The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover what teachers believe about the effectiveness of MTSS in meeting the needs of economically disadvantaged students of varying levels of academic abilities in reading. Effective implementation of MTSS improves students' reading success. Drawing on teachers' beliefs, this study focuses on what…

The purpose of this applied action research study was to close the achievement gap between economically disadvantaged (ED) students and their non-disadvantaged peers (non-Ed) through the implementation of the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) system of processes. This study utilizes both quantitative and qualitative data to answer…

The purpose of this quantitative, non-experimental study was to explore a possible relationship between the number of students in grades 9-12 classified as chronically absent and the inclusion of the Chronically Out of School indicator in Tennessee's accountability model for schools and school districts. Using publicly available data from the…

Present-day educational inequities are the result of systemic racism rooted in longstanding policies and practices. The move to achieve equity is not a new phenomenon; however, the desire to achieve educational equity has become more prevalent in national conversations. Conversations about educational equity have trickled down to the school…

The purpose of the current study was to determine the relationship, if any, regarding school districts' teachers' average years of service, number of years of implementation of the CSCOPE math curriculum, and student achievement on the STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) mathematics scores in Grades 5 and 8. The STAAR is the…

This study sought to provide a preliminary examination of the relationship between the implementation of Guided Math and student achievement in Title I schools as measured by the percentage of students who met or exceeded the standard for the Georgia Mathematics CRCT. The study examined data from thirty Title I elementary schools in one suburban…

Public community colleges enroll nearly half of all undergraduate students in the United States and many of these students are enrolled in 1- and 2-year Career and Technical Education programs. Employers have indicated that colleges should place more emphasis on reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. Career Technical Education can address…

Contemporary high school reforms are centered on small school size as an approach to ameliorate disengagement and underachievement of minority and economically disadvantaged students in urban comprehensive high schools. A common strategy is to reconfigure high schools into smaller subunits known as Small Learning Communities (SLCs). Although…

As global demands for workers in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields persist, there are increased opportunities for historically underrepresented African-American and Latino youth to fill STEM career pipelines. African-American and Latino youth have long faced disproportionately high unemployment rates. Joblessness has been…

Culturally/linguistically diverse and economically disadvantaged students are under-represented in gifted education programs. White middle-class children tend to be afforded the opportunity of gifted education services. This study analyzed Ashe City Schools' journey to implement Project U-STARS-PLUS in order to identify and serve…

Spurred by the "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001, virtually every educational reform program now includes an accountability component that requires sound data collection and reporting (NCLB, 2002, section 101). Drawing from empirically based and theoretical literature in the field, this dissertation examines Adequate Yearly Progress…