Teacher vacancies have been a long-standing issue in U.S. public schools, only made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. Vacancies tend to be concentrated in high-poverty, high-minority schools and hard-to-staff subjects like special education and STEM. States have implemented various policies to decrease turnover, including offering teachers bonuses…

This study explored teachers' perceptions of their experiences participating in self-directed learning (Knowles, 1970, 1975). The teacher participants (n = 127) were guided through a self-directed learning framework for professional learning and reflected on their experiences. Findings indicate teachers reporting increased autonomy and…

This study sought to identify how teachers perceived the effectiveness of administrative support, induction program support, and mentor support. This study addressed the following research questions: (a) Is there a relationship between the perceived effectiveness of their administrative support and teaching in a high-poverty school for beginning…

Psychological flexibility (PF), teaching resiliency (tRES), and sense of purpose (SOP) are characteristics that influence physical education teaching sustainability. The study's purpose was to validate an instrument measuring PF, tRES, and SOP relative to teachers' intent to remain teaching (IRT) in high poverty (>60% low-income) schools and…

Although there is an abundance of research on the association of school poverty (or socioeconomic status) and test score level, there is very little rigorous longitudinal evidence on the cumulative effects of exposure to differing school contexts. Drawing from methods used first in epidemiology and then in neighborhood effects research, we use…

Implemented by Pfeiffer University, REPERTOIRE: Recruiting Educators, Preparing Educators, and Retaining Teachers to Optimize Interest in Rural Education was a collaborative partnership with Montgomery and Stanly County Schools in rural North Carolina. Pfeiffer University and the Division of Education and Division of Arts and Sciences provided…

With a growing interest in Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in education (Goldberg et al., 2019; Gordon et al., 2016; Todd et al., 2022), schools have been positioned as effective settings for SEL development of students (Nielsen et al., 2015). As the potential of Physical Education (PE) to promote student learning in social and affective…

The COVID-19 global pandemic caused a sudden shift from in-person instruction to virtual learning for fifth-grade teachers and students in Title 1 elementary schools. Through professional development opportunities, fifth-grade teachers had to adjust instructional practices to facilitate virtual learning and adopt and embrace new teaching methods…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact professional learning community (PLC) implementation and collegial trust have at the organizational level and the effect these elements have on the positive school culture that nurtures academic achievement in select rural Title I elementary schools located in southeastern North Carolina. An…

Empirical evidence has repeatedly shown a positive association between students' academic achievement and teacher experience (Kini & Podolsky, 2016; Cardichon et al., 2020) or teacher preparation (Podolsky et al., 2019; Cardichon et al., 2020). However, year after year, students from low-income and minoritized communities are perpetually…

This quantitative study investigated the correlation between school culture constructs and student achievement in 160 Title I K-8 schools from four Local Education Agencies. Title I schools receive funds from the federal government to fund programs and provide resources to help students meet rigorous standards on state assessments. School culture…

COVID-19 has created acute challenges for the child care sector, potentially leading to a shortage of supply and a shrinking sector as the economy recovers. This study provides the first comprehensive, census-level evaluation of the medium-term impacts of COVID-19 on the county child care market in a large and diverse state, North Carolina. We…

In this study, we extend research on the allocation of educational resources to an underdeveloped domain--the distribution of counselors, psychologists, and social workers (i.e., support personnel) to schools. Using administrative data for all North Carolina public schools in the 2007-2008 through 2015-2016 school years, we measure the allocation…

This brief draws on a 2019 study of high-poverty schools in North Carolina conducted in support of the state's efforts to comply with the North Carolina Supreme Court's decision in "Leandro v. the State of North Carolina." The study found that high-poverty schools provide inadequate and unequal educational resources and opportunities to…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of Invitational Leadership behaviors on school teacher satisfaction, teacher perceptions of the school principal's performance, and to identify if there was a difference between the levels of inviting behaviors of principals at high-achieving and low-achieving rural schools in North Carolina. The…