This evaluation study addressed the need to increase the participation of teenagers in the Youth Service Agency ABC (YSA ABC). ABC offers positive, powerful, and empowering experiences for area teens. These programs help them with character development, financial literacy, emotional intelligence, healthy well-being, and many other skills and tools…

The mixed methods study aimed to measure the impact professional development programs have on STEM professionals' job satisfaction and organizational commitment, specifically, through the level of participation in the professional development program, and employees' perceived effectiveness of said professional development program. Four research…

Community leadership development programs (CLDPs) purport to train and equip individuals for leadership role participation in 5,500 communities across the United States. These communities seem to see value in these programs, yet there is little accountability for what graduates are actually doing in the community after program completion. The…

This study aimed to test how mathematics workshops about current mathematics trends led to differences in parents' involvement, perceived difficulties, home support and expectations for mathematics, and their ability to communicate their understanding of current mathematics knowledge. The study occurred at five elementary schools in a rural…

Literacy is a prevailing challenge of student achievement within urban schools. Capitol City Intermediate School's Extended Day Program, also known as the Real World Learning Program, is an academic after-school program that focuses on literacy. The incoming 4th grade students who have underperformed on the NJSLA 3 assessment are the target…

This study investigated the impact of participation in middle school garden programs on student well-being through a mixed-methods evaluation. Set against a backdrop of escalating mental health crises among K-12 students in the United States, characterized by heightened levels of stress, depression, and anxiety, this study evaluated whether school…

The project director sought to equip a select group of college students from Shades Mountain Baptist Church (SMBC) in Birmingham, AL to increase their Great Commission awareness and participation. The project director addressed a very significant need in his ministry context. He helped college students meaningfully connect their desire for purpose…

Building upon the work of social constructivists Vygotsky (1978) and Bakhtin (1981) and their work in dialogic instruction, as well as the self-efficacy theory put forth by Bandura (1977), this study sought to answer these questions: How does teacher participation in a book club impact teacher disposition to dialogic practices in the classroom?…

This study explored the impact of secondary administrator perceptions on implementing restorative discipline practices in Texas middle school campuses. Ten secondary middle school administrators from diverse Texas school districts that utilized restorative practices for non-expellable offenses participated in open-ended, semi-structured…

Science talk is central to learning in the classroom but despite a variety of interventions, lack of participation in discussion is a persistent obstacle to learner engagement (Clarke, 2015; Mercer, 1996; Mercer et al., 1999; Webb, 1989). Classroom programs may aid student participation but have not been sufficient to overcome students'…

The study explored the relationship between how many student success programs and which programs first-year students of color at the University of Kansas (KU) participated in and how this was related to outcomes of retention to sophomore-year and first-year GPA. The study used data from the University of Kansas of students of color who…

This study examined the effectiveness of the Exploring Scholars Initiative (ESI) at Alpine International School (AIS) in Europe in enhancing collective teacher efficacy. Established nine years ago, the ESI supports innovation and best practices in professional development. Alpine International School faculty are invited to propose passion projects…

U.S. school achievement has been the subject of much discussion. In the case of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM), the national underperformance across the country, as well as the underrepresentation of minorities are key issues (Anderson et al., 2023; Handelsman & Smith, 2016; National Research Council, 2015; The…

Parent involvement in children's education has a long history in the United States. Over the last several decades, research has demonstrated the positive effects of parent involvement on student outcomes. Consequently, parent involvement strategies have been written into education law in the United States and abroad. An intrinsic case study was…

Although 70% of Americans accept the reality of climate change (Leiserowitz et al., 2021), a lack of concerted societal action has not yet moved the issue to the top tier of the political agenda. This apparent "value-action gap" has been ascribed to, among other factors, maladaptive emotions in response to climate change's threat that…