A growing body of literature on teacher learning highlights that teachers are not likely to change their practices as a result of participating in traditional one-shot conference and workshop professional development activities, and suggests that a more effective approach is a teacher-driven, situated, collaborative, and sustained one (Ball &…

At Kennett Middle School, about ten percent of students were identified as being below grade level in reading. The purpose of this Educational Leadership Portfolio is to determine a formal process to implement and sustain reading intervention periods. Three major components are identified to guide this portfolio: communication to stakeholders,…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate relationships between students' ALEKS usage, teachers' implementation of ALEKS, and student performance on the 2017-2018 LEAP 2025 mathematics assessment. The quantitative portion of the study involved district-level analyses and teacher-level analyses that explored relationships between…

Students are expected to complete high-stakes standardized tests on computers, but many are disadvantaged due to their lack of technical skills and experience. While students complete a required state practice test, the brief overview of the technology used during testing is often not enough to ensure that students can successfully navigate the…

Purpose: This study examined how a single secondary school chose to interpret and implement the Response to Instruction (RtI) framework, and how teachers perceived the effectiveness of implementation. Research Method: This qualitative case study used archived data, observations, and semi-structured interviews to explore how the school interpreted…

The increased demand for a skilled workforce has placed new challenges on rural school districts. Students are provided the opportunity to obtain the skills required to fill the workforce needs through exemplary career and technical education programs. The purpose of this study was to identify key characteristics of exemplary career and technical…

Student success inequities in online gateway math courses exacerbate the problematic trend that too few marginalized, community college students complete a degree, especially during the time of COVID-19 in which this study was situated. This critical participatory action research study examined the experiences and perspectives of the on-the-ground…

Current research suggests that students fare better in school, especially in areas of engagement and attendance, when they have supportive adult-student relationships. As many educators learned during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, extra efforts are needed to build these supportive relationships when teaching and learning in online environments. Full…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the implementation phase of the DuFour model of professional learning communities (PLCs) and students' achievement. A survey was emailed via Qualtrics to elementary principals throughout the Minnesota Elementary Principals' Association's (MESPA) central, northern, northeast, west,…

Implementing IEP components presents teachers with unique challenges in relation to teacher creativity. This qualitative descriptive study looked at how inclusive general education teachers describe their use of creativity when implementing successful IEPs using creative or novel approaches in the inclusive classroom setting in Arizona. The…

The problem of practice (PoP) explored within this Dissertation in Practice (DiP) pertains to the lack of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates within the University of Mississippi and how inclusive excellence (IE) can help increase the number of STEM graduates within the institution. I am interested in exploring…

This study employed a qualitative research approach to evaluate how the Inland Empire Women's Business Center (IEWBC) is performing in regard to its goal of helping 353 women business owners to become successful by the end of 2018. The researcher assessed the organization, including staff members and volunteers, on its interactions with women…

The purpose of this study was to determine how middle school math teachers implemented formative assessment in their mathematics classrooms, including whether and how they used technology to do so. There were three key questions that guided this study: 1) How do middle school teachers plan for and collect data for formative assessment during a…

Learning analytics has emerged from a confluence of factors including expanding volumes of student data generated from learning management systems and student information systems, advanced technologies for retrieving and analyzing that data, and a desire of higher education institutions to understand more about student behavior, teaching and…

The purpose of this study was to reveal the degree to which the Massachusetts Sheltered English Instruction Endorsement (SEI) course supported teachers of English learners (ELs) so that EL instruction could be amended or modified and school district efforts to support ELs and teachers could be addressed accordingly. This study examined the…