Statement of Purpose and Method of Study: This descriptive research aimed to explore third-grade reading laws in nine southeastern states. The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 participants from the states included in this study and integrated both quantitative archival reading assessment data and qualitative interview data…

The purpose of this causal-comparative, ex post facto quantitative study was to determine "What are the differences in third-grade reading at the college and career readiness level in charter schools compared to traditional public schools?" The study took place in North Carolina charter and traditional public schools. The sample…

Based on 1,364 children across Grades 1, 3, and 5, the present study explored the mutualism of (externalizing and internalizing) behavioral problems and language, and whether social skills explained such mutualism. The random intercept cross-lagged panel models were conducted to control for between-person level variance and to explore mutualism of…

The goal of Smithsonian Science for North and South Carolina Classrooms was to provide teachers with ongoing, differentiated professional development and research-based curricular materials to improve elementary student achievement in science, mathematics, and reading. This work used an inquiry-based science curriculum, Smithsonian Science for the…

The five-year project, "Smithsonian Science for North and South Carolina Classrooms" (hereafter "Smithsonian Science"), offers important evidence on the impact of the phenomena-driven science curriculum, "Smithsonian Science for the Classroom," paired with ongoing, differentiated, high-quality professional learning…

The goal of this qualitative case study was to investigate the influence of culturally responsive teaching on the academic engagement of Black third and fourth grade students. For many years, schools have been faced with evidence that shows classrooms and schools are failing to meet the academic needs of students of color, particularly Black…

The share of students attending charter schools has been rising. There is evidence that charter school growth has increased socioeconomic segregation of students between schools. In this paper, we assess whether charter school growth affects how students are organized within nearby traditional public schools (TPS). We use administrative data from…

Federal and state legislations continue to mandate high-stakes testing for American students. Consequences of high-stakes testing include but are not limited to, low teacher efficacy, narrow teaching strategies, lack of student motivation, and the feeling of insecurity in classrooms by the students. The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper…

Purpose: We examine the content, context, and management of literacy learning opportunities in a large, diverse sample in the US and whether these opportunities were differentiated by children's oral language and decoding skill levels. Method: A total of 1,404 children in 153 preschool-through-third-grade classrooms were observed for several…

This mixed methods program evaluation evaluated the implementation of the multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) framework in one North Carolina school district. It examined the perceived teacher impact of the program implementation for Tier 3 reading students in first through third grades. The vision for employing the MTSS framework in North…

This dissertation showcases collective sensemaking in action. The study was situated in a larger North Carolina project, in which educators took a systems approach to update the state's instructional guidance infrastructure during content standards reform. Specifically, I investigated how K-5 educators from multiple stakeholder groups--teachers,…

The purpose of this non-experimental quantitative study was to examine the impact of school closure on beginning-of-the-year readiness for third-grade students in a rural Northeastern North Carolina school district. The research compared third-grade students' beginning-of-the-year reading readiness during the 2019-2020 school year to third-grade…

Prior research has found that financial investments in North Carolina's early childhood education programs--Smart Start and NC Pre-K--generated positive effects on student achievement in reading and mathematics through eighth grade (Bai et al., 2020). The current study examined if these effects were moderated by two dimensions of educational…

The linguistic awareness/flexibility hypothesis posits that children with better metalinguistic knowledge have improved reading related academic performance. To date, no research has analyzed the effect of morphological or phonological interventions on improving metalinguistic competence for nonstandard dialect users. Sixteen typically developing…

The names of the participants and the school district used in this program evaluation are pseudonyms to protect the participant's identity. This program evaluation was from the perceptions of the parent/guardian and faculty of the Garnett County School District (GCSD) K-8 Alternative Learning Program. The study focused on the middle school…