The purpose of this dissertation is to better understand the formative import of the relationships between adults and the young in their corresponding roles as teachers and students between the first year of kindergarten and the last grade of high school (K-12 education). My approach to this issue is twofold: First, I argue that it is imperative…

This dissertation contributes to the discussion of what contributes to school district rankings in the state of Ohio. It uses Latent Profile Analysis to explore different variables at the contextual and district level as they correspond to Ohio's Performance Index academic measure and Value-Added academic measure. Results show that contextual…

According to Brenan (2021), 77% of Americans are concerned about the morals and values in America. Morality is embedded in the foundation of the United States and its educational system, with ethical dilemmas requiring leaders to be intentional and cognizant (Dahl, 2015; Johnson, 2021; Lickona, 1993; Smith, 2020). The California public educational…

The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' needs and preferences for technology integration professional development (PD). To guide the study, three research questions were developed: (1) What are teachers' needs and preferences for technology integration professional development in K-12 schools?, (2) How are teachers currently integrating…

The enrollment of students in the United States public school system is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse. According to research, students of color benefit from having teachers and leaders who look like them as role models and the classroom dynamics that diversity creates. However, the ethnic and racial diversity of teachers and…

Traditional leadership studies have focused on the skills, traits, and behaviors of an individual, typically at the top of a hierarchical power structure. The current study sought to demonstrate a new paradigm of leadership, relational leadership, that focuses on the relationships between people and the organizational outcomes that are attainable…

Burnout has become prevalent in various professional domains, including the field of education. Principals, at the forefront of educational institutions, face immense pressure and responsibilities. Recognizing the importance of addressing burnout, the aim of this study was to contribute to the existing body of research regarding burnout and the…

The purpose of this study is to explore the perspectives of teacher educators and school principals on the value and importance they place on social emotional competencies (SEC) in new teachers currently entering PK-12 school systems; and to investigate the strategies these educators and administrators use to assess the SEC levels of new teachers…

Parents are increasingly choosing to enroll their students in online schools rather than traditional brick-and-mortar schools. Despite the growth of online schooling, however, there is extremely limited research on such schooling and the role parents play in the educational outcomes of students enrolled in online schools. The current quantitative,…

In a time of proliferated school choice, how do families choose a K-12 setting for their child(ren) in the state of Missouri? For many families the decision may be easy, but for others, they had to experience one educational setting before choosing another to know what they value and prioritize in their child(ren)'s education. This qualitative…

This cross-sectional quantitative study examined the relationship between public K-12 leaders' levels of religiosity, job satisfaction, intention to leave, and perceived organizational fit when required to implement policies incongruent with their personal values. This study also explored whether experiences of values incongruence were related to…

The need for credentialed teachers with online teaching experience is paramount. Prior research exists on teacher readiness of in-service teachers, but little research has been conducted on pre-service teacher readiness for teaching in online environments. The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed-methods case study was to explore the…

Despite acknowledgement in the data-informed decision making (DIDM) literature that data use is not a purely rational process, there has been little attention paid to the role of values and normative factors that underpin school improvement planning (SIP) processes and little consideration of the inherent evaluative nature of associated activities…

It is well established that principal turnover is of grave concern in the U.S. (Goldring & Taie, 2018; Levin et al., 2020) and may have been exacerbated due to the pandemic (Steiner et al., 2022). This transcendental phenomenological study explored the experience of women principals at P-12 schools in the U.S. who voluntarily left their roles…

The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly impacted and transformed public education and revealed deeply embedded inequities within educational systems. The unpredictable shift to virtual learning exposed these disparities, illuminating the need for innovative, student-centered educational approaches. This dissertation examines how Black educators who…