There is growing evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic had a large and negative impact on student learning. This dissertation explores the effect of the pandemic on one of the most vulnerable student subgroups: English Learners (ELs). In this work I examine existing disparities among subgroups of ELs, and the different ways the pandemic has impacted…

The field of speech language pathology has made continuous efforts to center cultural responsivity in clinical practice in order to adhere to systematic shifts aimed at centering equity for all individuals. However, it is necessary to examine how speech-language pathologists (SLPs) manage the demands of culturally responsive practice when…

The purposes of this exploratory survey research are: (1) to examine the degree to which best practices on language acquisition instructional strategies and resources are used across the ten schools in Monroe County School District (MCSD), (2) to understand the relationship teachers' preparation and background characteristics and language…

This study aimed to explore if there was a significant difference in student performance in ELA and Math in middle school grades six through eight, pre- and post-COVID-19. This study aimed to identify student performance deficiencies in grades six through eight relating to gender, socioeconomic status, and race. The significance of this study is…

This study explored the relationship between middle school and high school math course-taking patterns in Nebraska using statewide reported course-taking data from 2009 to 2021. Course-taking trajectories were evident starting in middle school and were then studied by considering school-level variables and student-level demographic variables.…

High school graduation represents a pivotal milestone with far-reaching implications for an individual's future in social, economic, professional, and personal spheres. Despite its significance, only approximately 85.5% of students in the United States successfully earn their diploma each year, with groups such as black, Hispanic, American…

One of the categories of failing public schools is turnaround schools, which requires effective school leadership and teachers to improve student achievement scores. However, the impact of principals' self-efficacy beliefs in successfully turning around failing schools is unknown. The purpose of this research was to investigate principal…

The events that came to pass within the past few years have created quite a stir within the educational community. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, there was a shift from brick & mortar to virtual learning, which many academic experts and stakeholders needed to prepare for. Due to the major shutdowns, there have been many concerns about…

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is the fastest-growing neurodevelopmental disorder (Baio et al., 2018), yet little information is available regarding the psychometric properties of the most commonly used ASD identification tools in school settings, particularly within traditionally culturally and linguistically minoritized populations (Boyd et al.,…

Although changes in the identification of dyslexia have shifted in recent years, the rate of identification of dyslexia for English Learners (ELs) continues to lag behind that of monolinguals. Using a large sample of student data reported in the Public Education Information Management system (PEIMS) across two school years (2013-14 and 2019-20;…

Disproportionality is defined as the extent to which membership in a given group, such as gender, race/ethnicity, or socioeconomic strata, differentially affects the probability of a given outcome (e.g., being placed into special education or being assigned an out-of-school suspension). Underpinnings of disproportionality study include the broad…

This Education Leadership Portfolio's (ELP) improvement goal was to reduce student chronic absence at West Seaford Elementary School (WSES), a K-2 public school in the Seaford School District (SSD), where I serve as principal. Significant levels of student chronic absence have been and remain common at WSES, and--according to national and state…

Using an explanatory sequential mixed method, this study investigated the impact of the employment of attendance agents in the Detroit Public Schools Community District on decreasing chronic absenteeism and improving attendance rates from kindergarten to fifth grade for different subgroups of students. The study also investigated the perceptions…

This study is a language policy ethnography of the families of four Latina fifth-grade students at a TWBE elementary school as they transition to middle school. Parents and their children jointly acted as policy agents as they navigated the school district's open enrollment system and, through their choices, co-created policy. Situated within…

Curriculum-based measurements (CBM) are used in schools to screen students for academic difficulties. Oral reading fluency curriculum-based measures (CBM-R) are the most popular, yet several studies have identified predictive bias in CBM-Rs in relation to key variables (e.g., race, sex). Despite a massive increase in the use of these measures as…