Creating accessible instruction has been a subject of debate and lawsuits since the Civil Rights Movement. Examples include "Mills v. Board of Education" in 1972 discussed the 14th Amendment of equal rights in public K-12 education; instances involving extracurricular after-school programs, such as the YMCA Middle Tennessee Agreement for…

As students move beyond foundational decoding, many still require targeted support to develop vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. IMSE's Morphology+ program meets this need through explicit, systematic instruction in prefixes, suffixes, and Latin and Greek roots. Designed for grades 3-5, the program uses multimodal strategies and embedded…

Our country has a digital equity crisis, with many socioeconomically disadvantaged students disproportionately experiencing significant negative consequences from the digital divide. This program evaluation sought to investigate whether the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools (VILS) grant program decreases the consequences of the digital divide…

Background: The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA; 2015) constituted a reauthorization of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and replaced the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. ESSA, although still recognizing the need of standardized testing, diverged from NCLB by transferring a significant amount of power over…

As U.S. school leaders anticipate the end of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds and contemplate possible budget shortfalls, they will have to make hard choices about how best to leverage limited resources to improve student outcomes. With the stakes high, lawmakers and experts urge school system leaders to rely on research and…

Campus sexual misconduct has been a growing concern in recent years. The researchers of this qualitative study analyzed the perceived adequacy of current sexual misconduct training and delivery practices from Title IX coordinators representing 11 higher education institutions across the United States. Results point to the importance of…

Even though equity has become a hot topic, the pathway to making it a reality has not necessarily become clear. The national agenda on race, racial equity, and dealing with COVID-19 has pushed the challenge of equity to the front and center for schools. This pressurized moment in history has raised important questions: (1) What are the steps to an…

The importance of professional development to the success of adult education cannot be emphasized enough. In a field with many part-time educators, and where recruitment and retention of adult educators is an ongoing challenge, professional development plays a critical role in attracting, retaining, and developing teachers, administrators, and…

This research study examined teachers' perceptions of professional development needs of teachers on student achievement through 66 (Male=17; Female=49) secondary teachers. A closer look at current trends and research in education shows a link between teacher learning and student achievement. Teacher preferences are an important component in…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990 (reauthorized in 2004 as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act) mandates that teachers include parents and guardians as partners in their child's education. Although these partnerships have been shown to help parents and teachers alike, they can also be experienced…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) highlighted the increasing need for social emotional skills to be taught in schools. The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), an organization composed of educators, researchers and child advocates, defines Social Emotional Learning (SEL) as: The process through which children and…

In this inquiry, we examine P-12 music administrators' present and future role in the provision, regulation, funding, and improvement of music teacher professional development (PD). We asked: (1) How do P-12 music administrators' shape PD policies and practices within their school systems? and (2) What might a robust and cohesive suite of PD…

Parent and community involvement has always been a part of the public education system; from its inception in the early American colonies, local community control was a hallmark of schools. Today, with mandates present in the No Child Left Behind Act, the Race to the Top legislation, and amidst more pressing international comparisons, educators…

We examined how an agricultural literacy professional development enhanced equity in seven secondary agriculture classrooms in a southeastern state. Utilizing the Equity Framework in Career and Technical Education and exploratory case study methodology, we examined the equitable barriers that seven secondary agriculture education teachers faced in…

The demand for strategic planning has increased at community colleges. When used as a comprehensive tool strategic planning can effectively track goals and outcomes for accreditation standards and federal requirements, which can assist institutions in ensuring compliance. This dissertation in practice examines strategic planning at Butler County…