This research study examines the mindsets, actions, and relationships needed to feel, foster, and further agency in education. DreamHouse 'Ewa Beach (DreamHouse) is Hawai'i's newest and fastest growing public school on O'ahu. This paper shares how teachers at DreamHouse experience teacher agency in their professional work environment. Agency is…

The purpose of this research study was to examine how the concept of departure influences the lack of diversity among higher education faculty. More specifically, what factors are currently influencing Black women faculty's decisions to depart academic positions across two institution types, Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) and Historically…

The founding and inception of Coral Way's bilingual program marked the beginning of Miami's multilingual era, as well as the start of modern bilingual education in the U.S. As multilingual and multicultural Miami has evolved, bilingual programming has not remained a priority in the school district. This dissertation study examines how language…

Since the early 1980s, American educational reformers tried to improve schools through standards, high-stakes tests, and punishments for those schools that failed to meet the mark. In North Carolina, many schools with diverse populations and low socioeconomic status struggled to succeed, receiving the state performance grade of D or F and the…

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to examine teachers' perceived autonomy in two different school settings. The theory that guided this study was Bandura's social-cognitive theory, specifically focusing on the three aspects of human agency. The research question was used to investigate the similarities and differences of…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact that school culture, comprised of the variables cultivating a culture of collaboration, employing a data-informed focus on improvement through professional communication, and organizational commitment had on teachers' self-efficacy (teacher autonomy, interpersonal efficacy, and professional…

The purpose of my dissertation is to determine which job-related factors are most likely to explain teachers' sense of satisfaction with their current job. Based on previous research (Fairchild et al., 2012; Lee, Dedrick, & Smith, 1991; Perie & Baker, 1997), I hypothesized that teachers' perceptions of classroom autonomy, staff…

Since the 1990s, many states have started implementing standards-based reforms and developed their own accountability systems. Each state established academic content and performance standards, implemented test for all the students in grades 3 through 8 annually, and set up annual measurable objectives in reading and mathematics for districts,…