This qualitative multi-site case study explores the self-identified traits of four Philadelphia schools that demonstrate growth in grade four proficiency on the Math Pennsylvania System of State Assessment (PSSA). Obtained proficiency/advanced scores on the PSSA show a drop from third to fourth grade cohorts during 2017, 2018, and 2019. In…

School disciplinary climate influences student outcomes. As a result, examining differences in principals' perceptions of disciplinary climate within and across countries and regions may shed some light on decreasing achievement gaps. The quantitative study examined how principals from different geographical locations perceive school disciplinary…

The present qualitative action research study was conducted to gain further understanding of administrator and teacher perceptions about grading systems in elementary schools, administrators' and teachers' ability to ensure consistent and fair practices and any correlation that grades may have to students' social, emotional, and/or academic…

Surveys such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) enable educators, policymakers and the wider community to compare Australian students with each other, as well as their counterparts across the…

Digital citizenship has become an increasingly important topic and is not consistently defined amongst administrators, students, and teachers. There is also a lack of knowledge about the essential skills and knowledge to become a responsible digital citizen, making it difficult to identify how to help students become responsible digital citizens.…

The kindergarten through twelfth-grade school experience, marked by a series of transitions between grades and learning environments, has a significant impact on academic performance, behavior, and social/emotional connection for students. The purpose of this study is to determine if the academic performance of third through eighth-grade students…

Meeting the social-emotional needs of a diverse student body has proven challenging for U.S. school district leaders, leading to considerable research on culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP). Teachers and administrators have noted challenges in implementing CRP in social-emotional learning (SEL) programs within their existing curricula. In this…

There has been extensive research done on varying leadership styles as well as how school leaders employ these styles in order to improve students' academic achievement. However, little literature exists that discusses how leadership style affects a principal or assistant principal's approach to managing student discipline. The purpose of this…

This qualitative study examined how elementary school leaders from K-5 schools in eastern New York addressed contextual factors in implementing and sustaining professional learning communities (PLCs). Senge (1990) posited structures need to be in place to create and facilitate collaborative communities. A complementary position presents…

High-stakes testing and accountability are words that those in education hear every day. Students, teachers, administrators, parents, districts, and states are impacted by these tests and their results. This mixed-methods study is aimed to examine the perceived time spent related to high-stakes testing. This study also aims to examine the…

In 2022, 8% of all 4th grade black or African American students in Wisconsin scored proficient or advanced in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP, 2023). As disparities in achievement are perpetuated across the state of Wisconsin as well as the nation, it is becoming increasingly important for elementary principals to…

It is not known how school leaders describe their own technology leadership competencies at the upper elementary and middle school levels. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study is to describe what technology leadership competencies are present in assistant principals and principals of grades 4-8 in the state of Pennsylvania. This study…

This study utilized a quantitative research approach with a survey design to determine whether a sample of K-8 principals in the state of Illinois, that rated teachers in a set of classroom instructional videos, exhibited inter-rater reliability since they all received the Illinois state-approved training and certification for teacher evaluators.…

Mill City Museum and Wilder Research collaborated to facilitate focus groups with local elementary school educators to learn about their experiences with virtual in-school programs, what motivates them to consider and schedule a program, and what barriers prevent or deter them from pursuing these types of programming options. This report presents…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to first determine whether literacy performance changed over time for third and fourth graders of a private school in Tennessee with the implementation of the Units of Study co-authored by Lucy Calkins and Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (UOS). The researchers utilized data from the school's…