The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to investigate kindergarten teachers' beliefs about literacy and the relevance of assessments at the kindergarten level, the literacy skills kindergarteners should possess, how these skills are acquired, to what extent their beliefs about literacy influenced their instructional…

Declining student engagement has been an ongoing concern for educators, education researchers, school administration, and policymakers for the last 40 years (Axelson & Flick, 2011), with socioeconomically disadvantaged students being the most susceptible to disengagement (Finn, 1993; Jensen, 2013). The discourse surrounding declining student…

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of the elaborative conversation strategies (ECS) intervention in improving the quality of parents' science talk during everyday home learning interactions using a single-case experimental design. Specifically, the study explored whether training parents in ECS could increase their use…

The problem addressed was that academic achievement gaps existed for low socioeconomic status (SES) family special education students among special education students in United States schools. This problem was important because it negatively affected equity in education as low SES community special education students lagged behind more affluent…

The unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic led teachers to innovatively shift their teaching methods. These pioneering practices inspired this study's "Elevated Family-Teacher Partnership" intervention which was designed to provide equitable guidance and communication for all families. This dissertation, in practice,…

This dissertation employs a multiple case study approach to explore the views and expectations of Latino-Hispanic parents of ELLs regarding their children's school English language acquisition programs (ELAP). The central research question investigates the perceived effectiveness of these programs and their alignment with parents' aspirations for…

This mixed-methods phenomenological study explored teacher perception and the phenomenon of general education teachers' lived experiences regarding the intricacies involved with assigning homework to diagnosed dyslexic students. Seven third and fourth grade general education teachers gave their perceptions, strategies, and experiences of assigning…

School districts across the nation seek parental involvement to increase student engagement and academic success. Families from Title I Schools, in comparison to dominant culture, may have a minimal opportunity of involvement with their child's education in respect to partnering with schools in comparison to the dominant culture. The Department of…

There is a low enrollment of African American high school students in advanced mathematics. High school advanced mathematics are prerequisites to college calculus, one of the basic courses in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. African Americans earned only 7.6% of all bachelor's degrees in science, technology,…

This qualitative case study focused on homework as an instructional tool employed by teachers throughout primary schools. A number of stakeholders are affected by homework every day. Those impacted by homework are students and parents in particular, as the people who carry out instructional requests of teachers, but also teachers themselves, who…

The need to prepare students with 21st-century skills via technology integration into the classrooms is a must. This need has led to innovations in pedagogy such as flipped classroom models. This phenomenon makes use of technology to deliver the content of the class at home, allowing classroom time to be more productively spent extending the…

Background: The National Center for Education Statistics in 2009 and 2011 showed that African American and Hispanic students scored relatively lower than their white peers by an average of more than 20 test-score points on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for 4 th and 8th grade mathematics and reading assessments. Resulting…

The health and wellness of children is a growing concern as the number of children that are unhealthy continues to increase. Schools can play a pivotal role in promoting wellness among children and teenagers through implementing school-wide wellness initiatives that provide students multiple opportunities to learn and use healthy behaviors (Center…

The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to examine the perceived obstacles that contribute to the achievement gap between White and Black middle school mathematics students and the instructional strategies that help combat these obstacles of middle school mathematics teachers. The study investigated how middle-school educators…

This mixed methods study examined the impact of School Y's Montessori approach on their students' academic achievement, perceptions of executive functioning skills, and the school's culture. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of length of enrollment on academic achievement in a Montessori upper elementary and middle school…