The Connect STEM Mentoring Program aims to provide professional and career connections to women in STEM. As a product of an ADVANCE grant funded by the National Science Foundation, this program strives to promote advancement for women in STEM. As a male-dominated field, women in STEM commonly face barriers to advancement opportunities which can…

Due to the low academic performance of Liberian students, in 2013, the president of Liberia declared that the education sector needed to be overhauled. Consequently, the education minister launched a nationwide professional development (PD) program. Despite the PD initiatives, academic performance in an urban school district (USD, a pseudonym) has…

The three articles included in this dissertation are connected through theory and practice. Study one identifies the factors influencing Extension agents' participation in supplemental professional development opportunities using Ajzen's (1985) theory of planned behavior. Study two was a systematic investigation of Extension personnel's…

The goal of this study was to obtain the perceptions of novice school counselors regarding their self-efficacy in implementing Recognized ASCA Model Program Requirements (RAMP). Seven novice school counselors shared their experiences contributing to their self-efficacy when implementing the ASCA Deliver component and RAMP application requirements.…

This study examined the impact of a newly created Academic Advising Professional Development (AAPD) online program focused on the three major components of the "Concept of Academic Advising" for new and experienced advisors. The four-unit training, created in Blackboard, was designed to educate advisors on the meaning and application of…

The majority of states have laws in place that require teacher evaluations and many states are tying teacher evaluations and teacher effectiveness to tenure and dismissal policies. Historically, the teacher evaluation process has been conducted by the school principal and has commonly been disconnected from the teacher development processes that…

The General Educational Development (GED) is a high school equivalency credential sought after by millions of Americans who do not hold a traditional high school diploma. This program evaluation offers insight to a local adult GED program as it seeks to increase the retention and GED completion rates of the students in their program. The…

This instrumental mixed methods case study investigated Grades 3-5 classroom teachers' perceptions of teaching for creativity and the effects of a researcher-developed, one-day, online professional development creativity module intervention within a suburban school district in south-central Pennsylvania. Creativity has been identified as a…

Social studies classrooms are often lauded as ideal spaces where productive conversations centered around race/ism can, and should occur. Unfortunately, social studies classrooms have yet to live up to this reality as traditional social studies instruction--a type of standards-based instruction characterized by lectures, rote memorization, and…

This program evaluation study used an objectives-oriented evaluation to determine the impact of professional development on effective communication to enhance leadership skills of school and district leaders in a southwestern Florida school district. Professional development is offered by the district to teachers, school leaders, district leaders,…

This capstone project investigates professional development perceptions from the lens of three different participant groups: district administrators, school administrators, and teachers. A literature review identifies PD changes, legislative mandates, and the roles each must play to support teacher growth. The mixed-methods study assesses the…

This capstone project investigates professional development perceptions from the lens of three different participant groups: district administrators, school administrators, and teachers. A literature review identifies PD changes, legislative mandates, and the roles each must play to support teacher growth. The mixed-methods study assesses the…

This capstone project investigates professional development perceptions from the lens of three different participant groups: district administrators, school administrators, and teachers. A literature review identifies PD changes, legislative mandates, and the roles each must play to support teacher growth. The mixed-methods study assesses the…

Feedback in higher education can have powerful effects on improving students' learning (Carless & Boud, 2018; Hattie & Timperley, 2007; Hattie & Yates, 2014; Jonsson, 2012). However, opportunities for students to learn from feedback are lacking (Robinson et al., 2013). The current study was a mixed-method single case design exploring…

The purpose of this Action Research study was to understand and enhance the perceived efficacy of micro-credentialing and digital badging for K-12 educators within a large urban school district. Cycle 1 of this research engaged over 150 educators and included 14 semi-structured interviews, seeking to identify the primary reasons for engaging…