more likely to…

This quantitative study examined factors that predicted teacher implementation of social and emotional learning (SEL) at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Positive outcomes of SEL for students include higher academic achievement and fewer behavior problems. Given increased mental health issues among youth, attention to SEL has become…

The purpose of this study was to use existing data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) to examine the relationship between student engagement indicators and NCAA Division I student-athletes' participation in high-impact practices, specifically internships and study abroad. Student engagement indicators were the independent…

In this dissertation study, we investigated the social validity of Tier 1 practices within tiered systems, with specific foci on the Comprehensive, Integrated, Three-Tiered (Ci3T) model of prevention and the high school context. Specifically, we began by outlining the challenges associated with implementing Tier 1 practices, particularly within…

The number of students pursuing a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) degree in the United States has continued to decline over the last two decades. These trends are alarming considering the national focus on providing accessible and quality STEM education to underrepresented students, as well as the fact that the number of…

Bilingual children, the majority of whom are Spanish-English learners, now constitute over a third of the preschool population in the United States (Migration Policy Institute, 2021). Bilingual children and their families face multiple barriers to high-quality early childhood education, which are largely due to the underutilization of culturally…

Internships can be valuable learning experiences, providing opportunities for professional exploration, development, and growth. While 74% of freshmen plan to participate in an internship during college, only 48% of seniors are completing these experiences (National Survey of Student Engagement, 2017a, 2017b). This study examined the ability of…

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the Marzano Focused School Leader and Teacher Evaluation Models impacted school leader and teacher effectiveness to increase student proficiency and growth. This quantitative, non-experimental study was conducted using preexisting data in all middle schools in the School District of Palm Beach…

Demand is high for engineering students and educators must identify factors affecting persistence and graduation of engineers. Retention and graduation rates remain problematic for many institutions. Higher education research focuses on these two issues as many students head to engineering programs with a wide range of attributes, characteristics,…

Within the framework of hope defined by Snyder et al. (1991) as being comprised of agency and pathways thinking in the context of goal achievement, this study investigated the potential of faculty hopeful teaching practices to positively influence college student hope and success. Hope functions in student success frameworks as a factor that…

This three-article dissertation considers the pedagogical practices for developing statistically literate students and teaching data-driven decision-making with the goal of preparing students for civic engagement and improving student achievement. The first article discusses a critical review of the literature on data-driven decision-making…

The purpose of this study was to examine changes implemented by public school district personnel in response to the Newtown school shooting that occurred on December 14, 2012. The researcher used the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS) to gather quantitative…

In this quantitative and qualitative mixed study, the researcher focused on a range of factors that drive principals' decision making and examined the variables that affect principals' decision-making. The study assessed the extent to which principals' leadership and decision-making processes exert influence on the operations of inclusion…